Pacian of Barcelona — Commentary on Scripture

1 Samuel 2:25

If one man sin against another, the judge shall judge him: but if a man sin against the LORD, who shall intreat for him? Notwithstanding they hearkened not unto the voice of their father, because the LORD would slay them.

“Eli the priest speaks, stating, ‘If a man sins against another man, they shall offer entreaties on his behalf; but if he sins against God, who shall offer entreaties on his behalf?’ ” In the same way John writes, “If anyone knows that his brother commits a sin which does not lead to death, he shall implore [God] on his behalf, and God shall give him life. Indeed, there is a sin that leads to death; I do not say that you should pray about that.” You see that all of this refers to sins still remaining, not to those persons who have at any time sinned and have begun to repent before anyone asks on their behalf. It is too long a task for us to go over such instances. Observe every one of the sins for which the Lord makes threats; you will at once see that they are current ones.

2 Samuel 6:6-7

And when they came to Nachon's threshingfloor, Uzzah put forth his hand to the ark of God, and took hold of it; for the oxen shook it.

When the people of the Hebrews were bringing back the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem, Uzzah, from the house of Abinadab the Israelite, who had touched the side of the ark without having examined his conscience, was slain. And yet he had drawn near not to take anything from it but to hold it up when it was leaning because of the stumbling of a young ox. So great a concern was there of reverence toward God that God did not accept bold hands even out of help. The Lord also proclaims the same thing, saying, “Everyone who is clean shall eat of the flesh, and whichever soul touches the flesh of the sacrifice of well-being and has his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.” Are these things which existed long ago, and now they do not happen in this way? What then? Has God ceased to care for what concerns us? Has he withdrawn beyond the view of the world, and does he look down from heaven upon no one? Is his forbearance really ignorance? God forbid, you will say. Therefore he sees what we do but he waits, indeed, and endures patiently, and he grants an opportunity fo…

When the people of the Hebrews were bringing back the ark of the Lord to Jerusalem, Uzzah, from the house of Abinadab the Israelite, who had touched the side of the ark without having examined his conscience, was slain. And yet he had drawn near not to take anything from it but to hold it up when it was leaning because of the stumbling of a young ox. So great a concern was there of reverence toward God that God did not accept bold hands even out of help. The Lord also proclaims the same thing, saying, “Everyone who is clean shall eat of the flesh, and whichever soul touches the flesh of the sacrifice of well-being and has his uncleanness upon him, that soul shall be cut off from his people.” Are these things which existed long ago, and now they do not happen in this way? What then? Has God ceased to care for what concerns us? Has he withdrawn beyond the view of the world, and does he look down from heaven upon no one? Is his forbearance really ignorance? God forbid, you will say. Therefore he sees what we do but he waits, indeed, and endures patiently, and he grants an opportunity for repentance and holds out his own Christ to postpone [the end], so that they whom he has redeemed may not readily perish. Understand this well, you sinner: you are observed by God; you can appease him if you want to.

2 Samuel 12:13-14

And David said unto Nathan, I have sinned against the LORD. And Nathan said unto David, The LORD also hath put away thy sin; thou shalt not die.

May we by all means be filled with revulsion for sin but not for repentance. May we be ashamed to put ourselves at risk but not to be delivered. Who will snatch away the wooden plank from the shipwrecked so that he may not escape? Who will begrudge the curing of wounds? Does David not say, “Every single night I will bathe my bed, I will drench my couch in my tears.” And again, “I acknowledge my sin, and my iniquity I have not concealed” And further, “I said, ‘I will reveal against myself my sin to my God,’ and you forgave the wickedness of my heart” Did not the prophet answer [David] as follows when, after the guilt of murder and adultery for the sake of Bathsheba, he was penitent? “The Lord has taken away from you your sin.”

Deuteronomy 13:9

But thou shalt surely kill him; thine hand shall be first upon him to put him to death, and afterwards the hand of all the people.

Do you see then that this was not said about penitents but about those who not only themselves persevere in wickedness but also do not cease to put obstacles in our way? It is these very ones, however dear they may be, that must be relinquished. However useful they seem, they must be abandoned.

Ecclesiastes 9:10

Whatsoever thy hand findeth to do, do it with thy might; for there is no work, nor device, nor knowledge, nor wisdom, in the grave, whither thou goest.

