Jerome

(Verse 12.) Because I called and you did not answer, I spoke and you did not hear. But you did evil in my sight and chose what I did not want. LXX: I called you and you did not hear, I spoke and you despised, and you did evil in my presence and chose what I did not want. You have been handed over to the sword, for not only have you forsaken me and forgotten me, but you have also mixed the cup of fortune. But when I was Emmanuel, that is, God with us, about whom John also writes: The Word became flesh and dwelt among us (John 1:14), I called you in the present: Return to me, O returning children (Jeremiah 3:14). And: Come to me, all you who labor and are burdened (Matth. XI, 28), and you did not want to respond. I have spoken in parables, and I have done everything that I should do, and you did not hear me, rather you despised me. For I am the one who said before: I came and there was no man: I called, and there was no one who obeyed (Isai. L, 2). And it was not enough for you to show impiety by despising me while I am present, and to send the heir, sent to you, to be killed; but you did evil in my sight, and you chose what I did not want, and you blasphemed the Son of God, so that you would choose Barabbas the thief, the author of murder and sedition; and yet you dare to say: Why did you make us stray from your way (Isai. LXIII, 17)? If those who did not know me found me, and those who did not call upon me received me, to whom you are worthy of tortures, who rejected me when I was sent to you and saying: I have come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 15:24), but instead you crucified me? Let us consider what it means when he says: And you chose what I did not want; or what is the will of the Son of God, who speaks in the Gospel: Not everyone who says to me, 'Lord, Lord,' will enter the kingdom of heaven, but the one who does the will of my Father who is in heaven (Matthew 7:21). About which God Himself says: 'I wanted to do Your will' (Ps. 39:9). This is the will about which the Lord Himself spoke: 'I have found David, son of Jesse, a man after My own heart, who will do all My will' (Acts 13:22). Therefore the saint prays and says: 'Teach me to do Your will, for You are my God' (Ps. 143:10). For all things are lawful, but not all things are expedient. And the Apostle says about virgins that he does not have a command from the Lord, but he still wishes them to be as he is himself (1 Cor. 7). From this he shows that the indulgence of the master should by no means be followed, but rather his will (I Cor. VII); and that we should choose what is profitable, not what is permissible, as is the case with second marriage. I want young women to marry, to bear children, to be mothers of families (I Tim. V, 14). And he sets forth the reasons why he grants these things: For certain things have gone astray in the past after Satan. Therefore, the pure will of the second marriage is not to be belittled by a comparison to fornication.

(Verse 13, 14.) Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, my servants will eat, and you will be hungry. Behold, my servants will drink, and you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, and you will be put to shame. Behold, my servants will praise with the exultation of the heart, and you will cry out because of the pain of the heart, and because of the brokenness of the spirit you will howl. LXX: Therefore, thus says the Lord: Behold, my servants will eat, but you will be hungry. Behold, my servants will drink, but you will be thirsty. Behold, my servants will rejoice, but you will be confounded. Behold, my servants will exult in joy, but you will cry out because of the pain in your hearts, and because of the brokenness of your spirits you will wail. Not only will you fall by the sword, you who have forsaken the Lord and done evil in his sight, and refused to listen to his words, but you will also see a great difference between yourselves and the multitude of the nations. For those who serve me will eat and drink, rejoice and praise with exultation of the heart. But on the contrary, you will hunger and thirst, you will be confused and cry out in pain of heart and contrition of spirit. They think that all these things will be accomplished in a thousand years, believing that food and drink are the kingdom of God, without understanding that which is written: Labor not for the food which perishes, but for the bread of life and truth (John VI, 27), desiring to eat the flesh of Christ and the fruit of the tree of life. About which the Savior speaks: I am the bread that came down from heaven (John 6:33). And the Ecclesiastes says: Open your eyes and be satisfied with bread (Proverbs 20:13). And the Psalmist says: I was young, and now I am old, yet I have never seen the righteous forsaken or their children begging bread. They are always generous and lend freely; their children will be a blessing (Psalm 37:25). He was instructing his disciples about this bread and spiritual banquet: But you are those who have stood by me in my trials. And I confer on you a kingdom, just as my Father conferred one on me, so that you may eat and drink at my table in my kingdom (Luke 22:28). But if we consider simple bread, how can we explain it: The Lord will not let the soul of the just perish by famine (Prov. 10:3). And again: The Lord knows the ways of the blameless, and their inheritance will be forever. They will not be put to shame in the time of distress, and in the days of famine they will be satisfied (Psalm 37:18, 19). For how many holy ones die in persecution, consumed by hunger and poverty; how many righteous ones go hungry, while the wicked are filled with their excesses! But that drink is to be received, which is drawn from the fountains of Israel; whoever drinks it, will have within themselves a fountain of water springing up to eternal life (John 4; Luke 22). This is the same drink that the Savior promises to drink with the Apostles in the kingdom of the Father: who gives joy to the heart of man (Psalm 103:14), so that those who drink it may say: You have given joy in my heart (Psalm 4:7). Of this food and drink, among the eight beatitudes it is said: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). And the mother of the Lord, filled with the Holy Spirit, prophesied: He has filled the hungry with good things (Luke 1:53), those who previously did not have the food of the Lord; and he has sent the rich away empty, who were given for his burial; and they rejected the one whom the Prophets had promised. Of whom the Psalmist also sings in another place: The rich have become poor and hungry (Psalm 34:11), that is, the people of the Jews. But those who seek the Lord, that is, the crowd of Gentiles, will not lack any good thing. And when the servants of Christ, believing in Him, will have been joyful and praised God with exultation of heart and joy, then they will be confounded, seeing that others have taken their place; and they will cry out in sorrow of heart, fulfilling that which is written: There will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 13:50): when the lambs of the gentiles and the righteous stand on the right, and the goats of the Jews and the wicked on the left; some receiving eternal rewards, others eternal punishments. The contrition of the spirit, on account of the pain of the heart, is to be understood in the conscience of sins, according to what is written: 'They will know those who go astray in spirit, and there will be understanding' (Isaiah 29:24). And: 'A contrite and humbled heart, O God, you will not despise' (Psalm 50:19). The spirit is crushed when it is raised up; this is written about the enemy king of Israel: 'The Lord hardened his spirit' (2 Kings 17:14). And about the prince of Babylon, when his heart was lifted up and his spirit was hardened, so that he would proudly say: 'This is Babylon, and I made it' (Daniel 4:27).

