Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Josiah is praised up to verse 9. Then Jeremiah, Ezekiel, and the twelve minor prophets up to verse 13. Then Zerubbabel, Jesus the son of Josedec, and Nehemiah up to verse 16. Then to the end of the chapter Sirach returns to the earlier and more ancient fathers, and recounts the praises of Enoch, Joseph, Seth, Shem, and Adam, and compares them with one another.
Vulgate Text: Ecclesiasticus 49:1-19
1. The memorial of Josiah is like the composition of a fragrance made by the work of a perfumer. 2. In every mouth his memory shall be made sweet as honey, and as music at a banquet of wine. 3. He was directed by God for the repentance of the nation, and he took away the abominations of impiety. 4. And he directed his heart to the Lord, and in the days of sinners he strengthened piety. 5. Except David, and Hezekiah, and Josiah, all committed sin: 6. for the kings of Judah forsook the law of the Most High, and despised the fear of God. 7. For they gave their kingdom to others, and their glory to a foreign nation. 8. They set fire to the chosen city of holiness, and made its ways desolate, by the hand of Jeremiah. 9. For they mistreated him who was consecrated a Prophet from his mother's womb, to overthrow, and to pluck up, and to destroy, and again to build, and to renew. 10. Ezekiel, who saw the vision of glory, which was shown to him upon the chariot of the Cherubim. 11. For he made mention of the enemies under rain, to do good to those who showed right ways. 12. And may the bones of the twelve Prophets spring up from their place: for they strengthened Jacob, and redeemed themselves by firm faith. 13. How shall we magnify Zerubbabel? For he also was as a signet on the right hand; 14. so also Jesus the son of Josedec? who in their days built the house, and raised up the holy temple to the Lord, prepared for everlasting glory. 15. And Nehemiah in the memory of long time, who raised up for us our fallen walls, and set up the gates and bars, who rebuilt our houses. 16. No one was born upon the earth like Enoch: for he also was taken up from the earth. 17. Nor was any man born like Joseph, the prince of his brethren, the support of the nation, the governor of his brethren, the establishment of the people: 18. and his bones were visited, and after death they prophesied. 19. Seth and Shem obtained glory among men, and above every soul in the origin of Adam.
Encomium of Josiah.
1. The memorial of Josiah is like the composition of a fragrance, made by the work of a perfumer. — So the Latin, Roman, and Greek text corrected at Rome. Less correctly, therefore, for "facta" the Complutensian reads "facto" or "confecto"; and others, "facti." Again for "opus" the Greek now has ergo, that is, "by the work." See Francisco Lucas, in his Notes here.
The Roman Greek text clearly has thus: The memorial of Josiah in the composition of incense, made by the work of an ointment-maker; Vatablus: Like the mixture of a fragrance prepared by the art of an ointment-maker is the memorial of Josiah; the Syriac: The name of Josiah is like a censer of incense (another codex has "of incenses") mixed with a multitude of spices; others: The memorial of Josiah is like a composition of incense prepared by the work of a perfumer. The sense therefore is, that is to say, The memorial
of Josiah is like a composition of fragrant substances (by which, that is, fragrant materials are mixed together and compounded in a suitable proportion, so as to produce something mixed, highly fragrant, and most sweetly redolent), "made," that is, prepared, as "the work of a perfumer," that is, the memorial of Josiah is most sweet and pleasing both to God and to the Angels, and to men, especially to the Jews. For just as a perfumer, or spice-maker, from a suitable blending and compounding of spices, produces a certain compound wonderfully fragrant; so likewise the memorial of Josiah, composed and blended from his various virtues and illustrious deeds, produces his fame wonderfully fragrant, sweet, and delightful to all posterity. He alludes to the incense (for in Greek, instead of "odoris" it is "thymiamatos") which was compounded from a blending of four spices, or fragrant substances, namely from stacte, onyx-shell, galbanum, and frankincense, Exodus 30:34; for thus the memorial and fame of a holy and pious man, such as Josiah was, is forged from many virtues, especially the four represented by the same number of spices just mentioned; for stacte represents mortification, onyx-shell represents chastity, galbanum represents charity, and frankincense represents religion and prayer. Hence in Apocalypse 5:8, St. John saw 24 elders having "golden bowls full" of fragrant substances, which are the prayers of the Saints. See what was said on Exodus 30:34.
Wherefore the Arabic translates: The name of Josiah is like a censer, in which there is of every good fumigation, which, that is, exhales every sweet-smelling smoke.
First, therefore, just as incense was compounded not from one spice, but from many; so the glory of Josiah's virtue, his memorial and fame, was forged and compounded not from one virtue, but from many, and especially from the four already mentioned. Whence St. Gregory, book 1, Moralia, chapter 39: We compose incense from spices, he says, when on the altar of good work we are fragrant with the multiplicity of virtues. And Philo, in the book On Dreams: Just as, he says, sweet-smelling fragrances fill those nearby; so the neighbors and those bordering on the wise man, from his breath spreading itself most widely, become better. Thus the young maidens, that is, the more tender souls, having perceived the fragrance of the bridegroom's virtues, enticed they cry out: We will run after you in the odor of your ointments, Song of Songs 1:3.
Second, just as spices had to be mixed together in a suitable measure to make incense; so also virtues must be compounded together in a suitable proportion, to produce something beautiful and fragrant; for one kind of virtue, for example magnificence, humility, almsgiving, obedience, befits a subject, another a superior, another a common person, another a prince; one befits a layman, another a priest, another a religious, etc.
Third, the incense especially denotes the piety of Josiah regarding the worship of God, and the promotion of sacred things; for he himself removed the soothsayers, magicians, priests, sacrifices, altars, and temples of idols erected by Solomon, Ahaz, Manasseh, and Jeroboam, and in their place established the true priests of God, and sacred rites, and the true
incense he restored. Read his holy deeds concerning this matter throughout the whole of chapter 23 of 4 Kings. Josiah therefore was the destroyer of all superstition and of idolatry entrenched for three centuries, and the restorer of the ancestral and true religion. Wherefore the name, virtue, and piety of Josiah were foretold by God through a Prophet three hundred years before his birth, at the beginning of the idolatry introduced by Jeroboam, 3 Kings chapter 13:1: And behold, he says, a man of God came from Judah by the word of the Lord to Bethel, while Jeroboam was standing at the altar and burning incense. And he cried out against the altar by the word of the Lord, and said: O altar, altar, thus says the Lord: Behold, a son shall be born to the house of David, Josiah by name, and he shall sacrifice upon you the priests of the high places, who now burn incense upon you, and he shall burn the bones of men upon you. This prophecy about himself Josiah fulfilled after three hundred years, when, as is said in 4 Kings 23:15: Moreover also the altar that was in Bethel, and the high place which Jeroboam had made, etc., he destroyed and burned; and verse 20: And he slew all the priests of the high places who were there, upon the altars; and he burned human bones — of the priests who in the time of Jeroboam had sacrificed to idols on those altars. Wherefore verse 25 adds: There was no king like him before him, who returned to the Lord with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, according to the whole law of Moses: nor after him did there arise one like him.
