Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
The law of the seventh year of remission is repeated, so that in that year they remit debts to the Jews, and dismiss Jewish slaves and female slaves as free (about which verse 12), and give them provisions. Secondly, verse 19, the law about firstborn animals to be offered to God and eaten in the tabernacle is repeated, unless they were maimed or mutilated.
Vulgate Text: Deuteronomy 15:1-23
1. In the seventh year you shall make a remission, 2. which shall be celebrated in this order. He to whom anything is owed by a friend or neighbor or brother, shall not be able to demand it back, because it is the year of remission of the Lord. 3. From the stranger and foreigner you shall exact it: but you shall not have the power to demand it back from a citizen and kinsman. 4. And there shall be no one in need or beggar among you: so that the Lord your God may bless you in the land which He is about to give you as a possession. 5. If, however, you hear the voice of the Lord your God, and keep all that He commanded, and what I command you today, He will bless you, as He promised. 6. You shall lend to many nations, and you yourself will borrow from no one. You shall rule over many nations, and no one shall rule over you. 7. If one of your brothers, who dwells within the gates of your city, in the land which the Lord your God is about to give you, comes to poverty, you shall not harden your heart, nor close your hand; 8. but you shall open it to the poor, and lend what you perceive he needs. 9. Beware lest perhaps an impious thought steal upon you, and you say in your heart: The seventh year of remission is approaching; and you turn your eyes from your poor brother, not wishing to lend him what he asks: lest he cry out against you to the Lord, and it become a sin for you. 10. But you shall give to him, nor act with any cunning in relieving his needs: so that the Lord your God may bless you at all times, and in all things to which you put your hand. 11. The poor will not be lacking in the land of your habitation; therefore I command you to open your hand to your needy and poor brother, who dwells with you in the land. 12. When your brother, a Hebrew man or Hebrew woman, has been sold to you and has served you six years, in the seventh year you shall let him go free: 13. and you shall not let the one to whom you grant freedom go away empty-handed; 14. but you shall give provisions from your flocks, and from your threshing floor and your winepress, with which the Lord your God has blessed you. 15. Remember that you yourself also served in the land of Egypt, and the Lord your God set you free, and therefore I now command you. 16. But if he says: I do not wish to leave, because he loves you and your house, and feels he is well off with you; 17. you shall take an awl, and bore his ear at the door of your house, and he shall serve you forever: and you shall do likewise with a female slave. 18. You shall not turn your eyes from them when you let them go free; because for the wages of a hired worker he served you for six years: so that the Lord your God may bless you in all the works you do. 19. Of the firstborn that are born among your herds and among your flocks, whatever is of the male sex, you shall sanctify to the Lord your God. You shall not work with the firstborn of an ox, and you shall not shear the firstborn of sheep. 20. In the presence of the Lord your God you shall eat them each year, in the place which the Lord chooses, you and your household. 21. But if it has a blemish, or is lame, or blind, or in any part deformed or weak, it shall not be sacrificed to the Lord your God; 22. but within the gates of your city you shall eat it: the clean and the unclean alike shall eat them, as they would a gazelle or a deer. 23. Only this shall you observe: that you do not eat their blood, but pour it out on the ground like water.
Verse 2: The Law of Remission
2. HE TO WHOM ANYTHING IS OWED BY A FRIEND, OR NEIGHBOR, OR BROTHER -- that is, by a Jew, who is a brother by race, and therefore a friend and neighbor. This law therefore speaks only of a Jewish debtor who owes something to another Jew: for in the seventh year of remission, he was freed from all debt by the indulgence of this law; but it does not speak of proselytes converted to Judaism: for they, in the seventh year, remained bound by their debts. So Abulensis.
Moreover, understand the debt as from a loan or a sale; but not from a loan for use, because this is properly not a debt, but another's property, that is, a thing belonging to another. So Abulensis. See what was said on Leviticus XXV, 2 and following.
Verse 3: Citizens and Kinsmen
3. YOU SHALL NOT HAVE THE POWER TO DEMAND IT BACK FROM A CITIZEN AND KINSMAN. -- In Hebrew, from that which shall be yours with your brother, you shall release your hand (that is, you shall release the demand for the debt, which is made by the extension of the hand) from your brother, namely, a Jew.
Verse 4: No One in Need Among You
4. AND THERE SHALL BE NO ONE IN NEED OR BEGGAR AMONG YOU -- that is, take care as much as you can that there be no needy or beggars among you, by lending to the poor, especially the infirm or disabled, what they need, and remitting it to them in the seventh year, if they cannot pay and repay it before then; with this therefore is consistent what is said in verse 11: "The poor will not be lacking in the land of your habitation:" for there it signifies that there will be poor, but here he commands that they be helped. For God wished that there always be some poor among the Hebrews, so that the rich might have occasion for exercising mercy toward them: hence even if the Hebrews had tried to ensure that there be no poor in Israel, they could never have actually accomplished this.
