17:22-24
(Ver. 22 seq.) Thus says the Lord (God says in the Vulgate): And I will take from the top of the cedar’s highest branch, and I will set it; I will break off a tender one from the crown of its branches, and I will plant it on a high and elevated mountain: upon the lofty mountain of Israel I will plant it. And it shall spring forth into a shoot, and it shall bear fruit, and it shall become a mighty cedar, and all the birds of the air shall dwell under it; every bird shall make its nest under the shade of its branches. And all the trees of the field shall know that I the Lord have brought down the high tree, and exalted the low tree; and have dried up the green tree, and have made the dry tree to bud: I the Lord have spoken and have done it. LXX: For thus says the Lord God: I will take away from the top of the choice cedar tree and will give from the head of its branches, and from the heart of it I will take away, and I will plant it on a high mountain, in the lofty mountain of Israel, and I will set it, and it will bring forth branches, and it will bear fruit, and it will become a majestic cedar, and all birds of every kind will rest under it, and all flying creatures will rest in its shade. And its branches will sprout again, and all the trees of the field will know that I am the Lord who humbles the lofty tree and exalts the lowly tree, who dries up the green tree and causes the dry tree to flourish. I am the Lord who speaks and acts. This is what is read in the Septuagint: 'And I will take from the top of its branches,' which is added in Theodotion's edition. And what follows: 'And its branches will be restored,' should be noted with an obelus, because it is not found in the Hebrew. True Nebuchadnezzar therefore takes from the top of the lofty cedar, from the top of its branches, so that his kingdom may be humble and not exalted. But the Lord God Almighty, who spoke to Ezekiel, takes from the royal stock and from the house of David; and he plants on a high and lofty mountain, which speaks in the psalm: 'I, however, have been appointed king by him over his holy mountain Zion' (Psalm 2:6). For the prince of Judah had failed, and the leader of Israel, until he came who was to be laid up: and he shall be the expectation of the Gentiles. This one burst forth into a shoot, and produced fruit, and surpassed all the cedars with his greatness, so that all the birds of the sky may dwell under him, and all his creatures may be protected by his shade. Of whom Habakkuk says: Horns are in his hands, there his strength is hidden; and he who desires to gather his chicks under his wings, like a hen (Matthew 23): so that all the trees of the region may know that he is the Lord. Speaking tropologically about the believers: This is he who once humbled the prideful Israel and exalted the humble people of the nations, who dried up the green wood of the Jews, flourishing and bearing fruit in the Law and the Prophets; and made the dry wood of the nations sprout: so that he might fulfill with his actions what he always spoke. The same thing is represented by the words of Simeon in the Gospel, saying: Behold, this child is set for the fall, and rising again of many (Luke 2:34). And the grain of mustard seed, though it is the smallest of all seeds, when it grows, it becomes a dwelling place for birds (Matthew 13:32). Some interpret it differently, as the exalted humbled and the humble exalted, referring to the passion of the Lord Savior. Who, being in the form of God, did not consider it robbery to be equal with God: but emptied himself, taking the form of a servant (Philippians 2:6-7); and after the resurrection, the same tree was exalted, which was first green, dried up by death, and then revived, regaining its original greenness. Others explain both [adventus] in the context of Israel: that first he will come in humility and be rejected, and second he will be restored to his original state, after the fulfillment of what the Apostle Paul says: When the fullness of the Gentiles has come in, then all Israel will be saved (Deuteronomy 5:9-10).
Book Six
Book Six
I thought that, with the serpent in the middle crushed, the new plants of the Hydra would not revive and, according to the fables of the poets, that the dead Scylla would in no way rage against me with the dogs of Scylla, who do not cease to bark. And with the heretics of God struck by hand, so that they may not be tempted, if possible, even the chosen of God (Matt. XXIV), heresy itself does not die, with the offspring of their hatred left behind against us, who pretending to be ours, do not abandon the poisons of the ancient mother and the deceitful Ulysses; they only smear their lips with honey. And according to the words of the Scriptures (Ps. LIV), they have softened their words over oil. But they themselves are javelins and fiery javelins, which must be repelled and extinguished with the shield of faith. I have said these things, my daughter Eustochium, so that you may support me in the work of prophecy and resist the heretics with your prayers. May the Lord explain the sixth book of the Explanations in Ezekiel, which I have written with my own words and understanding. And may the grace of the Holy Spirit, by which the things that we read in the Scriptures were revealed to the prophets, also be revealed to us as we discuss them, so that we may say: I opened my mouth and breathed in the spirit. (Psalm 118:131).
