Jerome

(Verse 2 and following) Lord, have mercy on us: for we have waited for you: be our strength in the morning, and our salvation in time of trouble. At the voice of the Angel, the people fled; at your exaltation the nations were scattered. And your spoil will be gathered, as the locust is gathered, as when the ditches are full of it. The Lord is magnified, for he dwells on high: he has filled Zion with judgment and justice. And there will be faith in your times: wealth of salvation, wisdom, and knowledge: the fear of the Lord is its treasure. LXX: Lord, have mercy on us, for we trust in You: the seed of the unbelievers has been brought to destruction, but our salvation is in the time of tribulation: because of the voice of fear, the peoples are astonished by your fear, and the nations are scattered. But now your spoils, both small and great, will be gathered together: when someone gathers locusts, they will mock you: O holy God who dwells on high. Zion is filled with justice and righteousness, salvation is stored in the law: wisdom, discipline, and piety come from the Lord, these are the treasures of justice. This is a chapter from the Hebrews, in which it is read: Woe to those who plunder, will they not be plundered themselves? and so on until the end. They believe that this is a statement against King Sennacherib of the Assyrians, who, after overthrowing the ten tribes known as Israel and capturing the cities of Judah, will himself be defeated and his army destroyed by the Angel. Now, from the perspective of the people, giving thanks to God and saying, 'Lord, have mercy on us, we have waited for you,' these words contend, which are contained in the present (or following) chapter, that His arm and strength were the protection for the people besieged in the morning, and salvation in their time of need and distress. For by the voice of the Angel, whom Symmachus translated as it is written in Hebrew, Amun (whom the Hebrews consider to be Gabriel) and has the etymology of the people; the Assyrian fled, and the nations that came with him were scattered here and there from the exaltation of God. As they fled, the spoils were gathered by the Jews, just as a multitude of caterpillars and locusts are collected when they have been heaped into pits. In their victory, the Lord was magnified, and Zion was filled with justice and righteousness, and the faith of the besieged people was proven. And they possessed all riches in wisdom and knowledge of God and fear of the Lord, who alone was their treasure. They said these things according to the history, striving in every way to undermine the sacraments of Christ and his Apostles. But after the happiness of the Apostles, about whom it has been said above (Ad. cap. XXXI, 20): Blessed are those who sow upon all waters, where the ox and the donkey tread, and the lamentation and mourning of those who persecute them, about whom it is said in what follows: Woe to those who make you miserable; but no one makes you miserable; and like moths on clothing, they will wear away, from the person of the same Apostles, we confirm these words for all believers. And this is the sense: Lord, we have hoped in your help, and have trusted in you. The seed of the unbelievers has perished forever, and our salvation has appeared in the time of tribulation. For with your assistance, the multitude of nations has been scattered, and those who sought to conquer and deceive have been defeated. And this has happened because the holy Lord dwells on high, and Zion is filled with judgment and justice, as it is written: Justice and judgment will rest in the wilderness. Therefore, she is Zion, which was previously called a desert, and whoever dwells in her will receive the law of the Gospel, in whose treasure our salvation is, and the wisdom of the believers, and discipline and piety, or faith, which is specifically of the Christians, and the fear of the Lord, in which the treasures of wisdom are contained.

(Verse 7 and following) Behold, those who see will cry out: The angels of peace will weep bitterly. The roads are abandoned, the passer-by has ceased on the path, the pact has become void, cities have been thrown down, men have not been regarded. The land has mourned and languished, Lebanon is confused and darkened, Sharon has become like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel have been shaken. Now I will arise, says the Lord: now I will be exalted, now I will be lifted up. You will conceive chaff, you will give birth to stubble; your spirit will devour you like fire. And the peoples shall be like ashes from a fire: thorns gathered together shall be burned with fire. The Hebrew word Arellam (), which Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpreted, I will reveal to them, dividing the final syllable and reading it as Are Lahem (), the Hebrews believe it signifies Angels, and is a prophecy concerning the calling of the Gentiles, and the wealth of the Church, and the destruction of the Temple, which the Angels shall lament, not dwelling within but departing from it: and those who were previously messengers of peace shall bitterly weep. Whether the apostles themselves who were sent to announce peace to Jerusalem, to which the Lord spoke, 'If you also knew the things that are for your peace' (Luke 19:42): at which the Lord appeared to them, in order to comfort them with His presence, Jerusalem will weep, because it did not receive His preaching, because the ways have been scattered, and the one passing by the righteous path has ceased, according to what is said in the Lamentations of Jeremiah: The ways of Zion mourn, because there are none who come to the solemnity (Lamentations 1:4). The covenant with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob was also made void: He cast out the cities of Judah: He did not consider the people, who by their own fault wanted to be beasts. The land mourned and grew weak for those who lived in it (Genesis XV and 22). Lebanon is confused and darkened, undoubtedly signifying the Temple, as we read in Zechariah. Open, Lebanon, your gates, so that fire may devour your cedars (Zechariah XI, 1). Or Jerusalem, which is called Libanus in Ezekiel, the Prophet saying: A great eagle, with great wings, which has the ability to enter into Lebanon (Ezekiel II, 3); which afterwards, the divine word interpreting, says: when Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem, he clearly referred to the eagle as the king of Babylon, and to Lebanon as Jerusalem. Sharon became like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel were shaken. As for Bashan, the Seventy translated it as Galilee, a province, for one place of the province. But the region around Joppa and Lydda, also called Saron (or Saronas), is a place where wide and fertile fields extend. There is also the region of Basan beyond the Jordan, which was possessed by two and a half tribes and is interpreted as the most fertile and abundant (Deut. III): and Carmel, of which we have spoken above. Therefore, the once fertile lands of Judea will be turned into desolation, through which metaphorically the entire wealth of the Jews will be exchanged for poverty and scarcity. Therefore, since they refused to accept the words of the Apostles, Lebanon was confounded, and Sharon became a wilderness; and Bashan and Carmel were shaken. Therefore, the Lord says that either because of his excessive patience or because he will rise from the dead, he will be exalted among the nations and lifted up on the cross. And he addresses the Jews themselves, saying, 'You will conceive burning anger and bring forth stubble, and your breath will ignite a fire that will devour you as the flames consume what is conceived and born.' And there shall be, he said, the people of the Jews showing the magnitude of their misfortune through the ashes remaining from the fire. For the thorns of their sins, which have been gathered in great numbers, shall be consumed by the fire, which many interpret as referring to the ultimate captivity and destruction of Jerusalem. Others affirm that it shall happen more fully and completely in the time of judgment.

