Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
He continues to prophesy the siege and destruction of Nineveh by the Medes and Chaldeans, vividly describing their weapons, camps, and soldiers -- fierce, swift, and terrible like lightning. Then, from verse 8, he depicts the desolation, plundering, terror, and consternation of Nineveh; and adds and insists upon the reason: that it had been a den of lions, that is, of tyrants and robbers.
Vulgate Text: Nahum 2:1-13
1. He who would scatter has come up before you; guard the siege works; watch the road, gird your loins, strengthen your power greatly. 2. Because the Lord has restored the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel; because the destroyers have laid them waste and ruined their branches. 3. The shield of his mighty men is red, the men of the army are in scarlet; the reins of the chariots are fiery on the day of his preparation, and the drivers are dazed. 4. They are thrown into confusion in the roads; the chariots clash in the streets; their appearance is like torches, like lightning darting about. 5. He will recall his mighty men; they will stumble in their advance; they will quickly mount the walls, and the covering will be prepared. 6. The gates of the rivers are opened, and the temple is destroyed to the ground. 7. And the soldier is led away captive; and her handmaids are driven, moaning like doves, mur-
Verse 1
Verse 1. HE HAS ASCENDED WHO SHALL SCATTER YOU BEFORE YOUR FACE, WHO SHALL KEEP THE SIEGE. — The Syriac and Arabic: keeping guard, that is, standing watch. You may ask FIRST, what siege is Nahum discussing here — that of Jerusalem, or of Nineveh? The Chaldean, Theodoret, Theophylact, and Vatablus think it refers to Jerusalem, and Vatablus translates and applies it thus: He has ascended, that is, like vapor has risen into the air, has gone, vanished, and perished — the scatterer or dissipator, that is, Sennacherib, who scattered your children, O Jerusalem, and besieged you. For Nahum seems to be continuing the account of Sennacherib's disaster, which he treated at the end of the preceding chapter. Whence the Septuagint translates: He ascended breathing into your face, rescuing from tribulation, meaning, as Theodoret says: God breathed into you, O Jerusalem, besieged and nearly killed, the spirit of life and salvation, and made you revive, when He blew upon and slew the camp of Sennacherib which was besieging and killing you — just as of old, when forming Adam, He breathed into him the spirit of life and made him a living soul, so that he might be a living animal and man. The following words support this, in which he speaks of Israel saying: "Because the Lord has restored the pride of Jacob, as the pride of Israel," meaning: God, after He had sufficiently chastised the pride of Israel and Judah through Sennacherib, cast the rod into the fire, that is, killed Sennacherib himself with his men. To this pertains the exposition of Arias, which is as follows: Do not be proud, O Jerusalem, because you have escaped the hands of Sennacherib; for if you fall back into crimes, Nebuchadnezzar will rise against you, who will punish your pride, and will besiege and devastate you, as indeed happened.
Second, and better, others generally understand these words of the siege and destruction of Nineveh, both because the whole prophecy of Nahum is "the burden of Nineveh," as its title has it, not of Jerusalem; and because, expressly explaining it in verse 8, he says: "And Nineveh is like a pool," etc. So the Hebrews, St. Jerome, Remigius, Albert, Hugo, Lyra, Clarius, Ribera, a Castro, and others. The sense therefore is, meaning: Against you, O Nineveh, "he has ascended," that is, shortly the enemy will ascend, who "before your face," that is, before your eyes, while you watch and groan, "shall scatter," in Hebrew mephits, that is, shall break, crush, dissipate, and destroy your fields, estates, fortifications, wealth, inhabitants and neighbors, "and who shall keep the siege," that is, who shall most tightly besiege you, press you, and watch you like a guard, lest you escape by any route and evade his hand; nor will he desist until he storms and captures you. For, as Livy wisely says in Book V: "The siege of a city that you wish to capture quickly must be pressed and maintained." Likewise: "Against an obstinate enemy one must fight obstinately," says the same author in Book X. Hence the proverb: "You imitate Hector — you never leave Troy."
You may ask second, when and by whom was Nineveh besieged and captured? First, Diodorus Siculus, Book III, Justin, Book I, Megasthenes, Eusebius, Orosius, and other chronologists and historians generally teach that Nineveh was stormed by Arbaces the Mede and Belesus the Babylonian, who compelled Sardanapalus, king of Nineveh, to kill himself, namely to leap into a pyre kindled by himself: for he was the last king or monarch of the Assyrians, and in him the monarchy ended and was transferred to the Medes and Chaldeans. Moreover, Eusebius in his Chronicle, St. Jerome at the beginning of his Commentary on Amos, St. Augustine in Book XVIII of the City of God, chapter 21, Orosius and others generally report that Sardanapalus lived in the time of Uzziah, king of Judah, at which time Procas Silvius, grandfather of Romulus, was king of the Latins and reigned in Alba. But these two points do not sufficiently agree with Sacred Scripture; for it is established that after Uzziah, under his great-grandson Hezekiah, Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon lived, who were kings of the Assyrians, reigned in Nineveh, and were most powerful — unless you say that in Sardanapalus Nineveh and the Assyrian monarchy were overthrown, but that afterwards Nineveh flourished again and the kingdom was restored to it, though not the monarchy. For the claim that some make, wishing to reconcile secular historians with Sacred Scripture, responding with Eusebius and Megasthenes that Shalmaneser, Sennacherib, and Esarhaddon were kings of the Assyrians, that is, of the Babylonians, who had already transferred the Assyrian monarchy to themselves and ruled over the Assyrians they had defeated — this, I say, cannot be maintained. For at the same time Merodach-Baladan ruled over the Babylonians, while Esarhaddon ruled the Assyrians, as is clear from IV Kings 20:12, compared with chapter 19, last verse. Therefore at that time there were different and distinct kings of the Assyrians, as well as of the Babylonians. However that may be,
as it is, Nahum cannot be speaking of the destruction of Nineveh under Sardanapalus, if you place him as a contemporary of Uzziah, since Nahum is far later than he; that event therefore pertains to the times of Jonah, as I said in the Proem to Jonah.
Second, the Hebrews think Nineveh was devastated at the beginning of the reign of Manasseh, who succeeded his father Hezekiah in the kingdom of Judah, and that therefore Manasseh was led captive to Babylon, not to Nineveh, because Nineveh had already been overthrown, as Genebrardus reports from Suidas in Book I of his Chronology, who also adds that Sardanapalus, by contraction, is the same person and name as Esarhaddon. For Esarhaddon reigned in the time of Manasseh and seems to have been the last king of the Assyrians: for after him no other is named in Scripture. And since secular historians assert that the last king of the Assyrians was Sardanapalus, it seems that he was none other than Esarhaddon, who lived under Manasseh; and consequently that the empire of the Assyrians then ended, and Nineveh was overthrown. But Eusebius, St. Jerome, St. Augustine, and other Greek and Latin authors generally oppose this view, teaching that Sardanapalus lived long before Manasseh, under Uzziah king of Judah, as I have already said.
Third, St. Cyril and Theophylact think Nineveh was overthrown by Cyrus and the Persians. But they seem to confuse the Assyrians with the Babylonians, and Nineveh with Babylon: for Cyrus overthrew Babylon, not Nineveh. Thus historians often include the Babylonians under the Assyrians, and vice versa, as when they count the four famous ancient monarchies — Assyrian, Persian, Greek, and Roman — they include the Babylonians under the Assyrians.
I say therefore that Nineveh was captured and overthrown by the Medes and Chaldeans, namely by Cyaxares king of the Medes, and by Nebuchadnezzar king of the Babylonians. This Cyaxares was the son of Phraortes and the father of Astyages; and Astyages was the maternal grandfather of Cyrus.
This opinion is proved first, because the Septuagint expressly asserts this in Tobit chapter 14, last verse. For the elder Tobias, dying, in verse 5 there warns his son the younger Tobias to withdraw from Nineveh, because on account of its crimes the destruction threatened by Jonah is imminent. The Septuagint adds at the end of the chapter that the younger Tobias heard of this destruction before his death, and says: And he died (the younger Tobias) at the age of one hundred and twenty-seven years in Ecbatana of Media. And he heard, before he himself died, of the destruction of Nineveh, which Nebuchadnezzar and Ahasuerus captured, or, as the Roman text reads, Assyeros, that is, Cyaxares. For the name Cyaxares, or Kyaxares, is formed from the praenomen Ky, that is, prince, and Axares, which is the same as the Hebrew and Chaldean Ahasuerus, that is, Assuerus, as Scaliger teaches in De Emendatione Temporum under Assuerus, and Serarius on Tobit chapter 14, Question IV. For in both names the same consonant letters appear, which alone the Hebrews and Chaldeans attend to, even if the vowel points vary.
Second, because it is the common opinion of chronologists and historians that Nebuchadnezzar was the founder of the Babylonian monarchy, and that he transferred it from the Assyrians and Nineveh to Babylon: but he could not do this unless, having captured and devastated Nineveh, he stripped it of its empire. Third, Herodotus, Book I, expressly teaches that Nineveh was overthrown by Cyaxares. For after narrating that Phraortes had attacked Nineveh but in vain — for he perished there with his forces — he adds that Cyaxares, son of Phraortes, to avenge his father's death, besieged Nineveh; but when meanwhile the Scythians had invaded Media and seized the empire of Asia (which they held for 28 years), Cyaxares lifted the siege and waged war against the Scythians until after 28 years he defeated and expelled them; which done, he attacked Nineveh again and stormed it. Eusebius teaches the same in his Chronicle, and St. Jerome here and in his Preface to Jonah: "And indeed, as far as both Hebrew and Greek histories are concerned, and especially Herodotus, we read that Nineveh was overthrown while Josiah was reigning among the Hebrews, and Astyages (reigning with his father Cyaxares) was king of the Medes." Moreover, Cyaxares stormed Nineveh with the help of his son-in-law Nebuchadnezzar; for it was for this reason that he betrothed his daughter to him, named Nitocris. This is that famous Nitocris who arranged for the hanging gardens to be built in Babylon, which were a wonder of the world, about which Curtius writes in Book V, and Josephus in Book X of the Antiquities, chapter 13. Herodotus celebrates her heroic works in Book I, where he also adds that she had built for herself a se-
pulchre and inscribed on it these words: "If any of the kings of Babylon after me shall be in need of money, let him open the tomb and take as much as he pleases — provided only that he is in need of money; otherwise let him not open it." Darius opened it, but instead of money found this inscription: "Unless you were insatiable for money and greedy for base gain, you would not have opened the urns of the dead."
