Jerome

(Vers. 2 seqq.) And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision, and explain it upon tables, that he that readeth it may run over it. For as yet the vision is far off, and it shall appear at the end, and shall not lie: if it make any delay, wait for it: for it shall surely come, and it shall not be slack. Behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be right in himself: but the just shall live in his faith. LXX: And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it: for as yet the vision is for an appointed time, and it shall appear at the end, and shall not lie. If he fails, sustain him, for he will come, and will not delay: if he withdraws himself, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But the just shall live by my faith. Regarding the tablets and the box, which in Hebrew is called Alluoth ((Al. Luth)), Symmachus interpreted the pages. And where the Septuagint placed: But the just shall live by my faith, all equally translated, he shall live by his own faith. Finally, Symmachus, with a more significant interpretation, said: But the just shall live by his own faith, which in Greek is said, ὁ δίκαιος τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πίστει ζήσει: Indeed, if Baemunatho had the letter Yod and not Vau at the end, as the Septuagint thought, and it was read as Baemunathi (), they would have translated it correctly, in my faith. However, the similarity of the letters Vau and Jod, which are only distinguished by their size, has been a cause of error. The following discussion explains why this is so. According to the promise made to the holy man in Isaiah, 'Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear' (Isa. 65:24), the Lord also responds to the prophet and commands him to write down the vision and make it plain upon tablets, that is, to write it more clearly. But I think those tablets, about which the apostle also speaks to the Corinthians: You are our letter, written in our hearts: which is known and read by all men: being made manifest, that you are a letter of Christ, ministered by us, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of fleshly hearts (2 Corinthians 3:23). But Solomon also signifies something similar in Proverbs, saying: Write it on the tablet of your heart (Proverbs 3:3). But he is ordered to write more clearly, so that the reader may be able to run through it without any hindrance to its speed, and may be held back by a desire to read. And this is commanded, because the vision is still far off, and at the appointed time. And when the end of things shall come, then also he will come, and the true prophecy will be proved by the completed work. And if perhaps, for your eagerness, O reader, and the ardour of seeing the vision, it may have seemed to you to make a little delay in what has been promised, do not despair of his coming; but wait patiently: for you have me, who promise and say to you: He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But if anyone is unbelieving of this promise of mine, and, while I am saying 'coming, he will come, and he will not delay,' begins to doubt and silently waver within himself, thinking that what is being delayed for a time will not come; such a person will displease my soul, according to the saying: 'My soul hates your new moons and sabbaths' (Isaiah 1:13). And when God said 'his soul,' we should understand it as meaning 'his intellect and thoughts,' so that it would be 'my intellect will be displeased.' But just as it will displease the one who, with my promise, doubts that what I pledge will come to pass, so the righteous person who believes in my promise will live by their faith. These lines describe the picture of this chapter. And what he says is this, in this way, but only if we mix in the translation of the Septuagint. Write in your heart, and like little children who learn the first elements of the alphabet, they practice curved accents and a trembling hand on a boxwood tablet, and they become accustomed to write correctly through meditation. So you, who have spoken as the voice of a doubting people, write in the tablets of your heart and in the boxwood of your chest what I am saying. For it is a vision that is promised and commanded to be described and written more plainly, so that it is not wrapped in any cloud and not obscured by any enigmatic ambiguities: clear hope may have a clear promise. And this, O prophet, I command, not because you do not know (for you would not be a prophet if you were ignorant), but so that what you have written more clearly may be read and perused by the reader without hindrance and difficulty; which the Seventy translated as: ὅπως διώκῃ ὁ ἀναγινώσκων, that is, so that the one who reads may pursue; according to that sense which is written to Timothy: Pursue justice, and godliness, and faith, and charity, and patience, and meekness (I Tim. VI, 11). And to the Romans: Pursue hospitality (Rom. XII, 13). And to the Corinthians: Pursue charity (I Cor. XIV, 1). But the vision itself that I told you about: write down the vision and make it plain on a tablet, so that the one who reads it may run. It is still for an appointed time, but it speaks of the end and does not lie. Though it may delay, wait for it, for it will surely come and will not be late (Hab. II, 3). And it will come in the consummation of the world, and in the last hour of the day, of which John also speaks: Little children, it is the last hour now (I John II, 18). And he will not come in vain: for he will save many, and with the remnant of the Israelite people he will gather a multitude of nations. But if he shall withdraw for a little while, and the vision which you, reader, are commanded to read in the box and on the tablets which the prophet described, shall begin to come later, wait for it: because it will surely come, and it will not be delayed. But if your faith doubts, and you think that what I promise will not happen, you will have as a great punishment that you displease my soul. But the one who believes in my words and does not doubt what I promise, will receive the reward of eternal life. And you should not immediately accuse, whether in killing yourself or in giving life to another, that there is partiality in me, because he himself is the cause of his own life, who lives by his faith: just as you have displeased my soul by withdrawing and refusing to believe. But clearly in these words there is a prophecy about the coming of Christ. And so the proposed question is solved, that until he comes, iniquity will rule in the world, and judgment will not come to an end: and the true Nebuchadnezzar will capture men in his net and his dragnet like little fish, and the rational creature like a reptile, not having a prince. Moreover, what we have interpreted for the vision, because it is still far off: and if it delays, wait for it, that is, the vision: let no one think, deceived by error, that he could have put the vision, which is of the feminine gender, in the masculine gender, which is less common in Latin. Indeed, the word 'vision' in Hebrew, which is translated as 'Hazon' (), is of the masculine gender and is declined in the same gender throughout, that is, as 'visus'. However, the Septuagint translators said, 'Write it as 'visionem'; and afterwards, if it fails, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay. If it withdraws, my soul will have no pleasure in it.' They first translated 'vision' in the feminine gender, which, as we have said, is masculine in Hebrew. Then according to the Hebrew gender, where it is declined masculine, sustain it, and it will not please my soul in it, they also declined in the masculine gender. Indeed, they should have translated the vision according to the first interpretation, also putting the feminine gender in the other parts of the vision, saying, wait for her: for she will come, and if she withdraws, it will not please my soul in her, that is, in the vision. This is why, so that we would not appear to be silent about what we knew. Moreover, I am not unaware that according to their interpretation it can be understood in this way: Write down the vision in which Christ is promised, and weave this message in your prophecy, whether in a box, or on tablets, or, as Symmachus translated, on pages, so that at the appointed time and in the end of the world, my Son may come, who will save the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and also join other sheep with the ancient sheep, and making one flock, unite the two staffs, which Ezekiel, that is, the power of God, holds joined and closely connected in his prophetic hand (Ezek. 7). But if Christ, the prophet or you, my people (through whose person my prophet seems to have doubted), withdraws a little and seems to be delayed, wait for him, for he will come, and he will not delay; and the rest of what we have already explained. Furthermore, the reason why the Apostle used the testimony of the Septuagint more, writing to the Romans: 'The just shall live by faith' (Rom. 1:17), and not what is contained in the Hebrew, is evident. For he was writing to the Romans, who did not know the Hebrew Scriptures: and he did not care about the words, since the meaning was safe, and the discussion did not have any immediate disadvantage. Otherwise, wherever the meaning is different, and it is written differently in Hebrew and in the Septuagint, he noted it using the testimonies he had learned from Gamaliel, a teacher of the law.

(Verse 5 and following) And just as wine deceives a drinker, so too will the proud man be, and he will not be adorned, who has expanded his soul like Sheol and is like death, and he will not be satisfied. And he will gather all nations to himself, and he will heap all peoples to himself. Will not all these take up a proverb against him and a taunting riddle about him, and say: Woe to him who multiplies what is not his own! How long will he heap up thick clay against himself? Will not those who bite you suddenly rise up and those who harass you wake up, and you will become their prey? Because you have plundered many nations, all the remnant of the peoples will plunder you because of human bloodshed and the violence done to the land, the city, and all its inhabitants. Woe to him who is arrogant though! Man of pride, who accomplishes nothing. He who enlarges his appetite like Sheol, and like Death, he is never satisfied. And he will gather all nations to himself, and he will receive all peoples to himself: will not all these take up a parable against him, and a mockery of his narration, and say: Woe to him who multiplies things that are not his own: how long will he burden himself heavily with his own torment, because suddenly those who bite him will rise up, and your schemers will be watchful, and you will be a prey to them? For you have plundered many nations, all the remaining peoples will plunder you because of the blood of men and the wickedness of the land, city, and all its inhabitants. When these things have been promised concerning the coming of Christ, or, as some please, concerning the end of the vision, and the fulfillment of God's help: whoever believes that it will come, will live by his faith; but whoever is unbelieving, will displease the Lord's souls; King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon will be deceived by his pride. And just as wine affects the drinker, and after he has risen, neither his foot, nor his mind fulfills its duty; and all joy and exhilaration of the mind turns into ruin: so a proud man will not be adorned, nor will he achieve his own will to the end, and according to Symmachus he will not prosper, that is, there will be a shortage in all things. Who, like death and hell, is not satisfied with the slain: and subduing all nations and peoples under his rule, he did not consider an end to his greed. Will not everyone speak out against him when he is intoxicated with the cup of the Lord and is asleep from the wine-filled chalice, a disgrace? Woe to him who, ravaging the entire world, is not satisfied with plunder and does not cease to strip the already naked, and to this extent he rages in order to devour, and under the burden of wickedness and spoils he weighs himself down like a heavy yoke. At the same time, consider how elegantly he called the dense multiplied riches clay. Will not the Medes and Persians suddenly rise up, destroying the empire of the Babylonians, biting him first and then tearing him apart? And let Nebuchadnezzar become a prey for them, and let the destroyer of the whole world be plundered by the remaining peoples who were able to escape his hand and cruelty. But this will happen to him because of the blood of man, that is, of the Jews, and because of the wickedness of the land, namely, Israel, and the city, undoubtedly meaning Jerusalem and all the inhabitants in it in general. Let us discuss and the Septuagint. Everything we have said about Babylon and Nebuchadnezzar can be related to this world and to the devil, who is truly arrogant and proud, and believes himself to be something, but will lead to nothing. Indeed, his efforts and all his labor will be in vain: he delights in the likeness of hell and death, not satisfied with the killings of countless people, and rejoices in deceiving all nations, and gathering people to himself. Those who see him sent into the Abyss and handed over to Tartarus will recall in harmonious voice the things they read in the prophets allegorically and enigmatically, seeing them fulfilled and interpreting them about him: Woe to the devil, who has multiplied what does not belong to him. Woe to the lost one, who has gathered what she did not bear. How long will this voice be of rebuke or demonstration of judgment? And he will make his torment even heavier with infinite weight. And it is fitting, because it is arrogant and proud (pride is properly shown in the extension of the neck and the raising of the head), that the punishment should be very severe, so that what was erect may be bent. And this will happen because suddenly those who will bite him will rise up, either angels, with whom the devil will be handed over for punishment, or those who had been tempted by him, later repenting and converted to the banners of Christ, they will bite him, according to what is said elsewhere: 'Your peaceful men have set traps for you' (Jeremiah 28). Finally, it follows: And your adversaries will awake, that is, those whom you put to sleep before, those whom you intoxicated, you will be subject to their snares, who lay waste to your kingdom, and those who were captured in Christ's troops. For you have plundered many nations, and you have despoiled the Jewish people of the ornamental and sacred garments that I gave them: therefore all the remaining peoples, who have not subjected their neck to your empire, will plunder you and make you naked. Because you have both killed many people and shed their blood. But also the wickedness of the land, that is, of Judea, and the city of Jerusalem, and all its inhabitants (who said against their Creator: Crucify, crucify him: his blood be upon us and upon our children (John 19:6)), shall return upon your head, and shall be the cause of your plundering. This can also be interpreted as referring to the Antichrist, who will be so arrogant and proud that he will sit in the temple of God, pretending to be God. And, like hell and death, it will kill so many and gather them to itself, so that, if possible, it may even deceive the elect of God. It will also gather to itself all nations and lead all peoples into its error. But when they see him afterwards, whom Christ will destroy with the breath of his mouth, they will understand that what was predicted about him beforehand is true, and they will say all that follows with the same understanding with which we have explained about the devil. But what he says is, that all the remaining people will strip you because of the blood of men, and the impiety of the land, and the city, and all who dwell in it, let us understand the remaining holy people, who did not serve the Antichrist, from whom the wicked one will be stripped because of the impiety which he exercised over the whole earth, and the devastation of the city of the Church, and the persecution of all who dwelled in it. For such great devastation and such great impiety at the end of things, while the Antichrist rages, will prevail in the Churches, and with the multiplied iniquity of many, love will grow so cold (Mat. XXIV) that the Lord, who knows the secrets of the heart and what is to come, does not ignore, will say: Do you think, when the Son of Man comes, He will find faith on earth? (Luc. XVIII, 8) We can also, according to John the Apostle (who writes: As you have heard that the Antichrist is coming, even now many Antichrists have come (1 John 2:18); by this we know that it is the last hour), condemn all heretics and the entire perverse doctrine of those who arrogantly despise the knowledge and simplicity of the Church, who do not lead to any good end but delight in the deaths of many, arrogantly and proudly speaking and twisting the entire content of scripture to fit their own understanding. They truly multiply for themselves not what is theirs, but rather the heaviest mud and a burdensome millstone by which they will be dragged to punishment, gathering for themselves spoils from many nations and shedding the blood of humans, exercising impiety in the Church and against all its inhabitants. But the remaining people, namely the men of the Church, who have not been deceived by their error, will suddenly rise up and awaken as from a deep sleep, and they will bite them and lay traps for them, and they will have them as prey. Some think that what is said, 'Woe to those who accumulate what is not theirs,' etc., can apply to the rich, who extend the boundaries of their possessions and gather for themselves things that do not belong to man, and from whom they will suddenly be left. But the Lord demonstrates that what is not of man, that is, a rational animal, is earthly possession, saying: If you were not faithful in another's, what is yours, who will give you? And they discussed the entire text of the chapter about this matter. But I do not know if they can maintain the order of prophetic questioning and solving.

