Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He continues to confess that the Jews are justly punished by God. Then, from verse 11, he intercedes for them and prays for pardon, on the grounds that they are the people of God, to whom God promised pardon when they repent; and because through this, the name of God will be celebrated, along with His magnificent clemency and power.
Vulgate Text: Baruch 2:1-35
1. For this reason the Lord our God has established His word, which He spoke to us, and to our judges who judged Israel, and to our kings, and to our princes, and to all Israel and Judah: 2. that the Lord would bring upon us great evils, such as have not been done under heaven, as they were done in Jerusalem, according to what was written in the law of Moses. 3. That a man should eat the flesh of his son and the flesh of his daughter. 4. And He gave them into the hands of all the kings who are round about us, for a reproach and a desolation among all the peoples, among whom the Lord has dispersed us. 5. And we were brought low and not exalted: because we sinned against the Lord our God, by not obeying His voice. 6. To the Lord our God belongs justice: but to us and to our fathers belongs confusion of face, as at this present day. 7. For the Lord has spoken against us all these evils which have come upon us: 8. and we did not entreat the face of the Lord our God, that we might return each one of us from our most wicked ways. 9. And the Lord watched over these evils and brought them upon us: for the Lord is just in all His works which He has commanded us: 10. and we did not hear His voice to walk in the precepts of the Lord which He set before us. 11. And now, O Lord God of Israel, who brought Your people out of the land of Egypt with a mighty hand, and with signs, and with wonders, and with Your great power, and with a high arm, and made Yourself a name as at this day: 12. we have sinned, we have committed impiety, we have done wickedly, O Lord our God, against all Your ordinances. 13. Let Your anger be turned away from us: for we are left a few among the nations where You have scattered us. 14. Hear, O Lord, our prayers and our petitions, and deliver us for Your own sake: and grant us to find grace before the face of those who have led us away: 15. that all the earth may know that You are the Lord our God, and that Your name is invoked upon Israel and upon his posterity. 16. Look down, O Lord, from Your holy dwelling upon us, and incline Your ear, and hear us. 17. Open Your eyes and see: for the dead who are in the nether world, whose spirit has been taken from their bodies, will not give honor and justification to the Lord: 18. but the soul that is sorrowful for the greatness of evil, and goes bowed down and feeble, and the failing eyes, and the hungry soul gives You glory and justice, O Lord. 19. For not according to the justices of our fathers do we pour forth our prayers, and beg mercy before Your sight, O Lord our God: 20. but because You have sent Your wrath and Your fury upon us, as You spoke by the hand of Your servants the prophets, saying: 21. Thus says the Lord: Bow down your shoulder and your neck, and serve the king of Babylon: and you shall dwell in the land which I gave to your fathers. 22. But if you will not hear the voice of the Lord your God, to serve the king of Babylon: I will cause you to depart from the cities of Judah, and from the outskirts of Jerusalem: 23. and I will take from you the voice of mirth, and the voice of joy, and the voice of the bridegroom, and the voice of the bride, and all the land shall be without trace of inhabitants. 24. And they did not hear Your voice, to serve the king of Babylon: and You established Your words, which You spoke by the hands of Your servants the prophets, that the bones of our kings and the bones of our fathers should be removed from their place: 25. and behold they are cast out to the heat of the sun and to the frost of the night: and they died in grievous pains, in famine, and by the sword, and in banishment. 26. And You have made the temple in which Your name was invoked, as it is this day, because of the iniquity of the house of Israel and the house of Judah. 27. And You have dealt with us, O Lord our God, according to all Your goodness, and according to all that great mercy of Yours: 28. as You spoke by the hand of Your servant Moses, on the day when You commanded him to write Your law before the children of Israel, 29. saying: If you will not hear My voice, this great multitude shall be turned into the smallest among the nations, where I will scatter them: 30. for I know that the people will not hear Me, for they are a stiff-necked people: but they shall turn to their heart in the land of their captivity: 31. and they shall know that I am the Lord their God, and I will give them a heart, and they shall understand; ears, and they shall hear. 32. And they shall praise Me in the land of their captivity, and shall be mindful of My name. 33. And they shall turn away from their stiff back and from their wickedness: for they shall remember the way of their fathers who sinned against Me. 34. And I will bring them back into the land which I swore to their fathers, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, and they shall be masters of it: and I will multiply them, and they shall not be diminished. 35. And I will establish for them another everlasting covenant, that I will be their God, and they shall be My people: and I will no more remove My people, the children of Israel, from the land which I have given them.
