Jerome

(Verse 13 and following) And it shall be, as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you and you shall be a blessing. Do not fear, let your hands be strong. For thus says the Lord of hosts: Just as I purposed to afflict you, when your fathers provoked me to wrath, says the Lord, and I did not relent, so now I have purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah. Do not fear. LXX: And it shall be, as you were a curse among the nations, O house of Judah and house of Israel, so I will save you, and you shall be a blessing. Fear not, let your hands be strong.' For thus says the LORD of hosts, 'As I purposed to bring disaster to you when your fathers provoked me to wrath, and I did not relent, says the LORD of hosts, so again have I purposed in these days to do good to Jerusalem and to the house of Judah; fear not. These things after the building of the temple promise to be in the future, that just as they were in all nations for a curse and for a hissing and for an example, the house of Judah and the house of Israel (namely, the two and ten tribes), so when they have been saved and returned to Judaea, they may be a blessing for all. Do not, he says, fear the rebellious adversaries: trust that what the Lord promises through me is true: strengthen your hands: fulfill the works that you have begun. For the cause of comfort, there is a promise of the Lord. For thus says the Almighty Lord, to whom nothing is impossible, who can fulfill what He promises: just as I have devised to afflict you and deliver you into captivity because your fathers provoked me to anger and I did not show mercy. And the Septuagint translated it as 'I did not repent', which is written in Hebrew as 'Ulo Naamathi'. But I did not show mercy in order to correct you with captivity and instruct you with all kinds of torments and afflictions. So now, at this present time, I have devised to do good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. And it is to be noted that when he is angry, his curse is upon the nations of the house of Judah and the house of Israel, that is, all twelve tribes that were handed over to captivity. But when he plans to do good, he does not do so for Judah and Israel, that is, the two and ten tribes, namely Jerusalem and Samaria, Oollae and Oolibae; but leaving Israel in captivity, he does good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah: and he concludes by saying: Do not fear or be confident, in the sense that we have explained above. However, the Church and each individual believer can be understood in this way: that during times of persecution, they were a curse and an example to all the surrounding nations because they offended their Lord. And afterwards, they were a blessing when peace was restored. And all of this happened because the Lord, who was once angry, then had mercy on Jerusalem and on the Jews who confessed the faith of the Lord. Moreover, each of the believers who are expelled from the Church due to their sins and handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (I Cor. V), so that they may learn not to blaspheme (I Tim. I), when they have repented, they shall return to their former state and shall see the peace of God and possess the glory of their confession. The heretics falsely accuse God, saying that he is either cruel or changeable, if he either does not repent or does repent, because it is written: \"I have not shown mercy or had pity\". For if he repents, they say he is changeable; if he does not repent, they assert he is cruel. However, God regretted that he had anointed Saul as king (1 Samuel 15). And concerning the Ninevites, to whom he had proclaimed through the prophet: \"Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown\" (Jonah 3:4), it is said that he himself changed his mind when they repented, not due to a fault of his unwise mind, but due to the variation of their actions, whether good or evil. For if they have done wrong, He threatens; if they have repented of their former sins, He shows mercy. God, who is always the same and cannot be changed, does not change; but when they have turned from evil to good works, He changes His own decree. He also speaks in Genesis: The outcry of Sodom and Gomorrah has multiplied, and their sins are very great. Therefore I will go down and see whether they have done altogether according to the outcry that has come to me, and if not, I will know. What he said is this: If they remain in anger, punishment will not be lacking for sinners; if they cease from insanity, they will become most worthy of my knowledge. But the Lord knows those who are His (2 Tim. 2:19). And the Apostle writes to the Galatians: But then, not knowing God (Gal. 4:8). And since God knows all things, and nothing can escape Him, neither past nor present nor future, He says in the Gospel that the wicked do not know Him: Depart from me, workers of iniquity, I do not know you (Luke 13:27). Therefore let us understand both the knowledge, and the repentance, and the anger, and the indignation, and all the affections of God, not with the fault of human speech, but with the sense of divine majesty.

(Verse 16, 17) These are the words you shall do: Speak truth, each one with his neighbor. Give judgment of truth and peace in your gates. And let none of you think evil in your hearts against his neighbor. And love not a false oath. For all these are the things that I hate, says the Lord. LXX: These are the words you shall do: Speak truth, each one with his neighbor. Give judgment of peace and justice in your gates. And let none of you think evil against his neighbor in your hearts. And love not a false oath. For I hate all these things, says the Almighty Lord. I have promised that I will not abandon the remnants of the captive people and I will not act as I did in the past days. Just as I had planned to afflict them when their fathers provoked me to anger and I showed no mercy, now I have turned my thoughts to doing good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah. Therefore, in order to fulfill my purpose and not make my promises void, do these things that I command: Speak the truth with your neighbors. Let us embrace, as our nearest kin, the entire human race, for we are all descended from a single parent. Otherwise, whoever is the next closest relative should be considered, and one must lie to strangers and foreigners. The Apostle speaks of the same thing: 'Putting away lying, speak ye the truth every man with his neighbour' (Ephesians IV, 25). 'Judge ye the truth and the judgment of peace in your gates.' In judgment let truth and justice come first, and then mercy follows. For this is the judgment of peace, that the judge has the intention to reconcile the discordant, according to that Gospel: Blessed are the peacemakers, for they shall be called the children of God (Matthew 5:9). And what follows 'In your gates' is in agreement with that prophetic passage: They hate him who reproves in the gate, and they abhor him who speaks the truth (Amos 5:10). And in another place: They shall not be put to shame when they speak with their enemies in the gate (Psalm 129:6). David also judged in the gates, when Absalom, promising the truth of judgment, laid snares for his father (2 Samuel 19). And it is asked why among the Jews in the city gates there was a place for judgment. So that farmers would not be forced to enter the cities and incur any expense, judges would reside in the city gates in order to hear both urban and rural people entering and leaving the city, and once the matter was finished, each person would immediately return to their own homes. And the evil, he says, do not contemplate against your friends in your hearts: Raah (), which all voice consonant κακίαν, that is, malice, can be understood in two ways, both as affliction and as evil. Regarding affliction: If there is wickedness in a city that the Lord has not made (Amos III, 6). And: Each day has enough trouble of its own (Matthew VI, 34). Concerning evil, God speaks through the prophet Jonah: The outcry of their wickedness has come to me (Jonah I, 2). And in the Apostle, we read: They were filled with all unrighteousness and wickedness (Romans I, 29). Therefore, in both ways, one who is holy does not afflict his friend nor does he think of bringing harm upon him in his heart. And he said, 'Do not love a false oath: according to the commandment of the Lord in the Gospel: 'But I say to you, do not swear at all: neither by heaven, for it is the throne of God; nor by the earth, for it is His footstool...' (Matt. V, 34). For whoever does not swear, will never be able to perjure. Let the one who swears, hear what is written: 'You shall not take the name of the Lord your God in vain' (Exod. XX, 7). These are all the things that I hate,' says the Lord, according to the words of Malachi: 'And you have done all the things that I hate' (Mal. II, 13; sec. LXX). In the precepts pertaining to life, which are clear, we should not seek allegory, lest, in accordance with the Comic, we seek a knot in a reed.

