Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Ezekiel is sent to the stubborn Jews, and in verse 8 he receives from God a book in which are written lamentations, a song, and woe — so that by threatening them, he may recall them to repentance and to God, and thus they may escape the threatened punishments.
After the allegorical vision has been presented, therefore, the oracle of the One sitting on the throne is heard: first, rousing the Prophet — at first struck down in spirit, now raised up by the Spirit sent into him, verses 1-2; second, decreeing that he is to be sent as an ambassador to the apostate and hardened children of Israel, verses 3-5; third, encouraging his spirit to carry out the commission zealously, verses 6-8; fourth, confirming him by the command to eat the book of the sorrowful prophecy, verses 8-10.
Vulgate Text: Ezekiel 2:1-10
1. This was the vision of the likeness of the glory of the Lord; and I saw, and I fell on my face, and I heard the voice of one speaking. And He said to me: Son of man, stand upon your feet, and I will speak with you. 2. And the spirit entered into me after He spoke to me, and set me upon my feet; and I heard Him speaking to me, 3. and saying: Son of man, I send you to the children of Israel, to apostate nations who have departed from Me. They and their fathers have transgressed My covenant even unto this day. 4. And they are children of a hard countenance and an untamable heart, to whom I send you; and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God. 5. Perhaps they may hear, and perhaps they may be still, for they are a provoking house; and they shall know that a prophet has been in their midst. 6. And you, son of man, do not fear them, nor be afraid of their words; for unbelievers and subverters are with you, and you dwell among scorpions. Do not fear their words, nor be dismayed at their faces, for they are a provoking house. 7. You shall therefore speak My words to them, if perhaps they may hear and be still; for they are provokers. 8. But you, son of man, hear whatever I say to you, and do not be provoking like the provoking house. Open your mouth and eat whatever I give you. 9. And I looked, and behold, a hand was sent to me, in which was a rolled book; and He spread it open before me, and it was written within and without; and there were written in it lamentations, and a song, and woe.
Verse 1: This Was the Vision of the Likeness of the Glory of the Lord
1. THIS WAS THE VISION OF THE LIKENESS OF THE GLORY OF THE LORD. — That is to say: The vision of the chariot of the Cherubim, the four animals with four faces, the four wheels full of eyes, the crystalline firmament, the throne and the King sitting upon it, above like electrum, below like fire, which I saw in chapter I. It was a vision of the glory and magnificence of the Lord, which He Himself represented through these figures and symbols. For the glory of the Lord in itself is visible to no mortal, but only to the Blessed.
I FELL UPON MY FACE. — First, on account of the great novelty and wonder of so great a vision. Second, out of fear and reverence, as if submitting his fasces to the majesty. For if the Seraphim veil their faces before God, says Theodoret, why should not a mortal man fall, seeing the glory of God? Third, in order to adore God sitting on His throne. For to fall upon one's face is the gesture of one adoring: but to fall upon one's back is the gesture of one rejected, obstinate, impenitent, and reprobate, who cannot raise and lift himself up. Thus Abraham fell on his face when God spoke to him, Genesis XVII, 3, and Isaiah, chapter XXI, 3, and Daniel, chapter IX, 3. But Eli fell backward and died a bodily death, 1 Kings IV, 18, and the Jews seizing Christ, hearing from Him: "I am He," John chapter XVIII, 6. So St. Jerome. Of these Isaiah says, chapter XXVIII, 13: "That they may fall backward, and be broken, and snared."
THE VOICE OF ONE SPEAKING, — namely of God from the throne: but he says "the voice of one speaking," not of God; because being troubled and falling on his face, he was unable to see and recognize the one speaking. A similar thing happened to Paul, when he was cast down and converted by Christ, Acts IX, 4.
On the Title "Son of Man"
SON OF MAN. — In Hebrew, son of Adam. For from Adam, the first man and parent of all, every man is called Adam, as if to say: O man! For since Ezekiel was among the angels, namely among the Cherubim, he is called man for the sake of distinction. The same thing happened to Daniel, chapter VIII, 17. So St. Jerome, Maldonatus, and Delrio, adage 890. Second, lest on account of the sublimity of the vision you think yourself an angel, know that you are a son of man. So St. Paul, 2 Corinthians XII, 7: "Lest the greatness of the revelations should exalt me, there was given me a thorn in my flesh, an angel of Satan, to buffet me." So Theodoret, as if to say: Do not be proud, when I elevate you to this prophecy and to so admirable a vision of God and the Cherubim, says Vatablus, as if you were an angel; for you are Adam, that is, a man, from red earth, a wretched sinner, and a son of Adam. Remember who you are from your weakness, lest you be exalted by the greatness of contemplation, says St. Gregory, homily 14.