(Ver. 13 et seq.) Hear, you who are far away, what I have done, and know the strength of my neighbors. Sinners are terrified in Zion, hypocrites are trembling. Who among you can dwell with devouring fire? Who among you can endure everlasting burnings? The one who walks in righteousness and speaks truth, who rejects greed by slander, and keeps his hands away from every gift, who stops his ears from hearing of bloodshed, and shuts his eyes from seeing evil. He will dwell on high, the height of his fortress of rocks; bread is given to him, and his waters are faithful. His eyes will see the king in his beauty; they will behold the land from afar. Your heart will meditate on fear. Where is the scribe? Where are those who weigh the words of the law? Where is the teacher of the little ones? You will not see an ignorant people, a people of deep speech beyond your comprehension, in whom there is no wisdom. LXX: Let those who are far away hear what I have done; let those who are near acknowledge my power. The wicked in Zion are afraid; trembling grips the godless: 'Who can live with the consuming fire? Who can dwell with everlasting burning?' The one who walks in righteousness and speaks with integrity, who rejects gain from extortion and keeps his hand from accepting bribes, who stops his ears from listening to murderous plots and shuts his eyes against contemplating evil— this is the man who will dwell on the heights, whose refuge will be the mountain fortress. Bread will be given to him, and his water will be faithful: your eyes will see the king with glory, they will see the land from afar; your soul will meditate fear. Where are the grammarians? Where are the counselors? Where is he who counts those who nourish both the small and the large population? To whom he did not give counsel: nor did he know the deep voice of him, so that the despised people would not hear, and the one who is listening would not have understanding. For the paths are scattered, the one passing through the pathways has ceased, the covenant with the people of Judah has been voided, God has cast away their cities, he has not considered them among men; therefore, you who are far away, hear what I have done, and approach to recognize my strength. They were terrified, or those who were sinners or wicked withdrew from Zion, and trembling possessed the hypocrites, to whom the Lord spoke in the Gospel: Woe to you, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites (Matthew 23:14)! Who among you can dwell with the devouring fire? Who among you can dwell with everlasting burnings? Or according to the LXX: Who will declare to you that eternal fire burns, which God has prepared for the devil and his angels? So who then can dwell with God, or declare the coming punishments? Everyone who is of this kind, as the prophetic discourse describes, who walks in many justices, and not once, but always loves justices, and not just once, but constantly speaks the truth: who rejects greed, which is the mother of slander. For money is not heaped up for one's own gain at the expense and harm of another. And he withdraws his hands from every gift. Indeed, gifts blind the eyes, even of the wise. He who stops up his ears does not hear the judgment of blood. Every wickedness and oppression and injustice is a judgment of blood: and although it does not kill with a sword, it kills by will. And he closes his eyes so as not to see evil. Blessed is the conscience that does not hear, nor see evil. Therefore, whoever is such, he himself shall dwell in the highest, that is, in the kingdom of heaven, or in the lofty cave of the strongest rock, in Christ Jesus: which rock followed the people of Israel, so that they might drink of it and be protected by its strength. Bread will be given to him, and its waters are faithful: which the fables of the Gentiles understand as ambrosia and nectar. But we, the most faithful breads and waters, will interpret the law of God. Therefore, whoever is such, will see the king Christ in his glory, of whom it is said above (Ad cap. XXXII, 1): Behold, a just king will reign, and princes will preside in judgment. And his eyes will see the earth from afar, which they have desired for a long time, the land of the gentle and meek, of which it is written in the Gospel: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matth. V, 4): whether they are placed in heaven, they despise earthly things. Your heart will meditate on fear: so that when you have accomplished all things, you may say with the Apostle: I am not worthy to be called an Apostle, because I persecuted the Church of God (1 Corinthians 15:9). For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom. Where is the scribe? Where is he who weighs the words of the law? Where is the teacher of children? Where, it is said, are the scribes and Pharisees, who weighed the words of the Law, deceiving the unhappy people? whom Scripture now calls little children, little in understanding, little in intelligence. But when the eyes of the believer behold the king in his majesty, and his heart is filled with awe, then he will not see the foolish people, the people of the Jews, or the philosophers and orators of the world, who applaud themselves in secular knowledge and eloquence, about whom he now says: They are a people of high speech, so that you cannot understand the eloquence of their language; their allurement is in words, which have only the foliage and shadow of discourse, and do not possess the fruit of truth. Finally it follows: In this there is no wisdom, about which it is said in another place: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the prudent I will reject (1 Corinthians 1:19). Why? because God has made the wisdom of this world foolish.