Finally, this is the opinion of the Hebrews in the Seder Olam, of Theodoret, Rupert, Lyra, Ribera, a Castro, Adrichomius in his Chronology (year of the world 3237), Serarius on Tobit chapter 14, and of others.
You may ask THIRD, when Cyaxares and Nebuchadnezzar stormed Nineveh — before or after the destruction of Jerusalem, which Nebuchadnezzar inflicted in the 18th year of his reign, which was the 11th and last year of Zedekiah king of Judah? Some think Nineveh was stormed before Jerusalem. So Eusebius in his Chronicle says Nineveh was stormed, in its beginnings in the 28th year of Josiah, and completely in the 4th year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah. Bede follows Eusebius in his book On the Six Ages of the World, where he reports that Scripture counts the years of Nebuchadnezzar from the 4th year of Jehoiakim, because from that year he began to rule not only over the Chaldeans and Jews, but also over the Assyrians and Egyptians. Christopher a Castro agrees, holding that Nineveh was stormed in the 1st year of Nebuchadnezzar.
Again, modern manuscript chronologists think that Cyaxares, in the 35th year of his reign — which, they say, was the 13th of Josiah king of Judah and the first of Nebuchadnezzar the elder — stormed Nineveh. This Nebuchadnezzar the elder is called by Berosus, Eusebius, Joseph Scaliger, Cardinal Bellarmine, and others Nabonassar or Nabopolassar, who reigned 21 years and was the father of Nebuchadnezzar the younger, who destroyed Jerusalem and other nations — whence from the glory of his deeds he was surnamed the Great, of whom Scripture speaks throughout in IV Kings chapters 24 and 25, and in Jeremiah, Ezekiel, Daniel, and other Prophets. By this man's father, therefore, as well as by Cyaxares, they say Nineveh was overthrown.
They prove this first, because Herodotus indicates that Cyaxares was a contemporary of Psammetichus king of Egypt, who was the great-grandfather of Apries, or Hophra. For Psammetichus, who reigned 54 years, was succeeded by his son Necho, who killed Josiah king of Judah. Necho was succeeded by his son Psammis, who was the father of Pharaoh Apries, or Hophra, as Herodotus and Diodorus Siculus report. But Hophra was stripped of his kingdom by Nebuchadnezzar the younger, as Jeremiah teaches in chapter 44:30. Therefore Cyaxares, storming Nineveh, does not seem to have been a contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar the younger, whom he preceded by several generations, but rather of the elder. Second, because Eusebius and St. Jerome, cited just above, teach that Nineveh was overthrown by Cyaxares, or Astyages, under Josiah king of Judah — therefore before the destruction of Jerusalem; for that happened under Zedekiah, son of Josiah. Third, because the Septuagint, already cited, teaches that the younger Tobias heard of the destruction of Nineveh before his death: but this Tobias as a boy, that is, about six or seven years old, was carried off with his father by Shalmaneser into Assyria at the destruction of Samaria and the kingdom of Israel, in the 6th year of Hezekiah king of Judah, and he died in Media at the age of 99, as the Latin Bible has it, Tobit 14. Subtract the seven years of his boyhood that preceded his deportation and the 6th year of Hezekiah, and from that point count the following years up to the 13th of Josiah, you will find 99: so that this Tobias seems to have died in the aforesaid 13th year of Josiah. Fourth, Josephus, Book IX of Antiquities, chapter 11, teaches that Nahum prophesied under Jotham, father of Ahaz, and adds: "And all things that had been predicted about Nineveh came to pass after one hundred and fifteen years." Now the 13th year of Josiah is 115 years from the last year of Jotham: therefore in this 13th year of Josiah, Nineveh seems to have been overthrown. And this seems to have been the watching rod hanging over the backs of all nations, which Jeremiah saw in the 13th year of Josiah, chapter 1:2; namely, this rod was Nebuchadnezzar the elder, who in the 13th year of Josiah overthrew Nineveh and began to ravage other nations.
But this opinion is opposed, first, by the fact that these authors in their synchronism, or combination of dates, are forced to begin the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity from the 13th year of Josiah; for they say that the 35th year of Cyaxares fell in this year, in which he overthrew Nineveh, and he then reigned five more years (for he reigned 40 years in all). He was succeeded by his son Astyages for 38 years; Astyages was succeeded by his grandson Cyrus, as is clear from Daniel 13:65. Now Cyrus, gradually growing in strength and victories, finally in the 27th year of his reign attacked Babylon, captured it, became monarch, and then freed the Jews captive in Babylon. Add the 5 years of Cyaxares, 38 of Astyages, 27 of Cyrus, and you have 70 years of captivity: for these end in the 27th year of Cyrus. Whence it necessarily follows that the 70 years of the Babylonian captivity must begin from the 13th year of Josiah, which, as they say, was the 35th of Cyaxares. But chronologists generally refute this, beginning these 70 years much later, and counting far more than 70 from the 13th of Josiah to the 27th of Cyrus. Add that under Josiah Jerusalem was prosperous; its captivities began under Jehoiakim and Zedekiah, sons of Josiah. Second, Eusebius in his Chronicle and others say Cyaxares began to reign in the 15th year of Josiah; therefore he could not have overthrown Nineveh in the 13th year of Josiah, since he was not yet king. Third, because Nahum, chapter 3:7 and 8, indicates that Nineveh was to be overthrown after the overthrow of Alexandria: but Alexandria was overthrown after Jerusalem. For, as Josephus teaches (X Antiquities 11) and Ezekiel chapter 29:17, Nebuchadnezzar the younger, after devastating Jerusalem, in the fifth year invaded and occupied Egypt, whose capital is Alexandria. Fourth, Jeremiah supports this, who in chapter 25:26, among the nations and kings to be conquered by Nebuchadnezzar the younger, names the kings of the North: for among these the nearest to him and to Babylon was the king of Nineveh and of the Assyrians. Whence Judith 16:5 says: "Assur came from the mountains of the North." Again Jeremiah, chapter 50:18: "Behold, I will visit the king of Babylon and his land, as I visited the king of Assur" — signifying that not long after, Babylon would be overthrown in the same way as Nineveh, namely after 54 years: for that is the number from the 24th year of Nebuchadnezzar the younger, or the Great, in which he overthrew Nineveh, to the 27th of Cyrus, in which Cyrus captured Babylon and, having overthrown it, made himself monarch.
It seems therefore that Nebuchadnezzar the Great, gradually growing in arms and victories, after the destruction of Jerusalem, finally in the 23rd year of his reign invaded Egypt; and having occupied it, in the 24th year he dared to attempt the citadel of the monarchy, namely Nineveh, aided by Cyaxares, and having captured it, transferred the monarchy from Nineveh to Babylon, and made himself its first monarch. Whence from this year, as the first of the monarchy, Daniel counts his years in chapter 2:1, as I said there. So Ribera thinks, and Serarius on Tobit chapter 14, Question IV, and Torniellus at the year of the world 3432, who also adds that Nineveh was captured several times. For as it kept rebelling against the Chaldeans, being impatient of the yoke and accustomed to ruling others: first, it was captured by Arbaces the Mede, when Sardanapalus was its king, shortly after the preaching of Jonah, before the times of Nahum. Second, it was captured under Esarhaddon son of Sennacherib by Merodach-Baladan, king of Babylon. Whence after Esarhaddon no more kings of the Assyrians are named in Scripture, but only of the Babylonians. Hence Josephus (Book of Antiquities, chapter 3), Bellarmine, Genebrardus, and Torniellus in his Chronology (year of the world 3335) think that Esarhaddon was defeated by Merodach-Baladan around the 27th year of Hezekiah king of Judah; and at the year of the world 3384 he lists the succession of kings of Babylon of that era as follows: Nabonassar reigned 26 years, then Merodach-Baladan 52 years, after him Ben-Merodach 24 years; next Nabolassar (or Nebuchadnezzar the elder) 21 years, and finally Nebuchadnezzar the younger 44 years. Third, Nineveh was fully and completely captured and subdued by Cyaxares and Nebuchadnezzar the younger in the 24th year of his reign. Finally, after the return of the Jews from the Babylonian captivity, in the time of Xerxes (as Ribera holds) or Artaxerxes (as others say), another Nebuchadnezzar reigned in Nineveh, who sent Holofernes into Judea; him Judith killed, chapter 1:5. See how God crushes proud cities and proud men, and does so as often as they raise their necks and horns.
To the first argument of the previous opinion, I respond that Cyaxares, beginning to reign at the end of Psammetichus's reign, could easily have reached the times of Hophra, who was Psammetichus's great-grandson. For Cyaxares reigned 40 years. And it is certain that he was a contemporary of Nebuchadnezzar the younger; for the latter began to reign in the 3rd year of Jehoiakim son of Josiah, Daniel 1:1. But Cyaxares began to reign in the 15th year of Josiah, who reigned 31 years. Whence it follows that Cyaxares reigned only 18 years before Nebuchadnezzar, and reigned with him for 22 years: for in all he reigned 40 years.
To the second, I respond that Eusebius and St. Jerome speak loosely about the time of Nineveh's destruction and assign it to the reign of Josiah, because Cyaxares began to besiege Nineveh under Josiah; but when the Scythians invaded Media, he interrupted the siege for 28 years, as I said just above: after which, resuming and renewing the siege with Nebuchadnezzar the younger, he captured and devastated Nineveh in the year already mentioned. Hence St. Jerome says it was devastated under Astyages, when indeed the aging Cyaxares had made his son Astyages a partner in the kingdom, indeed its governor; which certainly did not happen under Josiah, but long after.