(Vers. 15, 16.) And you shall dismiss your name in the oath to my chosen ones, and the Lord God will kill you, and He will call His servants by another name, in which whoever is blessed on earth will be blessed in God, amen: and whoever swears on earth will swear in God, amen. LXX: For you shall abandon your name to my chosen ones. But the Lord will kill you, and to those who serve me, a new name will be called, to whom blessings will be given on earth: for they bless the true God, and those who swear on earth will swear by the true God. In reference to satiety, which is called Sabaa in Hebrew, others have interpreted it as an oath; a word that has many meanings and is varied according to the different accents. It is understood as both an oath and satiety, and fullness, and many, and seven. We have spoken about it in the book of Genesis, and in this volume (Chapter IV), where seven women took hold of one man. Again, because it is translated by the Septuagint, it is true, and in Hebrew it is called Amen; Aquila translates it as πεπιστωμένως, that is, faithfully. But what he says is this: as others succeed you, your name will be the oath of my chosen ones, so that they may have you as an example of evils and detest such endurance, and they may swear thus: I will not suffer what the people of the Jews have suffered. Whether your name will be in satiety, which is usually said of those whose remembrance and memory is odious, and who have come to the point of satiety and disgust. Or certainly this should be said, that they should abandon their own name for the chosen ones of the Lord, so that a crowd of nations may succeed them; and they themselves may be called sons of Abraham and Israel. About whom Paul speaks: Peace be upon them, and upon the Israel of God (Galatians 6:16). For neither are those who are of Israel, Israel; nor are those who are the descendants of Abraham all his children (Romans 9:7), to whom it is said: If you were Abraham's children, you would do the works of Abraham (John 8:39). And because they are the descendants of Abraham, and not his children, as we explained above, John the Baptist reproaches them, saying: And do not presume to say, 'We have Abraham as our father.' For I tell you, God is able from these stones to raise up children for Abraham (Matthew 3:9). For how can they be his children, who said to wood and stone, you have begotten me: when, on the contrary, those who are from faith, are called the children of Abraham? But you, he says, will be killed by the Lord, so that you will not be called circumcision, but incision (Galatians III): so that you may lack eternal life, so that you may not have the one who says: I am the life (John XIV, 6). But he says that he will call his servants by another name, or a new one, which will be celebrated throughout the whole world. And it shall be blessed: to such an extent that whoever is called by that name shall be blessed in the Lord, and shall receive the sign of true Circumcision, amen: which the Lord often uses in the Gospel to affirm what has been said: Amen, amen I say to you (John 5:19). However, there is no new or different name, except one that is derived from the name of Christ, so that the people of God should no longer be called Jacob, and Judah, and Israel, and Ephraim, and Joseph, but Christian. For whoever swears on the earth, does not swear in idols and false gods, but in God; this statement is confirmed again by the seal of Amen. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, those who translated the true God as Amen, so that the true God may be blessed, and those who swear on the earth, may swear by the true God, we refer not only to the person of God the Father, about whom it is written: That they may know you, the only true God, and Jesus Christ whom you have sent (John 17:3), but also to the Son, who is himself the true God, as the evangelist John says: The Son of God has come and has given us understanding, so that we may know the true one, and we are in his true Son, Jesus Christ (John 5:20). This is the true God and eternal life. For if the Savior speaks of himself: I am the truth (John XIV, 6), consequently he received the name true God from the truth, so that he would not be called God according to false gods, but according to the true God the Father, and he himself is the true God. Otherwise, if he is not true, he will be similar to an idol, which leads to the damnation of those who deny Christ as the true God. This is, however, a new name, which is written for him in the Apocalypse upon a stone (Chapter II), to which blessing is given in the whole world.

For “abundance,” which is sabaa in Hebrew, others translate “oath.” But the word has many meanings, which vary in accordance with where the accent is placed, for it can be understood as “oath” or “abundance” or “sufficiency” or “plurality” or “seven,” concerning which we already indicated that in the book of Genesis, as well as in the current book, seven women take one man. Again, for that which the Septuagint translates as “true” and the Hebrew as “amen,” Aquila renders pepistōmenōs, that is, “faithfully.” But this is what it says: “Your name will be a curse for the benefit of my chosen who will follow in your place, that they may have you as an example of evil consequences and may detest enduring such things, and, therefore, swear this oath: ‘I will not suffer what the Jewish people suffered.’ ” Or, perhaps your name will be “abundant,” in as much as it will be spoken so frequently that the memory or mention of it will become odious to them and engorge them on it, such that they will grow nauseated.…And there will be blessing, insofar as whoever is called by that name will be blessed by the Lord and will receive a sign of true circumcision: “amen,” which the Lord often uses to indicate approval in the Gospel: “Amen, amen, I say to you.” But neither this new name nor another name is anything unless derived from the name of Christ, so that the people of God would never be called Jacob, Judas, Israel, Ephraim or Joseph, but “Christian.” For “whoever swears in the land” does so not by idols or by false gods but by God, as is confirmed by the “amen” at the end of the sentence. Furthermore, the Septuagint translates “true God” in place of “amen,” so that the true God may be blessed and that those “who swear in the land” would swear by the true God. But we do not follow the error of the Arians in referring this “true God” to the person of God the Father alone, of whom it is written, “that they may know you the one true God and Jesus Christ whom you have sent.” But we refer also to the Son, who is himself the true God, as John the Evangelist testifies: “The Son of God came to give us understanding, that we would know the true one and exist in his true Son, Jesus Christ. This is the true God and eternal life.”

