Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The oil that is to burn in the lamps of the lampstand is prescribed: likewise the showbread, what they should be and of what quality, verse 5; second, in verse 10, a blasphemer is stoned by God's command.
Vulgate Text: Leviticus 24:1-23
1. And the Lord spoke to Moses, saying: 2. Command the children of Israel that they bring to you the purest and most clear oil of olives, to furnish the lamps continually, 3. outside the veil of the testimony in the tabernacle of the covenant. And Aaron shall set them from evening until morning before the Lord, by a perpetual observance and rite in your generations. 4. Upon the most clean lampstand the lamps shall always be set in the sight of the Lord. 5. You shall also take fine flour and bake twelve loaves of it, each of which shall contain two tenths; 6. and you shall set six of them on each side upon the most pure table before the Lord; 7. and you shall put upon them the clearest frankincense, that the bread may be a memorial of the oblation of the Lord. 8. Every sabbath they shall be changed before the Lord, received from the children of Israel by an everlasting covenant; 9. and they shall be for Aaron and his sons, that they may eat them in the holy place, because it is most holy of the sacrifices of the Lord by a perpetual right. 10. And behold, the son of a woman of Israel, whom she had borne of an Egyptian man among the children of Israel, quarreled in the camp with a man of Israel. 11. And when he had blasphemed the Name and cursed it, he was brought to Moses. (Now his mother was called Salumith, daughter of Dabri, of the tribe of Dan.) 12. And they put him in prison until they might know what the Lord would command. 13. And the Lord spoke to Moses, 14. saying: Bring the blasphemer outside the camp, and let all who heard him lay their hands upon his head, and let all the people stone him. 15. And you shall speak to the children of Israel: The man who curses his God shall bear his sin; 16. and he who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death: all the multitude shall stone him, whether he be a native or a stranger. He who blasphemes the name of the Lord shall be put to death. 17. He who strikes and kills a man shall be put to death. 18. He who strikes an animal shall make it good, that is, life for life. 19. He who gives a blemish to any of his fellow citizens: as he has done, so shall it be done to him; 20. breach for breach, eye for eye, tooth for tooth shall he restore; whatever blemish he has inflicted, such shall he be compelled to suffer. 21. He who strikes a beast shall render another. He who strikes a man shall be punished. 22. Let there be equal judgment among you, whether the stranger or the citizen sin; because I am the Lord your God. 23. And Moses spoke to the children of Israel; and they brought the blasphemer outside the camp and stoned him. And the children of Israel did as the Lord had commanded Moses.
Verse 2: Command the Children of Israel That They Bring You Oil
2. COMMAND THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL THAT THEY BRING YOU OIL. -- Note: There were four functions of the priests in the tabernacle: the first and most excellent, which has been treated of up to now, was the offering of sacrifices; the second was the burning of incense on the altar designated for this purpose within the Holy Place, about which function we spoke in Exodus 30:7; the third was the setting forth of the showbread; the fourth was the lighting of the lamps on the lampstand: this chapter treats of these last two. Furthermore, the children of Israel, that is, the whole people, were obliged to furnish the expenses necessary for these four functions, because the priests performed them in the name of the whole people.
And therefore, first, in the census of the people each person paid half a shekel for this purpose, Exodus 30:13; second, at the three annual feasts they each offered something for the same purpose, as much as they wished from devotion. For it was commanded in Exodus 23:15: "You shall not appear (which happened three times a year) in my sight empty-handed;" third, there was the treasury, into which each person cast whatever he wished for the expenses of the temple, about which see Luke chapter 21:1; fourth, just as the people were obliged at public expense to bring certain victims for sin, as was shown in chapter 4, verse 14, and chapter 16, verse 5, so likewise they were obliged to bring oil for the lamps, and fine flour for making the showbread, as is here commanded; not that this is commanded to each individual in particular, but to the whole people: whence the princes and magistrates disbursed these expenses from the common treasury. For the first-fruits, tithes, and other offerings went to the right and sustenance of the priests, since they themselves had received no other portion or inheritance from God among their countrymen. It happened, however, not infrequently that some more devout persons, especially princes, whether Hebrews or Gentiles, would furnish these expenses entirely or in large part, as King Hezekiah did, 2 Chronicles 31:3, and Seleucus king of Asia, 2 Maccabees 3:3, and Artaxerxes king of Persia, 1 Ezra 7:23.
