Jerome

(Verse 11) I will overthrow you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you will become like a bundle snatched from the fire, and yet you did not return to me, says the Lord. LXX: I will overthrow you as God overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you will become like a bundle plucked from the fire, but even so you did not turn back to me, says the Lord. This is the ultimate remedy for the ten tribes, the heretics, and all sinners. After sending death along the way of Egypt and striking down their young men with the sword, and consuming their horses, and bringing the stench of their camps into their nostrils, and yet they did not return to Him, may He overthrow them as He overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah. And when they are overthrown, for the likeness of the crimes of Sodom and Gomorrah, and the worst of their buildings is burned by divine fire, they themselves will be delivered like a bundle snatched from the fire. And how Lot, while Sodom was perishing, was saved, losing his possessions and part of his body, namely his wife, as we understand (Gen. XIX): so let all those who lose the riches of Sodom be found naked, according to what we read in the Apostle: If anyone's work which he has built endures, he will receive a reward: if anyone's work is burned, he will suffer loss: but he himself will be saved, yet so as through fire (I Cor. III, 14, 15). Therefore, whoever is saved by fire is snatched away like a torch from a fire. And concerning those people whom the Savior was rebuking in the Gospel, saying, 'If you were children of Abraham, you would do the works of Abraham' (John 8:39), John the Baptist says, 'Progeny of vipers, who warned you to flee from the coming wrath?' (Matthew 3:7, 8, 9) So produce worthy fruits of repentance, and do not say within yourselves, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children to Abraham. Therefore, both Israel and all heretics, because they had the works of Sodom and Gomorrah, are overthrown like Sodom and Gomorrah: that they may be delivered, as it were, a brand plucked out of the fire. And this is what we read in the prophet: Sodom shall be restored to her former state (Ezek. 16:55): so that whoever is a Sodomite by his own fault, after the works of Sodom have burned in him, may be restored to his former condition.

(Verse 12, 13.) Therefore, I will do these things to you, Israel: but after I have done these things to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel. For behold, he who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and declares to man what is his thought, who makes the morning darkness, and treads on the heights of the earth - the Lord, the God of hosts, is his name. LXX: Therefore, I will do these things to you, Israel: but because I will do these things to you, prepare to call upon your God, O Israel. For behold, He who strengthens the thunder, and creates the spirit, and proclaims His Christ among men, making morning, and mist, and ascending above the heights of the earth: The Lord God Almighty is His name. Because we have interpreted, after it is written in Hebrew 'Eceb', and Aquila interpreted it as 'afterwards', and Theodotion as 'finally', and the Septuagint yet 'in Hebrew it can be read as: Therefore I will do these things to you, Israel, afterwards, that is, much later, and in the last times, so that it may begin again from another beginning: And when I will do this to you, prepare to meet your God, O Israel.' And again, in that place where the Septuagint translated, prepare to invoke your God, and we have set it according to Theodotion, prepare to encounter your God, Symmachus and the Fifth Edition have translated, prepare to oppose your God: which is said in Hebrew, Hechin Lacerath Eloica (). Also, for the mountains which are called Arim in Hebrew, the Seventy alone translated it as thunder. But the reason why they said 'spirit' and we said 'wind', which is called Rua in Hebrew, is clear, because both wind and spirit are referred to by this word. And what follows, proclaiming his message to humanity, which we translate as interpreters, only the Seventy translated it, proclaiming his Christ to humanity: deceived by the similarity and ambiguity of words. For if we read his Christ, which in Hebrew is called Messiah (מָשִׁיחַ), it is written with the letters Mem, Sin, Yod, Het, and Vav, which the Seventy presumed. But if, as in Hebrew, it is according to Aquila 'his speech', according to Symmachus 'his voice', according to Theodotion 'his word', according to the fifth edition 'his eloquence', all of which can be interpreted as 'his speech', it will be written with these letters: Mem, He, which is called Ma (מָה), which means 'what' or 'something'. Then Sin, Iod, Heth, which we read as Sia (Σία), that is, eloquence. But O, which is written with the single letter Vau, αὐτοῦ, that is, his, signifies, and at the same time is read mixed with Masio (Μασίω), having the second letter from the word He with more. We have talked about the variety of interpretation, which will be troublesome for the negligent and pleasing for the studious: now let's move on to the meaning of what has been written. I gave astonishment to your teeth, and you did not return to me, says the Lord. I withheld rain from you, and it rained on one city and not on another; one field had rain, but another had none and withered. So two or three cities staggered to one city to drink water, but were not satisfied; yet you did not return to me, declares the Lord. I struck you with blight and mildew; your many gardens and vineyards, your fig trees and olive trees the locust devoured; yet you did not return to me, declares the Lord. I sent among you a pestilence after the manner of Egypt; I killed your young men with the sword, and carried away your horses, and I made the stench of your camp go up into your nostrils; yet you did not return to me, declares the Lord. I will overthrow you as the Lord overthrew Sodom and Gomorrah, and you have become like a brand plucked from the fire, and yet you have not returned to me, says the Lord. Therefore, I will do this to you, O Israel; because you have despised the past, at least be corrected for what I am about to bring upon you. And when he says, 'I will do this to you,' he remains silent about what he will do, so that while Israel hangs in uncertainty about each specific type of punishment (which is all the more terrifying because they suspect everything), they may repent and so God does not inflict what he threatens. But after I have done what I promise you I will do, prepare to invoke the Lord your God. For everyone who calls upon the name of the Lord shall be saved (Joel 2). Whether you prepare to meet your God, and eagerly receive the Lord coming to you with all your heart. It is he who strengthens the thunder, or confirms the mountains, at whose voice the pillars of heaven and the foundations of the earth tremble (Eccl 16). It is he who creates the spirit, not the Holy Spirit in this place, as heretics suspect; but we understand it as the wind, or the spirit of man: for no one knows what is in man except the spirit that is within him; and the same spirit intercedes for us with inexpressible groanings (Rom 8). Certainly, we must receive the spirit, the soul, according to what is written: 'You will take away their spirit, and they will perish and return to their dust' (Ps. 104:29). And: 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit,' and saying this, he breathed his last (Luke 23:46). And when he creates the spirit, he proclaims his word to mankind, or he proclaims the word of him who knows the secrets of thoughts, and understands what the hidden mind ponders in silent speech, according to what we read in Jeremiah according to the Hebrew: 'The heart of man (or of all and of every man) is small and unfathomable, who can know it?' I am the Lord, searching the heart and testing the reins (Jer. XVII, 9, 10). This is also testified in the one hundred and thirty-eighth psalm: Your eyes have seen my imperfect form. The meaning is: Before I was formed, before I was deformed in limbs, while I was still contained in the seed, your eyes saw me. And Jeremiah hears from the Lord: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you, and I appointed you as a prophet to the nations (Jerem. I, 5). And the evangelist, seeing, said, 'The Lord knows their thoughts' (Luke 11:17). But if we read further, proclaiming man's speech according to what was said above, in which he says, 'The Lord God will not speak unless he has revealed his secret to his servants the prophets' (Isaiah 3:7). But the one who proclaims man's thoughts and speech, whether his own or another's, he is the one who makes the dawn and the sunrise, and covers everything with clouds, and walks above the heights of the earth; his name is the Lord God Almighty. For in the Septuagint it is read: Announcing in men his Christ: under which occasion heretics, want to create the Holy Spirit in order: creating the spirit, and announcing in men his Christ: so that he may be created, he may be announced in the peoples. To these things we will respond according to their meaning, and to the Vulgate edition: Who is the creator of all, and establishes the thunder, or forms the mountains, consequently brings forth the winds from his treasures, and as the founder of the universe, promises his Son Christ to men. But when Christ has been proclaimed, then the light of truth is opened to us, not perfectly; for now we see in part, and we know in part, and through a mirror and an image we contemplate those things that are to come (I Cor. XIII). Hence it follows: making morning and mist, and rising above the heights of the earth. For the Lord is high above the high things, and does not dwell in the lowly, He who is high; but the creator of mountains ascends to the mountains, in those who have a share in heavenly things, and walking in the flesh they do not live according to the flesh, but according to the spirit. But if we read according to Symmachus and Aquila: these things I will do to you, O Israel, afterwards, and when I have done these things to you, prepare yourself to oppose your God, it is to be understood thus: I have done this to correct you, as the past speech described, and because you did not want to return to me, I will do to you what is contained in my secret. You have killed the servants whom I sent to you: finally I will send my Son: but you, according to your usual custom, by which you always oppose the will of the Lord, prepare yourself to contradict and oppose your God: according to what is written: Behold, this child is destined for the fall and rise of many, and for a sign that will be contradicted (Luke 2:34). And he says this, not because he commands what should be done; but rather he foretells what he will do willingly, as if reproaching and accusing, so that at least when corrected he does not do what was foretold.