18:1-2
(Chapter XVIII. — Verses 1, 2.) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: What is that you turn a parable among you into this proverb in the land of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge? LXX: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: ÷ Son of man, what is this parable in the children of Israel, saying: The fathers have eaten sour grapes, and the teeth of the children are set on edge? What the Seventy have said, son of man, is not found in Hebrew. However, divine Scripture warns about what was said in Exodus: I am the Lord your God. I am a jealous God, who punishes the sins of the fathers upon the children, to the third and fourth generation of those who hate me, and shows mercy to thousands of those who love me and keep my commandments (Exod. X, 5; Deut. V, 9, 10). And again: The Lord descended in a cloud and stood with Moses, and Moses called upon the name of the Lord, and the Lord passed before his face and called him, saying: O Lord, God, merciful and compassionate, patient, full of mercy and true, preserving justice and mercy to thousands, forgiving iniquities, injustices, and sins; and yet he will not cleanse the iniquities of fathers upon children and children's children, to the third and fourth generation (Exod. XXXIV, 5 seq.). Thus, it should be understood as a proverb and a parable, where the words may have one meaning but the sense another; as we mentioned in the parable of the two eagles. And the Lord also in the seventy-seventh psalm says: “I will open my mouth in parables: I will declare a proposition from the beginning” (Ps. LXXVI, 2[1]). And in the Gospel, the parable of the sower, and of the tares, and of the mustard seed, which, though it is the smallest of all seeds, rises up into a large tree (Matt. XIII, 31). He sets them forth in such a way that in the words one thing is presented, and another is held in the meaning. And even until the present day we thought that the two testimonies of Exodus, which we have placed above (Isa. XXIX, 13), were not a parable, but a simple explanation of the meaning. And although we dared not say anything, nor does a clay pot speak against a potter, why did you make me this way, either this way or that: nevertheless, we tolerated the hidden scandal, that the injustice of God seemed to make one person sin and another person suffer for sins. For if the sins of the fathers are visited upon the children to the third and fourth generation, it seems unjust for one person to sin and another person to be punished. But from what follows: to those who hate me, the scandal of threat or command is resolved. For indeed they are not punished in the third and fourth generation because their fathers sinned, since it is their fathers who were sinners that should have been punished; but because they became imitators of their fathers and inherited their evil and impiety, even as the branches grow from the root. Heretics, who do not accept the Old Testament, often say in this place against the Creator: How good and just is the God of the Law and the Prophets, who, by remaining quiet and silent about the sins of the fathers, renders punishment to those who have not sinned; rather, what cruelty is in Him that He extends His anger even to the third and fourth generation! To whom shall we respond, and in this the clemency of God the Creator is demonstrated. For it is not of cruelty and severity to hold anger until the third and fourth generation, but a sign of mercy to defer the punishment of sin. For when it says, 'Lord God, merciful and compassionate, patient and full of mercy,' and adds, 'repaying the iniquity of the fathers upon the children and the children's children,' it indicates that its mercy is so great that it does not immediately punish, but defers the sentence of punishment. But if the punishment of sinners is delayed to the third and fourth generation, what more does it do for the righteous and holy ones? It follows: And keeping justice and mercy for many thousands, for those who keep his commandments and follow his precepts. It is written in Proverbs: Just as a sour grape is harmful to the teeth and smoke to the eyes, so is iniquity to those who use it (Prov. 10:26). From this it is clear that it is not the teeth of others that ache and become numb, but those who have eaten the sour grape. But the sense of this passage is as follows: just as if someone were to say, 'The fathers ate sour grapes, and the teeth of the children have become numb,' it is ridiculous and has no consequence; in the same way, it is unjust and perverse for the fathers to sin and for the sons and grandsons to be tortured. There are those who interpret what is written in Exodus, 'Visiting the iniquities of the fathers upon the children unto the third and fourth generation,' in such a way that they refer it to the human soul, saying that the father is a light point of sense and the incitement to vices within us; the son, if he conceives sinful thoughts; the grandson, if he carries out in action what you have thought and conceived; and the great-grandson, that is, the fourth generation, if not only do you do what is evil and wicked, but you take pride in your own wickedness, according to what is written, 'When the wicked man comes into the depth of evils, he despises it.' Therefore, God does not punish the first and second