THE PUREST AND MOST CLEAR OIL OF OLIVES. -- In Hebrew, pure oil beaten for light (as the Septuagint translates), that is, oil flowing from the crushing with a pestle, liquid and clear, with the dregs and sediment removed.
TO FURNISH THE LAMPS (that is, to light the lamps: so the Septuagint, the Chaldean, and the Hebrew) CONTINUALLY (that is, every night, as is explained in the following verse; for the lamps burned from evening until morning; in the morning, however, they were extinguished: see the comments on Exodus 27:20) OUTSIDE THE VEIL OF THE TESTIMONY -- which is spread before the testimony, that is, the ark which contains the testimony, that is, the law or the tablets of the law, which testify what God wills to be done by us. It is a metonymy, as if to say: Let these lamps burn in the Holy Place before the Holy of Holies.
Tropological Sense: The Lamps as Apostles and Doctors
Tropologically, the lamps are the Apostles and Doctors, to whom Christ said: "You are the salt of the earth, and the light of the world." Hear St. Paulinus, Epistle 31, addressing St. Augustine, Doctor of the Church: "O lamp worthily placed upon the lampstand of the Church, which far and wide to Catholic cities pours forth light from its sevenfold wick, nourished with the oil of gladness; though the thick darkness of heretics surrounds you, you dispel it, and you clear the light of truth from the confusion of shadows by the splendor of your luminous speech! Your mouth I would rightly call a pipe of living water and a vein of the eternal fountain, because Christ has become the fountain of living water springing up unto eternal life. With desire for Him my soul has thirsted in you, and my land has longed to be inebriated with the abundance of your stream."
Verse 5: On the Showbread
5. YOU SHALL ALSO TAKE FINE FLOUR AND BAKE TWELVE LOAVES FROM IT. -- Note: These are the loaves of proposition, that is, set before the Lord, for which the people supplied the flour; from which not the laity, but the Levites themselves, namely the Kohathites, made and baked these loaves, as is clear from 1 Chronicles 9:32, and chapter 23, verse 29. In the same way, the Levites had charge of the spices, from which the priests themselves, as is clear from 1 Chronicles 9:30, compounded the sacred ointments prescribed in Exodus 30:23 and following. Furthermore, these loaves were made from the finest flour, into which, instead of water for kneading, was poured a fourth part of a hin of the purest oil, that is, three pounds of oil, or 36 ounces. Then together with the loaves they set out a fourth part of a hin of wine (which, as I will presently say, they afterwards offered as a libation to God), that is, three pounds of wine with 4 ounces. For wine is heavier than oil.
Note secondly: These loaves were twelve, so that each tribe might, as it were, offer its own loaf to God: for by these loaves the twelve tribes professed that they were continually nourished by God; and in turn God, as if drawn by this grateful offering, showed that He remembered them and always kept their memory and memorial before Him, so that He might continue to feed and care for them.
Hence thirdly, they placed frankincense upon these loaves, to signify that they owed all things to God, and that they acknowledged all things as received from God through the showbread, which they always set before the Lord together with frankincense: for the frankincense signified that the loaves were offered to the Lord, as being His and owed to Him. Furthermore, this frankincense, when the week had passed and the loaves were removed and new ones substituted, was burned to God along with the sacrifices, as was commanded in Leviticus 2, last verse.
Fourth, the Septuagint, the Chaldean, and Philo add that salt was placed upon these loaves: for this was, as it were, the table of God; and salt is customarily placed on every table to season food and make it more savory; for in Leviticus 2:13, it is thus commanded: "In every oblation of yours you shall offer salt."