Therefore he was fittingly called by God "Josiah," and this name was foretold by Him three centuries before him, and set against the beginning of Jeroboam's idolatry; for "Josiah," or as the Hebrews pronounce it, "Josiahu," signifies all these his deeds already mentioned; for "Josiah," first, in Hebrew is said as if "scai ia," that is, a gift, or offering of God; or as if "es ia," that is, the fire of God, or the burning Lord; because burning with zeal for God, he consumed idols and idolaters with fire. Whence the author of the Opus Imperfectum, attributed to St. Chrysostom, homily 1 on Matthew, on those words: And Amon begot Josiah. Josiah, he says, is interpreted, where is the offering to the Lord? or the salvation of the Lord, etc. And the Providence of God, according to what Josiah was to be, arranged that the name be imposed on him, where is the offering of the Lord. For he offered such a sacrifice to the Lord God as none of the kings either before or after him offered. And he himself was a victim to God, according to what the Apostle commands, Romans 12: That you present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God. And he himself was the salvation of his people in his time. And shortly after: The third is Josiah, whose name was prophesied before he was born; these three are: Samson, Josiah, John. For the names of these three were foretold and imposed by God before they were born.
Second, "Josiah" in Hebrew is the same as "iesca ia," that is, the salvation of the Lord, as the author of the Opus Imperfectum just said, and thus Josiah is as if the same as
Jesus; for he was an express type of Him, as I shall presently show.
Third, "Josiah" can be said as if "ies ia," that is, existing of the Lord or the Lord's; because, full of God, he vindicated His honor and restored His worship. So Pagninus in the Interpretation of Hebrew Names.
Fourth, "Josiah" is the same, says Pagninus in the same place, as the ceasing of the Lord, or the rest of the Lord, or the Lord shall rest, or my rest is the Lord; because he himself caused the wrath of God against the idolaters to cease, and God rested in him as in His temple, and he in turn rested in God. Finally he himself brought it about that God should rest, restored by right of return, in Israel, Jerusalem, and the temple.
More genuinely, "Josiah" is the same as "iaas ia," that is, he renounced (for thus the Septuagint and our Translator render it, Ecclesiastes 2:20), he abdicated, he dismissed — the Lord, namely, dismissed idols and worshippers of idols. For this God did through Josiah.
Allegorically, Josiah is Jesus Christ, who, inflamed with the fire of charity and zeal, made Himself a victim to God for the salvation of men on the altar of the cross. Wherefore the memory of the life and passion of Christ is most fragrant and most sweet to all Christians, especially to Religious and those devoted to holy perfection, whose constant thought is of Jesus Christ; and therefore Jesus is to them like a fragrant ointment compounded and blended from various aromatic species, namely from humility, obedience, poverty, patience, fortitude, charity, and the other eminent virtues, which strengthens the mind for the battle against spiritual enemies, and wonderfully delights the sense of interior smell. For, as St. Bernard says, on the Song of Songs, sermon 15, on the words: Your name is oil poured out: the name of "Jesus," if it is named and invoked, "restores the exhausted senses, strengthens the virtues, invigorates good and honest habits, and nourishes chaste affections." And further on: "Nothing so restrains the impulse of anger, calms the swelling of pride, heals the wound of envy; it checks the flow of luxury, extinguishes the flame of lust, tempers the thirst of avarice, and puts to flight the itch of all indecency; for when I name Jesus, I set before myself a man meek and humble of heart, kind, sober, chaste, merciful, and conspicuous for every honesty and holiness, and at the same time God Almighty Himself, who both heals me by His example and strengthens me by His aid. All these things sound in me at once, when Jesus sounds forth. I take therefore examples from the man, and help from the mighty one; the one as a perfumer provides the spices; the other as that by which I sharpen them, and I make a confection which no physician could make the like of. This is the electuary you have, O my soul, stored up in the little vessel of this word which is Jesus; salutary indeed, and which may never be found ineffective against any plague of yours. It is always in your bosom, always in your hand; so that all your senses and actions may be directed toward Jesus."
Song of Songs 8. The same author in the Formula of the Honest Life at the beginning: Let Jesus, he says, always be in your heart, and let the image of the Crucified never depart from your soul. Let Him be your food and drink, your sweetness and consolation, your honey and your desire, your reading and your meditation, your prayer and your contemplation, your life, death, and resurrection. Wherefore spiritual men who strive always to have God present, and to dwell constantly in the presence of God, begin to form for themselves this presence of God in the incarnate God, namely in Jesus Christ; for it is easier to conceive Him and impress Him upon the imagination, than God Himself who is pure spirit. See our Alvarus de Paz, in the treatise On Perfect Contemplation, book 5, part 1, apparatus 2, chapter 7.
Tropologically, Josiah is any holy man and zealot for the divine honor, who mixes and compounds for himself a heap of virtues, like incense, which delights all and attracts them to imitate him: whose memorial and glory therefore is spread far and wide and endures forever; and especially such is he who routs and eradicates heresy and impiety, and who is the restorer of ancestral religion and piety, such men as God has raised up in every age. Such were St. Athanasius, St. Augustine, St. Basil, St. Jerome, St. Anthony, St. Benedict, St. Bernard, St. Dominic, St. Francis, and recently our St. Ignatius. And among kings and princes: Constantine, Theodosius, Charlemagne, Jagiello, Casimir, St. Louis, and the modern orthodox Emperors, Kings, and Dukes.
To this purpose serves a similar saying of one of the Seventy-two Interpreters of Sacred Scripture, found in Aristeas, in volume 7 of the Library of the Holy Fathers. For Ptolemy Philadelphus, proposing to each of the Seventy-two Interpreters of Sacred Scripture individual ethical questions, proposed to the fourth this one: How may a king and judge attain a good reputation? To which he replied: If, he said, you show yourself fair to all by reason, and do nothing proudly, and do nothing beyond the strength of your power against offenders. And you will attain this if you look to the disposition of God, who fulfills the wishes of the worthy, but to sinners either through dreams or through events demonstrates what is harmful to them; and He does not strike men according to their sins, nor according to the greatness of His strength, but using gentleness He corrects rightly.
Note: "Memorial," first, can be taken here simply as remembrance, that is to say, The remembrance of Josiah is most sweet and most pleasing; second, "memorial" can be taken as fame and glory, by metalepsis: for the memorial of Josiah was glorious. So in chapter 46:14, it is said: The memorial, that is, the fame and glory of the Judges of Israel, shall be in blessing; and chapter 39:13: The memorial, that is, the glory of him (the wise man) shall not depart. Whence, explaining, he adds: And his name shall be sought from generation to gener-
ation. And Psalm 111:6: The just shall be in everlasting remembrance. Hence "memorial" by metonymy signifies a monument erected for the memory and glory. Likewise a feast day instituted for the memory of a Saint, or of some glorious event, according to Psalm 144:7: They shall pour forth the memory of the abundance of your sweetness. Thus the feast days of Martyrs are called by Cyprian, and thence in the Martyrologies, Memorials of the Martyrs; for St. Cyprian orders these days to be noted down, recalled, and celebrated, book 3, epistle 7: When, he says, the moment of death is added to the confession, the glory of the Martyr is consummated. Finally, note down also the days on which they depart, so that we may celebrate their commemorations among the memorials of the Martyrs (although Tertullian writes and indicates to me the days on which our blessed brethren in prison pass to immortality by the departure of a glorious death), and let oblations and sacrifices be celebrated here by us in commemoration of them, which with God's protection we shall soon celebrate with you. These days are called Memorials, because as they recurred annually, they recalled and proclaimed the heroic words, deeds, torments, constancy, and victory of the Martyrs. Whence the same Cyprian, book 4, epistle 5: In the servant of God, he says, the glory of wounds produced victory, the memory of scars preserves glory. Nor is this title of glories new or crude in Celerinus, because his Celerina was already long since crowned with martyrdom, etc.; while they prostrate the devil by the confession of Christ, they merited palms from the Lord and crowns by their illustrious passion. We always, as you remember, offer sacrifices for them, whenever we celebrate with annual commemoration the passions and days of the Martyrs. For they celebrate over the memorials, that is, over the tombs and monuments of the Martyrs. And from this began the origin of writing Martyrologies; and the first, as far as I know, who wrote a Martyrology was Eusebius of Caesarea, who lived shortly after St. Cyprian; for they wished the memory of the Martyrs to exist in the Martyrologies, both for their glory,
and for the example of posterity. For this same reason Sirach here weaves a catalogue, and as it were a Martyrology of Josiah and the Saints of the Old Testament.