(Chapter 5, Verses 1-2) Hear this word, which I bring against you as a lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, and it shall not rise again. The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her own land; there is no one to raise her up. LXX: Hear this word, which I will take up against you as a lamentation. The house of Israel has fallen, it shall not rise again. The virgin of Israel is cast down upon her own land, there is no one to raise her up. As for the order of the letters and the true beginning of the story, the ten tribes that are called Israel were led into captivity and have never returned to their own land. But the people of Israel are called the Virgin, not because they remained in the purity of virginity, but because they were once united with the Lord like a virgin. Therefore, the prophet is commanded to take up lamentation over them, so that they may not be restored to their former state. But as for spiritual understanding, the prophet takes up lamentation over all of Israel who once beheld God with their minds and then ceased to serve Him, according to what is commanded in Ezekiel (Ezek. 2), to devour the book in which lamentation, song, and woe were written both inside and outside. Understand within the following song of Solomon, which says: The king has brought me into his chamber (Song of Songs 1:4). And the forty-fourth psalm, in which it is written: All the glory of the daughter of the king is within. But whatever is read in the letter, and appears in the bark, and is not held in the marrow of the spirit, is outside. Therefore, both literally and figuratively, in all the books of the prophets, there is lamentation written over those who repent after sin: A song is worthy for those who are not stained by the filth of sins: Woe to those who do not repent; but according to the hardness of their heart, they store up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath. But if, as we have said, there is lamentation over those who repent; and repentance restores the health of the wounds: how is it said according to the Septuagint, The house of Israel has fallen, it will not rise again. The virgin of Israel has strayed in her own land, there is no one to raise her up? This can be explained as follows: After the house of Israel has fallen of its own will, it will by no means regain its former dignity; after the virgin of Israel has strayed in her own land, she will no longer be able to find anyone to raise her up. And consider the properties of words. He who is a house, and is counted among the crowd, is said to fall. But he who errs about the number of virgins, even for a light offense, cannot be raised up: not that he will not be raised up, but that the virgin of Israel will not be raised up, and the Lord of Israel will not rise. For the glory of the one who has always followed the Lord is not the same as the glory of the one who has strayed from the flock and then was carried back on the shoulders of the good shepherd (Luke 15). And through another prophet the Lord says: I desire the repentance of the sinner rather than death (Ezek. XVIII, 32). Repentance is better compared to death and hell, not to the most pure sanctity of the Church of Christ (which has no wrinkle or blemish). We say this, not to do away with the hope of repentance according to Novatus, but to make those who are more timid and solicitous, who, while hoping for the future, lose the present through the open door of repentance, and who could have remained without injury, but receive a wound unawares, and afterwards suffer with pain. There are many mansions in my Father's house (John XIV), and star differs from star in brightness; so also is the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians XV): shining like the sun and moon, evening and morning star. But those who repent after sinning will be equal to other stars according to the diversity of their merits.

If, then, the apostle, who was a chosen vessel separated unto the gospel of Christ, by reason of the pricks of the flesh and the allurements of vice keeps his body and brings it into subjection, lest when he has preached to others he may himself be a cast away; and yet, for all that, sees another law in his members warring against the law of his mind, and bringing him into captivity to the law of sin; if after nakedness, fasting, hunger, imprisonment, scourging and other torments, he turns back to himself and cries, “Oh, wretched man that I am, who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” do you fancy that you ought to lay aside apprehension? See to it that God say not some day of you, “The virgin of Israel is fallen, and there is none to raise her up.” I will say it boldly: God can do all things, but the virgin who has fallen will not be raised up. He may indeed relieve one who is defiled from the penalty of her sin, but he will not give her a crown. Let us fear lest in us also prophecy be fulfilled, “Good virgins shall faint.” Notice that it is good virgins who are spoken of, for there are bad ones as well. “Whoever looks on a woman,” the Lord says, “to lust after her has committed adultery with her already in his heart.” So that virginity may be lost even by a thought. Such are evil virgins in the flesh, not in the spirit; foolish virgins, who, having no oil, are shut out by the bridegroom.

(Verse 3) Because thus says the Lord God: The city from which a thousand went out shall be left with a hundred, and the city from which a hundred went out shall be left with ten in the house of Israel. Similarly in the Septuagint. The divine word gives the reasons why the fallen house of Israel shall not rise again, and why the wandering or cast-down virgin of Israel shall not have a saviour. It says: The city, it says, from which a thousand went out shall be left with a hundred, and the city from which a hundred went out shall be left with ten in the house of Israel. So that where there was once a multitude, because of excessive desolation, scarcely a tenth part remains. And let us not leave the letters of the sacraments of numbers untouched: the number seven is proven to be holy, even the Sabbath, on which God rested from all his works (Gen. II). And it commands that no servile work be done on it, except only that which pertains to the soul: and that we not bear burdens on it (Num. XV). Hence, even in the wilderness, the one who gathered wood on the Sabbath, which is destined to burn, is condemned by the judgment of the Lord. And seven weeks complete the number of holy Pentecost: and the Jubilee year of remission and the sounding of trumpets is woven with this number. In the seventh month, the tabernacles are also set up, and the Hebrew, after serving for six years, will be set free in the seventh year. This is also known in secular philosophy and in the books of the physicians, of whom Galenus, very eloquent and learned, wrote three books on judgments and critical days, in which he shows the power of the number seven, saying that the most intense fevers are resolved on the seventh day: or if the magnitude of the harmful fluid and phlegm is so great that it is in no way consumed by the heat of the first week, the last day of the second week is awaited, that is, the fourteenth. But if this disease, as Hippocrates says, conquers, they pass to the twenty-first day, that is, to the end of the third week: so from the beginning of the world, the days being numbered, all labors and troubles rest on the seventh number. Finally, the captivity of the people of Israel, the destruction of the temple, was completed in the seventieth year of desolation, and seven planets are said to wander according to the number of days. Tullius gives a more detailed account of the mysteries of this number in Scipio's dream, and Plato's Timaeus is very obscure, which even Cicero's golden mouth does not make clearer. Therefore, just as the number seven has its sacrament, so it is sanctified and perfected, and, so to speak, is the true number, which is preserved by union, and is enclosed within the majesty of one God. Hence the Son says: I am in the Father, and the Father in me (John 14:11): desiring that all should be one with the Father, he speaks to him: Father, grant that just as I and you are one, so may they be one in us (ibid. 17:21). Therefore, the first beatitude is to be in the first number, which is one and true; the second, in the second, that is, in the decade; the third, in the third, that is, in the hecatontade. For just as the decade is completed by the tenth union, so the hecatontade is built from ten decades. The fourth number, which is contained in a thousand, consists of ten hecatontades. Therefore, when someone repents, they rarely return from the thousand and fourth number to the hundredth and third number. Again, he who is in the hundredth, scarcely returns to the second number of the first decade, and so it happens that the house of Israel, which had fallen, cannot rise again, and the virgin of Israel, who had gone astray, does not have a restorer on the earth. For once someone has departed from union and has lost the glory of most pure virginity (of which the Apostle says: For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy; for I betrothed you to one husband, so that to Christ I might present you as a pure virgin, 2 Corinthians 11), they will not be able to regain their former state and the blessedness of union. And it will scarcely be granted to them to return from a thousand to a hundred, and from a hundred to ten. I have spoken these things briefly so that I may not appear to have completely avoided tropology in this chapter on account of the difficulty of numbers.

(Vers. 4, 5.) Because thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: seek me, and you will live, and do not seek Bethel, and do not enter Galgala, and do not pass through Bersabee, because Galgala will be taken captive, and Bethel will be useless. LXX: Because thus says the Lord to the house of Israel: seek me, and you will live, and do not seek Bethel, and do not enter Galgala, and do not pass over the well of the oath, because Galgala will be taken captive, and Bethel will be as if it does not exist. It is the custom (Al. the habit) of the Scriptures always to join joyful things after sad things and after God has threatened with punishment, He calls those whom He has terrified to repentance, according to what we read in Isaiah: Woe, sinful nation, people full of sins, wicked seed, wicked children (Isa. I, 4). And when He has said, your land is desolate, your cities are consumed by fire, foreigners will eat your regions before you (Al. in your sight), He speaks to them promising better things: Be washed, be clean: remove your evils from your minds. Learn to do good (or do good): seek justice, judge the orphan, defend the widow: and come, let us reason together, says the Lord (Isaiah 1:17). Therefore, just as in Isaiah, he sustains those whom he had terrified with his severe voice with gentle speech, so also in this prophet, he says to them: The house of Israel has fallen, it will not be added that it may rise again; the virgin Israel has wandered on the earth, there is no one to raise her up. He does not speak to them and say: The house of Israel, that is, the ten tribes, seek me and you shall live; for in not seeking me, you are dead. And when you seek, you will find; and when you find, you will live. And do not seek Bethel, where the golden calf was, and Galgalam, the place of idolatry, of which I have spoken before: All their wickedness is in Galgal (Hosea 9:15). And you shall not go to Bersabee. In Bersabee, he says, there is a well of oath, you shall not go there: where if ever the tribe of Judah erred, they used to worship idols. But Israel was so inflamed with the worship of idols that he was not satisfied with his own idols, but he went to foreign ones. Finally, he said that Galgata will be led captive, and Bethel will be useless, or completely non-existent, when those idols are overthrown. He completely overlooked Bersabee; because, after the ten tribes were defeated, the city called Bersabee, which was in the tribe of Judah at that time, was neither captured nor destroyed. It should also be noted that in this passage the Seventy Interpreters have translated the name Bersabee as 'well of an oath,' and in subsequent passages they used the same name: 'Your God lives, Dan,' and 'the way to Bersabee lives.' But they put the road by Bersabee, because they were traveling from Israel to the farthest borders of Judah, which were in Geraris, and were connected to the desert of Egypt, in order to worship idols. And it is the place where Abraham lived: and because when he and Abimelech, having given seven sheep, swore an mutual covenant, it was called the well of the oath, or the well of the seventh, because of the number seven sheep (Genesis 25): for 'Sabe' signifies both. However, according to the allegorical interpretation of the laws, it is enjoined upon the house of Israel, that is, those who profess to have knowledge of God, not to seek Bethel, and not to enter into Galgal, and not to pass by or ascend to the well of the oath; but rather to seek God and live in him. However, they seek Bethel, which is interpreted as the house of God, those who say: The temple of the Lord, the temple of the Lord; and they trust in the buildings, of which the Lord spoke to his disciples: The days will come, in which there will not be left a stone upon a stone that will not be destroyed (Luke 21:6). And they enter into Galilee, who after the coming of Christ desire to be circumcised again. For in Galilee the people were circumcised a second time. Hence the place itself received its name: because the Lord took away the reproach of Egypt from them (Jos. 5). And in Beersheba, he says, you shall not pass unto the well of the oath: lest you consider those the borders of Judaea, which according to the letter of Scripture were promised from Dan to Beersheba. And do not say with the prophet: God is known in Judaea, his great name in Israel (Ps. 75:1); but listen to the apostles: Their sound has gone forth into all the earth, and their words unto the ends of the world (Ps. 18:4): for Galilee, that is, the circumcision of the flesh, will be led captive by the true circumcision of the heart; and Bethel, which you think is the house of God, will not remain, or, as I think better, will be useless, that is, Aven: so that it may by no means be called the house of God, but may be called the house of inutility, or of idols. Another way: Bethel seeks only the letter that sets in the west, and not the meaning, which is God, seeks in words: and it enters into Galgala, which aims for greater revelations, promising himself knowledge of the supernatural, and it passes, or ascends to the well, from which the Samaritan woman, desiring to draw water, which could not quench her thirst, did not know him, from whose belly spring forth rivers of living water into eternal life (John 4).

