44:22-24
(Vers. 22 seqq.) Widows and divorced (or expelled) women will not marry, but only a virgin from the seed of the house of Israel. But they will accept a widow who was married to a priest: and they will teach my people what is holy and what is defiled, and they will show them what is clean and what is unclean. And when there is a dispute (as added in the Septuagint, regarding blood), they will stand in my courts, and they will judge my laws, and they will keep my commandments in all my solemnities. This place contains the instructions of the priests, who, after many things that we have explained above, are commanded not to take widows, divorced women, or expelled women as wives. The widow and the divorced woman are the synagogue, that is, the congregation of the Jews, which did not receive the Lord. Therefore, it is rightly called the expelled woman, or the widow synagogue. The expelled woman also refers to the crowd of heretics who departed from us because they were not of us. But he says, 'I want to present you all as a holy virgin to Christ,' speaking also of the woman from the seed of the house of Israel who was nourished in the house of God, in the law and the prophets, about whom the Apostle also speaks (2 Corinthians 11:2). This is the virgin about whom the divine word speaks elsewhere: Love her, and she will keep you: surround her, and she will exalt you: honor her, so that she may embrace you (Prov. IV, 8). But whoever reads it will know what kind of virgin should be loved and how she should keep her lover: I loved her and sought her from my youth, and I sought to take her as my spouse, and I became a lover of her beauty (Wisdom VIII, 2). And again: And the Lord loved her above all. Not only, however, should priests marry virgins, but also widows, who were, nevertheless, the wives of another priest; that is, the knowledge that another worshipper of God has found. For we must not only be satisfied with new doctrine, but also cultivate the old and join it to our company, if she has been educated in sacred worship. It is also the duty of the priest to teach the people what is holy and what is impure, what is clean and what is unclean; so that we may first refer to the doctrines, and then to the works that are accomplished through the flesh. For who understands the sins? And when there is a dispute about any matter, whether as the Seventy have translated it, blood, that is, a crime that pertains to death, the priests shall stand in my judgments, so that they may not judge according to favoritism, nor show partiality to the poor or the rich in judgment, but they shall judge according to the judgments of God, and they shall remember that psalm: God stands in the assembly of gods, but he judges the gods in the midst of them, calling gods those who have the power to judge over men: and whoever judges in that judgment, he shall be judged by them. He said, 'My laws and my precepts shall be observed on all my solemnities, so that they may know how Christ is immolated for us as the Paschal Lamb; how we ought to fulfill the seven weeks of joy and gladness, and to humble our souls in fasting; and to understand the sound of trumpets and the spiritual tabernacles, in which we say: 'I am a stranger and a sojourner as were all my fathers' (Ps. XXXVIII, 13). These are the true solemnities of God, which someone discussing the Pentateuch will interpret in a consistent manner.' The first virtue of a priest is not only to teach what he knows, but also to observe all the festivals of God, so that he can instruct others in what they should observe, which he himself has also observed. Moreover, the duty of the priests is to have knowledge of the law, and in Malachi we learn, who says: The lips of the priest will keep knowledge, and the law they shall seek at his mouth: because he is the angel of the Lord of hosts (Mal. II, 7).