Verse 1: For This Reason
1. FOR THIS REASON. — In Greek hoti, that is "and," which corresponds to the Hebrew causal vav; hence our Vulgate rightly translates "for this reason," as I said on chapter 1:20. HE ESTABLISHED HIS WORD. — "He established" does not mean He decreed, as Hugo and Lyranus explain, but "He established," that is, He made it firm by the very event, and made it stand in reality; for it corresponds to the Hebrew הקים hakem, that is, He made to stand, He raised up, that is, He fulfilled "His word," as if to say: God raised up the Chaldeans, so that they might inflict upon us the evils which He had threatened through Moses and the Prophets; He caused the calamities He had predicted to befall us. So "established" is understood in verse 24, Isaiah 44:24; Jeremiah 28:6, and elsewhere.
Verse 2: According to what was written
2. According to what was written — as if to say: The evils inflicted upon us are similar to, indeed the same as, those which Moses wrote and threatened against the transgressors of his law, Deuteronomy 27 and 28.
Verse 3: That a Man Should Eat the Flesh of His Son
3. THAT A MAN SHOULD EAT THE FLESH OF HIS SON. — That this happened at Jerusalem under the Chaldeans is evident from Lamentations 2:20 and chapter 4:10.
Verse 4: He Gave Them Into the Hand
4. HE GAVE THEM INTO THE HAND. — That is, into the hand and power; for in Greek it is hypocheirious, as if you said, "under-hand," that is, subject to all neighboring kings: because the Jews were now put under the yoke by the Egyptians, now by the Assyrians, now by the Chaldeans, now by the Syrians, now by the Ammonites, etc. AMONG ALL THE PEOPLES — among all the nations.
Verse 5: We Were Brought Low, and not Exalted
5. WE WERE BROUGHT LOW, AND NOT EXALTED — we were made subjects and slaves, not masters of our enemies and neighboring nations. He alludes to Deuteronomy 28:12: "The Lord will establish you as the head, and not the tail: and you shall always be above, and not beneath, if indeed you obey the commandments of the Lord." See verse 43 there.
Verse 6: As is This Day
6. AS IS THIS DAY — as this day declares and demonstrates to be the case.
Verse 7: For He spoke
7. For He spoke. — The Greek has ha elalesen, what He spoke, that is, threatened.
Verse 8: That We Might Return
8. THAT WE MIGHT RETURN — entreating Him to convert us; for without the prevenient and arousing grace of God, no one can rise from sins and be converted. Hence, in Lamentations 5:21, it is said: "Convert us, O Lord, to Yourself, and we shall be converted."
Verse 9: The Lord watched
9. The Lord watched. — That is, He watched over our guilt and its punishment, as a magistrate watches to catch and punish thieves, as if to say: He punished us swiftly and sooner than we expected; he alludes to the watching rod, Jeremiah 1:12.
Verse 10: We did not hear
10. We did not hear — we did not obey. For the Hebrews use the simple verb in place of the compound one which they lack. THAT WE SHOULD WALK IN THE PRECEPTS OF THE LORD, WHICH HE SET BEFORE OUR FACE — that is, which He proposed to our freedom and choice, that we might embrace or reject them, Deuteronomy 30:15.
Verse 11: And Now, O Lord
11. AND NOW, O LORD. — Here begins the second part of the prayer and entreaty, in which the Prophet beseeches God to have mercy on His people who have been cut off and taken captive, and to bend God to mercy he brings forward many reasons: the first is that the Jews are the people of God, whom He brought out of Egypt with so much labor and care, as if to say: Do not, O Lord, destroy Your own work, Your own Church; the second, verse 13, cites the immense calamity and disaster of the people, by which it came about that of so many hundreds of thousands, few survive; the third, verse 14, not on account of our merits, but "for Your own sake," he says; that is, for the sake of Your infinite clemency, spare us: so the Church concludes her prayers saying: "Through Christ our Lord;" the fourth, verse 15, "that all the earth," he says, that is, all nations may celebrate God's clemency, patience, and fatherly providence; the fifth, verse 17, that the public worship of God in the temple may not fall silent; the sixth, verse 28, because God has promised pardon to the penitent; the seventh, verse 34, because of the merits and promises made to Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob.
Verse 12: Against all Your ordinances
12. Against all Your ordinances — against all Your precepts. For these are called "justices" both because they prescribe what is just, and because they justify the one who observes them.