Remember, my brethren, that there is no confession in the grave; nor can penance be granted when the time for repentance is past. Hurry while you are still alive.

Exodus 3:2

And the angel of the LORD appeared unto him in a flame of fire out of the midst of a bush: and he looked, and, behold, the bush burned with fire, and the bush was not consumed.

What does this mean? The vision that is said to have appeared to Moses in the desert is sometimes called an angel, sometimes the Lord. It means this: he is called angel when he served by speaking externally, and Lord, because he ruled within and produced the conditions needed for speaking. For when the speaker is ruled from within, he is called both angel because of his service and Lord because of his inspiration. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Exodus

Exodus 5:20

And they met Moses and Aaron, who stood in the way, as they came forth from Pharaoh:

In Moses and Aaron the law and the prophets are prefigured. A sick soul often murmurs to itself against the sacred words. After it has begun to hear and follow the heavenly words, the opposition of the Egyptian king—that is, the temptation of an evil spirit—rises up. So the physician should carefully make known to the soul that is making progress which temptations will attack it, so that it can carefully prepare itself for the snares of an evil spirit. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Exodus

Exodus 8:26

And Moses said, It is not meet so to do; for we shall sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians to the LORD our God: lo, shall we sacrifice the abomination of the Egyptians before their eyes, and will they not stone us?

The Egyptians disdained the eating of sheep. But what the Egyptians abhor, the Israelites offer to God. The unjust despise a clean conscience as weak and abject, but the just turn it into a sacrifice to God of virtue. The righteous, as they worship God, offer their purity and gentleness to him. The reprobate despise these virtues and consider them foolishness. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Exodus

Exodus 20:24

An altar of earth thou shalt make unto me, and shalt sacrifice thereon thy burnt offerings, and thy peace offerings, thy sheep, and thine oxen: in all places where I record my name I will come unto thee, and I will bless thee.

To make an altar of earth for the Lord is to place our hope in the incarnation of the Mediator. Our gift is accepted by God when, on this altar, our humility rests whatever it does upon faith in the Lord’s incarnation. We place the gift we offer on an altar made of earth if we base all our actions on faith in the Lord’s incarnation. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Exodus

Exodus 26:19

And thou shalt make forty sockets of silver under the twenty boards; two sockets under one board for his two tenons, and two sockets under another board for his two tenons.

What can the silver bases of the frames signify, except the order of prophets? They were the first to speak openly of the Lord’s incarnation. They were like bases, and we see them rising from the foundations and sustaining the weight of the structure built on them. So when the Lord bade Moses build the frames of the tabernacle, Moses had the builders set them on their silver bases. What do the frames mean, except the apostles, who were spread out into the world by their preaching? What do the silver bases mean, except the prophets? They are firm, cast metal, and sustain the frames placed on them. The apostles’ lives are guided by their proclamation and strengthened by their authority. So two bases are joined and placed under each frame. For when the holy prophets agree in what they say about the incarnation of the Mediator, they undoubtedly build up the preachers in the church who follow them. They do not disagree among themselves, and they make the preachers stronger. God rightly commands that the bases, which signify the prophets, should be cast in silver. The gleam of silver is ma…

What can the silver bases of the frames signify, except the order of prophets? They were the first to speak openly of the Lord’s incarnation. They were like bases, and we see them rising from the foundations and sustaining the weight of the structure built on them. So when the Lord bade Moses build the frames of the tabernacle, Moses had the builders set them on their silver bases. What do the frames mean, except the apostles, who were spread out into the world by their preaching? What do the silver bases mean, except the prophets? They are firm, cast metal, and sustain the frames placed on them. The apostles’ lives are guided by their proclamation and strengthened by their authority. So two bases are joined and placed under each frame. For when the holy prophets agree in what they say about the incarnation of the Mediator, they undoubtedly build up the preachers in the church who follow them. They do not disagree among themselves, and they make the preachers stronger. God rightly commands that the bases, which signify the prophets, should be cast in silver. The gleam of silver is maintained by use; when it is not used, it turns black. The prophets spoke before the Mediator came. Since their words were not joined into one spiritual understanding and could not be seen clearly because of the darkness, they remained, as it were, black. But afterwards, the Mediator came and cleansed our eyes with the hand of his incarnation. Whatever light was concealed in our eyes he made clear. He made the intentions of the ancient fathers useful, because he confirmed their words with his deeds. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Exodus

Exodus 26:32

And thou shalt hang it upon four pillars of shittim wood overlaid with gold: their hooks shall be of gold, upon the four sockets of silver.