(Verse 18, 19,.) And the word of the Lord of hosts came to me, saying: Thus says the Lord of hosts: The fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah, joy and gladness, and great solemnities: only love ye truth and peace. LXX: And the word of the Lord Almighty came to me, saying: Thus says the Lord Almighty. The fast of the fourth, and the fast of the fifth, and the fast of the seventh, and the fast of the tenth shall be to the house of Judah, joy and gladness, and good festivals (for this is the Hebrew word Tobim (), meaning good), and be happy, and love truth and peace. To the question that Sarasar and Rogommelech asked through messengers, whether they should fast and mourn in the fifth month and the seventh month, as it is written in the Septuagint, or whether they should end the fast and put away mourning after the completion of the temple, with many things being set forth in the midst of what they would do and what they would hope for, the Lord responded through the person of the prophet: the fast of the fourth month, and the fast of the fifth month, and the fast of the seventh month, and the fast of the tenth month (for the month is understood) shall be turned into joy and gladness for the house of Judah and Jerusalem on the appointed feasts. God alone seeks the truth and peace. In this place, many of our people have said many different things, and there is disagreement among them. Some, professing obscurity, have passed over the deepest pit in their commentaries: thinking it better to say nothing at all than to say too little. Therefore, we are compelled to turn to the Hebrews and seek the truth of knowledge from the source rather than from the streams: especially since there is no prophecy about Christ, where they often twist and conceal the truth with lies; but rather the order of history is woven from what comes before and what follows. On the seventeenth day of the month of July, which is called Julius in Latin, it is believed to commemorate the moment when Moses came down from Mount Sinai and threw down and broke the tablets of the Law (Exodus 32), and when the walls of the city were first breached, according to Jeremiah (Jeremiah 52). In the fifth month, which is called Augustus in Latin, when a rebellion arose among the people because of the spies of the Holy Land, they were commanded not to ascend the mountain; but for forty years they wandered in the wilderness, with the exception of Caleb and Joshua, until they all perished (Numbers 14). In this month, both by Nabuchodonosor (Jer. LII), and many centuries later by Titus and Vespasian, the temple in Jerusalem was burned and destroyed, the city of Bether was captured, to which many thousands of Jews had fled, the temple was plowed in disgrace by the Roman governor Turannius Rufus. In the seventh month, which is called October among us, as we have said above, Godolias was killed, and the tribes of Judah and the remains of Jerusalem were scattered (IV Reg. 25). We read Jeremiah (Chapters XXXIX and XLI). In the tenth month, which is called January among us, because it is the door of the year and the beginning, Ezekiel, being in captivity, heard that the temple was destroyed in the fifth month, which we fully know from the same prophet. Therefore, this is all that is said: The days of mourning and fasting that you have had until now for sorrow, you shall know that I planned to do good to Jerusalem and the house of Judah, to turn them into joy and gladness and festive occasions, if only you love truth and peace. According to interpretation, because then we fast when the bridegroom is taken away from us (Luke 5), and we do not deserve to have his presence when the Lord returns to us and decides to bless us, all sorrow will turn into joy; and the previous hunger for the word of God, the presence of his teachings, and the satisfaction of heavenly bread, will be weighed.

(Verse 21, 22.) Thus says the Lord of hosts: How long will the people come and dwell in many cities, and the inhabitants go from one to another, saying: Let us go and entreat the face of the Lord, and let us seek the Lord of hosts. I myself will also go, and many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the face of the Lord. LXX: Thus says the Lord almighty: Yet many peoples and the inhabitants of many cities will come; and those who dwell in cities will gather in one city, saying: Let us go to entreat the face of the Lord, and let us seek the presence of the Lord almighty. I will also go, and many peoples and numerous nations will come to seek the face of the Almighty Lord in Jerusalem, and to supplicate the face of the Lord. The fast of the fourth, fifth, seventh, and tenth months will be changed into the best festivities, to the extent that the cities of Judah, which were previously deserted, will be celebrated with abundant inhabitants. And one city shall go to another, and they shall encourage one another and say: Because for seventy years the ways of Zion had been desolate, since there was no one to go to the feast, all its gates were deserted, and its priests were lamenting. Now that peace has been restored, let us go to Jerusalem, where it is commanded by law that we offer sacrifices, and let our every male appear before the Lord three times a year (Exod. XXIII). And one city will say to another: Let us go and supplicate the face of the Lord, and let us seek the Almighty Lord. The other city will reply: I will also go. At that time, many peoples and innumerable and powerful nations will come to offer sacrifices to the Lord of Hosts in Jerusalem, and to supplicate His face. For the Lord is near to those who do not test Him, and He reveals His face to those who are not unbelieving. Whoever sees the Son, sees the Father as well; and the Son is the image of the invisible God, not because the Son is visible and the Father invisible, but because when the Son is mentioned, the Father is felt. For the Father does not exist without the Son. Therefore, He Himself speaks in the Gospel: Father, I have manifested Your name to men. What we have said about Jerusalem and Zerubbabel, or after Zerubbabel, is more accurately and fully applied to Christ and Jerusalem, which is understood as the Church: and then concerning the whole world and peoples and nations coming together to offer sacrifices in the temple of the Lord. Also during the time of persecution, as we have mentioned before, the teachers and priests of the Church boldly promise to the captives and believers that the parishes will be rebuilt and peace will be restored, and the face of the Lord is to be sought in the Churches. We pass by in order to dwell in the more obscure things.

(Verse 23) Thus says the Lord of hosts: In those days, when ten men from all the languages of the nations take hold of the garment of a Jewish man, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' LXX: Thus says the Lord Almighty: In those days, if ten men from all the languages of the nations take hold of the fringe of a Jewish man, saying, 'We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you.' Certain Jews say that these things were completed under Zerubbabel, and after Zerubbabel. Others differ, expecting Christ to come in the future. But we understand more correctly and truly in the coming of the Lord and Savior, when He was born of the Virgin Mary. Finally, it is written: 'How long will the peoples come?' (Zech. VIII, 20) When it is said, 'How long,' it does not signify the present time in which Zerubbabel and Joshua were, but the future, when many peoples and strong nations will come to seek the Lord of hosts in Jerusalem and to entreat the face of the Lord. At that time, therefore, and in those days, ten men from all the languages of the nations will take hold of the edge of a man who is a Jew, saying: We will go with you, for we have heard that God is with you. And in Isaiah we read: Seven women will take hold of one man, saying: We will eat our own bread and wear our own clothing, only let your name be called upon us: take away our disgrace (Isaiah 4:1). Therefore, the seven women who are called there, that is, the Churches, whose number is also mentioned in the apostle Paul: for he writes to seven Churches, to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians. And in the Apocalypse of John, in the midst of the seven candlesticks (Apoc. I), that is, of the Churches, of the Ephesians, of the Smyrnians, of the Pergamenes, of the Thyatirians, of the Sardisians, of the Philadelphians, of the Laodiceans with variety (or truth), the Lord enters girded with the purest gold. Now in the prophet Zechariah, ten are mentioned, whom the Lord also inquired about, that if He found them in Sodom and Gomorrah, He would deliver them from destruction. For the letter Iota , from which the Savior's name begins, signifies not only the number ten among the Greeks, but also among the Hebrews. And by this mystical discourse it is shown that all those who are considered by the name of Christian, whom the Lord Himself says have left seven thousand in the time of the persecution of Jezebel and the flight of Elijah, who have not bent their knees before Baal (III Kings XIX), and who have come to the measure of a perfect man from all languages and nations, will grasp the fringe of the Jewish man, that is, of the Lord and Savior, about whom it is also said in the Psalms: 'Judah, my king' (Ps. LIX, 9). And: Judas, your brothers will praise you. And again: A ruler will not fail from Judah, and a leader from his loins, until the one to whom it belongs comes, and he will be the hope of the nations (Gen. XLIX, 8, 10): For he will be the offspring of Jesse, and the one who rises to rule the nations, in him the nations will hope (Isai. XI, 10). And when they take hold of him, they will desire to follow in his footsteps; for God is with him. Indeed, from all languages and nations, whoever believes will take hold of the Jewish man, the apostles who are from the Jews and they will say: Let us go with you, for we have heard through the prophets, and we have known by the voice of all the Scriptures, that the Son of God, Christ, is God and Lord with you. When the most manifest prophecy is fulfilled, and the coming of Christ and his apostles is preached, and the faith of all nations, we do not seek anything more. But what we said about the number seven thousand belonging to the name of Christians, calculate in Greek έπτα χίλια και Χριστιανους, and you will find the same number and sum, that is, one thousand nine hundred and forty-one. But also the parable of the ten virgins in the Gospel (Matt. XXV), which we interpret in the senses of the flesh and the spirit, if they have prepared oil of good works for their lamps, and have doubled the number five, so that they may be holy (according to the Apostle) in body and spirit, refer to the sacrament of this number. He will also receive in the future ten cities, the best governed by those who have the most excellent control of their senses (Luke 16).

(Chapter 9, verse 1) The burden of the word of the Lord in the land of Adrach, and Damascus shall be his rest: for the Lord hath an eye upon men, and upon all the tribes of Israel. LXX: The assumption of the word of the Lord in the land of Adrach (or Sedrach) and Damascus shall be his sacrifice, for the Lord regards men, and all the tribes of Israel. All this vision or burden of the word of the Lord, as Aquila interpreted it, pertains to the calling of the Gentiles and the rebuilding of the Church. And the order of the words is: Assumption of the word of the Lord, sharp towards sinners, gentle towards the righteous. Adrach (for this name is composed of two whole words: Ad, sharp, Rach, gentle and tender), and not as some read it incorrectly, Sedrach. Some refer Adrach to the Jewish people and Damascus to the calling of the Gentiles. Therefore, the people, or the assumption of the word of the Lord, takes place on the land of Adrach, on which the Lord exercised both severity and mercy (Isaiah XI, 10 in the Septuagint). Austerity towards those who refused to believe: mercy towards those who have returned with the Apostles. However, Damascus is for the rest of the Lord, according to what is written in Isaiah: And his rest shall be honor. For before the child knew how to choose good or evil, and call his father and mother, he received the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria (Isa. VIII, 4). Therefore, Damascus is translated into our language as 'drinking blood' or 'the blood of a hair shirt,' in order to signify the bloody people in the former interpretation; the second interpretation associates it with his cruelty and repentance. And what follows: Because the eye of man and of all the tribes of Israel belong to the Lord, thus they have said: Therefore the temple of God must be built by both peoples, that is, by the land of Adrach and by the rest of Damascus: because whoever looks upon God, and hopes in Him, is of the nations, and is of all the tribes of Israel: or, according to the Septuagint, because the Lord equally regards all men, and all the tribes of Israel. Let us speak in another way: in the land of Adrach, the burden of the word of the Lord is heavy and of great weight. But in Damascus, his victims and sacrifices, because the Lord regards the faith of the nations and the unfaithfulness of circumcision without any partiality, and he is equally the God of all: imposing the weight of his own judgment and resting in the seat of others. The Jews say that all these things are to be fulfilled in the coming of Christ, whom they expect in the last times, and that the land of Adrach, and Damascus, and Emath, and Tyre, and Sidon, and Ascalon, and Gaza, and even Accaron and Ashdod and the Philistines, will bow their necks to the most powerful king and serve him who dwells in Jerusalem, and no one shall dare to raise a hand against Israel after they have been pacified throughout the land. Which we spiritually comprehend in the coming of the Lord and in the events of his Church.