Vatablus reconciles these differently: for he says that among the Hebrews there were private poor, but no public beggars, as is now the case in well-ordered republics.
Again he translates this passage thus: except if there be no poor among you, that is, you shall remit the money lent to poor brothers; but I except the wealthy brothers, to whom you shall not remit, since they have the means to repay. But this translation disagrees with the Hebrew, the Chaldean, the Septuagint, and our Translator.
Verse 6: You Shall Lend to Many Nations
6. YOU SHALL LEND TO MANY NATIONS. -- For "you shall lend," the Hebrew has haabatta, that is, you shall give a loan, or lend. So the Chaldean and the Septuagint. For they translate: you shall lend to many nations, but you shall not borrow. Hence it is clear that the Jews have no support here for their usury. The meaning therefore is: If in the seventh year you remit the debts of your debtors, you will not be impoverished, but God will bless you and enrich you, so that you will lend to others, but receive from no one; for just as by the things through which one sins, through these one is also punished: so conversely, by the things through which one merits, through these one is also rewarded, says Abulensis.
Verse 9: Beware -- Know Thyself
9. BEWARE. -- The Septuagint translates, attend to yourself. Hence St. Ambrose in his commentary on Psalm CXVIII thinks that the famous saying "Know thyself" is derived from this, which the Gentiles attributed to Pythian Apollo. Rightly Clement, book III of the Pedagogue: "The most beautiful and greatest of all disciplines is to know oneself. For if anyone knows himself, he will know God." Hence St. Augustine, book II of the Soliloquies, chapter I, says that God is most briefly and perfectly prayed to thus: "God, ever the same, may I know You, may I know myself." And St. Francis: "Who are You, Lord? Who am I?" You are the abyss of being, of goodness, of wisdom, of virtue, of perfection and of glory: I am the abyss of nothingness, of evil, of ignorance, of vices, of miseries and of all wretchedness.
On the contrary, Plato in the Philebus calls ignorance of oneself the source of all wickedness; for, as the same says in the Lovers, to know oneself is absolutely to be wise, and on this depends all the wisdom and justice of life. Xenophon, book IV of the Memorable Sayings of Socrates, says that those who are ignorant of themselves are fit neither for governing themselves, nor for the administration of a household or state.
Therefore St. Bernard wisely admonishes in his Meditations, chapter V: Strive "to know yourself, because you are much better and more praiseworthy if you know yourself, than if, neglecting yourself, you knew the course of the stars, the powers of herbs, the natures of men and animals, and had the knowledge of all heavenly and earthly things. Therefore give yourself back to yourself, if not always, or often, at least sometimes."
The Cunning of Lenders and Borrowers
DO NOT SAY, etc. THE SEVENTH YEAR IS APPROACHING -- that is, do not say: The seventh year of remission is at hand; if I lend or give credit to my brother, he will not repay me, but with the seventh year approaching he will be free from the debt; and so I will not lend, I will not give him credit. This was the cunning of lenders, which is forbidden here. There could also be cunning on the part of borrowers, if they were rich and requested a loan as the seventh year approached, so that they would be freed from repaying in the seventh year. But this cunning had to be met by denying them such a loan and saying: You are rich, therefore you do not need a loan. So Abulensis.
NOT WISHING TO LEND HIM WHAT HE ASKS -- that is, to give a loan: for if someone had lent something to another, or given it on loan for use, it had to be returned in kind in the seventh year, just as in other years: for it was another's property, as I said at verse 2. So Abulensis.
And It Become a Sin for You
AND IT BECOME A SIN FOR YOU -- that is, and the Lord be angry with you and punish you severely: "sin" therefore is put for the punishment of sin, by metonymy. So Vatablus.
Verse 10: Care of the Poor
NOR ACT WITH ANY CUNNING -- in the manner I explained at verse 9.