Those who interpret the new heaven and earth to be a change for the better, rather than the destruction of the elements, cite this passage: “You founded the earth in the beginning, Lord, and the heavens are the work of your hands. They will perish, but you will endure; they will grow old like a garment, and you will roll them up like cloth, and they will be changed.” In this psalm is demonstrated clearly a perdition and destruction that is not an annihilation but a transformation for the better. Neither does what is written elsewhere indicate that there will be a complete destruction of what was there at the beginning, but rather a transformation: “The moon will shine like the sun, and the sun’s light will be strengthened sevenfold.” And that this may be better understood, let us use an example from our own human condition: when an infant grows into a boy, and a boy into an adolescent, and an adolescent into a man and a man into an old man, the same person continues to exist throughout his succession of ages. For he remains the same man as he was, even though it can be said that he has changed a little and that the previous ages have passed away. Understanding this truth, the apostle Paul said, “for the form of this world is perishing.” Notice that he said “form,” not “substance.”

(Verse 17, 18.) Because the former troubles have been forgotten and hidden from my eyes. For behold, I create new heavens and a new earth, and the former things shall not be remembered or come into mind. But be glad and rejoice forever in that which I create; for behold, I create Jerusalem to be a joy, and her people to be a gladness. LXX: For they shall forget the affliction of the past, and it shall not come to mind. But there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and they shall not remember the former things, nor shall they come to mind. But they shall find joy and exultation in it. The cause of joy and confession of the true God is that the eternal oblivion will follow the previous sorrows, so that they will not remember the idols and the former errors, but will pass from darkness to light, so that they may enjoy eternal blessedness. For they will forget the past evils, not by the forgetfulness of memory, but by the succession of good things, according to what is written: 'In the day of prosperity be joyful, and in the day of adversity consider: God has made the one side by side with the other, so that man may not find out anything that will be after him.' (Eccles. 7:14). And elsewhere it is said: 'Affliction makes joy forgotten in an hour' (Eccles. 11:29): because while they are in distress, they will not enjoy the former pleasures, according to the mistaken mind of Epicurus. Although it can also be said, that in the new heaven and the new earth, all memory of previous conversations is erased, so that this very thing does not become a part of the evils, to recall the narrowness of the past. But those who believe that everything we see will perish interpret it according to the testimony of the Gospel: Heaven and earth will pass away (Matthew 24:35). And according to the testimony of the Apostle Paul: For the things that are seen are temporal, but the things that are not seen are eternal (2 Corinthians 4:18). Moreover, those who embrace change, improvement, and do not consider the destruction of elements to be a demise, use this example: In the beginning, you established the earth, O Lord, and the works of your hands are the heavens. They will perish, but you remain, and all of them will wear out like a garment, and you will change them like clothing, and they will be changed (Psalm 102:26-27). This clearly demonstrates a transformation for the better, not an annihilation into nothingness, but a change. For the scripture that is written in another place, 'The moon shall shine as the sun, and the sun shall receive sevenfold light' (Isaiah 30:26), does not indicate the destruction of the former things, but their transformation for the better. In order to understand this, let us consider examples from our own condition: when an infant grows into a child, and a child into a youth, and a youth into a man, and a man into an old man, each age does not perish completely. It is still the same person as before, but gradually changes and is said to have perished from its former state. What the intelligent and Apostle Paul said: For the figure of this world passeth away (1 Cor. VII, 31). Let us consider what he said: The figure passeth away, not the substance. Peter also signifies the same: For this they are willfully ignorant of: that the heavens were before, and the earth out of water, and through water, consisting by the word of God: Whereby the world that then was, being overflowed with water, perished. But the heavens and the earth which are now, by the same word are kept in store, reserved unto fire (2 Pet. III, 5 seqq.): in what sense this is to be understood, he teaches afterwards: But we look for new heavens and a new earth, according to his promise (Ibid., 13): he did not say, we shall see other heavens and another earth, but the old and ancient ones changed for the better. We can say this also, that those who have turned away from idolatry and forsaken their former error, see new heavens and a new earth, not considering the elements as gods or as those things that are born from the earth. Now we confess that the heavens and the earth are the work of God's hands. But during that time, we worshipped as servants and creatures with reverence for God, which David also acknowledges in the psalm: 'I will see the heavens, the work of your fingers' (Psalm 8:4). Not that David did not see the heavens at that time when he said these things; but by each increase of virtues and knowledge of future things, he sees new heavens that he did not see before. But what is said at the end of this testimony: 'Which I create,' is omitted by the Septuagint.

Neither would it be congruous that in the city of Jerusalem and among the people of God, who will receive an eternal creation of exaltation and joy, there be heard any longer the voice of weeping and wailing, now that pain, sorrow and moaning have departed, for incompatible realities are surely unable to exist together.… In such a city, there is no difference in ages, as between the infant and the elderly, the young and the “old man who does not fulfill his days.” Instead, like children of the resurrection, all “attain to the perfect person, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ,” such that none will either lack or exceed the life span, nor will it be the case that some persons retain their strength while others fail with age and cease to be what they were. Everyone, moreover, will reach one hundred years of age, as did Abraham, who received the promise that he would have his son Isaac at one hundred. It is not necessary to recount the many praises of this particular number, lest our argument run too long. This alone will we say, that ten decades are squared and square forms possess strength.

