Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He teaches that the sin of the Jews, written on the altars of idols and in the hearts of the Jews, is indelible, and can only be wiped out by destruction: hence, in verse 5, he says that cursed is he who trusts in man, and blessed is he who trusts in the Lord; and he illustrates this with the elegant comparison of the barren tamarisk and the well-watered tree; and of the partridge sitting on eggs that are not her own. Whence, in verse 13, he asserts that those who depart from the Lord will be written in the earth. Thirdly, in verse 14, he prays that God may protect him against the Jews: Because, he says, I have not been troubled, following You as shepherd: and I have not desired the day of man, You know. Do not be a terror to me, You are my hope in the day of affliction. Fourthly, in verse 19, he exhorts to the observance of the sabbath, and consequently to all worship of God.
Vulgate Text: Jeremiah 17:1-27
1. The sin of Judah is written with an iron stylus, with a diamond point, engraved upon the breadth of their heart, and on the horns of their altars. 2. When their children remember their altars, and their groves, and their leafy trees, on the high mountains, 3. sacrificing in the field: I will give your strength, and all your treasures to be plundered, your high places because of sins throughout all your borders. 4. And you shall be left alone from your inheritance, which I gave you: and I will make you serve your enemies in a land which you know not: because you have kindled a fire in My fury, it shall burn forever. 5. Thus says the Lord: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and makes flesh his arm, and whose heart departs from the Lord. 6. For he shall be like a tamarisk in the desert, and shall not see when good comes: but shall dwell in dryness in the desert, in a salt land, and uninhabitable. 7. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence. 8. And he shall be like a tree that is transplanted by the waters, which sends out its roots toward the moisture: and it shall not fear when heat comes. And its leaf shall be green, and in the time of drought it shall not be anxious, nor shall it ever cease to bear fruit. 9. The heart of all is perverse and inscrutable: who shall know it? 10. I the Lord search the heart, and test the reins: who give to each one according to his way, and according to the fruit of his devices. 11. The partridge has hatched what she did not lay: he has made riches, and not by judgment: in the midst of his days he shall leave them, and in his last end he shall be a fool. 12. A throne of glory on high from the beginning, the place of our sanctification. 13. O Lord, the hope of Israel: all who forsake You shall be confounded: those who depart from You shall be written in the earth: because they have forsaken the Lord, the fountain of living waters. 14. Heal me, O Lord, and I shall be healed: save me, and I shall be saved: for You are my praise. 15. Behold, they say to me: Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come. 16. And I have not been troubled, following You as shepherd: and I have not desired the day of man, You know: that which went forth from my lips was right in Your sight. 17. Be not a terror to me, You are my hope in the day of affliction. 18. Let those who persecute me be confounded, and let not me be confounded: let them be dismayed, and let not me be dismayed: bring upon them the day of affliction, and crush them with double destruction. 19. Thus says the Lord to me: Go, and stand in the gate of the children of the people, through which the kings of Judah enter and go out, and in all the gates of Jerusalem: 20. and you shall say to them: Hear the word of the Lord, you kings of Judah, and all Judah, and all you inhabitants of Jerusalem, who enter by these gates. 21. Thus says the Lord: Guard your souls, and do not carry burdens on the sabbath day, nor bring them in through the gates of Jerusalem. 22. And do not carry forth burdens from your houses on the sabbath day, and do no work: sanctify the sabbath day as I commanded your fathers. 23. But they did not hear, nor incline their ear: but hardened their neck, that they might not hear Me, and might not receive instruction. 24. And it shall be: If you will hear Me, says the Lord, so as not to bring in burdens through the gates of this city on the sabbath day: and if you will sanctify the sabbath day, and not do any work therein: 25. there shall enter through the gates of this city kings and princes, sitting on the throne of David, and riding in chariots and on horses, they and their princes, the men of Judah, and the inhabitants of Jerusalem: and this city shall be inhabited forever. 26. And they shall come from the cities of Judah, and from the surroundings of Jerusalem, and from the land of Benjamin, and from the plains, and from the mountains, and from the South, bringing burnt offerings, and victims, and sacrifices, and incense, and they shall bring an oblation into the house of the Lord. 27. But if you will not hear Me to sanctify the sabbath day, and not to carry a burden, and not to bring it in through the gates of Jerusalem on the sabbath day: I will kindle a fire in its gates, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem, and shall not be quenched.
Verse 1
1. The sin of Judah is written (in Hebrew ketuba, that is, inscribed, engraved and as if marked with a brand) with an iron stylus. — The ancients of old wrote with an iron stylus; but on wax tablets, whence Ovid: The right hand holds the iron; the other holds the empty wax.
But the Romans wrote with a bone stylus, according to Isidore, Book VI, ch. ix. Capella objects: The diamond is indomitable, and does not yield to iron: therefore one cannot write on it with an iron stylus. Delrio responds, adage 846, that in ancient times the art of writing with properly prepared iron on diamond flourished, with certain powders added, which art in our age James Tressius, the jeweler of Philip II, King of Spain, brought back to light.
With a diamond point. — On a tablet or stone of diamond, which is called 'nail' on account of its brightness and smoothness. So St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas, meaning: The sin of Judah is written on the diamond-hard heart of Judah, that is, most obstinate, where it may remain and be read in perpetuity: for diamond is the hardest substance, indeed harder than iron. Thus Job says, ch. xix, 23: "Who will grant me that my words may be written? Who will grant me that they may be inscribed in a book with an iron stylus, and on a sheet of lead, or carved with a chisel in stone?" so that they may be indelible and perpetual. Thus Claudian says, Book II Against Ruffinus: Atropos was marking the voices on diamond.
This exposition is supported by the Arabic version: The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron upon the nails of nails, that is upon diamond, as I have said, sealed in the entrances of their hearts, and the tablets of their altars.
Less correctly some by 'the nails of nails' understand onyx, which is a kind of aromatic similar to a nail (which in Greek is called onyx), as if the sin of Judah were written on onyx, because they burned it not for God, but for idols, against the law of Exodus III, 34. Therefore in the onyx would stand the memory of sin.
Secondly and better, the Syriac translates: The sin of Judah is written with a pen of iron, and with a diamond point, sealed upon the tablets of their heart. What therefore our translator renders "with a point," that is, with a point: for in Hebrew beth, that is 'in,' often signifies an instrument, namely with a point, that is, with a tip, pen, stylus, diamond graver: for they used to use the hard and sharp claws of birds, as pens or styluses, for carving in ancient times, and with them they used to cut and inscribe letters on plates. So the Septuagint, the Chaldean, Origen, Vatablus and Pagninus. For the tablet on which this sin is written is the breadth of the heart, which the Septuagint and others call the tablet of the heart, that is, of their conscience, than which nothing is more powerful, says Theodoret, meaning: The sin of Judah (namely idolatry) is indelible, and is indelibly engraved in their conscience, and on the horns of altars stained with the blood of victims. For these are perpetual monuments and witnesses, indeed letters and marks of their idolatry, just as if it had been engraved on them with an iron stylus, or a diamond one, not written with ink, which can easily be deleted or erased, meaning: So fixed is the sin in the heart and conscience of the Jews, that their conscience has taken on the image and form of the sin; which so constantly strikes God's eyes, that He has passed a fixed sentence for their destruction. So St. Jerome, Theodoret, Rabanus. See Origen here.
Add: On the "horns" of the altar, the name or symbol or image of the idol to which sacrifice was offered there used to be written; whence Paul found written on an altar: "To the Unknown God," Acts XVII, 14. Two things therefore are signified in this place, namely that the sin of the Jews can neither be erased (that is, can scarcely be erased), nor be hidden, since it is written on public altars. This meaning is weighty, solid and genuine. Lyranus and some Hebrews think the Hebrew shamir, that is, diamond, is a worm, whose blood has the power of hollowing and cutting stones; but this worm does not have a claw.