2. In every mouth his memory shall be made sweet as honey (in Greek glykanthesesai, that is, it shall grow sweet, it shall be sweet), and as music at a banquet of wine. — The Syriac: Like honey to the palate, sweet is his memory; and like a song over the drinking of wine; Vatablus: In every mouth sweet in the manner of honey, and as music at a sumptuous banquet of wine, that is to say, To every mouth that narrates the pious and holy deeds of Josiah, his commemoration will be sweet like honey, and like music. He explains the sweet and pleasing memorial of Josiah through three things, which wonderfully delight the three primary senses, namely through incense and fumigation, which delights the sense of smell as well as sight; through honey and wine, which delights taste; through music, which feeds and soothes the hearing. Just as therefore honey with its wonderful sweetness sweetens the palate, and music at a sumptuous banquet carries away the hearing: so
the commemoration of Josiah wonderfully delights the mouth and mind of the one commemorating, so that he seems to himself to be eating honey; and the ears of the listener, so that he seems to himself to be hearing the sweetest harmony at a banquet, in which just as the palate is fed with food and wine, so the ears are fed with musical harmony. Where indirectly and tacitly he likens the sweetness of Josiah's memorial not only to music, but also to a fragrant and delicate banquet and wine. That this truly happened is clear from 2 Paralipomenon 35:24 (to which Sirach here alludes), where concerning the dead Josiah it is said: All Judah and Jerusalem mourned for him; Jeremiah especially: whose singers, both men and women, to the present day, repeat lamentations over Josiah; and it has become as it were a law in Israel, so that concerning these things, as about a customary matter celebrated by everyone's mouth, it is said: Behold, it is written in the Lamentations. These lamentations of Jeremiah were songs composed by Jeremiah in praise of the deeds of Josiah, which were worn on everyone's lips, and were sung with the sweetest and most pleasing remembrance, fame, and glory of him. Wherefore these lamentations were different from the Lamentations (Threni) of Jeremiah, as I showed in that place.
Moreover, he fittingly compares the memorial of Josiah to honey, because, just as honey preserves bodies from putrefaction: so also memory preserves a name and fame from corruption. So Pliny, book 22, chapter 24: The nature of honey, he says, is such that it does not allow bodies to putrefy, with a pleasant flavor and not harsh, unlike the nature of salt. Whence the Babylonians embalmed the bodies of the dead with honey, so that they might remain incorrupt. Hear Statius, book 3 of the Silvae: Lead him also to the Emathian shades, where the warlike founder of the city, drenched in Hyblaean nectar, endures. Hear also Corippus on the younger Emperor Justin embalming his uncle's body: They burn Sabaean frankincense, pour fragrant honey into placed bowls, and balms with odorous juice. A hundred other kinds and wondrous ointments are brought, preserving the sacred body for eternal time. The same teaches Columella, book 2, Xenophon, book 5 of Greek Affairs, and Scaliger, exercise 119, who teaches that grafts soaked in honey are preserved for a long time, and can easily be transferred. The memorial of Josiah therefore is like honey in the mouth, because it is preserved by the speech of all as if by honey, when all follow him with fragrant remembrance and honored praise, and do not allow his fame and name to die or be corrupted, according to Psalm 111:7: The just shall be in everlasting remembrance, he shall not fear an evil report; namely, wisdom and justice are like honey, preserving the wise and just man in the memory of men, lest he decay and perish, according to Proverbs 24:13: Eat honey, my son, because it is good, etc.: so also the doctrine of wisdom for your soul: which when you have found, you shall have hope in the end, and your hope shall not perish. And Proverbs 10:7: The memory of the just is with praises (the Sep-
tuagint has, in praises), and the name of the wicked shall rot. Finally, to this purpose serves that passage from Iphigenia, in Euripides, in the Taurians: And the liquid of the mountain-ravaging bee's Flowery drops I shall pour upon your pyre. For the ancients used to pour honey upon the pyre on which they burned the bodies of deceased parents or friends, to indicate by this how pleasing and sweet their conversation in life had been to them, and how their memory and recollection would endure after death; for this alone survives among men, and lives on after death.
Allegorically, Josiah is Jesus Christ, whose birth, passion, resurrection, etc., are a most pleasing memorial among the faithful and the saints, so that, as St. Bernard says, "Jesus is honey in the mouth, melody in the ear, jubilation in the heart." For just as honey is sweetest to the mouth, so the mouth of a pious man, when from the abundance of his heart he speaks of his Jesus, seems as it were to taste and pour forth honey; just as St. Francis, whenever he pronounced the name of Jesus, was each time suffused with an inmost sweetness, so that he seemed to himself to be licking honey. Again, the naming and commemoration of Jesus is to a pious man like music at a banquet of wine; because it gives joy and gladness to the hearing, so much so that the humbled bones exult, that is, the virtues, which are the bones of the soul, watered by this memory, flourish again, and having cast off all tepidity, grow fervent in holy work. So our Alvarez, in the place just cited.
Tropologically, Josiah is any faithful and holy person, especially a zealot and restorer of religion and piety, whose memorial is sweet to disciples and posterity, like honey, like wine, like delicacies, like music.
Wherefore St. Chrysostom wisely, in homily 30 on Genesis, teaches that memory and fame are not acquired by magnificent buildings, columns, and inscriptions, but by heroic virtues, and especially by charity and almsgiving; for those are vain and perishable, these are true and stable: again, these are holy and heavenly, those are often connected with crime, more often with vanity; wherefore through those, not so much praise as reproach is obtained: Therefore, says St. Chrysostom, this is not to attain a memorial, but to be disgraced, and to sharpen the tongues of onlookers for accusation. But if you altogether love an eternal memorial, I will show you the way by which you can always be celebrated, and which will give you confidence in the future age. In this manner therefore you will be able to be commemorated and celebrated daily and extolled with praises, and after this life, if you distribute this money into the hands of the poor, leaving behind stones, and splendid buildings, and country houses, and baths. This is an immortal memorial, this memorial procures for you innumerable treasures, this memorial alleviates the burden of sins, this procures for you great confidence with God. Consider, I beseech you, these words also which each one will say: Behold this merciful and kind man, this gentle one, this sweet one, this one so lavish a dispens-
er. For he distributed, it says, he gave to the poor, his justice remains forever. And a little further on: In one day he distributed his riches, and his justice remains forever, and he makes his memorial immortal. Have you seen a memorial that extends itself into every age? Have you seen a memorial full of great and ineffable goods? Let us strive to leave a memorial of ourselves by such a building. Not to have built with stones not only cannot profit us at all, but will continually and loudly defame us. And we depart from here carrying the sins acquired from there, and we leave the building here; indeed we do not even attain a cold and useless memorial, but rather we are disfigured with reproaches, and the name immediately passes to another. For this is how things are, that they pass from this person to another, and from that one again to another. And today indeed the house was called this man's, tomorrow or another day it will soon be called another's. He then adds the example of Tabitha, whose almsgiving all celebrated after her death, Acts 9:39, and finally concludes: If you seek a memorial, if you love true glory, imitate this, build such houses, do not spend your resources on inanimate things; but with those who are of the same kind, practice mercy. This is a memorial worthy of praise, this brings great profit.