(Verse 9.) Woe to him who gathers evil greed to his house, that his nest may be on high and he may escape from the power of evil. You have devised ruin to your house, you have destroyed many peoples, and your soul has sinned. For the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork will answer. LXX: O you who multiply evil greed to your house, that you may set your nest on high and be delivered from the hand of evil. You have devised ruin to your house, you have consumed many peoples, and your soul has sinned; therefore the stone will cry out from the wall, and the beam from the woodwork will speak these things. Still, this is the same speech that heaps evils upon itself, and does not understand the multitude of riches as the cause of its own ruin; at the same time, it is argued through metaphor as the pride that places its nest on high like a bird, and thinks it is safe from the hands of evil, that is, never to come into the power of enemies: this plan of pride and arrogant thought had an end in ignominy. You have killed many people, and in killing others, you have raged against your own soul, and in such cruelty you have reveled, that, if it can be said, the stones of the city and the wood of the walls that you have overthrown cry out your ferocity. He said this to the Lord in the Gospel, against the Pharisees who were criticizing him, asking why he did not rebuke the children who were shouting to him: Hosanna in the highest to the son of David, blessed is he who comes in the name of the Lord, Hosanna in the highest. 'Have you not read,' he said, 'that it is written (Psalm 8:3): Out of the mouth of babes and infants you have brought forth praise? And if these were silent, the stones would shout out' (Matthew 21:9, 16). For although many may understand it thus: if the Jews were silent, the multitude of the Gentiles would confess me; nevertheless this is a more explicit and truer understanding: even if men were silent, and envious tongue did not speak of the multitude of my miracles, nevertheless the very stones, and the foundations of the walls, and the building of the walls itself, would be able to resound my greatness. To make it more significant, let's also take examples from secular literature. Crispus (Sallustius) speaks in his histories: 'The Saguntines, famous for their trustworthiness and hardships, were esteemed above mortals, with greater zeal than wealth, since among them even then the half-ruined walls, uncovered houses, and burnt temple walls displayed Punic hands.' Similarly, Tullius speaks to Caesar in defense of Marcellus: 'By god, the walls!' (As it seems to me) the members of this court strive to thank you, because in a short time that authority will be in the hands of their ancestors and their seats. Moreover, what we have interpreted is: And the wood that is between the joints of the buildings, it will answer: concerning which the Seventy translated: And the scarabaeus made of wood will speak these things, Symmachus translated it more clearly in his own way: and the wooden joint of the building will speak these things. Theodotius also, and the joining together of wood will speak this: and also a fifth edition, and the joining together of wood will speak this: and these interpretations themselves agree with the interpretation of Symmachus and our interpretation; for what is called in the Hebrew language Chaphis (), signifies wood, which is put in the middle of the structure to hold the walls together; and commonly among the Greeks it is called ἱμάντωσις. Therefore, according to the story, this is what the prophetic speech signifies: the stones of the walls that were destroyed by you, and their burnt wood will sound your cruelty. I found, except for five editions, that is, Aquila's, Symmachus's, the Septuagint, Theodotion's, and a fifth one, in the twelve prophets and two other editions, in one of which it is written: \"For a stone will cry out from the wall, and a worm speaking in the wood;\" and in the other: \"For a stone from the wall will cry out, and a worm will speak from the wood.\" But Aquila also put something different than what we said, \"and a lump,\" that is, a mass of wood will reply. We will explain the interpretation of these things in the exposition of the translators of the Septuagint, in which instead of \"woe,\" \"O\" is used, and the speech is directed either to the devil or the Antichrist or to the heretics, who multiply their wicked avarice. Wickedness, however, is called avarice, to distinguish it from the good avarice of the doctor of Ecclesiasticus, who is never satisfied with the multitude of his followers, and the more disciples he has, the more he is aroused to the study of doctrine. Therefore, woe to the one who multiplies his worst avarice, so that he gathers perverse assemblies in his house and sets his nest high, so that he may be delivered from the hand of evil. For the devil, the Antichrist, and the heretics promise that those who accept their teaching will possess the heavenly kingdom and avoid the fires of hell. And when they have made these promises, their plan cannot come to fruition, but it will be a plan of confusion and dishonor for their house, after the falsehood of their promises is revealed, and when it is proven that their plan is a plan of confusion, not salvation. This teacher of perversity, as we said, has consumed many peoples, and the more he has had in his company, the more he has sinned against his own soul. Finally, the stones of his church and the beetle, that is, the scarab beetle from the wood, will cry out against the prideful avarice because he has deceived all nations by his persuasion. The stones, we can understand, represent the foolish hearts of believers who follow the teachings of heretics, and the scarab beetle from the wood represents the corrupt teachers who, for the sake of shameful gain, take up the preaching of the cross and speak from their mouths. For their god is their belly, and they do everything for the sake of food, and they are reduced to dung (for the scarab beetle or the beetle is a worm of dung); and they only take up the cross in order to teach the avarice and pride of their master, the devil, with a viper's mouth. If you ever see some heretic speaking as if he were speaking hidden and secret mysteries against the Church, and prefer the devil's house to Christ's, say: \"A stone cries out from the wall, and a beetle speaks from the wood.\" I read in a certain book that the beetle is understood to be superimposed on heretics because their teachings are like dung. Hence, the Apostle says that he considers the error of the old teaching as dung (Philippians 3). Not that the old Law, as the Manicheans think, should be compared to the Gospel as dung (which is impious to say, since both Testaments belong to the same God), but because the teachings of the Pharisees, the commandments of men, and the second scriptures (δευτερώσεις) of the Jews are called dung by the Apostle. I know a brother who understood the stone crying out from the wall to be the Lord and the beetle speaking from the wood to be the thief who blasphemed against the Lord, which, although it can be understood piously, I cannot find how it can be fitted with the entire context of the prophecy. There are some who think that the beetle speaking from the wood can be referred to the person of the Savior, which appears impious from the very order of the discourse. For the beetle will speak from the wood, is not understood in a good, but in a bad sense, that is, it will speak of the worst avarice of the one who multiplies it against his own house and the confusion of the devil, and the other things that preceded his wickedness and crime. As for Aquila's saying, \"and a lump of wood will reply,\" we refer the lump to the sense that the Lord placed in the Gospel: \"Beware of the leaven of the Pharisees\" (Matthew 16:11). And when the apostles doubted and could not know what it meant, the evangelist interpreted it, saying: \"He had said to them concerning the teaching of the Pharisees.\" Therefore, rightly the teaching of heretics speaks from the wood, for they cannot persuade otherwise unless they prefer the glory of the wood to their own perversity. Also, that which we said, \"For a stone will cry out from the wall, like a worm speaking in the wood,\" or \"a stone from the wall will cry out, and a worm will speak from the wood,\" some of our people say that the worm speaking in the wood is that one who says in the psalm: \"But I am a worm and not a man\" (Psalm 22:6), and they refer the speaking bird to the same person who says: \"I have become like a solitary sparrow on the roof\" (Psalm 102:8), and other things similar to these.

(Verse 12 and following) Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed, and establishes a town with injustice: are these things not from the Lord of hosts? For the peoples shall labor in vain, and the nations shall exhaust themselves: for the earth shall be filled, that they may know the glory of the Lord as the waters cover the sea. LXX: Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed, and establishes a town with wickedness: are these things not from the Almighty Lord? And many peoples have failed in fire, and many nations are crowded: for the earth will be filled to know the glory of the Lord, like water to work the seas. There is no doubt that the prophetic word still speaks against Nebuchadnezzar according to the letter; and he mourns because he built Babylon in blood, and he constructed the walls of that city in the ruins and deaths of many. Since he did this to the city that he had built in blood, he afterwards listens to what will be brought upon him by the Lord. For it follows: Are not these from the Lord of hosts? that is, what is being said. The peoples will labor in much fire, and the nations in emptiness, that is, Babylon in flames, the peoples will labor in vain, and strive for nothing, and the peoples of the Chaldean nation will be exhausted. For the earth will be filled, so that it may know the glory of the Lord, that is, when Babylon has been overthrown, the power of God's might will be made clear to all, like waters covering the sea: thus the glory of the Lord will fill the whole earth, as waters cover the channel and the depths of the sea. These things, as we have said, literally. Moreover, it is clear that both the devil, and the Antichrist, and the perverse doctrine of heretics build the city in blood, that is, their Church in the destruction of those whom they have deceived, and prepare the city in wickedness, speaking against God iniquity, and exalting their mouth. And when they have done this, it is clearly shown that they build the city in blood and prepare it in wickedness of their own. For it follows: Are not these from the Lord Almighty? That is, such a building is not from the Lord of hosts, whom the LXX translators have now interpreted as Almighty. For many peoples will fail, and although countless nations are led astray by them, they will either grow weary, which more clearly means they have fainted, or they will certainly be confined and unable to be compared to the multitude of the Church. Indeed, when those people have failed in fire (which either means the fire of their devilish leader has been extinguished or certainly the fire of the Lord has been kindled, about which He says, 'I came to cast fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled' (Luke 12:49) ), and when they have retraced their previous course and have repented and have abandoned the journey they began, which means that they have fainted, the whole earth will be filled with the glory of the Lord, when their sound goes out to the whole world through the preaching of the apostles, just as the waters cover the sea (Psalm 18), that is, so that all the saltiness and bitterness of the age, which the earth has drunk in as the devil pours it down, will be covered by the waters of the Lord and the place of the sea and the former bitterness will not appear. And in the psalm it is said, Blessed are those whose iniquities are forgiven, and whose sins are covered (Psalm 32:1). However, it can also be understood (although it does not fit the order of the reading, nor does it relate to the present text of Scripture) as referring to the city of Jerusalem, full of the blood of the prophets, as the Scripture mentions (Matthew 23), that the blood of the saints has overflowed in it from gate to gate. And what is said in the Lord's passion: His blood be on us and on our children (Matthew 27:25). And to which God speaks in Isaiah: When you lift up your hands to me, I will not listen to you: for your hands are full of blood (Isa. I, 15). This is built in iniquities: in which, according to the same prophet, justice slept. Nor is its foundation from the Lord of hosts. Hence, many peoples have perished in fire, and many nations have been exhausted at the time when Jerusalem was surrounded by the armies of Vespasian and Titus, and on the solemn day of Passover were held captive in the city like a prison: and they were depleted by hunger and scarcity, and the siege of Hadrian brought them to their ultimate ruins. But when the city of bloodshed and the city of iniquities and the people who had come to their aid were destroyed by fire, and the exhausted hands were released, the whole earth was filled with the glory of Christ, and just as with water, so the whole world was covered with his words and teachings.