Fifth, every sabbath new, fresh, and warm loaves were placed on the table, as is clear from verse 8; the old ones, however, were removed, and the priests ate them: for only they were permitted to eat these loaves, as is clear from Matthew 12:4.
Sixth, these loaves were unleavened, and each one weighed two tenths, that is, thirteen and a half pounds, as will presently appear: these loaves were therefore large. Hence seventh, on the table six and six loaves were placed on either side, that is, one set facing the other, so that six were placed one upon another, like two towers; or rather, more elegantly, pairs were joined together, one placed upon the other; so that there were two rows of loaves, namely, in the first row three loaves were placed side by side on the table, each having another placed upon it; then beside them was placed another similar row of three loaves, with three others placed upon them. It is probable that each loaf placed on the table rested on large dishes or bowls underneath, and above they were covered (lest they be soiled by dust and flies) with other vessels called censers, Exodus 25:29, as Vilalpando and Vatablus say. Finally, to each row of loaves on either side was placed: first, one bowl, that is, two bowls in all, full of frankincense; second, a small vessel full of salt; third, a cup of wine on each side, that is, two cups, which likewise seem to have been covered, both because of flies and dust, and lest the strength of the wine should evaporate and turn sour.
Eighth, these loaves were offered at public expense, namely, the people offered the finest flour, and the Levites kneaded it. St. Jerome adds in his commentary on Malachi 1: "The showbread, according to Hebrew traditions, the priests themselves had to sow, themselves to reap, themselves to grind, themselves to bake." But this tradition does not agree with Scripture, nor with Josephus.
Finally, that wine too was offered to God on this table together with the loaves, so that a complete and perpetual banquet might be set before God on it, is taught by Vilalpando (book 4, On the Temple, chapter 14), from Josephus and from the table sculpted on the triumphal arch of Titus at Rome. Hence it is also probable that the wine, lest it turn sour, was renewed every sabbath together with the loaves, the old wine being poured out as a libation in honor of God before the oracle and the Holy of Holies. For Palestinian wine, being very potent, could easily keep for 8 days: this we experience with Spanish wine. Vilalpando, however, thinks the wine was poured out as a libation on the same day it was brought in.
Tropological Sense: The Showbread as Works of Mercy
Tropologically, these loaves signify works of mercy, by which we approach the Holy of Holies, that is, heaven; these must always be in the sight of the Lord, because we must always be ready for them.
Second, they must be twelve, that is, copious and generous, so that not on one day or one week only, but on every occasion we give generous alms: for the number twelve is a symbol of universality.
Third, the clearest frankincense is placed upon them, because these works of charity must be done not to court vain glory, but solely for the sake of God, and that we may offer this sacrifice of charity to Him alone.
Fourth, salt is placed upon them, to signify that these works must be performed with discretion, so that we bestow them on the more needy and the more deserving. Again, salt signifies mortification, which is accomplished by fasting and other means, and the frankincense signifies prayer: for as the Angel said to Tobias, chapter 12: "Prayer is good with fasting and almsgiving."
Fifth, they are changed every sabbath, because on the Lord's Day Christians customarily make collections of alms, as is clear from 1 Corinthians 16:1. Again, when a new sabbath comes, that is, when we have received a new benefit, or recall one already received, we ought to give new alms and through them give thanks to God.
Sixth, the loaves were unleavened, because almsgiving must be joined with purity of life; and the loaves were large, because almsgiving must be generous: for as St. Chrysostom says: "Almsgiving does not impoverish, but enriches; for it is promised: Give, and it shall be given to you."
Seventh, six were on the right and six on the left, because we ought to be beneficent both to enemies and to friends, that we may overcome evil with good.