impulses of thoughts, which the Greeks call 'προπαθείας' and without which no one can exist. But if someone decides to act on their thoughts or refuses to correct what they have done by repentance, then they will be punished. Hence it is written: No one is without sin, not even if their life is only a single day. But the years of their life are numerous (Prov. XX, 9). And in another place: Who can boast of having a pure heart? And again: Even the stars are not clean in his sight: and concerning his angels he found darkness. (Job 25:5) But if that exalted nature is not free from sin, what are we to say about human beings who are surrounded by fragile flesh, who should say with the Apostle: Wretched man that I am, who will rescue me from this body of death? (Romans 7:24) And that we should say when we have done all things: We are useless servants; we have done what we ought to have done. (Luke 17:10) And: Unless the Lord builds the house, those who build it labor in vain; unless the Lord guards the city, the guard keeps watch in vain (Psalm 127:1, 2). But for the proof of this matter, that not the first impulse of thought, or rather a small instinct of the mind, is punished by God, but if you consume in action what you have conceived in your mind, that is to be brought forth from Genesis: Ham sinned, mocking the nakedness of his father; and the sentence was not passed on him who laughed, but on his son Canaan: Cursed be Canaan, he shall be a servant of servants to his brothers (Genesis 9). For what justice is there, that if a father sins, the judgment should be pronounced upon the son? Moreover, the Apostle states (1 Timothy 2) that a woman will be saved if her children remain in faith, holiness, and chastity. This seems to go against the concept of justice, that the parents should be saved if their children and grandchildren are good. For how many holy parents have wicked children, and on the other hand, how many sinful parents have righteous and holy children? Therefore, according to this meaning, all the sins of parents and ancestors must be punished in the branches, not in the root, as we have said above. It is enough to have said this about the proverb or parable: that the Law and the Prophets, that is, Exodus and Ezekiel, indeed God Himself, who spoke here and there, does not seem to disagree in their teachings, or to correct here what He said wrongly there. But if anyone can find a better or different meaning that removes the scandal of conflicting testimonies, it is better to agree with that person's opinion.
18:3-4
(Verse 3-4) As I live, says the Lord, there will not be for you any longer this parable as a proverb in Israel. Behold, all souls are mine: the soul of the father as well as the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sins, it shall die. (LXX: As I live, says the Lord Adonai, if it will continue to be said, this parable in Israel, because all souls are mine. Just as the soul of the father, so the soul of the son is mine. The soul that sins, it shall die.) What this means, 'I live,' says the Lord, and [it is] a parable or proverb, we have explained more fully above: which will never be said in Israel, but among those who do not have knowledge of God, nor can perceive the truth. 'All,' he says, 'are souls of mine;' according to [their] nature, not according to merit: as Moses was called a man of God, about whom it is written: 'The prayer of Moses, man of God' (Deut. XXXIII, 1). And Elijah, who spoke to the prince of fifty men: 'And if I am a man of God, let fire come down from heaven upon you, and upon fifty men' (IV Kings I, 12). But a man who is guilty of sin and a son of iniquity is not called a man of God, just as servants and slaves of God are called, of whom it cannot be said, 'Everyone who commits sin is a servant of sin' (John 8:34). And again, 'For by whom a person is overcome, of him also he is the servant' (2 Peter 2:19). Just as the sins of children do not harm their fathers, so the sins of fathers do not pass on to their children; but the soul that sins, it shall die: not by the abolition of its substance, but by its separation from Him who says, 'I am the life' (John 14:6). And elsewhere he says: Everyone who lives and believes in me will not die forever (John 11:26). And: Amen, amen I say to you: whoever keeps my word will not see death forever (John 8:51). For our life is hidden with Christ in God (Colossians 3:3); and that will be fulfilled which is written: Amen, amen I say to you: whoever hears my word and believes in him who sent me, has eternal life; and does not come into judgment, but has passed from death to life (John 5:24). But, that which is said by Balaam, 'Let my soul die among the souls of the just' (Numbers 23:10), has this meaning: that he desires to die to the world and to sin, and to live with the souls of the just, whose life is Christ, and they can sing: 'I will please the Lord in the land of the living' (Psalm 114:9). For God is not the God of the dead, but of the living (Matthew 22:32). And if Balaam, as is likely, translated into our language, sounds empty to the people: it is clear that the empty people of the nations prior desire to have fellowship with the souls of the just, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob, who are called upright and just. And so the Book of Genesis took its name from their word.