(Verse 20) And there shall no longer be heard in her (in him) the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying. There shall no longer be an infant of days, nor an old man who has not filled his days. For the child shall die at a hundred years old, and the sinner at a hundred years old shall be accursed. LXX: And there shall no longer be heard in her the voice of weeping, and the voice of crying. Neither shall there be any more premature and old person who does not fulfill their time. For there shall be a child of a hundred years, and a sinner who dies at a hundred years old shall be cursed. For it will not be fitting that in the city of Jerusalem, the people of God, who will receive the eternal creature of exultation and joy, should any longer hear the voice of weeping and shouting; when pain, sorrow, and groaning have departed. For indeed, opposites cannot be present at the same time. And where there is exultation and joy, which are the fruits of the Holy Spirit, there can be no weeping and lamentation, which are suitable for those who lament and mourn, especially the shouting, which Paul expels from the Church of believers, so that we do not make a clamor resembling that of the Jews (Ephesians 4). In such a city, there will be no diverse ages: infant and old, small and great, who do not fulfill their days; but like children of the resurrection, all will reach perfect adulthood, to the measure of the fullness of Christ's age, so that no one lacks the span of years, nor exceeds it, and one who does not yet have solid strength may cease to be what he was, and with advanced age may wither away; and all will reach the number of one hundred years, such as Abraham was, who received the promise of his son Isaac at this age (Gen. XXI). Of the praises of which number, it is not necessary to mention many, lest the discussion be superfluous. We only say this, that the tens have equal sides and possess the firmness of square shapes. Also, in the promises for the things which we have consumed (rather despised), the Lord promises us a hundredfold, and falling into good soil for sowing, it first has the number of abundant crops, a hundredfold. Finally, Isaac also sowed one seed of faith, and his works were multiplied by this number of his labor. Therefore, at that time, when the age of all will be one, both the holy and the sinner will be perfected by a similar resurrection, and they will not be subject to change in time; but one will be drawn to rewards, another to punishment: and in that the sinner will be cursed, because he will suffer eternal punishment in an incorruptible body. Moreover, what we read in the Book of Revelation by John (Chapter 20), that after the resurrection the presence of the judge will show differences not of age, but of merits, for the small and the great. For whoever is small according to the opinion of Solomon is worthy of mercy: but the powerful endure torments powerfully (Wisdom of Solomon 6:7). The words of the Lord also agree with this sentiment: The servant who knows the will of his master and does not do it will be beaten with many blows (Luke 12:47). But the one who does not know and still does worthy things of punishment will be beaten with few blows. Blessed Apostle Paul, speaking of the Old Testament as Christ spoke to him, asserts that Abraham, the patriarch, is not only the father of circumcision but also of those without circumcision (Romans 4). That is, two peoples were generated from him, and the one who was born according to the flesh, at the age of a hundred because of Christ, who was born from the descendants of Abraham, to whom he extended his hand, will be subject to perpetual curse. The gospels teach this story (Mark 5), in which it is reported that a woman suffering from hemorrhage started when the daughter of the ruler of the synagogue was born, and when the woman was immediately healed, the daughter died. And within the same period of years, a new people persists in their youth, and the old people dies in disbelief, and is cursed. We have said this according to the Septuagint interpreters, whose edition is widely known throughout the world, so that we may not seem to resort to the fortress of the Hebrew language. Whether after the resurrection you understand in the second coming of the Savior, or after baptism in the first resurrection, it does not contradict the faith of the Church. The Hebrews argue that these things will happen before the resurrection in a kingdom of a thousand years on earth, and such long spaces of future life are promised that a hundred years are considered infancy; but a sinner will die in his hundredth year of age, so that he may not enjoy his accumulated wealth, but may know himself to be cursed because of his sin. But if this is so, where will perfect happiness be, which is violated and corrupted by sin, and sin is punished with premature death?

(Ver. 21. 22.) And they shall build houses, and inhabit them; and they shall plant vineyards, and eat the fruit of them. They shall not build, and another inhabit; they shall not plant, and another eat. LXX likewise. Concerning these houses, the prophetic psalm in the sixty-eighth chapter promises, saying: Because God will save Zion: and the cities of Judah shall be built, and they shall dwell there, and inherit it, and the seed of his servants shall possess it: and those who love his name shall dwell in it. All these things the Jews understand in a carnal manner, so that Jerusalem and the cities of Judaea may be restored to their former state. And if we were to give them this, they would not only hear that Jerusalem is promised, but also Sodom, as Ezekiel says: 'Sodom shall be restored to its former state.' Therefore, the houses in which those who build them will dwell must either be understood as virtues, or as various dwelling places with the Father, which whoever builds them will possess forever. In Exodus, those who are said to have built for themselves and were midwives were called obstetricians, who feared God: although it is written in Hebrew that God built houses for them because they feared Him (Exod. I). And Jacob, because he was simple, or as it is said in Greek ἄπλαστος, that is, not at all artificial; not like those condemned in Peter's Epistle, of whom he says: 'In covetousness they will make merchandise of you with fictitious words' (II Pet. II, 3); therefore they lived in a house that Esau, who delighted in wild beasts and forests, could not possess. Such words describe the house of the Savior in the Gospel: Everyone who comes to me, and hears my words, and does them, will be like a wise man who built his house upon a rock, (Matthew 7:24), and so on. Otherwise, according to the letter, many saints build houses and do not inhabit them, either due to pilgrimage, or the theft of another, or death. Such was Job, who, though rich in flesh and spirit, was brought to such poverty that he sat in the dung heap outside the city gate (Job 2). On the contrary, that rich man in the Gospel was clothed in purple and built a house, and he dwelt in it, of whom it could rightly be said: Fool, this night they will take your soul from you; and the things which you have prepared, whose shall they be (Luke XII, 20)? However, not only does He say that they will build houses and dwell in them, but they will also plant vineyards and they themselves will eat their fruit. According to what is said in Micah: Each one will rest under his own vine and under his own fig tree, and there will be no one to make him afraid (Micah IV, 4). This is the vine that spoke in the Gospel: I am the vine, and you are the branches, and My Father is the vinedresser (John 15:5). Every branch that does not bear fruit will be cut off and thrown into the fire (Matthew 3:10). Its fruits are eaten and drank, and they gladden the heart of man and intoxicates the friends of the bridegroom, and they are drank daily in the kingdom of God. But it rests under a fig tree and fears no one's treachery, who enjoys the sweetness of the Holy Spirit and is satisfied with its fruits: love, joy, peace, faith, continence, and patience. It is said about the planter: Whoever plants a fig tree, will eat its fruits (Amos 9:14). Whoever builds such houses and plants vineyards, about whom the Apostle also speaks: I planted, Apollos watered, but God gave the increase (1 Corinthians 3:6), will eat the labor of his hands (Psalm 127); and sowing in the Spirit, will reap eternal life from the Spirit (John 4), and will not be thwarted by the tricks of the devil and his minions.