(Vers. 2 seqq.) Emath quoque in terminis ejus, et Tyrus et Sidon: assumpserunt quippe sibi sapientiam valde. Et aedificavit Tyrus munitionem suam, et coacervavit argentum quasi humum, et aurum ut lutum platearum. Ecce Dominus possidebit eam, et percutiet in mari fortitudinem ejus, et haec igne devorabitur. LXX: Emath in finibus ejus Tyrus et Sidon: quoniam sapientes fuerunt nimis, et aedificavit Tyrus munitionem suam, et congregavit argentum ut humum, et aurum ut lutum viarum. Therefore the Lord will possess it, and strike its strength in the sea, and it will be consumed by fire. Emath, which is interpreted as 'wrath,' that is, indignation, is the one which received the name Epiphania from Antiochus Epiphanes, and now it is the city of Coele Syria. And thus, both Tyre and Sidon will be in the borders of Damascus, or in the borders of the land of Adrach, so that they may believe in the Lord Savior, to whom it was said by the Father: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession (Ps. 2:8). The daughters of this Tyre, that is, the souls of those who believe in Christ, will bring gifts to the king, so that what is written may be fulfilled: The daughters of Tyre will worship him with gifts (Psalm 44:13). And when the city of God, the Church, is built, of which the Psalmist sings: Glorious things are said of you, O city of God (Psalm 86:2), then the following will immediately come: Behold, foreigners, Tyre, and the people of Ethiopia, these were born there (ibid., 56:4). In two psalms it is said of aliens: Aliens serve me, or are subject to me. In the prophet Zephaniah we read about the Ethiopians: From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia my worshipers, my dispersed ones, will bring me offerings (Zep. 3:10). And in the Psalm: Ethiopia will stretch out her hands to God (Ps. 68:31). But the Gospel speaks of Tyre: Woe to you, Chorazin! Woe to you, Bethsaida! For if the miracles done in you had been done in Tyre and Sidon, they would have repented long ago in sackcloth and ashes (Matt. 11:21). That Canaanite woman from the territory of Tyre and Sidon, whose daughter was badly possessed by a demon, encountered the Lord and Savior (Mark VII); and she dedicated the first fruits of faith of the Tyrians and Sidonians, so that those who did not believe at the time of Christ because they had not yet seen signs and wonders, would later see them through the apostles and believe, and be partakers of that blessedness which the Lord promised, saying: Blessed are those who have not seen and yet have believed (John XX, 29). But Tyre and Sidon (of which one signifies 'narrowness', that is, constraint; the other 'hunting', that is, hunting, according to interpretation) took for themselves such great wisdom, that they proposed to Solomon, that is, the peaceful king, their enigmas, along with their sophisms and the nets of the dialecticians and the intricate web of the sophists, which the Scripture records as their fortifications. They amassed for themselves their silver, which is the brightness of eloquence, and their gold, which is cunning of the senses, gathered together like dust and mud in the streets and roads, in order to possess the kingdom of idolatry which they had fortified. But the Apostle speaks against these fortifications: For the weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but powerful to God, for the destruction of fortifications: destroying thoughts and every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God (II Cor. X, 4, 5). And in the persona of Nineveh, which is interpreted as adorned, or beautiful (for nothing is more adorned than the world), God speaks through the prophet against the people of the world: And you will be drunk and despised, and you will seek help from your enemy: all your fortifications, like figs with their clusters, if they are shaken, they will fall into the mouth of the eater. And so the Lord will possess both Tyre and Sidon, when he strikes down their strength in the most salty and bitter sea of this age, and nothing of their former wisdom remains, that is, their swelling foolishness, through which they acquired weak fortifications, and silver and gold similar to clay. He will burn them with fire and purify them completely, as the Savior speaks of in the Gospel: I have come to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled (Luke XII, 49), according to what is written in Mark: Everyone will be salted with fire (Mark IX, 48).