The tabernacle is a type of the church. So God says to Moses that the bases of the four pillars placed within it should be silver. What does silver mean except the clarity of the divine Word? Scripture says, “The words of the Lord are chaste words, silver tried by fire, cleansed from earth.” The bases are overlaid with silver and hold up the four pillars of the tabernacle, just as the preachers of the church are adorned with divine eloquence. They provide an example in every way; they have the words of the four Evangelists on their lips and in their deeds. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Exodus

Exodus 33:21

And the LORD said, Behold, there is a place by me, and thou shalt stand upon a rock:

The place is the church, the rock is the Lord, Moses is the multitude of the people of Israel, who did not believe in the Lord when he preached on the earth. So that multitude stood on the rock and beheld the back parts of the Lord as he passed by. After the Lord’s passion and ascension they were led into the church and merited to receive faith in Christ. They did not recognize him face to face on earth but later acknowledged him “from behind.” Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Exodus

Exodus 34:7

Keeping mercy for thousands, forgiving iniquity and transgression and sin, and that will by no means clear the guilty; visiting the iniquity of the fathers upon the children, and upon the children's children, unto the third and to the fourth generation.

What does it mean that the Lord now says through Moses, “You visit the iniquity of fathers on their sons and grandsons”? In these two passages a different sense is found, but the mind of the hearer is taught to inquire subtly along the path of discernment. We inherit original sin from our parents, and unless we are washed by the grace of baptism, we bear even our parents’ sins, because up to that point we are one with them. So God will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their sons, for, through original sin, the soul of the offspring is stained by the guilt of the parent. But then God does not visit the iniquity of fathers on their sons, because, when we are freed from original guilt through baptism, we no longer have our parents’ guilt but only the guilt for sins we ourselves committed. This passage can also be understood in another way, because when each one imitates the iniquity of his sinful parent, he is rendered guilty through his parent’s fault. But whoever does not imitate the iniquity of his parent is not burdened with his sin. Thus it happens that the sinful son of a si…

What does it mean that the Lord now says through Moses, “You visit the iniquity of fathers on their sons and grandsons”? In these two passages a different sense is found, but the mind of the hearer is taught to inquire subtly along the path of discernment. We inherit original sin from our parents, and unless we are washed by the grace of baptism, we bear even our parents’ sins, because up to that point we are one with them. So God will visit the iniquity of the fathers upon their sons, for, through original sin, the soul of the offspring is stained by the guilt of the parent. But then God does not visit the iniquity of fathers on their sons, because, when we are freed from original guilt through baptism, we no longer have our parents’ guilt but only the guilt for sins we ourselves committed. This passage can also be understood in another way, because when each one imitates the iniquity of his sinful parent, he is rendered guilty through his parent’s fault. But whoever does not imitate the iniquity of his parent is not burdened with his sin. Thus it happens that the sinful son of a sinful father pays the penalty not only for his own sins, which he committed, but also for his father’s sins. For he does not fear to add his own malice to his father’s vices, even though he knows that the Lord is angered by them. It is just that a man who does not fear to imitate the ways of his wicked father before a busy judge is forced in this present life to pay the penalty for the faults of his wicked father. So Scripture says, “The soul of my father is mine; … the soul that sins, that one will die.” For in the flesh sons sometimes perish for their father’s sin. But when the original sin that comes from the parents’ iniquity is forgiven, it is no longer kept in the soul. What does it mean that small children are often snatched away by demons, unless the son’s flesh suffers to punish the father? For the wicked father is struck at in his very self and refuses to sense the force of the blow. Generally he is struck in his sons, so that he burns painfully, and the father’s sorrow is visited on the son’s flesh, insofar as the father’s evil heart is punished by the son’s suffering. But when the sons who are punished for their fathers’ guilt are not little children but already grown, what else should we understand except that they are suffering the punishments of those people whose deeds they imitated? Thus Scripture says rightly, “To the third and fourth generation.” For the sons can see the lives of the parents they imitate up to the third and fourth generation. Punishment extends up to them, for they saw what they would imitate sinfully. Exposition of the Old and New Testament, Exodus

Ezekiel 16:32

But as a wife that committeth adultery, which taketh strangers instead of her husband!