44:25-28
(Verse 25 onwards) And they shall sanctify my Sabbaths, and they shall not go unto a dead person, lest they be defiled (for the Septuagint translated it as, and they shall not go upon the soul of a dead person, lest they be defiled): except for father and mother, he said, and son and daughter, brother and sister who has no husband, they shall be defiled. And after he has been cleansed, seven days shall be numbered for him, and on the day of his entrance into the sanctuary and into the inner courtyard, to minister unto me in the sanctuary, he shall offer a sin-offering unto the Lord God (or he shall offer an atonement). But they will not have an inheritance: I will be their inheritance, and you shall not give them any possession in Israel; I will be their possession. Furthermore, it is commanded to the priests: in which it is to be observed that it does not say absolutely: and they shall sanctify the sabbaths; or according to Isaiah: My soul hates your new moons and sabbaths (Isa. 1:13): but with distinction, my sabbaths. Hence, it is also written in the Gospel: The priests in the temple violate the Sabbath, and they are without guilt (Matt. 12:5): not the Sabbath of God, but the Sabbath of the law, the Sabbath of the Jews, which they rightly violate who are the chosen race, royal, priestly. Furthermore, let us understand the Sabbath, which is sanctified, as the Apostle teaches, to have been left to the people of God, about whom it is said: 'If they shall enter into my rest' (Ps. 94:11), which is called the Sabbath in Hebrew. But God sanctifies the Sabbath, who does not bear the burden of sin on the Sabbath, nor says: 'As the heavy burden, they have been heavily laden upon me' (Ps. 37:5). Whoever is such, does not gather wood on the Sabbath; nor does he build upon the foundation of Jesus Christ with wood, hay, straw (1 Cor. 3); nor does he light a fire that consumes useless material, and he remains in one place on the day of Sabbath; nor does he go outside, but remains like a column placed in the temple of God, as John writes in the Apocalypse: 'He who conquers, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God, and he shall go out no more' (Rev. 3:12). And what follows: They shall not enter the place where the dead person is, lest they be polluted. It is the proper office of the priesthood not to touch anything connected with death, so that the one who prays for the sins of others may approach the altar in a state of purity. Our Savior also speaks of these dead in the Gospel: Let the dead bury their own dead (Matthew 8:22). They are polluted by their dead father when they abandon their Creator, and by their dead mother when they depart from the Church. Likewise, by their son and daughter, for there is a distinction between thoughts and actions, which is more expressively stated in Greek as τὰ νοητὰ καὶ αἰσθητά. Also, if a brother and sister, who have been born of the same spirit, mistakenly believe that one of them has died, they become contaminated by this belief. However, this only applies if the sister remains a virgin and has not been defiled by any man. From this, we understand the virgin privilege, which is taken away by the touch of any man, thereby removing perfect purity. Whether this is said correctly or incorrectly, we leave it to the judgment of the reader. Furthermore, this is supported by the natural affection in the order of charity, as it is written: 'Set me as a seal upon your heart' (Song of Solomon 2:4). After God, the parent of all things, let the father and mother of the flesh also be loved and respected, as well as the son and daughter, and the brother and sister. However, this only applies if they have not left the household nor come under the authority of another. But after the priest has been purified according to the order of purification that is prescribed in the Mosaic law, let seven days be numbered for him, either the perfect number of penance, or after the consummation of the world, when we pass over to the true ogdoad, so that he may enter the holy of holies (which is the inner courtyard) and minister in the sanctuary and always offer a victim for the sin of conscience: and let there be no time when he does not remember that he has been defiled by his father and mother, son and daughter, brother and sister. For indeed we are compelled to do many things in the constraints of this world, either due to the condition of the flesh or the frailty of nature. But whoever is such that he ministers in the sanctuary, and enters the inner court, and offers a perpetual sacrifice to God, so that he may be a true priest, indeed an imitator of him about whom it is written: 'You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek' (Psalm 110:4), this person will have no inheritance, except God who is his inheritance; nor will he receive possession among the common people of Israel; but rather a priestly one, so that the Lord may say about him: 'I am their inheritance and possession.' When they find him, they will speak and say: I will hold him, and I will not let him go; and they will sing with the prophet: The Lord is my portion (Ps. II, 26).