Hence again Eusebius is not entirely consistent with himself. For he assigns the beginning of Cyaxares' reign to the 13th year of Josiah, but the storming of Nineveh to the 28th year of Josiah, and again to the 4th of Jehoiakim. Whence it follows that he stormed Nineveh in the 13th, or at least the 20th, year of his reign, whereas on the contrary it is established from Herodotus that at least 28 years elapsed between the beginning of his reign and the siege of Nineveh up to its storming.
To the third, I respond that the Septuagint gives the younger Tobias not just 99 years, as the Latin Bible has it, but 127; which if you count, you will reach the year of Nineveh's destruction that I designated a little earlier. Add that some, like Serarius, count these 99 years from his father's death; to which add the 63 years he lived with his father in captivity, and suppose he was only two years old when he came into captivity, and you will reckon that he lived altogether 164 years, so that he reached the 24th year of Nebuchadnezzar, in which Nineveh was overthrown.
To the fourth, the answer is that Josephus says this prophecy of Nahum was fulfilled after 115 years, because it then began to be fulfilled; for Cyaxares then began to besiege Nineveh: but it was perfectly completed after 28 years of Cyaxares, as I have already shown. Add that Josephus errs when he says Nahum began to prophesy under Jotham: for he began under his grandson Hezekiah, as I said in the Proem.
Finally, the synchronism of those times will be easy if to Cyaxares, to whom Eusebius gives only 32 years of reign, you add ten from the years of his son Astyages, who administered the kingdom while his father was old, and for this reason historians assign these years to Astyages rather than Cyaxares; and for this reason St. Jerome, in his Preface to Jonah, says Nineveh was stormed by Astyages, not by Cyaxares: for with 10 years added to Cyaxares, the 42nd year of Cyaxares will fall in the 24th year of Nebuchadnezzar the younger, or the Great, in which, having devastated Egypt, with Cyaxares' forces he stormed Nineveh. Cyaxares was then succeeded by his son Astyages, who reigned alone for 28 years, and then Cyrus, who in the 27th year of his reign ended the Babylonian captivity, which had already lasted 70 years; for you will find these 70 years if you begin them from the 11th and last year of Jehoiakim, which was the 27th of Cyaxares; for add the remaining 15 years of Cyaxares, 28 of Astyages, 27 of Cyrus, and you will have the 70 years we seek. From what has been said it follows that the empire of Nineveh and the Assyrians stood for 1,440 years; for that many elapsed from the first year of Ninus, founder of Nineveh, who preceded the birth of Abraham by 43 years (for in the 43rd year of Ninus, Abraham was born, says Eusebius in his Chronicle) to the 24th year of Nebuchadnezzar, in which Nineveh was overthrown. So Ribera. Let what has been said suffice concerning chronology so ancient, and therefore uncertain and obscure.
CONTEMPLATE (O Nineveh) THE WAY — by which the Medes and Chaldeans are advancing with great armies, to besiege and destroy you. For so citizens about to be besieged are accustomed to watch curiously and anxiously the roads by which the enemy camps advance to besiege the city. The way is therefore put metonymically for the wayfarers, namely the enemies.
STRENGTHEN YOUR LOINS — meaning: Gather whatever strength you have to resist the enemies. For the strength of a man is situated in great part in the loins; whence
the weak are called "loinless"; and when we wish to debilitate a man or animal, we break his loins. So Plautus in the Amphitryon: "If you provoke me, he says, today you will carry off a loin-breaking from here," meaning: If you provoke me, I will break your loins. Conversely, of the valiant woman the Wise Man says, Proverbs 31:17: "She girded her loins with strength, and strengthened her arm." Moreover, the loins are strengthened if they are bound with the hand, a belt, or a similar band. Whence the Septuagint translates: Hold your loins, act manfully.
STRENGTHEN YOUR POWER GREATLY. — "Power," that is, forces; the Hebrew, fortify strength greatly; the Septuagint, strengthen mightily; the Chaldean, corroborate forces greatly; the Tigurina, equip troops in every way; for these are the forces of cities, namely the troops of citizens and soldiers.
Tropologically, St. Jerome says: "Three things are commanded to Judah," that is, to the Church and to the faithful soul: "First, that he contemplate the way, and diligently look at the path he is about to walk, according to that passage of Jeremiah 6:16: Stand in the ways, and ask for the ancient paths, and see which is the good way, and walk in it — so that, standing at many crossroads, we may come to that Way which says: I am the Way. Then he is told to hold his loins, that is, after choosing his way of life, to mortify his body and subject it to servitude, lest while preaching to others as king and master, he himself be found reprobate — since the power of the devil is especially in the loins, Job 40:11; and since John is girded with a leather belt, Matthew 3; and since the Savior commands the disciples: Let your loins be girded, Luke 12; and the Apostle, Ephesians 6: Stand therefore, having your loins girded with truth; for although much is accomplished, and the continence of life surpasses the mortification of the loins, yet nothing mortifies them so much as the knowledge of truth. Whence it is said: Gird your loins with truth. For if truth is Christ, he who has believed in Christ with his whole mind has mortified his loins in Christ. Third, it is commanded: Be strengthened with power exceedingly. You have chosen the way, he says, you have held your loins; take on power, so that you may fight with enemies. And lest you perhaps despair, the reason is given why you should hope. The Lord has turned away, he says, the insult of Jacob, which Jacob was accustomed to inflict on others. For it is not as great a virtue to endure an injury done by others, as it is a grace of the Lord to be mild, gentle, and tranquil, unable to do injury. Israel therefore, that is, the sense or the man who sees God and always thinks of God, does not know how to do injury."
Verse 2
Verse 2. Because the Lord has restored the pride of Jacob, as THE PRIDE OF ISRAEL. — For "pride" the Hebrew has geon, which signifies both pride and magnificence and glory. Whence the Chaldean, Vatablus, and Arias translate: He will recall the magnificence of Jacob, according to the majesty of Israel, that is, according to their former dignity, meaning: The Lord will restore through Cyrus Israel's former majesty and glory, which the Assyrian and Babylonian had obscured by despoiling the Jews of all their goods and leading them captive to Babylon. For Jacob and Israel seem to be taken for the same, namely for the Jews. So Isaiah, chapter 60:15, says: "I will make you the pride," that is, the magnificence and glory, "of ages." And chapter 61:6: "In their glory you shall be proud," that is, you shall glory. So also Virgil, Aeneid I:
Hence a people ruling far and wide and proud in war, Shall come for the destruction of Libya.
And Book III:
Doors enriched with barbarian gold and proud with spoils,
that is, magnificent. Whence the Syriac translates: Because He has restored (brought back — for the Syriac word properly applies to a thing that has been reduced to captivity, plunder, or ruin, and is restored to its former state) the honor or glory of Jacob, as the honor or glory of Israel. So also the Antiochene Arabic.
But better, others generally take "pride" here properly, and that in a double sense. The first is that the pride of Jacob and Israel be taken passively, for that which Jacob and Israel suffered from the Assyrians. Thus God is called our love, fear, hope, patience — passively and objectively, namely He who is loved, feared, hoped in by us, for whose sake we suffer — meaning: You will be besieged and devastated, O Nineveh, because God has determined to avenge the pride which your king Sennacherib and your Assyrians exercised against Jacob, that is, against the Jews, insulting them through Rabshakeh; and equally the pride which they exercised against Israel, that is, against Samaria and the ten tribes, devastating them through Shalmaneser. So St. Jerome, Remigius, Hugo, Lyra; indeed even the Septuagint translates: The Lord has turned away the insult of Jacob, as the insult of Israel.
The latter sense is that the pride of Jacob and Israel be taken properly and actively for the arrogance of the Jews and Israelites, with which, swelling and puffed up, they wanted to live for themselves, and refused to be subject to God and obey Him — meaning: I will bring down upon the head of Nineveh, and punish and cut off its pride; because "I have repaid," that is, I will repay and punish, the pride of Jacob, that is, of Jerusalem and the Jews, by cutting them off through Nebuchadnezzar and the Chaldeans, just as I repaid, punished, and cut off Israel, that is, the ten tribes, through Shalmaneser and the Assyrians. For if I do not spare My faithful people, much less will I spare My enemies, namely the unfaithful Assyrians; but just as I crushed their proud necks through the Chaldeans, so also I will crush theirs; especially because they were unjust to this people of Mine, and I only permitted and tolerated them and their injuries for a time, so that through them I might chastise My people: but now that My people are sufficiently and more than sufficiently chastised, I no longer need the Assyrian chastisers; therefore I will chastise them too, and cast the rod, as the saying goes, into the fire. So Clarius and Arias. That this is the sense is proved first, because according to it the pride of Jacob and Israel is taken properly. Second, because the following words require it: "Because the devastators," namely the Chaldeans, "have dispersed them"; for he immediately describes at length the shields, arms, forces, ardor, power, and assault of the Chaldeans from verse 3 to 8. Whence the Alexandrian Arabic translates: Because the Lord con-
despised Jacob according to the contempt of Israel. Because the devastators have dispersed them. — First, St. Jerome, Haymo, Hugo, Lyra, Arias, and Vatablus understand the Assyrians by the devastators, meaning: The Assyrians devastated and dispersed Israel, that is, Samaria and the ten tribes, through their king Shalmaneser; and Jacob, that is, Jerusalem and Judah, through Sennacherib. Second, and better, by the devastators understand, with Theodoret and Theophylact, the Chaldeans, who devastated and plundered Nineveh and the Assyrians just as they did Jerusalem and the Jews. In Hebrew there is a beautiful paronomasia: ki becacum bokekim, that is, because the emptiers have emptied them of goods, as Pagninus translates; and the Tigurina: The plunderers have plundered them; and as Vatablus: The spoilers have spoiled them. There follows:
And their branches they have destroyed — meaning: Just as wild boars, or enemies devastating a vineyard, tear up, scatter, and destroy individual vines and their branches; so the Chaldeans devastating Nineveh, as well as Jerusalem, will disperse and destroy each of its families, indeed each of its citizens and inhabitants, either by killing them or by carrying them into captivity. Note: The branches of cities, e.g. of Nineveh, can be understood first as suburbs, villages, and towns that derive from and depend upon the capital, and adorn it as branches or shoots adorn a vine. So the Chaldean and Arias. Second, tribes and families. So Albert and Hugo. Third, sons and grandsons. Fourth, harvests and wealth, which the Israelites accumulated from year to year: for the Assyrians invaded the land of Israel almost every year and despoiled it of the goods it had accumulated. He calls these corrupted branches, says Vatablus; but I have already said that these words should be understood of the Chaldeans plundering Nineveh as well as Jerusalem, not of the Assyrians. Therefore the harvests and wealth of the Ninevites, as well as of the Jews, he calls their branches, which Nebuchadnezzar repeatedly attacked and plucked. Whence he adds about him:
Verse 3
Verse 3. THE SHIELD OF HIS MIGHTY MEN IS FIERY. — Of the Chaldeans he now speaks in the plural, saying: "The devastators have dispersed them"; now in the singular, saying: "The shield," that is, the shields: because an army is one collectively, but many distributively; for it contains many soldiers, just as many citizens make one city, and many families one people, and many nations one kingdom and empire. He looks back to the beginning of the chapter: "He has ascended who shall scatter before your face." Nebuchadnezzar has ascended, that is, and his army. Whence of him, as a singular entity, he says in the singular here: "The shield of his mighty men is fiery," meaning: The Chaldeans and Medes, your devastators, O Nineveh, have shields of gold or bronze, which by the sun's reflection appear red and fiery, and are therefore terrible and formidable, according to that passage of Virgil, Aeneid X:
A helmet terrible with crests, and belching flames. The crest blazes on his head, and from the peak Fire streams, and the golden boss spews vast fires.