(Verse 5 onwards) Ascalon will see it and be afraid; Gaza will writhe in agony, and Ekron too, for her hope will wither. Gaza will lose her king and Ashkelon will be deserted. Foreigners will occupy Ashdod, and I will cut off the pride of the Philistines. I will take the blood from their mouths, the forbidden food from between their teeth. Those who are left will belong to our God and become a clan in Judah, and Ekron will be like the Jebusites. And I will surround my house with those who fight for me, going and returning, and no oppressor will pass over them anymore, for now I have seen with my own eyes. Ascalon will see and be afraid; Gaza will be very sorrowful; and Ekron, because her hope is confounded, and her king will perish from Gaza, and Ascalon will not be inhabited. Foreigners will dwell in Ashdod; and I will remove the injustice of the foreigners, and take away their blood from their mouths, and their abominations from the midst of their teeth. And they will be for our God, and they will be like a leader in Judah; and Ekron will be like the Jebusites. And I will make my house a place of honor, so that no one will pass through or return, and no oppressor or oppressor will come upon them, for now I have seen with my own eyes. Ascalon is interpreted as lowly fire, or weighed down: Gaza, strong, or empire: Accaron, barren, or uprooted: Azotus, which in Hebrew is called Esdod, fire generating, or uncle's fire, or breast's fire; Jebusaeus, it signifies trampled. We have expressed the etymologies of the names in order to briefly go through their meaning. Seeing that Ascalon and Gaza and Accaron, since Emath was in the borders of Damascus, and Tyre and Sidon, after they were struck from all sides, and all of their hay, wood, and straw burned in the fire, were possessed by the Lord, and they themselves, terrified by fear and grief and confusion, began to hope for better things. Finally, Ascalon, in which the devil had been earlier, a lowly fire, and had come to the measure and weight of sins, trembled with fear, because it had ceased to have inhabitants. And Gaza mourned greatly, repenting of its former crimes, which had once been strong and hard to tame, and had promised itself the kingdom of all, because its king and prince, contrary speech and the power of the enemy, had lost its own rule. Accaron also is barren because it had no children without the Law and knowledge of God, it was uprooted, so that it might hear that prophetic saying: Rejoice, barren one, who does not bear; burst forth and cry out, you who are not in labor; for more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband (Isai. LIV, I). And when Ascalon and Gaza and Accaron were terrified, and mourned, because they had no inhabitants, or had lost their king, or their former hope had been frustrated, strangers shall dwell in Azotus, where fire begets, which the Lord has sent upon the earth, and desires to burn (Luc. XII). For he will baptize with the Holy Spirit and fire (Matt. 3), where 'fratruelis' and 'patruus' are translated as 'brother-in-law' and 'paternal cousin', whom the bride desires in the Song of Songs: where there is the fire of the breast and the abundant udder, of which we read in the same Song: 'He will rest among my breasts' (Song of Songs 1:12). And in the Apostle: 'I gave you milk to drink, not solid food' (1 Cor. 3:2). Because, as we said according to the LXX: 'Aliens shall dwell in Ashdod', in Hebrew it is written, 'he shall dwell' or 'sit', the 'Mamzer' shall dwell in Ashdod, for which we have substituted 'separator' shall sit in Ashdod. Understand the Lord as the separator, who separates the grain from the chaff (Matthew 3 and 13), and the good fish from the bad fish, and discern silver and gold from dirt and slag. And when he has done this, he promises other things: I will destroy the injustice or the pride of the Philistines. For this, the 70 foreigners were brought in. Philistines are translated in our language as 'falling to the cup,' because they drank from the cup of Babylon and fell down drunk. Therefore, at the time of the calling of the Gentiles and the coming of Christ, they will not have pride, but they will follow Jesus with humility and meekness. And he will take from their mouth the blood, the blasphemy, and the abominations, the worship of idols, and the eating of things sacrificed to idols, from between their teeth. So that after these things have been removed, the Philistines themselves, that is, the foreigners, will be abandoned to the Lord, and he will be the leader in Judah, that is, in the people confessing the Lord, so that the former people who were in the head, will be turned into the tail, and the last one who was in the tail, will pass into the head. And once barren Accaron, therefore, uprooted, will be as Jebus, that is, as Jerusalem. For this city is called by three names, Jebus, Salem, and Jerusalem. And I will surround, he says, my house, that is, the Church, with those who fight for me, that is, with those who serve me in various ministries and come and go at my command. Or: I will surround my house with the protection of angels, about whom it is also written elsewhere: The angel of the Lord will encamp around those who fear him, and he will deliver them (Ps. 34:7), so that there is no one who can attack and return, that is, who can plot against my people. Nor shall there pass over him any more the exactor, of whom Isaiah speaks: The exactor hath ceased (Isaiah 14:5), or surely one who drives out, that is, leading outwards, and dragging the bound captives into captivity: because with his own eyes, which we can understand as the prophets and all the saints, the Lord has seen the calling of the nations and the security of the Church.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee: he is just, and having salvation; lowly, and riding upon an ass, and upon a colt the foal of an ass. And I will cut off the chariot from Ephraim, and the horse from Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be cut off: and he shall speak peace unto the heathen: and his dominion shall be from sea even to sea, and from the river even to the ends of the earth. LXX: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, thy King cometh unto thee, just, and a Saviour, he is meek, and riding upon a young ass, and he shall destroy the chariots out of Ephraim, and the horse out of Jerusalem, and the battle bow shall be destroyed, and he shall speak peace to the Gentiles, and his dominion shall be from the sea to the rivers, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth. The Evangelists write that this prophecy was fulfilled when the Lord entered Jerusalem, sitting on a donkey and the foal of a donkey, and a crowd of children with palm branches came out to meet Him, shouting: Blessed is He who comes in the name of the Lord, hosanna in the highest (Matthew XXI); and when the Pharisees reproached Him for not rebuking the children who were shouting, He replied: Have you not read: Out of the mouth of babes and sucklings you have perfected praise (Psalm VIII, 3)? Therefore, Sion exults and Jerusalem rejoices, the same city (for Sion is the citadel of Jerusalem), because its king has come, who was promised by the prophecies of all the prophets: He himself is just, the Savior, that is, Jesus, as the angel interpreted, speaking to the Virgin: And he shall be called Jesus, for he shall save his people from their sins (Mat. I, 21). Also, poor or, as the LXX translated, meek, who, though rich, became poor for us, and says in the Gospel: Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Mat. XI, 29). And, riding upon a domestic ass or a young foal, that is, the people of both Circumcision and Uncircumcision, of whom the former had borne the heavy yoke of the Law, as it is written in the Acts of the Apostles: Neither we, nor our fathers, were able to bear the heavy yoke of the Law (Acts 15). Therefore, Paul also writes to the Galatians who wanted to be circumcised: Stand fast, and do not be held again under the yoke of bondage (Galatians 5:1). But the new chick, a multitude of gentiles, having no reins of the Law, nor being straightened by anyone, but always falling into precipices and whirlpools of idolatry, has learned to walk and enter the straight path by the session of the Lord. And I will destroy, he says, the chariot of Ephraim. Moreover, it is said in the person of God the Father, that the chariot, or the chariot, of Ephraim may perish, and the horse from Jerusalem. And in the meantime, according to the letter, he speaks thus: There will be no battles, with the advent and birth of Christ pacifying all. Furthermore, according to a higher understanding, Ephraim is referred to as a multitude of heresies, which is interpreted as bearing fruit, that is, abundance and plentiful crops. This is written in the seventy-seventh psalm: The children of Ephraim, being armed and carrying bows, turned back in the day of battle. About these chariots and charioteers, we read: Some trust in chariots and some in horses, but we trust in the name of the Lord our God. They have bowed down and fallen, but we have risen and stand upright (Psalm 20:7-9). The horse that is lost from Jerusalem, that is whom we read about: A deceitful horse for salvation (Psalm 32:17), And in Jeremiah, those who indulged in luxury and lust, they hear: The horses have gone mad, they have become like females to me: each neighed after his neighbor's wife (Jeremiah 5:8). Hence they are called to repentance, as the Psalmist says: Do not be like a horse or a mule, which have no understanding (Psalm 32:9). When God has destroyed the chariots of Ephraim and the horse from Jerusalem, which were freed from such horses and chariots; they will be brought into the service of the Lord, and will become cherubim, and it will be said of them: The chariots of God are ten thousandfold, thousands of rejoicing (Psalm 68:18). And: I have likened you, my beloved, to my horse in Pharaoh's chariots (Song of Solomon 1:8). And: Ride on horses, and let your riding be salvation (Habakkuk 3:8). The bow of war will be dispersed, so that no burning arrows may be launched, which could strike the hearts of the pleasure seekers. And he will speak peace to the nations, of whom it is written: He shall be the expectation of the nations (Gen. XLIX, 10). And again: The nations shall hope in him (Isai. XI). And: His dominion shall be from sea to sea, and from the rivers to the ends of the earth (Ps. LXXI, 8). This is not to be weakened by allegory, but truly believed to be fulfilled, according to what we read: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession (Ps. II, 8). In the seventy-first psalm, under the person of Solomon and the true peacemaker, it is said: And he shall rule from sea to sea, and from the river to the ends of the earth (Verse 8).

(Verse 11, 12.) You also, in the blood of your covenant, have sent forth your prisoners from the pit in which there is no water. Return to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. Even today I declare that I will restore double to you. LXX: And you, by the blood of your covenant, have sent forth your prisoners from the pit that has no water. You shall sit in the stronghold, prisoners of the assembly, and for one day of your journey I will restore double to you. After the prophet's message, or rather God the Almighty Father Himself, has announced to Zion and Jerusalem that her king will come to them, gentle and riding on a donkey, on a colt, the foal of a donkey, and his dominion will be from sea to sea and from the rivers to the ends of the earth, he addresses Christ Himself, of whom the prophecy is, and speaks: You also, in the blood of your covenant or pact, have sent forth your prisoners from the pit, in which there is no water. It is understood in this way: In the blood of your passion, you freed those who were held captive in the prison of hell, where there is no mercy, through your mercy. Finally, after the Lord rose, those who were held captive by the sins of Adam, or, as some would have it, the stains of error, and the chains of death, rose with him and appeared in the holy city. Concerning this blood of the covenant, he himself, indicating his coming passion, said to the disciples: Take and drink from this all of you: for this is the chalice of the new testament in my blood (Matthew 26:27-28). In this prefiguration, a lake that does not have water, Joseph was sent by his brothers into the lake (Gen. XXXVII): and Daniel (Dan. VI) and Jeremiah by the Chaldeans and the people of Judah: Benaiah also went down into the lake in the time of snow and cold, to kill a lion there (II Sam. XXIII, 20). But Jeremiah was not thrown into the water of the lake; rather, he was thrown into the mire and mud of the lake, which could suffocate him more than refresh one who was thirsty (Jerem. XXXVII and XXXVIII). Where it is written in the psalm: I am stuck in the mire of the deep, and there is no substance (Ps. LXVIII). In this lake of hell, that once rich man with a purple robe dwelled, whose boastful tongue was consumed by the fires of punishment, and he had no refreshment of any waters to such an extent that he begged for the cooling of water from the tip of the poor man's finger dipped in water (Luke XVI). And again, a word is directed to those who were bound and in need of the mercy of Christ: Turn to the stronghold, you prisoners of hope. And the meaning is: You who are now bound and held in a cruel and terrible hell, who hope for the release of your chains in the coming of Christ, turn to the stronghold, whether you will sit in the stronghold, of which it is written: The stronghold of the holy is the fear of the Lord; so that you may learn: Be to me a protector God and a fortified place, that you may save me (Ps. LXX, 3), and let the prophet also mention you: Behold, a strong city will set our salvation as its wall and bulwark (Isai. XXVI, 1). But this fortress, to which God encourages those bound by hope or bound in hope to the Church, we should not understand as anything other than the dwelling place of paradise, into which the first thief entered with the Lord (Luke 23); and for this reason they are called to the fortress by Zechariah, because even then and from that time the Lord promised that, for a brief tribulation, they would receive eternal rewards. Or, as it is read in the LXX: for one day of your pilgrimage, I will repay you double. For in comparison with eternity, everything that we suffer in the world should be called one day, not of habitation, but of pilgrimage: because we are strangers and pilgrims, like all our fathers. For in the present momentary and light tribulation, an excessive weight of eternal glory works in us, not looking at the things which are seen, but at the things which are not seen (2 Corinthians 4). For the things which are seen are temporal; but the things which are not seen are eternal.