18:5-9
(Verse 5, 6 and following) And if a man is just and does judgment and justice, does not eat upon the mountains or lift up his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, does not violate his neighbor's wife, does not approach a menstruating woman, does not oppress anyone, gives back a pledge to a debtor, does not commit robbery, gives his bread to the hungry, covers the naked with clothing, does not lend at interest or take any increase, turns his hand away from iniquity, does justice between man and man, walks in my statutes, and keeps my judgments, to do truth: this man is just, he shall surely live, says the Lord God. LXX; But the man who is righteous, who practices judgment and justice; who does not eat on the mountains, and does not lift up his eyes to the thoughts of the house of Israel; and does not defile his neighbor's wife, and does not approach a woman with menstrual impurity; and does not oppress a man; who returns a pledge to the debtor; and does not commit robbery, but gives his bread to the hungry; and covers the naked with clothing; and does not give his money at interest, and does not take more; who turns his hand away from injustice; who makes just judgments between a man and his neighbor; who walks in my statutes and keeps my ordinances, to perform them: he is righteous, he shall surely live, says the Lord God. He says, 'You wish to know what has been said: I shall render the sins of the fathers to the third and fourth generation (Deut. V, 9),' it does not mean what most people think; nor is it similar to this saying: 'The fathers have eaten a sour grape, and the teeth of the children are set on edge (Jerem. XXXI, 29).' Listen to what I am going to say: if there is a just father, who does these things, and the son does not do them, and he has an evil son, who, forsaking his father's virtues, surrenders himself to vices; will not the just son still live because he is just; and the other will die because he has committed all the things that the father became just by avoiding?' Let's see the catalog of virtues of the father, which seem to me to be divided into seventeen parts. The first of these is to exercise judgement; the second, similar to this, is to unite justice with judgement; the third is to not eat on the mountains; the fourth is to not lift one's eyes to idols, or as the Septuagint translates, to the thoughts of the house of Israel; the fifth is to not violate one's neighbor's wife. The sixth is to avoid the embrace of a menstruating wife. The seventh is to not distress a person, or as the Septuagint has it, to oppress by force; the eighth is to return a pledge to a debtor; the ninth is to not take anything by force, or according to the Septuagint, to not commit robbery; the tenth is to give bread to the hungry; the eleventh is to clothe the naked; the twelfth is to not give money at interest; the thirteenth is to not receive more than what one has given; the fourteenth is to turn away one's hand from iniquity; the fifteenth, which seems similar to the first but is different in part, is to exercise true judgement between man and man, or one's neighbor; the sixteenth is to walk in the commandments of the Lord; the seventeenth is to keep his judgements and his statutes. We will explain the meaning of each of these things in the following. If, he says, a man is just and renders judgment, it is written in Proverbs: The thoughts of the just are judgments (Prov. XII, 5). Whoever possesses this virtue, to do nothing without reason and judgment, can say that prophetic saying: The judgments of the Lord are true, justified in themselves (Ps. XVIII, 10), and when he judges all things rightly, so as not to show partiality to the poor in judgment, he will fulfill the commandment of the Lord: You shall judge the lesser as well as the greater (Prov. XVIII), boldly saying: My soul has desired to desire your judgments at all times (Ps. CXVIII, 10). And again: I have chosen the path of truth, I have not forgotten your judgments (V. 30). And in the same psalm: I know that your judgments are righteous (or just) (V. 75); and it will lead to such great blessedness that he will understand the judgments of the Lord, which are many and deep; and he will say with the Apostle: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God, how unsearchable are his judgments, and his ways past finding out (Rom. II, 33). And in prayer let him say: For thy judgments are delightful (Psal. CXVIII, 39). After judgment follows justice, which whoever possesses will undoubtedly possess Christ, who according to the Apostle has become for us justice, and sanctification, and redemption (I Cor. I); so that he may perform true justice, and not show favoritism in judgment; but may know in the judgment of others that he himself must be judged by justice. The third is not to eat on mountains, which the Jews believe to be a sin related to idolatry. For we frequently read in the books of Kings and Chronicles: But nevertheless he did not depart from the high places. Still the people sacrificed in the high places, and burned incense in the high places (3 Kings 15:22; Paral. 20); this Scripture indicating that they sacrificed to idols in the mountains and groves, and burned incense. But we will say that he eats in the mountains, who says with the Pharisee: I give thee thanks, O God, that I am not like this publican: I fast twice on the Sabbath: I give tithes of all that I possess (Luke 18:12), etc. And on the contrary, the tax collector, upon hearing him who said, 'Learn from me, for I am gentle and lowly in heart' (Matthew 11:29), beat his chest with his hand, that is, the treasure of wicked thoughts, and did not dare to raise his eyes to heaven. But also what is said elsewhere, 'Do not seek what is too difficult for you, nor investigate what is beyond your power' (Sirach 3:22), convicts all heretics of devouring the mountains of pride, despising the simplicity of the Church, and not knowing the scripture about themselves: 'God opposes the proud, but gives grace to the humble' (James 4:6). In the fourth place, it is placed, and it has not lifted its eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, for which the Seventy translated