If, however, as in the Septuagint, we read “the days of the tree of life,” which makes more sense than the Hebrew text, we should understand that it refers to the tree of life that was located in paradise, from which place Adam was expelled so that he would be unable to extend his hand to the tree and thus live. Paradise was then put under the custody of the cherubim, that is, “abundance of knowledge,” and a flaming sword was established to guard the way to the tree of life, lest sinful Adam, not yet recognizing his sin, eat of the tree and die the ultimate death in a desperate state of impenitence. Solomon offered an especially lucid interpretation of this tree of life when, speaking from the wisdom of God, he said, “The tree of life is for all who approach it and rely on it as upon the sure foundation who is the Lord.” Neither is there any doubt whom the Word of God signifies, who is Life and Wisdom himself, as he said: “I am the Life.” …And does it not seem to you that their works daily grow old who press ahead into the future while forgetting the past? For this reason, both the Old and the New Testaments say that it is not the old that perishes but that on which nothing new succeeds.

(Verse 23 onwards) For according to the days of a tree, the days of my people will be, and the work of their hands will grow old with my chosen. They will not labor in vain, nor bring forth children in trouble, for they are the offspring of the blessed of the Lord, and their descendants will be with them. And before they call, I will answer; while they are still speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb will feed together, and the lion will eat straw like the ox, and dust will be the serpent's food. They shall do no harm, neither shall they kill in all my holy mountain, saith the Lord. LXX: For as the days of a tree, so shall be the days of my people: and the works of their hands shall be multiplied. My chosen ones shall not labor in vain, nor bring forth children for a curse: for they are the seed blessed by the Lord, and their offspring with them. And it shall come to pass, that before they call, I will answer them: while they are yet speaking, I will hear. The wolf and the lamb shall feed together: the lion shall eat straw like the ox, and the serpent shall eat dust like bread. They will not harm or destroy on my holy mountain, says the Lord. The dwelling and plantation of the righteous will be eternal, so that the days of the life of my people may be compared to the days of the life of the tree, about which it is said in the Psalms: The righteous will flourish like a palm tree (Psalm 92:13), triumphing over their adversaries daily and displaying the emblem of victory. However, if we read it according to the Septuagint, we understand 'the days of the life of the tree,' which conveys more the meaning from the Hebrew rather than the words, and we understand it as the tree of life that was situated in paradise. So that Adam would not extend his hand to live, he was driven out of paradise (Genesis, III). In the custody of which, Cherubim, that is, a multitude of knowledge, and a fiery sword was placed to guard the way of the tree of life, so that Adam, who was in sin and not yet aware of his sins, would not eat from it and die from the death of impenitence, desperation, and pride. Solomon explains more clearly what this tree of life is, who, discussing the wisdom of God, says: The tree of life is for all who approach it, and who rely on it, as a firm foundation on the Lord (Proverbs III, 18); there is no doubt that it signifies the Word of God, who himself is the way and wisdom, and speaks of himself: I am the life (John XI, 25). And as the Prophet sings: You have made everything in wisdom: the earth is full of your creatures (Psalm 104:24); and the Apostle Paul: Christ the power of God, and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:24). The works of the people of God will also not grow old, but will be renewed daily, so that they do not walk in the oldness of the letter, but in the newness of the spirit (Romans 7). Just as through the disobedience of one man, many were made sinners, so through the obedience of one man, many will be made righteous. Certainly, this must be said, that the works of those whose house is founded upon rock endure forever, and those who build upon the foundation of Christ with gold, silver, and precious stones (1 Corinthians 3): and on the contrary, the works of those whose house is founded upon sand perish in a sudden tempest; and those who build upon the foundation of Christ with wood, hay, and straw. Does it not seem to you that their works grow old every day, who, forgetting the past, extend into the future? Both the old and the new are called the Testament: not that the old one perishes, but that the new one does not succeed it. This can also be said in accordance with the Hebrew, that the works of the people and of those who believe in Christ are the fruits of the Apostles, that is, of the elect of God, and are stored in their treasuries. For many are called, but few are chosen (Matthew 20). These people will not labor in vain, as the Jews once labored; but they will eat the labors of their hands. They will not generate in confusion or in curse, and, as is more expressly put in Hebrew, into non-existence, which in their language is called Labala ( Al. Labaala), that is, that they should cease to be and have an end to their substance: for which reason Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion interpreted it as hastening: so that they should not believe without reason, but imitate Nathanael, who was praised by the voice of the Lord, Behold a true Israelite, in whom there is no deceit (John 1:47), who sought Christ by the authority of the Scriptures and desired to know about the prophets, saying, Can anything good come out of Nazareth? And the meaning is: How do you bring the Messiah to me from Galilee and Nazareth, when I know that he was promised to come from Bethlehem in Judah? Therefore, the apostles and apostolic men will generate children in such a way that they instruct them from the Holy Scriptures, so that they do not imitate