The Fathers on Care of the Poor
Morally, note here how extensively and earnestly God commends the care and aid of the poor to the Hebrews. The same He commends to Nebuchadnezzar through Daniel, Daniel IV, 27, that through almsgiving he might redeem his sins. So Christ commands the poor to be invited to banquets, Luke XIV, 13, and declares that the goods bestowed on them were bestowed on Himself, Matthew XXV, 40, and that they will receive those who give them alms into eternal tabernacles, Luke XVI, 9. Hence He also declares the poor in spirit blessed, Matthew V, 3. Indeed, He Himself wished to be poor; therefore He said to a certain disciple: "Foxes have dens, and the birds of the sky have nests: but the Son of man has nowhere to lay His head." Hence also St. Peter, imitating Christ, said to the lame man: "Silver and gold I do not have; but what I have, this I give you: in the name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth, rise and walk." And St. Paul said of himself and the other Apostles: "Even to this hour we both hunger and thirst, and are naked," I Corinthians IV, 11; and: "I know both how to be abased, and I know how to abound; both to be full and to be hungry; both to abound and to suffer need," Philippians IV, 12.
Gregory of Nazianzus, oration 16 On the Love of the Poor: "No worship, he says, is so pleasing to God as mercy toward the poor. For first, God wills that some be poor, that they may remind us of our weakness. Secondly, the poor must be helped because they are our brothers, both by nature, by the image of God renewed in Christ, by faith, hope, love and divine adoption, and in view of the blessed life. Thirdly, because we aspire to Christ our common brother. Fourthly, because since nothing is stable in the present, we must think about storing our wealth safely through the poor. Fifthly, because of the infinite advantages of this, which can be reduced to three, namely: preservation from evils, certainty of salvation, and the greatest confidence of rewards. Sixthly, because God, who has bestowed innumerable benefits on us, commands that we give a little to our brothers. Seventhly, nothing is so proper to God as mercy and kindness; and He is to be imitated by us. Eighthly, the poor lie under the special care and providence of God, as Scripture attests. Ninthly, because on the day of judgment the elect will be assigned to heaven for alms given, and the reprobate to hell for alms neglected."
St. Augustine, whenever the Church's funds ran out, would announce to the people that he had nothing to distribute to the poor: for he even ordered the Lord's sacred vessels to be broken for the sake of captives and other needy people, and to be distributed among them, says Possidius in his Life, chapter XXIV.
Flacilla, wife of the Emperor Theodosius, attended to the poor and the sick with her own hand; and when some wished to draw her away from them, she replied: "It befits an Emperor to distribute gold; but I, for the sake of the empire itself, ought to offer this service to Him who gave it." Theodoret is the witness, book V of his History, chapter XVIII.
Acacius, Bishop of Amida, in order to ransom about seven thousand poor Persian captives, sold the sacred vessels, saying to his clergy: "Our God needs neither plates nor cups; therefore it is fitting that these be distributed among His afflicted soldiers." Socrates is the witness, book VII, chapter XXI. Theophilus also said: "It is better to restore the bodies of the sick, which are more truly temples of God, than to build temples of stone." So Sozomenus, book VIII, chapter XII.
Verse 12: The Seventh Year of Freedom
12. IN THE SEVENTH YEAR YOU SHALL LET HIM GO FREE -- reckoning, namely, the seventh year not from the sale of the slave, but from the year of remission, which was fixed and common to all.
Verse 17: He Shall Serve You Forever
17. HE SHALL SERVE YOU FOREVER -- that is, until the jubilee, after which another and new era, as it were, followed. This is clear from what was said on Exodus chapter XXI, verse 6.
The Female Slave
YOU SHALL DO LIKEWISE WITH A FEMALE SLAVE -- namely, by giving her provisions, but not by boring her ear, says Abulensis: for a Hebrew female slave was not held as a perpetual servant, but when she reached maturity, she had to be either taken as a wife by the master, or by the master's son, or set free: but if she did not wish this, and preferred to remain a servant in the master's house, her ear was bored, says Cajetan, just as with a male slave. See what was said on Exodus XXI, 7.
Symbolic Sense: Anger and Desire
Symbolically, the male and female slave are anger and desire: these must serve throughout the whole week of years, that is, throughout the whole of life, and be subjected to reason, until the sabbath, that is, the seventh year of blessed impassibility; for then anger will be dismissed as if free, when it will be transformed into spiritual fervor; and desire will be converted into divine love and delight: so Cyril in his Collectanea on Deuteronomy.
Verse 18: Do Not Turn Your Eyes from Them
18. YOU SHALL NOT TURN YOUR EYES FROM THEM WHEN YOU LET THEM GO FREE. -- In Hebrew, Chaldean, and the Septuagint: let it not be grievous in your eyes when you dismiss him, that is, let it not be burdensome for you to release the slave and help him with provisions.
Allegorically, Cyril, book VII of On Adoration, page 137: Before Christ, he says, Israel was constrained by the spirit of servitude, subject to the punishing law: but after, in the seventh year of remission, that is, in the time of grace, Emmanuel shone forth, we were endowed with the freedom and adoption of sons, given provision, namely the body and blood of the Lord, in the Eucharist.