Thirdly, probably Sanchez here and in Prolegomenon IX on the Song of Songs, by sin understands the idol, by the diamond point the gem set in a ring, by the breadth of the heart a plate hanging from the neck down to the heart, on which, just as on the gem, they engraved the image of their idol, so that they might always wear it on their ring and breast, and show that they were worshippers of such an idol. Thus Hosea, ch. II, says: "Let her remove her adulteries (that is, idols, with which she spiritually fornicates) from the midst of her breasts:" because she wore between her breasts and above her heart a plate, or a bulla on which an idol was carved. Thus Jacob, burying the idols of his household, buried also the earrings of each one: because namely they wore in them the images of their idols, as St. Augustine teaches in Questions on Genesis CXII, and St. Chrysostom, homily 35 on Genesis, Lyranus and the Gloss. Moreover, the Septuagint and the Chaldean indicate that they also had these images of their gods in their hands, that is, in their rings. For thus they translate, Genesis xxxv, 4: "They gave to Jacob the foreign gods that were in their hands, and the earrings that were in their ears." Conversely, the Wise Man admonishes that God's law should be written and worn on rings, bullae and plates, Proverbs vii, 3: "Bind them," he says, "on your fingers, write them on the tablets of your heart." And thus the Jews wore it written in phylacteries. This is also what the Bridegroom admonishes the Bride, Song of Songs viii: "Set me as a seal upon your heart, as a seal upon your arm," meaning: Always wear My image engraved on the plate or bulla of your heart, and on the bracelet of your arm. The opposite of this Pythagoras decreed, forbidding God to be carved on a ring, lest a thing too frequently encountered become cheaper.
Morally, Theodoret teaches that conscience is like diamond: "Nothing," he says, "is more powerful than conscience, in which namely the inscribed letters are solid. For although all men try to have their own conscience testify to a good life; yet the conscience of those who lie cannot bear their sins, but is struck and pierced, and brings forth an incorrupt sentence. This is what he says here: Your crimes namely accuse you, and your conscience bears witness:" and will especially bear witness on the day of judgment, concerning which Origen, homily 12: "The conscience of my breast will be laid bare, and with the heart opened, the letters of sins will be seen, which were written with an iron stylus with a diamond point, and the entire multitude of onlookers will read in my breast the marked images of sins."
Allegorically, the sin of the Jews who killed Christ, and of Judas the traitor, was indelible, says Eusebius, Book X Demonstr. v, although he wrongly understands him here literally; for Judah is not Judas the traitor, but the people of the Jews.
Anagogically, the sin of the obstinate, rejected by God, and especially of the damned, is written with an iron stylus with a diamond point, is written indelibly in the immovable mind of God, in God's eternal reprobation, is written in the book of death, is written in the book of Lucifer, is written in hell in fiery letters; so that for all eternity it can be erased or obliterated by no water, no tears, no lye; it is written in the perpetual memory and conscience of the damned, which like a worm perpetually gnaws and stings them, saying: Why did you commit this damnable sin? Fool, why for a moment of vile pleasure did you bring upon yourself these eternal punishments? Madman, what have you done, that you must dwell with devouring fire, with everlasting burnings? O unhappy sinner, would that you now, while you intoxicate yourself, while you wallow in luxury, would be wise, would that you understood, would that you foresaw the final things! For God at the universal judgment will read this writing, and will set it before all men and angels to be read, when the books of this writing shall be opened, Revelation xx, 12, and then by the judgment and consent of all you shall be condemned, and thrust down to the underworld.
The Septuagint omitted the first four verses of this chapter, which St. Jerome thinks they did out of favor and honor to their people. But since these verses are read in the Complutensian and Royal Bibles, and in Origen and Theodoret, they seem rather to have fallen out of other manuscripts.
Verse 2
2. When they remember, — namely when the children remember that their parents sinned and were punished, then let them see and beware of their sins and punishment. So Vatablus, meaning: These altars are for the children a memorial of the punishment and guilt of the parents, so that they may guard themselves from both.
Secondly and better, meaning: When the children remember the sins of their fathers, namely to imitate them by sacrificing to idols, and thus fill up the measure of sins, which being full, I have decreed to take vengeance; then I will give all your possessions, O Judah, to enemies, and you will be utterly left desolate. So St. Thomas, Hugo, Lyranus. And it is clear from the following verse, where the sentence here suspended is completed.
Otherwise Sanchez: That phrase, he says, "when they have remembered," is of the past tense, not the future, and means the same as 'because they have remembered,' namely practically, their altars, by sacrificing to their idols on them, therefore I will give their treasures to plunder. Which meaning nearly coincides with what I have already given.
Thirdly, Vatablus translates: As sweet is the remembrance of one's dearest children; so pleasant to them are their altars. The second meaning is the genuine one, and our Latin version requires it.
Verse 3
3. Sacrificing. — In Hebrew it is harari, that is, as the Septuagint, Vatablus and others translate, 'O mountain one,' that is, as the Chaldean says, 'O Judah, who dwell in the mountains,' to worship idols there and sacrifice to them; I likewise will expose your goods in the field and mountains to be plundered by enemies.
Your strength. — That is, riches, substance: for this is the Hebrew chel.
Your high places, — your altars and temples, which you erected to idols on mountains and elevated places.
Verse 4
4. And you shall be left alone from your inheritance, — namely as if deserted and despoiled of your inheritance. Vatablus, Pagninus and others translate: You shall rest, or you shall make remission, and (that remission shall be) in yourself from your inheritance, which I gave you, meaning: I commanded you, Exodus ch. XXIII, 11, to leave your fields uncultivated every seventh year, and there would be a sabbath of the land; you neglected this: therefore the land will give you and itself rest, not for seven but for seventy years of your captivity, so that you cannot cultivate it, according to the threat of Leviticus xxvi, 33 and 34. Thus God deprives those who are unwilling to deprive themselves at His command of a small profit or pleasure for a short time, of the same things sevenfold, that is, for seventy years, indeed for eternity. So a Castro.
You have kindled a fire in My fury. — That is, you have kindled the fire of My fury, which will pursue you perpetually with sharp and fiery vengeance. It is a hendiadys, as above ch. xv, verse 14, and Isaiah L, 11: "Behold, all you who kindle fire, who are girt with flames, walk in the light of your fire, and in the flames which you have kindled."
Verse 5
5. Cursed is the man (in Hebrew haggeber, that is, the strong man, meaning: He has put off his manliness) who trusts in man. — In Hebrew baadam, that is, in Adam, who is from adama, that is from earth, earthly, carnal and weak.
And makes flesh (that is, a carnal and fragile man) his arm, — so that he may powerfully protect himself with it as with an arm, meaning: Man is flesh, not bone: if therefore you lean on this flesh as on bone, you will fall with it, and to your harm you will discover it was flesh, not bone. He gave a little earlier one cause of the destruction of the Jews, namely idolatry: here he gives another, namely their recourse to men, God being abandoned, indeed against His will, who was offering and promising them His help. He censures Zedekiah and the Jews, who, having abandoned and despised God, fled to the help of the Egyptians, of whom Isaiah says, xxxi, 3: "Egypt is man and not God." So Theodoret, Hugo, St. Thomas and Lyranus. This one therefore is "cursed," because by God, angels, and all good persons, he is abandoned like another Cain. Secondly, as a Castro says, because such a one is like a tree devoted to the infernal gods, upon which all prodigies, portents, thunderbolts, and curses fell, upon which men cast all misfortune as upon an accursed thing, offensive to earth and heaven, and imprecated upon it with words and deeds; whence he soon compares him to a tamarisk and the bushes of the desert.
Note: The Prophet here censures those who trusted in man as in God, or more than in God, or so as not to trust in God: for we rightly trust in the Saints as friends of God, and we call the Blessed Virgin our hope after God: so Maldonatus.