the curse of the Jews, but rather say with the Prophet: From your fear, Lord, we have conceived in the womb, and have given birth and brought forth (Isaiah 26:18). For it was said of them: Blessed shall be the offspring of your womb (Deuteronomy 28:4). These are the sons of Abraham, who do his works: and in the old history they are called the sons of the Prophets (John VIII): such as in the new Testament the apostles begot (Acts XVI), Paul begot Timothy, Luke, and Titus, and many others; Peter begot Mark the evangelist, and the others, whose blessed seed is, and thus far blessed, and the sons remain of their sons. Concerning whom the Prophet says: Blessed is the man who fears the Lord, he will greatly desire his commandments. His descendants will be mighty on the earth; the generation of the upright will be blessed. (Psalm 112:1-2) And elsewhere: Your children will be like olive shoots around your table. Behold, thus shall the man be blessed who fears the Lord. (Psalm 128:4-5) On the contrary, it is said of Judas, the traitor, and all who are like him, Let his children be orphans, and his wife a widow. Let his children wander and beg; let them be driven out of their ruined homes. (Psalm 109:9-10) For the end of a wicked generation is the worst. They conceive sorrow and give birth to iniquity. Concerning them it is written: Behold, he travailed with injustice, he has conceived sorrow, and has brought forth iniquity (Psalm 7:15). But if this is said of the wicked, how then did Samuel, a blessed and righteous man, beget wicked sons who did not walk in their father's ways (1 Samuel 8)? And David, from whose seed Christ was born, begot two sons, Amnon and Absalom, one of whom became the murderer of his brother and the other the murderer of his father (2 Samuel 13, 15, and 16)? From all these things we learn that sons and grandsons should be understood according to what we have said. Therefore, Paul also begets sons until Christ is formed in them, and Onesimus is begotten in chains (Gal. IV). When they cry out, they are immediately heard, and when they speak, the Lord will say, 'Here I am.' All these things we also see fulfilled according to the letter in the Acts of the Apostles. For all the nations could not have believed in such a short time unless their faith had been somehow forced out by the miracles of signs. For while the Apostles and apostolic men were speaking and shouting out, the Lord would respond with the greatness of signs, such as when Dorcas rose up at the prayers of Peter (Acts 9), when the father of Publius on the island of Melita, who was suffering from fevers and dysentery, which are diseases that are contrary to each other, was healed by the prayers of Paul (Acts 28), and when the whole world declared that gods were walking among men (Acts 28). At that time, the wolf and the lamb were grazing together, the persecutor Paul and the disciple Ananias (Acts 9). That wolf, of which it is written: Benjamin, a ravenous wolf, in the morning he will eat prey, and in the evening he will divide the spoils (Gen. XLIX, 27); or as it is said in Hebrew, he will divide the spoils. Whose teaching was the food of believers, and who triumphed over vanquished adversaries in the whole world. But all who believe are lambs, who follow the Lamb wherever he goes (Apoc. XIV), whom the Lord handed over to Peter to feed, saying: Feed my lambs (John XXI, 16). The lion also, like an ox, will eat straw, when the most eloquent men, once powerful in the world, submit themselves to rusticity, so that they may not feed on worldly eloquence, which trickles like honey from the lips of a harlot, but rather follow lowliness and straw in history until they earn the wheat of understanding with much labor and industry. Concerning these straw and wheat, Jeremiah speaks: 'What has straw to do with wheat?' says the Lord (Jeremiah 13:28). And it must be considered that it is not the ox that turns into madness, but the lion that is transformed into gentleness. The serpent that observed the heel of the man, and whose head was observed by the man, will by no means be nourished by the destruction of others, but will eat the earth, or rather dust, as bread (Genesis 3). Or certainly it must be understood that the devil, who previously fed on the deaths of men, will only devour those who are dust and earth: through which everything demonstrates the transformation of evils into good, those who are innocent will be, with the ancient ferocity abandoned: not outside, but on the holy mountain of the Lord, that is, in the Church, and in the confession of that mountain, from which the prince of Tyre was wounded, and having been cut from the mountain without hands, grew into a great mountain, and filled the world (Daniel 2). Let us ask in this place the Jews, and all those who still eat the chaff of the Scriptures under the name of Christian, which will be separated from the wheat in the Lord's winnowing fan and will be delivered to the wind and the flames, how the beatitude is to be estimated, namely in the thousand-year kingdom, on Mount Zion, the city of present Christ's Jerusalem; and in the most august Temple, will wolves and lambs, lions and oxen, serpents and humans eat together and live together in harmony? And will these (i.e. the holy ones) alone be harmless, who have dwelt on the holy mountain of the Lord? From which we understand that all who are outside the mountain are to be killed. Therefore, the entire world will be laid bare for wolves, lions, bears, leopards, and serpents, and all other beasts; and the vast forests, and the Egyptian wilderness, which is fertile with venomous animals, and the city of the holy ones will be a dwelling not only for humans, but also for beasts and serpents, as according to the earlier prophecy, the wolf shall dwell with the lamb, and the leopard with the goat, the calf and the lion, and the sheep shall all die together. And a little child shall lead them, and an infant shall put his hand into the hole of the asp, and shall destroy the brood of the reptile in its lair. (Isaiah 11) And the cause of such great happiness is because the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord.