(Verse 13) For I have bent Judah for Myself as My bow, I have filled Ephraim, and will stir up your sons, O Zion, against your sons, O Greece, and will make you like the sword of a mighty man. LXX: For I have stretched Judah for Myself as My bow, I have filled Ephraim, and will stir up your sons, O Zion, against the sons of Greece, and will touch you as the sword of a warrior. This refers to the time of the Maccabees, when they defeated the Macedonians and cleansed the defiled temple of idolatry after a period of three and a half years. And what follows: 'I have filled Ephraim like a bow,' they think signifies those who came from the ten tribes which are called Israel, under Hezekiah, to whom Josiah is also mentioned as having reigned: provided that they interpret the testimony in a way different from the explanation we have given, and say: 'O Christ, whom we ((or, once upon a time, hoped to)) expected to come, and who were to reign over all the boundaries of the earth: in the blood of thy covenant, which thou didst find Jerusalem to be sprinkled with according to Ezekiel [16:6], and didst make a covenant with Abraham in the divisions of the calf, the ram, and the goat; thou didst send forth thy people Israel from captivity and the land of the Chaldeans, in which there was no mercy [Gen. 15:13].' Therefore, you also, O Israelites, who were bound and hoped in the Lord, return to the most beloved Jerusalem; for today you have the Lord promising you that, for the brief injury of captivity, you will receive a double recompense, as we read in the book of Job (Chapter XLII). According to allegory, this passage can be explained as follows: Judah is stretched out in the bow, when the Lord and Savior is sent from the Father into this world, who himself is both the bow and the archer and the arrow. Arcus, as in the present place. Sagittarius, as in the forty-fourth Psalm: Your arrows sharp and mighty (Psalm 44:6), with which, when wounded, he says: I am wounded with love (Song of Solomon 2:5). But the arrow itself is the one who speaks through Isaiah: He has made me like a chosen arrow, and has hidden me in his quiver (Isaiah 49:2). The chosen arrow is the word of God; the quiver in which the arrow is hidden, is the dispensation of the assumed flesh. Thus Ephraim is fulfilled, that when he is armed and prepared for war, he himself is wounded by the arrows of the Lord, from whose tribe Jeroboam, who was received in the person of the heretics, first tore the people apart (III Kings 12). Hosea the prophet more fully explains this (Hosea 5 and 6), and what we have said above: The sons of Ephraim, aiming and shooting the bow, turned back on the day of battle (Psalm 77:9). For the Lord raises up the sons of Zion, that is, the sons of the Church, and the leaders of opposing doctrines, and all the assertions and arguments of the Gentiles are destroyed, because the Lord Himself is the sword of the mighty, of whom it is said: Gird your sword upon your thigh, O most mighty. Your beauty and splendor, understand, prosper and reign; because of truth, gentleness, and justice, and your right hand will lead you wondrously. (Ibid. XLIV, 4 et seqq.). The Ethiopians are wounded by this sword, of whom it is written: And you, Ethiopians, wounded by my sword you will be. (Soph. II, 12), those who, once wounded by Christ's sword, will cast off their dark color, and rejoicing they will say: The splendor of the Lord our God will be upon us. (Ps. LXXXIX, 17), which David also promises to himself after repentance: You will wash me, and I will be made whiter than snow. (Ibid., L, 9). This is the sword about which the Apostle writes: The living word of God, and effective, and sharper than any two-edged sword, and piercing even to the division of soul and spirit.

(Verse 14) And the Lord God will appear over them, and His arrow will go forth like lightning, and the Lord God will sound the trumpet, and He will go in the whirlwind of the south. The Lord of hosts will protect them. LXX: And the Lord God will appear over them; and He will go forth like a lightning arrow: and the Lord God Almighty will sound the trumpet, and He will go in the commotion of His terror. The Lord Almighty will protect them. And this passage refers to the times of the Maccabees when, as they fought against and defeated Antiochus, the Lord's battle and victory was with them. He went forth strong to battle, and His power appeared like that of lightning, and He protected the people of Judah by scattering their enemies in the whirlwind of death. But we refer all things to the understanding of the Savior, concerning whom it was said above: 'I have stretched out Judah as my bow.' With this bow stretched out, and the heretics and gentiles from the sons of Zion being killed, the glory of the Lord will appear, and He will come forth like a lightning arrow, of which we read in Habakkuk: 'With light of your arrows they shall walk, in the brightness of your flashing spear' (Habakkuk 3:11). This lightning and brightness is also called by another name, a trumpet and a shout, so that when the holy shout resounds, let the one who was previously deaf say: 'The discipline of the Lord has opened my ears, and He has given me an ear to hear.' And what follows: And he will go in the whirlwind of the south wind, or he will go in the motion of his threat. Therefore he threatens, and says, that he will bring punishments, so that he may have mercy on the penitent. Finally, he joins and says: The Almighty Lord will protect those whom he previously terrified with his threat. Let us read the story of the Ninevites.

(Verse 15, 16.) And they shall devour and subject to stones of slings: and drinking, they shall be intoxicated as with wine (Vulgate: with wine), and shall be filled like bowls and like the horns of the altar, and the Lord their God shall save them in that day as the flock of his people, because holy stones shall be lifted up upon his land. LXX: And they shall consume them, and bury them in stones of slings, and they shall drink their blood like wine, and they shall be filled like the bowls of the altar, and the Lord shall save them on that day as his flock, because holy stones shall roll on his land. For what we have said, they will be exalted, and it is written in Hebrew, Methnosasoth (), can be interpreted as wandering or fleeing. With the children of Zion protected, and the Lord singing, and going in a whirlwind against their adversaries, the destruction of the Greeks will be so great that I will not say by swords, but they will be crushed by the throwing of stones and the rotations of catapults, so that they will be spoils and food for their enemies. Then they will be drunk as if with wine. Not those who have been killed, but they will be drunk with their own blood; but those who conquer will fight as if drunk with desperation, and they will please the Lord like the horns of the altar, and their libation. For this is understood in the bowls, in which the offerings are poured out on the altar. The Lord will also save them like sheep and the flock of his people: for he will not fight like an armed and trained army against the Macedonians; but he will come like a flock prepared for death, and with the help of the Lord, he will prevail. And the holy stones that were oppressed (for they are called stones, on account of the hardness of trials and the courage of the soul) shall be lifted up from their humility, and they shall be on the land of his glory. Otherwise: his holy stones of the priestly race fleeing in different directions, with him granting them victory, shall attain it, let us say, according to the anagoge, nay, let us explain the prophecy enveloped in many obscurities. The sons of Zion, protected by their Lord, shall devour their adversaries, whom we understand to be the sons of Greece. And they shall subject them to stones of slings, and menaces of Scriptures, making their adversaries subject and humble: for nothing strikes so much as an example from the holy Scriptures, and a testimony emitted by the rotation of the mouth. But what is said in the Septuagint: And they shall drink their blood like wine, we do not read thus in Hebrew; but they shall be drunken with wine, so that they may hear that from the Song of Songs: Drink, O friends, and be intoxicated (Song of Songs 5:1). And so their drunkenness will please them, like a sacrificial altar; and like the horns or angles of an altar. The Lord will also save them, like a flock of his people, for the holy stones will roll upon his land, which will be so light and shining that they will not wait for the hands of builders, but will themselves hasten to be placed upon the foundation of Christ, and to be held by the corner stone, of which even the Apostle Peter speaks: 'You yourselves, as living stones, are being built into a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, offering spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God.' (I Peter 2:5). These are the stones that will cry out if the people of Judah keep silent (Luke XIX), and they will roll as long as they are on earth, for earthly dwelling weighs down the senses that attend to many cares (Wisdom IX), and the Holy One, who is in the flesh, speaks: Who will give me wings like a dove? (Psalm LIV, 7) Whoever is able, strives and rolls; and is lifted up to the heights, but is held back by the frailty of the flesh. And that earth on which the stones roll is the one of which we read: Sing to the Lord, all the earth (Psalm XCV, 1). And let all the earth adore you and sing to you (Ps. 65:4).