(Verse 20 and following) Look upon Zion, the city of our solemnity: your eyes shall see Jerusalem, a wealthy habitation: a tabernacle that cannot be moved, and its nails shall not be taken away forever, and all its cords shall not be broken. For our Lord is only magnificent there: a place of wide and open rivers, no ship of rowers shall pass through it: nor shall any great trireme pass over it. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, he will save us. Your ropes are loosened, and they will not prevail; so will be your evil, that you cannot extend your sign. Then the spoils of many spoils will be divided: the lame will plunder the prey. And the neighbor will not say: I am faint: the people who dwell in it will be taken away by iniquity. LXX: Behold, Zion is a city of our salvation: your eyes will see Jerusalem. A wealthy city, immovable dwellings: its tent pegs will not be taken away forever, and its cords will not be torn apart. For the name of the Lord is great for you: your place will be wide and spacious rivers and streams: no ship propelled by oars will enter through it. For my God, the Lord, is great: the Lord our judge will not pass over me, the Lord our leader, the Lord our king, the Lord Himself will save us. Your cables have been disrupted (or plundered), because they did not prevail: your evil is bent, to let out the sails: it will not raise the sign, until it is delivered into desolation. Therefore, many will make booty of the closed goods: and the people who inhabit them will not say, I will labor, their offense will be forgiven. O just one, to whom it has been said above: your heart will meditate fear; and you will not see the unwise (or impudent) people; and those whom you have heard before, your eyes will see the king in his beauty, contemplate the city of our solemnity, see the Church of Christ, in which the true solemnity is; your eyes will behold the vision of peace, and the unexpected riches, which the eye has not seen, nor the ear heard, nor have they ascended into the heart of man, and the tabernacle that cannot be transferred. For first the tabernacle which had the people of the Jews was translated and lifted up. Neither shall the nails thereof be moved forever, and all the cords thereof shall be strong; so that the Lord may dwell in it, who is the place of all flowing rivers and running streams, through which no one of the adverse party shall be able to sail: neither shall the great trireme, which is interpreted the devil, be able to pass over it: for the Lord himself is the judge, and prince, and king, and our Savior, and under his protection we shall fear no ambushes of any kind. These things are said about the city of our solemnity, about Jerusalem, the richest dwelling place, which the Lord himself will surround and fortify with his rivers. But now he speaks to earthly Jerusalem, because the cords of her tent have been loosened and they are unable to support the tent, and her mast, on which once hung the most beautiful sails, has fallen with the cords broken, so that she is not only unfit for sailing, but also marked by a mutilation. But after their ship has been destroyed and their tent scattered, so that the ropes are torn on both sides, the spoils will be divided to the victors: those who are so weak in their own strength that they are called cripples; and yet, with God's wrath giving them strength, they will not feel any weakness, nor will they say 'I have labored.' For whoever is among them, injustice and sin will be taken away from him, for he has carried out God's will.

(Chapter 34, Verse 1, etc.) Come near, you nations, and listen; pay attention, you peoples! Let the earth and all that fills it hear, the world and all that springs from it. For the Lord's indignation is against all the nations, and His fury is against all their armies; He has utterly destroyed them and given them over to slaughter. Their slain will be thrown out, and the stench of their corpses will rise; the mountains will be drenched with their blood. And all the host of heaven will rot away; the skies will roll up like a scroll, and all their host will wither away like a withered leaf from the vine, like foliage from the fig tree. For my sword is drenched in the heavens; indeed, it is drunk with blood. Behold, he will come down upon Idumea, and upon the people of my slaughter, to judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, it is made thick with fatness, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the fatness of the kidneys of rams: for there is a victim of the Lord in Bosra, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. And the unicorns shall come down with them, and the bullocks with the bulls: and their land shall be soaked with blood, and their soil made fat with fatness. After the overthrow of Jerusalem, and the shipwreck of the once very firm ship, and the plunder of all its furnishings, it is said concerning the destruction of all nations, and concerning the consummation of the world, which is in the future day of judgment. Whereby all peoples and nations of the earth and its fullness, the world and all its offspring, both those inhabited places and those uninhabitable due to excessive cold and heat, are commanded to hear, and to know with every trembling of the mind what is to come. For the wrath of the Lord is not only against one nation, the Jews, but also against the Assyrians and Chaldeans, the Egyptians, Moabites, and Ammonites, and the Philistines; but also against all nations, and against the entire host, or as the Septuagint translated, their number. She is described as a venture, which kills them and causes the stench of decaying bodies to rise up high, signifying the sins of all nations, so that their filth and impurities fill the mountains with blood. The lofty virtues and angels that presided over each nation and all the celestial hosts wither away, or fold up like a book, and all their armies and forces, as the LXX have translated, and the stars flow down like leaves, which, with the approaching cold, fall off dried and contracted from the vine and fig tree. Which also the Savior speaks in the Gospel: Stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will be shaken, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (Matthew 24:29-30). And it is to be considered that it does not say that the heavens will perish, but that they will be folded up or rolled up, like a book, so that after all sins have been exposed and read, those that were previously open may be folded up, so that the sins of many may no longer be written in them. Regarding these type of books, Daniel speaks in his volume: Judgment sat, and the books were opened (Dan. 7:10), in which the deeds of each individual were described. Many people think that the stars are falling, according to the Book of Revelation of John (Rev. 6 and 8). And that which is written elsewhere: All the stars will burn out and the sky and earth will pass away (Luke 21:2). For the figure of this world is passing away. Some believe that these stars are being referred to. which glow in the sky, so as to show in part and as a whole, namely that through the fall of the stars even the destruction of the heavens is revealed. But others think that these stars are going to fall, of which even the Apostle Paul writes: For our struggle is not against flesh and blood, but against the rulers, against the authorities, against the cosmic powers of this present darkness, against the spiritual