Jerome

Blow the horn in Gabaa, trumpet in Rama: howl at Bethaven after your back, O Benjamin: Ephraim shall be in desolation in the day of rebuke, among the tribes of Israel have I made known the truth." LXX: "Blow the trumpet on the hills, sound on the high places," "proclaim it in the house." ὢν: "Benjamin's mind has failed, Ephraim has become desolate in the days of reproof, in the tribes of Israel I have shown faithfulness." Ephraim and Israel and Judah shall each month, or the rust with its parts, devour. Therefore, I command you who listen that you do not sound a trumpet with a lofty voice, but a clear one: for there is a need for a clear hearing, so that all who are around may hear. "Blow the trumpet in Gabaa," which the Septuagint translated the etymology into "hills": and "sound the trumpet in Rama," which means "high": and these two are in the tribe of Benjamin, cities close to each other, that is, Gabaa, where Saul was born; and Rama, which is near Gabaa, situated on the seventh stone from Jerusalem; and which the king of Israel tried to occupy, to close the exit and entrance of the tribe of Judah. In Gabaa and in Rama, therefore, a clear trumpet and tuba resound, whose trumpet is pastoral, and the horn is made curved; whence it is properly called a Hebraic Sophar, and a κερατίγνυμι in Greek. But the tuba is made of bronze or silver, with which they rattled in wars and ceremonies. Above Bethaven, which was once called Bethel, and is in the tribe of Ephraim, where there was a golden calf, there is a need for not a clangor and sound, but a wailing: because there is a nearby captivity. And he said beautifully that Bethaven is located behind Benjamin, for where the tribe of Benjamin finishes, not far in the tribe of Ephraim, this city was founded. Therefore, I say and command: Blow the trumpet in Gabaa, and the horn in Rama, and howl in Bethaven, because the regal house of Ephraim, or Ephraim himself, that is the empire of Israel, will now be in desolation; and the neighboring captivity approaches. On the day of correction and supplication of the ten tribes of Israel, I showed my faithful words that I threatened through the prophets, so that I might prove, by action, what I had announced by word. Certain people who were near Bethaven according to the Seventy who said the house was the "city of the sun," were interpreted as saying that Christ, the sun of righteousness, was the city, and they wanted his Church to be that city. But this displeases me, for the house of an idol, which Aquila interpreted as "useless house," cannot be referred to the Church by means of tropology. But let us say this, that the heretics who promise themselves lofty knowledge in Gabaa and Rama, are ordered to howl ((or "jubilate")) in the house of an idol; and they should not be before the face of Benjamin, who is interpreted as "son of the right hand," but rather behind him, where he does not have eyes. For all the boasting of Ephraim, which means "abundance," he will soon be in desolation, and when the day of judgment and time of correction comes, I will show that my words are not in vain. Because we translated "Benjamin at your back," the Seventy translated it as "Benjamin's mind was moved," always adapting Benjamin, a man of the church, to excess of mind. Hence in the sixty-seventh psalm it is said: "There Benjamin, the youth, is in excess of mind." And in Jacob's blessings, in the person of Benjamin, from whom Paul the Apostle was descended, we read: "Benjamin is a ravenous wolf; in the morning he shall devour the prey, and in the evening he shall divide the spoil." (Gen. XLIX, 27). For he who persecuted the Church in the beginning, later on throughout the whole world, bestowed nourishment upon those who believed in the Gospel. From this it happened that Saul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, raving with madness, prophesied among the choir of prophets all day long until evening (1 Kings 10).