Symbolically, St. Augustine, On Grace and Free Will, ch. IV: "He used 'arm,'" he says, "for the power of working: but by the name of flesh must be understood human fragility, and therefore he makes flesh his arm who thinks that fragile and weak, that is human, power is sufficient for him to do good, and hopes for no help from the Lord; for this reason he added: And his heart departs from the Lord. Such is the Pelagian heresy."
Verse 6
6. For he shall be (who trusts in man) like a tamarisk. — In Hebrew arar, which Vatablus translates as juniper; others as silk tree; but our translator, the Septuagint, Pagninus and others translate it as tamarisk, which is called tamarix; and there are, according to Pliny, Book XXIV, ch. IX, and Dioscorides, Book I, ch. xcix, two kinds: one cultivated, having a rough fruit; the second wild, of which this passage speaks, which is low; whence Virgil, Eclogue IV: Not all delight in bushes and lowly tamarisks. This is called cursed, and, as Pliny says, unlucky and condemned by religion, because it is sterile and bears no fruit, and grows alone in solitude, lowly, depressed, abject. Whence the tamarisk among the Hebrews is a symbol of a humble, abject and worthless man: hence Psalm ci, 48, in the Hebrew reads: (God) had regard for the condition of the tamarisk, that is, of the humble, as our translator explains. Basil adds, homily 5 on the Hexaemeron and from him St. Ambrose, Book III Hexaemeron ch. vi, that the tamarisk is amphibious, that is, it is aquatic, and also grows in deserts: thus the sinner who, having abandoned God, places his hope in man, first, will not have a good outcome; second, bears no fruit; third, will be deprived of the rain of heavenly grace and wisdom; fourth, will be alone, forsaken by God and men; fifth, will be cast before the devil and tyrants, as Zedekiah to the Chaldeans. All men therefore are like amphibious tamarisks, that is, of doubtful and inconstant faith.
He shall not see (shall not experience, shall not perceive), when good comes, — that is, rain: for this is the wish and desired good of dry and thirsting fields and plants. Whence there follows:
But shall dwell in dryness, — meaning: Even when it rains upon others, it will not rain upon him, or upon his fields: "for God will set apart a voluntary rain for His inheritance," Psalm LXVII, 10. Such a one therefore will be in the utmost desolation.
Note: The Prophet posits three effects of sin and distrust of God, and of hope in creatures: the first is the desert, that is, separation from the help and companionship of God, the Angels and Saints; the second is dryness, that is, failure of grace, virtues, help and assistance; and the third is sterility of good works, and of all prosperity and prosperous success, John xv, 4.
On the contrary, holiness and hope in God bring God's friendship, help, all the gifts of grace, prosperity, and the other things of which verse 8 speaks, at the end.
Rightly therefore St. Augustine cries out to worldly people, Book IV Confessions ch. XII: "There is no rest where you seek it. Seek what you seek; but what you seek is not there. Do you seek a happy life in the region of death? It is not there;" and Book VI, ch. xvi: "Woe to the bold soul that hoped, if it departed from You, to have something better. Turned and turned over on its back, and on its sides, and on its belly; and all things are hard. And You alone are rest, O Lord."
Verse 7
7. Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord. — Note that God calls him blessed who hopes in Him, because through hope God is most honored: for he who trusts God, and entrusts himself to Him, proclaims that He is most good, who wills to help by His goodness; and omnipotent, who is able; and omniscient, who knows how to help; and most faithful, who will not deceive one who hopes in Him. Hence the Greeks said theos, from thein, say Nazianzen and Damascene, that is, from burning, because He inspires warmth, life and all goods to all. Whence Nazianzen, oration On the Care of the Poor: Nothing is so divine, he says, as to do well for others: be a God to the afflicted, by imitating God's mercy. Or from theaomai, that is, from seeing and contemplating all things, says St. Dionysius, ch. XII On the Divine Names, and Damascene, I On the Faith, XII, or from thein, that is, from running, because He is the swiftest, most efficacious and everywhere present.
Conversely, man is called Enosh, that is, weak, wretched, incurable, as if man alone is he who can be cured only by God, and who expects all goods from Him, and sustains himself with good hope in Him, and reclines securely in Him, without care for himself or his affairs, says Philo, Book On Abraham. For which reason that Abbot said in the Sayings of the Egyptian Fathers, Saying 71: "Unless a man says in his heart:
I alone and God are in this world,' he does not have rest." Thus Abraham believed God, hoping against hope, and therefore was heaped by Him with both a miraculous offspring and every blessing.
On the contrary, he who distrusts God wrongs God: for he denies God's providence, namely that God either does not will, or cannot, or does not know how to help; hence he flees to the help of men and idols. So a Castro.
And the Lord shall be his confidence. — that is, as Vatablus translates, and whose hope is the Lord, who is accustomed to hope in the Lord.
Verse 8
8. And (because) he shall be like a tree, — meaning: He who hopes in God will be like a happy and God-consecrated tree, planted by the waters, always green and fruitful, because in every temptation and difficulty, he will draw help, influence and grace from God in whom he trusts. This is what the ancients used to say: "Jupiter's dice always fall favorably."
Therefore he who hopes in God, and draws from Him every solid virtue and every good, is like a laurel. For just as lightning strikes whatever it finds on earth, except the laurel, as Pliny says, Book II, ch. LV, so a great calamity can take away, overthrow and overturn everything except the firm virtue of one who relies on God. For hope and constant virtue is like a beautiful laurel, always green, not burned or shaken by any fire bursting from the clouds, by no assault of torments and afflictions. Hence the Syriac translates: Blessed is the man who trusts in the Lord, and the Lord shall be his confidence; he shall be like a tree planted by the waters, which is stronger in heart (more firm) than every man. Who knows him? I the Lord, who search the heart.
Note: He says "that is transplanted," because from the first planting we are barren trees, and are born children of wrath; but from there, transplanted in Christ and God, and in the hope and love of God, we become fruitful.
Thus Theosterictus relates, in the funeral oration on Blessed Nicetas, concerning Athanasius, an illustrious monk and man of great hope, that from his dead and buried breast a cypress tree grew, whose leaves drove away diseases.
Armed with this confidence in God, St. John the Almsgiver used to say: "Even if the whole world flocked to Alexandria for the sake of alms, I would give to all; because the whole world cannot exhaust the treasures of God, of which He Himself has made me the steward. Cease therefore, O wretched and timid soul, to tempt the untempable God by your pusillanimity and distrust." Therefore God changed tin into silver for him, and gave him a hundredfold in this life, so that the more he gave, the far more he received. Leontius is the witness in his Life.
Strengthened by the same confidence, the monk Theodore used to say: "If heaven were to cling to the earth, Theodore would not be afraid." For he had asked God in prayer that fear be taken from him. Thus it is reported in the Lives of the Fathers, Book V, ch. vii, no. 6.
Likewise that old man who entered a cave, and finding a lion there, when the lion was growling and roaring, said to it: "Why are you distressed? There is room enough for me and you. But if you do not wish it, get up and leave here." The lion, unable to bear it, went out from there. Ibidem, Book VI, ch. III, no. 15.
Likewise Abbot Sisoes, praying for his disciple Abraham who was tempted and had fallen, confidently said: "God, whether You will or not, I will not let You go unless we have cured him." And that brother was cured. Ibidem, no. 14.
Likewise the monks, relying on God, in the desert killed great dragons and serpents by their confidence and prayer, according to Palladius in the Lausiac History, ch. LII.
Ibidem, Abbot Apollo in time of famine was generous to the poor, saying: "Did not the Apostles and Prophets do this? Was God present then; but has He now gone abroad?" Therefore food and fruits were divinely supplied to him from unknown sources, even those which did not grow in Egypt, such as grapes, pomegranates, figs, honeycombs, milk, lupins, bread, etc.
With this confidence St. Pachomius, as his Life relates, trod upon serpents unharmed, and sitting upon crocodiles, swam across rivers.