(Verse 6.) Seek the Lord, and live: lest the house of Joseph be burned with fire, and it devour, and there be none to quench it. LXX: Seek the Lord, and live: lest the house of Joseph be kindled with fire, and it consume it, and there be none to quench the house of Israel. Just as it is said from the person of God, 'Seek me, and you will live,' so the prophet speaks of the Lord, that they should seek him and live. For in seeking the Lord, they begin to live; but if they do not seek him, and therefore do not live, the house of Joseph will immediately be kindled like fire, which we must understand as referring to the ten tribes called Israel, who held the original name for the greater part of the people, because of Jeroboam, who was from the tribe of Ephraim and the house of Joseph. But there were two tribes which were ruled by the lineage of David, who was from the tribe of Judah, called Judah, and they possessed Jerusalem, in which the temple of God was. And when the house of Joseph is set on fire, it will devour and consume Bethel, of which I spoke earlier: Do not seek Bethel, and there will be no one to extinguish it, when it is set on fire by its kings. For in the Septuagint, instead of Bethel, the house of Israel is read, with those interpreting the meaning more than the word, so that, with the reign of Jeroboam and all the subsequent kings who succeeded him in power, the ten tribes, which are called Israel, may burn. This is the fire that is kindled, or shines and inflames the house of Joseph, so that Bethel is consumed, of which it is said elsewhere: Walk in the light of your fire, and in the flame that you have kindled (Isaiah 50:11). And because we have frequently referred the house of Joseph (because of Jeroboam, who separated the people of God from the lineage of David and made golden calves in Dan and Bethel, and said, there is no part for us in David, neither inheritance in the son of Jesse (1 Samuel 22:36)), to the person of heretics, who, with composed speech, have fashioned beautiful and attractive, and, so to speak, golden images, and worship the works of their own hands, and promise themselves an image under the form of cows for agriculture, it is said to them: Seek the Lord and live, the one who says: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:16): so that after they have walked in him and found the truth, then those who were previously dead may begin to live. And if they do not do this, they will be burned by the fires of the devil, and no one will be able to be found from their leaders who have themselves been consumed by the heretical fire, who can extinguish the devouring flame of all, especially Bethel, which assumes for itself the false name of the house of God.

(Verse 8 onwards) You who turn judgment into wormwood and abandon righteousness on earth, who makes the Bear and Orion, who turns darkness into morning and darkens day into night. He who calls the waters of the sea and pours them out on the face of the earth: His name is the Lord. He who laughs at destruction, bringing devastation upon the strong. The One who brings judgment from on high and establishes justice on earth; the One who does all things, who transforms and turns the shadow of death into morning and darkens day into night. He who calls the water of the sea, and pours it out upon the face of the earth: The Lord is his name. He who brings destruction upon strongholds, and brings misery upon fortresses. In this place, the Hebrew truth diverges greatly from the Vulgate edition, as the discerning reader immediately understands without our prompting. Therefore, let us first explain according to the Hebrews, and then what seems to us in the translation of the Septuagint, if we are worthy of Christ revealing it to us. Let us say, the house of Joseph, that is, the house of Ephraim, and through this, the royal house, and Bethel, or as the Septuagint translated, the house of Israel, that is, both kings and peoples, worshippers and idols alike will be overthrown, who have provoked God to anger with their unjust judgment. And they turned the sweetness of judgment into the bitterness of wormwood, which is a type of very bitter herb, taking up wickedness, and abandoning justice. Now what is this justice, the following verse shows: The one who makes the Bear and Orion, and turns darkness into morning, and transforms day into night. Of whom it was said above: He who forms the mountains and creates the wind, and announces his word to man, making the morning mist, and walking on the highest points of the earth: The Lord God of hosts is his name, he is the Creator of the Bear, which in Hebrew is called Chima (חִימָה), and in Symmachus and Theodotion it is translated as Pleiades. It is commonly known as Boötes: and what follows, Orion, which in Hebrew is called Chasil (חָסִיל), Symmachus interprets as absolute stars, Theodotion as the evening. However, the Hebrew, who has taught us in the holy Scriptures, thinks that Chasil should be interpreted as splendor, and generally signify shining stars. But when we hear about Arcturus and Orion, we should not follow the fables of poets, and the ridiculous and monstrous lies, with which they even try to defame the heavens and place the wages of prostitution among the stars, saying (Aeneid. book I and III):

Arcturus, the rainy Hyades, and the twin Bears: And Orion armed with gold looks upon them. But the Hebrew names, which are called differently among them, have been translated into the words of the mythological Gentiles into our language, which we cannot understand what is said, except through those words which we have learned and absorbed through usage and error. Hence, in the book of Kings, they have rendered the Hebrew word Raphaim into Greek as 'titans': which is a famous tale among the pagans, from which they write about the battle of the giants, and the Typhoean weapons, and the mountain of Etna placed on Enceladus, from whose movement Trinacria trembles. But this is the God, the creator of all things, who makes the Bear and Orion, who changes night into day and day into night, and nurtures the most bitter waters of the sea with ethereal heat, and distills them into the sweet taste of rain, like a medicinal gourd, which, by the heat of the higher circle, draws up moisture and blood aloft: from which we learn where the rains come from. And what follows: Who smiles upon vastness over strength, turns back to the present time, and there is order: Who is the creator of all things, also threatens captivity upon Samaria, and brings depopulation upon the mighty: for he turns judgment into wormwood, and leaves justice on the earth. Where we said, 'he who smiles,' Aquila interpreted as 'the one who smiles.' Properly, however, it is called 'a smirk,' which we can refer to as a smile when someone is angry, and with slightly parted lips pretends to smile in order to show the magnitude of their anger. Let us also say according to the Septuagint: 'God judges from on high when He judges the truth, and He renders to each one according to his deeds.' And everyone who desires to be an imitator and a son of His, and to be perfect just as His Father is perfect, who dwells in heaven (Matt. V), judges from on high and does not imitate that judge who did not fear God and did not respect man, and with a perverse judgment did not elevate his sentence to heaven but rather lowered it to the lowest levels (Luke XV). And what follows: and He has placed justice on earth, according to that which we must accept, that Christ has given us His righteousness, and has not rejected it: but has laid it on the earth, so that, with all iniquity overcome, He might make us heavenly from earthly. I think from this passage even a pagan poet has stolen, who, while expounding on the simplicity and blessedness of country folk, introduced.