For in Hebrew it is: The shield of his mighty men, meaddam, that is, red, as the Chaldean translates; or, as Pagninus, reddened; the Tigurina: The buckler of his heroes gleams red like fire or lightning; the Syriac: The shields of their giants (mighty ones) grow red, and the giant men (warriors) play with lamps of fire (fiery ones) and in chariots on the day when they are prepared; the Arabic: The shields of their giants gleaming red flash forth, and the giant men sadden the fire; the Septuagint, reading with different vowel points meadam, that is, from man, translates: His mighty weapons are from men, namely because the men of the army are in scarlet, as follows. The Prophet graphically depicts here the shields, arms, strength, spirits, and assaults of the Chaldeans, to terrify Nineveh and the Assyrians with them. First therefore he depicts their first battle line equipped with shields, meaning: The chief soldiers of the Chaldeans, equipped with golden shields and bucklers, will go before the camp, to receive with them all the missiles and javelins of the enemy: they will therefore be noble and gallant. Wherefore they will attack you, O Nineveh, gallantly and vigorously: they will not flee like common and ordinary soldiers; for they will consider it a disgrace: but they will prefer to fall rather than flee, to maintain their honor and glory. Thus the Spanish celebrate this military axiom: "A captain who hunts for fame and glory must think little of his life." Then second, he describes the second battle line, saying:
THE MEN OF THE ARMY IN SCARLET — meaning: The soldiers of the Chaldeans will be nobles, and therefore they will be clad in scarlet cloaks: for scarlet was the garment of nobles, indeed of kings, as I said on Lamentations 4:4, at the passage: "Those who were nourished in saffron," in Hebrew, in scarlet. Whence the Tigurina translates: The military men are arrayed in purple; Pagninus: The men of the army, clad in vermilion garments. This scarlet color, being blood-red, represents the ferocity of the Chaldeans, that they will be bloodthirsty and will shed much blood in Nineveh. So Remigius, Albert, and Arias. Wherefore St. John saw that great and terrible army which at the end of the world will kill a third of mankind, having breastplates of fire, hyacinth, and brimstone, Apocalypse 9:17.
Thus the Romans, about to engage the enemy, would display the signal for battle in the praetorium — a red or scarlet tunic — and soldiers would even dress in the same, and hence were called "russati" (red-clad), as Lipsius teaches from Plutarch's Life of Fabius and Life of Brutus, and from Isidore, in Book IV On Roman Warfare, chapter 12. The Greeks also did the same from time to time. For Plutarch, discussing the battle of Antiochus against Cleomenes: "He ordered some to rest, he says, until the king had raised the scarlet garment stretched over a spear." And Homer, in Iliad 6, speaking of Agamemnon summoning his men to battle: "Raising in his strong hand a purple garment for himself." And so soldiers wore red or scarlet crests on their helmets, aptly dedicated to bloody Mars. Hence Virgil, Aeneid IX: "And a golden helmet covers him with a red crest." And again: "Youths purple-crested." Diodorus, Book VI, teaches that the Spaniards did the same: "Around their heads, he says, they place bronze helmets, adorned with scarlet crests." Of Cyrus's army, Xenophon in Book VI of the Education of Cyrus: "The whole army, he says, flashed with bronze, and flourished with scarlet adornment." Our Martin de Roa, Book I of Singularities, chapter 2, gives the reason: namely that blood, if any was expressed from an inflicted wound, would be absorbed by the scarlet; and so the soldiers would fight more confidently and without fear. This is truer of the blood of Christ, which is our purple
and scarlet garment, says St. Ambrose on Psalm 118, Sermon 47. For this dyes souls, and from them as it were drinks in the blood of sinners: "For He has washed us from our sins in His blood." Again, this kindles us to fight fiercely with the devil, the flesh, and the world. For nothing so sharpens spirits against the enemy as the spectacle of an injury received placed before one's eyes. For this brings pain to the eyes, anger to the spirit: and these are the two torches in war. He adds a second reason in chapter 3, namely that the Gentiles believed that scarlet clothing kept one safe in battles and dangers. Whence of old a scarlet cord was hung from the necks of Christian children to ward off the evil eye and every peril, as St. Chrysostom recounts and refutes, Homily 12 on I Corinthians chapter 4. The Egyptians also each year smeared all their trees, cattle, and many other things with red pigment against fire and other misfortunes, as Epiphanius testifies, Heresy 18; which superstition they seem to have drawn from the fact that the children of Israel were saved from the destroying angel by smearing their doorposts with the blood of the paschal lamb, Exodus 12. He gives a third reason in Book IV, chapter 7: that the scarlet or purple color approaches fire, and is an index and stimulus of a fiery spirit: whence when you say "purple" (purpureum), you seem to say "purely burning" (purum urentem), that is, fire. Purple therefore bears the color of the rose and the splendor of fire. Hence fire is called "purple" by the Poets, and purple things are called "fiery." He gives a symbolic reason in the same place, chapter 8: that those who descend into battle fight for life, which consists in the blood that scarlet or purple represents. Whence Virgil, Aeneid XI:
He vomits forth his purple soul.
This color therefore most of all emboldens spirits and rouses them against enemies whom we know seek blood, or have even shed it.
Tropologically, the scarlet soldiers of Christ are the martyrs, who are purpled with their own blood, and willingly, indeed joyfully, repay it to the blood of Christ: for which reason Cardinals are clad in purple, to show that they are prepared to shed their blood for Christ and the Church, as I said on Ezekiel 16:10. Scarlet also are the faithful who blaze with charity, according to that passage about the bride, Song of Songs 4:3: "Your lips are like a scarlet ribbon," namely, "so that speech may always burn with charity, and may be red with the passion of the Lamb and Bridegroom, who should always be in the heart, always on the lips — white and ruddy, sweet Jesus," says St. Bernard, On the Passion of the Lord, chapter 31. Third, he thus describes their fiery chariots:
THE REINS OF THE CHARIOT ARE FIERY ON THE DAY OF ITS PREPARATION. — "Fiery," that is, golden, which in the radiant sun will appear shining and fiery, as I said above of the shields: "Now in the blazing" reins and bridles, says St. Jerome, "he signifies the speed of those preparing, and as it were the marshaling array of those preparing themselves for battle is narrated in pageantry."
Note: The Chaldeans, just like the noble Romans of old and their soldiers, were entirely devoted to arms; and, if they were cavalry, to adorning their bridles and horses. Hear Juvenal, Satire XI:
All the silver they had shone in their arms. The soldier broke cups of great craftsmen, So that his horse might rejoice in its trappings.
And Virgil, Aeneid IV, of Aeneas:
And his sword was starred With tawny jasper.
And Book VII, of the horses which King Latinus gave to Aeneas:
He orders the swift steeds to be led in order for the Trojans, Caparisoned in purple and embroidered tapestries. Golden necklaces hang down upon their breasts. Covered in gold, they champ tawny gold beneath their teeth.
For "reins," as our Translator and the Septuagint render it, the Hebrew has peladoth, which by metathesis stands for lappideth, that is, lamps, torches, firebrands: so the Chaldean, Tigurina, Vatablus, Pagninus, and the Rabbis understand it; whence they translate: The chariots of his expedition will at the time be like fire of lamps or torches, meaning: The scythed chariots of Nebuchadnezzar himself, coming to storm Jerusalem, will appear as if fiery, or surrounded by fire, which will be kindled by the iron of the wheels spinning at top speed, striking against rocks and flint. By this phrase he indicates the violence and speed, the rapid course and as it were the flight of the chariots. Some add that burning torches and firebrands were attached to these chariots, with which they would burn everything and everyone in their path, just as scythes were attached to them (from which they are called "scythed") to cut down and mow everything. Whence the Chaldean translates: With fire the torches of their chariots are prepared. Hence also it is added about them: Their appearance is like lamps, like lightning darting about.