"The leaders of Judah have become like those who remove a boundary; upon them I will pour out my wrath like water." LXX: "The leaders of Judah have become like those who move boundary lines. I will pour out my rage on them like a flood, raging and swift." After the captivity of Ephraim and Israel, and their land became desolate, the leaders of Judah who should have wept and encouraged their people to turn away from idolatry, lest they suffer similarly, began to rejoice and be happy that their land was opened wide for them to possess. They became like those who remove boundary lines and expanded their kingdom and possession in the former places of Israel. Therefore, thus says the Lord: And upon those princes of Judah shall come the Babylonians; and they shall take them: their bowels will not be of force, but of my indignation. And he also speaks to the princes of Judah, that is, the Church, that they ought not to exult; and to estimate their own salvation through the perdition of heretics, but rather to mourn because they are lost. Wherefore even the Apostle Paul teaches the ecclesiastical men not to glory in the breaking off of the Jewish branches, but rather to fear lest they themselves be broken off (Rom. XI). And in another place: "Who," he says, "is scandalized, and I am not burned." (2 Corinthians 2:29)? Otherwise, against such leaders who glory in the miseries of others, and therefore think that they are standing if others fall, the Lord will pour out His anger like water. Seventy interpreted the word "impetus" as wrath, and some think that it should be understood as a blessing, according to what we read elsewhere: "The impetus of a river rejoices the city of God" (Ps. 45:4). But more correctly (as all except the Seventy have translated) anger should be received, especially since the name of effusion and anger is appropriate, as the prophet says to the Lord: "Pour out your anger upon them, and let the fury of your wrath take hold of them" (Ps. LXVIII, 25). The princes of Judah have moved the boundaries which their fathers had set, when they change truth with falsehood, and they preach something different from what they have received from the apostles.

"Ephraim endures slander, broken in judgement, because he started to follow after filth." LXX: "Ephraim oppressed his adversary, trampled justice, because he began to pursue vain things." If Ephraim is wicked, and because of his wickedness he will be destroyed, how can it now be said: "Ephraim endures slander, broken in judgement?" For he who endures slander is also broken, his judgement oppressed unjustly, especially when a just cause is stated for which he was given up to captivity. For it follows: 'since he began to leave behind filth', that is, behind the idols which are compared to filth. Therefore, what he says is this: Ephraim is oppressed by the Assyrians, first by Pul, then by Tiglath-pileser (2 Kings 15), and afterwards by Salmanazar; not because they were righteous who oppressed him, and therefore he was handed over to them; but because those who were once my people, when I abandoned them, were handed over to punishment, and in this there seems to be slander, not towards God ("Al." from God), who inflicts just sentence: but towards those who endure torments, while they are handed over to more wicked adversaries. And the Lord brought upon them the cause of contempt in this part, and to be delivered unto the worst, and no judgment to be had toward them: for Ephraim began to go after idols, and to forsake God: for he himself had made golden calves. According to the interpretation of the Septuagint, Ephraim, that is, Jeroboam, oppressed his adversary Rehoboam, that is, the tribe of Judah, and in it he oppressed: because he followed the filthy idols of the Egyptians, and deserted Jerusalem and the temple. The meaning concerning heretics is clear: that with their false sophisms and dialectical art they often suppress churchmen; but when they have done this, they do not follow the purity of true faith, but the filth of lies; who are given over to the devil and his angels and seem to suffer slander and have the truth of judgment broken within them. Thus Israel is laid waste; and all its labors are devastated by the Assyrian conqueror; and the bishop lost God and therefore he is broken in judgment; because he followed idols.

"And I am like a moth to Ephraim, and like rottenness to the house of Judah." LXX: "And I am like a tribulation to Ephraim, and like a stimulus to the house of Judah." In the Hebrew language "moth" is called "Recob" for "rot and decay"; one of which consumes clothes and the other wood: for which the LXX translated as "turbulence", which is "disorder" or "turbulence", and "stimulus". And it should be noted that the moth pertains to Ephraim, and the rottenness to the house of Judah. Therefore, how does a clothes moth consume clothing, and decay or rot consume wood; which both take a long time: In the same way, God gave a place for repentance to the ten tribes, and later to the two tribes for a long time, calling them to salvation, storing up His wrath for the day of wrath, like a moth or decay, not because God is a moth or decay, disturbance or affliction, but because to those who suffer punishment all these things seem so. Therefore, first consumed was Ephraim and Israel, then followed was the house of Judah: not Judah himself, but his house; otherwise, it was reserved for the genealogy of Judah, among whom He had been placed: And He was the expectation of the nations. However, the heretics, who are understood to be Ephraim, and also Judas, namely, those who remain with the Church, and who are con­tained in the errors or vices of heretics, will be subject to the same judgment.