(Verg. 15 seqq.) Woe to him who gives drink to his friend, sending forth his gall and intoxicating him, so that he may see his nakedness. He is filled with shame instead of glory. Drink also yourself, and be drunk, for the cup of the Lord's right hand will surround you, and the vomit of shame will be upon your glory. For the wickedness of Lebanon will cover you, and the destruction of animals will frighten them away, from the blood of men and the iniquity of the land, the city, and all the inhabitants therein. Woe to those who give drink to their neighbor, mixing in their own venom, so that they may look into their hidden corners. Drink of the shame of glory, and be moved, for the cup of the Lord’s right hand has surrounded you, and shame has gathered upon your glory. For the wickedness of Lebanon will cover you, and the misery of beasts will terrify you, because of the blood of men and the impieties of the land and the city, and of all who dwell in it. For the confused subversion, Symmachus interpreted it as, καὶ ἀφιὼν ἀκρίτως τὸν θυμὸν ἑαυτοῦ, which means, and releasing without judgment his own fury. Theodotius interpreted it as ἀπὸ χύσεώς σου, which means from your outpouring. The fifth edition ἐξ ἀπροσδοκήτου ἀνατροπῆς τῆς ὀργῆς σου, which signifies, from the unexpected overturning of your anger. Aquila, ἐξ ἐπιτρίψεως χόλου σου, which we can translate as, from the outburst of your rage. In another edition, I found οὐαὶ τῷ ποτίζοντι τὸν ἑταῖρον αὐτοῦ ἀέλλην πετομένην, which in our language means: Woe to the one who gives his companion a flying whirlwind. But I read it translated elsewhere: Woe to the one who gives drink to his neighbor's ἔκστασιν ὀχλουμένην, that is, troubled madness. This is done in order to understand how much the Hebrew word Maspha () which the LXX translated as subversion, differs in all editions. Therefore, this is still an invective against Nebuchadnezzar, because forgetting his own condition, and as if unaware that he is a man, he offered happiness and bitterness to another man. However, we can understand it either as the king of Judea, or generally all men whom he has intoxicated with evils, so that he may see the nakedness of Sedecias and all the captives. This was interpreted by Symmachus and the fifth edition, that he may see their ignominies. However, these things are said in the metaphor of a drunken man, and of those made shameful by nakedness, because Nebuchadnezzar has intoxicated all with the cup of his fury, and has seen all stripped and captive, and those who were once glorious have been reduced to the utmost servitude: for this is what he says: He is filled with ignominy instead of glory, so that it may be understood that a friend, and close, or a partner of the kingdom, who drinks your cup, O Nebuchadnezzar. Because you have made many people drunk, you too shall drink from the cup of the Lord's wrath and become intoxicated. You will be surrounded by the punishments of the Lord's right hand, and all that you have consumed will be vomited forth in disgrace. You will be brought down from your lofty glory to the depths of misfortune. The iniquity of Lebanon will cover you, and your pride and the destruction of the temple will be your downfall. The plundering of the sanctuary will lay waste to you. And because the mountain of Lebanon was mentioned, under the same metaphor it compares victims, sacrifices, or certainly the multitude of peoples that were killed in Jerusalem, to animals or beasts, saying: And the devastation of animals will oppress you. But all this you will suffer, because you devastated Judah, you overturned the land of promise, and the city of Jerusalem and all its inhabitants. I met a certain Hebrew in Lydda, who was wise among them and was called a secretary, telling such a story: Zedekiah, he said, was blinded by King Nebuchadnezzar in Riblah, which is Antioch, and in various mocking ways, he was led to Babylon (2 Kings 25; Jeremiah 39). And when one day Nebuchadnezzar was celebrating a banquet, he commanded him to give him a drink, which, when drunk, would make the drinker's stomach flow freely: and suddenly, brought in before the mouths of the feasters, he was compelled to expel from his belly, polluted with filth, and this is what the Scripture here says: Woe to him who gives drink to his friend, sending his gall and making him drunk, so that he may see his nakedness and disgrace for glory: namely, that he who was the most powerful king was brought to such a disgrace by him. And God threatens him that he himself will drink this kind of potion and suffer all that Zedekiah suffered. How ridiculous this is, you know, even without me speaking. For if they say, 'Drink yourself and pass out, and the cup of the Lord's right hand will surround you, and the vomit of shame will be upon your glory,' they do not understand it as referring to the cup, but to the evils that Nebuchadnezzar will drink. Therefore, the cup that was given to Zedekiah should be understood as referring to evils, not, as they want, a cleansing potion. But if they say truly, and if this kind of potion is moderate, as I recounted above: therefore this cup which Nebuchadnezzar is about to drink is to be considered full of purgative, so that the God of Sabaoth and the Almighty Lord may offer purgative for the great revenge of Nebuchadnezzar and may make him defiled with his own dung. This is against the Jewish tradition. But let us come to spiritual understanding. Woe to you, devil, or Antichrist, or perverse doctrine of heretics, who intoxicate ((alternatively: who intoxicate and overthrow and give)) the deceived people with your teachings and turbid potion, and overthrow their previous faith, giving them a potion not from Siloam, not from the Jordan, not from the fountains of Israel, but from the brook Cedron and from the river of Egypt, of which Jeremiah says: 'What to you and the way of Egypt for you to drink waters from Geon' (Jeremiah 2:18)? For which reason it is written in Hebrew 'Sior' (which means turbid and muddy); although the rivers of Egypt are believed to come out of the paradise of the Scriptures, yet because they are trampled on by the feet of Pharaoh, they have lost their splendor, and violated by Egyptian mire, they have turned into torrents, concerning which it is said with rejoicing: 'Our soul has passed through a torrent.' (Ps. 123:5) But if someone objects and brings up the torrent of Corath, from which Elijah drank (1 Kings 17), and another torrent, from which the Lord drank on the way (for it is thus written: 'He will drink from the brook on the way' (Ps. 109:7)), it must be said that whoever is in Egypt and on the way of this world, even if he is Moses and Aaron, even if he is Jeremiah and Elijah, he must necessarily drink from the temptations of Egypt and the wilderness. Therefore, the word of the Lord, who assumed flesh for this reason, to drink from the brook, considering his majesty, said: 'Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass from me.' (Matt. 26:39) Seeing again that he was in Egypt, and that the waters could not be cleansed unless he himself could, he said: Nevertheless, not as I will, but as you will. These things, therefore, because the devil intoxicates his neighbors with subversion and turbid drink and perverse teachings, that is, the rational animal, and makes those whom he deceives look to their own caves. For the teachings of the Church are free: they rejoice by day and by light. But those who are intoxicated, are intoxicated by night (1 Thess. 5:7): and those who intoxicate them, do not lead them into the courts of the Lord, which are not darkened by any roof, but into caves. For they made the house of the Father, which had been a house of prayer, into caves of robbers, promising certain initiations and mysteries, and hidden secrets known only to heretics, of which Isaiah speaks: And they shall hide themselves: and shed into caves, and into the clefts of rocks, and into the holes of the earth (Isa. II, 18, 19). Therefore, let us not enter into the caves of heretics, nor hide ourselves there, where the impious Saul used to expel the filth of his teachings (1 Sam. XXIV): but rather let us ascend to the lofty cave of Mount Sinai, where Elijah also saw the Lord (1 Sam. XIX), and Moses saw His back parts (Exod. XXXIII). And Isaiah cries out concerning the Lord: 'He will dwell in the high cave.' (Isai. XXXII, 16) But if anyone does not have a turbid cup and heretical teaching, and he is the master of the Church, and he does all things for the sake of dirty gain, and he sells doves in the temple, that is, the gifts of the Holy Spirit, and on the priestly seat he sets free birds. This person does not indeed make the house of prayer a den of thieves, but he makes the house of the Father a house of business. After this comes: Drink, for the glory, the fullness of shame, O devil, O twisted doctrine, O heretic, who thought yourself to be a golden chalice, by which all nations are intoxicated, in order to see your caves and secrets, to fill with the greatness of glory the fullness of shame, and to consider the works of the potter's hands as a vessel of clay: drink also from the chalice of the Lord, of which it is said in the psalm: 'The chalice in the hand of the Lord is filled with mixed wine,' and He inclined from this into that: nevertheless, its dregs are not emptied out. And to move the prior opinion, and do not think them to be firm and stable, in which you desired to stand first: because the cup of the right hand of the Lord has encompassed you. Moreover, because you have caused a turbulent overthrow to your neighbor, shame will be gathered upon you, and upon your glory, which you believed to have first: and you will suffer this, because the impiety of Lebanon will cover you, according to what is said: And let his prayer become sin (Psalm 109:7). For Mount Lebanon, next to the Greek word ὁμώνυμος, is the name of frankincense; but frankincense is the symbol of spiritual incense, which is the worship of God. Therefore, the perverse speech of heretics, not directed by the simplicity of the Gospel, will be turned into sin for them, and impiety will cover their worship of God. Hence it follows: 'And the misery of beasts shall frighten thee, because of the blood of men, and the impieties of the land, and the city, and all that dwell therein.' And this is the meaning: Those whom you deceived with your frauds and made into your beasts from the flock of Christ, when you see them in misery and endure punishment for their error, then you will be terrified, then you will fall. And do not think that when I mentioned Lebanon and its beasts, I was speaking of brute animals and not of men, I tell you more plainly: You will endure these things, because you have shed the blood of many men whom you have caused to perish for God. And you have exercised wickedness in the land of the living, in the land of the gentle, and your wickedness has also raged in the city of the Lord, that is, in His Church; and you have made many who dwell in it participants in your wickedness. Let this be said under the mask of heretics. But if we want to understand about the Antichrist, or about the devil who will work in the Antichrist, and he will intoxicate many with his cup, with which he desires to overthrow the discipline of Christ, so that they may enter his caves drunkenly: but after the end has come, for the glory with which he magnified himself, he will be filled with ignominy. However, he will be filled, because he will drink the cup of punishments, and he will be moved, not steadfast in his wickedness, but fearful and late in his repentance. For the cup of the Lord's right hand will surround him, who is the Lord and Savior, when he has killed him with the breath of his mouth, and has destroyed him by the brightness of his coming. Then all the disgrace that he gathered for himself with thoughts, actions, and words will come upon his glory: so that as much as he was considered illustrious before, so much afterwards he will be full of disgrace. For he blasphemed against God, and the impiety which he practiced in Lebanon will cover him, and the rage of many people who were ravaged against the Church of God will be imputed to him; nor will he be able to lift up his head, but he will be crushed to the ground in terror. For he has killed many people, and with his impiety he has devastated the whole world, that is, the Church of Christ and its inhabitants. Therefore, it should be understood that this chapter, which we have now presented, namely: Woe to him who gives his neighbor a turbid drink for his downfall; and the previous three in which it was said: Woe to him who multiplies for himself what does not belong to him, and: Woe to him who gathers evil avarice to his house, and: Woe to him who builds a city in blood, can be equally understood according to history, and according to the anagogical interpretation, or against Nebuchadnezzar, or against the devil and the Antichrist and the heretics.