their thoughts. But the idols, that is, the simulacra they have invented in their hearts, all heretics make, to which they lift the eyes of their hearts, those who have considered their falsehood and lies to be the truth. But the house of Israel is called idols, which are found in the Church; and through the occasion of a false name of knowledge, they deceive even the simple, in order to introduce the doctrines of philosophers into the house of Israel, namely those who contemplate God with their mind. In the fifth place, it is stated: and he shall not violate or contaminate the wife of his neighbor, which explicitly prohibits adultery; but from what is added, the wife of his neighbor, unless every man is understood to be a neighbor, it seems to be a precept that we abstain from the wives of friends; but we may freely defile the spouses of enemies and strangers. Therefore, every man should be considered the neighbor of another man, according to the parable of the Gospel, which is presented by the Savior, of a certain man who was going down from Jerusalem to Jericho, who was wounded by robbers: when a Pharisee asks who was his neighbor, teaching that the one who does good is his neighbor. According to a mystical understanding, the wife of a holy man can be understood as wisdom, as Solomon says: Love her, and she will embrace you; cherish her, and she will protect you (Prov. IV, 6). One who desires to defile her criticizes the blessings of others and, inflamed by the torches of envy, violates what is holy, corrupts what is chaste, and contaminates what is pure. The sixth point: He shall not approach a woman, whether a wife or menstruating. Every month, the heavy and sluggish bodies of women are relieved by the shedding of impure blood. At the time when a man has intercourse with a woman, it is said that the conceived fetus inherits the defect of the semen, so that lepers and elephantiasis sufferers are born from this conception, and both sexes have monstrous bodies, with small or enormous limbs, and corrupted pus. Therefore, men are advised to know the specific times for sexual intercourse, not only with other women but also with their own, with whom they are joined by law, as the Scripture says: 'Be fruitful and multiply, and fill the earth' (Genesis 1:28), and to know when it is time to have intercourse and when to abstain from their wives. Indeed, both the Apostle and the Ecclesiastes say: There is a time to embrace, and a time to refrain from embracing (Eccles. III, 6). Therefore, let the wife beware that she does not, by the enticement of her desire for sexual intercourse, tempt her husband, and let the husband not force his wife, thinking that she ought at all times to be subject to the pleasure of the marriage bed. Hence, Paul also says: That each one of you know how to possess his vessel in sanctification and honor (I Thess. IV, 4). Beautifully, in the Pythagorean sayings of Xystus, it is said: He who desires ardently is an adulterer of his own wife. A certain person, translating this book into the Latin language, wanted to illustrate it with the name of martyr Xystus, without considering in the entire volume that he divided it in vain into two parts, omitting completely the name of Christ and the Apostles. It is not surprising that he transformed a pagan philosopher into a martyr and bishop of the city of Rome: just as he exchanged the name of the book of Origen with the name of the martyr Pamphilus, in order to conciliate the most impious books on the beginnings with Roman ears, with Eusebius also from Caesarea as the first supporter. In the seventh place, it is written: And he shall not grieve a man, or, as the LXX translated, he shall not oppress by power. I do not know to what fault and sin someone may be a stranger. And indeed, the Egyptians oppressed the Hebrews by power. Hence, Habakkuk complains, why does the wicked oppress the righteous (Habakkuk 1). And I wish that it would be said only of those who are outside, and not of those who are inside. For even the leaders of the Churches often oppress the people by pride. Of which it is written: They made you a prince, but not to be proud, and you should be among them as one of them (Ecclus. XXXII, 1). And the Savior commanded: Whoever wants to be first among you must be the servant of all (Mt. XX, 27). And what is said in Hebrew, and do not grieve the man, agrees with the testimony of the Apostle: Do not grieve the Holy Spirit, who dwells in you (Eph. IV, 30). And in the Gospel, which the Nazarenes, who read according to the Hebrews, are accustomed to read, among the greatest crimes is considered to be one who grieves the spirit of his brother. But if the sadness of another kills the one who grieves, what should be said about wickedness and a tyrannical mind, to which this applies: Why does the earth and ashes boast (Sirach 10:9)? So that, having forgotten its own condition, it, being full of phlegm, gall, feces, and worms for a little while, would place its mouth in the sky, and its tongue would extend to the earth, and it would say with true Nebuchadnezzar: I will ascend into heaven, above the stars of heaven I will place my throne, and I will be like the Most High (Isaiah 14:12). The eighth law: The pledge should be returned to the debtor. Not to all debtors, otherwise there will be many opportunities to receive pledges, which will become a material of wealth: but to the debtor about whom it is written in the law, that he is poor, and he has put up his own clothing as a pledge, and he should receive covering before sunset (Deut. XXIV), so that he does not cry out to the Lord, who is the avenger of his injury, from the torment of cold. But if, according to the following things, we should give bread to the hungry, and cover the naked with clothing (Exod. II): how much more should we return what is his own, if indeed the poverty of the debtor is without doubt? We can also return a pledge to a debtor, when we, who are joined by love, and who owe mutual charity to each other, return their pledge, holding nothing of their debt against them. The ninth place is this: He has not seized anything by force, nor has he committed robbery according to the Septuagint. The Apostle