Verse 15: Because Your Name is Invoked Upon Israel
15. BECAUSE YOUR NAME IS INVOKED UPON ISRAEL — that is, because Israel is called by the name of God, namely the people and children of God, that is, devoted to His worship. Secondly, as if to say: Because Israel invokes Your name, that is, calls upon, worships, and entreats You upon himself, so that You may have mercy on him. So it is said in Jeremiah 7:11: "The house in which My name is invoked," that is, the temple in which You were worshipped; for he who worships God invokes Him.
Verse 16: Look Down, O Lord, from Your Holy Dwelling
16. LOOK DOWN, O LORD, FROM YOUR HOLY DWELLING — look upon us from heaven. So Lyranus and Dionysius. Secondly, as if to say: Look upon us from Your temple, or rather, from the site of the now-destroyed temple: for in the temple and in the temple's site God displayed His presence, His ear, and His help. So Theodoret and Hugo. Hence the Jews prayed turned toward the temple, as is evident from Daniel 6:10.
Verse 17: Open Your Eyes
17. OPEN YOUR EYES. — This signifies that God seems to sleep, or to look the other way. AND SEE (consider) THAT THE DEAD WHO ARE IN THE NETHER WORLD — (that is, sinners, says Theodoret; but this is mystical. Secondly, as if to say: The corpses of the dead that are in tombs. So the Hebrews; but this is too narrow and foreign, for a tomb is not the nether world. Thirdly, as if to say: The damned in hell do not praise God. So the Greeks, Hugo, and Delrio, in proverb 197 in digression; but this too is too narrow. Fourthly, Lyranus understands the nether world as the limbo of the fathers, to which the dead descended before Christ: for in this limbo there was no praise of God, that is, useful and meritorious praise; but this too is too narrow on both sides. Fifthly and best, by the nether world understand every place of the lower regions to which the dead descended, whether it be hell, or purgatory, or the limbo of the fathers or of children).
WHOSE SPIRIT, etc. (as if to say: Whose soul has been separated from the body) WILL GIVE HONOR (in Greek doxan, that is, glory) AND JUSTIFICATION — as if to say: The dead will not celebrate nor proclaim the glory or justice of the Lord, so as to justify and glorify Him with their mouth and praise. Heretics object: The dead do not praise God, as is said here and in Psalm 113:17 and Sirach 17:26; therefore the saints who have died are not to be invoked. I respond by denying the consequence and explaining the antecedent: The dead are said not to praise God, not as though they do not do so at all, as the heretics hold, but falsely and ignorantly; for if they think the dead cannot praise God because they are nothing, as though their soul perished with the body, they are atheists; if they think they are unwilling, they are blasphemers against just and holy souls; and the contrary is evident from Revelation 5:14, where St. John saw the 24 elders adoring and glorifying God. The dead are therefore said not to praise God, first, because insofar as they are dead, they cannot praise God with their body, mouth, and tongue (for these are now dead and reduced to dust), and this is what Sirach 17:26 says: "From the dead, as from nothing (that is, as from one who is nothing), confession perishes," that is, praise of God; hence explaining, he adds: "The living, the living shall give thanks, etc., since the son of man is not immortal, etc., and all men are earth and ashes." A living man therefore praises God; but a dead man, since he does not exist, cannot be said to do so. Secondly, the dead do not praise God for new benefits which they receive daily from God, as they are marvelously delivered from the miseries in which they find themselves, as happens to the living; this is what the Psalmist says, Psalm 87:11: "Will You work wonders for the dead, or will physicians raise them up, and they will praise You?" Thirdly, the dead do not praise God with that praise with which the living do so, nor with that praise which is heard by the living; hence in respect to the living, there is no praise from them, just as there is no voice or life. For this reason, and in this respect, the nether world, to which all the dead formerly descended, is called in Scripture דומה duma, that is, the place of silence, of darkness, and of oblivion, because in it they are separated from the living, and have no commerce with them, but seem to them to be dead, consigned to silence and oblivion. Although therefore in limbo the patriarchs, prophets, and other saints praised God, nevertheless that praise could not be perceived by the living, but was hidden from them, unknown and virtually nonexistent. For the Old Testament Scripture, by "praise of God," understands the external and perceptible kind, which edifies and stirs others to the same, such as the praise of the penitent, of those beseeching and imploring God's mercy, as was this praise of Baruch and the Jews, which is properly called glory or glorification: for glory is public praise and renown; honor and praise can be private and secret. For, as Cicero says, Tusculan Disputations 2.6: "Glory is the unanimous praise of good men, the uncorrupted voice of those judging rightly concerning outstanding virtue." So we commonly say: "Roman glory, the glory of our age," etc. But above all he means public and solemn praise, such as was offered in the temple by the common singing of Levites and priests: for in the temple God displayed His presence, and there the praise of God was propagated to all, even to children and grandchildren yet to be born; hence the illustrious praise of God is here called "praise" par excellence. Moreover, he mentions the dead, as if to say: We here in captivity and prison seem as though dead, and we shall soon die from the hardships of prison: for this is what he says in chapter 3:11: "You have been defiled, (O Israel) with the dead: you are counted among those who go down to the nether world," and verse 4: "Hear the prayer of the dead of Israel;" bring us back therefore, O Lord, to Jerusalem and the temple, so that, as though raised to life again, with public singing we may praise You, and may stir up our children and all who see us to Your worship and praise.