44:29-30
(Verse 29, 30) They themselves shall eat the victim for sin and for transgression (or for ignorance), and every vow (or separation) in Israel shall be theirs. And the firstborn of all the firstborns, and all the libations from all that are offered, shall be for the priests. And you shall give the firstfruits of your food to the priest, so that he may put a blessing on his house (or put blessings on your houses). For the victim and sacrifice, which in Hebrew is called Manaa (), Aquila and Symmachus interpreted as a gift. Again, for the vow which the Seventy translated as ἀφόρισμα, which means separation, Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion interpreted as a dedication, which in Hebrew is called Herem (). And it is to be considered that all that which the Lord now speaks through the prophet, He had already spoken through Moses. And it is to be sought why the same things that were said are repeated: namely, that those things which are in the minds of men, deleted either by negligence in reading or contempt in hearing and forgetting, may be renewed orally, which are not written with pen and ink, but with the Spirit and word of God. And so the Savior left no written volume of his teaching, which in many cases the apocrypha fabricate delusional writings: but he speaks daily to the hearts of believers through the Father and his Spirit. And this will be the response against those who slander the prophets, asking why they repeat what is contained in the Pentateuch in their own writings. Therefore, let the priests eat the victim, both for sin and for transgression, or ignorance, about whom it is written: They will eat the sins of my people (Hosea IV, 8). We must not only rejoice at the offering of gifts, but also fear the condemnation of honor, if we unworthily misuse them. The first things according to the letter are of living beings, and of inanimate things that are first born, and of those that the earth first produces. The first fruits of our food are also offered to the priests, so that we may not taste of new crops unless the priest has tasted first. We do this so that the priest may repon our blessing and offering in his house, or so that the Lord may bless our houses according to his imprecation. The dignity of priests is great, but their downfall is also great if they sin. Let us rejoice in their ascent, but let us fear their descent. It is not as joyful to have reached lofty heights as it is sorrowful to fall from them. For we will not only give an account for our own sins, but also for the sins of all those whose gifts we have abused, and we are not at all concerned for their salvation.
44:31
(Verse 31) Every dead body and every animal caught by a beast, whether birds or livestock, the priests shall not eat. And according to the letter, this command applies to every chosen people, the royal and priestly, which properly applies to Christians who are anointed with spiritual oil, as it is written: 'God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions' (Psalm 45:7). These commandments are appropriate so that the priests do not eat any dead bodies, whether from birds or livestock, whose blood has not been properly drained, as mentioned in the Acts of the Apostles as being strangled; and these things must necessarily be observed, as the Epistle of the Apostles from Jerusalem reminds us (Acts 15). And every animal caught by a beast, because it is likewise strangled, condemns those priests who do not refrain from consuming things like thrushes, figpeckers, dormice, and other such things out of the desire of gluttony. But we can say, according to the mystical interpretation, that the dead body represents the soul, and Nabal imitates the foolishness of Carmel, which means foolish. And hearing of David's anger, he trembled with fear, and his heart died within him (1 Samuel 25). But captured by beasts, so as not to be torn apart by their bites, the prophet sighs, saying: Do not deliver the soul of your confessor to beasts (Psalm 73:19). He should be called the one who is devoured by the bites of the lion and the leopard that does not change its spots, and by the she-bear that rages against its stolen cubs, and by the wolves of Arabia, and by the other beasts that we perceive in the diversity of demons. But we say that birds are those that place their mouth in the sky, and those animals that lean forward towards the ground serve only their belly and the things that are under the belly.