(Verse 18.) What profit is there in a carved image, because the maker thereof hath carved it, a molten and a false image? because the maker thereof hath trusted in his own workmanship, to make dumb idols. LXX: What profit is there in a carved image, because they have carved it, and fashioned it by the molten workman, a false image? because the artificer thereof hath trusted in his own workmanship, to make dumb idols. Furthermore, it is said in the preceding (or in the preceding matter), concerning Nebuchadnezzar, that he made a statue of the idol Bel, and set it in the field of Dura: or, as it is written in Hebrew, Dora, about which we read more fully in Daniel (Dan. 3). Therefore, the Scripture marvels at the madness and foolishness of the king, because he commanded a golden statue to be made, and the artist places confidence in the image that he created. And indeed, we can apply this, generally speaking, to all idol worshippers. We cannot consider that which is sculpted and that which is cast to be the same thing. For the sculpting, we can understand it to be in stones and marbles; but the casting is understood in those metals which can be melted and cast, for example, gold, silver, bronze, lead, and tin. Let this saying be, that according to tropology we may understand what is the difference between a sculpture and an idol. We read in Deuteronomy: Cursed be he who makes a sculpture and an idol, the work of the craftsman's hands, and sets it up in secret (Deut. XXVII, 15). I believe that sculptures and idols are perverse doctrines which are worshiped by those who made them. See how Arianus sculpted an idol for himself and worshiped what he had sculpted. Cerne Eunomium conflasse imaginem falsam, et conflationi suae curvare cervicem. Signanterque Scriptura: Et ponet, inquit, illud in abscondito. Habent enim et ipsi orgia sua, et quasi pro perfectis quibusque discipulis tradunt abscondita sacramenta, quae si ad lucem processerint, statim quod ficta sunt, arguuntur. Nihil igitur eis proderit sculptura et conflatio sua. Sculptura, quae refertur ad lapides, in his dogmatibus intelligitur, quae stultitiam prima fronte demonstrant. Conflatio is where there appears to be a semblance of secular wisdom, and as if with gold, the image is formed of the disciplines of philosophers and the splendor of eloquence. Therefore, the fabrication will be of no benefit to its maker. And the mute and deaf image will not be able to hear its worshipper. If ever you see someone refusing to believe the truth, and despite the falsity of their own doctrines being exposed, persevering in their chosen pursuit, you can rightly say: They hope in their fabrication and create mute or deaf images. For κωφὰ signifies both among the Greeks: although Symmachus, interpreting as ἄλαλα, seems to have understood muta rather than surda. Nor does that expression of the Scriptures move anyone, of which we have often said: Who, do you think, is the faithful and wise steward (Luke XII, 42)? And in another place: Who is wise and understands these things (Psalm CVI, 43)? because who, or what, is taken for rarely: since we can also understand this very thing from another place as impossible: Who shall separate us from the love of Christ: tribulation, or distress (Romans VIII, 35)? And the rest. And in the present chapter: What does it profit the sculptor, because his own sculpted image? For in both cases, impossibility is demonstrated, that neither can tribulation and distress separate the love of the Apostles from Christ, nor is there any usefulness in idols.

(Verse 19, 20). Woe to him who says to wood, 'Wake up!' or to silent stone (or lying stone), 'Arise!' Can it give instruction? Look, it is covered with gold and silver, but there is no breath in its midst. The Lord, however, is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. LXX: Woe to him who says to wood, 'Wake up!' and to the stone, 'Rise!' and it is the image, the production of gold and silver, but there is no spirit in it. But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. This can also be applied to Nebuchadnezzar and all those who worship idols. And it describes the human error, that they consider silver, gold, gems, and silk, with which idols are adorned or covered, to be gods because of the brilliance of the material, even though an artist can give form, but cannot give life to the limbs. And on the contrary, the Lord is said to be in his holy temple (Psalm X): not in a temple made by hand, but either in heaven or in each of the saints, according to the apostle who says: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you (I Corinthians III, 16)? And elsewhere: Your bodies are the temple of God (I Corinthians VI, 19); or in the Son, as He Himself says: The Father who dwells in me, He does the works (John XIV, 10). But certainly according to that, which created the heavens and the earth, the seas and the entire world (Virg. VI Aeneid.)

The spirit nourishes within; infused throughout the limbs, the mind moves the mass, and mingles itself with the great body: the whole world, which consists of the sky, the earth, and the circles of the heavens, is said to be the house of God. Hence the Apostle confidently says: 'For in Him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17:28). And if anyone opposes this, let him learn the custom of Holy Scripture, which never refers to a perverse spirit absolutely, but always qualifies it with some addition, as in the case of being led astray by the spirit of fornication (Hosea 4:12). And in the Gospel: But when an unclean spirit goes out of a man (Luke XI, 24), and similar things to these. However, the spirit wherever it is mentioned alone and absolutely without any addition, is always referred to the good part, that is, to the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle says: He who sows in the Spirit, will reap life eternal from the Spirit (Galatians VI, 8). And elsewhere: But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace (Galatians V, 22); and in another place: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh (ibid., 16). Nor do we say this because the Holy Spirit is not also referred to with an attribute. For he is called both the Holy Spirit and the principal spirit and the upright spirit and the spirit of God, and similar expressions. But what we do say is that the Holy Spirit is often referred to both with an attribute and alone, while the perverted spirit is never mentioned without an attribute. And it can even be said (if someone wants to interpret the perverted spirit contentiously in this passage), that it is something else; 'Every spirit is not in him' means something different from 'Every spirit is not around him', for it can sit by idols; but it cannot be within. And Aquila translates more accurately from Hebrew, saying: 'And his spirit is not in his entrails, or in his midst.' Therefore, it must be understood that in some Hebrew texts, the word 'omnis' (all) is not added, but the word 'spirit' is read in an absolute sense. And if someone, being overcome by reason, understands the word 'spirit' in a positive way, and asks why, when it is said about the Holy Spirit, it is read with the addition: 'And all spirit is not in Him?' Let it be known that every spirit, various graces are understood to be of the Holy Spirit: so that there may be understanding: Nothing in itself of grace, it will have nothing of power. Indeed, this is understood more according to tropology, that in all the idols of heretics and the inventions of the devil, there is no grace of the Holy Spirit; but they seem to prefer the image of divinity and the beauty of teachings, while in them there is nothing breathing and alive. Let us also say this, lest we appear to conceal from the reader what we know, that the spirit and the wind are called by the same word among the Hebrews, that is, Rua (), and it is usually understood either as the sense of a place or as the wind. Therefore in this place we can understand 'spirit' as referring to wind, because idols do not breathe; or as referring to soul, because the inanimate sculptures. But that 'spirit' is understood as soul is clearly indicated by the prayer of the Savior: 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit' (Luke 23:46). For Jesus could not entrust to the Father a perverse spirit (which is also wrong to even consider), or the Holy Spirit, who is God himself, but rather his own soul, of which he had said, 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death' (Matthew 26:36, Mark 14). And: No one can take my life from me, but I lay it down voluntarily, and I take it up again of my own accord. (John 10:17, 18).

(Chapter 3, Verse 1) Lord, I have heard your message, and I am afraid: Lord, revive your work in the midst of the years. LXX: Lord, I have heard your message, and I am afraid: Lord, I have considered your works, and I am amazed in the midst of two animals you are known. For that which we have translated as 'revive your work,' Symmachus has interpreted as 'revivify your work.' But what the Seventy have said, 'I have considered and I am amazed,' is not found in Hebrew, nor in any other Interpreter, so by removing those things which are not found in Hebrew, it can be read according to the Seventy: Lord, you are known for your works in the midst of two animals: because this seemed incomprehensible, the preceding words are connected. But we read in Hebrew Adonai, that is, Lord, Phalach, your work, Bacereb, in the midst, Sanim, of years, Heieu, make it alive. This is done so that we may clearly recognize the additions that have been made in the Septuagint. The Hebrews explain this passage according to the story: Lord, I have heard your message and I am afraid. I have heard, it says, the punishments that you have prepared for Nebuchadnezzar and the devil, in which you said to him: Woe to him who multiplies not his own (Above, II, 6). And secondly: Woe to him who gathers evil greed to his house (Verse 9). And thirdly: Woe to him who builds a city with bloodshed, and establishes a town with iniquity (Verse 12). And fourthly: Woe to him who gives his friend drink, pouring out his gall and making him drunk. And fifthly: Woe to him who says to wood, Awake; to silent stone, Arise. And as I am filled with fear, that the great dragon must be wounded by so many blows, so I pray, Lord, that you fulfill what you have promised, and at the end of time, give us your Christ. For you have said, that it will still be seen from afar and will appear at the end, and it will not lie. Therefore, bring to life what you have promised, that is, fulfill your promise; let your word not die in vain, but let it be accomplished by action. Indeed, this can be understood in regard to the resurrection of the Savior: that he who died for us may rise from the dead and be given life. However, according to the Septuagint, the meaning is quite different, and we must also consider the explanation in the Vulgate edition. Lord, I have heard in the Scriptures your word, and with you giving me an ear, according to what Isaiah says: He has given me an ear to hear (Isaiah 50:5); I have heard in such a way that you desire to be heard. And contemplating your works more diligently (so that it would not be said to me: But the works of the Lord do not regard, and the works of his hands do not consider), from the creatures I understood the Creator, and through each thing that you have made, and what you daily accomplish in the whole world, I was completely astonished, and with the sense of humanity lost, I was converted into holy madness. Certainly, disturbed by wonder, I burst forth in praise, trembling, saying: In the midst of the two animals, you are recognized. Which many think refers to the Son and the Holy Spirit, because the Father is understood through the Son and the Spirit. This is also interpreted as the two Seraphim in Isaiah (Chapter VI), and the two Cherubim written about in Exodus (Chapter XXV), which face each other and have and veil each other, and have the oracle in their midst; and in Isaiah (Chapter VI), veiling the head and feet of the Lord, they desire only in the present age, and one cries out to the other the mystery of the Trinity: and let one of the Seraphim be sent, which is interpreted as burning, and let him come to earth and cleanse the lips of the prophet, and say: I have come to send fire on the earth, and how I wish it were already burning (Luke XII, 49). Some people think this, and they use many testimonies from the Scriptures to support this interpretation. On the other hand, a simple interpretation and the opinion of the common people understand that the Savior was recognized and believed to be crucified between two thieves (Mark 15 and John 19). However, those who say better argue that in the early Church, which was made up of both Jews and Gentiles, the Savior was understood and believed by both groups. There are two kinds of animals, two Testaments that are understood, the new and the old, which truly are living and vital, which breathe, and in whose midst the Lord is known.