The Wages of the Hired Worker
BECAUSE FOR THE WAGES OF A HIRED WORKER, HE SERVED YOU FOR SIX YEARS. -- The Chaldean, Vatablus, and other more recent interpreters translate: because with a double wage of a hired worker he served you for six years. The Hebrews explain that the slave's wage is called double because he who was a slave for six years, since hired workers among the Hebrews contracted their services for only three years: but this slave served six years, therefore he served and earned double.
But the Septuagint, instead of "double wage," translates emmisthon prosthin, that is, an annual wage, so that the Hebrew misne is derived not from scheni, that is, second, but from schana, that is, year, meaning: For six years he served you with an annual wage: which our Translator renders in an equally full sense: for the wages of a hired worker, he served you for six years. The meaning therefore is: the slave served you for six years as a hired worker, to whom you should have paid an annual wage each year, but he received none for six years; it is therefore fair that in its place, in the seventh year, you set him free, with some provision for the journey.
Verse 19: The Firstborn of Animals
19. YOU SHALL NOT WORK WITH THE FIRSTBORN OF AN OX -- because this firstborn is owed to God, and it is unjust that from God's animal and His first-fruits, you should take for yourself either the first labors or the wool.
AND YOU SHALL NOT SHEAR THE FIRSTBORN OF SHEEP -- but you shall bring them with their wool to the priest, so that you may give both the wool and the sheep to God, that is, to the priest in place of God.
Tropologically, St. Gregory, book VIII of the Moralia, XXXIV: "Moses, he says, here forbade the life of beginners to be employed in human occupations: for to work with the firstborn ox is to display the beginnings of a good way of life in the exercise of public action; to shear the firstborn of sheep is to strip our beginning good works of their covering of concealment before human eyes. Therefore when our life undertakes something simple and innocent, it is fitting that it not abandon the veils of its secrecy, lest it show this naked before human eyes, as if with the fleece removed."
Verse 20: Eating the Firstborn before the Lord
20. IN THE PRESENCE OF THE LORD YOUR GOD YOU SHALL EAT THEM. -- "You shall eat," you, that is, O priest; for here there is a change of person: for Moses turns his speech from the offerers to the priests, whose role it was to eat the firstborn; for these belonged to them alone, as is clearly evident from Numbers XVIII, 17. So Abulensis. Moreover, God here commands them to be eaten in a holy place, namely in the court of the temple, because He had commanded them to be offered to Him in the temple, with their blood poured out and their fat burned, as was done with the peace offering, as is evident from Numbers XVIII, 17: "Because they are sanctified to the Lord, He says, you shall only pour their blood upon the altar, and burn their fat as a most sweet odor to the Lord." But after the immolation of the peace offering, its flesh had to be eaten by the offerers in the same place, namely in the court of the temple; for every victim, because it was sanctified to God, had to be eaten in a holy place, as is evident from Leviticus VI, 16, and chapter VII, verse 6. The same is signified by this law and phrase: "You shall feast before the Lord," that is, in the court of the temple, namely from the peace offerings and other oblations. Hence it is repeated again and again in Deuteronomy XII, 12 and 18, and XIV, 26, and chapter XVI, verses 11 and 14, and chapter XXVII, 7. Where it says: "You shall sacrifice peace offerings, and eat there and feast before the Lord your God." Therefore, because of the similarity of the firstborn to the peace offering, God here commands in a similar manner that the priests, to whom the firstborn belonged by divine right, should offer them to God in the temple, and after the offering eat them in the same place, so that this eating would be the consummation and completion of the offering, similar to the peace sacrifice. God therefore ordains that they, as holy things, be eaten by holy priests in a holy place, especially because the priests dwelt near the temple as its perpetual guardians and ministers: but the Levites were scattered throughout all the cities of Judea to teach the people. From what has been said, it is clear that Cajetan is not correct in taking "firstborn" improperly to mean first-fruits and meats separated for God at a sacred feast.
Verses 21-22: Blemished Firstborn
21 and 22. BUT IF IT HAS A BLEMISH, OR IS LAME, etc., IT SHALL NOT BE SACRIFICED, etc. BUT WITHIN THE GATES OF YOUR CITY YOU SHALL EAT IT. -- If a firstborn animal was lame, blind, or maimed, it could not be sacrificed, but had to be redeemed by paying a price to the priests: then it could be eaten by laypeople in any place. So Abulensis.
The Mystical Sense
For the mystical sense, see Rabanus, who throughout this passage, as throughout the rest of Sacred Scripture, is entirely mystical and moral. Hence from him the Glossa Ordinaria is largely compiled.