Justice, surpassing the limits of the Earth, made its extreme footprints through them. And what they say, that He does everything and transforms everything, in one word they comprehend Arcturus and Orion, neglecting the proper names in Greek translation. But God transforms everything when He makes heavenly things from earthly ones, and bestows upon human beings the likeness of angels: when the moon shines with the brightness of the sun, and the sun has sevenfold light, when the animalistic, weak, and corruptible human is transformed into a spiritual, robust, and incorruptible being, changing glory but not nature: when the intelligent ones will shine like the splendor of the firmament, and what is written will be fulfilled: One glory of the sun, another glory of the moon, another glory of the stars. For star differs from star in brightness; so also is the resurrection of the dead (1 Corinthians 15:41). For when every creature shall be freed from the slavery of corruption into the liberty of the glory of the children of God. This is the God who transforms all things, also changing the shadow of death into light (Luke 1); for when those who sat in darkness and the shadow of death saw a great light, and those who were the children of night and darkness became the children of light and the children of day. This is God who also turns day into darkness: their day who said: Crucify, crucify him (John XIX, 6), remove such a person from the earth: when from the sixth hour the day turned into the darkness of Jewish blindness. And not only literally, but also according to a higher understanding, the light that rose for them in the Law and the prophets, turned into darkness, ignorant of what they read, what they heard, so that what was written about them may be fulfilled: Let their eyes be darkened so that they may not see: and their backs be constantly bent (Psalm LXVIII, 24). This God calls the water of the sea to Himself, and pours it out upon the surface of the earth, making the righteous out of sinners. To illustrate this, let us put forth just one example to emphasize brevity. The Apostle Paul, like a turbulent and fierce storm, pursued the raging waves of the sea and endeavored to oppress the Church of God. But when he was called by the Lord, he was poured out upon the entire surface of the earth to preach the Gospel from Jerusalem to Illyricum, and to build not upon another foundation where it had already been preached (Rom. XV); but rather to extend as far as Spain, and to run from the Red Sea, or rather from one ocean to another, imitating his Lord and the sun of righteousness, of whom we read: His going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit unto the ends of it (Ps. XIX, 6), so that the earth would grow faint before him before his zeal for preaching. This God divides contrition over strength, so that he may make those who are strong in a bad way weak, and they may imitate the Apostle saying: When I am weak, then I am stronger (2 Cor. XII). For even the children of this world are wiser than the children of light in their generation (Luke XXVI). The strength of the body is weakness of the soul, and again the strength of the soul is weakness of the body. Therefore, the Lord, who dispenses all things by reason and truly does all things by judgment, divides contrition over the strong enemy, so that he may bring misery upon the fortification which he erected against the knowledge of God. Regarding this, we read in Proverbs: The wise man enters fortified cities and destroys the stronghold in which the wicked have put their trust (Prov. XXI, 22). This applies to all worldly strength, but it specifically applies to heretics who try to strengthen the falsehood of their doctrines with arguments, sophisms, and dialectical art. However, the wise man destroys it and with the help of God's aid, shows that all these fortifications are utterly vain, in order to bring misery upon them and, with their pride humbled, they can say with the Apostle: 'Wretched man that I am! Who will deliver me from this body of death?' (Rom. VII, 24).

(Verse 10) They hated the one who reproves at the gate, and they abhor the one who speaks truthfully. LXX: They hated the one who reproves at the gates, and they abhorred the holy word. These are the ones whom God derides with devastation and brings upon them destruction. They hate the one who reproves at the gate, that is, in judgment: either me, or other prophets who were sent to them, speaking truthfully or the flawless word, as Symmachus interpreted, or the holy speech, as Theodotion and the LXX translated. But at the gate, according to the ancient Jewish custom, there were judgments of the people, as we often read and frequently interpret, so that neither a farmer coming to court would be terrified by the crowded city and the new appearance, nor a dweller of the city would hurry far from the city and seek transportation for his livestock. This we have said according to the literal meaning. However, it is a great sin to hate someone who corrects, especially if they correct out of love and not out of hatred, if it is done in private to private, if with the inclusion of another brother, if afterwards in the presence of the Church, so that it may not seem like the accusation is made to detract from you but to bring forth the accusation for your improvement (Matthew 18). We often read in the Scriptures about the two gates, of death and of life, of vices and virtues, as in the Psalms: 'You have lifted me up from the gates of death, that I may declare all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion' (Isaiah 9:16). There is no doubt that it signifies the Church, the lofty mountain of Zion, and the city of the living God, heavenly Jerusalem, and the multitude of angels, and the early Church, who are enrolled in heaven. He who has been exalted in the gates of Zion will not be able to fear the gates of death, of which the Lord spoke to Peter: Upon this rock I will build my Church, and the gates of hell shall not prevail against it (Matt. XVI, 18). Clearly in another psalm we learn about the gates of virtue: Open to me the gates of righteousness: I will go into them and give thanks unto the Lord. This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter into it (Ps. XVII, 19). And finally, Wisdom, confident in the gates of the city, said: As long as the innocent possess justice, they shall not be confounded (Sap. VI, 11). I consider the gates of the city, that is, the souls of believers in Christ, to be virtues, through which Christ enters into believers. And because it is not written in which gates they hate the one who rebukes, whether in the wicked or in the good, we refer to both. The prophet accuses sinners standing at the gates of vices, and for this reason he is held in detestation by them. Or certainly the prophet himself stands at the gates and beginnings of virtues, and he is hated by those whom he rebukes, and it is not enough for sinners to hate the one who rebukes at the gates, unless they also abhor the holy word that is spoken from his mouth. For whoever does not receive the prophet does not receive the one who sent him (Matt. X). But if the holy word, or he who spoke perfectly, they abominated (moreover, the holy word is the Lord Jesus, of whom it is said: You will not allow your holy one to see corruption (Ps. XV, 10)), all the Jews saying anathema to Jesus, they abhor the word of God, which is both perfect and holy and immaculate. For the abomination of the sinner is piety. Whatever we have said about the Jews can be applied equally to the Gentiles and to heretics, all of whom abhor the holy Scriptures, in which the word of God is found. Some of them, while perversely interpreting what they read, place abomination in the House of God.

(Verse 11 and following) Therefore, because you plundered the poor and took the choice spoil from them, you will build houses of cut stone but not live in them. You will plant pleasant vineyards but not drink their wine, for I know your many crimes and powerful sins, you who oppress the righteous and take bribes, and push aside the needy in the gate. Therefore, the wise will be silent in that time, for it is an evil time. LXX: Therefore, because you struck the poor with fists, and took from them choice gifts, you built houses with hewn stones, but will not live in them. You planted desirable vineyards, but will not drink their wine; for I know your many wicked acts and your mighty sins: trampling the righteous, accepting bribes, and turning away the poor at the gates. Therefore, those who have understanding will keep silent at that time, for it is an evil time. Lest perhaps Israel might think that they were delivered to punishment by the enemies only for idolatry, he joins other things which he committed, having lost the religion of truth. 'You were ravaging,' he says, 'the poor so that you could take from him who scarcely had necessary food, and whatever precious and beautiful things you saw, you handed them over to your own uses. And from the price of those things which you were seizing and taking from the poor, you built houses with squared stone, so that by despoiling men, you could clothe walls with marble, which, because you built them from plunder, and not only a dwelling and a roof, which human weakness requires, but also beauty and delights, you prepared them suddenly for captivity or death, you will not dwell in them.' You have also planted very loving vineyards for future drinks, and you do not drink wine from them, because I know all your sins and crimes, and strong sins that provoke my wrath. You are enemies of justice, all of you who accept gifts and oppress the poor in judgment. Therefore, the poor and wise person, when he sees the judge who redeems him, will be silent in that time, because it is an evil time. Certainly, it should be understood in this way: what profit is there now in enumerating your sins, since there is already no remedy, and the enemy army surrounds the walls of your cities? We can also say this about heretics, who plunder the poor or strike his head with a raised hand, for this is what κατεκονδύλιζον means in Greek, according to what we read above, striking the head of the poor. For heretics do not strike anyone except the poor, who cannot withstand the threat: not in other members, but in the main part, the heart, and in the truth of faith. I consider them poor who, relying on simple faith alone, are unable to respond to the malice of heretics. And whatever good works they have prepared for the gifts of God, they will lose in the time of battle and struggle unless they resist their adversaries. Those adversaries, on the other hand, build homes for themselves through the composition and structure of words, in order to remain safe and secure. But they will not dwell in them, for they will be destroyed and overthrown by men of the Church. And they not only build houses, but also plant most loving and desirable vineyards, so that they may imitate the mysteries of Christ; but they do not drink wine from them, except what is the unstoppable fury of dragons. For the Lord expected these vineyards to bear fruit, and they brought forth not grapes, but thorns and briars: not judgment, but outcry, with which they blaspheme against their God with insane mouths. Therefore, they will not dwell in their houses, and they will not drink the wine of the vineyards they have planted, because the Lord has known many of their wickednesses. Here, knowledge is to be understood not according to what we read elsewhere: The Lord knows those who are his (2 Tim. 2:19), but according to the fact that nothing is hidden from God, and he knows all the secrets of sinners. 'I have known', he says, 'many impious acts: which are not only many, but also strong and oppressive, trampling on justice itself, or on the one who is just. And you receive, he says, a payment: for which all likewise transferred propitiation: we have said gift; but according to the language of the Scriptures, price is called 'ἄλλαγμα', which we also read in the Gospel: But what shall a man give in exchange for his soul? (Matt. 16:26)? Even the poor have turned aside at the gates: or as Symmachus interpreted, they have oppressed, so that they could sell judgments contrary to the truth of the law by means of bribes, falling into that which is written: Gifts blind even the eyes of the wise (Deut. XVI, 19). This is what heretics accept, so that they can turn the severity of the Scriptures, which threaten torment to sinners, into blessings; and while they promise prosperity to the rich, they are only harsh and severe with the poor. Therefore, when a knowledgeable and wise ecclesiastical man recognizes many impieties in what is called the house of God, and not only many, but also strong ones that can suppress justice, and the madness of scholars has gone so far that they accept bribes in court and do everything for gifts, and they also avoid the poor at the gates and disdain to hear them, let him be silent at that time, lest he give the holy to dogs, and cast pearls before swine (Matt. 7), who, when converted, will trample them and imitate Jeremiah saying: I was alone, for I am filled with bitterness (Jer. 15:17). And that in the Psalms: I am alone until I pass by (Is. 140:10).