speaks about robbers, saying that among other sinners one should not even partake of such food: and all robbery is mixed with violence (1 Corinthians 6). If violence has been used, plundering is not profitable. Moreover, there is also a holy violence and a desirable plundering, of which the Gospel also writes: From the days of John the Baptist until now the kingdom of heaven suffers violence, and violent men take it by force (Matthew 11:12). It is also spoken of by Judas, the brother of James: And on some have compassion, making a distinction; but others save with fear, pulling them out of the fire (Jude 23). And on the contrary, the opposing powers hastily seek to plunder the prey of those whom they seize, for their own destruction. Which means that Jacob says: A wild beast has devoured him: a wild beast has taken Joseph away (Genesis XXXVII, 33). Therefore, the sheep of the Lord that follow him are not taken from his hands. And he himself says: The Father's gift is greater than all, and no one can take it from the hand ((Al. my addition)) of my Father (John X, 29). From this it is clear that there is one power, virtue, and substance of the Father and the Son. For if no one can take from the Son's hand what the Father has given, and these same things are in the Father's hand that are not taken from him, it is clearly proven that all things are common to the Father and the Son, and that the Son holds the Father in his hand, just as the things that belong to the Son are held in the Father's hand. The tenth is: He gives his bread to the hungry. From this we are taught that alms should not be given to the satiated, but to the hungry; and not to those who belch from fullness, but to those who suffer from emptiness. For in bread is contained all food. And it is significantly said, his: so that we do not turn bread acquired from rapine, usury, and ill-gotten gain into mercy; for the redemption of a man's soul (Prov. XIII, 7) is his own riches. What we see many people doing, both clients and the poor, and farmers; not to mention the violence of soldiers and judges, who oppress by power, or commit thefts, so that they may give little things to the poor, and boast in their own crimes. And let the public deacon in the Churches recite the names of those making offerings: so much is offered by this person, so much is promised by that person, and they please themselves with the applause of the people, while their conscience torments them. And let us give material to the miserable, so that they may rejoice in what they give, and not mourn over what they have taken away. It is more fitting, however, that we understand the just bread to be the one who says: I am the living bread, which came down from heaven (John VI, 51); and which we pray to be given to us in prayer: Our substantive bread, or that which will come to us (Matthew VI, 11); so that we may deserve to receive what we will always receive afterwards, in the present world, every day. He gives this bread to the hungry, of whom it is written: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst (Matt. V, 6). For the righteous person makes the common bread of all his own, which had failed in Judea, as the prophet says: I will take away from them strength, or the staff of bread. What we are speaking of, if indeed we are of Christ, or rather, as the prophet commemorates, it is the bread of believers and the hungry. It is not to be given at all to those who have eaten and drunk and been satisfied, and have grown fat and kicked, of whom it is said: Woe to you who are full now, for you shall hunger (Luke VI, 25), lest they vomit it up, as Solomon says: For he will vomit and corrupt your good words (Prov. XXIII). What the Savior says in other words: Do not give what is holy to dogs; nor cast your pearls before swine (Matthew 7:6). He holds the eleventh place: And covered the naked with clothing. This statement, according to the explanation of the previous verse, should be discussed in two ways: that we give clothing to the naked, as the Savior says: I was naked and you clothed me (Matthew 25), and that we give the clothing of Christ to the naked in faith and virtues, of whom it is written: For as many of you as were baptized into Christ have put on Christ (Galatians 3:27). He was naked in this garment, not having a wedding garment, and was thrown out of the banquet. Concerning this nudity, the Lord speaks to Jerusalem: But you were naked and filled with confusion (or shame). The twelfth commandment holds: And he shall not lend at usury, or as the Septuagint translated, he shall not give his money for usury. In Hebrew, usury is prohibited for all kinds of species; in the Septuagint, only money. According to what is written in the fourteenth Psalm: 'He who does not give his money to interest' (Psalm XIV, 5). And how is it said: 'You shall not lend to your father at interest, but you shall lend to others at interest' (Deuteronomy XV, 6 and XXIII, 10). But see the progression: In the beginning of the Law, interest is only forbidden among brothers; in the prophets, usury is prohibited for everyone, as Ezekiel says: 'He who does not give his money to interest.' Furthermore, in the Gospel, there is an increase in virtue, with the Lord commanding: 'Lend to those from whom you do not expect to receive' (Luke VI, 35). It follows in the thirteenth place: And he shall not receive anything more. Some people think that usury is only in money. But divine Scripture, foreseeing this, takes away the excess of everything, so that you do not receive more than what you have given. Usury is commonly demanded in the fields for wheat and barley, wine and oil, and other kinds of produce, as the divine word calls it, abundance. For example, in the time of winter, we give ten bushels, and in the harvest, we receive fifteen, which is more than half. Whoever considers himself very just will receive a greater portion, a fourth plus, and they usually argue and say: I gave one bushel, which produced ten bushels. Is it not just that I should receive a half bushel more from my own, since he, by my generosity, has nine and a half from my own? Let us not be deceived, says the Apostle, God is not ridiculed (Galatians VI, 