AND THE CHARIOTEERS ARE STUPEFIED. — The Syriac: The strong horsemen are stunned, meaning: The Medes and Chaldeans, most skilled and strongest drivers of chariots and horses, stupefied by drunkenness (so indeed that they may dull their fear and apprehension of battle, not their senses and fighting spirits; but rather sharpen and kindle them with wine, as happens with the half-drunk) will rush fearlessly against the Ninevites into battle and arms. So today we see Cossacks, Dutchmen, Irishmen, and certain other peoples about to fight, fill themselves with spirits so that they seem to blaze with boldness and breathe fire, and thus rush fearlessly against enemies and swords. Here pertains the exposition of Sanchez, meaning: The Chaldeans in marching and fighting will be so ardent and headlong that fury and wine will seem to have completely snatched away their reason and counsel. For "charioteers" the Hebrew has beroscim, that is, fir-trees. Whence Vatablus and Arias translate: The fir-trees, that is, the lances and spears of the Chaldeans, made of fir-wood, are infected with poison, to destroy everyone; Pagninus: And the fir-trees trembled, that is, the leaders of the Assyrians, who are like
fir-trees, were seized with trembling in Nineveh when they saw the fiery chariots and horsemen of the Chaldeans invading them. But our Translator renders it "charioteers"; and the Septuagint, "horsemen," who standing tall in their chariots were lofty, hard, and strong, like fir-trees. For so Pharaoh, upright and glorious, is compared to a fir-tree, a cedar, and a plane-tree, Ezekiel 31:8. Perhaps instead of beroscim they read beroseam, that is, "at their head," meaning the leaders and commanders of the chariots, that is, their charioteers and drivers. Whence the Chaldean translates "magnates." For these are as it were the charioteers of the chariot of state, that is, of the republic. Whence it is said of Elijah: "My father, the chariot of Israel and its charioteer," IV Kings 2:12. Again, for "are stupefied" the Hebrew has horalu, which is derived from raal, meaning deadly poison, tremor, stupor; also a miter or trembling crown. Wherefore horalu can be translated first, "are stupefied," as our Translator renders it; second, "are mitered or crowned," as noble drivers and commanders of noble chariots. Whence the Chaldean translates: And their magnates gleam in colored garments; third, "are infected with poison"; fourth, "trembled" or "will be disturbed." Whence the Septuagint translates: Their horsemen will be in tumult, meaning: The horsemen and charioteers, on account of their number, haste, violence, and impetuosity, meeting in roads too narrow for them, will be in tumult, so that they collide their chariots with one another. Hence it seems that these words, like the preceding and following, refer to the Chaldeans besieging Nineveh, not to the besieged Assyrians; for he continues to depict the war chariots of the Chaldeans, as he began.
However, St. Jerome, Theodoret, Theophylact, Remigius, Hugo, Lyra, Ribera, and a Castro refer these words to the Assyrians, as if to say: The Chaldeans will come swiftly to devastate Nineveh, since the Assyrian horsemen, formerly outstanding and famous in driving horses, will be stupefied by either drunkenness, sloth, or fear. For these are properly said to be stupefied: since the Chaldeans were rather agile, alert, and keen for battle. And this is the proper meaning of the Hebrew horalu, that is, they are put to sleep, they tremble, they are dismayed, as if they had drunk deadly poison. Wherefore this sense, referring to the Assyrians, seems more straightforward and natural. Nor does it matter that before and after Nahum is speaking of the Chaldeans; because the Prophets are accustomed to change speakers frequently, passing from one to another who has a dispute or business with the first — and this silently and without naming names. Thus here he celebrates the chariots and warriors of the Chaldeans by the fact that at their presence, force, and assault, the Assyrians — otherwise illustrious and famous in the driving and steering of horses and chariots — collapsed, and as if lifeless were stunned and stupefied. Whence of the same he says in verse 13: "I will burn your chariots even to smoke."
Verse 4
Verse 4. In the roads they are thrown into confusion. — The Assyrian charioteers and horsemen, that is, about whom Nahum spoke immediately before. For despairing of safety, they ran about like madmen through the city, namely Nineveh, besieged by the Chaldeans. So Theodoret, Theophylact, Vatablus, and a Castro. Better, St. Jerome, Remigius, Rupert, Hugo, Lyra, and Arias refer these words to the Chaldeans: for he is describing their war chariots, their force and assault, and shortly after compares them to lightning bolts, meaning: The chariots and four-horse teams of the Chaldeans will race through the streets of Nineveh in such number and with such force that they will disturb and collide with one another, and by the collision will strike sparks and flames. Hence they will be so terrible, swift, and violent that they will seem to be as fiery lamps, that is, fire and lightning darting about; "so that they terrify the adversaries by sight before they strike them down with the sword," says St. Jerome. For "are thrown into confusion" the Hebrew has iitholelu, which Pagninus properly translates "they will rage," that is, they will run about like madmen, says Vatablus; the Chaldean, "they make a din"; the Septuagint, "they are confounded"; the Tigurina, "they will be in tumult." So of Gnaeus and Publius Scipio the Poet said: "The two thunderbolts of war, the Scipios." So also the Cherubim, soldiers of God, went and returned in the likeness of flashing lightning, Ezekiel 1:14. See what was said there. In lightning is noted the splendor joined with speed that dazzles the eyes and violently strikes the spirit: hence lightning in Scripture is a symbol of terror and of something fearsome. The Chaldeans are therefore compared to lightning bolts darting about in imitation of the splendor, speed, and effectiveness in terrifying and penetrating, on account of the Babylonian and Persian armored horseman whom Heliodorus describes in Book IX of the Ethiopian History — his gleaming arms and headlong speed. So Cyprian the Cistercian monk on this passage, and Delrio, adage 997. Finally, the golden helmets of the Chaldeans flashed in the sun's reflection; perhaps they even painted lightning bolts on them, so as to appear more terrible and thunderbolt-like, according to that passage of Statius, Book III: "The lightning-crested radiance of the helmet." Second, "their appearance," namely of the Chaldeans, will be threatening, fiery, like lightning, so that fury and the ardor of savagery flash from their eyes. So Cicero says of Verres: "His eyes blazed, cruelty flashed from his whole countenance." And Seneca in the Oedipus:
His menacing cheeks burn with savage fire, And his eyes scarcely hold themselves in their sockets.
And Virgil, Aeneid X:
Driven by these furies, from his whole blazing face Sparks fly, and fire flashes from his fierce eyes.
So Sanchez.
Tropologically, all these things can easily be applied to Lucifer. For he is our Nebuchadnezzar, our thunderbolt enemy, whose fiery darts, as the Apostle says in Ephesians 6:16, are the burning temptations and concupiscences that he stirs up in our flesh. His soldiers are innumerable demons, who dart about like lightning to destroy men: for they burn with hatred and envy, and therefore in their very—
destruction they conspire. Wherefore St. Peter, I Epistle, chapter 5:8: "Be sober, he says, and watch: because your adversary the devil goes about like a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour: resist him, strong in faith." And St. Paul, Ephesians 6:11: "Put on, he says, the armor of God, that you may be able to stand against the wiles of the devil; because our wrestling is not against flesh and blood, but against principalities and powers, against the rulers of the world of this darkness, against the spirits of wickedness in high places." See what was said there, and what will be said here in chapter 3:4.
Verse 5
Verse 5. HE WILL REMEMBER HIS MIGHTY MEN. — This verse can refer both to the besieged Ninevites and to the besieging Chaldeans. If to the besieged, the sense will be: Nineveh and her king will recall and review all their most valiant leaders and soldiers, and will send them to the walls to defend them, who will rush to them with such force and numbers that especially in the narrow streets, pushing and jostling one another, they will fall; then they will ascend the walls, and there construct shelters, or, as the Septuagint has it, ramparts, or, as the Chaldean, towers, by which to protect themselves against the invading Chaldeans, or even against the hardships of weather, so that they may endure a long siege. So St. Jerome, Theodoret, Theophylact, Remigius, Rupert, Lyra, Hugo, Clarius, a Castro, and Ribera. If to the besiegers, the sense will be: The enemy Cyaxares and Nebuchadnezzar will send their strong soldiers against you, O Nineveh, in such numbers and with such force that in their haste and crowding they will fall, while ascending and invading your walls; and while they prepare and bring up the shelter, that is, the testudo (tortoise), by which through the battering ram driven and hurled against the walls, they will shake and demolish them. For those who operated the battering ram hid under the testudo, undermining the walls of cities. So Vatablus and R. David.
For the testudo was a war machine of this form: its frame was woven of planking, and covered with goatskins, or quilted pads, and other materials that are difficult to burn. Inside it had a beam, tipped with an iron hook, called a "sickle" because it was curved and would extract stones from the wall. For the beam was drawn back by ropes (this was called the "ram"), so that when drawn back it would strike with greater force: and hence it was called a testudo (tortoise) from its resemblance to the reptile, which now extends its head, now draws it back. This reptile is called testudo from the "testa" (shell) with which it covers and encloses itself, says Varro. Hence Silius, Book I:
At last with the close-packed arms of the tight tortoise, The Carthaginians, with the rampart removed and by hidden tunnel, Open up the city, its walls undermined.
This testudo was called "arietaria" (ram-bearing) because it contained and hurled the ram against the walls. So Procopius, Book I On the Gothic War, and our Valtrinus, Book V On Military Matters, chapter 6. For there was another military testudo, simple and common, namely the con-
Mystically, our testudo is the providence of God and the holy one's faith, hope, and confidence: for this protects us and preserves us unharmed from every enemy and danger; indeed, it hurls rams and missiles against our enemies, by which it strikes them down. Whence the Psalmist, Psalm 90: "He who dwells in the aid of the Most High shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven." Read the psalm, which is entirely about this matter. Sitting in this testudo, David confidently proclaims, Psalm 26:1: "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army should encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war should rise against me, in this will I be confident."