We have been speaking in a general way; let us now speak in particular about the interior of a person. A wheel, as you know, rests upon the ground with a very slight base. Nor does it merely rest; it rolls along; it does not stand still but barely touches the ground and passes on. Further, when it rolls onward, it always mounts higher. So the saintly person, because he has a human body, has to give some thought to earthly matters. When it comes to food and clothing and other such matters, he is content with what he has, and merely touching the ground with them, hastens to other things. He who runs in haste to higher things carries within himself your word. We read in the prophet, “Holy stones roll over the land.” Notice what he said: “Holy stones roll over the land.” Because they are wheels, they speed over the land and on to higher places. Do you want to hear about more wheels? We read, “And one wheel within another”;16 and again in Ezekiel, “The wheels move one within the other.” The two wheels are the New and Old Testament; the old moves within the new and the new within the old. And Ezekiel goes on, “Wherever the spirit wished to go, there the wheels went.” Ecclesiastes, moreover, says of the end of the world: “And the broken wheel falls into the well.” Much more could be said about wheels, but our sermon speeds on to the rest of the psalm.

(Verse 17.) For what is its good and what is its beauty, except for the chosen grain and the wine that brings forth virgins? LXX: For if there is anything best from it, and if there is anything good from it, it is the grain for the youth and the wine with a good aroma for the virgins. Therefore, they say, the Maccabees, fleeing here and there with the help of the Lord, will prevail, so that, with the Macedonians expelled from the land of Israel, the temple may be purified, the precepts of the Law may be observed, and the instruction of the Scriptures may once again bring forth virgins, that is, the people of believers in one God, who were previously defiled by the worship of idols. In the chosen wheat, that is, the Bread, not young men, as the Seventy translated it, but they want it to be understood as chosen and learned men, who deserve to eat the Bread, that is, the Law of God. For wine, which in Hebrew is called Thiros, Aquila interpreted as 'oenoa', which can also refer to the abundance of the vineyard. This is what the Jews consider. But we understand the chosen wheat, whether of young men, and the wine producing virgins, or the wine of good odor for the virgins, to be the Lord and Savior, who speaks in the Gospel: Unless a grain of wheat falls into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it dies, it bears much fruit (John 12:24). From this wheat is made that bread which comes down from heaven and strengthens the heart of man (Ps. 103). Those who are strong in Christ eat this bread, to whom John the Evangelist speaks: 'I write to you, young men, because the word of God abides in you (Al. us) and you are strong, and have overcome the evil one' (1 John 2:14). He himself is both the grain of the chosen, or the young men, and the wine that gladdens the heart of man, and it is drunk by those virgins who are holy in body and spirit, that they, being intoxicated and rejoicing, may follow the Church, and it may be said of them: 'Virgins shall be brought after her to the king, her neighbors shall be brought to thee: they shall be brought with gladness and rejoicing' (Ps. 44:15, 16). For how will those who are not joyful have joy, those who are intoxicated by the drink of the Savior, generated in virgins, and dare to say: 'Bring me into the wine cellars, comfort me with ointments' (Song of Solomon II, 4)? This wine is of good odor, as it is said in the same song: 'You shall drink of the wine of the unguentary, of the rivers of your pomegranates' (Ibidem). Those who follow the Lamb of God wherever He goes are intoxicated by this wine, dressed in white garments; for they have not defiled themselves with women: they have remained virgins (Apocalypse XIV).

(Chapter X, Verses 1 onwards) Pray to the Lord for late rain, and the Lord will send snow and rain showers, and every one will have grass in the fields. For the idols spoke in vain, and the diviners saw falsehood, and the dreamers spoke in vain, offering false consolation. Therefore, they have been led astray like a flock without a shepherd. They will be afflicted because they have no shepherd. Pray to the Lord for timely, seasonal, and late rain. The Lord has made illusions and will give them winter rain and grass to each one in the field. The ones who spoke have labored in vain, and the diviners have spoken false visions and false dreams, offering empty consolation. Therefore, they have withered like sheep and have been afflicted because there was no one to heal them. So the happiness that was promised in the time of the Maccabees, when the holy stones were raised up from the earth, and the Israelite nation grew greater, to the point that your virgins once again fed on the wheat of the Law, and were intoxicated with the wine of the Holy Spirit, is promised in part. However, because now is the last time of the prophets, and the world is approaching its end, and all that has been prophesied is awaiting its fulfillment: Ask the Lord to give you late rain: so that Christ, who was promised, may come and bestow upon you dews and snows, for which it is written in Hebrew Azizim (). And I do not know what they wanted, but perhaps they wanted to describe the greatness of grace and the admiration of gifts by the name of fantasy. Therefore, the Lord who makes snow and dryness for all the earth will be watered by the rain of the gospel preaching: He will give rain to the believers, and all things will be filled with abundance, so that after the nations have believed in Christ, they may understand that which they worshipped before is vain. Whether Israel itself understands, which once deceived, was held by the errors of idolatry, in vain it worshipped statues, and heard lies of the divine, and acquiesced in dreams, which Scripture commands not to believe (Deut. XIII). And for this reason they were led like a flock into captivity, and afflicted without the shepherd God, because they did not have knowledge of the Law. This whole passage is obscure and doubtful, and the reader must forgive us if in those things that are ambiguous, we proceed with a hesitant step. However, according to spiritual understanding, we can say that believers in Christ are encouraged by the Lord to ask for the latter rain at the end of the world, when the fullness of grace is to be given, and every herb will grow in its own field, so that they may say: The Lord is my shepherd, and I shall not want; he has set me in a place of pasture, he has nourished me on the waters of refreshment (Ps. 23:1-2). For all idols, both divine and dreamers, have spoken in vain and provided empty consolation. Those who speak about heretics, who do not understand the name Christian, nor about whom they speak, nor of whom they affirm, and they attend to erroneous spirits and the teachers of demons speaking lies in hypocrisy, and having their conscience seared (I Tim. IV): so that they are not led astray by the consolations of those who promise empty things, and for this reason they are handed over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh (I Cor. V), and taken captive by the king of Babylon, and afflicted, because they do not have Christ as their shepherd, whom they falsely promise to themselves under a fake name.

(Verse 3 and following) My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the goats; for the Lord of hosts will visit his flock, the house of Judah, and make them like his majestic horse in battle. From him comes the cornerstone, from him the tent peg, from him the bow of battle; from him every oppressor comes forth together, and they shall be like mighty warriors trampling the mud of the streets in battle. They will fight, for the Lord is with them. (Septuagint: My anger is kindled against the shepherds, and I will punish the lambs; and the Lord God Almighty will visit his flock, the house of Judah, and make them like his majestic horse in battle. From him he looked upon, and from him he set, and from him the bow in wrath will come forth; from him every one who brings forth together, and they shall be like warriors trampling the mud of the streets in battle, and they shall be prepared, for the Lord is with them.) And in this place there are two explanations of the Jews. For some believe that everything will be accomplished in the coming of Christ: others believe that it has already been accomplished under the Maccabees. And this is the explanation of what the Lord promises: The Lord is angry with the shepherds, rulers, and priests, and with the goats, and he visited the people, according to what is written: My people have become lost sheep, the shepherds have driven them away (Jer. L, 6), so that the disciples would be punished for the fault of their masters: not by the injustice of the judge, who renders the sins of the fathers onto the children; but because, when they sinned, the people applauded them together: and at that time, the Lord visited his goats, or the fattest lambs, and made them, according to the Septuagint, dry with drought. But afterwards the Almighty Lord visited his flock, the house of Judah: for he raised up Judas Maccabaeus, and others with him, against the leaders of Antioch, and he set them up like horses of his glory in battle, that is, those who were born of his lineage: for they oppressed the Macedonians for a long time. And what follows: From him comes the cornerstone, from him comes the peg, from him comes the bow of battle, from him comes every tax collector together, which metaphorically they understand, interpreting the cornerstone as royal power, because it encompasses the very walls. And from it, he says, comes the staff, that is, the priesthood. Read Isaiah, in which Eliakim is depicted in the temple of God as a staff (Isa. XXII). From it comes the bow of battle, the strong for war: from it also comes every exactor, which in Hebrew is written as Noges (), and Aquila interprets it as εἰσπράσσων: so that not only the strong and good, but also others unworthy of their own kind. For Judas Maccabeus and all who were leaders of his people from his lineage were angles; for they held the people in royal power, and they were the staffs themselves, and as bows of battle, because they were the strongest men, not only to arrange the army and battle line, but also to be the first to leap into battle. We can gather from this that: From him will come every exactor together (for whom the seventy were transferred): From him will come everyone who brings out together, and this means: There will be no dignity in the army that is not determined by his judgment. And there will be mighty men, trampling the Macedonians like mud on the roads in battle: they will indeed be mighty, and they will fight, because the Lord is with them. Our people refer these things to the time of persecution, because frequently even the people are handed over to the adversaries for the fault of the priests: and yet the Almighty Lord visits afterwards his flock, the house of Judah, who confesses God both in words and in heart: and he makes them like a horse of his glory in war, of which the saints say: Mount your horses, and your riding is salvation (Hab. 3:8). He himself will be both the bow and the fury of the Lord, of which it is said: I will make my arrows drunk with blood (Deut. XXXII, 42) . And again: My arrows will consume them. Concerning this bow and these arrows, we read in the seventh Psalm (Vers. 13, 14) : He stretched out his bow and prepared it; and in it he prepared vessels of death, he made his arrows burn like fire. And they will trample on their adversaries, crowned in martyrdom, and they will say: The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, from whom shall I fear? When those who do me harm draw near to devour my flesh, my enemies who trouble me shall stumble and fall. Even if armies camp against me, my heart shall not fear. Even if battle arises against me, in this I will trust. (Psalm 27:1-3) When will this saying be fulfilled: one of you will chase a thousand, and two will put ten thousand to flight? (Deuteronomy 32)