Thus Blessed Hellenius, hoping and saying: "God is able to prepare a table in the desert," received food there from an Angel for himself and his guests, according to Palladius in the Lausiac History, ch. LIX.
This confidence nourished and protected in the desert St. Paul, Antony and innumerable others.
This confidence strengthened St. Paul, Andrew, Thomas, Dominic, Vincent, Xavier and others, to convert nations even fierce and barbarous.
Nor shall it ever cease to bear fruit. — "The Saints," who hope in God, "bear fruit," says St. Thomas: "first, through the contemplation of wisdom, Sirach vi, 19: 'As one who plows and sows, draw near to her, and wait for her good fruits'; second, through the fervor of charity, Song of Songs v: 'Let my beloved come into his garden, and eat the fruit of his apple trees'; third, through the confession of praise, Hebrews xiii: 'Through Him let us offer the sacrifice of praise always to God, that is, the fruit of lips confessing His name'; fourth, through meritorious action, Psalm LXXXIV: 'For the Lord will give His goodness, and our land shall give its fruit'; fifth, through the conversion of neighbors, John xv: 'That you may go and bear fruit, and your fruit may remain.'"
Again, the Saints bear fruit, "because they follow Christ, first, through the integrity of the flesh, Revelation xiv: 'For they are virgins, and follow the Lamb wherever He goes'; second, through the intention of the heart, Philippians III: 'But I follow, if by any means I may comprehend'; third, through the suffering of tribulation, I Peter ii: 'Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that you may follow His footsteps'; fourth, through the observance of commandments, Job xxiii: 'My foot has followed His steps, I have kept His way, and have not declined from it'; fifth, through the reception of glory, Sirach xxiii: 'It is a great glory to follow the Lord: for length of days shall be received from Him.'" Thus far St. Thomas.
and wretched, that, having abandoned God, he hopes in riches, friends, Egyptians! So St. Jerome, Theodoret, Rabanus, Vatablus, a Castro.
Others refer this to the one in whom hope is placed, or who offers and pledges his help to the afflicted, meaning: The heart of a man who promises help to another who is oppressed is perverse and inscrutable (as the Egyptians promise you, O Jews); for now he lacks the power to help, now a serious and constant will; for if he sees it expedient for his own affairs, he will desert his friend and attend to his own, as the Egyptians did to the Jews.
Verse 9
9. Perverse. — The Chaldean translates, deceitful; the Septuagint, batheia, that is deep (wrongly Theodoret, St. Augustine and Chrysostom, read bareia, that is heavy), in Hebrew aqob, that is first, crafty, two-faced; second, fraudulent, a supplanter; third, more genuinely in this place, tortuous, winding, deceitful, and therefore inscrutable, as follows, meaning: Sinuous, and entangled and perplexed like a labyrinth with a thousand secret side-paths, recesses and hollows of thoughts, desires and longings.
Is the heart of man. — Correct with the Romans and St. Jerome, "is the heart of all." For in Hebrew it is miccol, that is, of all, that is, of everyone; or, as Vatablus, Maldonatus and others translate, above all, beyond all things, meaning: Nothing in all things is as deceitful as the heart of man.
The heretics infer: Therefore man after the fall cannot act well, but only badly, namely deceive, lie, etc. I reply, I deny the consequence; for man is called deceitful not because he always deceives, but because he easily and often deceives.
Note: The Septuagint for anush read enosh, and translate: And he is a man, and who shall know him? which Tertullian, Book III Against Marcion, vii; Cyprian, Book II Against the Jews x; Lactantius, Book IV, ch. xiii; Ambrose, Book On Penance ch. ii; Augustine, Book III Against Faustus, xi, take as referring to Christ, meaning: Christ is a man, but who shall know His divinity? But from the circumstances it is clear that the Prophet speaks of the secrets of the human heart, not of Christ.
Verse 11
11. The partridge has hatched. — The Hebrew kaph of similitude is understood, meaning: Just as the partridge hatches, in Hebrew dagar, that is, gathers; and, as Vatablus translates, sits on. Aristotle, Theophrastus, Pliny and other naturalists report, says St. Jerome, that the partridge steals the eggs of another partridge, that is, foreign eggs, sits on them, hatches the chicks: who when they have grown up and heard the voice of the one who hatched them, fly away from her as from a stranger, to the first and true mother who laid the eggs, whose voice they recognize by natural instinct. Such, says Jeremiah, are Zedekiah and the Jews and other wealthy people, who "not by judgment," that is, not justly but unjustly, by usury, robbery and other evil arts, by fair means and foul, gather riches, seize what belongs to others, and make themselves riches which the Babylonians will soon plunder, or a sudden death or misfortune will take away; when it will be said to them
Morally, St. Bernard, treatise On the Interior House, ch. xxx: "The conscience of man," he says, "is a deep abyss. For just as an abyss cannot be exhausted, so the heart of man cannot be emptied of its thoughts; but they roll about in it with continual inconstancy. The sea is great and wide: there are creeping things without number. For just as a reptile creeps secretly, and walks to and fro in sinuous windings; so do poisonous thoughts enter and leave the conscience of man, so that man does not know where they come from or where they go. This he knew well who said: The heart of man is perverse and inscrutable; and who shall know it? which admits neither scrutiny nor knowledge."
Inscrutable. — In Hebrew anush, that is, wretched; Vatablus, stubborn, obstinate and desperate, namely to penetrate its depth, windings and changeability, meaning: The heart of men is impenetrable, except to God alone, who searches the reins, that is, the affections, and tests the hearts, that is, the intentions. The Arabic translates: I the Lord know him, who test (try, investigate, search) hearts, and know what is in the reins. "Nothing is closed to God; He is present in our minds, and comes between our very thoughts," says Seneca, epistle 84.
Famous is the fable which among others Lucian relates in the Hermotimus: that Momus criticized Vulcan because he had not made the breast of man with windows, through which his thoughts could be plainly seen.
Hence the Scholastics in the matter of angels teach that angels cannot naturally know the present (much less the future) thoughts and intentions of men, unless they are revealed by voice or sign.
It is an exclamation about the preceding, meaning: O how deceitful, changeable, inscrutable is the heart of man! so that you cannot know where he directs his hopes, whether to God, or to creatures and men; whether he truly hopes in God, or feigns to hope: O how wretched it is
that saying of Luke xii, 20: "Fool, this night they demand your soul from you; and whose shall those things be that you have prepared? For nothing is more foolish than not to foresee the future, and to think brief things perpetual," says St. Jerome. Whence the Chaldean clearly translates: Just as the partridge that gathers eggs which are not her own, and hatches chicks which will not follow her; so every impious man who possesses riches beyond right, in the midst of his days he will leave them. Sanchez refers this to the immediately preceding, meaning: Those who hope in man, not in God, and thus grow rich for a time, will be despoiled of these riches, just as the partridge of her stolen eggs and chicks.
For whatever one receives from another rather than from God, the Lord of all things, should be considered theft, and such theft will someday return to the true Owner: therefore it will not be so much of use to him as of harm; for in time of need it will desert him.
More simply, others take these words plainly as they sound, meaning: Just as the chicks of the partridge fly away from the false mother, so riches fly away from unjust possessors, as from false masters.
Here the Prophet destroys the other foundation (for the first was hope in the Egyptians, of which he has already spoken) of the impiety of Zedekiah and the Jews, on account of which they departed from God, namely riches unjustly acquired against God's law: for he predicts that ill-gotten gains will ill depart, meaning: Therefore you trust in them in vain.