In the middle of the years you will make it known. 70: When the years approach, you will be recognized. When the time comes, he says, and you have fulfilled the promised work, you will show that what you have promised is true. Whether when the consummation approaches, and at the last hour your son comes to destroy sins, you will be recognized more clearly. It follows:

When the time comes, you will be revealed, when my soul is troubled. This, except for the Seventy, is found neither in Hebrew nor among any other interpreters. And the meaning is this: When the time comes, of which it is said: In an acceptable time I have heard you, the time of the coming of the Lord Jesus Christ (2 Cor. 6:2): then, O God the Father, your name will be known, which was hidden from men before, of which the Lord says in the Gospel: Father, I have revealed your name to men (John 17:6). But as it is added: When my soul is troubled, it is connected with the edition of the Seventy Interpreters with the later ones, so that it can be read: When my soul is troubled in anger, and up to this point is the distinction: afterwards let it be added, you will remember your mercies; namely, that the disturbance alone suffices for punishment, and the soul of the prophet, troubled with anger towards God, does not incur punishment, but mercy excludes anger. But the wrath of God also has its measures: how much and for how long, and for what reasons, and in what ways it is poured out, according to what is written: You will feed us with the bread of tears, and you will make us drink tears in measure (Psalm 79:6). And if the prophet is troubled by the wrath of God, and the one who is troubled obtains mercy, what should we hope, or rather fear, whose every work is worthy of God's wrath? But what follows according to the Hebrew.


When you have been angry, you will remember mercy. We must not think that God forgets us and after his anger remembers his mercy; but rather, because we think that he forgets us when we are placed in punishment, according to what is said: How long, O Lord, wilt thou forget me unto the end? (Ps. XII, 1). For even when we are overwhelmed by temptations, as if by raging waves, and a violent storm of demons rages against us, we speak as if to a sleeping person: Arise, why do you sleep, O Lord? At the same time, consider the mercy of God: he did not say, when you inflict punishment, you will remember mercy; but when you are angry. However, one who is angry sometimes does not strike, but only threatens. The apostle, sensing this, says: For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men (Rom. I, 18). But where it is revealed, it is not inflicted, it does not strike; but it is revealed to frighten, and to those who are frightened, it is not inflicted.

(Verse 3) God will come from the South, and the Holy One from Mount Paran. Selah. LXX: God will come from Teman, and the Holy One from the dark and thickly wooded mountain. Diapsalma. Aquila and Symmachus, and the fifth edition, set forth the Hebrew itself in Teman (): only Theodotion interpreted what Teman meant, saying, 'God will come from the South, and the holy one from Mount Paran, to the end.' From this we understand that the reading of the Seventy is from the dark and thickly wooded mountain. But even this, which the Seventy translated as 'psalm', and we have retained, forever; Symmachus interpreted as 'eternity'; Theodotion, 'to the end'; the fifth edition has the Hebrew 'Sela'. Therefore, God will come from the South, that is, from the South, from the clear light, and from those who are called the sons of days. Hence, in the Song of Songs, the bridegroom drives away the north wind and calls the south wind, saying: Arise, o North wind, and come, o South wind, blow through my garden, and let my spices flow (Song of Songs IV, 16). God is always in the midday: Where, he says, do you graze? Where do you lie down? in the midday (Ibid., I, 6). And to Abraham when he was under the oak, God did not come except in the midday (Gen. XVIII and XLIII). And Joseph, who foreshadowed the Savior, makes a meal for his brothers at midday. Therefore, the recognition of God the Father comes to those who are worthy in full light. And the recognition of the Holy One, that is, the Son of God, comes from the shady and thick mountain. The shady and dense mountain, or rather the Father himself, is understood to be full of virtues and all wisdom, protecting all things with his majesty, and spreading his wings, and cherishing his children; or certainly a paradise and heaven full of angels, full of virtues, full of abundant trees. And I wish that it may also happen to me, that God may come to my voice and my exposition in clear light, and his Son, of whom it is written: 'Be holy, for I am holy' (Lev. 20:26), from the lofty and dense eloquence, and the intertwining testimonies of the Scriptures from here and there, and as the Father and the Son come together, may their listener be made their dwelling, and may the Scripture be fulfilled, saying: 'I and my Father will come to him, and we will make our dwelling with him' (John 14:23). But because it is written in Hebrew as the shady and dense mountain, it is interpreted as the mountain Pharan, and Pharan means the mouth of the seer: fittingly, according to our interpretation, the knowledge of the Son comes in the eloquent speech of a learned man, and not just any speech, but one that is full of light, full of eyes, so that it may be clearly and purely conveyed to the ears of the listeners. And by what he says about the mountain, understand sublime teachings. I have heard this Hebrew passage explain that Bethlehem is located to the South, where the Lord and Savior was born, and it is he about whom it is now said: The Lord will come from the South, that is, he will be born in Bethlehem and rise from there. And because he who was born in Bethlehem once gave the Law on Mount Sinai, he is the Holy One who came from Mount Paran: for Paran is adjacent to the mountain of Sinai. And what is inferred, diapsalma, that is, always, has meaning: he who was born in Bethlehem, and who in Sinai, that is, in Mount Paran, gave the Law, is always the author and giver of all past, present, and future benefits. In the Psalter, there is a more detailed discussion about the diapsalmate, which is called Sela in Hebrew. Also, according to the Septuagint, the diapsalmate is only found in the Psalter and in the present place. From this, we rightly understand that the song of prayer was marked by the Septuagint.

(Verse 4.) He covered the heavens with his glory, and the earth is full of his praise. His splendor is like light: horns are in his hands. There his strength is hidden. LXX: His power covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise, and his splendor shall be like light: horns are in his hands, and he set strong love of his strength. Because the Seventy have interpreted, and he set strong love of his strength: and we have said, there his strength is hidden: Aquila translated, and he set a hiding of his strength: Symmachus, and he set his hidden strength; only Theodotion agrees with our translation, he says: and there is a hiding of his strength. For the word 'ibi' in this sentence, it is understood and placed there for the sake of the quality of the place. More accurately, it should be read as 'ibi' in the present location, rather than 'posuit,' in order to make sense and maintain the order of the sentence. 'Cornua in manibus ejus' should be understood as 'ibi,' meaning that his strength is hidden in the horns. It is clear, according to the Hebrew, that all things are filled with glory in the coming of Christ, as it is said in the Gospel: 'Glory to God in the highest, and on earth peace, good will toward men' (Luke 2:14). And elsewhere: He made peace in heaven and on earth through the blood of the cross, and he sits at the right hand of greatness: for his word runs swiftly. And elsewhere: O Lord, our Lord, how admirable is your name in all the earth (Ps. CXLVII, 1)! And again in the eighteenth Psalm: Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world (Ps. XVIII, 5). And his splendor, like the sun of righteousness, shone with clear light; and in his hands are horns, the banners and trophies of the cross, and in these horns is hidden his strength: For though he was in the form of God, he did not consider equality with God a thing to be grasped; but he emptied himself, taking the form of a servant: he became obedient to the Father unto death, even death on a cross (Phil. II, 6 seqq). Therefore, for a little while, His strength was hidden on the cross, when He said to the Father: My soul is sorrowful even unto death (Matt. XXVI, 38, 39): And: Father, if it is possible, let this chalice pass from me (Luke XXIII, 13). And on the cross itself: Father, into your hands I commend my spirit. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, in that which is said: His power covered the heavens, we should understand that what is covered is less than the one covering: if, however, the whole is covered and not just a part, then what is covered. Therefore, when the power of God covers the heavens, His power is greater than the heavens themselves, which are covered by it. The heavens, moreover, are those who bear the image of the heavenly, and who proclaim the glory of God, as we often read. The apostle also proves the power of God the Lord Savior: Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Corinthians 1:30). This power is like the mother of all special (or spiritual) virtues, for example, it is called virtue, wisdom, fortitude, justice, temperance, truth, holiness, redemption. But Christ has become for us from God wisdom, justice, sanctification, and redemption. Therefore, these special virtues, in which Christ is manifested (according to the progress of those who receive him either in wisdom, or in fortitude, or in justice, and other such attributes), are contained in the general virtue of God, that is, in the Lord Savior: and in this way we understand the earth, that those who were first called earth because of the image of the earthly, and it was said to them: You are earth, and to earth you shall return (Gen. 3:19), may be filled with the praise of the Lord in the coming of the Savior. But when the heavens, by the power of God, will have been covered (indeed protected and clothed on every side), and the whole earth will be filled with the praise of God, then His splendor will be like light. However, the apostle does not remain silent about the image of God and the splendor of His glory, which is the God Savior: After the splendor of the glory of God appeared to us, He returned to His original majesty (Hebrews 1). For although we knew Christ according to the flesh, now we no longer know Him according to the flesh, but rather according to the Spirit; because, In Him was life, and the life was the light of men (John 1:3, 4). And what is shown even more clearly in the Gospel of the Savior, he says: Father, glorify me with the glory that I had with you before the world was made (John 17:5); so that after his ascension to heaven, there may be a radiance that is light, that is, the Son begins to be what the Father is. And what follows, 'Horns in his hands,' is a customary expression in the Scriptures, that horns are always set for kingdoms. For even what Anna speaks in the first book of Kings, 'He has exalted the horn of his Christ' (1 Samuel 2:10), signifies the magnificence of the Savior's kingdom. And in Daniel, ten horns symbolize ten kingdoms (Dan. VII). However, it is now said: Horns in his hands, as we also read elsewhere: The heart of the king is in the hand of God (Prov. XXI, 1): because it is the mind and the principal of the holy heart (which goes towards the kingdoms of heaven, but still located on earth, reigns over the body without sins) does not wander externally; but is situated under the protection of God. However, since in Hebrew and in other editions it does not have written: Horns in his hands, but in his hand, which is called Jado (), let us understand the strong and robust hand of God as His Son. And let us say that in this hand are all the kingdoms of heaven and those who strive to ascend to heaven: which Isaiah also signifies, saying: A vineyard is made for the beloved in a fertile place, for it is in the kingdom. For this reason, I think no horned animal is considered unclean in Leviticus, and it also signifies the unicorn in the Psalms (Psalm 49 and 91), or ῥινοκερότα; and that: In you we will scatter our enemies with a horn (Psalm 44, 7). But as we read in the Septuagint: and he placed the love of his strong power, this also must be understood of Christ, that God the Father therefore covered the heavens with his power, and filled the earth with praise, and made his splendor to be as light, and placed his kingdom in the hand of his Son, that he might make his beloved to be loved by men, and to be loved not lightly, but vehemently and strongly, so that those who loved him strongly, and remained in his love, no one would take them out of his hand. On the contrary, the devil makes us love the world, and, out of a love for virtue, to love vices, and not lightly, but strongly, so that it can be said of us: And the devil placed strong love in his vices.