3. He was directed by God for the repentance of the nation, and he took away the abominations of impiety. — That is to say, Josiah was destined, chosen, and directed by God for the conversion of the Jewish nation. Whence he himself removed the abominable idols of the impious, the high places, the groves, sorceries, incantations, and even the brothels of the effeminate, that is, of male prostitutes: which is an abominable sin, and therefore mute, not to be named out of execration; see 4 Kings 23:24. All of which things impiety had suggest-
ed to impious kings and men to erect and worship. For "in poenitentiam" the Greek has epistrophe, that is, conversion, namely that he might convert the Jews from idolatry to the worship of the true God, from impiety to piety, from luxury to chastity, etc., which conversion happens through repentance. For "est directus divinitus," the Greek now has only kateuthynthe: which first the Complutensians and the Romans translate word for word, "he was directed"; second, others translate actively, "he acted rightly"; which follows from the first: for he who is directed by God, surely conducts himself rightly. Whence Vatablus translates: He used dexterity in reforming the people, and removed the abominable impieties. For great dexterity is needed to remove abuses and entrenched crimes, especially those common and practiced by the entire people. Whence St. Augustine, epistle 64 to Aurelius, and it is found in distinction 44, chapter 6, Comessationes, teaches that reveling and drunkenness
which in Africa used to be practiced by the people at the feasts of the Martyrs, should not be removed violently, but gently and with dexterity: Therefore not harshly, he says, as far as I judge, not roughly, not in an imperious manner are these things removed, more by teaching than by commanding, more
by admonishing than by threatening; for this is how one must deal with a multitude of sinners. Severity, however, is to be exercised against the sins of the few. And if we threaten anything, let it be done with sorrow, threatening from the Scriptures the future vengeance, lest we ourselves be feared in our own power, but rather God be feared in our speech.
Thus the spiritual men, or those nearest to the spiritual, will first be moved, by whose authority and by the gentlest indeed, but most pressing admonitions, the rest of the multitude may be broken. Wherefore Henry IV, the late King of France, wisely used to say that a nascent heresy should be repressed by force, and like a newborn fire should be smothered with water and crushed with iron; but when growing and spreading, by counsel
it should be dispersed; and when finally complete and established, it should be overcome by embrace, that is, by love, benevolence, and beneficence you should win heretics to yourself, and thus gradually lead them from heresy to the true faith; lest, if you wish to accomplish this by violence, you stir up everyone against you, and create danger for yourself and the kingdom.
Moreover the Syriac goes another way: Because, it says, he was hidden from temptations, and took away the works of error, and handed over his heart to God; another codex has: He no longer did the works of his youth, and he handed over his heart to God.
4. And he directed (in Greek kateuthyne, that is, he directed) his heart (his own heart) to the Lord, and in the days of sinners (anomon, that is, of wicked and impious men) he strengthened piety. — In Greek variousin, which others translate, he firmly held piety. Our Translator renders it better and more forcefully as "he strengthened": because Josiah not only held piety in himself, but also impressed the true and pious worship of God upon all others with the great efficacy and strength of his spirit and soul, by confirming the pious in it, by attracting the impious to it, and by converting them through rewards and punishments alike. Whence Vatablus translates: He established piety in the times of the impious; the Syriac, he made truth. Hence Josiah celebrated a solemn and public Passover, such as had never been celebrated before since the times of the Judges, as is said in 4 Kings chapter 23:22. He also restored to their former vigor the neglected or collapsed offices of the priests and Levites, 2 Paralipomenon 35:1. Note: The first hemistich indicates the cause of the second. For the reason why Josiah strengthened piety is that he directed his heart to God, loving and worshipping Him with all his heart, and with all his soul, and with all his strength, 4 Kings 23:23. For he who loves and worships God with his whole heart, surely puts on zeal for His worship, so as to overthrow everything contrary to it, and to strive with all his
might to lead and convert all to the same worship. Moreover, a great strength of piety and religion is situated in the piety of kings: for since they wield great authority and power, they are able to restore and strengthen collapsed religion, if they effectively and vigorously wish to do so, as is evident in Constantine the Great, Theodosius, Charlemagne, St. Louis, and the other pious kings.
5. Except David, and Hezekiah, and Josiah, all (the kings of Judah) committed sin. — In Greek, plemmeleian eplemellesan, that is, they committed an offense; the Syriac, they corrupted; Vatablus, they treacherously fell away. For by "sin" he means not just any sin (for David too sinned by homicide and adultery), but par excellence idolatry and superstition. For this is the sin of sins, which brings all other sins with it; for the idolater is an apostate, who treacherously defects from God to an idol, that is, to the devil. He means therefore the sin of idolatry, either practiced or not entirely removed.
You will say: King Asa and Jehoshaphat too were worshippers of the true God and haters of idols. I reply: that is true, but nevertheless each of them sinned with a sin closely related to and connected with idolatry. For neither Asa nor Jehoshaphat removed the high places, namely the temples and altars erected on mountains and elevated places, which God had forbidden, 3 Kings 15:14, and 3 Kings 22:44. Moreover, he formed friendships and marriages with the idolatrous kings of Israel, Ahab, Ahaziah, and Jehoram, and thus indirectly fostered and strengthened their idolatry: for which reason he was once and again sharply rebuked by a Prophet sent by God, 2 Paralipomenon chapter 19:2: You give help to the impious, he said, and you are joined in friendship with those who hate the Lord, and therefore you deserved the wrath of the Lord: but good works have been found in you, because you removed the groves, etc. And chapter 20:37: And Eliezer prophesied, etc., to Jehoshaphat saying: Because you had a covenant with Ahaziah, the Lord has destroyed your works, and the ships were broken, and they could not sail to Tarshish.
Let Christian kings and princes note this passage, and learn that it is not sufficient that they themselves be orthodox and pious, but moreover God requires of them that they eradicate heretics and heresy as far as they can, and make all their subjects orthodox and worshippers of the true faith and religion: for if Asa and Jehoshaphat, pious kings, are said to have committed the great, indeed the greatest, sin of idolatry, because they either did not remove the high places, or were allied and married with idolaters; surely those will be considered guilty of the same sin who tolerate heretics and heresy, indeed allow it to creep in and spread, and who rashly enter into covenants with them against the Church and the princes of the Church: for this is to foster heretics and favor heresy, but to oppress the faith and the faithful, indeed to make war on them: for heresy is idolatry. For a heretic fashions his heresy as an idol, and proposes it to others for worship, that is, truly and properly, a heretic fashions and worships not the true God, but a fictitious and false one. For he who says that God does not have a Son, as the Arians taught; or that He is not three in Persons, as the Sabellians taught; or that He is not of free will, as the moderns teach; or falsely attributes anything else to Him; surely worships not the true God, who is, but another God, who
does not exist; and therefore he worships a false deity, and an idol fabricated by himself; for the true God has a Son, is three in Persons, is of free will, etc. Therefore a God lacking a Son, three Persons, free will, etc., is surely not true, but fictitious and false, and therefore diabolical and an idol. See what was said on the epistle of St. Jude, verse 8, and 2 Peter 2:10.
The same thing the Philosophers also saw and decreed. Plato, in book 2 of the Republic, establishes religion and the true worship of God as the base and foundation of the commonwealth. The first care, he says, in every well-constituted commonwealth should be for true religion. And in book 7: In that commonwealth which wishes to be happy, the magistrates are to be instructed in the knowledge of the true God and the true good from their earliest infancy. He adds the reason: Ignorance of the true God and the true good is the source and origin of innumerable calamities, both private and public, and of the worst counsels in the commonwealth; and this he demonstrates throughout the entire remaining book. The same author, in book 2 of the Laws: The prince, he says, should impress upon his subjects that no external things are useful or pleasant without virtue, piety toward God, and justice. And in book 4: True religion is the support of the commonwealth, and therefore the chief care of the commonwealth should be to establish it. And in book 10: True religion is the basis of the commonwealth, and therefore all impiety must be punished.