Through all of these events is demonstrated the change of evil beings into good, who will be innocent once their old violence has been laid aside. This does not happen outside the holy mountain of the Lord, but on it, that is, in the church and within the profession of the mountain of him by whom the king of Tyre was wounded. He who was cast down from the mountain without hands “grew into a great mountain and filled the world.” Let us inquire of the Jews about this passage, along with all Christians who still feed on the chaff of the Scriptures, which, once separated from the grain by the Lord’s winnowing fork, will be given over to wind and fire. Let us ask them: what blessedness should be attributed in the thousand-year reign to Mount Zion, Jerusalem, the city of the presiding Messiah? What blessedness to the most holy temple, where the wolf and the lamb, the lion and the cow, serpents and people will eat and dwell together? Are these the only creatures that are to be judged harmless to those who will dwell on the holy mountain of the Lord? Are we to understand from this, therefore, that everything outside of the mountain is to be killed and that all the earth will be denuded of wolves, lions, bears, panthers, serpents, with other animals, and of the immense forest and the desert of Egyptian solitude, which is fertile with poisonous animals? Are we to understand that the holy city is not only for the ultimate happiness of man, but also will be a home for beasts and serpents, such that, according to the prophecy above, “the wolf will dwell with the lamb and the leopard with the goat, and the bull and the lion and the cow and the bear will rest together, and a small child will rule them and an infant recently weaned will put his hand in the den of the asp.”

“And worship his footstool for it is holy.” What is this footstool of Jesus that is holy? We read in another place: “The heavens are my throne, the earth is my footstool”; and here, “worship his footstool.” If earth is Jesus’ footstool, and the psalm says worship his footstool, then is earth to be adored? How, then, do we read in the apostle that we must worship the Creator, not the creature? In Scripture, adoration conveys two different notions: worship as an act toward God and worship in the sense of reverence. When we use the word worship in relation to God, we mean the adoration that is proper to God. When, however, we use the term with reference to a human being, as for example, Sarah worshiped Abraham and Elijah worshiped Ahab—a most ungodly king—it does not mean that Elijah worshiped Ahab as if he were God but that this worship was more like a greeting.Now, we are ready to examine the words “and worship his footstool,” and [we will] see in which way the word worship is intended. Do we adore God’s footstool just as we adore God or in the same sense that we worship and pay respect to a person? We have read in the Lamentations of Jeremiah and in another of the prophets, “How the Lord has hallowed his footstool!” In this passage, his footstool is Jerusalem, or the temple. And so, the reference is historical.
We shall now consider the verse “and worship his footstool” from another point of view. If feet rest on a footstool, the words “Let us worship in the place where his feet have stood” likewise refer to a footstool. In that event, we may hold to the letter and mean, for example, that place where he was born, where he was crucified, where he arose from the dead. This is the explanation for beginners.… [Or] Jesus’ footstool is the soul of the one who believes. Happy the person in whose heart Jesus sets his feet every day! If only he would set his feet in my heart! If only his footsteps would cling to my heart forever!

(Chapter 66, Verse 1) Thus says the Lord: Heaven is My throne, and the earth is the footstool for My feet. What is this house that you are building for Me, and what is this place of My rest? All these things My hand has made, and so all these things have come into being, says the Lord. Similarly, let us understand that Mount Zion is the holy mountain, and let us not be deceived by the Jewish error that believes that Jerusalem must be rebuilt and that all the promises of the Lord must be fulfilled there carnally. He takes away this suspicion from us and presents the testimony that Stephen, the first martyr in Christ, used against the Jewish contention (Acts 7). Solomon built him a house, doubtless for God; but he does not dwell in man-made structures, as the Prophet says: Heaven is my throne, and the earth is my footstool. And Paul in the same volume: God, who made the world and all things in it, does not dwell in temples made by hands (Acts 17:24). For if heaven is his throne, and the earth is his footstool, how can he be confined to a small space, who fills all things and in whom all things exist? And Moses also said: 'Lest thou shouldst say in thy heart: 'It is afar off,' God is in heaven above, and in the earth beneath: and there is no other God besides him (Deut. IV, 39).' And the Psalmist: 'Whither shall I go from thy spirit, or whither shall I flee from thy face? If I ascend into heaven, thou art there: if I descend into hell, thou art present (Psal. CXXXVIII, 7).' To whom Jeremiah also agrees, speaking in the person of God, saying: 'I am a God nigh at hand, and not a God afar off.' Can anyone hide in secret places where I cannot see them? Do I not fill heaven and earth? (Jeremiah 23:23-24) For in Him we live and move and have our being. (Acts 17) He says this to expose the error of the Jewish belief that God, who is invisible, incorporeal, and incomprehensible, can be confined to the temple in Jerusalem. Even Solomon, the builder of the temple, acknowledges this in his prayer to the Lord. (1 Kings 8) Lest we think that the magnitude of God should be measured in both heaven and earth, in another place we read about Him: He holds the heavens in the palm of His hand, and the earth in a fist. (Isaiah 40:12) Through this it is shown that God is both external and internal, infused and surrounding, as He is not contained by the surrounding throne, yet He is contained by a fist and a palm. He is not only the creator of heaven and earth, but also of the invisible beings, the angels and archangels, dominions and powers, and all mankind, as the Apostle speaks about them (Colossians 1). All of these things were made by the hand of God. Job and the Psalmist both mention this: Your hand made me and fashioned me (Job 10:18; Psalm 119:73). For everything was made through him, and without him nothing was made (John 1). He Himself spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created (Psalm 33). And as the Scripture of Genesis demonstrates in mystical speech, God said, and God made (Genesis 1). For by the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and by the breath of his mouth all their host. There is no place of rest of the Lord, except the one that the Prophet mentions.