(Verse 5.) Before his face, death will go, and the devil will go forth before his feet. LXX: Before his face, the word will go, and it will go forth into the field behind his feet. For because we have translated death, in Hebrew three letters are placed, Daleth, Beth, Res, without any vowel, which if they are read as Dabar (), they signify word; if Deber, pestilence, which in Greek is called λοιμός. Finally, Aquila has interpreted it as Before his face, pestilence will go; Symmachus, Before his face, death will go ahead; the fifth edition, Before his face, death will walk; only the LXX and Theodotion have interpreted the word as death. And in the following verse, where we said, 'The devil will go out before his feet,' and the Seventy translated differently, according to whom we will discuss later: Aquila translated it as 'bird' instead of 'devil'; Symmachus and Theodotio, and the fifth edition, as 'bird,' which is called Reseph in Hebrew (). However, the Hebrews convey that, just as the prince of demons is called Beelzebub in the Gospel (Matthew 12): so Reseph is the name of a demon who holds authority among others, and because of his excessive speed and running in different directions, he is called a bird; and that he is the one who spoke to the woman in paradise in the form of a serpent, and received the name from the curse with which he was condemned by God: for Reseph, crawling on the belly, is interpreted. This is therefore what is said: immediately when the Lord came and was baptized in the Jordan, and the voice of the Father thundered at the descent of the dove: This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased (Matt. III, 17), as the devil goes out from the waters, death will meet him and the ancient serpent will stand before him, who tempted him for forty days in the wilderness. But if we read according to the Septuagint, the word will go before him and come out into the fields behind his feet, this signifies that the word of God, before his visitation, which is now called his face allegorically, should precede and prepare the hearts of the believers: so that crooked things may be made straight, and uneven things may be made level, and the soul of the listener may be like a cultivated field, able to receive the spiritual seed.

(Verse 6.) He stood and measured the earth: he beheld, and scattered the nations, and the everlasting mountains were scattered, the perpetual hills did bow: his ways are everlasting. For there are also other mountains and hills, which the bridegroom leaps upon and transgresses in the Song of Songs (Chapter 2), about which it is also said in the second psalm of degrees: I lifted up my eyes to the mountains, from whence shall my help come (Psalm 120, 1). But the mountains of the world themselves are also the dark mountains; concerning them Jeremiah commanded that our feet should not stumble upon them (Jeremiah 31). These are the hills in which Saul reigned when he killed the priests of God (I Samuel 22): for indeed Gabaa is interpreted as a hill. And the hills of the world were elegantly curved, he said. Before the coming of the Savior, they walked with their heads held high, and no one could humble their pride. But they were crushed and bent by the paths of His eternity, that is, God's, because His eternity deemed it worthy to come to us, either because He always came to the saints from the beginning of the world until His incarnation and became the Word of God in the hands of each of them, and He triumphed over all and bent His eternal journey, breaking the hills and mountains. These things should be said through metaphor, according to the Hebrew. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, after the word of God has preceded, and has gone out into the open, God the Father comes there, where a royal preparation is made for his word, and he comes after the footsteps of his word, and he stands; never going before, but always waiting, so that he may prepare a way for himself. But when he stands by the footsteps of his word, immediately the earth, namely the works of flesh and bodies, unable to withstand the presence of God, are moved. And when they have been stirred up, the power of speech and the presence of God look upon all the nations of souls, whose thoughts and manifold opinions we are able to understand, which there are dissolved and wasted away. If anything has also exalted itself against the knowledge of God on earth, and has taken hold of the mind of the listener, it will be broken and crushed by this preceding speech and the coming of God. But when the mountains have been broken and crushed at the sight of God, the hills will be consumed by liquification and reduced to nothingness. For the mountains of God are not, but the mountains of the world. For the eternal journey of God, looking back at those things which His word precedes, will consume and destroy them more strongly than the hills of the world. Moreover, the mountains can also be understood as demons, who dwell in heretics and rise up against the knowledge of God. The hills are also other fortresses of demons, which make people admire the beauty of bodies, dignities, riches, nobility of birth, and other goods of the world. It is allowed to see after the advent of the word of God, and the presence of God the Father, how human souls are moved, and everything that is earthly is dissolved, and former thoughts are reduced to nothing. Then demons are destroyed, then the heights of the world are brought to nothing, and all knowledge of heretics, which was once swollen, is humbled, crushed, and consumed by the advent of the word of God. And what previously seemed beautiful and great is cast aside and considered small. And this happens because of the coming of God and the hospitality of Christ, as it is written elsewhere: I will dwell in them, and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people (Lev. XXVI, 12).

(Verse 7.) I have seen the tents of Ethiopia because of iniquity, the skins of the land of Midian will be troubled. LXX: I have seen the dwellings of the Ethiopians because of their labors; they will be afraid, and the dwellings of the land of Midian. The dark Ethiopians (or rather the darkest) and lovers of darkness, not belonging to any light, who feed on the flesh of the dragon (of whom it is written: You have given him as food to the peoples, to the Ethiopians, Ps. 73:14), are understood to be demons, whose dwelling place is made by anyone in this world who labors for honors and riches: which is significantly shown by one word of iniquity, for indeed every rich person or unjust person, or heir of the unjust, is such. See how men cross the seas: they stand guard at the doors before the powerful: they endure all that the condition of slaves barely allows, in order to gather riches, in order to obtain some dignity. And once they have achieved this, they surrender themselves to luxury and pleasures and all kinds of wickedness, so that what greed has gathered, extravagance may consume. Therefore, these people, for their efforts, become the dwelling place of demons, and those who should be the temple of God become the dwelling place of Ethiopians. But also this which follows: The skins of the land of Midian will be troubled, or they will fear and the tabernacles of the land of Midian, understand the same tabernacles of the Ethiopians, and the tabernacles of the land of Midian. For after they have become enriched, and have risen to the highest degree through right and wrong, then the conscience of their sins will always fear death, always judgment, and they will sigh for eternal punishments like thieves in prison sigh for a slight fever. But the word 'Madian' in our language signifies 'judgment', that is, condemnation, and it is shown that they always live in fear of eternal judgment and punishment, and endure daily torment, knowing that they deserve the torments.

“Chariots and steeds lay stilled.” Let us examine this verse in its tropological significance. At last Pharaoh mounted his steeds, sank into sleep and perished. The Egyptians too had steeds, but they perished. That is the reason for the prescription found in the law that no Hebrew should possess a horse. Solomon, you recall, had no horses from Jerusalem or Judea but bought some from Egypt. Horses are always for sale in Egypt. “Some are strong in chariots; some in horses; but we are strong in the name of the Lord, our God.” They, in truth, who mounted horses slumbered and perished. Our Lord has horses too, and he has shining mountains besides, whereas the devil’s mountains are full of darkness. Now just as there are bright mountains and dark mountains, there are good horses and again bad horses. We have made a few remarks about bad horses; let us say something about good horses. When horsemen came to Elisha to arrest him and the servant boy went out and saw an army of Assyrians round about the city, Elisha said, “Fear not: for there are more with us than with them.” A little further on in Kings it says, “Lord, open the eyes of your servant that he may see.” And when his eyes had been opened, he saw chariots and horses. These were helpmates. You notice that it says “chariots and horses.” There were no men on the horses, only chariots and horses, in other words a multitude of angels. They were the chariots and they were the horses; the charioteer was the Lord. That is why the prophet Habakkuk sings, “Your chariots are salvation.” This is said to God. O, if only we too were God’s horses, and God deigned to ride us! But those other horses slept their long sleep and their charioteers with them.

(Verse 8, 9.) Are you angry, Lord, with the rivers? Or is your anger against the rivers, or your wrath against the sea? For you have ascended upon your horses, and your chariots are salvation. You will surely bring forth your bow, fulfilling the oaths you have spoken to the tribes. Selah. (Septuagint: Are you angry, Lord, with the rivers? Or is your wrath against the rivers, or your fury against the sea? You who ride upon your horses, and your horse is salvation: stretching out, extending your bow over the scepters, says the Lord.) Diapsalma. Where the Septuagint has diapsalma, and Aquila always, the others have translated similarly. And because the discourse hastens to a tropological interpretation, briefly encompassing the literal sense of the chapter, I will continue to the rest. Just as you dried up the Jordan and the Red Sea, fighting for us; for you are not angry with rivers and seas, nor could anything insensible of offense provoke you: so now, ascending your chariots and taking up your bow, you will give salvation to your people, and you will fulfill the oaths that you swore to our fathers and tribes forever. But when he says, 'Are you angry, O Lord, with the rivers, or is your wrath against the rivers, or is your fury against the sea?' he speaks ambiguously, and more in the manner of someone asking a question than someone affirming. For there are both good rivers and bad rivers. The sea is very bad, and yet it is also very good. An example of good rivers is this: 'The streams of the river make glad the city of God' (Psalm 46:4). And whoever drinks of the water of the Lord will have rivers of living water flowing from his belly into eternal life.' (John 4). That which Pharaoh speaks in Ezekiel, 'The rivers are mine, and I have made them' (Ezek. XXIX, 9), refers to the rivers in which the dragon dwells, and many similar things. The fact that the sea is interpreted in a positive way is attested by the twenty-third psalm, in which it is tropologically said about the Church under the term 'οἰκουμένῃ', that is, the world: 'The earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof; the world, and they that dwell therein. He hath founded it upon the seas, and established it upon the floods', that is, upon the world. But what is founded by the Lord upon rivers, and prepared upon the sea, is surely taken in a good sense. Likewise, what is said about the vineyard that was transferred from Egypt: You have extended its branches up to the sea, and its tendrils up to the rivers (Psalm 79:12), I think can also be taken in a good sense. And we say that the divine words which are more manifest, and offer themselves as a drink to those who are thirsty, are called rivers: but those which are full of sacraments, and placed in the profound depths (about which the Apostle says: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! (Romans 11:33)). And the Prophet agrees: Out of the depths I have cried to thee, O Lord (Psalm 129), the sea is called in the Scriptures. This can be understood in a better sense. But that it can also be understood in the opposite sense, there are many testimonies, of which this is one in the Psalms: This great and wide sea: therein are things creeping innumerable, both small and great beasts. This sea, which thou hast made to play therein (Psalm 104:25-26). And from the Gospel, when the Savior rebuked the winds and the sea and said to them, 'Be silent and be still' (Mark 4:39). For whatever is rebuked is evil, according to the saying of Zachariah: 'The Lord rebuke you, Satan' (Zechariah 3:2). And to Timothy: 'Reprove, rebuke, and exhort' (2 Timothy 4:2). Therefore, the prophet asks: 'Are you angry, O Lord, with the rivers, or is your fury in the rivers, or is your wrath in the sea?' Let us say whether the rivers of Egypt are red and bloody; the Lord is angry and strikes them, rushing with full force into their depths, rising up against the knowledge of God. When the sea saw it, it fled (Ps. CXIII), unable to bear the presence of God. And the Jordan turned back, yielding to the glory of the people passing by, divided by both Elijah and Elisha. To speak more clearly, understand the eloquence of heretics that flows against truth and the Church as rivers against which the Lord is angry. But the souls of those who are carried about by every wind of doctrine, and always fluctuate with malice, and are overwhelmed by salty waves, let the sea on which the impulse of the Lord is made recognize and feel His coming, and let it understand by what boundaries and obstacles it is enclosed, and let it hear: Your waves will be broken within you. And if the rivers and the sea are good, Jesus washes in them, and He places His Church on such a sea. After this follows: He who rides on your horses, and your chariot is salvation. I seek the horses on which the Lord ascends, and I believe there are no others except the souls of the saints, on which the divine Word ascends, in order to save them and others through them. Let us consider examples of horses. The bridegroom speaks in the Song of Songs: My beloved is like a gazelle or a young stag. Look! He is standing behind our wall, gazing through the windows, peering through the lattice. (Song of Songs 2:9). Not that Christ compares the Church, or the Word of God compares the soul, which He calls His bride, to Pharaoh's chariots; but that every soul, although holy and perfect, compared to God, is like Pharaoh's chariot and beast of burden. And Moses speaks to the Lord: But I am irrational, that is, irrational (Exod. IV, 10). And David: I have become like a beast before you (Psal. LXXII, 23). Not that he was absolutely a beast; but that he is a beast before God. These horses are contrary to those that Pharaoh has, and it is said of them: He has thrown horse and rider into the sea (Exod. XV, 2): this kind of riding is not salvation, but destruction. Let us also seek other horses, on which the Lord ascends: In the book of Fourth Kingdoms, we read that the servant of Elisha rose early in the morning, and saw an army encircling the walls of the city, and horses and chariots (IV Reg. VI). And after the prophet's eyes were opened to prayers, he looked and behold, a mountain full of horses and fiery chariots around Elisha. Pay close attention to how the horses and chariots appear, and yet in so many thousands of horses and chariots, there is no rider: the driver of these horses was Elijah and he was the guide about whom the Psalmist sings: You who sit upon the Cherubim, manifest yourself (Psalm LXXIX, 2). With such horses and such a chariot, Elijah was taken up to heaven (2 Kings II). But if anyone wants to learn about the red horses, and the black, and the spotted, and the white horses going out from the myrtle trees, and from the hills placed in the depths, or, as it is written in the Septuagint, of bronze, in the same prophet, if the Lord of life gives us time, we will attempt to explain (Zech. 1). And John saw white horses, and their riders (Rev. 6): from which I think the bodies of those who rise in glory are white horses; and the riders are the souls of the saints. But if someone is truly a sinner and is like me, he will sit upon a black horse, and it will be said of him: All those who rode horses have fallen asleep (Psalm 75:7). Concerning such horses, it is written: The deceitful horse is for salvation (Psalm 32:14), for the flesh desires against the spirit, and its wisdom is hostile to God. Let this be said of those who love the body and sit upon black horses. But let us prepare our souls on horses and chariots of the Lord, who ascends in Paul, ascends in Peter, and riding upon such chariots, has traveled throughout the whole world. He also aimed his bow and arrows, that is, he uprooted, destroyed, and annihilated the kingdoms which Jeremiah was sent against (Jerem. XVIII): and he made it so that sin would not reign in our mortal bodies. And the arrows, that is, the kingdoms of the devil, which he revealed to the Lord, understand as different sins: greed, lust, anger, slander, theft, perjury, against which the Word of God, seated on his horses and chariots, aims the curved arrows of his brightness, but does not yet release them, so that the one who is terrified by the drawn bow does not feel the release of the arrows. And this is what the eagle always does, as Aquila interpreted it, in place of singing. For he always sits in his holy places, always armed. And preparing sharp arrows on their tongues, he rides and runs to and fro in the world of salvation.