(Vers. 14, 15.) Seek good, and not evil, so that you may live, and the Lord God of hosts will be with you as you said: Hate evil, and love good, and establish justice in the gates, perhaps the Lord God of hosts will have mercy on the remnant of Joseph. LXX: Seek good, and not evil, so that you may live, and the Lord God almighty will be with you, as you said: We have hated evil and loved good, and establish justice in the gates, so that the Lord God may have mercy on those who remain from Joseph. You say that God is with you because you are children of Abraham; listen to what follows: If you are Abraham's children, do the works of your father. What are the works of your father Abraham? Love what is good, and not what is evil. It is a great sin, not only to do evil, but also to love it. Many sin, and when the heat of desire is fulfilled, their conscience bites them, and they regret their sin. But there are those who not only do not feel sorry for doing what is evil, but they also boast in their wickedness, fulfilling what is written: When a sinner comes into the depths of impiety, he despises it. Seek good, therefore, and not evil. For if you seek good, in seeking good, you immediately repel evil. However, you would never seek good unless you had first repelled evil, fulfilling the words of the Psalmist saying: Turn away from evil, and do good (Ps. XXXVI, 27). And when you seek good and avoid evil, then you will live in him who says: I am the life (John XIV, 6). He seeks good who believes in him who speaks in the Gospel: I am the good shepherd (Ibid., X, 11). He who flees from evil repels it, of whom it is written: The world is placed in wickedness (1 John 5:16). And in the Lord's Prayer he says: Deliver us from evil (Matthew 6:13). And when you seek good and not evil, and live, then the Lord God of hosts will be with you, as you have said, because you are descendants of Abraham. It is not enough to seek good and not seek evil, unless you have ἐπιείκησιν in both, so that you first hate evil, then love good. He hates evil, who is not overcome by pleasure alone, but he hates the works of pleasure: and he loves good, who does what is good not unwillingly, or out of necessity, or out of fear of the laws; but rather because it is good, so that he may have the reward of good work in his own conscience, and the love that he possesses for good. Therefore the Apostle says: 'God loves a cheerful giver' (2 Corinthians 9). For not every act of charity pleases God, unless it is offered with cheerfulness. And when you hate evil and love good, establish justice at the gates, of which it is said above, so that, with iniquity expelled, truth may return. And if you do this, perhaps the Lord God Almighty will have mercy on the remnants of Joseph from the tribe of Ephraim and the ten tribes, and they will be able to escape captivity. All these things can be applied to heretics, so that, leaving behind the error they have fabricated, they may return to the Church and hate their former doctrines, and love in the Church of the Lord the truth, and exercise true judgement at the gates of vices and virtues, leaving those behind and passing to these, and may hope for mercy those who have been able to escape from the jaws of the devil. By changing the order according to the LXX, the reading of this chapter can be made clearer: Just as you said, we have hated evil and loved good, so seek good and not evil, that you may live, and may the Lord God Almighty be with you, and bring justice in the gates, so that the Lord God Almighty may have mercy on the remnant of Joseph.

(Verse 16, 17.) Therefore, thus says the Lord God of hosts, the ruler: In all the streets there will be lamentation, and in all the public squares people will say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ They will summon the farmer to mourning and those skilled in lamentation to lament. And in all the vineyards there will be lamentation, for I will pass through your midst, says the Lord. LXX: Therefore, thus says the Lord God Almighty: In all the streets there will be lamentation, and in all the roads people will say, ‘Alas! Alas!’ The farmer will be called to mourning, and those who know lamentation to lament, and in all the streets there will be lamentation: for I will pass through the midst of you, says the Lord. I have commanded you to seek good, and not evil, so that you may live, and the Lord God of hosts will be with you. And again I say (lest you say you were only warned once): Hate evil, and love good, and restore justice in the gates; those who hated the one who rebuked in the gate, let the Lord have mercy on the rest of Joseph; and because you refused to do so, trampling on my commandments and turning against me, a turning away shoulder: therefore the Lord God Almighty, who is the Lord of hosts, says this: everywhere there is lamentation, everywhere there is mourning. The farmers will be called to mourn, and those who know the customs of the province will be called to incite tears, so that there will be mourning and lamentation not in all the streets, as was said above, but in the vineyards; where once there was material for joy, let it be the origin of tears. And all these things will happen, because I will pass through, says the Lord. The Hebrew word, 'I will pass through', which in their language is called Evor (), whenever it is used in the Holy Scriptures in the person of God, is to be understood as punishment, so that it may not remain among them; but let it pass through and leave. And in other places according to the interpretation of Aquila, when God is angry, He calls His fury and wrath 'ἀνυπερθεσία', which can all be applied to heretics, because they have refused to do both what is right and what is just, so there will be mourning in all their streets. For the wide and spacious road leads to destruction (Matthew 7); and each heretic and gentile has their own streets in their sand and fantasies, to which it is subsequently added: 'Woe, woe' will be said about everything that is outside. For those who are in the Church do not listen, which is the ultimate punishment; but if perhaps they have sinned, lamentation will be taken upon them. Therefore, however, it will be said outside or in all ways, woe, woe: because they do not have one way that leads to life, and which is the royal way, but crooked and perverse, and deviating to the right and to the left, while they do not hear the Lord saying: Do not be too righteous. And: The ways that are on the left are perverse. And they encounter a twofold woe, of the flesh and of the spirit, of the present age and of the future. When, on the other hand, ecclesiastics hear: Rejoice, I say again, rejoice (Philip. IV, 4). But even the farmer is called to mourning (for heretics indeed have their farmers, in whose fields thistles and thorns grow), and those who know how to lament are called to mourn, either for their own sins or for the sins of others; although we can take these things in a good sense, so that the man of the Church, powerful to provoke penance, may imitate his Lord saying: We have lamented, and you have not mourned (Luc. VII, 32), and let him mourn for the heretics, as King Saul of Israel once mourned for Samuel (I Reg. XV). And the Apostle says that he mourns over those who have not repented (II Cor. XII). And in all vineyards there will be lamentation, because the vineyards of Sodom are their vineyards. And for the wine of joy, which gladdens the heart of man, they have brought the wine of dragons and the incurable rage of asps. And all these things they will suffer; for the Lord will pass through their midst, so that he does not dwell among them, nor say: I will dwell in them, and walk among them. And behold, I am with you all days even to the consummation of the age. (Matthew 28:20)