forces of evil in the heavenly places. It is not surprising, therefore, if the demons who dwell in the air are said to be heavenly, since even the birds of the sky, which certainly do not fly in the heavens but in the air, are called celestial in Scripture. For Satan himself transforms into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11), simulating a star. And the Savior saw him falling from heaven like lightning (Luke 10). And in a metaphorical sense, he is called fallen from the great star: How you have fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning! (Isaiah 14:12). All these things will happen, because his sword is drunk in the sky, the punishment and the sentence, and the vengeance against sinners, which is brought forth by the Lord. This sword and dagger in Ezekiel (Ezek. XXI) is sharpened against the wicked; and after many are killed, he is ordered to enter his sheath. And when he is drunk and filled in the sky; that is, in the air, which is called heaven according to the custom of the Scriptures, then he will also descend to Edom, that is, to the earthly: so that after the punishment of the demons, even the souls of men may be judged. Idumaea indeed in our language means earthly. And it is filled with blood; and thickened with the fat of lambs and goats, and of the marrow of rams and bulls: that it may signify both princes and people to be punished. For the Lord's victim is in Bosra, and a great slaughter in the land of Edom. Of which Bosra and Idumaea the same prophet also witnesses in the following, saying: Who is this that comes from Edom, with red garments from Bosra? And some think that Bosra, which means 'flesh', is called so because through the sacrifice of the Lord in Bosra, the torments of all are shown in the flesh: they are caught in a pious error. In the present place, it is not by the letter Sin, which is put in Bosor (), that is, in the flesh: but it is written with Sade, and it is called Bosra (), which according to Jesus and Jeremiah is not in Edom, that is, Edom; but it is found in the land of Moab (Jeremiah 48). But Bosra in our language sounds fortified and surrounded, or firm: it teaches that the city of the lands of the Lord is solidified by His will, according to what is sung in the psalm; He founded it above the seas, and He placed it above the rivers (Psalm 24, 2); and about the firmness of the earth, it is said in the person of God: I have strengthened its pillars (Psalm 75, 3). And when the sacrifice of the Lord shall be in Bosra, and his slaughter in Edom, unicorns shall come down with them, and the powerful bulls, namely kings and princes of the earth; and all the slaughter and blood shall be filled with the fat of the once rich and powerful. Through these words, according to human custom, instilling terror in those who hear them, torments are shown to all the rulers and powerful ones, as well as the people and the humble. Bosra, that is, fortified and strengthened, and Edom, or Duma, and Idumea, are understood by the Jewish teachers to refer to Rome, and everything concerning it is said in the following chapter.

To us this life is a race course: we contend here, we are crowned elsewhere. No one can lay aside fear while serpents and scorpions beset his path. The Lord says, “My sword has drunk its fill in heaven,” and do you expect to find peace on the earth? No, the earth yields only thorns and thistles, and its dust is food for the serpent. “For our wrestling is not against flesh and blood but against the principalities, against the powers, against the world rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual hosts of wickedness in the heavenly places.” We are hemmed in by hosts of foes; our enemies are upon every side. The weak flesh will soon be ashes: one against many, it fights against tremendous odds. Not till it has been dissolved, not till the prince of this world has come and found no sin therein, not till then may you safely listen to the prophet’s words: “You shall not be afraid for the terror by night nor the arrow that flies by day; nor for the trouble which haunts you in darkness.” … When the hosts of the enemy distress you, when your body is hot with fever and your passions roused, when you say in your heart, “What shall I do?” Then Elisha’s words shall give you your answer, “Fear not, for they that be with us are more than they that be with them.” He shall pray, “Lord, open the eyes of your handmaid that she may see.” And then when your eyes have been opened, you shall see a fiery chariot like Elijah’s waiting to carry you to heaven, and you shall joyfully sing, “Our soul has become free like a bird out of the snare of the fowlers: the snare is broken and we have been set free.”

(Verses 8 and following) For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of retribution in the judgment of Zion. Its streams will be turned into pitch, and its soil into sulfur; its land will become burning pitch. Night and day it will not be extinguished; its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will pass through it forever. The pelican and the hedgehog will possess it, the owl and the raven will dwell in it. It will be stretched out with a measuring line, and it will be reduced to nothing, and its plumb line to desolation. Her nobles will not be there; rather, they will call upon the king, and all his princes will be nothing. Thorns, thistles, and briers will grow in his palaces; it will become a haunt for jackals, a feeding place for ostriches. And wild creatures will meet with hyenas; the wild goat will cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird settles and finds for herself a resting place. There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate. Search diligently in the book of the Lord and read. One of them did not fail, and one did not seek the other. For what proceeds from my mouth, he commanded, and his spirit gathered them. And he sent them a lot, and his hand divided it for them in measure; they will possess it forever, and they will dwell in it from generation to generation. The Hebrews, as we have said above, contend that these things are prophesied about the Roman Empire and are preached as a vengeance on Zion, the former devastation of the most powerful kingdom, which many of ours also think is written in the Apocalypse of John according to the letter. But we consider this to be the year of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of retributions and judgments in Zion, of which the Savior himself spoke: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' (Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1-3). Also, as it is written: 'Rise up, you women who are at ease.' (Isaiah 32:9). And remember the days of the year in sorrow with hope, so that, after the general consummation of the whole world, the prophecy may return to Jerusalem, to which it was spoken at that time, and its devastation be described in full detail: namely, that after the time of the Roman siege has come, everything will be consumed by pitch, sulfur, and burning flames, and its smoke will remain forever, and it will be inhabited by the pelican and the hedgehog, and the ibis and the raven, which are creatures accustomed to inhabiting desolate places. And let this be done, because the cord and the plumb line of the Lord, that is, his judgment, cannot be changed. His nobles, that is, the Apostles and believers, will not be there, nor will they be joined with the number of the damned: but rather they will invoke King Christ. But all the leaders of the city, namely the Scribes and the Pharisees, will be reduced to nothingness, and thorns and nettles and brambles will grow in their once ornate houses. And there will be a haunt for dragons, and pastures for ostriches, which themselves are signs of extreme desolation. And there they will encounter, according to the LXX, various apparitions of demons, or as all others have translated according to the Hebrew, Siim and Iim, onocentaurs, and shaggy figures, and lamia, which the fables of the Gentiles and the creations of poets describe. Also, there the hedgehog nurtures its puppies, and it has a very faithful watchpost: there the kites gather, a very carnivorous bird, which in Hebrew is called Dajoth (or, as the LXX translated, deer, which we will discuss later). Among these things, the Prophet speaks to those who hear: O men (or, all) who hear me speaking, what I announce about the future, all things will be fulfilled. For in the book the words of the Lord are written, and His intention is determined, and not even one thing will be in vain. For whatever proceeds from my mouth, he has commanded, that is, I speak on his behalf; but the words are the Lord's, and by his spirit whatever is said will be accomplished. Each thing will be fulfilled according to his decree and measure: and they will not leave their order even unto eternal generations. Let these things be said according to the Hebrew and historical explanation. Moreover, those who follow the allegory, expelling the people of the Jews under the names of beasts and monsters, affirm that they will dwell in Jerusalem, serving idols and various superstitions: and these are the onocrotali and hedgehogs, the raven and dragons, and ostriches, and onocentaurs, and demons, and shaggy creatures, and the lamia, which is called Lilith in Hebrew (); and the lamia has been translated from the ground by Symmachus, which some Hebrews suspect to be the Fury. And indeed, if we consider the various colonies brought to Jerusalem from different nations, and according to the customs of their provinces, each family worshipped their own demons as wonders, we will affirm that all of this existed in Jerusalem. And what the LXX translated: 'There the deer met them and saw their own faces: they passed by in number, and not one of them perished or sought another. For the Lord commanded them, and his spirit gathered them; and he himself gave them lots, and his hand divided them: that they may feed forever, and possess it in generation after generation, and rest in it.' We will interpret this allegorically, teaching that the deer, that is, the Apostles and all holy teachers, about whom it is written: 'As the deer longs for the fountains of water, so my soul longs for you, O God' (Ps. 41:1); and elsewhere: 'The voice of the Lord perfects the deer' (Ps. 28:9); and again: 'Let the deer of friendship and the colt of your graces speak to you' (Prov. 5); and in Job: 'You keep the minds of the deer, and you send forth their offspring' (Job. 39:2); and in the Song of Songs it is said: 'My beloved is like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of spices' (Song. 2:9); that they met each other in Jerusalem and saw each other's appearances, and passed by and left it, and went to different provinces, because the Lord had commanded them: 'Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' (Matthew 28:19); and his spirit gathered them, giving them lots and dividing them, so that some would go to the Indians, others to Spain, others to Illyricum, others to Greece; and each would rest in their own province of the Gospel and teaching. What we have said above about Jerusalem being prophesied, and the Jews suspecting that it refers to the Roman rule, some people attribute to the whole world, so as not to seem to differ from the earlier interpretations.

(Chapter 35, verses 1, 2) The desolate and impassable will rejoice, and solitude will exult and flourish like a lily. It will sprout and blossom; with joy and praise it will exult. The glory of Lebanon has been given to it, the splendor of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord and the splendor of our God. LXX: Rejoice, O desert, thirsting, and let the solitude exult and flourish like a lily. The deserts of the Jordan will blossom and exult; the glory of Lebanon has been given to it, and the honor of Carmel. And my people will see the glory of the Lord and the majesty of our God. Since Jerusalem has been turned into pitch and its smoke rises forever, and it is inhabited by the pelican and the hedgehog, the ibis and the raven, the dragons and the ostriches, demons and half-man half-horse creatures, lamia and hairy beings: and the Lord's fulfilled sentence is upon it: 'Your house will be left to you desolate' (Luke 13:35): therefore, what was once deserted, of which it is said in the Psalm: 'The voice of the Lord shaking the wilderness', and the Lord will shake the wilderness of Kadesh. The voice of the Lord prepares the stags; and it reveals the thickets of the forests (Psalm 28:8,9), it will be transformed into the abundance of all things, and the beasts of the nations will be driven out from the fighting stags, from all the forests, which previously possessed them, so that what is said in the same Prophet may be fulfilled: Rejoice, O barren one, you who do not bear; burst forth and cry out, you who are not in labor; for the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who has a husband (Isaiah 54:1). This was previously thirsty, or impassable, not having life-giving waters, and the Lord did not walk (or enter) through it, which now will blossom into a lily, or as the Eagle expressed more significantly, an opening, which we can call a swelling rose with not yet expanded leaves. However, it will blossom, as the Apostle declares: We are the good odor of Christ in every place (II Cor. II, 15). And that from the Song of Songs: Flowers have been seen in the land; mandrakes have given forth their fragrance (Cant. VII, 12, 13). And what is placed in the LXX, 'and the deserts of the Jordan shall rejoice,' is not found in Hebrew, but we can say: in the Jordan river, the baptism of repentance was shown, which the Lord signed and confirmed with his washing. And because it is figuratively said about the wilderness, which refers to the nations, in which John was, it can be subsequently joined to the Jordan, so that through the desert of the nations we come to the baptism of the Savior. And what follows, the glory of Lebanon was given to him, and the beauty of Carmel and Sharon, according to the previous explanation we must understand, in which we said that Lebanon or the Temple of Jerusalem is meant, as Zachariah says: Open, Lebanon, your gates (Zach. XI, 1); and Ezekiel: A great eagle with great wings and full of feathers, which has a direction to enter Lebanon and Carmel (Ezek. XVII. 3): the former meaning the people, of whom it has been said above: And it will be a desert in Carmel, and Carmel will be counted as a wilderness (Isa. XXIII, 9); and Sharon has the same meaning, Scripture saying: Sharon has become like a desert. Therefore, all brightness, worship of God, and knowledge of circumcision, and the most fertile and open places, which are called Sharon, for which Symmachus interpreted as fields, will be given to the once deserted Church, and its inhabitants will see the glory of the Lord, and the beauty or greatness of our God.