Therefore Ezekiel here was a type of Christ, who after His descent into the flesh is called "the Son of man." Ribera adds that Ezekiel is called "son of man" so many times above the other Prophets, because in chapter I, 26, he had seen God in the form of a man sitting on the Cherubic throne, and from this, by God's revelation, he had come to know that the Son of God was to be incarnated for us and would be the son of man; wherefore, filled with wonderful sweetness and devotion, he conceived an immense and burning desire and love for the Incarnation of the Word.
Morally, learn here that man is not called ish, that is, a strong man, from strength and vigor, but adam from adama, that is, earth and dust, from which he was formed. What then is Adam, what is man? First: "Man goes forth like a flower and is crushed, and flees like a shadow, and never remains in the same state," Job XIV, 2. Second: "All flesh is grass, and all its glory is like the flower of the field," Isaiah XL, 6. Third: "What is your life? It is a vapor appearing for a little while, and then it shall vanish," St. James IV, 15. Fifth: "All is vanity, every living man," Psalm XXXVIII, 6. Hence the Church rightly says on Ash Wednesday: "Remember, O man, that you are dust and unto dust you shall return."
Do you want the Gentiles? Aristotle according to Stobaeus: "What is man? He is an example of weakness, a spoil of time, a plaything of fortune, an image of inconstancy." Second: "Man is nothing other than calamity itself," says Herodotus. Third, a certain philosopher: "Man is a slave of death, a guest of a place, a passing traveler." Fourth, Sophocles in Ajax: "I see that we are nothing other than phantoms, all of us who live, or a thin shadow." Pindar: "Man is the dream of a shadow."
STAND UPON YOUR FEET. — That is, do not be afraid, says Polychronius, for I do not come to punish you, but to choose you as a Prophet of the people. Second, Apollinaris: "It belongs to one standing to hear divine things, not to one lying on his back."
Tropologically, St. Jerome says: It belongs to the Saints to stand: "Stand with your loins girded," Ephesians VI, 14. And St. Gregory, homily 9: "To the one lying down it is said that he should rise; but to the one standing, the command is given that he should go forth to preach."
Finally, a holy man, especially a herald of God, must stand raised above all worldly things, with his mind fixed in heaven. For, as Cyprian truly says, epistle to Donatus: "This world smiles that it may rage; it flatters that it may deceive; it entices that it may kill; it exalts that it may cast down."
Verse 2: The Spirit Entered Into Me
2. AND THE SPIRIT ENTERED INTO ME, — that is, the divine power, says Theodoret, and, as St. Gregory and St. Jerome say, the Holy Spirit touched me and raised me up. Second, "the spirit," namely the animal spirit and the vigor of heart and body which fear had taken away, returned to me with God strengthening me and raised me up. The first sense seems more genuine, both because of what he adds: "And He set me upon my feet;" and because in chapter III, 24, repeating these words, he signifies that he is speaking of the Spirit of God.
Verse 3: I Send You to the Children of Israel
3. I SEND YOU TO THE CHILDREN OF ISRAEL (to prophesy, both to those who are in Jerusalem and to those who are captive in Babylon), TO NATIONS, — namely to the Jews, who having followed the idols and vices of the nations, are rightly called Nations contemptuously. For the Jews violated the covenant of God, which follows.
APOSTATE, WHO HAVE DEPARTED. — In Hebrew, to rebels, who rebelled against Me, or provoked Me; the Septuagint, who turn Me to bitterness, that is, they move My bitter bile; because they violated My covenant, that is, the conditions of the covenant made with them through Moses, Exodus XXIV, 8.
Verse 4: Children of a Hard Face and Indomitable Heart
4. AND CHILDREN OF A HARD FACE. — That is, as some translate, obstinate in their faces or foreheads, that is, as Theodoret and Vatablus say, shameless, who are not ashamed of their crime, so that they brazenly commit crimes publicly, and even glory in them. So Cicero in his speech for Quintius says: "I said he seemed to me to be of the hardest face." And in Against Piso: "Your face is iron." And Seneca: "This hard countenance knows not how to weep."
AND OF INDOMITABLE HEART, — of obstinate, hardened spirit, stiff-necked; and, as the Septuagint translates, sklerokardioi, that is, hard-hearted. In Hebrew chiske leb, that is, strong of heart, that is, hard and obstinate, to whom God fittingly opposes chiske el, that is, the strong ones of God, namely Ezekiel (for that is his etymology) and similar Prophets.