(Verse 18-20.) Woe to those who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for it? That day will be darkness, not light. It will be as though a man fled from a lion only to meet a bear, as though he entered his house and rested his hand on the wall only to have a snake bite him. Will not the day of the Lord be darkness, not light— pitch-dark, without a ray of brightness? Woe to those who long for the day of the Lord! Why do you long for the day of the Lord? And this is darkness, and not light. As if a man should flee from the face of a lion, and a bear should meet him: or enter into the house, and lean with his hand upon the wall, and a serpent should bite him. Shall not the day of the Lord be darkness, and not light? and obscurity, and no brightness in it? Lest the tribe of Juda be thought to neglect men of his own stock, and to confer the speech of prophecy upon the ten tribes: Thou also shalt go to the king against Babylon, and shalt speak to him: There are gathered together all the kings of the earth against Jerusalem: how art thou fallen, thou virgin, daughter of Babylon, to be destroyed? Shall not day overtake thee suddenly, and thou perish with the sword? For there is not so much evil in the injury of captivity, as there is good in the things which the Lord promises after captivity: to which the prophet replied that it is in vain for them to wait for what will happen a long time after, in the coming of the Son of God after seventy years of captivity in Babylon, which will be followed by devastation, poverty, and countless miseries. For, he says, when those fleeing from the face of Nebuchadnezzar meet Assuerus, under whom the story of Esther is narrated, or when the empire of the Assyrians and Chaldeans is destroyed, the Medes and Persians will rise up. And when, during the reign of Cyrus, you returned, and at the command of Darius began to build the house of the Lord, and you placed all your trust in the temple, so that you may find rest in it and weary hands may rest upon its walls, then Alexander, the king of the Macedonians, also known as Antiochus Epiphanes, will come and dwell in the temple and will bite you like a snake, not outside in Babylon and Susa, but within the borders of the holy land (or yours). By these things it is proven that the day which you desire is not one of light and joy, but of darkness and sorrow. We have briefly stated these things according to history, so as not to completely leave the opinion of the Jews untouched. However, there is no doubt that all of our people understand the day of darkness, the day of judgment, about which Sophonias also writes: The great day of the Lord is near, it is also very swift: the voice of the day of the Lord is bitter and harsh (Sophon. I, 14). And Isaiah says: Behold, the day of the Lord comes, a day of incurable rage and wrath, to make the earth a desolation and to destroy sinners from it (Is. XIII, 9). At the same time, the confidence of the proud is shaken, who, in order to appear just in the eyes of men, usually wait for the day of judgment and say: Would that the Lord would come, that we may be allowed to be dissolved and be with Christ (Phil. I), imitating the Pharisee who spoke in the Gospel (Lk. XVIII, 11, 12): God, I give thanks to you, because I am not like other men, robbers, unjust, adulterers, and like this tax collector. They fast twice on the Sabbath: they give tithes of all that they possess. For from this very thing, because they long for the day of the Lord and do not fear it, they are judged worthy of punishment, because there is no one without sin among men, and the stars are unclean before him (Job 25). And he concluded all things under sin, so that he might have mercy on all (Galatians 3). Therefore, since no one can judge the judgment of God, and we will also have to give an account of every idle word (Matthew 12): and Job offered sacrifices daily for his children, lest perhaps they might think anything perverse against the Lord (Job 1), what audacity is it to hear among the Corinthians: You reign without us (I Corinthians 4, 8): and I wish you did reign, that we also might reign with you. Certainly, if their own conscience did not prick them, they ought to imitate Paul saying: 'Who is scandalized, and I am not on fire?' (2 Cor. 2:29) and to be concerned for all, so that, as lovers of themselves, they may not desire the torments of others, as if they themselves were the rulers, just as someone would want their homeland and city to be destroyed so that they alone may enjoy the friendship of the victors. We often say in times of distress and tribulation: 'Oh, if only it were allowed for me to depart from this body and be liberated from the miseries of this world', not knowing that as long as we are in this flesh, we have a place for repentance; but if we depart, we will hear that of the Prophet: 'But who will confess to you in hell?' (Ps. 6:6). This is the sadness of the world, which leads to death, as the Apostle does not want to perish the one who has fornicated with his father's wife (I Cor. V), as Judas perished unfortunate, who connected betrayal and murder with even greater sadness (Matth. XXVII), and murder worse than all other murders: so that where he thought to find a remedy, and death to be an end to his troubles, there he would find a lion and a bear and a snake. By these names it seems to me that either different punishments are being signified, or the devil himself, who is rightly called lion and bear and snake. And when we think that Isaiah says: Go, my people, into your chambers; shut the door, hide yourself for a little while, until the wrath of the Lord passes (Isa. XXVI, 20), and be as if in our house, as if resting in hell: then the snake will bite us, which in this place is called Nahas, and in Job is called Leviathan. We learn more fully about its nature and terror in the very volume itself. However, in the darkness and shadows that are contrary to light and splendor, the diversity of torments is explained.

(Verses 21, 22.) I hated and rejected your feasts, and I will not take the smell of your heavens. But if you bring me burnt offerings and your gifts, I will not accept them, and I will not look at the fat of your animals. LXX: I have hated and rejected your feasts, and I will not be pleased with your assemblies. And if you bring me burnt offerings and sacrifices, I will not receive them, and I will not look upon the pleasantness of your presence: This is specifically said against the tribe of Judah, and those who had migrated from Israel for the ceremonies of God, and yet did not depart from the high places, and worshipped idols, and defiled the sacrifices of God with the magnitude of their sins. For I never said concerning the oblations of the calves, which they offered in Dan and Bethel: If you offer to me holocausts and your offerings, I will not accept them. But God hates and not only hates, but also has cast away their festivals, those who flee from the lion and fall into the bear, and enter the house and are bitten by the serpent, because they do not celebrate the festivals of God, but their own festivals, says the Lord: I hate and have cast away your festivals. And it does not receive the assembly of such men, nor does it have a fragrance of good scent, and it abhors all their gifts, and it does not regard the richest offerings. Indeed, this happens not only to the people of that time, but also to us, if we commit similar offenses, and think that we can offer to God the gains from robberies and perjuries and wicked deeds, and redeem our sins, when we have read that Zacchaeus restored fourfold whatever he had stolen and offered half of his well-acquired possessions (Luke 19). For one could not offer what was wrongfully acquired in the gifts of God, unless one first returned it to its rightful owners, and afterwards fulfilled what is written: Honor the Lord with your just labors (Prov. III, 9); and: The redemption of a man's soul is his own riches (Prov. XIII, 8): for God does not accept the vows of a prostitute's earnings (Deut. XXIII). On the contrary, the just one can say: Let my prayer be directed as incense in your sight (Psal. CXL, 2). The speech of Judas, the traitor, was turned into sin: for it did not have a good odor; but it spoke through actions: 'My wounds have become foul and corrupt, because of my foolishness' (Psalm 38:6). All of this can also be said about heretics, who while fleeing from a lion, run into a bear, and upon entering a house which they think is the Church of God, they lean on walls which they themselves made, and they are bitten by a serpent. Darkness and gloom take away their light and day, so that tangible darkness surrounds them, and their beginnings are destroyed. God hates their sacrifices, and distances himself from them, and whenever they are gathered in the name of the Lord, he detests their stench and closes his nostrils. To hate, to distance oneself, and to not smell, is spoken in the likeness of human language, so that we may understand the attitude of God through our words. And if they offer burnt offerings, or appear to fast, or give alms, or promise chastity, which are true sacrifices, the Lord does not accept those, nor does he deem worthy to look at their fattest offerings. For God judges not the greatness of sacrifices, but the merits and reasons of those who offer them. Hence, the widow who in the Gospel (Luke 21) gave two small coins as an offering is preferred by the Savior over those who believed they were offering the fattest vows and the choicest sacrifices, when in reality they were giving very little, since she had given everything she had. These things are said more clearly and truly after the coming of the Lord to the Jewish people, who, with the temple and altar destroyed, believe they are offering sacrifices, which God abhors and rejects their festivals, and does not accept the aroma of their assembly when they gather and say, 'Crucify him, crucify him' (John 19:6) and 'His blood be on us and on our children' (Matthew 27:25). And if they offer holocausts in synagogues, and gifts in the councils of Satan, and the richest vows, the Lord does not regard them, just as He did not regard the gifts of Cain (Genesis IV). Those who worship the one true God and offer rightly, yet they are not regarded because they do not acknowledge the confession of the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. But our offerings, that is, the Church, which we offer from our first fruits, are regarded by God, just as He once regarded the sacrifices of Abel.

(Verse 24) And judgment will be revealed like water, and justice like a strong torrent. LXX: And it will roll like water, and justice like an impassable torrent. Just as water, when it flows downhill, uncovers what it previously covered and exposes it to the eyes of all, so will the judgment and justice of God, which once judged His own people, be revealed to all, and it will be carried like the strongest torrent. Whatever it seizes, it drags along with it, and it does not allow anything to stand in its way. But the judgment of the wicked is tossed like water according to the Septuagint; for it does not stand in one opinion, but is carried about by every wind of doctrine, condemning what it had once approved, and considering what it had formerly praised as worthless. Their justifications are compared not to pure and clear springs and rivers, but to turbid and muddy torrents, which do not have their own waters, but collect them from rocks, cliffs, and brambles. Whoever wishes to cross them will immediately be seized and thrown headlong, and with his feet overthrown, will not be able to say: He established my feet upon a rock (Ps. 123:5). For he will walk upon the sands, which do not have a foundation, and when he will be in danger, he will speak according to the Hebrews: A torrent has passed over my soul (Ps. 39:3). On the contrary, the judgments of the just are firm and unchanging, not flowing like water, and justice does not rush like an impassable torrent: The thoughts of the just are judgments (Prov. XII, 5).