Eighth, they were made of the finest flour, because not common things, but the best must be given to God and to the poor. So Ribera, book 2, On the Temple, chapter 11. Hear the illustrious example of mercy and generosity among the Gentiles which Valerius Maximus relates, book 4, chapter 8: "Gillias," he says, "was outstanding in wealth; but much richer in spirit than in riches, and always occupied rather in dispensing than in accumulating money: so much so that his house was regarded as a kind of workshop of munificence. Food was distributed to those struggling with poverty, dowries to maidens pressed by want, and relief to those shattered by the onslaught of misfortune. Guests too were most kindly received and sent away adorned with various gifts. On one occasion he fed and clothed five hundred Gelensian horsemen at once, who had been driven onto his estates by the force of a storm. In short, you would say that what Gillias possessed was not the property of any mortal man, but the kindly bosom of propitious Fortune -- it was, as it were, the common patrimony of all."
What then should a Christian do, what should a churchman do? Surely his house must be a workshop of almsgiving, unless he wishes to be outdone by the pagan Gillias. Let him have a table always prepared for the poor, loaves always set out or ready to be set out for the needy; thus, like St. John the Almoner, he will be blessed by God, and the more he gives, the more he will receive. For it is written and promised by Truth Himself: "Give, and it shall be given to you." Let him hear St. Chrysostom, Homilies 53 and 68 to the People: "The more you give to God," he says, "the more He loves you; to those to whom He owes more, He gives more; and grace, when it sees someone to whom it owes nothing, flees and turns away from him; but when it beholds one to whom it owes something, it immediately runs to him. Therefore you must do everything so as to have God as your debtor." You may ask: How shall I accomplish this? Chrysostom answers: "Now is the time for this: for now He hungers, now He thirsts, now He is naked in the poor; but when this life has passed, He will not need you; and now He wills to be in need for your sake. He wills to be fed by you, that He may feed you; to be clothed, that He may clothe you. Therefore despise money, lest you be despised; to be rich, give generously of your own; to gather, scatter: imitate the sower. Sow in blessings, that you may also reap from blessings." And if you say: My children must be enriched -- Chrysostom answers: "If you leave everything to your children, you have entrusted all your goods to a dangerous custody. But if you leave God as their heir and guardian, you have left them innumerable treasures. If you wish to leave your children rich and secure, leave God as their debtor, and hand them this bond: God will repay the hundredfold He has promised. Therefore lend to God."
Allegorical Sense: The Showbread as the Eucharist
Allegorically, these loaves signify the Eucharist, in which under the appearance of bread the body of Christ is set forth. So St. Jerome on Malachi 1, Cyril in Mystagogical Catechesis 4, Damascene, book 4, chapter 14, Hesychius, and Rupert. This bread is of two tenths, that is, of two natures: for Christ is both God and man; and the loaves are 12, because the twelve Apostles were the first to partake of this Eucharistic supper; frankincense is placed upon them, that is, thanksgiving and offering, which holds the first place in the Lord's Supper, says Hesychius; they may not be eaten except in a holy place, that is, in a pure and holy soul and conscience.
On the Weight of the Loaves
Each of which shall contain two tenths. -- A tenth was the tenth part of an ephah, or of three modii. For the ephah was the tenth part of a kor, that is, of 30 modii. Josephus, book 3, chapter 3, calls the tenth an issaron, and says it contained 7 cotylae. The cotyla, says Ribera, was a measure of 9 ounces: therefore the tenth contained 63 ounces, that is, 5 pounds and 3 ounces; and two tenths, and each loaf made from them, weighed ten and a half pounds. But at the end of the Pentateuch I will show that the omer, or issaron, was a measure containing 8 pounds, or 96 ounces of water, or wine, or Palestinian grain. For all these weigh equally, according to Vilalpando. Furthermore, a vessel containing 8 pounds of Palestinian grain contained only 5 pounds and 4 ounces of flour from the same grain. For Palestinian wheat is far better, denser, and heavier than ours. Therefore, when a vessel of our wheat, such as an omer, yields flour (for flour becomes lighter than grain by grinding) amounting to an omer and a third of an omer besides, as our millers, who have carefully observed this, testify; an omer of Palestinian wheat yields an omer and a half of flour. Wherefore, since an omer and a half of flour equals in weight its omer of wheat from which it was ground, it follows that an omer of wheat weighing 8 pounds yields a sesqui-omer of flour, so that an omer of flour weighed 5 pounds and 4 ounces: for thus a sesqui-omer of flour weighed 8 pounds of its wheat from which it was ground.