Verse 6
Verse 6. THE GATES OF THE RIVERS ARE OPENED — meaning: The gates of Nineveh that lead to the Tigris, have been opened by its flooding and by the irruption of the enemy. So Clarius, Vatablus, Dionysius, and the Chaldean, who translates: The sources of the rivers are cut off. Whence immediately afterward the Prophet calls Nineveh a pool of waters. See what I said about this flooding of the Tigris into Nineveh in chapter 1:8. Symbolically, the gates of Nineveh are called "gates of the rivers," that is, of peoples, because they poured forth an immense abundance of citizens. So Apocalypse 17:15: many waters are called "many peoples." Whence the Septuagint translates: The gates of the cities are opened; for cities abound in people. So St. Jerome, Theodoret, Theophylact, Rupert, Remigius, and Lyra. Second, Sanchez takes the rivers metaphorically for the forces of the Chaldeans, which, restrained by the walls of Nineveh as by dikes, once these were broken through by force, flooded and devastated the city.
AND THE TEMPLE IS RAZED TO THE GROUND. — The temple, namely, of Nisroch, famous for its wealth and renown, says Lyra, in which Sennacherib was killed by his own sons while worshiping. In Hebrew it is hechal, that is, basilica, palace, august building, temple. Whence the Septuagint translates: The royal buildings have been torn apart; the Chaldean: The king trembled in his palace; the Tigurina: The palace is dissolved. It comes to the same thing. For in their palaces, kings had temples of their tutelary gods, just as the Romans in the Capitol had the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, the Trojans in the citadel had the temple of Pallas and her image, which they called the Palladium. The emperor Constantine did the same, when in his Lateran palace he built the Lateran basilica. Kings and princes still do the same today, as can be seen in their courts.
Verse 7
Verse 7. AND THE SOLDIER IS LED AWAY CAPTIVE. — The translator reads hatsab, that is, standing, holding fast, namely the stationary soldier and garrison defender standing at his post on the rampart, to defend Nineveh against the Chaldeans — he was captured and led away by the Chaldeans. So St. Jerome, Rupert, Remigius, Haymo, and Lyra. Second, hatsab means the same as station, substance, subsistence. Whence the Septuagint translates: And the substance is revealed, meaning: The Chaldeans plundered the substance and wealth of Nineveh. Now for hatsab, with different vowel points they read passively in the hophal, hutsab, that is, established, appointed — namely either the citadel; whence Arias and the Tigurina translate: And its strongest fortification is stripped and removed; or the wife of the king, that is, the queen who customarily stands beside the king; whence the Chaldean translates: And the queen, who sat attending, went into captivity; and her maidservants led away after her walked groaning, like doves. So the Hebrews. Whence Pagninus retained the Hebrew name hutsab as if it were the queen's proper name, and translated: And Hutsab the queen is led captive, ordered to mount the chariot.
AND HER MAIDSERVANTS WERE DRIVEN — meaning: The maidens and matrons of Nineveh, once noble, now captive, like slaves and bondservants, indeed like cattle, are driven by the Chaldeans and dragged into servitude; who in their terror dare not wail aloud, but like doves secretly groan and murmur in their hearts. Symbolically, St. Jerome, Rupert, and Remigius understand by the maidservants the towns that were subject to Nineveh the capital and served it like handmaids — all of which Nebuchadnezzar captured, devastated, and led into captivity. Sanchez takes it differently, confining these words to the soldiers guarding the temple, just discussed; and consequently by the maidservants he understands religious women who had dedicated themselves to the temple, to care for the worship, sacred rites, and splendor of their god. Thus
formed by soldiers packed closely together, a row of shields raised over their heads, curved into the shape of a tortoise, under which cover, unharmed by enemy missiles, they would approach the walls and either undermine or scale them. For the testudo was like a stairway, by which soldiers attacking the city were raised up and climbed the citadels and walls.
Mystically, our testudo is the providence of God, and the holy person's faith, hope, and confidence in Him: for this protects us and preserves us unharmed from every enemy and danger; indeed, it hurls rams and missiles against our enemies, by which it strikes them down. Whence the Psalmist, Psalm 90: "He who dwells in the aid of the Most High shall abide under the protection of the God of heaven." Read the psalm, which is entirely about this matter. Sitting in this testudo, David confidently proclaims, Psalm 26:1: "The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear? The Lord is the protector of my life, of whom shall I be afraid? Though an army encamp against me, my heart shall not fear: though war rise against me, in this will I be confident."
Verse 6. THE GATES OF THE RIVERS ARE OPENED — meaning: The gates of Nineveh that lead to the Tigris have been opened by its flooding and by the irruption of the enemy. So Clarius, Vatablus, Dionysius, and the Chaldean, who translates: The sources of the rivers are cut off. Whence immediately afterward the Prophet calls Nineveh a pool of waters. See what I said about this flooding of the Tigris upon Nineveh in chapter 1:8. Symbolically, the gates of Nineveh are called "gates of the rivers," that is, of peoples, because they poured forth an immense multitude of citizens. So Apocalypse 17:15: many waters are called "many peoples." Whence the Septuagint translates: The gates of the cities are opened; for cities abound in people. So St. Jerome, Theodoret, Theophylact, Rupert, Remigius, and Lyra. Second, Sanchez takes the rivers metaphorically for the forces of the Chaldeans, which, restrained by the walls of Nineveh as by dikes, once these were broken through by force, flooded and devastated the city.
AND THE TEMPLE IS RAZED TO THE GROUND. — The temple, namely, of Nisroch, famous for its wealth and renown, says Lyra, in which Sennacherib was killed by his own sons while worshiping. In Hebrew it is hechal, that is, basilica, palace, august building, temple. Whence the Septuagint translates: The royal buildings have been torn apart; the Chaldean: The king trembled in his palace; the Tigurina: The palace is dissolved. It amounts to the same thing. For in their palaces kings had temples of their tutelary gods, just as the Romans on the Capitol had the temple of Jupiter Capitolinus, the Trojans in the citadel had the temple of Pallas and her image, which they called the Palladium. The Emperor Constantine did the same when in his Lateran palace he built the Lateran basilica. Kings and princes still do the same today, as can be seen in their courts.
Verse 7. AND THE SOLDIER IS LED AWAY CAPTIVE. — The translator reads hatsab, that is, standing, holding fast, namely the stationary soldier and garrison defender standing at his post on the rampart, to defend Nineveh against the Chaldeans — he was captured and led away by the Chaldeans. So St. Jerome, Rupert, Remigius, Haymo, and Lyra. Second, hatsab means the same as station, substance, subsistence. Whence the Septuagint translates: And the substance is revealed, meaning: The Chaldeans plundered the substance and wealth of Nineveh. Now for hatsab, with different vowel points they read passively in the hophal, hutsab, that is, established, appointed — namely either the citadel; whence Arias and the Tigurina translate: And its strongest fortification is stripped and removed; or the wife of the king, that is, the queen who customarily stands beside the king; whence the Chaldean translates: And the queen, who sat attending, went into captivity; and her maidservants led away after her walked groaning, like doves. So the Hebrews. Whence Pagninus retained the Hebrew name hutsab as if it were the queen's proper name, and translated: And Hutsab the queen is led captive, ordered to mount the chariot.
AND HER MAIDSERVANTS WERE DRIVEN — meaning: The maidens and matrons of Nineveh, once noble, now captive, like slaves and bondservants, indeed like cattle, are driven by the Chaldeans and dragged into servitude; who in their terror dare not wail aloud, but like doves secretly groan and murmur in their hearts. Symbolically, St. Jerome, Rupert, and Remigius understand by the maidservants the towns that were subject to Nineveh the metropolis and served it like handmaids — all of which Nebuchadnezzar captured, devastated, and led into captivity. Sanchez takes it differently, confining these words to the soldiers guarding the temple just discussed; and consequently by the maidservants he understands religious women who had dedicated themselves to the temple, to care for the worship, sacred rites, and splendor of their god. Thus
of the Chaldeans, who, as the Assyrians flee and Nineveh is captured, encourage one another to plunder it, to seize and carry off the spoil from it. You see here how frequently the speakers change: for now Nineveh speaks, now the Chaldeans, now the Prophet, now God. For it is like a dialogue. So Vatablus, although others think this is the voice of the Prophet addressing the Chaldeans, urging them to plunder Nineveh, deserted by its fleeing citizens. So Dionysius, Vatablus, and Arias. Others finally think it is the voice of Nineveh herself, surrendering herself and her wealth, abandoned by her citizens, to the Chaldean, as if to say: O Chaldeans, seize the gold of my cowardly citizens, because they do not deserve to keep and possess it, nor are they able or capable. The Chaldeans assign the cause, or rather the enticement, for this plundering, when they add:
AND THERE IS NO END OF RICHES. — For in Hebrew the vau, that is "and," is taken for "because," as if to say: Come, comrades, act, seize the gold, the vessels and wealth that Nineveh plundered from other nations and heaped up in herself: because these vessels and riches are most beautiful and most precious, as well as most abundant and innumerable; and therefore supremely desirable. In Hebrew is added cabod, that is, glory, or weight and burden. Whence the Septuagint translates: They are weighed down above all the vessels of their desire, that is, as the Tigurina translates: She is laden with all manner of most precious things; for the more gold she had, which is heavy, "the more she herself was weighed down, she who loved heavy things," says St. Jerome. "Whence also iniquity, Zechariah 5, sits upon a talent of lead; and the Egyptians, who were heavy with sins, were sunk in the sea like lead. And in the person of the sinner it is said, Psalm 37: Like a heavy burden they are weighed down upon me." Vatablus translates: A glory greater than all desirable furnishing, that is, the precious household goods (for this is what he calls glory) are greater, or more precious, than any desirable thing, as if to say: Her furnishings are more precious than all other furnishings, however precious and desirable, as Pagninus translates. In Nineveh was verified that saying of Ecclesiastes 5:12: "There is also another grievous evil that I have seen under the sun: riches kept to the harm of their owner." Whence
Morally, learn here how vain gold is and how unworthy of a man's heart; indeed how harmful, inasmuch as it attracted enemies to the destruction of Nineveh, so that they might seize her gold. Wherefore the Babytaceni hated gold and threw it away, indeed buried it, lest it be harmful to anyone. Hear the remarkable thing that Solinus the Polyhistor writes about them in chapter 36: "From Susa, he says, the town of Babytace is distant one hundred and thirty-five thousand paces, in which all mortals, out of hatred of gold, buy up this kind of metal and cast it into the depths of the earth, lest, polluted by its use, avarice should corrupt justice." Pliny writes almost the same words about the same people in Book 6, chapter 27, and also in Book 33, chapter 1: "Would that gold could be entirely banished from life, that sacred hunger, as the most famous authors have called it,
Thus among the Jews women were dedicated to the most shameful rites of Priapus, over whom the mother of King Asa presided, III Kings 15:13. Thus among the Babylonians, Cypriots, Phoenicians, etc., there were women dedicated to Venus, as I showed in Baruch 6:42. But against this stands the fact that the Hebrew pronoun for "her" is feminine, which certainly refers and looks back to Nineveh, not to the temple, as Sanchez himself rightly observes, who therefore ultimately abandons this interpretation.