For the hard must be hard rebuked, so that their hardness may be crushed, as the Apostle teaches in his letter to Titus, chapter I, 13, and St. Gregory, part III of the Pastoral Rule, chapter VIII: "In one way the shameless must be admonished, in another way the modest. For those are restrained from the vice of shamelessness only by harsh rebuke: while these are disposed to better things by modest exhortation."
Verse 5: If Perhaps They May Hear
5. IF PERHAPS EVEN THEY MAY HEAR, AND IF PERHAPS THEY MAY BE QUIET (namely, from sin, say the Chaldean and the Septuagint): SINCE IT IS AN EXASPERATING HOUSE, — as if to say: I want you to preach to the Jews even when they are averse and unwilling, because "it often happens that those who hear the word with annoyance, receive it fruitfully," says St. Jerome.
Second, from the Hebrew Vatablus, R. David, and Maldonatus translate: whether they hear or whether they cease, that is, you shall speak to them whether they hear you or not.
SINCE IT IS AN EXASPERATING HOUSE. — In Hebrew bet meri, which can be translated: a house of changeableness and defection, or a house of bitterness, or a house of rebellion. So the Chaldean, Vatablus, Maldonatus, and others.
AND THEY SHALL KNOW THAT A PROPHET HAS BEEN IN THEIR MIDST. — As if to say: If they do not wish to hear, they will be without excuse, nor will they accuse Me; since I warned them and did whatever I could. Thus God gives grace to the hardened, even though He foresees it will be in vain, and He does this for His own justification; to show that it was not on His part that they were not saved. So Theodoret.
Note here that God does not deny sufficient grace to the hardened (for otherwise they would seem to be outside the state of salvation, and as if condemned); which if they use, they gradually receive more and more, so that they may at last truly repent, be converted, and be saved. Admire here the clemency and the tender mercies of our God.
Verse 6: Do Not Fear Them, nor Their Words
6. SINCE — as if to say: I forewarn you not to be afraid, to show yourself a man, since I am sending you to the unbelieving and rebellious.
THE UNBELIEVING, — that is, disobedient, rebellious: the Septuagint, maddened; like cattle, says Theodoret, driven by a star.
AND SUBVERTERS. — Vatablus and the Hebrews translate it as thorns, that is, thorny; the Chaldean, hard; our translator renders it subverters, who subvert others by their bad doctrine or example.
ARE WITH YOU. — The Septuagint and Chaldean say, are against you, as if to say: Granted your business is with rebellious and harsh men, who like thorns are accustomed to prick those who deal with them; nevertheless do not be afraid, but boldly rebuke them.
AND YOU DWELL AMONG SCORPIONS. — A scorpion is a venomous little creature, having a curved and tubular sting in its tail, with which it strikes in an arching wound. In the word scorpions, it denotes the most pestilent false prophets, who flatter with their mouth, saying: Thus says the Lord: but with their tail, that is, in the end, they instill the poison of impiety.
Verse 7: You Shall Speak My Words to Them
7. AND THEY MAY BE QUIET. — In Hebrew, and if they be quiet; Vatablus, whether they hear or do not hear. See what was said at verse 5.
AND YOU SHALL SAY TO THEM: THUS SAYS THE LORD. — As if to say: You shall prophesy, and you shall use the customary preface of the Prophets by saying: "Thus says the Lord," as if to say: I from now on constitute you a Prophet, so that you may set My name before your words. So Vatablus.
Verse 8: Do Not Be Exasperating — Open Your Mouth
8. AND DO NOT BE EXASPERATING, — that is, rebellious, provoking the Lord, as they provoke Him by their disobedience and rebellion, as if to say: Do not resist the Holy Spirit, who calls you to prophesy and preach to the rebellious; as they resist the same One calling them to repentance.
OPEN YOUR MOUTH. — Origen: Open the vessels of your soul, to receive My words, that is, commit them to memory and retain them, as if to say: Whatever you receive and hear from Me, accept with an even mind, refuse nothing, reject nothing, conceal nothing, speak all, declare all to the people.
Verse 9: A Rolled-Up Book, Written Inside and Outside
9. A ROLLED-UP BOOK. — In Hebrew, a scroll of a book. For the ancients wrote on sewn parchments, or skins and membranes, and rolled them up into spirals and cylinders, and when they wished to read, they unrolled and unfolded them. The custom was, to preserve them unharmed, to roll them around a rod of cedar, or of some other precious material, to which the end of the membrane was fastened.