An omer, then, or an issaron of Palestinian wheat, contained 5 pounds and 4 ounces of flour; two omers, and the loaf made from them, contained 10 pounds and 8 ounces. To this add the weight of water mixed with the flour to make bread; which weight is easily a fourth part of the weight of the flour: for three ounces of flour easily yield, with water mixed in, four ounces of bread, as our bakers testify; therefore 10 pounds with 8 ounces of flour from two issarons yielded, with the water mixed in, 13 and a half pounds of bread. Each of these loaves therefore weighed 13 and a half pounds. These loaves were therefore large, and they occupied nearly the whole table (which was small): indeed, to a great God, and One who gives great things, great things must be rendered, especially from a whole tribe and people.
Finally, Vilalpando thinks that each of these loaves contained two omers of flour, in memory of the fact that on the sixth day, for that day and for the following sabbath (on which they had to rest), God rained down two omers of manna, Exodus 16:22. He and others add that two tenths of fine flour contained 12 pounds, and with water added the loaf weighed 16 pounds. But then these loaves would have been excessively large and unwieldy; to avoid this, others, such as Robert Cenalis and Aleazar, who wrote precisely about the ancient Hebrew measures, here and elsewhere take the tenth not of an ephah but of an omer, whose tenth part was about 10 ounces, so that two tenths would have made a loaf of about 19 ounces, that is, one pound and seven ounces. But against this opinion stands the fact that Sacred Scripture and Josephus assert and expressly state that this tenth is an issaron, and is a tenth not of an omer but of an ephah, Exodus 16, last verse. Add that in this case the loaves would have been quite small. Let it stand, therefore, as said, that these loaves weighed 13 and a half pounds.
Verse 6: Upon the Most Pure Table
Upon the most pure table -- that is, upon the golden table.
Verse 7: That the Bread May Be a Memorial of the Oblation of the Lord
THAT THE BREAD MAY BE A MEMORIAL OF THE OBLATION OF THE LORD -- as if to say: That this bread may be a perpetual memorial of the continual oblation which the Hebrews make to the Lord by this bread. Hence from the Hebrew you may translate thus: You shall place frankincense upon them, and the frankincense shall be for the bread as a memorial of the fire-offering, that is, of the burnt offering of the Lord; as if to say: You shall place frankincense upon the loaves, so that the frankincense signifies that the bread is offered to God, and that this perpetual oblation of loaves is made to the Lord; for frankincense is burned by fire to God alone. Vatablus and Cajetan translate and explain it differently, namely, that the frankincense on the sabbath should become a fire-offering in place of the bread, that is, should be burned in fire to the Lord; for the "memorial" in chapter 2 and elsewhere is the name given to that part of the mincha which was burned to the Lord in place of the whole mincha.
Verse 8: They Shall Be Changed Every Sabbath
THEY SHALL BE CHANGED EVERY SABBATH -- lest, that is, they become too dry or spoil and become unfit for eating. So Abulensis.
Received from the children of Israel -- as if to say: Whose material, that is, the flour, was given by the children of Israel, but kneaded by the Levites.
BY AN EVERLASTING COVENANT -- because these loaves are, as it were, a perpetual symbol of the covenant made between Me and the people, and continually recall its memory. I said something similar about the salt of the covenant, chapter 2:13.