(Verse 3, 4.) Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees. Say to those who are fearful, “Be strong, do not fear! Behold, your God will bring vengeance and retribution. God Himself will come and save you (or as the Septuagint translates, us). Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will hear. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will sing, for water will burst forth in the wilderness, and streams in the desert, and the dry ground will become a pool (or marsh), and the thirsty land springs of water. In the dens where the dragons once lived, green rushes and reeds shall grow (in the version of the Seventy: There will be the joy of birds and the folds of flocks). And there shall be a path and a road (or a clean road) and it shall be called the holy road, no unclean person shall pass through it. And this shall be for us a direct road, so that fools shall not go astray (or as the Seventy translated, There will be no unclean road there, those who are scattered shall pass through it and shall not wander. There will be, it says, no lion there, and no wicked beast shall ascend it, nor shall it be found there; but they who are set free shall walk on it. And those who are redeemed by the Lord shall return and come to Zion with praise, and everlasting joy shall be upon their heads. They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away. We have mixed together both editions, so that the size of the books may not be stretched in presenting each one, which has already exceeded the limit of brevity.) To the apostles, about whom it was said above: They themselves will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God, it is commanded that they strengthen the hands that are weak among the nations, and make firm the feeble knees, so that those who were unable to do the work of God with weak hands and had a dry right hand, may extend it to good works. And those who once stumbled among idols in various errors, may walk firmly on the path of truth, and may the faith of the Lord strengthen the weak and fearful, so that they may not be afraid, and may the fear of the one God drive away all fears of error. The reason, however, is security and constancy, because Christ is coming, to whom the Father has given all judgment: and he will render to each one according to their works (John 5). He himself will come and save you, to whom it is said, do not be afraid: whether us, as the Apostles say that salvation is common with those who believe. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be opened. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the mute will be opened. Although this was fulfilled by the magnitude of the signs, when the Lord spoke to the disciples of John, who were sent to him: Go and report to John what you have heard and seen: the blind see, the lame walk, lepers are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead rise, the poor have the good news preached to them (Luke 7:22); yet it is fulfilled daily among the Gentiles, when those who were previously blind and used to stumble into wood and stones, now see the light of truth. And those who could not hear the words of the Scriptures with deaf ears, now rejoice in the precepts of God; for those who were previously closed off and did not follow the right path, leap like deer, imitating their teachers, and the tongue of the mute will be opened, whom Satan had closed off in order that they could not confess the Lord. Therefore, the eyes will be opened, the ears will hear, the lame will leap, and the tongue of the mute will be opened, for they have been torn apart, or have burst forth, in the desert of the Church of baptismal waters, and there are streams and rivers in the wilderness, namely different spiritual graces; and what was dry has been turned into marshes and a pond, so that it not only lacks the heat of thirst but also becomes navigable and irrigated, and has many springs that the deer desires, and those who drink from them can bless the Lord, according to what is written: Bless the Lord from the fountains of Israel (Ps. 67:27). In the prisons of the souls of the Gentiles, in which dragons dwelled before, there will be reed and rush, on which the faith of the Lord will be written, and on which the weary limbs will rest; whether it will be the joy of birds, and the cages of flocks: so that the doves may take wings, and leaving behind the lowly, may hasten to the heights, and be able to say with the Psalmist, The Lord feeds me, and I shall not want: He has placed me in a place of pasture: He has nourished me by refreshing waters. There will be a path, and a very clean road, which will be called holy, and which says of itself: I am the way (John 14:6), through which someone who is defiled cannot pass. Hence it is also said in the psalm, Blessed are the undefiled in the way (Psalm 119:1). And this way will be for us, that is, our God, so straight and level and plain, that it has no error: and the foolish and senseless may perish trying to enter, to whom Wisdom speaks in Proverbs: If anyone is little, let him come to me. And she has spoken to the foolish, come and eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mixed for you. Leave behind foolishness, and live, and walk in the ways of prudence (Prov. 5:4-6). For God has chosen the foolish things of the world (1 Cor. 1): of which the prince of fools speaks in the psalm, God, you know my foolishness. And the foolishness of God is wiser than men (Ps. 68:6). Therefore the Septuagint translated: And those who were scattered (1 Cor. 2), and separated from the fellowship of the Lord, will by no means wander. It follows, There will not be a lion there: our adversary the devil, who prowls around roaring, how could he enter the sheepfold of the Lord (I Peter V). And the evil beasts, his satellites, will not climb through it. For the track of a snake cannot be found on a rock. But those who have been freed from the chains of sin, redeemed by the blood of the Savior, and have repented; and have come to Zion, of which we have often said: You have come to Mount Zion, and to the heavenly city of the living God Jerusalem (Hebrews XII, 22); let us not seek a golden Zion in the manner of the Jews, and a gemmed Jerusalem, which, according to the prophecy of Daniel, has been dissolved into eternal ashes (Daniel IX). And there will be everlasting joy for those praising the Lord over their heads, so that after they have conquered the world, they may say with the Apostle and Prophet: I have completed the race, I have kept the faith, the crown of righteousness has been reserved for me (2 Timothy 4:7-8); and, Lord, as with the shield of your good will, you have crowned us (Psalm 5:12). Then, with joy and gladness succeeding, sorrow and groaning will flee when He comes from Zion to deliver. All these things we interpret, according to the Apostle Paul, as referring to the first coming of the Savior: but the Jews and our Judaizers refer them to the second, on account of a single verse, 'They shall be converted, and shall come to Zion with praise; desiring the blood of sacrifices, the bondage of all nations, and the beauty of wives.'