Moreover, Aldrovandus teaches from St. Augustine, Ambrose and others that this is the nature of the partridge. Hence also Theodoric, King of the Goths, in Cassiodorus, Book II Various Epistles 14, detesting the false adoption of the partridge, and praising the piety of adopted chicks toward their true and legitimate parents, to whom they fly from the thieving mother, exhorts his own people to similar piety, and orders them to punish Romulus, who was impious toward his parents: "Among partridges," he says, "it is the custom to repair their lost eggs at the expense of another mother, so that by the adoption of another's offspring they may compensate the losses of their own bereavement. But as soon as the young have gained confidence in walking, they go out to the fields with their nurse, and when they have been reminded by the voice of their mother, they seek rather the one who laid their eggs, even though they are raised by other stolen broods. What therefore should men do, when they recognize that this piety exists even in birds? Therefore bring Romulus, who, stained by the bitterness of his deed, dishonors the Roman name, to your judgment: and if it is established that he laid hands on his father Martin, let him immediately feel legitimate punishment."
There exists on this nature of the partridge an emblem in Nicholas Reusner, under the motto, 'The false use of wealth':
The lustful partridge steals another's eggs, and warming them Raises new chicks thence in her nest. But the raised chick voluntarily deserts its nurse, Hanging on the sound from the singing mother's mouth. The miser hoards his wealth, and sits upon his weary gold, By fair means and foul the miser hoards his wealth. Whence he has it, he cares not: but he must have it, And quickly wants to become rich, and remains needy. For common death reduces him to a worthless penny, Or a shameful court snatches away the gathered wealth. What is gained by great evils perishes with greater grief: What God gives to each, and a kindly fate, is enough.
A fitting example of this matter, namely how ill-gotten riches fly away like birds, indeed by means of birds, is related by Gregory of Tours, On the Glory of Confessors ch. cix: "A certain man," he says, "among the people of Lyon had with much labor barely acquired one triens [a third of a solidus]: which, when he wanted to multiply it, he used to buy wine, and selling it again with water mixed in for silver coins, he doubled his money. This he did again and again; and he became a pursuer of base gain for so long, until he had made a profit of a hundred solidi from this triens. Afterwards, he went to the market of another merchant, and having taken out his triens, as if about to do some business, he began to converse with a companion. Now the purse was of Phoenician leather: and behold, a kite suddenly arriving, snatched it and tried to tear it apart, thinking from the color that it was a piece of flesh; but, when it felt no fat in it, flying over the channel of the river Arar (from which river this man had drawn the water that he had mixed with the wine), it dropped the loosened purse into the river. Seeing this, the man cried out sadly and mournfully: Woe to me, as I did, so I have received; what I gained from the river, I see has returned to the river."
Secondly, Theodoret: The tame partridge, he says, calls other partridges with its voice, which fly to it and fall into the nets. For bird-catchers are accustomed to lure and catch other wild partridges through tame ones.
Thirdly, St. Ambrose, epistle 47, from Aristotle, Pliny, Aelian, Solinus: The partridge, he says, eludes the bird-catcher lurking at her nest, by feigning weakness of feet or wings, until she gradually slips away, and calls her chicks with her voice, and they fly off. No bird therefore is more cunning and clever than the partridge. Hence that word from Aristophanes, ekperdikisai, that is, to slip away cleverly like a partridge, and escape danger. So Plutarch, Book On the Cleverness of Animals: "Partridges," he says, "accustom their chicks who cannot yet fly, when the bird-catcher presses, to lie on their backs, and throw some clod or rubbish over their bodies, and hold it up like a shade or covering. The mothers themselves lead the pursuers away in another direction, and circle about: flying to and fro, and gradually yielding ground, until they have drawn them, fed with the hope of catching, far from the chicks." The same in the Gryllus: "Partridges," he says, "teach their chicks to hide themselves while fleeing, and to hold a clod before them, after they have fallen on their backs." The scholiast also of Aristophanes' comedy On the Birds: "Partridges," he says, "easily escape from bird-catchers by their craftiness, often turning on their backs and covering themselves with stalks." The meaning of the Prophet therefore is, meaning: Just as partridges deceive and mock the bird-catcher; so riches delude the rich man, and drag many others into nets and dangers. But this is not in accordance with Jeremiah's meaning.
Tropologically, St. Jerome and at length Ambrose (see him), epistle 48, and Book VI Hexaemeron ch. iii: "The partridge," he says, "which derives its name from perdendo ['losing'], and in Hebrew is called qore from calling and crying out, is Satan who cried out in Cain, in Pharaoh, in the Jews, and in every perfidious person, and daily still lures many to himself with his voice and preys upon them; but the Lord Jesus plundered this partridge, that is the devil, of his chicks, that is the faithful, crying out that text of Proverbs IX, 5: 'Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine I have mixed for you.'" Therefore Theodoret takes the partridge as a decoy, at whose voice and call the others fly to it, and falling into the nets are caught. Likewise St. Augustine, Book XIII Against Faustus, ch. XII: "Heretics," he says, "like partridges gather what they did not beget. For Christians, whom they especially seduce in Christ's name, they find already born through Christ's own Gospel: and they make them their riches, not indeed with judgment, but with reckless haste." For experience shows that heretics have so far never gone to pagans or gentiles and first converted them, but have perverted those already converted by Catholics, and made them heretics. Add that heretics, just as the devil, warm foreign eggs, since they sit on God's and the Church's counsels and doctrines so cleverly that by their warming and hatching they pervert them, and as if from viper's eggs produce a basilisk,
for example, God and the Church teach that Christ satisfied for our sins; the heretics infer: Therefore there is no need for our penance, labor, sorrow, the sacrifice of the Mass, etc. Likewise, when God suggests to the mind holy inspirations of penance, almsgiving, religion; the devil sits on them, to divert or pervert them, so that either they are not done, or, if they are done, they are done with a bad end, manner or means; or they are done indiscreetly, namely too much or too little. He who is wise, therefore, should take care to separate these from those,
our, supply: is His seat and throne: that is, just as the throne of the glorious God was from the beginning of the world in heaven; so now it is in our temple, meaning: Since God dwells in our temple, as in heaven, who therefore dares to say that He either does not see, or does not care about what is done in the world? But the first meaning is the most fitting, to which can be joined the exposition of Jerome Prado on Ezekiel I, p. 51: "A throne," he says, "conspicuous and sublime, everlasting,
of eternity and eternal rest, is a symbol for the Egyptians, and indeed of divine Majesty, and of royal dignity, which no disturbance can unsettle, it is a most fitting hieroglyphic. Hence Jeremiah by the throne of God signified the divine Being itself, saying: 'A throne of glory on high from the beginning, the place of our sanctification, the expectation of Israel,' meaning: O God, who sit upon the lofty throne of the Cherubim from the beginning, and who have established Your throne in our sanctuary, the hope of Israel."
Hence St. Clement, Book VI of the Apostolic Constitutions ch. v, by this throne, or, as he reads it, the throne of the glory of God, understands the Church.
Finally, R. Moses, and from him Galatinus, Book VII On the Mysteries of the Faith, ch. XVIII, contend that this throne is literally the Blessed Virgin, not the temple. "For she," as R. Haccados says, "was to be the seat which God constructed, that the King Messiah might sit upon it," who is the expectation of Israel, "to show the glory of His majesty to all mortals." Ibidem, Galatinus teaches that God has a triple seat: the first is the Blessed Virgin; the second is the humanity of Christ; the third is His divinity itself. Moreover, Jeremiah says, "from the beginning," to show that the Blessed Virgin was conceived without original sin: for from that time she was destined and prepared as the seat and throne of the Messiah. Hence she was also signified by the throne of God, which Ezekiel saw, ch. I, 22. So he takes it literally, I symbolically and allegorically.
Morally, men are accustomed to flee to this throne and tribunal of God, and to appeal to it, when they are oppressed, especially by unjust death, or think they are being oppressed; and not without fruit. For, as the Psalmist sings, Psalm LXXXV, 15: "Justice and judgment are the preparation of Your seat;" and Psalm XLIV, 7: "Your throne, O God, is forever and ever, the scepter of equity, the scepter of Your kingdom."