(Verse 25 and following) Did you offer to Me sacrifices and offerings in the wilderness for forty years, O house of Israel? You also took along the tabernacle of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the images which you made for yourselves. Therefore I will exile you beyond Damascus, says the Lord, whose name is the God of hosts. LXX: Did you offer to Me sacrifices and victims in the desert for forty years, O house of Israel, and take up the tabernacle of Melchom and the star of your god Repham, the figures of them which you made for yourselves. And I will transfer you beyond Damascus, says the Lord: God almighty is his name. From this place we learn that all the sacrifices and offerings that Israel made in the desert were not offered to God, but to their king Moloch, whose tabernacles they carried and worshiped the image of their idols and statues. And in the following statement, it shows what this image or idol is: The star of your God, which is called Chocab in Hebrew, that is, Lucifer, whom the Saracens have been worshiping until now. For what reason did the Lord make them migrate across Damascus, that is, to the Assyrians and Chaldeans: his omnipotence is demonstrated by the fact that he is the Lord God of hosts. We ask why they did not offer sacrifices and offerings to God in the desert; but to their king, whom they call Lucifer? From the time they transformed gold into the head of a calf, saying: These are your gods, Israel, who brought you out of the land of Egypt (Exod. III, 24), it is shown that everything they did was not for God, but for idols. And what we read afterwards that they offered certain things to the Lord, they did not do so willingly but out of fear of punishment, and by the killing of those who fell because of idols. But the Lord does not look at what is offered, but at the will of the one offering. Finally, wherever the opportunity arose, they always turned back in their hearts to Egypt, desiring garlic and onions, and cucumbers and Egyptian meat, and despising the manna that was given from heaven (Numbers 11). To understand this, let us turn to the story told by the first martyr of the Gospel, Stephen, worthy of his name, in the Acts of the Apostles: 'And they made a calf in those days, and offered a sacrifice to the idol, and rejoiced in the works of their hands. But God turned and delivered them up to serve the host of heaven, as it is written in the book of the Prophets: Did you offer victims and sacrifices to me for forty years in the desert, O house of Israel?' And you took up the tent of Moloch and the star of your god Rephan, the figures that you made to worship; and I will send you into exile beyond Babylon. It should not be thought that the first martyr erred, who, because it is written in the prophet: 'Beyond Damascus,' said 'beyond Babylon.' For he placed more emphasis on understanding than on the exact word, because they were led from Damascus to Babylon, or beyond Babylon. But in that place where Luke put Μολὸχ, and it is written in Hebrew as Melchechem (): Aquila and LXX translated Μολχὸμ: Symmachus and Theodotio, for your kings. Also, for what is read in the Septuagint as Rephan; Aquila and Symmachus translating the Hebrew itself, they put Chion (), Theodotio 'amaŭrōsin', that is, darkness. Again, for Sochoth (), Aquila 'syskiasmoùs', that is, tabernacles: Symmachus and Septuagint, tabernacle: Theodotio translated it as vision. And this is to be observed in all holy Scriptures, that the apostles and apostolic men, in laying down testimonies from the Old Testament, do not consider the words but the meaning: nor do they follow the same paths of words, as long as they do not depart from the intended sense. But whatever is said literally against the Jewish people, all of this is to be referred to those who worship idols under the name of Christ, and who fabricate corrupt doctrines for themselves, carrying the tabernacle of their king, the devil, and the image of their statues and idols. For they do not worship one idol; but for the variety of teaching, they worship different gods, and the star of their god (2 Corinthians XI). He, being the angel of Satan, transforms himself into an angel of light, and falls from heaven like lightning (Luke X), and Antichrist imitates Christ. And he beautifully introduced what you have made for yourselves. For they have not received these things from God, but have imagined them in their own minds. Therefore, the Lord will cause them to migrate across Damascus, so that they do not drink the blood of the Lord, but go to Babylon, and listen to the prophet: A golden cup Babylon, intoxicating all nations (Jeremiah LI, 7). For Damascus, as we have often said, signifies drinking blood, or the blood of Cilicia, so that through penance we may be moved to drink the blood of the Lord.

(Chapter 6, Verse 1) Woe to those who are rich in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the nations, who enter pompously into the house of Israel. The Septuagint version says: Woe to those who despise Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, they have gathered the first fruits of the nations for themselves. The prophet's words are directed primarily to those who are the nobles and rulers in both peoples, and who indulge in the luxuries as an example of the rich man dressed in purple, who delighted in feasting and was so filled with pride that he disdained to even look at Lazarus, covered with sores at his gate, and would not give him even the scraps from his table (Luke 16). These are the heads of the people who trust in riches, and are wealthy in Zion, and have confidence in the mountain of Samaria, and enter triumphantly into the house of Israel, to show the swelling of their hearts and appear to be like the pompous feasts. According to the laws of tropology and the Septuagint interpreters, Zion refers to the Church, of which we read: He who lifts me up from the gate of death, that I may declare all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Psalm 9:15). But Mount Samaria, because of the pride and arrogance of the custodians of God's commandments, is understood to be about heretics who despise the Church; for God chose the weak of the world to confound the strong, and the foolish to destroy the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent (1 Corinthians 1). These have harvested the first fruits of the nations, to introduce them under the Christian name into their winepresses, where grapes are not crushed, but lost; where must is not expressed, but venom is. And they entered for themselves. Beautifully, he said to himself: for they did not enter for God, but they entered for themselves. Otherwise, they would have left for God, as they depart from the Church. And what follows, the House of Israel, according to the Septuagint, should be read at the beginning of the next chapter; according to the Hebrews, at the end of this chapter, which we have explained.

(Vers. 2 seqq.) Go through Chalane, and see: and from there go to great Emath, and descend to Geth of the Philistines: to the best of their kingdoms, if their boundary is wider than your boundary. You who are separated on the day of evil, and approach the throne of wickedness. You who sleep on ivory beds, and indulge in your own beds: you who eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the middle of the herd: you who sing to the sound of the harp. Just as David thought he had the vessels of a song, drinking wine in cups, and they were anointed with the finest oil, and they did not suffer from the sorrow of Joseph. LXX: House of Israel, all of you pass over and see in Chalane, and pass through there to Emath Rabba, and descend to the best of the foreign Geth in all these kingdoms, if their boundaries are greater than your boundaries, you who come on an evil day, who approach and touch the lies of the Sabbath. You who sleep on ivory beds, and overflow with delights in your couches, and eat young goats from the flocks, and suckle calves from the midst of the herds, who make noise at the sound of the organ: as if they considered themselves stable, and not fleeting; you who drink refined wine, and anoint yourselves with the finest ointments, and do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Pass over all of you to Chalane, which is now called Ctesiphon, and pass over all. Who are these people? Both of those mentioned above: the nobles, the leaders of the people, and those of you who are wealthy in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria. Therefore, go to the city of Persis, and pay close attention, and from there, go to the great city of Emath, which is now called Antioch. It is called great, to distinguish it from the smaller Emath, which is called Epiphania. And to this day, for those traveling to Mesopotamia, the first stop is called Emmas, although the name has been corrupted; but it retains traces of its original name, whose region is called Reblatha, in which, in the presence of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Judah (or Judea), the sons were killed, and his eyes were blinded. And descend, he says, into Gath of the Philistines (2 Kings 25). You who dwell on Mount Zion and Mount Samaria, descend to the Philistines who dwell in the plains, and to the best of their kingdoms, which are subject to different cities: Gaza and Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath. And see if their territory is wider than yours, whether you or they possess the larger provinces. You, I say, you from the people of Israel, who are separated for the day of evil, namely the day of captivity, and approaching the throne of wickedness, going to the unjust judge, the king of Babylon. For those who are about to suffer these things, you now sleep on ivory beds and indulge in soft cushions, so that you may unite desire with sleep. For you do not eat to drive away hunger and sustain the human body, but for pleasure and luxury, so that whatever is tender and fat in herds and flocks may serve your gluttonous appetites. Your desires are not satisfied with the pleasures of sex, throat, and drink, but you must also soothe your ears with the songs of flutes, harps, and lyres, imitating what David did in the worship of God (1 Chronicles 23-26), finding the variations of the Levitical orders and instruments, you indulge in pleasure and luxury. And you drink wine from goblets, not to quench your thirst, but to intoxicate your mind. And you anoint yourselves, not to soothe the fatigue of the body, with pure oil, but with precious ointments. And when you are filled with these things, if you see any of the people perishing, you have no mercy on their suffering, but you treat them like dumb animals, and you allow them to perish in their own blood. This same sentiment is also expressed by the prophet Ezekiel in the example of the shepherds: They consume the milk of the sheep and clothe themselves with their wool, and they devour whatever is best, and they do not heal the wounded, nor mend the broken, nor seek out those who are perishing. Let us transfer all the things we have said according to the history, according to the Septuagint interpreters, to the allegory of the clouds. O house of Israel, you who have departed from me, who trust in the mountain of Samaria, who have harvested the firstfruits of the nations, go beyond and see, and proceed to many walls. For this is the interpretation of Emath Rabba: and then descend gently into the presses of those who fall while drinking. For Geth and the Philistines resound with this. And consider all things, especially the best (or all) kingdoms, or the best cities among all kingdoms; and consider if their boundaries are more numerous than yours. For if we wish to ponder with our mind, and to explore the wisdom of all nations, we will find that the boundaries of the Egyptians, Indians, and Persians are narrower than the holy boundaries of the Scriptures: Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. To those whom he had previously said: House of Israel, all of you pass through and see, from what vices they are commanded to pass over to better things, the following discourse describes: Those who come into an evil day, preparing for themselves their evil day according to their own vice: not that any day is inherently evil; but rather, each person prepares for themselves their own evil, according to what we read in Ecclesiastes: Do not say, 'The former days were better for me than these,' for it is not in wisdom that you ask about this (Ecclesiastes 7:11); for it is foolish to compare times, when it is within our power to either make a good day for ourselves or an evil one. These are those who approach and touch the sabbaths of falsehood. For just as the circumcision of the flesh is called, and the circumcision of the heart, and they are manifestly Jews, and in secret, one of which is rejected, and the other is approved: thus the sabbaths of the Lord are holy, and supported by truth, and the others are not holy and are falsehoods, which follow the idleness of the western letters. That which follows: those who sleep on ivory beds, we can interpret it as follows: He who is an athlete of the Lord, and exercises for the struggle, and prepares himself against opposing powers, sleeps on bare earth imitating Jacob (Gen. XXVIII); and he places a stone at his head, which the builders rejected, and it became the head cornerstone (Ps. CXVII, and Act. IV). But those who indulge in pleasures and luxury, and do everything for the sake of their stomach, sleep on ivory beds made from dead animals and cling to unclean bones; and because vices appear beautiful and delight in their present splendor, they rest on their beds and are weighed down by deep sleep. They do not eat solid and nourishing food, which strengthens the powers of those who wrestle, but rather soft and delicate food, such as young goats from the flocks and fattened calves, and tender ones, in fact still nourished by milk. For this is what μοσχάρια γαλαθηνὰ signifies. Moreover, they clap their hands to the sound of the organ and the noise, as if all their works expect pleasure: and they do nothing but provide for the belly and lust. Nor does the wise reader immediately oppose us with this, and how it is written: Let the rivers clap their hands (Ps. XCVII, 8). And: All you nations, clap your hands (Ps XLVI, 1). And: Rejoice in God our helper (Ps. LXXX, 1). For there, they are not said to clap their hands to the sound of the organ; but to have one consent in praising God. He introduced the voice of the organs: they thought it was standing still, and not fleeing. For according to Epicurus, things of the world and all bodies flow and pass away in moments, and nothing remains in its own state, but everything either grows or diminishes, and they flow down like rushing waters. Hence we read also in secular literature (Virgil, Georgics III):

But meanwhile it flies, irretrievable time flies. And in another place (Horace, Odes II, 14).