6. For the kings of Judah forsook the law of the Most High, and despised the fear of God. — So the Roman text. He gives the reason why all the kings of Judah except David, Hezekiah, and Josiah committed the sin of idolatry, either by practicing and sanctioning it, or by permitting it; because, he says, all of them either partly or entirely forsook the law of God, and despised the fear, that is, the reverence, worship, and religion of God. In Greek it reads: For the kings of Judah forsook the law of the Most High, they fell away; Vatablus, the kings of Judah revolted. Entirely this was done by Ahaz, Manasseh, and others who erected idols; partly by those who did not remove the high places. Whence of Solomon, Asa, Jehoshaphat, Joash, Amaziah, and Azariah, kings otherwise pious, it is said in the book of Kings, and this blemish is cast upon their praises: Nevertheless the high places he did not remove. And yet most of these high places were erected not for idols, but for the true God: but because God had forbidden them on account of the danger of idolatry, the kings are blamed because they permitted them and did not remove them.
7. For they gave their kingdom to others, and their glory to a foreign nation. — The word "for" proves what preceded, that is to say, That the kings of Judah forsook
the law and fear of the Lord, is evident from the effect. For "they gave," that is, by their impiety they merited, and were the cause that their glorious kingdom was given to foreigners, namely to the Assyrians and Babylonians. For "they gave," our Translator reads with the Greeks, the Romans, and Dozza in the plural; but the Complutensian reads in the singular edoke, that is, he gave, namely God, angered by the crimes of the kings of Judah. Again for "kingdom" the Greek has keras, that is, horn, that is, strength, power, kingdom. For the strength of beasts, by which they attack and subdue others and rule over them, is situated in their horns. Whence some from the Greek translate thus: For they gave their horn to others, and their glory to a foreign nation. By "glory" are signified not only wealth, honor, magnificence, but also the majesty of the temple, of the sacred rites, of the pontiffs, of the oracles, of the Prophets, of the teachers, etc. For all these things the Chaldeans destroyed or profaned. The Syriac: They gave their might (glory and strength) to others, and their honor to a foreign nation.
Encomium of Jeremiah.
8. They burned (namely others, or the foreign nation that preceded) the chosen city of holiness, and made its ways desolate, by the hand of Jeremiah. — That is to say, The impious kings of Judah by their impiety merited that others, namely a foreign nation, that is, the Chaldeans, should burn the capital of their kingdom, namely Jerusalem, the faithful and holy city, chosen by God, that in it He might erect a temple in which to dwell, and that its streets, once so frequented, should be devastated by the Chaldeans, and become empty of inhabitants and dwellers and desolate: "By the hand of Jeremiah," that is, as had been prophesied and threatened through Jeremiah, or according to the prophecy of Jeremiah, as Vatablus translates. It is a Hebraism: for "hand," which is the instrument of all works, hence among the Hebrews signifies the instrumental cause, and means the same as "through": "By the hand" therefore "of Jeremiah" means the same as through the work and mouth of Jeremiah, or prophesied through Jeremiah, that is to say, According to the prophecy of Jeremiah. The Syriac: They uprooted (demolished) the holy city, they made desolate (or corroded) its ruins in the days of Jeremiah.
9. For they mistreated him who was consecrated a Prophet from his mother's womb, to overthrow, and to pluck up, and to destroy, and again to build, and to renew. — In Greek: For they vexed him, although from the womb he had been consecrated a prophet to uproot and to do harm, and to destroy, and likewise to build, and to plant, that is to say, The cause why Jerusalem was burned and laid waste by the Chaldeans was its crimes, and especially the sacrilegious impiety exercised against the Prophet Jeremiah, sent by God for its salvation, namely that the kings Jeconiah and Zedekiah at Jerusalem, and the leaders of the people, mistreated Jeremiah, imprisoned him, and plunged him into a pit, surely to die there, had not Ebed-melech the eunuch freed him, Jeremiah 38:7; him, I say, who from the womb was destined by God and as it were consecrated a Prophet, to foretell with certainty that these nations would be overthrown, uprooted from their seats, torn out and dispersed; but again to be restored and renewed. For all these infinitives — to overthrow, to pluck up, to destroy, to build, to renew — signify not a real action, but a mental or rather verbal one, and mean the same as
to foretell that nations were to be overthrown, uprooted, destroyed, built up, and renewed. For when Prophets prophesy something future, they are so certain and efficacious, and it so certainly comes to pass, as if they were actually accomplishing and performing it with their own hands. He cites Jeremiah 1:5: Before I formed you in the womb, I knew you; and before you came forth from the womb, I sanctified you, and I appointed you a Prophet among the nations. And verse 10: Behold I have set you this day over nations, and over kingdoms, to root up, and to pull down, and to scatter, and to destroy, and to build, and to plant. See what I annotated in that passage.
Encomium of Ezekiel.
10. Ezekiel, who saw the vision of glory (of God), which He showed him upon the chariot of the Cherubim. — "Ezekiel," understand, is that noble Prophet, who prophesied after Jeremiah, indeed along with Jeremiah. Whence Vatablus translates: Moreover or but there is Ezekiel, who saw the vision of glory. Or, as Jansenius says, this verse depends on verse 12, and is completed there, that is to say, Ezekiel, that is, of Ezekiel (for Ezekiel in Greek as in Hebrew is indeclinable, and therefore of any case), who saw the vision of glory, etc., and may the bones of the twelve prophets spring up from their place, for which the Complutensian has: Let the memory be
in blessings, that is to say, May the memory of Ezekiel and the twelve Prophets be blessed. Moreover the chariot of the Cherubim was a symbol of the providence and vengeance of God, by which, as if seated armed upon a war chariot, He is borne against the impious, as against His enemies, and defeats and crushes them. See what I said about this chariot on Ezekiel 1, where I explained it at length, both literally, and allegorically, tropologically, and anagogically.
11. For he made mention of the enemies under rain, to do good to those who showed right ways. — The word "for" gives the reason why the memory of Ezekiel is blessed and celebrated. Again he explains the chariot of the Cherubim, namely, as I said, that by this chariot is signified the providence of God, by which He punishes the impious; but to the pious He is beneficent. Whence the Zurich translation: Under the image of rain he remembered the enemies, (that is, under the allegory of rain he foretold evils to the enemies of God, as Vatablus explains), and raised up those who walk rightly, that is to say, Ezekiel remembered the vengeance of God, namely that God, the avenger of the impious, rains down His plagues upon them, thunders, and flashes like a rain resounding with thunder and lightning, and a tempest rushing down from above. He also remembered the beneficence which God shows to the penitent, who namely correct their evil ways, that is, their actions, and make them right; for to these Ezekiel promised life, both present and eternal, as is evident from Ezekiel chapter 18:22, and chapter 33:16 and 19. He alludes to, indeed cites, Ezekiel chapter 13, where he threatens the impious Jews with the vengeance of God under the image of rain. And chapter 38:22, where he threatens Gog and Magog, leaders of the Antichrist, with rains, hailstones, thunders, and lightnings; for truly God will
hurl these against the impious at the end of the world, as St. John teaches, Apocalypse 16:21: And great hail, he says, like a talent came down from heaven upon men. See what was said in both places. To this is added that St. Epiphanius and Dorotheus, in the Life of Ezekiel, relate that he performed many portents and miracles, especially in waters and rivers.