Thus Dio Cassius writes that the Emperor Hadrian ordered a certain Severianus to be killed: who, before he was slain, asked for fire, and with incense lit: "You, O gods," he said, "I call to witness that I have committed no wrong: concerning Hadrian I only imprecate this, that when he desires to die, he may not be able to." Moreover, Hadrian after his illness, having often invoked death in vain, often also wished to kill himself. There exists his letter, in which he says: "How wretched it is to desire death, and not be able to die!"
Fulgosius, Book I, ch. vi: In our times, he says, when the triremes of the Genoese, fitted out against pirates, had captured a Catalonian bireme, they hanged its captain by night. He, appealing to God for the injustice done to him, having summoned the patron of the Genoese to appear before God within six months, died: around which time this patron was carried off by death.
Nauclerus relates that Henry, Archbishop of Mainz, falsely accused and deposed from his pontificate, dying consumed with grief, appealed to Christ the Judge. Upon hearing of his death, one of the judges expired in the privy; the other, gnawing his hands with rage, breathed out his soul, to render an account to God.
Volaterranus, Book XXI of the Anthropology, relates that Gualtherus Franciscus, because of his fame for excellent learning and holiness, was elevated to be Bishop of Poitiers, and fell into a dispute with the Bishop of Bordeaux, who shortly after assumed the pontifical name of Clement V, over the preservation of Church rights. This one deposed Gualtherus from his bishopric: who, bearing this ignominy patiently for some time, finally when dying had inscribed on his tomb: "I appeal to the just judgment of God." When Clement read this, he was terrified, and not long after died. I have recounted more examples in Genesis IX, 5.
Moreover, this throne, just as it hears innocent or doubtful defendants, so also protects judges, when it is established that they judged justly, and there is no doubt about the matter: therefore such a summons to God's tribunal should be of little concern to them. For a just judge should expect a reward from God, whose place he fills, not punishment. This was known to that great Commander of soldiers, Gonzalo Fernandez de Cordoba, who, while besieging Taranto, had ordered a certain wicked and seditious soldier (says Jovius) to be led to execution, and when the man, resisting greatly, cried out that he was being most unjustly condemned, and therefore summoned Gonzalo in a loud voice to plead his cause at the tribunal of Almighty God: "Go," said Gonzalo, "trusting in the best Judge, and prepare your case: for there my brother Alphonsus, who recently ascended from Sierra Vermeja to heaven, will be there for me and will respond as needed." For Gonzalo had then been informed that his brother, surrounded by the Moors, had met a death worthy of a brave and pious commander. Thus our Delrio reports from the Life of Gonzalo, tome II of the Magic, Book IV, ch. IV.
Verse 13
13. The Expectation of Israel (O Lord, who are the hope and expectation of Israel, in whom the true Israelites, followers of Abraham and Jacob, have always hoped and do hope): those departing from You (through distrust and apostasy, as the Jews depart from God, fleeing to idols and to the Egyptians (for the whole chapter looks to this)) shall be written in the earth. — This is, first, they shall be registered and numbered among those who savor earthly things, they shall be known to the earthly. So Origen, Rabanus and St. Jerome. Hence it is said, Psalm XLVIII, **:: "They called their names in their lands." Just as conversely, the Saints are registered in heaven, Luke x, 20, and among the heavenly inhabitants, as citizens of the Saints, written in the book of life, that is, in God's eternal memory and predestination, to be heirs of God. Hence Hugo: The worldly, he says, are inscribed in earthly happiness, riches, pleasures, honors, as with letters that indicate what they are, namely avaricious, proud, luxurious. Others inscribe their names on columns and statues, wishing to make them eternal.
Secondly, Vatablus and Hugo: To write, they say, the impious in the earth is for their name, memory and fame to perish: for what is written in dust is easily erased by wind or foot. For serious things which we value greatly, and which we wish to commit to memory and posterity, we inscribe on writings or on stone or bronze; but what we consider worthless, we scribble as if in jest in the dust or in water, as something soon to be abolished. Thus, John ch. viii, 6, Christ was writing the sin of the adulteress in the earth, as if to say: Your sin, O Pharisees, is written with an iron stylus with a diamond point, but the sin of this little woman, soon to be erased forever through her penance and My clemency, it is fitting that it be written in the earth. Thus the pagans called those who were born of unknown and obscure parents, and who had done nothing distinguished worthy of memory, and were already buried as it were in oblivion, 'sons of the earth,' as if to be ascribed to the common mother of all. On the contrary, they called heroes 'sons of heaven,' as men fallen from heaven, and worthy of eternal memory for the deeds they had done.
Thirdly, meaning: The Jews departing from Christ will be registered in the land of captivity as citizens, about to remain there permanently, meaning: The Jews will no longer be written in the book of life of the children of Israel, but among the Babylonians and Assyrians, whose custom it was, according to Pliny, Book VII, lvi, to write the deeds of their people on baked bricks.
Fourthly, Lyranus and the Chaldean: Those departing, they say, from God will be written in the earth, that is, in hell, which Theologians teach is in the center of the earth. All these meanings are fitting, but the first and second are the most genuine.
Fifthly, more subtly Sanchez, meaning: Hope in man is futile, just as futile is what is written in water or in dust. Thus of women's promises, as inconstant things, Xenarchus says in Athenaeus, Book I, ch. x: "I write a woman's oath in water." For when the words or promises of others are said to be written in the earth or dust, those also who trust in them are said to be written in the same: for he who trusts in another, in a way surrenders himself to him. Therefore he who writes his faith or promise in the dust seems also to have written therein the one who is entrusted and committed to his faith.
Note here the fitting punishment; for those who stubbornly retain the memory of their idols and their sins engraved on the tablet of their heart with an iron stylus, as was said in verse 1, are worthy of being erased from the book of life, and of having their names written in dust,
carried off by the wind, be abolished from under heaven. Because they have forsaken the fountain of living waters, the Lord, — which namely has not failed by any drought or accident, but springs forth perpetually, and gives living water of help, prosperity and grace, leaping unto eternal life, John IV, 14. See the commentary on ch. II, verse 18. In this entire chapter the Prophet strives to establish hope in God, and to abolish hope in men with God abandoned.
Verse 14
14. Heal me, O Lord, — not from sin, as St. Thomas says, but from calumny, by which they say my threats are lies, from reproaches and plots. So Rabanus, Hugo, Theodoret, and it is clear from what follows. And consequently from grief of soul, and consequently from all bodily ills and afflictions, heal me. For often the sickness and health of the body depend on the sickness and health of the mind.
And I shall be healed, — meaning: Neither the Egyptians nor other men can heal or save me: You alone can. Thus no physicians could heal the woman with an issue of blood, but only Christ, Luke viii, 43, says St. Jerome.
For You are my praise. — For 'praise' the Septuagint translates 'boasting,' that is, the object of praise and boasting, meaning: You are, O Lord, in whom and of whom I am accustomed to boast, even though the Jews laugh and mock me, because namely I am a minister and prophet of the true God, whom they, clinging to idols, despise. See Canon XXXVIII.
Secondly, and more profoundly, Sanchez, meaning: Whatever praise I may have received from men, I will consider it neither a support nor a praise; since it is neither great, nor can it be solid and lasting: but what I will have received from You, that will be glorious for me, and will make me truly praiseworthy, because it is a true and stable good. The praise therefore, that is, what is plainly praiseworthy, will be the healing which I will receive from You, not that which comes from man.
Excellently regarding morals, St. Jerome, instructing Eustochium, epistle 22: "This," he says, "you must more carefully avoid, lest you be seized by the fire of vainglory. 'How,' says Jesus, 'can you believe, who receive glory from one another?' See what a great evil it is, that he who has it cannot believe. But let us say: 'For You are my boast.' And: 'He who boasts, let him boast in the Lord.' And: 'If I were still pleasing men, I would not be a servant of Christ.' And: 'But far be it from me to boast, except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world is crucified to me, and I to the world.' And that: 'In You we shall be praised all the day: in the Lord my soul shall be praised.' When you give alms, let God alone see; when you fast, let your face be cheerful. Let your clothing be neither too clean nor dirty, and remarkable for no difference; lest the crowd of passersby stop before you, and point you out with a finger."