7). Therefore, let the merciful usurer respond to us briefly: has he given to the one who has, or to the one who has not? If he had, he certainly should not have given, but he gave as if he did not have. So why does he demand more as if from someone who has? Others are accustomed to receiving small gifts in exchange for borrowed money of various kinds, and they do not understand that this is called interest and excess, whatever that may be, if they receive more from what they have given. The fourteenth degree is: From wickedness, he says, he shall turn away his hand, so as to flee from all wickedness in every work. For wickedness is committed not only with the hand, but also with other members, as Solomon says: Remove wicked lips far from you (Prov. IV, 24). And in the Psalms: They speak iniquity on high (Ps. 72:8). The foot also runs to iniquity, and the eye if it desires another man's wife, let him not be its imitator, of whom it is said: He has not done iniquity, and deceit has not been found in his mouth (Isa. 53:9). Therefore, we are commanded to make friends for ourselves with the wicked mammon, who may receive us into eternal dwellings. The fifteenth is: He shall make a true judgement between man and man, or his neighbor. What seems to signify the same as first, where it is written: If he shall be just, and shall do judgment; but with the addition of the truth of judgment: which makes a distinction between man and man, or his neighbor, it is observed to have the force of virtues. Hence also in the beginning of Proverbs, after many precepts, the correction of judgment is inferred. To know, he says, wisdom and discipline, and to understand the words of prudence, to receive the subtlety of speeches, and to know true justice, and after all to correct judgment (Prov. 1:2-3). Therefore the Apostle (I Cor. VI) rebukes those who are established in the Church, because they have disputes among themselves, and the least esteemed is chosen to judge between man and man, who destroys what is small and reaches up to the mature man; and yet he needs a higher judgment in order to attain to the truth of judgement. It follows in the sixteenth place: He shall walk in my precepts. And in the seventeenth: He shall keep my judgments and my precepts, to do them, and to keep them. Both of which have manifold understanding, if we are willing to replicate all the commandments of the law, in which the precepts of the Lord are, and in which the justifications are said to be. The one hundred and eighteenth psalm is full of commandments and justifications, and in part the eighteenth, in which it is written: The justices of the Lord are right, rejoicing hearts, and the commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes. In which it is asked how in this same prophet God said: I have given them non-good justifications in which they will not live in them (Isaiah 28). The easy and fuller answer is in the following, that the Jews who follow the letter die, and the Christians who understand the life-giving spirit live. It is a long task if we want to prove with testimonies where the precepts of the Lord are said to be, and where justifications are said to be, and in what particularities, or diversities, or obscurities they are involved. And it is said in the present place: Here is the righteous one, he will live his life, says the Lord God. Whoever does these things, and does not do those things, will not be punished for the sins of the father, but will live by their own virtues.
18:10-13
(Ver. 10 and following) But if he has fathered a son who is a robber, shedding blood, and he has committed one of these (or, as the Septuagint has translated, if he has committed sins: if he has not walked in the way of his righteous father), and he does all these things, not abstaining from them, but rather feasting on the mountains, defiling the wife of his neighbor, oppressing the needy and the poor, seizing plunder, not returning pledges, lifting his eyes to idols, committing abominations, engaging in usury, and taking more, will he live? When he has done all these detestable things, he will die: his blood will be upon himself. Regarding the thief, it is written in Hebrew Pharis, which in the second edition of Aquila means sinner; Symmachus translates it as transgressor, and the Septuagint and Theodotion as pestilent. Just as a plague creates diseases and usually devastates the regions where it has spread, so does a pestilent person ravage everything. And let us say first according to history, so that you may know that the iniquities of the fathers do not overflow onto the children. If a righteous man does the things that the previous discourse explained in order, he will live. But if he begets a son who departs from the service of the Lord and exchanges his father's virtues for vices, doing what his father did not do and not doing what his father accomplished, can he live? Surely he will not live, but will be guilty of his own blood. Moreover, according to spiritual understanding, the righteous man in Ecclesiasticus, if he proclaims the Gospel faith and his son and disciple is deceived by heretical error, will be called a pestilence. Concerning this, it is written in the first psalm: 'And he did not sit in the seat of pestilence' (Psalm I, 1). And in Proverbs, he is described as confident, shameless, and arrogantly pestilent (Prov. XXXIII). He sheds the blood of the deceived and heaps sins upon himself; he feasts on the mountains of pride, polluting the Church of his neighbor, causing distress to the needy and poor in the knowledge of Scripture, oppressing and overthrowing them; seizing plunder from those who he has led astray from the Church: not returning the pledge he received from his teacher, in order to fulfill what is written: 'Freely you have received, freely give' (Matthew X, 8). And to idols and images, which he fashioned from his own heart, he lifts his eyes, and committing all abominations; and he gives money for usury, so that the error of the master may increase by the diligence of the disciples; and seeking repayment from those to whom he loaned, he demands more than he had given: surely he will not be able to live, but he will die in his own blood.