Alas, fleeting, Posthumus, Posthumus, the years slip away. For nothing is more fleeting than the century and the things of the century. While we hold onto them, we lose them, through infancy, childhood, youth, and the growing and maturing age, and the final years of old age, which Philo describes as the seven stages of human life, we are changed, and we run, and unknowingly we reach the boundaries of death. And what follows: Those who drink clarified wine can properly be referred to heretics, who approve some scriptures and reject others, desiring to drink clarified wines: since in the Holy Scriptures there is nothing turbid and muddy, but everything is most pure in the divine stream. Those who do not have the art of anointing, without any knowledge of the Scriptures, traditions, and teachings of the apostles, claim the dignity of priesthood and say that they are anointed by the Lord; and they contaminate the purest oil of their own understanding with the dregs. And when they do these things to the destruction of those whom they have deceived, they are not tormented by any pain; but they rejoice in the deaths of others and delight in the blood of the wretched. This beautiful sense in which it is said 'they thought as if things were standing, and not as if they were fleeing' is not found in Hebrew; but instead it is written: as David thought he had vessels of song. Therefore, it seems to me that the interpreters added it, who, in describing luxury, expressed a sentiment against vices and pleasures of this kind, so that they would not translate what was written, but would add or even change it, according to what seemed to them.

(Vers. 7 seqq.) Therefore now they will migrate to the head of the transmigrants, and the faction of the revelers will be removed. The Lord God has sworn by his own soul, says the Lord God of hosts: I detest the pride of Jacob, and I hate his houses, and I will deliver the city with its inhabitants: and if there are ten men left in one house, they shall die; and their close relative shall take them, and burn them, to carry out the bones from the house; and he who is in the innermost chambers of the house shall say: Is there still anyone with you? And he will answer: It is the end; and he will say to him: Be silent, and do not remember the name of the Lord. LXX: Therefore now the strong ones will be captives from the beginning, and the noise of horses will be taken away from Ephraim; because the Lord has sworn by himself, says the Lord God of hosts: because I will abhor all the reproach of Jacob, and I will hate his regions, and I will take away the city with all its inhabitants. And it shall come to pass, if ten men remain in one house, and they die; and the household members shall take them, and they shall make an effort to remove their bones from the house; and those who are in charge of the house shall say: Are there still any with you? And he shall say, by no means; and he shall say, Be silent, and do not mention the name of the Lord. Because of the higher causes that the prophetic discourse describes (of those who sleep on ivory beds, and revel on couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the herd, and sing to the sound of the harp and drink from bowls, and are anointed with the finest ointment, and yet suffer nothing in the destruction of their people, who are descended from Joseph), now the Lord threatens, and says: Because they have done these things and these things, now they shall migrate at the head of the exiles. And the meaning is this: Punishment is never delayed for the future, nor is it prophesied for long centuries to come. What is now imminent, is now coming, my words predict, that they will go in the beginning of the transmigration, namely the rulers and the powerful, of whom he said above: Hear this word, you fat cows, who are in the mountain of Samaria (Above, IV, 1). And again: Woe to you who are wealthy in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria: you nobles, heads of the people, who enter pompously into the house of Israel. You who are the first in wealth, will be the first to endure the yoke of captivity, according to what is written in Ezekiel: 'Begin from my sanctuary' (Ezek. IX, 6). Not from the saints, as many think; but from the destruction of the temple, which was holy. For the powerful will endure torments powerfully (Wisdom VI), and to whom much is entrusted, much will be demanded from him (Luke XII). And as it is said, the faction of the indulgent will be taken away, those who had one consent in taking pleasure and engaging in feasts and revelry: they will be taken away together, so that for those whose unity was in luxury, their punishment will also be united. As for why the LXX translated it, the neighing of the horse of Ephraim shall be taken away: which is not found in the Hebrew, and will be discussed by us as unnecessary when we begin to weave the tropology. The Lord has sworn by himself, or as we read in Hebrew, by his soul, according to what is written in Isaiah: My soul hates your new moons and your Sabbaths and your feast days (Isa. I, 13): not that God has a soul, but in order to speak in human terms. It is not surprising if it is said to have a soul, since even the other parts, which are less valuable than the soul, such as the feet, hands, stomach, and other organs, attest to having themselves. But if those who deny that Christ had a human soul oppose us, saying that God was in the human body instead of a soul, let them hear that in Christ the substance of the soul is demonstrated: just as the members of his body had substance. In God the Father, however, the head, feet, and other things that are said to be, are not members, but the diversity of efficient acts is indicated by the words used to describe them: similarly, the soul is not substantial, but the seat of the inner mind and the place where thoughts reside, through which God reveals His will. Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, that is, Sabaoth (which the Seventy translated as powers), swore that he detests the pride of Jacob and hates his dwellings. This is Jacob according to the previous chapter, where it is written: And they allowed nothing to prevail over the affliction of Joseph, or the ten tribes, or certainly the entire house of the twelve tribes. And he will deliver the city with its inhabitants; either Samaria, or certainly Jerusalem, or both in common. As for the time of the Lord Savior, after whose coming and passion God detested all the pride and injury of Jacob, because they cried out against him, the son of a carpenter and a Samaritan and possessed by a demon (Matthew 13; John 8): therefore Jerusalem was handed over to the Roman armies with its inhabitants. And to such an extent did the wrath of God rage against them, that even if ten men were to remain in one house, they would also die, and the neighbor or neighbor would burn the corpses of the dead to remove the bones from his house, because they are not able to remove the whole bodies due to the crowds of the dying. And when he has become tired from carrying [the body], let him ask the person who is in the innermost part of the house if there are any bodies left for him to hand over, and let that person respond: It is over, I no longer have anyone to give to you for burial; and before he swears that he does not have [any bodies], let that person, who asked the question and was outside, and did not know [that there were no bodies], order him and say: Be silent, and do not remember the name of the Lord. But he mentions this in order to show that even those who are not compelled by the weight and necessity of evil do not want to confess the name of the Lord, and that the name of God has come into such great oblivion among the people of Israel that it does not even deign to be heard in a simple oath. We have drawn fine lines of history, now let us imprint the hand of allegory. The leaders of heretics, who devoured my people because of their pleasures, and allowed nothing to stand in the way of Joseph's torment, will be led first to punishment, and the neighing of the horse will be taken away from Ephraim: which is understood in holy scriptures in two ways, either in the pride and power of those who neigh, or in the magnitude of lust. In the pride and consent of evil people, as it is written: Some trust in chariots and some in horses (Psalm 20:7). And: A deceitful horse for salvation (Ps. XXXII, 17). And to the kings of Israel, it is commanded that they not multiply horses for themselves (Deut. XVII). And in the book of Job, the voice of the horse is compared to the sound of the trumpet (Job. XXXIX). In Zachariah also we read, which is confirmed by the testimony of the Gospel, and it is referred to the presence of the Savior: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion: proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King comes to you righteous and Savior: He is gentle, and riding on a donkey and the foal of a donkey: and he will destroy the chariots from Ephraim, and the horses from Jerusalem (Zach. IX, 9). But the magnitude of lust and unrestrained desire for sexual intercourse, as Jeremiah, describing the luxurious adulterers, declared: Each one neighs over the wife of his neighbor (Jer. V, 8). The coming of Christ subdues such horses, as does the wrath of God. And the Lord swears by Himself (since He has no one greater to swear by) that He abhors all heretical blasphemies and hates all their regions (Heb. VI). For whatever they speak is injustice, and worthy of God's hatred. And He will take away their city and their assemblies with those who dwell in it, and the people indeed, and the leaders, even if there were ten men left (for if they had been in Sodom and Gomorrah, no fire would have come down upon them), they will all die the same death that leads to Tartarus, of which Ezekiel writes: The soul that sins, it shall die. Their relatives and domestics bury the bones of these people, of whom it is said: Let the dead bury their own dead (Luke 9:60). And the one who is outside and does not enter the house of the dead; but rather casts out the dead outside, the one who burns the dead gives orders, and reduces them to ashes, and breaks their bones, so that he may remain silent; and the most pure name of God not be defiled by the mouth of the dead. For to the sinner, God says: Why do you declare my righteousness, and take my covenant in your mouth? (Psalm 50). Wherefore, we also must provide, that we may not bury the dead dead, but rather, that as living, we may bring forth to life those who are dead. And if we do not do this, it is commanded to us and it is said: Be silent, for we are judged unworthy of the name of God.