"And Ephraim saw his sickness, and Judah his band: and Ephraim went to the Assyrian, and sent to the avenging king: and he shall not be able to heal you, neither shall he be able to take off the band from you." LXX: "And Ephraim saw his weakness, and Judah his pain, and Ephraim went to the Assyrians, and sent ambassadors to king Jareb, and he will not be able to free you, nor will he make an end of your pain." Embassies are not held in Hebrew. And where the Septuagint place "Jarib," we translate it as "avenger" according to Symmachus; for Aquila and Theodotion translated it as "judge." And this name "Jarib," signifying "avenger" and "judge," is shown by the name of Gideon who, when the worshippers of Baal sought him for punishment, because he had overthrown the grove of Baal and its altars, answered his father, "Let Baal therefore plead against him" or "avenge" himself, and he was afterward called "Jerubbaal," that is to say, "Let Baal plead against him." Therefore, understanding their own weakness, Ephraim sought not aid from Him who could loose them, but from the King of the Assyrians, to whom they were in sinfulness bound together with the ten tribes. We read that under King Manahen, who ruled over ten tribes (IV Kings XV), Israel sent gifts to the Assyrians; and Judah under King Ahaz, sought aid from Tiglath-pileser king of the Assyrians, who was unable to deliver them from those who opposed God, nor could he loosen the bonds of captivity. We can refer to those bonds, for which it is written in Hebrew as Mezur, and which Aquila interpreted as ἐπίδεσιν or συνδεσμὸν, that is, "binding" or "conspiracy," and to that time when Rezin and Pekah son of Remaliah devastated many thousands of men from the tribe of Judah (Ibid. XVI), and Judah pleaded in vain for help against not two, but the aid of the kings of Assyria. Some people, according to the trope of Ephraim and Judah, refer both to heretics and to men of the church, because both they and Judas, the sinners, are bound with the chains of sins, according to what is written: “With the cords of his sins every one is bound” (Prov. 5:22). They have sent to Assyria and to the avenging king, that is, to the devil, of whom we read: “That thou mayst destroy the enemy and the avenger” (Ps. 8:3). And because they did not beseech the true helper or judge; therefore He has made them abide in the pain of sickness and the chains of their own offenses. I have read in the commentaries of someone that the King "Jarib" is interpreted as Christ. And because it follows: "He will not be able to heal you," this argument is used, that Christ cannot heal heretics or sinning Christians at the time of judgment, where there is no mercy, according to what is written: "But in hell, who shall confess to thee?" (Ps. VI). And that he cannot heal or free, not because of his weakness, but because of their merit, who have sought help too late. How our Lord was said to have been unable to work miracles in his own country, and the reason why he was unable, he explains: 'Because,' he says, 'they did not believe in him.' He said these things: we will interpret the king unfavorably. Because we explained 'Jarib,' which means 'avenger:' others read Jarim with the letter Mem, which is transferred to 'woods:' hence Cariath Jarim, interpreted as 'the village of woods.'

"For I am like a lioness of Ephraim, and like a lion's cub to the house of Judah." LXX: "For I am like a panther to Ephraim, and like a lion in the house of Judah." When they go to Assyria and send to the avenging or the revenger king, who will not be able to heal them; nor to undo the bound chain, I will show that with me opposing, all human help is vain: for I will be like a lioness to Ephraim, and like a lion's whelp to the house of Judah. For the lioness, which in Hebrew is called Sohel, the Seventy [translators] interpreted it as 'panther,' which is similarly said in Greek and in Latin, and both the name of the beast and every beast can be taken [in this sense]: so that you may recognize whatever is savage in the beasts, as existing in God's indignation. There is nothing swifter than the panther, nothing stronger than the lion: in the panther the swiftness of the destruction of the kingdom of Samaria is significant among the Assyrians; and in the lion, the strongest [beast], is shown their kingdom against Jerusalem and Judah somewhat later in time of the Chaldeans. And because she had said that she was both a lioness or panther, she maintains the metaphor and says:

"I will take and go, and I will take away and there is no one who can deliver: going I will return to my place until you fail and seek my face." LXX: "And I will snatch, and go and take away, and there will be no one who can deliver: I will go and return to my rightful place until they are destroyed and seek my face." It is asked, if God takes, and takes away, and holds, no one can take them from his hands, according to what is written: "No one can snatch them from the hand of my Father" (John X, 29) how was Judas snatched from the hand of God through betrayal? We will briefly answer this, that no one can snatch from the hand of God: however, he who is held, can by his own will fall away from the hand of God. And what follows: "Going, I shall return to my place," we ought to accept the place of God, his magnificence and majesty: so that he does not in any way descend to deal with men, become angry, show mercy, forget, become like a panther, turn into a lion, change into beasts: but may despise human things, and allow those whom he formerly protected to submit to their enemies, so that they may waste away, and fail, and die, and afterwards seek the face of the Lord and say: "Illuminate your face and we will be saved" (Ps. LXXIX, 4). "And: Show us, Lord, your mercy, and grant us your salvation" (Psalm 85:8). Even to heretics and the negligent Church, God turns into a panther and a lion; and He will reclaim the prey from those who had previously seized it from the Church, so that those who had been lost might be saved when they are captured. He will not dwell in the gathering of the wicked but will return to His place, as He said, "I am in the Father, and the Father is in me" (John 14:1). He will reject and despise them until they are consumed by their impiousness and seek Him through penance, abandoned as they once were. Some think heaven is God's dwelling place; thus God, offended by those who dwell on earth, will return and make perish those who, through the enormity of their sins, have converted the most merciful Lord into a wild beast for themselves.

"In their affliction they will rise early to me: come and let us return to the Lord, for he has taken us, and he will heal us; he will wound us and he will cure us; he will bring us to life after two days, and on the third day he will raise us up and we shall live in his sight: we shall know and we shall follow, that we may know the Lord." LXX: "In their affliction they will rise early to me, saying: let us go and return to the Lord our God: because he will strike and he will heal us: he will wound and he will cure us. He will heal us after two days: on the third day we shall rise again and live in his sight. We shall know, and we shall follow on, that we may know the Lord." Therefore God delivered Ephraim and Judah into captivity, and there is no one who can rescue them from his hand, and they will return to their place until they fail, and they will seek his face, so that they may seek the propitious and present one, whom they had not felt, but one who is angry and absent, and in their tribulation, with the light of penance rising for them, let them arise early to him, as we read in Isaiah: "In their tribulation they remembered the Lord" (Isaiah 26, LXX version). And in the first grade of the psalm: 'When I was in trouble, I cried out to the Lord,' 'and he heard me' (Ps. 119:1). And when they rise up in the morning to the Lord, what will they say? 'Come and let us return to the Lord.' They are not content with their own salvation, but they provoke one another to return to the Lord whom they left, whom they abandoned for their sins, from whom they were abandoned. 'For he has taken us, and he will heal us:' who had said earlier 'I will take myself' 'and I will go,' he will strike and heal us. For what we have said, 'will cure,' all have similarly translated, but properly they are called 'linteola' which are inserted or applied to wounds, so that they may eat away putrid flesh and extract pus: and the art of physicians is to heal large wounds in a long period of time and to restore health through pain. Therefore the Lord strikes and he heals us: for the Lord loves whom he corrects, and he chastises every son whom he receives (Heb. XII) ; and he not only heals, but he vivifies after two days and on the third day rising from the dead, he raises up with himself all human race. And when He shall have healed the stricken and given life to the healed, and raised up the living, then shall we live in His sight, we who lay dead in His absence. We shall live (being alive) in His sight, knowing Him, and with all zeal we shall strive to know the Lord, by whose rising again on the third day we also rose again. These words explain that which we have often warned, and both Israel and Judah, that is, the twelve tribes, shall then have one shepherd and king David, when they shall have believed in the risen Lord. And vainly the Jews of a thousand years promise themselves dreams of salvation, whereas the promised day of the resurrection of the Lord on the third day is the salvation of all. The Hebrews interpret the day secondly, in the coming of Christ, and the third day, in judgment, when they will be saved. Let us grant this, they reply, what is the first day, that is, the first coming of the Savior? And when they cannot respond, we infer that the first day is the same as they desire, in the humility of the Savior's coming, the second in glory, the third in the garb of the judge. And those who accept the second and third, testify that they have lost the first: because the second and third cannot be called without the first.