Hence Abulensis thinks that even during the schism under Jeroboam, these loaves were always offered to the Lord, and twelve in number, as prescribed in verse 6: both because many from the twelve tribes during this schism adhered to the two tribes, to God, and to the temple; and because it is said here that these rites of the loaves are to be observed by an everlasting covenant, that is, as long as the old law and Judaism were to last. Similarly, the twelve stones in the breastplate remained during the schism, indeed after the destruction of the ten tribes; for Josephus testifies that he saw them in the breastplate.
Verse 9: And They Shall Be for Aaron and His Sons
AND THEY SHALL BE FOR AARON AND HIS SONS, THAT THEY MAY EAT THEM IN THE HOLY PLACE -- in the court of the tabernacle. It is not likely that, as the number of priests grew, these twelve loaves were distributed among all the priests without exception: for then each of them would have had scarcely a morsel; but since the priests were divided into 24 classes, as is clear from 1 Chronicles 24, each of which served its week of ministry by turns in the tabernacle, it is probable that each class distributed among themselves the loaves of their week. So Abulensis. From this passage it is gathered that only the male sons of the priests were permitted to eat these loaves; and this is what Christ says, Matthew 12:5: "Which (showbread) it was not lawful for him to eat, except for the priests alone." The following words here also indicate this: "Because it is most holy of the sacrifices of the Lord," as if to say: These loaves shall be eaten only by the priests and their sons, because they are regarded as most holy and are among the offerings of the Lord; for they are offered in the Holy Place itself, whereas the victims themselves are offered outside the Holy Place in the courtyard; and those things that were very holy could be eaten only by males of the priestly line, as is gathered from Numbers 18:10.
Note: The oblation of these loaves was not a sacrifice properly so called, for no immolation was performed in them. They are therefore called a sacrifice here, that is, an offering, by catachresis. Our own Gabriel Vasquez, however (Part 3, disputation 220, number 28), holds that these loaves were sacrifices: because, he says, they were baked by the priests in an oven, and this in the holy place, namely in the courtyard, as if this baking were their transformation and sacrificial offering. But this is both uncertain, as I have already said, and insufficient; for in the oven it was the flour that was transformed, not the bread. Moreover, this baking and transformation took place in the oven, not on the altar; and the altar is the proper place of sacrifice: hence also the mincha, or bread baked in a pan, on a griddle, or in an oven, was not a sacrifice unless part of it was burned to God on the altar, as is clear from Leviticus 2.
Verse 10: The Blasphemer
10. But behold, he went out, etc., and quarreled, that is: Behold, the Egyptian began to quarrel; for "to go out" is sometimes taken for "to begin" and "to undertake" something, as in Exodus 2:1; Deuteronomy 13:13. This story is woven in here because it happened around the same time that the preceding laws were given. The cause of the quarrel is not expressed. The Jews say he quarreled because he was drunk. But Abulensis refutes this; for the Hebrews in the desert lacked wine and strong drink, and lived on manna and water alone, nor did they exceed in food and drink, but ate equally the same amount each day, namely one omer. Others suspect he wanted to pitch his tent among the Danites, because he was from a Danite mother, although he had an Egyptian father, and that from this the quarrel arose; but these too are guessing.
Verse 11: When He Had Blasphemed the Name
11. When he had blasphemed the name of the Lord, and cursed. -- The Jews translate it: he uttered that name (namely, the tetragrammaton of God, which is antonomastically called shem hasshem, that is, "the name"), and cursed. Hence they think he committed two sins: first, that he pronounced the tetragrammaton name of God, which for the Jews is ineffable; second, that he cursed. But they err, for there was only one sin, namely blasphemy or cursing against God. Hence the Hebrew should be translated thus: he pierced, that is, he blasphemed, that name (holy and august, of God), and cursed; for nukab, or kabab, signifies to hollow out, to pierce, and thence by metaphor to empty of honor, that is, to curse and blaspheme.
The Rabbis fable that this blasphemer was the son of that Egyptian whom Moses killed, Exodus 2:12, and that he first blasphemed God, then cursed Moses, wishing to avenge the death of his father; but God, having care for His own, willed rather to avenge the injury to Moses than His own, and therefore said: "Lead out the one who cursed," and not: "Lead out the blasphemer"; so say these fabricators of fables.