HE UNROLLED IT, — so that I might understand the prophecy written in it, and having understood it, announce it to the Jews. So Polychronius.
WRITTEN INSIDE AND OUTSIDE. — That is, as the Syriac says, in front and behind. The ancients called such books Opisthographs, because they were written on the back. Of these Juvenal, Satire 1: Written even on the back, and Orestes is not yet finished.
On the Nature and Symbolism of the Scroll
This opisthograph book signifies that the prophecy would be lengthy, says Vatablus, and that it would contain so many evils impending over the Jews as to fill the entire scroll inside and outside. So Maldonatus.
Mystically, St. Gregory, homily 9: "Sacred Scripture," he says, "is a book written inside through allegory, outside through history. Inside, because it promises invisible things: outside, because it arranges visible things by the rectitude of its precepts. Inside, because it promises heavenly things: but outside, because it prescribes how earthly contemptible things are either to be used or fled from. It is rolled up, so that the obscurity itself may be an occasion for multiple senses," and furthermore for study and meditation, so that by unrolling it, we may gradually learn to raise our mind to divine things, says St. Dionysius, chapter I of the Celestial Hierarchy.
Symbolically, the rolled-up book signifies the mystery of God's counsels and decrees. This is written inside and outside, because very many, indeed infinite counsels of God are written in it. Note here: in God there is, as it were, a threefold book. The first, of creation and creatures, of which it is said in Psalm CXXXVIII, 16: "In Your book all things shall be written." The second, of laws and obligations, of which it is said in Baruch IV, 1: "This is the book of the commandments of God, and the law that is forever." The third, of particular providence concerning every creature, especially man and angel, by which He decrees to reward these in particular for their merits, and punish those for their demerits.
Verse 10: Lamentations, a Song, and Woe
A SONG. — The Septuagint, a melody, namely a mournful one, as is clear from what follows. He calls it "a song," either because it was set to music, or rather, because it was a certain formula composed of set words for a funeral, with which they lamented the deceased. This book therefore did not contain the entire prophecy of Ezekiel: for in it there are also many joyful things, and many promises; but only its earlier part, which is threatening, sad, and sorrowful.
AND WOE. — "Woe" signifies the groaning of the voice, and the beating of the breast, with lamentation. It is therefore an amplification of misfortune and calamity, that is, of the captivity of the Jews, which was gradually increasing, until Zedekiah with all the people was led away. For "lamentation" is a simple mourning, "song" is more vehement and premeditated: "woe" also signifies beating and clapping of hands.
Aquila, for lamentations, song and woe, translates: aviah, that is, creation; hege, that is, an exemplar or comparison; and ouai, and it will be: as if to say: These three things were written in the book: a construction, an exemplar, and it will be: just as mane, tekel, phares, that is, number, weight, division, were written on the wall and shown to Belshazzar, Daniel V, 25. The construction therefore signifies the city, temple, kingdom, and priesthood of the Jews founded and instituted by God: the exemplar signifies all these things transferred from the Jews to the nations, and there restored, namely among Christians: "it will be" signifies that this sentence of God concerning them would be irrevocable.
Third, R. Solomon: "Lamentations," he says, are the sorrows of the just in this world; "song," the reward of the Saints in the future; "woe," the torments of the wicked in the future world. And St. Gregory here, homily 9, says that "lamentations" belong to the penitent, "songs" to the blessed, "woe" to the damned.
Wherefore, devoutly concluding, St. Gregory says: "What then, brothers, what is to be done by us poor ones, except that we awake to the words of this volume, and punish with tears the evils we remember having done, so that through the laments of penance, we may arrive at the song of life? Lest, if we refuse to afflict ourselves now by repenting, we feel the woe afterward without end."
From this it is clear that Aquila, Origen, St. Jerome, St. Ambrose, St. Gregory, R. Solomon, and others understood by "song" joyful promises. Which opinion is probable on account of so many and such weighty authorities; although the contrary seems more conformable to the text, namely that "song" placed between "lamentations" and "woe" is of the same nature as they, and is a sad and mournful song.
Note: St. John, in his Apocalyptic visions, often alludes to the vision of Ezekiel and Daniel. Thus he alludes to this vision of Ezekiel in chapters IV and V. For just as John, in chapter IV, saw God sitting on an august throne, surrounded by a rainbow and attended by four living creatures: so Ezekiel saw the same One attended in the same manner by four Cherubim, in chapter I. Second, just as St. John, in chapter V, saw in the right hand of God a sealed book, written inside and outside: so Ezekiel in this chapter II saw a book sent to him by God, in which inside and outside were written "lamentations, a song, and woe."