(Verse 10) You will split the rivers of the earth. LXX: The earth will be split by rivers. Because the Lord has stirred up his bow, in order to fulfill the oaths he spoke to the tribes, it is subsequently said, you will split the rivers of the earth, which means that the kings of the earth who fight against your people, you will divide and scatter. According to the Septuagint, which says, The earth will be split by rivers, let us first consider this example, so that we can proceed to higher things as if in steps. We read in those who have written volumes about wonders, and who have brought the Olympic Games of Greece down to our own memory, explaining what new things happened in each year in the world, namely that among other things rivers have burst forth from the movement of the earth, which were not there before, and on the other hand other rivers have been swallowed up and have disappeared: namely, that all the veins of the earth, just as blood does in the human body, contain hidden waters which are broken open by the shaking of the earth, and they remain as rivers. If we understand this, let us see that the human soul naturally contains waters and rivers, and our compassion, which are hidden and do not flow. But when it is shaken by the preaching of God's word and moved from its previous state, then what was hidden bursts forth and flows for the refreshment of those who drink. I believe that this is what is also signified in Genesis by the wells dug by Isaac's servants, which were buried in the land by the Philistines (Genesis 26). As long as Abraham is alive, his wells are not closed; but when he dies and the wells are closed, if the servants dig, the Philistines object, and there is a dispute. But if Isaac himself comes and digs a well and finds water, the Philistines cannot object. Look at Peter and Paul, and you will not doubt about the wells and rivers of Christ. Observe all the apostles, and you will understand that not four rivers, but twelve rivers flow out of the paradise of the Scriptures. These rivers were hidden before the earth was moved, and when they were in the veins of the earth, they did not provide cups for the thirsty. But after the coming of Christ, the world and all the earth were shaken, they suddenly burst forth, and then it was fulfilled: He turned rivers into a desert, and the exits of water into thirst, fruitful land into salt marsh, because of the wickedness of those who dwell in it (Psalm 33). He turned a desert into pools of water, and a waterless land into fountains of water, and there he made the hungry to dwell, and they built a city to inhabit. For when the Lord came into the world, and that which he said in the Gospel was fulfilled: 'I came into this world for judgment, that those who do not see may see, and those who see may become blind' (John 9:39): then the land of Israel, from which rivers used to flow forth and water the entire Jewish people, became dry and its springs were blocked up. But the entire world, which was once deserted and sterile and did not have the waters of the Lord's preaching, turned into marshes of water, and as many teachers as it sent forth, so many springs it had. It was not enough for them to irrigate the peoples of the world with fountains and rivers; but in each province, gathering together those who were hungry and suffering from the hunger for the word of God, they built the Church, which is called the city to dwell in, and which is made joyful by the rushing of the river.

(Verse 11 onwards) The mountains saw you and trembled; the raging waters passed by. The abyss gave forth its voice; the heights lifted their hands. The sun and moon stood still in their dwelling place; they will go in the light of your arrows, in the radiance of your glittering spear. In your fury, you trample the earth; in your wrath, you astonish the nations. You have come for the salvation of your people, for salvation with your Christ. You have struck the head from the house of the wicked; you have laid bare the foundation to the neck. Always. We have placed our edition alone, so that according to it, that is, according to the Hebrew, we may discuss the coherence of the passage, then we may discuss the same passage comically by chapters. The mountains saw you, God, and they grieved: namely, the high kingdoms and the lofty powers of this age, and the four chariots in Zechariah, which go forth from the bronze mountains (Zech. VI): these saw you and trembled. And the surge of waters passed over: this is, all their impetus and persecution, by which they vexed your people, passed over after they saw you. Then the abyss, that is, the underworld, praised you: then even the gods, that is, the angels, clapped their hands in applause, as if with a certain gesture and exultation of raised hands they showed you as the victor. Your sun and moon, and all the splendor with which you had previously shone upon your people, and afterwards had been covered by the weight of evil, were enveloped in the horror of darkness, received their light again, and regained their former brightness. Your arrows and your flashing spear, that is, your wounds, and your teaching, provided light to your people. Finally, in the light of your arrows, and in the splendor of your spear, which hast struck them to correct them, your people walked in your fury. So when will you avenge the injury of your people, you will tread upon earthly kingdoms, and cause all nations to marvel, for you have come forth for the salvation of your people, and you have come to them with your Christ: although it is written in Hebrew, 'You have come forth for the salvation of your people with your Jesus Christ: or with your Savior Christ: for Jesus indeed means Savior.' But when Jesus Christ, your Son, comes, you will strike the Antichrist from the house of the wicked, that is, in this world, which is placed in evil. Whether you strike the devil himself, who is the head of wickedness, and uncover its foundation up to its neck, that is, you reveal its hidden things, not for a short time, but forever. For this is what Sela means, that is, always.

LXX: They shall see you and be sorrowful, whether the peoples are in labor; for it signifies both. Consequently, when the earth is broken and the rivers flow, the peoples who have drunk from the rivers of God shall see God and be in labor. For from the very fact that they see God, they immediately conceive and say with God's word: We have conceived and given birth in the womb from your fear, O Lord, and have brought forth and given birth; we shall make the spirit of your salvation upon the earth. Blessed, says He, are the pure in heart, for they shall see God (Matthew 5:8). These people, therefore, cleansed by the rivers, have not yet seen, but they will see God: and when they see, they will conceive, so that they may bear the fruits of teachings. But because they are called people, and it is not possible for the people to see the face of God, although the prayer may be extended to the future, they will see and bear: however, according to the allegory it is more Hebraic to follow, where it is said: They have seen You, and the mountains have given birth: for it is the mountains' task to see God and bear children, whom they conceived from the word of God.


LXX: Disperse the waters of the journey. There are different types of waters: some eternal, others temporary. Concerning the eternal waters, and those that flow from the fountains of Israel, it is said: The land will be split by rivers. Concerning the sudden and temporary ones: All streams flow into the sea. The end of such waters is destruction. Therefore, God will disperse all waters that have been trampled upon by perverse doctrines, when He has dissipated the plans of the rulers and the wisdom of this world. If ever you see that a heresy has briefly flourished and then, by the grace of God, has been dissipated, say that it is complete: you will scatter the waters of the journey. However, what is said, 'of the journey,' can be understood as 'of the devil,' so that the meaning is: The waters which the devil has trampled upon, and which have provided a pathway for many, that is, have made many errors possible, the Lord will divide and scatter. Hence, other interpreters, wanting to describe heretical madness, have translated it as: Mockery, or the onslaught of waters will pass. For they are said to rush headlong in the course of eloquence, and to drag along with them whoever they come across, light and easy.

LXX: The abyss gave voice to its depth of imagination. The abyss is often interpreted in a positive way: sometimes in a negative way, and sometimes indifferently. In a positive way: Your judgments are a vast abyss (Psalm 35:7). And: Deep calls to deep (Psalm 42:7), and so on. In a negative way: The waters saw you, O God (Psalm 77:17), and so on. But even demons plead not to be sent into the abyss (Luke 8), and in Genesis: The abyss over which darkness prevailed (Genesis 1:2), I do not know if it can be interpreted in a positive way. However, it is mentioned there in an indifferent way: The fountains of the deep were broken up, and the floodgates of heaven were opened (Genesis, 7:11). And in the one hundred and forty-eighth psalm: Sea monsters and all deeps, fire and hail, snow and storms, unless perhaps because it is mentioned among sea monsters, fire and hail, it should be interpreted in a negative sense. I do not know if anyone could say this, unless they have seen it resonate with the others in praise of the Lord. Therefore, if we understand the abyss in a positive way, let us say that, with the waters of the worst journey dispersed, your wise ones saw you and borrowed the depth of knowledge they had from your presence. And whatever they previously thought about you, they proclaimed it in praise of their words. And beautifully, the opinion of imagination is called depth, according to Jesus son of Sirach, who says: Who will investigate the abyss and wisdom (Eccl. I, 2)? And from a small mountain (Psalms 41), that is, from the assumption of the human body, which Daniel calls the stone cut out without hands from the mountain, that is, without a wedding work (Daniel 2), Christ invokes the abyss, calling the Father the other abyss, in the voice of his waterfalls (Psalms 41), so that he may give the word with great power to those who proclaim the gospel. Or certainly, the abyss of the New Testament, as a testimony of the small mountain from which the Prince of Tyre was wounded, invokes the abyss of the Old Testament, so that through the waterfalls of Christ, that is, the apostles, the preaching may become more firm. But if anyone wishes to interpret this passage in a negative sense when it says, 'The deep gave forth its voice, the height of its imagination' (Isaiah 14), they will use the argument that after the waters of the journey were dispersed, which were certainly received in a negative sense, this should be rightly understood in the opposite way. At the same time, observe that it does not say 'its height,' but 'the height of its imagination,' that is, of shadows and images. For they seem to possess the height and knowledge of the Scriptures, but all their height, compared to the truth, is imagination, and they raise their voice in vain, because the waters of the journey have already been dispersed. Let us search in the Scriptures wherever we can find imagination in a good sense, and if it has been rarely or never found, we will interpret it as a darker abyss and its imagination in a bad sense.