(Chapter 36—Verse 1 and following) And it came to pass in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, Sennacherib king of Assyria came up against all the fortified cities of Judah and captured them. And the king of Assyria sent Rabshakeh from Lachish to Jerusalem to King Hezekiah with a great army. And he stood by the conduit of the upper pool, on the highway to the washer's field. And Eliakim the son of Hilkiah, who was over the household, and Shebna the secretary, and Joah the son of Asaph, the recorder, came out to him. And Rabshakeh said to them, "Say to Hezekiah, 'Thus says the great king, the king of Assyria: On what do you rest this trust of yours?' By what plan and courage do you prepare to rebel? On whom do you have confidence, because you have turned away from me? Look, you trust in this broken reed staff, in Egypt: if a man leans on it, it will enter into his hand and pierce it. So is Pharaoh, the king of Egypt, to all who trust in him. But if you say to me, 'We trust in the LORD our God,' is it not he whose heights and altars Hezekiah has taken away, and said to Judah and Jerusalem, 'You shall worship before this altar'? And now make a deal with my master the king of Assyria, and I will give you two thousand horses, and you will not be able to provide riders for them. And how will you withstand the face of one judge from my lord's servants? And if you rely on Egypt: and on chariots, and on horsemen: and now, did I ascend to this land without the Lord, to destroy it? The Lord said to me: Go up on this land and destroy it. The history is clear and does not require interpretation: and this same thing is reported more fully in the volumes of Kings and Chronicles. In the third year of Hosea the son of Elah, king of Israel, Hezekiah the son of Ahaz king of Judah began to reign. He was twenty-five years old when he began to reign, and he reigned twenty-nine years in Jerusalem. And he did what was right in the eyes of the LORD, according to all that David his father had done. And afterwards: In the Lord God of Israel he trusted, and there was no one like him among all the kings of Judah, nor among those who came before him. He clung to the Lord and did not turn away from his commandments. He did the commandments that the Lord had given to Moses. Therefore, the Lord was with him, and he acted wisely in all that he did (2 Kings 18:2,7). But he rebelled against the king of Assyria and did not serve him. In the sixth year of his reign, Shalmaneser, the king of Assyria, captured Samaria and took away the ten tribes of Israel that were called Israel. He deported them to Assyria and settled them in Halah and Habor, along the rivers of the Gozan, in the cities of the Medes (2 Kings 17 and 18). After seven years, that is, in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah, the king of Assyria, Sennacherib, entered Judah and besieged its fortified cities, intending to capture them. And when he besieged Lachish, Hezekiah sent messengers to him, saying: 'I have sinned, withdraw from me and whatever you impose on me, I will bear.' And when he had paid three hundred talents of silver and thirty talents of gold to the king's command, the king of Assyria broke down the doors of the temple of the Lord and took away its panels, which he himself had put up, and he sent the Tartan and the Rab-saris and the Rabshakeh with a great army from Lachish to King Hezekiah at Jerusalem. And when they had come up, they came and stood by the conduit of the upper pool, which is on the highway to the washer's field, and they called for the king. But Eliakim, the son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, went out to them, along with the court secretary, Shebna, and the court historian, Joah, the son of Asaph. Rabshekah addressed them as follows: “Tell Hezekiah: This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says... and so on, as recorded in the history. In this, we can see the arrogance of Rabshekah, who, in a manner contrary to true strength, imitates the custom of the prophets. While they usually begin their pronouncements with 'This is what the Lord says,' he now says, 'This is what the great king, the king of Assyria, says.' But Eliakim son of Hilkiah, who was in charge of the palace, went out to him, along with the royal secretary Shebna and the court official Joah son of Asaph. Eliakim is the same person mentioned in the Vision of the Valley of Zion (see Isaiah 22:20-21): I will call my servant Eliakim son of Hilkiah, and I will clothe him in your robe and fasten your sash around him. I will hand your authority over to him, and he will be like a father to the inhabitants of Jerusalem and the people of Judah, and so on. But these things are said to Shebna, who was the governor of the Temple before him, of whom it is written in the same vision: Go and enter to him who dwells in the tabernacle, to Shebna the governor of the Temple, whom the Hebrews say handed over his hands to the Assyrians, terrified by Rabsaris' threats, and betrayed the lower part of Jerusalem to the enemy, and except for the fortress of Zion and the Temple, nothing else remained that the Assyrian did not hold. Where are those who think that Sobna, who is now going out with Eliacim and Joahe to meet Rabsacen, is the same person as before. There, Sobna, the head of the Temple, is said to be captured by the Assyrians; but here Sobna is a scribe, that is, a γραμματεὶς, who is called Sopher in Hebrew, and is the same as the previous one. Rabsacen, on the other hand, is believed to be the son of Isaiah the Jewish prophet, who also was a traitor; and the other son of Isaiah, who is called Jasub, is said to be left behind, which means 'left' in our language. Others, on the other hand, think that he was a Samaritan, and therefore knew the Hebrew language, and boldly and impiously blasphemed the Lord. Let us consider the words of Rabshakeh; and first what he says: You trust in this broken reed, in Egypt, is false: for no history tells that Hezekiah sent to the Egyptians and asked for the help of Pharaoh. And what he infers: If you answer me, we trust in the Lord our God, is true. But again, he joins a lie to the truth, that Ezechias took away its high places and altars. For he did this not against God, but for God, so that idolatry and ancient error being destroyed, he commanded God to be worshipped in Jerusalem, where his Temple was: although we read that by a very bad custom, the people offered sacrifices to God on altars already built on mountains and hills. And he, wanting to show the scarcity of the