18:14-18
(Verse 14 and following) But if he has a son who sees all the sins his father has committed, fears them, and does not commit them himself (as Vulgate says, 'similar to them'): he does not eat on the mountains, he does not lift his eyes to the idols of the house of Israel, he does not violate his neighbor's wife, he does not oppress anyone, he does not keep a pledge, he does not commit robbery, he gives his bread to the hungry, he covers the naked with clothing, he turns his hand away from the poor man's injury, he does not take interest or usury, he follows my ordinances, and he walks in my statutes: this son will not die because of the iniquity of his father, but he will surely live. His father, who accused falsely and used violence against his brother, and committed evil in the midst of his people: he died in his wickedness. So, do not be surprised, he says, if the son of a righteous man, inclined towards vice and sin, dies by death. On the contrary, if the son of a sinful and impure man sees the wickedness of his father's ways, and turns away from doing evil and does good, he shall not be held accountable for his father's crimes. And what can also be received in us, as it is said in the Psalms: Hear, O daughter, and see, and incline your ear, and forget your people, and your father's house: and the king desires your beauty (Ps. 44, 11). And we who are born of the stock of the nations, to leave behind the crimes of our parents, and to do judgment and justice, and to live in it. Therefore, we repeat what we have explored above more fully. And so, briefly, we review everything, desiring to move on to those things that are more obscure and new.
18:19-20
(Verse 19, 20.) And you say: Why did not the son bear the iniquity of the father? Clearly, because the son has practiced judgment and justice, has kept all my commandments and has done them: he shall live. The soul that sins, it shall die. The son shall not bear the iniquity of the father: and the father shall not bear the iniquity of the son. The righteousness of the righteous shall be upon him, and the wickedness of the wicked shall be upon him. He answers the question that the listener could have proposed in the opposite way. He often says, they say, why did the righteous son not bear the iniquity of the father? To which he himself responds: Clearly, because the son has acted well, and has not committed the father's offenses. And it is right, just as a sinner dies in his own wickedness; so the righteous live in their virtues: and let the soul that has sinned die; and let the one who has kept God's commandments live.
18:21-22
(Vers. 21, 22.) But if the wicked shall do penance for all his sins which he hath committed, and keep all my commandments, and do judgment, and justice: living he shall live, and shall not die. I will not remember all his iniquities that he hath done. In a way only, saith he, the sins of the fathers are not transmitted to the children, neither doth the wicked son any longer burden the righteous father; nor are others punished for the sins of others, so that he, who before was wicked and a sinner, if he afterwards do penance, and turn to better things, and blot out his former sins, be not judged by the old sins: but let him be received into my flock, by the renewal of virtue. At the same time, let us consider what sort of repentant person an impious and sinful person receives. If, he says, he turns away from all the sins he has committed and keeps all the commandments of the Lord, so that he truly abandons all wrongdoing and follows all virtues; if he does all good things and forsakes all evil; then I will forget all the injustices he has committed.
18:23
(Verse 23) In his righteousness, which he has worked, he will live. My righteousness will live not so much as mine, but as his. It is allowed for my righteousness to give good things to the good and bad things to the bad.
Is it my will that the wicked should die, says the Lord God, and not that he should turn from his ways and live? (Ezekiel 18:23) Therefore it is the will of the Lord that all should be saved and come to the knowledge of the truth. Wherever God seems to pronounce a severe and harsh judgment, He condemns not men, but their sins.
18:24
(Verse 24) But if the righteous turns away from his righteousness and commits iniquity according to all the abominations that the wicked person usually does, will he live? None of the righteous deeds that he had done will be remembered. In the transgression that he has committed, and in the sin that he has sinned, he shall die. Just as the previous sins do not burden a righteous person who has sinned, so the previous righteousness does not benefit a sinner who was previously righteous. For each person will be judged according to what is found in them.
18:25