His going forth is prepared as the morning light, and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth." LXX: "We shall find him ready as the morning, and he shall come to us as the early and the latter rain to the earth." Come, and let us return unto the Lord: for he hath torn, and he will heal us; he hath smitten, and he will bind us up. After two days will he revive us: in the third day he will raise us up, and we shall live in his sight. And let us know, let us follow on to know the Lord: his going forth is prepared as the morning; and he shall come unto us as the rain, as the latter and former rain unto the earth. About which the title of the twenty-first psalm is: "For the morning assumption:" Although it is written in Hebrew: "For the morning deer:" because after death and the twisted ancient serpent he desires to climb towards the mountains, and he, with the darkness dissipated, rises to us the sun of justice, that he may illuminate our blindness. And it is beautifully said, "his going forth is from the end of heaven, and his circuit even to the end of it." concerning which, according to the tropology, we read in the eighteenth psalm: "And he, as a bridegroom, coming out of his bride-chamber." (Ps. XVIII, 5). He who is not only called morning, dawn, and daybreak, but will come to us like a temporary and late rain to the earth. We receive Christ as a temporary (savior), when the foundations of faith have been cast in us, and we will welcome rain in the late season when we will gather eternal crops from the mature crops, and we will be stored in the Lord's granaries. Therefore, you Jews who do not receive temporary rain, and without rains cast seeds, will not receive the fruits of crops in the end times. This is the rain of which the Lord promises, saying: "I will give you rain in due season, and the latter rain" (Deut. 11:14). According to the allegory, rain is given in due season, when we partly know: the latter rain is given when what is perfect comes. And the Lord is always ready for those who rise in the morning, who can say, "I will arise at dawn" (Ps. 56:1). And: "O God, my God, I watch for you at break of day. My soul thirsts for you" (Ps. 62).

"What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Judah? Your mercy is like the morning clouds and like the dew that goes away early: therefore have I hewed them by the prophets; I have slain them by the words of my mouth: and thy judgments shall go forth as the light." LXX: "What shall I do to you, Ephraim? What shall I do to you, Judah? Your mercy is like a morning cloud, and like dew that passes away early: therefore I have hewed your prophets, I have killed them with the words of my mouth, and your judgment shall come forth like the light." When He says, 'What shall I do to thee, Ephraim? What shall I do to thee, Juda?,' He shows the affection of a parent for his lost children, according to what we read in Isaiah: 'What is there that I ought to have done more to my vineyard, that I have not done to it?' (Isaiah 5:4) And in Micah: "My people, what have I done to you, or how have I caused trouble to you? Answer me; because I brought you out of the land of Egypt, I freed you from the house of slaves, and I sent Moses, Aaron, and Miriam before your face" (Micah 6:2, 4). Therefore, what shall I do to you, Ephraim, what shall I do to you, Judah? Your mercy, with which I have always shown mercy to you, has passed like the morning clouds, and like the morning dew that dries up when the sun rises. For now captivity is near, I already see you being led captive into the Assyrians and chained to the Babylonians. I grieved for you in the prophets and threatened you with terrible words; I brandished a scalpel, fire and branding irons, so that you who despised my clemency might fear my offence, and I might kill the careless with the words of my mouth, punishing sinners beforehand with the terror of words before captivity should approach. And I did all this so that the truth of the judgement by which I am about to judge you might be made manifest and that no one might doubt that you have suffered what you have deserved. For what it is, 'I have grieved for the prophets,' the Seventy translated, 'I have cut down your prophets,' understanding that they had killed false prophets themselves, to the Lord: so that those who were the cause of error, promising prosperity, would be killed and turned into an opportunity for salvation. And the sense is: Lest you should say, we believed in the prophets, even we killed them: so that every occasion of sin might be taken away from you. We read in the book of Kings that 450 prophets of Baal were killed under Elijah (3 Kings xviii), and another innumerable multitude under Jehu (4 Kings x), who overthrew the house of Ahab. We believe that the same things were said both to heretics and to the true man Judas, who was about to suffer similar things, so that the Lord may provoke them to mercy, and may desire to return to salvation. But those men who pursue the delights and refreshments of this world like a cloud and dew that quickly pass away, of whom it is said in the Gospel: "Thou fool, this night do they require thy soul of thee: and whose shall those things be, which thou hast provided?" (Luke 12:20). And that richly adorned man, who despised Lazarus lying before his doors (Luke 16), knew that all that he had enjoyed had passed away like a cloud or a dewdrop. But God always destroys the prophets of the heretics, while He threatens them with eternal punishments, takes away true life from them, and abandons them to the death of their crimes. However, let us love that cloud which is eternal, and which protects us from the heat of this world, under which sitting the Lord came into Egypt, and broke all the idols of the Egyptians. Let us love that dew about which Moses speaks: "Let my doctrine drop as the rain" (Deut. XXXII, 2). And about which Isaiah says: "Thy dead men shall live, together with my dead body shall they arise. Awake and sing, ye that dwell in dust: for thy dew is as the dew of herbs, and the earth shall cast forth the dead" (Isai. XXVI, 19, sec. LXX). There are some who think that the prophets who were truly slain (("Al." holy men)) were given up to the enemies because of the sin of the people.