Verse 15
15. Behold, they say to me: Where is the word of the Lord? Let it come, — meaning: See, O Lord, how faithful I am to You, and how I trust in You, and remain firm in You. For behold, the Jews laugh at my oracles, indeed Yours, as vain and fabricated, and say mockingly: "Where is the word of the Lord," which you perpetually din into us to the point of nausea? Where are the Chaldeans whom you threaten us with? Let them come: we do not fear, we do not care. We do not believe they will come; and if they do come, they will experience our weapons and strength and those of our allies, especially the Egyptians. For that 'let it come' expresses a spirit that is overconfident, not fearing, but desiring war and the enemy, indeed challenging and provoking.
And yet hearing all these things, I am not moved, I am not troubled, I do not cease from prophesying and threatening, because I follow You, O Lord.
Verse 16
16. And I have not been troubled. — In Hebrew lo atsti, which the Chaldean translates, 'I have not hesitated'; Pagninus, 'I have not withdrawn, so as to be a shepherd after You,' meaning: Although I am thus harassed, yet I have not deserted the office of prophesying committed to me by You.
Secondly, Vatablus translates, 'I was not anxious,' that is, I did not thrust myself forward to prophesy, but You, O Lord, commanded this to me.
Thirdly, properly lo atsti, that is, I did not hasten, I did not tremble, I was not distressed, that is, as our translator has it, I was not troubled by so many curses of the Jews, from being a shepherd after You, as the Hebrew has it, but fearlessly I continued to feed the Jews with God's word, and to prophesy to them the most grave oracles and threats, because I follow You, O Lord, as the supreme Shepherd. So St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas, Lyranus.
Whence the Septuagint translates: I have not labored following after You. Who can labor, says Ambrose, Book III, epistle 20, following Jesus, who gives strength to those who follow Him, who says: "Come to Me, all you who labor, and I will refresh you," and who gives a prize and crown to those who follow Him?
Therefore Theodoret reads incorrectly: I have grown weary, namely from persecutions, following You. Truly St. Augustine in the Sentences, no. 97: "He who clings to God," he says, "and always does His will, is never deserted by his indweller, and even if he suffers some hard and adverse things, he is not abandoned, but tested." And no. 143: "The good of the rational creature by which it is made happy is nothing other than God. For by obtaining this it becomes happy, by losing it wretched."
Note: "A certain sign of contempt of the world is to be disturbed by nothing." For he who loves nothing in the world grieves at no loss of it and is not disturbed. To reach this point, fix your mind on God. Let Him be your love: set before you the example of Christ, your Shepherd and Leader, and follow it. For Christ, preaching the kingdom of God and the way to salvation, endured a thousand reproaches of the Scribes, but did not yield to them, and did not cease from preaching: so do you also.
Hear Origen, homily on these words: Jesus, he says, says to you: Take up your cross, and come, follow Me: "If therefore you are such that you always follow Christ, the more you follow Him, the less you will labor." And St. Augustine, who in the Book On the Christian Life teaches that it consists in following Christ, that we may follow the Shepherd like sheep.
Whence in chapter xv, he paints the true Christian, and his duties, actions and ways with this golden brush: "A Christian," he says, "is one who follows the way of Christ, who imitates Christ in all things, as it is written I John II: 'He who says he abides in Christ ought to walk even as He walked.' A Christian is he who, first, shows mercy to all; second, who is utterly unmoved by injury; third, who does not allow the poor to be oppressed in his presence; fourth, who helps the wretched, who succors the needy; fifth, who mourns with those who mourn, who feels another's pain as his own, who is moved to tears by the tears of others; sixth, whose house is open to all, whose door is closed to no one, whose table no poor man is ignorant of, whose gift of bread is offered to all; seventh, from whom no one feels injury; eighth, who serves God day and night, who incessantly meditates and thinks on His commandments; ninth, who becomes poor to the world, that he may become rich toward God; tenth, who is held inglorious among men, that he may appear glorious before God and His Angels; eleventh, who seems to have nothing feigned or false in his heart, whose soul is simple and undefiled; twelfth, whose conscience is faithful and pure; thirteenth, whose whole mind is in God, whose every hope is in Christ; fourteenth, who desires heavenly things rather than earthly; who spurns human things, that he may possess divine ones." So St. Malachy, Archbishop of Ireland: "Without disturbance he moved among the crowds. If you saw a man plunged in the midst of crowds and entangled in cares, you would say he was born for his country, not for himself. If you saw a man alone and dwelling with himself, you would think he lived for God alone and for himself," says St. Bernard, sermon On the same.
The day of man I have not desired. — The Chaldean, Theodoret, Vatablus, for 'man' read anush, meaning: I did not desire for them the day of affliction and misery, that is, a calamitous and desperate day, namely the day of destruction which I foretell to them; indeed I am compelled with grief to predict it: because You, O Lord, command it to me; and thus our translator could be taken, "the day of man," namely enosh, that is, of the fragile and wretched man, that is, I did not wish the miseries of man upon them. But better, St. Jerome, the Septuagint, Lyranus, St. Thomas and others read enosh, that is, of man.
Note that man by nature and matter is called adam from adama, as if you say, man from earth. But after sin, corruption and misery, he was called enosh, which Eusebius, Book XI Preparation IV, translates as forgetful, or of whom oblivion quickly comes, from the root nasha, that is, he forgot: so that the Psalmist alludes to this, Psalm viii, 5: "What is man (in Hebrew enosh), that You are mindful of him?" Others, and better, derive enosh from anash, so that enosh means the same as wretched, overwhelmed by miseries, desperate.
Now the day of man is the day on which a man prospers, is powerful, glorious, honored, praised, meaning: I did not desire a longer life, prosperity, riches, honors, pleasures, the applause of men: for I know that man is enosh, that is, wretched, and about to perish quickly with all his goods; but I desired only in my prophecies and sermons, O Lord, to serve and please You, to be commended by You, whom I invoke as Judge and Witness, saying: "You know. For the true day that knows no setting is eternal truth, true eternity, and therefore true and eternal satisfaction," says St. Bernard on Psalm xc, sermon 17. Thus Job xvi, 20, says: "For behold, my witness is in heaven, and my confidant is on high." So St. Jerome, Rabanus, Hugo, St. Thomas, Lyranus.
Do you wish to know what the day and favor of man is? Look at the image in which Apelles painted it, which someone expressed in these verses:
Painter Apelles, why do you paint Favor by art? Whence are the seeds of his origin but little known? This one boasts him the offspring of Beauty, that one Fortune's nursling; One says he was born by Chance, another by Gifts of the mind. Who is the constant companion at his side? Flattery; and what Follows behind with slow steps? Envy. Who stand around? Wealth, Pride, Honors, Laws, and Lust, often the parent of crimes. Why do you make him winged? Lifted by Fortune's breeze He flies to heights, not knowing how to be at the lowest level. Why do you paint him blind? He does not know his friends, The wicked man, when he seeks high things from a humble place. Why does he stand on a wheel? He imitates Fortune, and makes Himself a companion where she has carried her unsteady feet. Why does he fear, and bear himself more ambitiously beyond himself? Prosperous fates are accustomed to blind the mind.
The Psalmist despised this day of man, saying Psalm xxxv: "From the height of the day I shall fear; but I will hope in You," meaning: If I consider my own strength, I dread the great power and prosperity of my enemies: but I trust in Your strength, and therefore I do not fear those things, but despise them.
Thus the Apostle, I Corinthians IV, 3: "It is a very small thing to me," he says, "to be judged by you, or by man's day," that is, by the power and wisdom of this world, by human favor and commendation, by human judgment: I fear nothing of what you judge about me, or the most powerful and illustrious in this world.