For agathynnai, that is, to do good, others read katorthesei, that is, to direct; the Complutensian has kai katorthosi, that is, and he directed; whence the Syriac translates: And also concerning Job he said (Ezekiel, chapter 14:14), that all his ways were of justice (straight and just). Where note that the Syriac seems to have translated this from the Hebrew, not from the Greek: for instead of "oieb," that is, enemies, he read with different vowel points "iob," Job.
Encomium of the Twelve Prophets.
12. And may the bones of the twelve Prophets spring up from their place: for they strengthened (in Greek parekalesan, that is, they consoled) Jacob, and redeemed themselves by firm faith. — In Greek elytrosanto autous en pistei elpidos, that is, they freed them (our Translator takes autous for eautous, that is, themselves) in the faith of hope, that is, through faith, by which they firmly hoped that what they prophesied would come to pass, they freed the Jacobites, that is, the Jews, from their evils, so that even if they were not freed in reality, they were certainly already freed in hope and faith, according to
that saying of Paul: In hope we are saved. So Jansenius. Whence Vatablus translates: May the bones also of the twelve Prophets come to life again from their places, and may their memory be favorable and blessed. For each one consoled Jacob, and preserved him with faithful hope. Our Translator, for "faith of hope," renders "faith of virtue"; because the faith of hope, that is, which firmly hopes for the future of what God promises and foretells through the Prophets, is the faith of virtue, that is, a faith that is strong, powerful, and efficacious. The sense therefore of our Latin version is, that is to say, May the memory of the bones and tomb, and consequently of the twelve Prophets themselves, be always green, pleasing, and flourishing; may their name and fame endure with their tombs and monuments, so that the deceased may seem to come back to life and live more than when they actually lived: so much does their praise, honor, and glory extend to posterity, indeed endure forever, that whenever posterity gazes upon their bones and tombs, they may so often renew and celebrate the glorious memory of their virtues and oracles, and proclaim them worthy, whose bones may rise among the Patriarchs and Apostles to heavenly glory in the universal resurrection of mankind. It is a metalepsis: for "bones" are put for the tomb, the tomb for the buried, namely for the very Prophets themselves; that is, the contained is put for the container; and "to spring up" means the same as always to flourish and bloom. He adds the reason: For they strengthened Jacob in the faith and piety of the one true God and of the Messiah, whom they foretold would come: they strengthened, I say, both by prophesying, and by their merits and prayers, obtaining the strength and help of God for the people,
obtaining it: And they redeemed themselves by firm faith, namely by a faith not of just any kind, but most strong and most powerful; or by the faith of virtue, that is, by a most strenuous and efficacious fidelity: "they redeemed," that is, they freed, and preserved themselves immune from all fault, punishment, and calumny; because they faithfully and constantly proclaimed and prophesied nothing except what God revealed to them. For with a similar phrase he said of Joshua and the other Judges of Israel in chapter 46:13: And the Judges whose heart was not corrupted: who did not turn away from the Lord, that their memory may be in blessing, and their bones may spring up from their place, that is, as he explains by adding: And their name may remain forever, enduring to their children, the glory of holy men.
Therefore these bones of the Prophets still spring up, and will spring up until the end of the world, while they themselves through their monuments and oracles continually preach and will preach to Christians, Jews, and all nations the coming of the Messiah, and His faith, morals, spirit, and every virtue and holiness. Whence the Syriac: May the twelve prophets also (be praised), may their bones be radiant beneath themselves; because they healed Israel, and caused those who are to be freed to have confidence.
Encomium of Zerubbabel, Jesus the son of Josedec, and Nehemiah.
13. How shall we magnify (in Greek megalynomen, that is, we shall magnify, namely worthily according to his merits; Vatablus, how greatly shall we extol) Zerubbabel? For he also was as a signet (the Syriac, a seal, or signet ring) on the right hand. — Jansenius and others add "Israel," but the Latin, Roman, and all the Greek texts delete the same, since Zerubbabel was a signet on the hand of God, not of Israel; unless you say with Jansenius that "Israel" is in the dative case, that is to say, Zerubbabel was the seal of God for sealing Israel. Sirach cites Haggai 2:24: In that day, says the Lord of hosts, I will take you, O Zerubbabel, etc., and I will set you as a signet, because I have chosen you. For "signaculum," in Hebrew it is chotam, that is, a signet ring, that is to say, I, God, love you, O Zerubbabel, and closely embrace you, just as a signet ring is usually loved, embraced, and guarded by the one who wears it on his hand. See what was said on Haggai 2:24, where I expounded this seal at length, both literally concerning Zerubbabel, and allegorically concerning Christ. After the twelve Prophets he celebrates Zerubbabel the prince, and Jesus the pontiff, who were the leaders of the people
returning from Babylon, and rebuilt the temple of God that had been burned by the Chaldeans. 14. So also Jesus the son of Josedec? Who (Jesus and Zerubbabel) in their days (the Syriac, in their poverty) built the house (for God, namely the temple, as follows), and raised up the holy temple to the Lord, prepared for everlasting glory. — For this second temple built by Jesus
and Zerubbabel endured forever, as long as the Synagogue and the commonwealth of the Jews endured, that is, until its destruction by Titus and Vespasian. Again in this temple Christ the Lord was presented, taught, preached, performed miracles, and finally founded His Church, whose glory will endure forever for all eternity. He alludes to Haggai 2:8: The desired of all nations shall come, and I will fill this house with glory, etc. The glory of this latter house shall be greater than of the former, says the Lord of hosts. See what was said there. Concerning this Jesus I said more on Zechariah 3:1 and following. For "templum" he reads with the Complutensians, Vatablus, and others naon, for which the Roman reads laon, that is, the people; but the sense comes to the same thing: for the people become holy from the holy temple, namely when they rebuild, frequent, and worship in it, and in it learn and fulfill the law of God: and both of these things Jesus and Zerubbabel accomplished.
15. And Nehemiah in the memory of long time (understand, let him be), who raised up for us our walls (of Jerusalem, destroyed by the Chaldeans) that were fallen, and set up the gates and bars, who rebuilt our houses. — That is to say, Among the heroes to be counted is also Nehemiah, worthy of eternal memory; for he himself, having obtained permission from Artaxerxes king of Persia, in the 20th year of his reign, rebuilt Jerusalem destroyed by Nebuchadnezzar, both as to gates and walls, and as to private houses. For by his command, order, and distribution, each private person built houses in the city. See Nehemiah chapter 2 and following. The Complutensian Greek and Vatablus have: Among the elect furthermore, Nehemiah is of much, or, as the Complutensian has, of lasting memory, who raised up for us our collapsed walls, and established gates with bars and the eikopeda, that is, plots and foundations of our houses; the Complutensian, only raised up; Vatablus, built beneath. For this reason he was fittingly called in Hebrew Nehemiah, that is, the consoler is the Lord, or consoled by the Lord, says Rabanus. The Syriac: May the memory of Nehemiah be multiplied, because he raised up our ruins, and restored our overthrown things, and made our gates and our bars.
Three Compared Encomia: First, Joseph Compared With Enoch; Second, Shem Compared With Seth; Third, Adam Compared With all Other Men.