A heretical congregation is an adulterous woman; for the Catholic congregation from the very beginning never left the marriage couch and nuptial chamber of her spouse or ardently desired unsuitable and strange lovers. You have painted a banished form with new colors; you have withdrawn your marriage couch from a long-standing marriage; you have left the body of a mother, the wife of one husband, adorning yourselves with new techniques of pleasing, new allurements of seduction.

Ezekiel 18:24

But when the righteous turneth away from his righteousness, and committeth iniquity, and doeth according to all the abominations that the wicked man doeth, shall he live? All his righteousness that he hath done shall not be mentioned: in his trespass that he hath trespassed, and in his sin that he hath sinned, in them shall he die.

Observe every one of the sins for which the Lord makes threats; you will at once see that they are current ones. But if someone’s past righteousness is not beneficial to the righteous individual in the time of his sin, then neither will the sin that has been forsaken harm the wicked individual in the time of his righteousness.

Ezekiel 33:11

Say unto them, As I live, saith the Lord GOD, I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked; but that the wicked turn from his way and live: turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways; for why will ye die, O house of Israel?

You, I say, who are timid after being shameless, who are bashful after sinning! You who are not ashamed to sin but are ashamed to confess! You who with an evil conscience touch the holy things of God and do not fear the altar of the Lord! You who approach the hands of the priest and who come within the sight of the angels with the boldness of innocence! You who insult the divine patience! You who bring to God a polluted soul and a profane body, as if, because God is silent, he does not know! Hear what the Lord has done and then what he has said.

Isaiah 30:15

For thus saith the Lord GOD, the Holy One of Israel; In returning and rest shall ye be saved; in quietness and in confidence shall be your strength: and ye would not.

The Apocalypse also threatens the seven churches unless they should repent. Nor would he, indeed, threaten the impenitent unless he pardoned the penitent. God himself also says, “Remember then from where you have fallen, and repent.” And again, “When, having returned, you shall mourn, then shall you be saved and know where you have been.” Let no one so despair of the vileness of a sinful soul that he believe that God has no need for him anymore. The Lord wishes that not one of us should perish. Even those of little worth and the humblest are sought after. If you do not believe it, consider this. Behold, in the Gospel the single piece of silver is sought after, and when [it is] found [it] is shown to the neighbors. The little sheep, although it has to be carried back on his supporting shoulders, is not burdensome to the shepherd. Over a single sinner who repents, the angels in heaven rejoice and the celestial choir exults. Come then, you sinner. Do not cease your entreaties. You see where there is rejoicing over your return!

Jeremiah 2:13

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

In fact, with us is “the living water,” the very water that gushes from Christ. But you, separated from the everlasting fountain, from where do you receive your birth? And likewise had the Holy Spirit not departed from the original mother; from which did it come to you? Of course, perhaps the Spirit has followed one who engages in strife and, having abandoned so many priests and not content with its consecrated dwelling place, has truly loved the broken cistern of an impure fountain? From where do your people possess the Spirit, those whom an anointed priest has not sealed? From where do they possess the water, those who have withdrawn from their mother’s womb? From where do they possess spiritual renewal, those who have lost the cradle of nuptial peace?

Jeremiah 8:4 · 2 passages

Moreover thou shalt say unto them, Thus saith the LORD; Shall they fall, and not arise? shall he turn away, and not return?

Immediately, on your return, the robe shall be put on you. The ring will adorn you. Your Father’s embrace again shall receive you. Behold, he says, “I do not wish the death of the sinner as much as I prefer that he turn about and live.” And again he says, “Shall he who has fallen not arise, and shall he who has turned away not return?” The apostle states, “God has the power to make him stand.”

Did not confession deliver the king of the Babylonians when he had been condemned after so many sins of idolatry? And what is it that the Lord says? “Shall he who has fallen not arise, and shall he who has turned away not return?”