Happy is he who can say: "I have not desired the day of man," so as to have God as witness of this. This is the highest perfection, by which all things are counted as dung, that we may gain Christ.
This Moses, already grown great, achieved (for this is a great matter), refusing to be called the son of Pharaoh's daughter, "choosing rather to suffer affliction with the people of God, than to have the pleasures of temporal sin," Hebrews xi.
Thus St. Augustine responded to Secundinus the heretic who was disparaging him: "Think of Augustine what you please, only let my conscience not accuse me before God."
Thus St. Chrysostom, homily 2 on the Epistle to Titus: "I do not forbid," he says, "the seeking of glory; but I want that glory to be pursued which is true, which is from God, whose praise, says Paul (Romans ii), is not from men, but from God. Let us look at one thing only,
to this let all our intention be directed, namely in what manner we may deserve to be praised by the mouth of God. If we look at this intently, we shall always esteem all human things as nothing; he or that one does not praise you, you lose nothing thereby; and if someone should blame you, he has not harmed you at all; for whether praise or blame, it has advantage or disadvantage only from God." Ibidem, Chrysostom teaches that contempt of human praise and glory makes us like God. For just as God has no need of human praise and glory, which throughout eternity (in which He had immense glory from the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit), before He created the world, was nothing: so also the one who despises glory. Whence he concludes: "As often," he says, "as you think it difficult to despise glory, turn these things over in your mind; if I despise it, I shall become equal to God (that is, like Him), and immediately the contempt of glory will enter the soul."
Thus St. Ignatius: "That I may be sound," he says, "in the things that pertain to God, I must more vehemently be on guard, and beware of those who rashly inflate me; for those who praise me scourge me."
Thus Clement of Alexandria, in Maximus, sermon On Praise, reports that certain flatterers called a certain wise man blessed, but he said to them: "If you cease to praise me, from your departure I shall think myself someone great; but if you do not stop praising, from your praise I infer my own impurity."
Thus St. Dionysia, when stripped by executioners and shamefully beaten with whips, fearlessly rebuked them, saying: "Ministers of the devil, what you do for insult is to my praise." The witness is Victor, Book III on the Vandals.
Thus St. Macarius in the Lives of the Fathers, Book VII, ch. xxviii, said: "In truth, if contempt has become to the monk as praise, poverty as riches, want as feasting, he never dies. It is impossible for one who believes well and piously worships God, to fall into an impure passion and into the error of demons."
The pagans also saw this very thing, but through a shadow. Seneca, Book III On Anger, ch. XII: "Let conscience be satisfied," he says, "let us not labor for reputation." For, as he says elsewhere: "Ambition seeks a stage."
Fabius Maximus, unwilling to engage Hannibal, but following him through the mountains to wear him down by hunger, was ridiculed as Hannibal's schoolmaster. He meanwhile, following sound counsels, used to say: He who fears insults and abuse is more timid than he who flees enemies. Hence Hannibal feared more from the non-fighting Fabius than from the fighting Marcellus. Finally, "Fabius restored the state by delaying."
A triumph had been decreed for Pompey; the soldiers objected, demanding gifts. Then Pompey: "I would rather," he said, "give up the triumph than flatter the soldiers." Servilius exclaimed: "Now at last I see that Pompey is truly great, and worthy of a triumph."
Lycurgus taught the Spartans not to be moved by words, but to strive for noble deeds. It was therefore the Spartan way to be able to tolerate the false words of others.
Lysander, the Lacedaemonian general, to someone saying to him: "I praise you and defend you," replied: "I have two oxen in the country, and though they are silent, I know precisely which of them is lazy and which industrious."
The same to another who was abusing him: "Say those things frequently," he said, "if perhaps you may be able to vomit out the evils of your soul, with which you seem to be full." So Plutarch, in the Laconian and Roman Sayings.
What went forth from my lips was right, — that is, was true, not deceitful. So St. Jerome, meaning: What seemed right to You, O Lord, I spoke; what You inspired in me, I proclaimed, having flattered no man: freely at Your command I censured the vices of princes, "nor did I fear anyone's offense, because I sought no one's favor."
Thus Blessed Peter Damian, falsely accused by some, defends his innocence by the testimony of a right conscience, writing to Pope Leo IX, epistle 4: "Nevertheless," he says, "in these matters I return to my conscience, I recur to the secrets of my mind, certain that except for the love of Christ, whose wicked servant I am, I seek the favor of no mortal man, I fear the anger of none."
Verse 17
17. Be not a terror to me, — do not allow me to be in danger on account of Your word, in which I should have to fear death or other evil, since I place all my hope in You.
Again, meaning: Neither men, nor threats, nor anything in the world, except You, O Lord, do I fear. You alone and Your offense and wrath do I fear. As long as You are not angry with me, as long as You are not a terror to me, but a help and protection, so that You are with me in persecutions, I will not fear, I will stand secure, and will say with the Psalmist, Psalm xxvi, 1 and 3: "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? If armies encamp against me, my heart shall not fear. If battle rises against me, in this I will hope."
The Septuagint translates: Do not become a stranger to me, sparing in the evil day, that is, says St. Jerome: "Do not spare me in this present age, which is evil; but repay me according to my sins, so that in the future I may have eternal rest."
Verse 18
18. Let them be confounded, — make them be proven wrong, not me; make them appear to be liars, when they see the destruction which I threaten and they ridicule: so that I may not be confounded, but appear truthful. So St. Jerome. For in the Prophets there alternate movements of mercy, by which they ask that their people, especially the simple folk, be spared and forgiven; and of vengeance, by which they ask that the proud, mockers and rebels be tamed and crushed by scourges. Others, like Sanchez, explain these optatives as futures, to signify the prediction of a future event: "let them be confounded," that is, they will be confounded: "let them fear," that is, they will fear: "crush," that is, You will crush. Or they understand the particle 'if,' meaning: If one of us
must be confounded, as must be the case, with me affirming the coming destruction and them denying it; make, O Lord, that they rather be confounded, who laugh at Your words, not I, who declare them.
Crush them with double destruction. — "Double," namely by famine and the sword, says St. Jerome; or, by death and captivity, as Lyranus says.
Secondly and most simply, "double," that is, heavy, manifold. See the commentary on ch. xvi, 18. Thus the Latins call 'triple' or 'tenfold' what is great, immense and mighty.
Verse 19
19. Stand in the gate — the royal gate of the city, which is the most famous and most frequented.
Verse 21
21. Guard your souls, — lest they be stained with sin, especially the violation of the sabbath. In Hebrew: Be careful for your souls, or for the sake of your soul, that is, as dear as your soul is to you, beware lest you violate the sabbath, otherwise you will be cut off: but if you keep it, and consequently all the worship of God, there will be peace for you, and abundance of all things. This is clear from what follows. By the keeping of the sabbath, he understands the observance of the entire law, as also Isaiah, ch. LVI, 2 and 4. For he who kept the sabbath, by this very act tacitly professed that God is the Creator and Governor of heaven and earth; for the sabbath was instituted in memory of this fact and benefit: but he who despised the sabbath seemed to deny that God is the Creator of the world. Thus if anyone today refused to celebrate the Lord's Day, he would seem to deny that Christ rose again — in whose memory that day was established. So Vatablus.
Note this passage, for the cult of the sabbath among the Jews, and of the Lord's Day among Christians. See how strictly God here commands the Jews not to carry burdens on the sabbath.
Verse 22
22. To carry out, — to carry forth burdens.
Verse 25
25. Kings and princes. — meaning: I will give you kings from the stock of David, and will keep the covenant which I made with him, Psalm cxxxi, 11, and II Kings vii, 12. In chariots and on horses, — abounding in peace, and glory, and prosperous circumstances: for chariots and horses are the glory of kings.
Verse 26
26. And they shall come, — meaning: Jerusalem shall flourish, and the temple shall be wondrously frequented.
Verse 27
27. I will kindle, — through Nebuzaradan and the Chaldeans.