LXX: The sun was lifted up, and the moon stood in its place. If we follow a simple interpretation, the progress of the sun and moon is shown by the words at hand: that, according to Isaiah, in the future age the sun will shine sevenfold in light, and the moon will shine with the brightness of the sun (Isaiah XXX, 26). For since the creature will be set free from the slavery of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God (Romans VIII), which is now subjected to vanity, because of the one who subjected it in hope of freedom, when at the consummation of the world every creature will be set free, the sun and the moon will also be set free, and they will stand in their place. But if we desire to receive Christ, the sun of justice, in whose wings is health, and the moon, which is illuminated by the splendor of this sun, as the Church: it is not difficult to say that the true light, the light of men, and the splendor of the glory of God, and the splendor of eternal light, may illuminate it: which now in this age may increase and decrease according to prosperities and trials. But when the sun will be exalted, and, according to the Apostle, God will exalt it, and give it a name above every name (Philippians 2): then also the Church, which in the present age cannot maintain its order, will return to its rightful order, and will not be changed; but will stand firm in its position, and will hear with Moses: But you stand here with me (Exodus 34:2).


LXX: In light, your javelins shall go forth, in the splendor of the flashing of your armor. The javelins of God, that is, the arrows going and advancing, are not sent for the purpose of killing, but for the purpose of illuminating. In distinction to these arrows and javelins, Christ is called the chosen javelin by Isaiah proclaiming: He has made me as a chosen javelin and has hidden me in his quiver, and he said to me: This is great for you, to be called my servant (Isaiah 49:2-3). This arrow will have many arrows (as) it sends into the entire world. Hence even the wounded bride (spouse) says: Wounded by love, I. (Song of Songs 4:9). According to which we can also say: Wounded by chastity, I; wounded by wisdom, I. By this dart of wisdom wounded, the Queen of the South (or, the Queen of Sheba) was not herself, and, astonished, she found more in the true Solomon than the reports had narrated to her. (1 Kings 10). Therefore, these arrows which are sent into the light also pass into the splendor of his armor, that is, of God. For whoever is armed, in order to stand against the cunning of the devil, and girded with the armor of the Apostle (Ephesians VI), the arrows of light come to him, so that it can be said to him: You are the light of the world (Matthew V, 14). But if anyone is a sinner and laments that he dwells in the tents of Kedar, sharp arrows with desolating coals are sent to him (Psalm CXIX), so that he may be first pierced by the words of God and say: I am surrounded by misery, when the thorn is thrust into me (Psalm XXXI). And after he has been struck with remorse, then a scorching coal should be sent to him through the Seraphim, that is, the burning word of God, which not only cleanses the unclean lips that Isaiah had (Isa. VI), but also burns all the parts of his body and leads him to the solitude of sinners.

LXX: In the threat, you will approach the earth, and in anger, you will drag away the nations. This can be understood as occurring at the end of the world, when, through frequent wars, a great multitude is killed, and few people are found, and those who did not want to be part of God's people, but remained as nations and foreigners, are led to Tartarus by the anger of the Lord. But it is better to interpret the threat to the earth as a diminution of earthly works, and those who are established in the Church, not waiting for sinners, are corrected by the anger of the Lord; but hearing in the Scriptures the punishments that await sinners, they repent, and gradually diminish their earthly desires, and advance towards heaven. If anyone of us fears the threatening of the Lord, to him the earth is diminished: but he who perseveres in the number of the nations, and does not want to be among those whose land decreases, nor of the people of God, of whom it is said: They shall see thee, and shall bear children, this one shall be taken away in punishment with the nations.

LXX: You went out for the salvation of your people, to save your anointed ones. First, let us see how many anointed ones there are, and then we will discuss how the Lord went out for the salvation of his anointed ones. The anointed ones in the Old Testament were called Christ and patriarchs, about whom it is written in the Psalms: He rebuked kings for their sake: 'Do not touch my anointed ones, and do not harm my prophets' (Psalm 105:14-15). And in the first book of Chronicles, all those who came out of Egypt are called anointed ones. The anointing oil in Exodus (Ch. XXX) is also used for the priestly consecration, which is later mentioned in Leviticus (Ch. VIII) when the anointed priests are referred to. There is another anointing oil used for anointing kings in the kingdom, which is divided into two. If it is David or Solomon, that is, one who is strong in hand and peaceful (I Sam. XVI), the horn is anointed. But if it is Jehu or Hazael, they are drenched with lentil (II Kings IX and XIX): and the vessel in which it is carried is called fictile, that is, φακός. But even Cyrus, the king of the Persians and the Medes, who released the people from captivity (although many may err and think that it refers to the Lord Savior), is mentioned in Isaiah: Thus says the Lord to my anointed Cyrus, whose right hand I have held to make the nations listen before him (Isaiah 45:1), etc. And at the end it is said: But you did not know me, which is blasphemous to understand about the Savior. It is the prophetic ointment, with which Elijah is commanded to anoint Elisha as a prophet (1 Kings 19). And above all kinds of ointments, there is a spiritual ointment called the oil of gladness, with which the Savior is anointed, and it is said to Him: Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions (Psalm 44:8). And I consider those to be His companions to whom John speaks: And you have an anointing from the Holy One (1 John 2:20). And a little later: These things I have written to you concerning those who deceive you: And the anointing which you have received from Him abides in you, and you do not need anyone to teach you; but as the anointing teaches you about all things, and it is true, and it is not a lie, and just as it has taught you, abide in Him (ibid., 26, 27). So that those who have lost the anointing of baptism may not despair of receiving the anointing, it is written in Leviticus: When a leper who has been cast out of the camp comes to the priest and his leprosy is cleansed, the priest shall take in his left hand some olive oil and with his right finger sprinkle it seven times before the Lord. The priest shall then touch with the same oil the ear of the one who was a leper, as well as his right hand, his right foot, and the remainder of the oil he shall pour on his head (Leviticus 14). And when he has properly completed all these things: then let him offer a burnt offering for himself, and let him be called the Christ of God. I want to say something; but I fear that I may give occasion for ruin to the negligent: that in the Holy Scriptures the same man is frequently found anointed. Finally, David was anointed a third time (2 Samuel 6 and 19): which we do not understand to be about someone who has sinned; and he is anointed again (for it is enough for a leper to be anointed a second time after the first anointing has been lost), but it is about someone who progresses day by day, and his anointing is always increased. And it goes from the oil of the leper to the oil of the people and the saints, and from the oil of the people it reaches the oil of the priests, and it surpasses the priests to the anointing oil of the high priest, and from the high priest it even goes to the king, from the king to the patriarchs, and from the patriarchs it goes to Christ, and he is anointed with the oil of joy (Psalm 44:8), by which whoever is anointed becomes one with God in spirit, and where the Father and the Son are, there he will also be. But this is rare, and there are the wishes of the believers. However, I do not know if the effect will follow. For it is said: God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions, that is, with that oil which those who are your companions will seldom or never be able to find. Therefore, God has gone out from his place for the salvation of these Christians, just as Micah says: And he will go forth from his place to save (Micah 1:3). For those who were in need of salvation did not want to enter to him, therefore he went out from his majesty and his place, so that he could lead those who were outside into the land of gentle ones and the region of the living, from which Adam had been expelled: from which Cain, when he went out, dwelled in the land of Nod (Gen. III and IV, according to the Septuagint). It should be known, however, as we have said above, that where the Septuagint placed the plural number, 'to save your Anointed Ones,' in Hebrew it is Joshua son of Nun and the Anointed One (Messiah), which Aquila translated, 'to salvation with your Anointed One (Messiah),' not that God went out to save the people and save his Anointed One (Messiah), but that he came to the salvation of the people with his Anointed One (Messiah), according to that passage of the Gospel: 'The Father is in me, and I am in the Father'; and the Father, remaining in me, he himself does his works (John XIV, 10). But even the fifth edition translated similarly: 'You went out for the salvation of your people, for the salvation with your Christ.' However, Theodotion, being truly like a poor Ebionite, and Symmachus of the same belief, following a poor interpretation, translated: 'You went out for the salvation of your people, in order to save your Christ.' And: 'You went out to save your people, to save your Christ.' I am going to say something unbelievable, but nevertheless true. These half-Christian Jews translated: and the Jew Aquila interpreted, as a Christian. The sixth edition, clearly revealing the sacrament, thus translated from Hebrew: 'You came forth to save your people by your Jesus Christ,' which in Greek is said: 'ἐξῆλθες τοῦσῶσαι τὸν λαόν σου διὰ Ἰησοῦν τὸν Χριστόν σου.' This meaning can be applied to the fact that the Father came forth with the Son from the temple and the ceremonies of the Jews, saying: 'Your house will be left to you desolate' (Luke 13:35); and he came for the salvation of the Gentiles, to save those who believe through Jesus Christ his Son.


LXX: You have sent death upon the heads of the wicked. We cannot consider this death to be the common one by which we all die, for even Abraham died and was laid to rest with his forefathers (Gen. XXV); and the prophets, and even Christ himself, died (John XIX), but death was sent upon the wicked (1 Sam. II, 6), so that those who had previously lived in wickedness, dead to sin, might live in righteousness (1 Pet. II). Anna also signifies this in her prayer: The Lord kills and gives life. For he kills sinners, sending death upon the heads of the wicked, so that he may give life to righteousness. I will say something bolder: Christ came into the world for this very purpose, to send death upon the heads of the unjust. And just as he himself died for sin once (1 Peter 3): so they also may die to iniquity; and those who have become partakers of this death may also become partakers of life. But according to the Hebrew, where it is written: You have struck the head from the house of the wicked, let us also take the head, as I said, the prince of this world, and his house, the world, and every soul of the sinner, in which the devil had a dwelling. Therefore, the head of the wicked is struck in the house, so that, with him struck and expelled, the house of God may be made, and justice may dwell there, and walk in it. And this is worthy to be understood of God, who went forth for the salvation of his people with his Christ, so that, with such a head struck, he may become in us the head, who is the head of every man and of his Church. If anyone, therefore, still feels the house of the wicked within himself, let him pray for the coming of the Son of God, so that the head of the wicked may be crushed within him.


LXX: You have lifted up the chains until the neck, to the end. The Lord has lifted up the chains of love, so that with the previous burden set aside, and the heavy yoke by which we were oppressed thrown off, we may take up the light yoke of Christ; and, placed in his chariot, we may carry the excellent charioteer. Theodotius also, taking this in a good sense, says: You have adorned the foundation until the neck. Fifth edition: You have stripped, or emptied, the foundation until the neck, selah, that is, always. For the foundation of Christ, which was in the soul of each individual, had been buried under the foreign earth, the accumulated soil is dug out, and the best foundation is uncovered and adorned, so that what was hidden may appear and receive its own clarity, and this is done eternally, which is called 'Sela' in Hebrew. At the same time, consider that the LXX themselves, compelled by the necessity of things, who always interpreted 'sela' as diapsalma, have now translated it as 'in finem'.