Verse 18: BUT THE SOUL THAT IS SORROWFUL (He describes the condition o...
18. BUT THE SOUL THAT IS SORROWFUL (He describes the condition of an exile and captive, as if to say: The soul that is afflicted in captivity and exile) FOR THE GREATNESS OF EVIL (and of hardships, and therefore groaning and repenting) GOES BOWED DOWN AND FEEBLE (and for help and liberation has recourse to God, and implores His mercy) AND THE FAILING EYES (from hunger, weakness, and tears: so it is said in Psalm 68:4: "My eyes have failed, while I hope in my God;" and Psalm 118:123: "My eyes have failed for Your salvation;") AND THE HUNGRY SOUL (that is, the whole person exhausted by fasting, failing from hunger and starvation, begging and seeking bread and other necessities from God) GIVES YOU GLORY — because You alone can and will help him: "For the eyes of all hope in You, because You give them food in due season, and fill every living thing with blessing." AND JUSTICE — because he confesses that he is justly punished by You with hunger and the hardships of captivity for his gluttony and other sins, and repenting, he hopes to be fed and restored by You, because he believes and professes that You are just and faithful in Your promises, by which You promised sustenance and all necessary help to the penitent and to those who invoke You. Some, such as our Valentia (Tract. On Penance, disp. 7, Quest. 2, point 1), not unreasonably explain it thus: "he gives justice," that is, he renders compensation for the offense, such as he can. For penance is, as it were, a kind of justice, though not rigid, but such as can exist between Creator and creature.
FOR THE GREATNESS OF EVIL, AND GOES BOWED DOWN. — So the Roman edition. But the Greek now reads differently, namely: he psyche he lypoumene epi to megethos ho badizei kypton kai asthenoun; which first Vatablus translates and explains thus: the soul sad over the greatness that goes declining and tottering, that is, the soul sad over the magnificence and glory of Israel, which is declining and perishing. Secondly, a Castro better explains it thus: The soul sad over the greatness, namely of the body, that is, the body which was otherwise large, robust, and erect, now on account of the hardships of captivity and exile goes bowed down and weak. Here belongs the explanation of Maldonatus, which is as follows: The soul that is afflicted because of the greatness which (greatness) goes bent and weak, that is, the soul is bowed down by the tottering bulk of the body and is pressed down by weakness, according to Wisdom 9:15: "The corruptible body weighs down the soul." Others finally think there is an error in the Greek, and that it should be corrected to: he badizei kyptousa kai asthenous a. For so the Latin edition has it, whence our Vulgate seems to have read it thus in the Greek.
Verse 19: Not according to the justices
19. Not according to the justices. — That is, not on account of the justices, not trusting in the justices of our fathers. For the Greek epi, which our Vulgate translates as "according to," is taken for the Hebrew על al (that is, upon, on account of), which occurs in this same prayer in Daniel chapter 9:18. We pour forth prayers. — In Greek it is deomen, that is, we pour forth our supplication or our wretchedness, that is, our wretched groans and prayers; for this is the Hebrew תחנוננו tachanunenu, which is found in Daniel.
Verse 20: But because You sent
20. But because You sent — as if to say: We pour forth prayers because we are pressed and compelled by Your afflictions to have recourse to You. BY THE HAND OF YOUR SERVANTS — through Your servants; for "hand" in Hebrew signifies an instrument and instrumental cause.
Verse 21: Do Service
21. DO SERVICE. — ergazesthe, that is, serve: for it is the part of servants to work for their master, and this corresponds to the Hebrew עבד abad, which is found in Jeremiah. So Vatablus and Maldonatus.