16, 17, and 18. No one was born upon the earth like Enoch: for he also was taken up from the earth. Nor was any man born like Joseph, the prince of his brethren, the support of the nation, the governor of his brethren, the establishment of the people: and his bones were visited, and after death they prophesied. — The Syriac obscurely translates: Few have been created upon the earth like Enoch, and no mother has given birth like Joseph, and also his body was gathered in peace. Sirach here concludes the encomia of the fathers whom Scripture mentions (for he omits Judah, Jonathan, Simon, and the other
Maccabees, celebrated for so many victories, because these followed after him and belonged to a later age) by way of recapitulation. Therefore returning to the earliest, he counts several eminent ones among them whom he had passed over, and compares them with one another. Wherefore just as he began with Enoch, so he ends with the same, because he compares with him Joseph, whom he had passed over. For that there is here a comparison of Joseph with Enoch is clear from the phrase, "nor like Joseph," as the Roman text has, and from the Greek which in verse 2 has oude os Ioseph egennethe aner, that is, "nor was any man born or made like Joseph," which he had likewise said of Enoch in the preceding verse: for Sirach, in the manner of the ancients, delights in comparisons in these ethical maxims of his, as we have often seen up to now; for those were the elegances of that age. In a similar way Plutarch wrote the Parallel Lives of illustrious men; for he compares Greeks with Romans, each with his like. Thus he compares Theseus with Romulus, Hannibal with Scipio Africanus, Alexander the Great with Julius Caesar, Demosthenes with Cicero, Agesilaus with Pompey, Themistocles with Camillus, Aristides with Cato, Pyrrhus with Gaius Marius, Pericles with Fabius Maximus, Lycurgus with Numa Pompilius, Solon with Publicola, Lysander with Sulla, etc.
The sense therefore is, that is to say, Just as in the first age of the world before the flood, no one was like Enoch in virtue and piety; for he walked with God, and therefore was taken up into paradise, so that at the end of the world he might lead nations away from the Antichrist and convert them to Christ: so likewise in the later age after the flood no one was like Joseph, "who was born a man," in Greek aner, that is, a man, because from boyhood he displayed manly wisdom, modesty, gravity, and virtue. Again, "he was born a man" so as to become "the prince of his brethren," as well as of the Egyptians; for to this he was destined by God from boyhood; whence still a boy when he was sixteen years old, he prophesied through prophetic dreams, Genesis 37.
Therefore first, just as Enoch was raised up to paradise, so Joseph was raised up to the rulership of Egypt. Second, just as Enoch wonderfully pleased God by his piety, so also did Joseph. Third, just as Enoch gave salvation to the nations of his age, and will give it even more at the end of the world by word and example: so likewise Joseph gave salvation to the Egyptians and Hebrews; both temporal, by feeding them in the famine; and spiritual, by imbuing them with the true knowledge and worship of God, according to Psalm 104:21: He (Pharaoh) made him (Joseph) lord of his house, and prince of all his possessions, that he might instruct his princes as himself, and teach his elders wisdom.
Fourth, just as Enoch was the Nazarite of his age, because separated from the conversation of men he walked with God, so also Joseph was a Nazarite among his brothers, Genesis 49:26. Here "Enoch" in Hebrew means the same as "dedication," because he was wholly dedicated to God: so also Joseph. Fifth, just as Enoch was a Prophet, so also was Joseph. Whence "Joseph" in Hebrew means the same as "added," or "increased," namely by the gift of prophecy; although his mother Rachel named him "Joseph" because, having previously been barren, she was now increased by this son, Genesis 30:24.
Sixth, just as Enoch on account of his separation and holiness suffered much from the men of his age, who were most impious, and will suffer still more from the Antichrist and his followers, and will even be killed by him and crowned with martyrdom: so likewise Joseph suffered much from his brothers and from the Egyptians in prison. Whence the Arabic translates: There was lacking (there was not) among men one who was like Enoch: and there was not born of women one like Joseph, in the excellence of his patience. For Joseph was admirable in many things, but especially in patience and chastity. Hear St. Zeno of Verona, sermon On Chastity: Joseph, he says, a Hebrew youth, distinguished in birth, more distinguished in beauty, most distinguished in the probity of his character, was among the sons of Jacob younger in age, but greater in spirit; whom his master's wife had begun to love worse than his brothers hated him. And after some further remarks: O how much is chastity to be admired, which does not wish to be praised in any way other than by being guarded, content with the good of conscience alone! You are happy in virgins, strong in widows, faithful in spouses, pure in priests, glorious in Martyrs, radiant in angels, queen among men. You are the honor of bodies, you the treasure of souls, you the sacrifice dear to God, the legitimate temple of God, the sanctuary of modesty.
He alludes to Genesis 49:22, where Moses, recounting the praises of Joseph, among other things says: His bow sat upon the strong, etc., from thence came forth the shepherd, the stone of Israel. The shepherd, that is, as Sirach here explains, the prince of his brethren, and the ruler of Egypt: The stone of Israel, that is, the establishment of the people; for he himself nourished and established all his brothers, the sons of Israel or Jacob, with their families in Egypt. Moreover the phrase "governor of his brethren, establishment of the people" seems to have been inserted here from another version. For "governor of the brethren" is the same as what preceded, "prince of the brethren," and "establishment of the people" is the same as what preceded, "support of the nation."
Finally, "his (Joseph's) bones were visited," that is, they were cared for; for Moses took care, Exodus 13:19, when leading the Hebrews out of Egypt, that the bones of Joseph should likewise be carried out to the promised land, as Joseph had requested and foretold when dying, Genesis 50:23. I assigned the reasons in that place. The Complutensian Greek adds apo kyriou, that is, they were visited (Vatablus, preserved) by the Lord; whence some translate: The Lord visited, or regarded, his bones. For he alludes to the words and oracle of Joseph, who at death uttered this prophecy like a swan song: God will visit you: carry my bones with you from this place, Genesis 50:24.
Hence, "and the bones of Joseph after death prophesied," that is, the prophecy which Joseph while living had uttered concerning the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt together with his bones, this prophecy his bones confirmed after 144 years (for that many years passed from Joseph's death until the departure of the Hebrews from Egypt). For when the bones of Joseph were being carried from Egypt to the promised land with and through the camp of the Hebrews; by this very fact they tacitly testified, and spoke with a mute voice, that his former prophecy about this departure with his bones had been and was true, and they sealed and confirmed it as if with the affixed seal of a certain fulfillment. It is a catachresis; for "to prophesy" here means the same as to confirm a prophecy. See what was said on chapter 48, verse 14.
Palacius takes it differently: I believe, he says, that the bones of Joseph prophesied, because God worked some miracle through them, by raising some dead person to life, or by healing someone who was sick; for thus he said that the dead body of Elisha prophesied, because it recalled a dead man to life, chapter 48, verse 14.
Moreover Joannes Alba, in the Electa chapter 98, by hypallage, which inverts and transposes the words of a sentence, explains it thus: The bones of Joseph were visited, and after death they prophesied, that is, Joseph while living prophesied about them (namely his brothers), who were to be visited by God after his death, and about his bones, namely that they were to be carried to the land of Canaan. For Joseph's bones are not narrated to have been visited, but to have been carried out, and it was his brothers who were visited, Genesis 50, nor did the bones prophesy, but Joseph about his bones. A similar phrase is in Acts 1:18: He (Judas the traitor of Christ) possessed a field from the price of iniquity; meaning, from the price of iniquity the field was possessed, or bought. And Acts 8: In His humility His judgment was taken away, meaning, Christ was taken away or removed from the earth, He died by the humility of judgment, or by a humble judgment, that is, by a vile punishment, or by the shameful and infamous death of the cross. But the sense given at the beginning, as simpler, is also more genuine and more forceful.