Allegorically, this blasphemer signifies the Antichrist, says Radulphus: for he was from the tribe of Dan, from which likewise the Antichrist will be born; whence all the Danites will adhere to the Antichrist as their kinsman, and scarcely any of them will believe in Christ; and therefore in Apocalypse 7, where the elect from each tribe are marked and counted, the tribe of Dan alone is omitted, as Aretas, Bede, Haymo, Anselm, Rupert, and Irenaeus explain there, in book 5, chapter 30.
The mother of the blasphemer is called Shelomith, meaning "retribution," the daughter of Dibri, meaning "of speech," because the damnation to which the Antichrist is destined will be repaid for his blasphemies: the whole people will stone him, because all the elect on the day of his overthrow will condemn him and by their sentence cast him into the abyss.
Verse 14: Let All Who Heard Lay Their Hands Upon His Head
14. Let all who heard (his blasphemy) lay their hands upon his head, and let the whole people stone him. -- It was the custom among the Jews that the witnesses would lay their hands on the head of the accused, as if signifying that this was the impious head against which they bore testimony, and that therefore he was guilty of death. Lyranus adds that they used to say: "Your malice brought you to death, not we"; as if they were saying: Impute your death to your own head, not to us. Hence to lay hands on someone's head means to bear witness against him, as is clear from Daniel 13:34. Oleaster gives another reason, namely that the ancients laid hands on the head of the accused as upon an expiatory victim; for hands were laid on such a victim, as is clear from what was said in chapter 4, 4 and 24, and chapter 16, 21. For blasphemy, idolatry, and similar grave crimes, unless punished, seem by their enormity to pollute those present and their neighbors, and indeed the whole region, and to make it liable to divine vengeance; to avert this, they hand over the guilty and accused to God, and lay hands on him, as if by this rite they actually pray that God may pour upon him all the punishment of sin, and not avenge the crime committed upon the region or the people. In like manner God commanded that hands be laid on idolaters, Deuteronomy 17:7. See also Deuteronomy 21:6-9. And rightly, says Theodoret, Question 33, He fitted the law of death to blasphemy, and the punishment of homicide, and ordered the guilty to be stoned, because the blasphemer, since he cannot kill the Creator, strikes Him with his tongue. Whence St. Augustine on Matthew 26:65, "he blasphemed," says: "Those who blaspheme Christ reigning in heaven sin no less than those who crucified Him walking on earth"; so that it is no wonder that all civil, canonical, and divine laws punish blasphemers so severely.
Punishments of Blasphemers
Notable also is the punishment of the blasphemer Sennacherib, who for his blasphemy was slain together with 185 thousand; so too Paul handed a blasphemer over to Satan, 1 Timothy 1, last verse.
Learn here how great a crime blasphemy is, and how fiercely God punishes it, even in this life. For concerning the future, the sentence of Christ stands: "Every sin and blasphemy shall be forgiven men; but the blasphemy of the Spirit shall not be forgiven. And whoever speaks a word against the Son of Man, it shall be forgiven him; but whoever speaks against the Holy Spirit, it shall not be forgiven him, neither in this age, nor in the age to come." Thus the blasphemous Pharaoh, saying: "I do not know the Lord," was drowned in the Red Sea. Thus the Syrians, saying: "The God of the mountains is their Lord, and He is not the God of the valleys" -- many were slain by the few Israelites in battle in the valley, 3 Kings 20. Thus the blasphemous Antichrist will be cast into hell, Apocalypse 13:6, and 19:20.
Gregory of Tours narrates, in book 2 of his History, chapter 7, and Sidonius, in book 8, second to last letter, that when the Goths were besieging Orleans, Anianus, the bishop of the city, was chanting the Litanies with the clergy along the walls; a priest held captive among the Goths, hearing this, exclaimed: "You are led by a vain hope, Anianus, if you believe enemies can be driven away by words -- those same prayers did not help other cities." The Saints heard, and immediately deprived the blasphemer of life.