For I desired mercy, and not sacrifice: and the knowledge of God more than holocausts; but they themselves like Adam have transgressed the covenant: there they have prevaricated against me." LXX: "For I desire mercy, and not sacrifice, and the knowledge of God more than holocausts: but they themselves are like a man passing by the covenant." What follows in the Septuagint: "There hath despised me the city of Galaad, the vain-doer," and the rest, is to be connected with the following chapter: we will discuss what we have proposed: I have grieved them in my prophets, I have slain them with the words of my mouth: I have struck them with hard punishments, so that I might have mercy on the repentant, that I might extend my hand to those who have fallen and risen. For I am not pleased with sacrifices and offerings, and the multitude of burnt offerings. My sacrifice and offerings, the salvation of believers, and the conversion of sinners is. But they imitated Adam, and disregarding my covenant and law, they did on earth what he had done in paradise. And there, that is, in paradise, all have transgressed against me, in the likeness of Adam's transgression. For it is not surprising that what preceded in the parent should also be condemned in their children. Every day God calls those who are outside the Church and those who sin while dwelling in the Church to repentance, and says to them: "I desire mercy, not sacrifice, and knowledge of God rather than holocausts." But they offer sacred bread and give alms, and seem to pursue humility: this I interpret as holocausts, if they are truly done. However, when they have abandoned knowledge of God, they boast in vain of having the rest of the members, with the head of faith cut off, for they have transgressed the covenant of God in the Church, just as Adam transgressed it in Paradise; and they show themselves to be imitators of that ancient parent, so that just as he was cast out of Paradise, so they may also be cast out of the Church.