(Vers. 6, 7.) And the riders on horses will be put to shame, and I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will restore them because I have compassion on them, and they shall be as though I had not rejected them, for I am the Lord their God and I will answer them. They shall be like mighty warriors of Ephraim, and their hearts shall rejoice as with wine. Their children shall see it and be glad; their hearts shall exult in the Lord. LXX: And the riders on horses will be put to shame, and I will strengthen the house of Judah and save the house of Joseph. I will cause them to dwell, for I have loved them. And they shall be as when I had not cast them off, for I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them: and they shall be as valiant men in battle, and their heart shall rejoice as with wine, and their children shall see it and be glad, and their heart shall rejoice in the Lord. And they have expounded these things twice according to the higher sense, so as to either relate them as already done under the Maccabees, or as about to be transacted under Christ in the last age. And the sense is this: When Judas, who was set as a goodly horse in battle, shall tread down the adversaries as mire, and with the Lord fighting with him shall overcome: then all the horsemen of Greece shall fall, and the house of Juda and the house of Israel shall be saved together, (for he calls that the house of Joseph, that is, of the ten tribes) and I will convert them out of their captivity, wherein they were, and they shall be as they were before, when I had not cast them off: for I am the Lord their God, and I will hear them calling upon me. And Ephraim, who are now held captive, will later be released, and they will come to such great joy that you would think they are drunk with wine. And their children will witness the triumphs of their fathers, and they will rejoice in the Lord, for it is through Him that they have achieved victory. Let us look for the history of when Judah and Israel fought together against the Greeks, or when Ephraim returned from captivity in Assyria, when, according to Ezekiel (Chapter 37), the two rods, that is, Judah and Ephraim, were joined together and united as one staff. Which can be explained according to the tropology. When the Almighty Lord visits his flock, the house of Judah, then the riders of the horses will be confounded, of whom it is written: Let us sing to the Lord, for he has triumphed gloriously; the horse and its rider he has thrown into the sea (Exodus 15:1). It is also sung by the voice of the Psalmist: At your rebuke, O God of Jacob, both rider and horse fell asleep (Psalm 76:7). And the choir of saints repeats: Some trust in chariots, and some in horses: but we will call upon the name of our God. They are bound, and have fallen: but we are risen, and are set upright (Ps. XIX, 8, 9). The Egyptian king relied on this cavalry; and he was thrown into the sea, like lead immersed in the depths (Exod. XV), and by his example he learned that what is written is true: A deceitful horse leads to salvation (Ps. XXXII, 17). We have interpreted these chariots and charioteers as representing the four disturbances that, unless controlled by the good reins, the charioteers are led to precipices. But there is another charioteer, of whom Elisha speaks: 'My father, my father, the chariot of Israel and its charioteer' (2 Kings 2:12). Then God says to strengthen the house of Judah and the house of Joseph (1 Kings 12:16), so that, just as they were divided during the reign of Jeroboam, they will be united under the rule of Christ, and there will be one shepherd and one flock. And Judas and Joseph are given different names because they both represent a single understanding of the Savior, since Joseph provided grain to the hungry people in Egypt (Gen. XLII seqq.): and the Lord satisfied the hunger of the world with his presence. And he will convert them and have mercy on them, and they will be one as they were before he cast them out. Take all of this as a lesson in persecution, when, with all hope lost, the Lord heard his servants. And they shall be like the strong ones of Ephraim, who at first were weak and feeble, but later became strong and worthy of their name. For Ephraim means abundance. And their hearts shall rejoice when they drink the wine that is pressed from the vine of Sorec. And their children, of whom the Apostle Paul speaks, my little children, for whom I am in labor again until Christ is formed in you (Galatians 4:19). And Peter, the chief of the apostles, says: As obedient children, do not be conformed to the former ways (1 Peter 1:14). And in the Psalm we read: Come, children, listen to me, I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Ps. 33:12). Therefore, these children will rejoice and be glad, and their heart will rejoice in the Lord.

(Verse 8 onwards) I will hiss for them and gather them, for I have redeemed them; and they shall be multiplied as they were multiplied before. And I will sow them among the peoples, and they shall remember me far off, and they shall live with their children and return. And I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and I will gather them from Assyria, and I will bring them to the land of Gilead and Lebanon, and no place shall be found for them. LXX: I will show them signs and receive them, for I will redeem them, and they shall be multiplied as they were many, and I will sow them among the peoples, and those who were far off shall remember me. I will nourish their children and they will return, and I will bring them back from the land of Egypt, and I will gather them from Assyria, and I will lead them to Gilead and Lebanon, and none of them will be missing. They will have a sign of their congregation, either under the Macedonians, or at the consummation of the world, as I said before. 'They will have my whistle,' says the Lord, 'so that I may gather them from my whistle and teach myself to be their shepherd. For I have redeemed them and delivered them from captivity with an outstretched arm. And I will multiply them, as I have multiplied before, so that the dispersion among the nations does not appear to be division, but rather the operation of sowing and the harvest of children and grandchildren multiplied, let them live with their sons. And they shall return not only from the land of Egypt, but also from Assyria, and from both sides of the world they shall return to Judah, and to the land of Gilead and Lebanon, which the tribes of Joseph and Ephraim used to possess, and the number of those who return will be so great that the land cannot contain them. According to the interpretation, the Lord signifies and calls to those who were held captive by sins before, and he speaks to them: Come to me, all who labor and are burdened, and you will find rest for your souls. Take my yoke upon you and learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart. For my yoke is easy and my burden is light (Matthew 11:29-30). What could be more merciful than this meaning and call, through which the scattered people are gathered? But they have congregated because the Lord has redeemed them: not with corruptible silver and gold, from their vain conversation; but with precious blood, like that of an unblemished lamb, the Lord Jesus (I Pet. I). Therefore, it says in the Psalm: Delight, deliver me from those surrounding me (Psal. XXXI, 7). And again: You have redeemed me, Lord, God of truth (Psal. XXX, 6). And he will multiply them as they were multiplied before, so that the promise made to Abraham may be fulfilled: I will multiply him, and I will bless him, and he will be blessed, so that he may become the father of many nations (Gen. XVII, 9). But we must not consider the sons of Abraham those to whom the Lord speaks: If you were the sons of Abraham, you would do the works of your father (John 8:39), but those of whom the Apostle says: All those who are of faith, they are the sons of Abraham (Rom. 8). Isaiah testifies to this multiplication in mystical language, saying: The little one shall become a thousand, and a small one a strong nation (Isaiah 60:22). However, we do not receive the multiplication and blessing of children in a carnal manner: otherwise Elijah and Elisha and Jeremiah and John the Baptist (who was greater than all born of women) (Matthew 11) would have been deprived of this blessing, but rather it is the one by which the multitudes of nations are called to faith. Finally, it follows: I will sow them among the peoples, and they will remember me from afar. They are sown among the peoples who have heard the word of the Lord: 'Go, teach all nations' (Matt. XXVIII, 19). And in another place: 'You did not choose me, but I chose you and appointed you to go and bear fruit, fruit that will last' (John XV, 16). And when the apostles have been sown among the peoples, the nations and distant peoples will remember me, in accordance with this prophetic statement: 'All the ends of the earth will remember and turn to the Lord.' And all the families of the nations will worship in his presence. For the kingdom is the Lord's, and he will rule over the nations (Ps. XXI, 28, 29). And what is said: From afar they will remember me, is similar to this: You who are far away, remember the Lord, and let Jerusalem rise in your heart (Jer. XXXI). The multitude of all the nations was far away, but they remembered God, because we are all born from one parent. And when the apostles were sown among all the nations, the nations that were far away remembered God and will live with their children, so that those who were previously dead in unbelief may begin to live in faith. These are the children whom Paul nourished in the Gospel, writing to the Corinthians: I gave you milk to drink (1 Cor. 3:2). And Peter, in his letter to the dispersed faithful who had been reborn, writes: Not from corruptible seed, but from incorruptible, through the living and enduring word of God, like newborn infants, so that they may desire the rational milk and grow in it for salvation (1 Pet. 1). The evangelist John also wrote to these children: Little children, guard yourselves from idols (1 John 5:21). And I will bring them out from the land of Egypt, saith he, and I will gather them out of the Assyrians. And I will bring them unto the land of Galaad, and Libanus, and place shall not be found for them. Galaad is translated into our language, a testimony of transmigration, when we transition from the carnal to the spiritual, we come from a part to the whole: we leave earthly things behind and migrate to heavenly things: but Lebanon is interpreted as 'whiteness', that is, whitening. Therefore, we are led out of the darkness of Egypt, so that after we have passed over and migrated from the world, we are whitened in the Lord, and it is said of us: 'Who is this that goes up whitened?' (Song of Solomon 8:6). Others, according to the ambiguity of the Greek language, whereby both the Phoenician mountain and the Lebanese cedar are called 'Libanus', now interpret 'thu' as 'Libanus', and believe it signifies God, so that after we have passed from the earth to heaven, the prayer of the Savior may be fulfilled in us: 'Father, grant that they may be one in us, as I and you are one' (John 17:22). Therefore, the bride in the Song of Songs says to the bridegroom: 'The fragrance of your garments is like the fragrance of Lebanon' (Song of Songs 4:11). And when he shall bring us into the land of Gilead and Lebanon, there shall be no place found unto us, that we may be not straitened by the narrowness of the land; but let us enjoy the breadth of the heavens.