19. Seth and Shem obtained glory among men (of virtue and authority, says the Gloss); and above every soul in the origin of Adam. — The Syriac: Seth and Shem and Enos were created among men, and above all these Adam. This is the second comparison, by which Shem is compared with Seth in glory. For first, just as Seth from the beginning of the world was the first father of the pious line of the pious who descended from him, set against Cain, who was the parent of the impious; whence the sons of Seth are called the sons of God; but the daughters of Cain are called the daughters of men, Genesis 6:2; so after the flood when the world was renewed, Shem was the father of the pious line of the Patriarchs, namely Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, etc., from whom Christ was born; set against Ham, from whom descended the Canaanites and the other unfaithful and impious. Whence St. Augustine, book 15 of the City of God, chapter 17: Since therefore, he says, he (Adam) was the father of both kinds, that is,
both the one whose line pertains to the earthly, and the one whose line pertains to the heavenly city; when Abel was killed, and in his slaying a wonderful mystery was commended, there came to be two fathers of the respective kinds, Cain and Seth: in whose children, of these two cities, the judgments began to appear more clearly among the race of mortals, etc.
Second, just as the name Shem alludes in its letters to the name Seth, so also its etymology alludes: for "Shem" in Hebrew means the same as "name," fame, that is to say, Named, famous, celebrated for wisdom and virtue, and especially for the reverence of God and of his father Noah, by which he covered his father's nakedness in his drunkenness, which Ham mocked, Genesis 9:22 and 23. But "Seth" means the same as "placed," substituted, namely for the pious Abel, whom Cain had killed, according to Genesis 4:25: And he called his name Seth, saying: God has placed for me another seed in place of Abel, whom Cain killed; that is, so that through Seth in his posterity the stock and name of Adam might be propagated and celebrated. Hence St. Epiphanius, heresy 34, interprets Seth as anastasis, that is, exchange, because he was exchanged and substituted for Abel.
Third, both Shem and Seth were types of the resurrection; for just as through Seth, Abel slain by Cain, and his virtue and piety, as it were came back to life and rose again: so likewise through Shem the world came back to life, and the human race, submerged and nearly extinguished by the flood. Whence St. Augustine, book 15 of the City of God, chapter 17: Seth, he says, is interpreted as resurrection, because in Seth Abel was restored, and seemed as it were to have risen again. And chapter 18: And to Seth, he says, a son was born, and he called his name Enos. This man hoped to invoke the name of the Lord God, namely the attestation of truth cries out. In hope therefore man lives, the son of the resurrection lives in hope, as long as the city of God, which is born from the faith of the resurrection of Christ, sojourns here. For from those two men, Abel, who is interpreted as mourning; and his brother Seth, who is interpreted as resurrection, the death of Christ and His life from the dead is prefigured. From which faith the city of God is born here, that is, the man who hoped to invoke the name of the Lord God, for in hope we are saved, says the Apostle; but the hope that is seen is not hope, Romans 5: For what one sees, why does he hope for it? But if we hope for what we do not see, we wait for it with patience. And St. Chrysostom, homily 21 on Genesis: God, he says, has raised up for me another seed in place of Abel, whom Cain killed. See how obscurely by this word he here shows the beginnings of the resurrection. He was saying, that is to say, For the one who fell, He raised up this one for me. But because it was not yet the time of the resurrection, He did not raise up the fallen one, but another in his place.
Fourth, so great was the holiness of Seth that by the faithful he was called God, says Suidas: Shem was similar; whence he merited to be blessed by his father Noah above Ham and Japheth, Genesis 9, and was considered worthy and chosen by God, that from him Christ, God and man, should be begotten. Hence the Hebrews think that Shem was
the same person as Melchizedek, whose holiness is celebrated by Moses, Genesis 14, and by Paul, Hebrews 7. For Shem lived up to the times of Melchizedek and Abraham; although it is more truly the case that Shem was not Melchizedek, as I showed in the places already cited. To this is added that St. Cyril interprets "Shem" as perfection. Certainly Shem was a man perfect in holiness as well as in wisdom.
Finally both Shem and Seth were fathers of the sons of God; and just as Seth was the father and prince of the Church before the flood, so Shem was after the flood. Allegorically, both Shem and Seth represent Christ, the Father of Saints of both the present and future age, Isaiah 9:6. For Christ is Seth, that is, placed and founded by God, to be the cornerstone of the Church, according to Isaiah 28:16: Behold I will lay in the foundations of Zion a stone, a tried stone, a cornerstone, a precious stone, founded in the foundation. The same Christ is Shem, that is, name, because on account of His humility and passion God the Father gave Him a name which is above every name, that at the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, Philippians 2:9. So the Gloss.
Moreover these things said about Seth are confirmed by Josephus, who writes thus about him, book 1 of the Antiquities, chapter 3: He, raised by his father, when he had reached that age at which he could discern what is right, devoted himself entirely to the pursuit of virtue; and since he himself had become a most excellent man, he also left behind grandchildren like himself. Who, since they were all endowed with a good disposition, and inhabited their homeland without sedition, spent their lives in perpetual happiness, and devised the science of the stars and the knowledge of heavenly things.
Again our Raderus, in his Notes on the Alexandrian Chronicle, number 5, reports from a fragment of a certain Chronicle from the Palatine library, that Seth in the 40th year of his age was suddenly snatched away by an angel, and for a space of 40 days was not seen, and during that time divinely learned that his sons would sin, and that the world would be flooded with water, and that all except a few would perish; that also the author of salvation, Christ, would come, and that he had set these things forth to his parents. And in that encounter with the angel he was surrounded by a heavenly splendor, which he retained for the rest of his life: which things, although Raderus fears they may have been excerpted from the books of the Sethian heretics,
who reported that Seth was snatched away, as Epiphanius relates; others nevertheless think they are plausible: for the Sethian heretics considered Seth to be Christ, on the grounds that God had deposited in Seth all kinds of virtue and purity, which befits no one but Christ. See Epiphanius, heresy 39: but that Palatine codex says nothing of the kind.
And above every soul in the origin of Adam. — Supply and repeat, "he obtained glory," that is to say, Adam the first man and first-formed, excels every man in origin and beginning; for he was the first of all to be created by God, and in turn he himself begot all other men whatsoever who have been, are, and will be. This therefore is the glory of Adam, that among men he was the first immediately created by God, and consequently that he is the origin and beginning of all men. The Arabic here, as also often elsewhere, diverges from the Greek and Latin: for it has thus: Moreover Seth and Enos among the first men of God Most High (whom God Most High created), our father Adam praised him (Seth, for Adam did not see Shem).
In three things therefore Adam is compared with and preferred above all other men: first, in creation, namely that from the origin of the world he before all was created by God; second, in origin, that he himself is the origin and parent of all others; third, in dominion, that he as Patriarch, indeed as the vicar of God, presided over and ruled not only his sons and posterity, but also the other animals and the whole world, as a king. Whence the Greek has, kai epi pan zoon en te ktisei Adam, that is, and above every animal, or every living thing in the creation of Adam; Vatablus: In the nature of things Adam among all living creatures, although in the Complutensian the word zoon is absent.
Wherefore Philo, in the book On the Creation of the World, calls Adam a citizen of the world. Whence St. Basil, epistle 1 to Maximus the Philosopher, calls him kosmopolites, that is, a citizen of the world; and Nazianzen, oration 23 in praise of Heron (who is the same as Maximus of St. Basil) calls him a citizen of the whole world. Indeed Diogenes the Cynic, when asked what country he was from, replied that he was kosmopoliten, that is, a citizen of the world. The same thing Cicero relates of Socrates, Tusculan Disputations 5, namely: Every soil is a fatherland to the brave, as the sea is to fish.