Verse 8
Verse 8. AND NINEVEH IS LIKE A POOL OF WATERS, HER WATERS. — The translator reads meme with gemination, that is, "waters"; so also the Septuagint now read mime, that is, "from the days," namely from ancient times, that is, from of old — supply: it was. So the Chaldean, the Hebrews, Vatablus, Pagninus, and the Syriac, who translates: Nineveh is like a lake (pool) of waters, and she is among waters. So also the Arabic. By the waters are literally understood the waves of the Tigris, which flooded Nineveh, so that it appeared to be a pool or marsh, as if to say: The Tigris did not protect Nineveh, but rather overwhelmed her and delivered her to the enemy. For the Tigris, or, as others say, the Euphrates (for Nineveh lies beside the Tigris, but the Euphrates was not far from it either; whence it could flood the fields of Nineveh), swelling with great and prolonged rains, burst its floodgates and inundated Nineveh. Together with the rains, the south winds conspired against the snows of the northern Caucasus, and when these melted, the overflowing river destroyed the walls of Nineveh, flooded the city, and overthrew the temple and palace. Others add from Herodotus, Book 1, and Diodorus Siculus, Book 3, that Nineveh was situated in a damp and marshy place, and therefore produced citizens who were weak, languid, and sluggish, unable to defend the city. Symbolically, Nineveh was a pool of waters, that is, full of waters, that is, of peoples. For he compares the city to a pool, the citizens to waters; just as a pool abounds with water, so Nineveh with inhabitants, as if to say: Nineveh nourished a multitude of people, but one unwarlike and useless. For when the Chaldean besieged her, she cried out for their help and protection: "but they fled," and although she, shouting herself hoarse, called them back again and again from flight, crying out: "Stand, stand," so that you may defend me and resist the Chaldean — yet she did this in vain: for "there is none who turns back" from flight, to face the enemy and stand and fight for the walls. So St. Jerome, Theodoret, Theophylact, Remigius, Hugo, Lyra, and Vatablus. Finally, the waters signify the abundance of wealth that flowed into Nineveh, just as water flows into a pool. Whence of these he adds: "Plunder the silver, plunder the gold, there is no end of riches." So Rupert and Vatablus.
STAND, STAND — These are the words of Nineveh, that is, of the princes of Nineveh, who cry out to their fleeing citizens to stand and resist the enemy, as I have just said: although others think these are the words of the Chaldeans, mocking or challenging the Ninevites to battle, and saying in their customary way: "Stand, stand," and fight with us.
Verse 9
Verse 9. PLUNDER THE SILVER. — This is the voice of the Medes and
reviled by all the best men, and found to be the ruin of life: how much happier was the age when goods themselves were exchanged among one another, as Homer would have us believe was done in the time of the Trojans." And shortly after: "He committed the worst crime against life who first put on a ring." He adds that the Romans of old used a ring, not of gold, but of iron; and that the Lacedaemonians still do the same. And further: "At Rome, he says, there was no gold, except a trifling amount, for a long time. Certainly when, after the city was captured by the Gauls, peace had to be purchased, no more than a thousand pounds' weight could be gathered." The same author, Book 33, chapter 3: "King Servius, he says, was the first to stamp bronze (for before they used unworked bronze); it was stamped with the figure of cattle: whence the word pecunia (money, from pecus, cattle). Silver was stamped in the 585th year of the City, in the consulship of Q. Fabius, five years before the First Punic War. The gold coin was struck sixty-two years after the silver one." And shortly after: "From the coin, the first origin of avarice was devised. King Mithridates poured gold into the mouth of the captured general Aquilius. This is what the desire for possession produces. One is ashamed just looking at those terms, which are continually invented anew in Greek speech, for gold pressed onto or enclosed in silver vessels — with what luxuries both golden and gilded items are sold — when we know that Spartacus forbade his camp to have gold or silver. So much more spirit had our fugitives." Isaiah writes something similar about the Medes in chapter 13:17: "Behold, He says, I will stir up the Medes against them, who shall not seek silver, nor desire gold." That philosopher wittily, when asked "why gold was pale," replied: "From fear, because everyone lies in ambush for it."
St. Bernard says beautifully in Sermon 4 on Advent: "Sons of Adam, he says, greedy and ambitious race, hear: What have you to do with earthly riches and temporal glory, which are neither true nor yours? Are not gold and silver merely red and white earth, which human error alone makes (or rather deems) precious? In short, if these things are yours, take them with you. But when a man dies, he shall not take all things, nor shall his glory descend with him. True riches, then, are not wealth, but virtues, which conscience carries with itself, so as to be rich forever."
Blessed Thomas More writes in Utopia that in that happy republic, gold is not valued. For he says thus in Book 2 of Utopia: "Gold and silver are valued by no one more than the nature of the things deserves, and who does not see how far beneath iron they are? Without iron, mortals could no more live than without fire and water, yet nature has given no use to gold and silver that we could not easily do without, had not human folly set a price on rarity." He then adds that, to instill contempt for gold in their people, they in contempt of it make chamber pots and the most sordid vessels out of gold, also chains and heavy fetters with which they restrain slaves: "Finally, he says, whoever some crime renders infamous, from their ears hang golden rings, gold encircles their fingers, a golden necklace goes around their neck, and their head is finally bound with gold. They adorn infants with pearls and gems; when the children have grown a bit older, noticing that only children use such trifles, without any warning from their parents, but of their own shame, they put them aside." He then adds a witty narrative about ambassadors of other nations entering Utopia, with their bejeweled and golden garments, necklaces, rings, etc.: "Among the Utopians these were either the punishments of slaves, or the disgrace of the infamous, or the playthings of children. And so, reverently greeting the lowest person as master, they passed over the ambassadors themselves, taken for slaves because of their golden chains, without any honor at all. Indeed you might have seen children too who had cast aside their gems and pearls, when they spotted them pinned to the ambassadors' caps, nudging their mother and poking her side: Look, mother, what a great fool still uses pearls and little gems, as if he were a little child! But the parent seriously replied: Hush, son; I think he is one of the ambassadors' jesters." He adds the reason: "They wonder indeed that any mortal could take pleasure in the dubious sparkle of a tiny gem or pebble, when he may gaze upon any star, and indeed upon the sun itself; or that anyone could be so insane as to think himself nobler on account of a thread of finer wool, since this very wool was once worn by a sheep, and was nothing other than a sheep all the while. They wonder likewise that gold, by its own nature so useless, is now everywhere among all nations valued so highly that man himself, through whom and for whose use it obtained its value, is esteemed far less than the gold itself; to such a degree that some leaden fellow, who has no more wit than a post and is no less wicked than he is stupid, nevertheless keeps many wise and good men in servitude, for no other reason than that a great heap of gold coins has fallen to him; and if fortune, or some trick of the laws, should transfer it from that master to the most abject scoundrel of his whole household, it would happen that shortly afterward he would pass into the service of his own servant, like an appendage and addition to the coins." These are the words of More — not moros (foolish), but sophos (wise) — and therefore Chancellor of England and a martyr, in that republic of his, not Platonic but Christian. If the inhabitants of Utopia so cheaply value gold, much more do the citizens of Urania and heaven count it and all other wealth as mud, says St. Theofrid in his Epitaph of the Saints, Book 2, chapter 4. Only the citizens of Babylon and Egypt, who build their cities out of mud and straw, hold gold in esteem and delight. For what are pearls, but the excretions of shellfish? What are gems, but smaller and finer stones? What is purple, but the blood of a foul little fish? What is scarlet, but the blood of a little worm? What is fine linen, but the threads and weaving of silkworms — hideous worms, I say? Wisely Venantius Fortunatus says: "The poor man in an-
august reign, possessing God." And St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, captured by the Vandals, said: "Lord, let me not be tormented on account of gold and silver; for where all my possessions are, You know," as St. Augustine reports in Book 1 of The City of God, chapter 10.
Verse 10
Verse 10. IT IS DISSIPATED (Nineveh, by the Medes and Chaldeans), AND RENT, AND TORN. — In Hebrew there is an elegant and forceful paronomasia: buka umebuka umebulaka, that is, emptiness, and emptying, and tearing — meaning: Nineveh is utterly emptied of her wealth and inhabitants, and torn apart in her walls and buildings. So the Tigurina, Vatablus, Pagninus. Hence the Septuagint translates: Shaking, and shaking out, and boiling over. The Chaldean: Plundered, despoiled, and the gate is opened to the enemy. Now "boiling over" is called ekdrasmata in Greek, says St. Jerome, when what lay hidden within bursts forth on the surface. Whence also the pustules that appear on the lips after an illness are called ekdrasmata, and seem to be a sign of health. This remedy, then, is as it were applied to ailing Nineveh, so that the internal evil lurking in her vitals may boil forth outward, that she may be shaken, vexed, and afflicted repeatedly. But not only is this remedy given, but also a crushing of the heart and a loosening of the knees, so that the hard and stony heart of Nineveh may be broken and softened, and the stiff knees that previously would not bend before God may be loosened and bent to God, and in the name of Jesus every knee may bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth. So St. Jerome.