(Vers. 2, 3.) But to whom shall I look, except to the poor and contrite in spirit, and trembling at my words? He who slaughters an ox is like one who slays a man; he who sacrifices a lamb, like one who breaks a dog's neck; he who presents a grain offering, like one who offers pig's blood; he who remembers frankincense, like one who blesses an idol. LXX: And to whom shall I look, except to the humble and peaceful, and trembling at my words? But unjust is the one who sacrifices a calf as if striking a man. Sacrificing from the flock as if killing a dog. Offering fine flour as if it were swine's blood. Giving frankincense as a memorial as if blaspheming. With the altar and earthly temple removed, which human hands had built, the Jewish victims are rightly taken away, lest they should say: We are not so foolish as to think that God can be confined to a place; but in a separate place for sacrificing, we offer to God the victims that are commanded by the law. Therefore, the Inhabitant of heaven, indeed the Creator of all, who refuses to have a temple on earth, willingly assumes a humble, peaceful, and trembling human being into the temple, according to the words of the Apostle: But you are the temple of God, and the Holy Spirit dwells in you. If anyone defiles the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are (I Cor. III, 16, 17). Therefore, whoever is humble and peaceful, and trembles at the words of God, the Lord looks upon him; and it can be understood from this saying that he is prophesied under the name of "earth": The earth trembled and was still when God arose to judge (Psal. LXXV, 9, 10). For its inhabitants, for whom the land is metaphorically called 'earth,' considering the judgment of God, they rest from evil works; and sitting in their house, they rest on the eternal Sabbath, so as not to engage in the servile work of sin, just as the builders of the tower once moved their feet from the East and abandoned the rising of true light. They did not hear what was said to Cain: 'You have sinned, rest.' But according to the Proverbs of Solomon: 'Whoever listens to God will dwell confidently and rest without fear from all evil.' This is a humble and poor person, with a contrite spirit, and trembling at the words of the Lord, about whom it is written in the Gospel: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven (Matthew 5:3). And elsewhere: Blessed is he who understands the needy and the poor (Psalm 41:1). And again: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor (Isaiah 61:1). And what follows in the Vulgate edition: But the wicked, in Hebrew, is not found, but simply it says: He who sacrifices a bull is like one who kills a man. And in another place it is written: 'I desire mercy, and not sacrifice; the knowledge of God more than burnt offerings' (Hosea 6:6). And through Malachi: 'You have done what I hate; you have covered the altar of the Lord with tears, with weeping and groaning, because he no longer regards the offering or accepts it with favor from your hand' (Malachi 2:13). Let the Jews hear that God does not desire sacrifices, but the disposition of the offerer's heart. And he who sacrifices, he says, an animal, as if he were cutting a dog's throat. Hence it is also written through Moses: You shall not offer the hire of a prostitute, nor the price of a dog, in the house of your God. (Deut. XXIII, 18). And dogs and prostitutes couple beautifully, because both animals are inclined to lust. Let us also consider that he did not say: He who sacrifices a ram, as if he were sacrificing a dog; but he says, kill the dog. This word is not used in sacrifices, but in those things that are unlawfully killed. Who offers an oblation and a sacrifice, as if offering his own blood. This is also prohibited by the Law, such are the ceremonies of the Jews (Lev. XI and Deut. XIV). Whoever offers incense as if blasphemous, indeed as if blessing an idol. However, there can also be this meaning: After my Son who comes meek and poor, sitting on a donkey's colt, I do not desire meats, I detest the victims, I reject the sacrifices of the Jews, I disapprove the shadows of the Law, because the truth of the Gospel is pleasing to me (Zech. IX, Matt. XXI, Luke XIX, John XII). But if it is said that, after the lightning of the Gospel, the old religion ceases in a cloud, what will they respond, who believe that those from the Jews can offer sacrifices carnally without guilt?

(Verse 4.) They have chosen all these things in their ways, and their soul delighted in their abominations. Therefore I will also choose their delusions, and I will bring upon them what they feared. Because when I called, there was none that answered; when I spoke, they did not hear. They did evil in my sight and chose what I did not desire. (Septuagint: And they chose their own ways, and their soul desired their abominations; and I will choose their delusions, and I will repay them for their sins.) Because I called them, and they did not obey: I spoke, and they did not hear. And they did evil in my sight, and chose what I did not want. They sacrificed a bull, slaughtered a ram, offered a sacrifice, burned incense, which God considers as murder, and the offering of a dog. They chose the blood of pigs and blasphemy. And it was their choice to worship such things, as it is stated by Ezekiel: I gave them bad rules and bad commands. (Ezek. XX, 11). And they walked in their own ways, not in the way of the Lord. And their souls desired their abominations, that they would rather be lovers of themselves than lovers of God. For this reason, those who choose their own ways and not Him who says: I am the way (John 14:6), and the Lord chooses illusions, or their deceivers, who are called Thalule in Hebrew, that is, mockers, to establish the most wicked leaders and bring about all their evils, including those they feared. And you write that the reasons why they were handed over to the deceiving scribes and Pharisees, about whom the first psalm according to the Hebrews sings: And He did not sit in the seat of the deceivers, whom they call the pestilential Seventy: such were the sons of Eli, sons of pestilence, for which it is written in Hebrew Belial (or Blial) , that is, of the devil. For, he says, I called, and there was no one to answer; I spoke, and they did not hear; they did evil in My sight; and what I did not want, they chose. He places these verses second in the present location, and above, where it is said: I will number you with the sword, and you will all fall in the slaughter: because I called, and you did not answer (Isaiah 65:12), and so on. The meaning and interpretation of this testimony is explained there.