Julian the Apostate, in the Persian war, struck divinely by a lance between the ribs, hurled his blood with his hand toward heaven: "Satisfy Your wrath, Galilean" (so he called Christ), "You have conquered, You have conquered." So report Sozomen, Rufinus, and Eutropius.
Arius, who blasphemed the Son of God, while going to purge his bowels, spilled out his entrails and died.
The tongue of Nestorius was eaten by worms, because he had said that the Blessed Virgin was the bearer of Christ, not the bearer of God.
Olympius, an Arian bishop, bathing in the bath of the Elyanensians at Carthage, while publicly blaspheming the Trinity, was struck by three javelins as if by thunderbolts and was consumed, in the year of Christ 510. Paul the Deacon, book 15 on Anastasius, is the witness.
Emperor Frederick II used to say: "There have been three notable impostors who deceived the human race: Moses, Christ, and Muhammad"; whence he was condemned by Innocent IV at the Council of Lyons and stripped of his empire. Lipsius reports this blasphemy of his in book 1 of the Political Admonitions, chapter 4.
Those were ancient examples; these are of our own age and land. Heretics were planning to capture Halle (a town near Brussels, famous for a miraculous statue of the Blessed Virgin). One of them, approaching the city, said: "I will cut off the nose of the Halle woman" (so he called the statue of the Blessed Virgin) "with my own hands." The Virgin heard and arranged that a large lead ball shot from the city should tear off his nose. That wretch lived on, by the name of Johannes Zwickius, and was a continual laughingstock to the Dutch themselves for many years, and perhaps is still alive: the matter is very well known.
It has been ten years since the Dutch captured the chapel of the Blessed Virgin of Scherpenheuvel: from that time they lost Ostend, and everything went badly for them (whereas previously things had gone well). Among them was a horseman with a half-blind horse, who coming to the chapel said mockingly: "If Mary works miracles here, let her give sight to my horse." The Virgin heard the blasphemy, and immediately restored sight to the horse, but blinded the blasphemous horseman himself. This his companion confessed before death and at death, who was put to the ultimate punishment at Weert for another crime, as the magistrate of Weert himself, who presided over the execution and interrogation, wrote to me -- I who was then living at the mission of the Blessed Virgin of Scherpenheuvel, and by the wondrous help of the Virgin escaped the hands of the Dutch.
Verse 15: He Shall Bear His Sin
15. His sin -- that is, the punishment of his sin.
Verse 16: Whoever Blasphemes Shall Die the Death
16. Whoever blasphemes, let him die the death, etc., whether he be a citizen or a foreigner -- even a Gentile and uncircumcised man. For this man, by the custom and law of nations, would fall under the Jewish jurisdiction by reason of the crime committed there, just as this blasphemer, although an Egyptian, was nevertheless punished by Moses and the Jews.
Verse 18: Life for Life
18. He shall give a substitute, that is, a life for a life -- namely a living animal in place of the animal he killed.
Verse 19: Whoever Inflicts a Blemish
19. Whoever inflicts a blemish -- that is, a scar or mutilation, as follows.
Verse 20: Fracture for Fracture
20. Fracture for fracture -- so that if he breaks another's foot or hand, his own foot or hand shall be broken.
Verse 21: The Law of Retaliation
21. Whoever strikes (kills) a beast shall restore another. Whoever strikes (kills) a man shall be punished. -- In Hebrew, "he shall die," that is, he shall be killed; for here he repeats in general the law of retaliation proposed in verse 17, which he has illustrated with various examples up to this point. It is probable, says Abulensis, what some Doctors assert, namely that the punishment of retaliation had to be imposed by the judge if the injured party demanded it; but if he did not demand it but preferred money, then the judge was not bound, indeed could not impose the punishment of retaliation.