A MELTING HEART. — In Hebrew, a liquefied heart. So the Chaldean, Pagninus, and Vatablus. For just as wax brought near fire melts and wastes away, so also a heart exposed to intense anguish, pain, and terror, as if melting, wastes away, collapses, and is as it were shattered, as the Septuagint translates. These things refer to the citizens, just as the preceding refers to the city itself. Now from this fainting of the heart, as from the blocking of a spring, there naturally follows first, "a loosening of the knees"; the Tigurina: trembling of the knees; Pagninus and Vatablus: a knocking together of the knees. For when the heart fails, the vital and animal spirits fail too, which are transmitted from the heart to the knees to strengthen them for supporting the body and for walking: but when these spirits are withdrawn or languish, the knees grow weak and tremble, and knock together from fright. Second, there follows "a failing in all the loins"; the Tigurina: sickness in everyone's loins. In the loins, then, that is, in the two flanks, beneath which lie the two kidneys. For the loins are fleshy and on each side embrace the five vertebrae of the sacral spine, from which spine nerves, muscles, and motor spirits are channeled through its marrow to the whole body. If these vertebrae are loosened, or injured, and contracted, or impeded — as happens in fear and terror — a man becomes weak-loined and infirm. So Ribera. Hence in the kidneys and loins resides a great part of man's strength and vigor, as I said on verse 1. Third, there follows: "And the faces of them all are like the blackness of a pot"; in Hebrew, they gathered a pot, that is, as the Tigurina has it, the appearance of a pot.
That is, a sooty color; the Chaldean: All faces will be covered with blackness, like a blackened pot; the Septuagint: like the scorching of a pot. For the face, deprived of the heart's influx and spirits, turns pale and blackens, as can be seen in those who are suffocated or hanged: see what was said on Joel 2:6. Mystically, Rupert says: The black pot, he says, is the devil, and all who place their hope in him will finally become like him whom they worshiped, when they are thrust into the volcanic pot, that is, into hell, and will become most black both in body and in mind.
Verse 11
Verse 11. WHERE IS THE DWELLING OF THE LIONS? — The Tigurina: Where is the lair of the lions? That is, where is Nineveh, which was like a den of lions, that is, the palace of robbers and tyrants? As if to say: It is deserted, overthrown, it has perished and been destroyed. He compares the kings of Assyria to lions; Nineveh to a lair; their sons and princes to lion cubs, on account of their strength, cruelty, and rapacity. For like lions they hunted and plundered all nations, and conveyed their wealth and spoils to Nineveh, and there distributed them among their sons, wives, and princes, as is evident from IV Kings 19:11. So St. Jerome, Remigius, Haymo, Theophylact, Lyra, Clarius, Arias, and Vatablus. So Ezekiel, chapter 19:1ff., calls Jerusalem a lioness; and calls her young kings lion cubs, namely Jehoahaz, Jehoiakim, Jehoiachin, and Zedekiah, sons of Josiah. So Jeremiah, chapter 4:7, calls Nebuchadnezzar a lion: "The lion has come up from his thicket, he says, and the destroyer of nations has set out: he has gone forth from his place, to lay your land waste." It is sarcasm, or rather emphatic wonder; for he mocks, or rather marvels at, and proposes for others to marvel at, the dreadful destruction of that famous Nineveh and her tyrants, so that by her example they may be struck with terror and beware of pride and leonine plunder, inasmuch as they hear and see that Nineveh was destroyed on account of it. In a similar manner Baruch says, chapter 3:16: "Where are the princes of the nations, and those who rule over the beasts of the earth? Those who make sport among the birds of the sky? Those who hoard silver and gold? etc. They are destroyed and have descended to the underworld, and others have risen in their place." And Isaiah of Babylon, chapter 14:4: "How has the oppressor ceased, the tribute ended? The Lord has broken the staff of the wicked, the rod of rulers, who struck peoples in indignation with an incurable wound, who subjugated nations in fury, who persecuted cruelly (was not this a den of lions?). The whole earth has rested and is quiet, it is glad and rejoices," when it saw Babylon, its tyrannical rod, destroyed by Cyrus. In the same way, Nineveh is here called "the dwelling of lions and the pasture of lion cubs," that is, the seat of tyrants and their sons; for "pasture" is a feminine singular noun, as I showed in Joel 1:18. Whence he adds:
TO WHICH (namely the pasture of lion cubs, that is, to Nineveh) THE LION WENT TO ENTER THERE, THE CUB (that is, the cubs) OF THE LION, AND THERE IS NONE TO FRIGHTEN THEM? —
may frighten them? — As if to say: Where is that rich and beautiful Nineveh, in which, as in the most fertile pastures, kings and their sons fed themselves on the spoils and plunder they had seized from all provinces and nations? Where are her kings and tyrants, and their sons and princes, who like lions and lion cubs dwelt securely in Nineveh as in an impregnable cave, trusting in their own strength and resources, so that no one dared to attack them, no one could strike terror or fear into them? As if to say: She is destroyed, she has perished, she has vanished; Troy was, and the great glory of the Trojans; Nina was, and the great glory of the Ninevites. So Theodoret, Theophylact, Lyra, Clarius, Arias, and Vatablus. On the other hand, however, St. Jerome, with his followers Remigius, Haymo, and others, by the lion understands Nebuchadnezzar, who like a lion invaded the Assyrian lions and their lair, namely Nineveh, so powerfully and terribly that no one dared to deter him, no one to oppose him. But all the preceding and following words refer to the Assyrians, not to the Chaldeans. I pass over the fact that lions are not accustomed to invade and prey upon other lions and their lairs, but rather bulls, oxen, horses, and other beasts and wild animals distinct from themselves in kind: it is different with wolves, for a wolf in hunger devours a wolf. Whence the proverb: "Man is a wolf to man." Therefore the former sense seems more natural.
Morally, see here the swift and pitiable rise and fall of tyrants, kings, and kingdoms. Where is that glory of Nineveh? Where is proud Babylon? Where is that famous Rome? Ovid writes beautifully in Book 15 of the Metamorphoses:
Now humble Troy shows only ancient ruins, And instead of riches, the tombs of her ancestors. Sparta was renowned: great Mycenae flourished, Sparta's soil is cheap; lofty Mycenae has fallen. What are Oedipodean Thebes but a name? What remains of Pandionian Athens, but a name?
Verse 12
Verse 12. THE LION SEIZED ENOUGH FOR HIS CUBS (to feed them), AND KILLED FOR HIS LIONESSES. — The Tigurina: strangled; Pagninus: suffocated for his lionesses. For lions are accustomed to strangle animals, and to tear them apart and distribute them to their cubs and lionesses. The lion is the king of Assyria, the cubs are his sons, the lionesses are his wives and concubines, whom the king enriched and adorned from the spoils of nations. Thus Cicero, in the fifth Verrine oration, asserts that "the barbarian kings of the Persians and Syrians (under which understand the Assyrians and Chaldeans) were accustomed to have many wives; and to assign cities to those wives in this manner: This city shall provide the woman with a headband, this one a necklace, this one hair ornaments. Thus they have entire peoples not only as accomplices in their lust, but even as servants." So Antiochus, king of Syria, gave two illustrious cities to his concubine, in II Maccabees, chapter 4, verse 30.
Verse 13
Verse 13. BEHOLD, I AM AGAINST YOU. — O den of lions, O Nineveh! I will come to defeat you through the Chaldeans, to punish and overthrow you. Whence the Tigurina translates: Behold, I am your enemy, says the Lord.
AND I WILL BURN YOUR CHARIOTS EVEN TO SMOKE. — Pagninus and Vatablus: I will burn with a smoking fire, that is, with fire mixed with smoke, her chariots, that is, yours; it is an enallage of person, as if to say: I will burn Nineveh and her chariots, and will turn everything to smoke and flame. He alludes to hunters who build fires at the caves of lions and wild beasts and raise an immense smoke, by which they force the beasts and their cubs to come out lest they be suffocated by the smoke, and then receive them as they emerge with hunting spears and transfix them. So Theodoret and Theophylact. Dorotheus and Epiphanius add in the Life of Nahum that this fire arose from the ground and the wilderness, and invaded and consumed Nineveh, as I said in the Introduction. The Septuagint, reading the similar letter kaf instead of beth, that is, instead of richba (her chariots), reading ribba, translate: I will burn your multitude in smoke; for the root rabab, or rab, means to be multiplied and to be many. Whence rab and rabbi, that is, many, meaning great — namely a teacher or prelate.
I WILL EXTERMINATE YOUR PREY FROM THE EARTH. — The Tigurina: I will turn away the tearing from the land, as if to say: You shall plunder no more. So Vatablus.
AND THE VOICE OF YOUR MESSENGERS SHALL NO MORE BE HEARD — whom, O Nineveh, you used to send to cities, demanding from them either surrender, as you sent Rabshakeh to Jerusalem, who demanded that it submit to King Sennacherib, Isaiah 36:2. So St. Jerome and Theophylact. Or the tributes customarily paid by them, or the new burdens you imposed on them, by which you plundered them. So Remigius, Albert, and Hugo. The Septuagint, instead of malachecha, that is, your messengers, reading with different vowel points melacha, that is, your works, translates: Your works shall no more be heard.
Symbolically, the burning and destruction of Nineveh represents the burning and destruction of the world on the day of judgment, which St. John mystically describes under the name of Babylon in Apocalypse chapter 17. For "the world," as the Philosopher used to say, "is nothing other than a marketplace of impostors, a chest of sorrows, a school of vanity, a lair of tyrants, a cave of thieves and the wicked," in which the powerful plunder the poor and the simple. Just as Nineveh was punished by fire, so also the world will be purified by the fire of conflagration, according to that saying: "Fire shall go before Him, and shall burn His enemies round about," Psalm 96:3. By that fire, then, will be burned all the lions and lion cubs, that is, all tyrants, plunderers, and the wicked, and all their messengers, chariots, and pomp, and above all their leader and prince the Antichrist, says St. Jerome.