45:1-8
(Chapter 45, vers. 1 and following) When you begin to divide the land as an inheritance, set apart for the Lord a portion of the land, twenty-five thousand cubits in length and ten thousand cubits in width, which shall be consecrated in all its boundaries. This portion shall be holy and shall be laid out in a square, five hundred by five hundred cubits in size, with fifty cubits of additional land as its outskirts. And you shall measure this measure of length twenty-five thousand, and a width of ten thousand, and in it there shall be a temple (or consecration) and a holy of holies. The consecrated portion of the land shall be for the priests, the ministers of the sanctuary, who approach to minister to the Lord, and there shall be a place for them in the houses, and in the sanctuary of holiness. Twenty-five thousand in length, and ten thousand in width. But the Levites who serve the house: they shall possess twenty storerooms (for which the Seventy translated: they shall hold the city to dwell in). And you shall give a possession of the city of five thousand in width, and twenty-five thousand in length, according to the separation of the sanctuary, to the whole house of Israel. Also, the prince shall have a portion on both sides of the separation of the sanctuary and of the possession of the city, extending from the side of the sea to the sea, and from the side of the east to the east. And the length shall be alongside each of the portions, from the west border to the east border of the land. It shall be a possession for them in Israel. And my people will no longer be oppressed by their leaders. They shall give the land to the house of Israel according to their tribes. After the ceremonies of the priests, their worship, and the food they should eat and avoid, he now describes the land of the holy place, and before dividing it among the tribes, he commands a place to be chosen from all the tribes, which should have a length of twenty-five thousand and a width of ten thousand. And because the cubits or feet or arms are not mentioned, it is understood to signify a reed that was in the man's hand, which measured six cubits and a sixth part of one cubit, that is, a παλαιστήν. Let the diligent reader calculate how many paces a thousand reeds make, and how many thousands there were in length and in width. After this description, he again commands that from the consecrated land, which was chosen from all the tribes of Israel, that is, twenty-five thousand reeds in length and ten thousand in width, be chosen to build the sanctuary, that is, the temple of the Lord, with another piece of land inside of five hundred reeds in circumference, that is, two thousand. And so that other buildings would not be joined to the building of the temple by chance, he commanded that there be an empty space in the suburb of fifty cubits around it: or as Symmachus and Theodotius and the LXX translated, to a boundary, and separation and space. With this description finished, another measure of complete separation for consecration is commanded, that twenty-five thousand reed lengths in length, and ten thousand in width, be measured on the upper part of the land, in which there should be no temple, that is, a holy place, but a holy and most holy place, and in it the priests who approach the ministry of the Lord shall dwell. But they shall dwell at that time, when they are performing the priestly office, and the possession itself, as we have said, shall be twenty-five thousand cubits in length, and ten thousand in width. Moreover, the Levites who serve the priests and have their own ministries shall receive a place to build twenty treasuries; next to Aquila, exedras; next to Symmachus, chambers; next to Theodotion, gazebos, or as the seventy translated, a city. By which we understand that a certain separate place for the habitation of the Levites, is called by the name of a city, which place is five thousand cubits in breadth, and twenty-five thousand in length. But all these, that is, the sanctuary, and another sanctuary, the holy of holies, and the dwelling places of the priests, and the house of the Levites, who minister to the priests, are called separate and consecrated places for ministry and for the sanctification of the house of Israel. After the fourfold description of the Holy Land, the fifth division is made. The leader or ruler of the people may take possession here and there, that is, on both sides of the sanctuary, and reside in the city. Their possession should face the separate temple area and the face of the city. It should extend from the side of the sea, that is, from the west, to the other side of the sea, having the width that the prophet describes in the subsequent description of each tribe. Finally, it follows: In terms of length, on each side, which each tribe takes, from the Western boundary, that is, the sea, to the Eastern boundary, where it ends, we will learn in the division of the tribes. And this will be the possession of the duke or prince in the land of Israel. Let these things be said for the sake of a simple historical account. But if we wish to compare spiritual things with spiritual, and according to certain interpreters to ascend to higher things, who assert that the figure of future things is present, and that everything that is said pertains to the heavenly Jerusalem, which is the mother of all of us, and to the Church of the early Christians, it will not indeed be difficult to say what has been said by others, but we fear that the wise reader may in no way accept such an exposition. At the present time, everything must be directed towards the Church, which is now working in the world and hastening to go to heaven, so that others may be chosen from the entire world to possess God, those