(Verse 11, 12) And it shall pass through the sea strait, and strike the waves in the sea; and all the deep waters of the river shall be confounded, and the pride of Assyria shall be humbled, and the scepter of Egypt shall depart. I will strengthen them in the Lord; and they shall walk in His name, says the Lord. LXX: And they shall pass through the narrow sea, and strike the waves in the sea, and the deep waters of the rivers shall be dried up; and all the injury of the Assyrians shall be taken away, and the scepter of Egypt shall be lifted up. And I will strengthen them in the Lord their God, and they shall glory in His name, says the Lord. The Hebrews narrate that the captive people of the Jews, not only to the Medes and Persians, but also to the Bosporus and the northern region, were transported by the Assyrians and Chaldeans, and afterwards partially restored by the mercy of God, when He turned them towards Himself; and this is what is now said: They shall pass over the narrow sea. The straits of Propontis, which divide Chalcedon and once Byzantium by a narrow channel. And the Lord, going before his people, will strike the waves of the sea, and all the deeps of rivers will be confounded, as it was done in the drying up of the Jordan (Joshua 3), and the people passed over the Red Sea in the desert (Exod. 24). And when he has been freed from the depths of captivity and the bitterness of evil, Assyria will be humbled, and the empire of Egypt will withdraw from them. And they will be strengthened in the Lord, and they will walk in the land of Israel in his name, says the Lord. These things, as they were handed down to us by the Hebrews, we have expressed to the people of our language, faithfully representing the words spoken to them by those from whom they were spoken. However, we who are called by the name of Christ, leave behind the letter that kills, and follow the life-giving spirit, rather comparing spiritual things with spiritual things, not the Bosporus and the dryness of the sea and the dry flow of the Jordan, which are like fables, but we seek the worthy mercy of God towards His servants, with Him leading the way and opening the path for us, we cross the sea channel, or rather the narrow sea, which is widest for sinners: For wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to destruction: and narrow is the gate and narrow is the way that leads to life (Matthew 7:13). About this sea we read in the Psalms: Those who go down to the sea in ships, doing business in many waters, have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep (Psalm 107:23-24). In this sea of the world, in which the number of the saints is restricted, and they are in a state of tribulation, the apostles descended, and the Lord himself, in order to free us from the bitter waves (Mark 4). In this sea, the net of the Gospel is cast (Matthew 13), which is woven with the testimonies of the Scriptures, so that it may draw out many fish that are submerged in the depths of this world, into the free air, so that they may sing praises to God. There are those who go down to the sea and work many deeds in the ships of the Churches, and they behold the wonders of God in the deep of the riches of His wisdom and knowledge (1 Corinthians 2); and in the Holy Spirit who searches even the heights of God, to whom the Lord speaks: Come after me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matthew 4:19). Concerning these fishermen who go down to the sea and are in ships, Isaiah also prophesies: They will fly in the ships of foreigners, and they will equally plunder the sea (Isaiah 11:14). For in the churches, the apostles flew throughout the whole world in order to plunder the sea and take the spoils of the dragon who ruled in the sea, of whom it is written: 'This great and wide sea, in which are creatures without number, both small and great creatures, and ships pass through it.' This dragon, which You made to play with (Psalm 103:25-26), is the vast and wide sea with small and great creatures, which interact with the dragon and are without number. But those who are on the sea and fly over the sea in ships, hear with the Savior: You rule the power of the sea: you calm the movement of its waves (Ps. LXXXVIII, 10). And when they have passed through the strait of the sea and have trampled its waves with their feet, all the deep waters, of which it is written: Who turns the sea into dry land, they shall pass through the river on foot (Psalm LXV, 6), so that the injury or arrogance of Assyria and Egypt may be humbled and depart from the holy and believing people, and those who are freed may be strengthened in the Lord and say: My strength and my praise is the Lord (Ps. CXVII, 14). And again: I will love you, O Lord, my strength (Psalm 17:1). And with Jeremiah: You are my strength, my help, and my refuge, O Lord my God (Jeremiah 16:19). Therefore, the Apostle, in whom Christ spoke, said: I can do all things through him who strengthens me (Philippians 4:13). And they will not only be strengthened in the Lord, but they will also glory in him and say: But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, by whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world (Galatians 6:14). And: Whoever boasts, let him boast in the Lord (1 Corinthians 1:31). And in another place: Let not the wise man boast in his wisdom, and let not the strong man boast in his strength, and let not the rich man boast in his riches; but let him who boasts boast in this: to understand and know the Lord, and to practice mercy and justice in the midst of the earth (Jeremiah 9:23-24). But because it is written in Hebrew: And they shall walk in His name, it is thus understood: that Christians should walk in the name of Christ, and let the new name be written on their hearts, and let them walk with the Lord in the dignity of such a great name, as Enoch walked and pleased God, and was translated (Genesis 5).

(Chapter 11, Verse 1) Open your gates, Lebanon, and let the fire devour your cedars. Howl, fir tree, for the cedar has fallen; the majestic trees are ruined. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the thick forest has been cut down. LXX: Open your gates, Lebanon, and let the fire devour your cedars. Let the pine tree wail, for the cedar has fallen; the nobles have been crushed. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been laid waste. Clearly, Lebanon, to which the prophetic discourse is directed, saying: Open, Lebanon, your gates, the temple of the Jews is understood, which was restored, rebuilt by Zerubbabel, again sung to be destroyed by Vespasian and Titus. And because he had metaphorically called Lebanon a temple, and he maintains the same translation in the rest, so that through cedars and firs and oaks of Bashan and a wooded grove, he signifies the leaders, priests, and people of the Jews. But Lebanon opens its gates so that the Roman army can enter, and its cedars are consumed by fire, so that everything is either devastated by the conflagration or its leaders and princes are consumed by enemy attack. The firs wail, because the cedar has fallen, and the priests and leaders mourn their people in return. And what he previously said obscurely, he now presents more clearly, because the magnificent ones have been laid waste. I desire to know which are the cedars of Lebanon that have been burned, which firs wail, and which pines have fallen; for, he says, the magnificent ones have been laid waste. Howl, O oak tree of Bazan, that is, of confusion and ignominy, for the well-fortified forest, which is called Besor in Hebrew and is translated by the LXX as wooded and cut down; for the temple, which had grown in impregnable strength and was built by various kings and princes, and later by Herod, was destroyed by the Romans' attack. Some people, not understanding this place, attribute the strength of the Lebanon, the cedars, the pines, and the oak of Bazan, along with the wooded and fortified forest, to opposing powers, about which it is said in Ezekiel under the name of Assyria and Pharaoh: Behold, Assyria is a cypress tree in Lebanon, with fair branches and a dense shade, and tall in stature, and its top was among the clouds: it was nourished by water, and the abyss made it tall, and so on, which are said about both Assyria and Pharaoh, they are thought to be spoken of either opposing powers or proud rulers and princes, about whom we also read in the Psalm: The voice of the Lord breaks the cedars; indeed, the Lord shatters the cedars of Lebanon. And in another place: Day of the Lord of hosts comes upon all the haughty and proud, and upon all that is exalted and lofty (Isaiah 22:12, 13). And a little later: And upon all the high cedars of Lebanon (or, the lofty ones), and upon all the trees of Bashan. And about this Lebanon it is prophesied: Lebanon with its lofty ones will fall. But let us follow the earlier interpretation, especially since what follows also agrees with this meaning.