besieged, promises two thousand horses, of which Ezechias cannot provide the riders, not because of the weakness of the people of Judah, who lacked knowledge of riding: but by observing the commandments of God, who had commanded Israel through Moses concerning the king: He shall not multiply horses for himself, nor have many wives. And he said to me, 'By yourself, you cannot withstand the servant of Sennacherib, who am the least of his servants, how then will you withstand the great power of the king? And to what he had said, if you answer me, we trust in the Lord our God, he cunningly and wisely responded that he had come not by his own will, but by the command of the Lord. The Lord said to me, Go upon this land and destroy it. And this is the proof: certainly, without the will of the Lord, I could not have come here.' But when I come and capture many cities, and part of Jerusalem remains untouched, it is evident that I have come by its will. I read in a certain Commentary that the same person is Sennacherib who also captured Samaria, which is completely false. For the Sacred History recounts that first Phul, the king of the Assyrians, devastated the ten tribes under Manahen, the king of Israel. Secondly, Theglathphalasar came against Samaria under Phacee, the son of Romelia of Israel. Salmanasar III, under the reign of King Hoshea of Israel, supposedly captured the entire city of Samaria (2 Kings 15:17). Sargon II is said to be the fourth king who captured Ashdod (Isaiah 20). Asarhaddon, the fifth king, supposedly relocated Israel and sent the Samaritans as guardians to the land of Judah (2 Kings 17). Sennacherib, the sixth king, besieged Jerusalem after capturing Lachish and other cities of Judah during the reign of King Hezekiah (2 Kings 18). However, some believe that these names could refer to one and the same king with multiple names.

But the Jews claim that the Rabshakeh, who spoke the Hebrew language, was the son of the prophet Isaiah and was himself a betrayer, and that another remaining son of Isaiah was called Jashub, who also spoke our tongue. Others, moreover, believe that he was a Samaritan and that this is why he knew the Hebrew language and why he blasphemed the Lord with such audacity and impiety. We should therefore regard the words of the Rabshakeh to be false, first of all this: “You trust in that broken staff of a reed, in Egypt.” For there is no history that sends Hezekiah to Egypt and makes Pharoah his assistant. But what he infers, “If you respond to me, ‘We trust in the Lord our God,’ ” is true. Yet again he joins this truth to a lie, saying that Hezekiah removed God’s high places and altars. For he did not do this against God but on behalf of God, so that with idolatry and the old error destroyed, he could command God to be worshiped in Jerusalem where his temple was located, although we observe the terrible custom of appointing people to sacrifice victims to God in the mountains and hills, where altars are already built. And wishing to demonstrate the paucity of hostages, the Rabshakeh promises two thousand horses, riders for whom Hezekiah is unable to produce. Thus it was not out of stupidity that he approached the Jewish people, who lacked a knowledge of horsemanship, but due to his observation of the commandments of God, who had enjoined through Moses on the king of Israel, “He will not multiply horses for himself, and he will not have many wives.” But, the Rabshakeh said, if you are unable to withstand me, a servant of Sennacherib—even the least of his servants—how will you withstand such great power of the king? But to the possibility of Hezekiah responding “We trust in the Lord our God” the Rabshakeh replies cleverly and with prudence that he had not come on his own initiative, but at the request of the Lord. “The Lord said to me, ‘Go up to that land and destroy it.’ ” This in short is his argument: Surely I would not have been able to come if it were not the will of the Lord. But since I came and captured many cities, with Jerusalem remaining intact, it is manifestly his will that I came.

(Verse 11 and following) And Eliakim, Sobna, and Joah said to Rabshakeh, 'Speak to your servants in the Aramaic language, for we understand it. Do not speak to us in Judahite in the hearing of the people who are on the wall.' But Rabshakeh said to them, 'Has my master sent me to your master and to you to speak these words? Has he not sent me to the men who sit on the wall, who will eat their own dung and drink their own urine with you?' And Rabsaces stood and cried with a loud voice in the language of Judah and said, Hear the words of the great king, the king of Assyria. Thus says the king: Let not Hezekiah deceive you, for he will not be able to deliver you out of his hand. Neither let Hezekiah make you trust in the Lord, saying, The Lord will surely deliver us, and this city shall not be given into the hand of the king of Assyria. Do not listen to Hezekiah. For the king of Assyria says: The testimony of Rabshakeh is that he relies on the Lord, who has captured all the cities of Judah and said to the people: Do not be afraid and do not be dismayed before the king of Assyria and all the multitude that is with him, for there are more with us than with him. With him is an arm of flesh; with us is the Lord our God, our helper, who fights for us. And the people were strengthened by the words of Hezekiah, king of Judah. But Sennacherib wants to destroy what Hezekiah has built; and he speaks to the people, 'Do not let Hezekiah deceive you, and do not put your trust in the Lord our God.' And as Eliakim, Shebna, and Joah humbly implore, 'Speak to your servants in the Syrian language, for we understand; and do not speak to us in the language of Judah in the hearing of the people who are on the wall,' it means: 'Why is it necessary to stir up the people with false terrors and boast of empty power?' Speak the language that the people do not understand. For if we have knowledge of your language: and we know the Syrian language, which is common to both. To which Rabshakeh replied arrogantly: Did my master send me to your lord and to you, and not rather to the men who sit on the wall? And he increased the threat, saying that they should eat their own feces and drink the urine of their own feet with them? By these means he showed that they were to be taken by hunger, scarcity, and thirst. At the same time he joins enticement with fear, so that he may deceive those whom he did not conquer with terror, with promises and persuasion, saying from the speech of the king Assyrians.