Chapter XIX.
The above-mentioned prophet marvels at and says: O guardian, what about the night? What about the night, O guardian? My secret is mine, my secret is mine. Woe is me. When, says the prophet, I heard these things; that is, that the God of majesty would assume flesh and that I foresaw the prophecy being fulfilled in him. I spoke to myself with inward affection of the heart; for I cannot tell everything that I see: my tongue clings to my jaws, my voice is concluded by pain and fear; because such great mysteries are revolving before my eyes. For the present, those things that are future: I understand that the Samaritan guard is the one who, descending from Jerusalem to Jericho, fell among thieves. (Luke 10:33). This is the guard to whom the blessed Job said (Job 7:20): O guard of men, why have you set me against yourself, and I have become burdensome to myself? Why do you not take away my sin, and why do you not remove my iniquity? This is the guard who says: I am continually over my guard, standing day and night (Isaiah 21:8); and about whom the Prophet says: Behold, he will not slumber nor sleep, he who guards Israel (Psalm 121:4). Because of these reasons, prophets, and because the characters are frequently changed in them and there are many parables, they are obscure. But now let us return to the order.