Galaad a city of idolaters, supplanted by blood, and like the throats of robbers (or "the city of a robber") for both readings are possible. The Septuagint: "There Galad despised me, a city that is devoted to vanity, and disturbs the water, and your strength, O violent men." We read in Ramoth Galaad that Jehu was anointed in king (IV Kings IX), who mixed blood with blood, and overthrew the house of Achab, and before sunrise ordered heaps of his sons' heads to be placed; in this city across the Jordan in the possession of the tribe of Gad, an idol was consecrated, which was inhabited by priests, for it was a city of fugitives. Therefore, the more celebrated and authoritative it was, because it had been delegated to a part of the priests, the more it was the beginning of idolatry and all evil for Israel living across Jordan, so that those who had sinned first were the first to be captured by the Assyrians. And since the province itself is full of thefts, compares them to thieves, just as priests have laid ambushes for the simplicity of the people, so have those [the thieves] done to travelers. Furthermore, according to the tropology, "Gilead" means "migration of testimony"; and he despises God, while he twists the testimonies of the Scriptures into perverse doctrines, and all his works are in vain, and he disturbs the waters of the Church, and from the purest fountains makes muddy and dirty streams that stain the baptized rather than cleanse them. And all the strength of this city, like that of pirate men, while imitating the devil, who, in the sea of this age, in which ships cross over, lies in wait for those who strive to reach port. Finally Symmachus has more clearly interpreted, saying: "And your throat like that of a lying pirate." We read about such pirates in Job: "There is no delay for the pirates" (Job XXV, 3, sec. LXX). Although they seem to boast of themselves in the present age, to stir up the waters, to act vainly, and to carry on piracy, yet there is no delay to the punishments that will quickly overtake them.

"The participation of the priests on the road of those going to kill from Shechem: for they have committed a crime." LXX: "The priests have hidden" "the way of the Lord and killed Shechem: for they have committed iniquity." Symmachus interpreted this passage as: "The association of priests were killing Shechem on the road:" Theodotion in this way, "The priests hid the way, they killed from behind:" Aquila, "The participation of the priests on the road were killing shoulders:" when we sought the understanding of these versions in accordance with the story from the Hebrew, it was presented to us as follows: The priests of Bethel, or rather the fanatics of Bethaven, during the times of Passover and Pentecost, as well as Scenopegiae, when it was necessary to go to Jerusalem through Sichem, which is now called Neapolis, placed robbers on the road who would lay in wait for those who were traveling, so that they would worship the golden calves in Dan and Bethaven more than in Jerusalem and in the temple of God. But what he says: "Participation and partnership of priests", signifies their conspiracy and agreement for an evil purpose. But if we read it, as we have interpreted it, "partaker of the priests", he says, it refers to Gilead, which works with an idol; it has also been saturated with blood, which followed the impiety of the priests, and is free of plundering and bloody deeds. If they have said this, we must say, let us cut off heretics so that we do not proceed from Shechem, that is, from good works, to Jerusalem, that is, to the Church. These are like the jaws of bandits, and they kill those who wish to proceed through the way of truth in this age. Sichem is interpreted as "shoulders," that is, shoulders: we understand the work on the shoulders, and all false priests hide the way, and kill men with evil deeds so that they do not reach Jerusalem. But what the shoulder work signifies is shown by: "Put your heart on your shoulder" (Gen. IV, 9, 15), that is, what you understand, turn into actions. And of Issachar we read, that he placed his shoulder to work, and was a farmer.

In the house of Israel, I saw dreadful things; there were the fornications of Ephraim, Israel is defiled; and, Judah, I will put a harvest for you, when I will return the captivity of my people. From this crime and terrible horror, Jeremiah also spoke: "The heavens were astounded at this and the earth became deeply afraid" (Jeremiah 2). For what is more terrible than ten tribes suddenly turning to the worship of idols? Where it is said to their metropolis, "Take away your calf, Samaria, in which Ephraim first fornicated," that is, Jeroboam of the tribe of Ephraim, and by his fornication, Israel was defiled, namely the people of Samaria, who obtained for the most part the common name of Israel. Hence the speech is also turned to Judah: "You too, Judah, set up your harvest," and the sense is, "Do not think yourself secure because Israel is led away captive; prepare your crops, so that they can be harvested; for not long after, you yourself will be led captive to Babylon, and the time of your harvest will come." And when the Chaldeans cut you down, I will bring back the captivity of my people and under Cyrus the king of Persia and Artaxerxes will I lead back my people. And observe how significantly the captivity and the return of Judah is prophesied; but of Israel, that is, of the ten tribes, it is now silent, although when something prosperous is said, the advent of Christ is deferred. And in the house of the heretics, we see horrible things every day: first the masters fornicate, and the people who are led by them are defiled. It is also commanded to the Jews, that is, to the Church, that he himself should prepare, because of sins, his own harvest or vintage, when the time of judgment comes. But to him forgiveness is granted, and the Lord promises pardon, because he whom he loves he rebukes, and chastises every son whom he receives, to establish the proven and cleansed in his treasures. Some refer to what is said, "Juda, begin your harvest," or "put your harvest for yourself," in a good way, so that after Israel is punished, he may receive the fruit of his deeds according to what is written: "Those who sow in tears shall reap in joy" (Psalm 126: 5). We prefer a higher level of perception.