Verse 22: I will cause your departure
22. I will cause your departure — I will cause you to fail and be expelled from the cities of Judah. Hence it follows: 23. ALL THE LAND SHALL BE WITHOUT TRACE OF INHABITANTS — that is, the whole land will be deserted of inhabitants and of the footprints of passers-by: in Greek it is eis abaton, that is, into an impassable place: Jeremiah, chapter 7:34 (which Baruch alludes to here) has eis eremosin, that is, "into desolation." The Roman Greek now, instead of ekleipsin, that is "departure," has ekleipein phonen, that is, I will cause the voice of the bridegroom and bride to fail from the cities of Judah: which reading is clear and plainly flows from the preceding words. FROM THE OUTSKIRTS OF JERUSALEM. — So he calls the suburbs of Jerusalem, and the villages and cities subject to it.
Verse 24: And You established
24. And You established. — That is, therefore You caused the evils which You had threatened through the prophets to actually befall us. See what was said on verse 1. THAT THE BONES SHOULD BE REMOVED. — That is, says Maldonatus, so that they would not be buried in the tombs of their fathers, but would die in a foreign land, as a metalepsis; for by the transfer of burial he understands the transfer of death, and consequently of the dying themselves, namely the transfer of the living themselves to Babylon. Secondly and more plainly, "that they should be removed," that is, that they should be dug up, and once dug up, should be thrown here and there under the open sky; for the Chaldeans did this to dig out treasures from the tombs of the Jews, as I said on Jeremiah 8:1-2.
Verse 25: In Grievous Pains
25. IN GRIEVOUS PAINS — en ponois ponerois, that is, in laborious and grievous toils, namely of bitter captivity. IN BANISHMENT — in exile, in dispersion. So Theodoret.
Verse 26: You have made
26. You have made — that is, You have reduced the temple to the state in which it is seen today, namely that it is burned and desolate. Hence the Greek has, not ethēkas, but eis ton katastasin tēs hēmeras tautēs, that is, Your temple. In which Your name was invoked — which was called the temple of God. IN IT. — These words are redundant; it is a Hebraism.
Verse 27: According to All Your Goodness
27. ACCORDING TO ALL YOUR GOODNESS. — In Greek it is epieikeian, as if to say: "You have punished us kindly and leniently." For epieikeia is a kind of relaxation of strict justice, indulgence, and kindness. This is what Jeremiah says, Lamentations 3:22: "It is the mercy of the Lord that we are not consumed." Maldonatus also explains it differently: He says that the punishment itself is called the kindness of God, because through it the people came to recognize their sins and implore God's mercy, as is indicated in verses 31, 32, 33. But the former sense is required by the Greek epieikeian.
Verse 28: Before the Children of Israel
28. BEFORE THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL — setting it before the children of Israel, that they might freely accept or reject it. See what was said on verse 10.
Verse 29: This Great Multitude
29. THIS GREAT MULTITUDE. — In Greek he bombēsis he megalē, that is, this great throng, like a swarm of bees, which is said to buzz or hum because of the sound it makes. It is an onomatopoeia, as if to say: The Jews were like a beehive full to bursting, not with bees, but with people; now it is empty and void, so that few survive from such a great number.
Verse 30: For I Know That the People Will not Hear Me
30. FOR I KNOW THAT THE PEOPLE WILL NOT HEAR ME. — He cites not the words, but the sense of Deuteronomy chapter 31:29. FOR THE PEOPLE IS STIFF-NECKED. — A Castro gives a notable rule here: Do you wish to know, he says, how great your pride and guilt is? See how great the scourges of disease, disgrace, poverty, temptations, and adversities God, who is the most skilled physician of the soul's diseases, applies to cure it. AND THEY SHALL TURN TO THEIR HEART — they shall come to their senses: for tribulation shall give them understanding, Isaiah 28:19. He cites Leviticus chapter 26, verses 39, 40, 41.
Verse 31: And I will give them a heart
31. And I will give them a heart — a new one. He cites not the words, but the sense of Deuteronomy 30:6.
Verse 33: They Shall Turn from Their Stiff Back
33. THEY SHALL TURN FROM THEIR STIFF BACK — from their stubbornness and hardness of character: for the symbol of this is a stiff back, as well as a stiff neck.
Verse 35: And I will establish
35. And I will establish. — These words are taken from Jeremiah chapter 31:31. See what was said there. ANOTHER EVERLASTING COVENANT — that is, a long-lasting one: or "everlasting," namely that they may quietly possess Judea under this condition, that is, if and as long as they keep My laws, says Dionysius. Secondly, better and more fully, this everlasting covenant is the new one which Christ made with us: for we do not read that God made another and new covenant with the captives returning from Babylon; and if He had, it was truly not everlasting, for the Jews were again expelled from Judea by Titus and the Romans: but the covenant of Christ is properly everlasting, and will be everlasting with the Church. So Hugo, Lyranus, and others.