When I wanted to heal Israel, the iniquity of Ephraim was revealed, and the malice of Samaria: for they have wrought falsehood, and a thief is come in to spoil, a robber without. The Septuagint likewise. Often has Israel received wounds of idolatry, and especially that one, when in the desert they fashioned a calf's head, and said: 'These are thy gods, O Israel, that have brought thee out of the land of Egypt' (Exod. XXXII, 4). Therefore I, who desire the sinner's repentance rather than his death (Ezech. XVIII, XXXIII), afterwards say in the Gospel: 'They that are in health need not a physician, but they that are ill' (Luke V, 31), and have attempted to heal the wounds of my people. And when I treated all these things with every art, that the miserable people might be cured, suddenly Jeroboam of the tribe of Ephraim appeared, who made golden calves, and the wickedness of Samaria was revealed, following the impious king: for both the king and the people operated in falsehood, that is, idolatry. For just as an image is contrary to God, so is falsehood to truth. But the king himself, like a thief, entered among the people of Israel, and like a robber despoiled the unhappy people of God with the help of his people. And the sense is this: When I wished to wipe away the sins of my people, because of their ancient idolatry, Ephraim and Samaria found new idols. But it can also be said that after the shedding of his own blood, the Lord and Savior sought to heal the sins of the people and lead them to repentance, both Jews and Gentiles gathered in his Church. Suddenly Ephraim, who promised the fertility of false dogmas, and the people of Samaria who proclaimed they followed God's commands, arose and performed the idolatry of false dogmas, and through them, the thief and robber, the devil, entered the Church, or the doctrine of heretics entered like a thief and robber, of whom the Savior said in the Gospel, "All who came before me were thieves and robbers" (John 10: 8). Thieves lie in wait, and deceive with hidden fraud: robbers boldly plunder the possessions of others. For those who steal, steal at night and in darkness. Hence, it is significantly said, that the thief enters secretly, and the robber plunders outside. For they cannot strip those of Christ's clothes whom they have taught, unless they have led them out of the Church, and made them walk in the perverse way of their doctrines. We must consider thieves and robbers who came before the Lord, not Moses, and the prophets who are always praised by the Savior's mouth, but false prophets, and afterwards heretics who were not sent by the Lord, but came of their own will.

"And lest perhaps they should say in their hearts: all their wickedness (all wickedness Vulg.) I have remembered, they have encompassed me in the inventions of their own thoughts, before my face they are made." LXX: "That they may sing as it were a new song in their hearts, all their wickedness I have remembered." "Now their own devices have encompassed them about, they have been executed in my sight." Lest perhaps, they say in their hearts: God hath restored to us, our ancient sins, we have repaid the iniquities of our fathers: they have eaten a sour grape, and their teeth are set on edge. (Jeremiah 31); therefore, I will recount to them, what they have done both now and in the present, in my sight, and daily, and I will show them their own inventions, and the thoughts by which they have most studiously pursued mischief, and what they have done in my presence, not fearing my face. But what we read in the Septuagint, 'that they sing together as if singing in their hearts,' refers to the fact that if a thief has entered, or a robber stripped them of their possessions outside, they would not repel the thief's and robber's agreement by staying in their former riches and clothing; but when they have been stripped, they sing together with them, and become of one heart (Dist. 4, de Poenit., cap. Cum ita): therefore they will receive what they have done, and all their thoughts and deeds will not deserve my sight. Heretics also cannot be accused of old sins against God, since every day they add new impiety to their old deeds, and when they perish in destruction, they are abandoned by their own errors, and when they think they can hide from God, they cannot avoid his eyes.