who possess the holy; others, who have made progress in greater things, may hold the holy of holies. Among the ministers, there is also a different order of priests and Levites, some of whom offer sacrifices to God daily through their prayers and virtues; others are in a second and lower rank, to serve them, and through them those who have reached the heights of virtue, and in the end there should be a leader or prince, who should be able to receive a possession against one tribe; and the merit of one should compensate for the merits of many, and first, while he is in the world, he should possess the breadth from sea to sea; then from the West or from the sea to the East, so that, leaving the present, he may hasten to the future and have his own certain possession, and the princes should never desire what belongs to others, and each tribe should hold its own portion: which can properly be referred to bishops and presbyters, to whom it is said, that they should not devastate and depopulate the people of God any further, nor possess the land of Israel as an inheritance, but each one should have his own possession that is appointed for his rank. Twenty-five thousand, however, are referred to the senses, which are four times placed. Furthermore, ten thousand are related to perfect knowledge, so that in the former only a simple history is maintained, while in the latter both theology and discussion of supernatural virtues are included, because ten is a perfect number. It must also be considered that priests, who are in a higher degree, possess twenty-five thousand in length and ten thousand in width. But the Levites, that is, the inferior order, have the same number in length, that is, twenty-five thousand: but their breadth is limited to a number fivefold. Therefore, only twenty receive the treasuries: in which number the gifts of Esau are offered. However, the true leader among the people, who deserves to be called a leader, receives possession of the sanctuary from both sides: namely, from all those who are subject to his will and from the dwelling of the city, and he receives reward for the well-being of many. In the front temple, which is called the sanctuary, five hundred on each side of the reeds are described; and again, fifty cubits by which the entire possession of the priests is separated. But in the second sanctuary, where the holy of holies is, the width and space of the temple are not described, but the number is uncertain. Indeed, we find this also in the possession of the prince, who has possession in the people of Israel without any number, while the surplus of all flows back to the prince; and the salvation of the disciples is the reward of the teachers.
45:9
(Verse 9) Thus says the Lord God: Enough for you, princes of Israel: cease iniquity and robberies, and execute judgment and justice, and separate your borders from my people, says the Lord God. For because of robberies they have brought misery upon the seventy; for because of borders, oppression. And the meaning is this: Since you, O princes, have received your portion, as the Scripture says: To each prince from this side and that side shall be given a portion of the sanctuary's possession within the city; and your power is so great that one tribe's portion shall be given unto you as possession. Therefore, I command and advise you, that you have done enough in committing iniquity and robberies, while invading and plundering the property of others. And because it is written: Depart from evil, and do good; and contrarywise, judge ye and practice justice (Ps. XXXVI, 27), judging the orphan and vindicating the widow: separate your boundaries from my people, lest you transfer the landmarks. And because this very proximity harms the more humble, who cannot withstand the arrogance of the greater and more powerful, it is said through Isaiah: Woe to those who join house to house, and field to field, even to the boundaries of the place. Let this be said for the people of that time. Moreover, this commandment can also be applied to our leaders, who, like the Pharaoh and the Egyptians, oppress the children of Israel by force, and do not remember the scripture: They have set up a governor over you, do not be exalted, but be among them as one of them (Eccl. XXXII, 1). And also what the Lord speaks in the Gospel according to Luke: But if that servant says in his heart, 'My master is delayed in coming,' and begins to beat the male and female servants, and to eat and drink and get drunk, the master of that servant will come on a day when he does not expect him and at an hour he does not know, and will cut him in pieces and put him with the unfaithful (Luke XII, 45, 46). He also instructs his disciples in the Gospel according to Matthew with these teachings: 'You know that the rulers of the Gentiles lord it over them, and their great ones exercise authority over them. It shall not be so among you. But whoever would be great among you must be your servant, and whoever would be first among you must be your slave, even as the Son of Man came not to be served but to serve, and to give his life as a ransom for many.' (Matthew 20:25) There are many things that, if one desires to delve into the Sacred Scriptures, the pride of the arrogant is restrained, and all are challenged by the Lord's words, saying: 'Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart.' (Matthew 11:29)
Book Fourteen
Book Fourteen.
What I should have said at the beginning of Ezekiel's temple, I am now going to say out of order at the end, mindful of that little verse (Virgil, Book VI of the Aeneid).
Here is that laborious task, and the bewildering error.
About which the same poet sings in another place (Aeneid. V):
Once upon a time, there was a labyrinth in high Crete: a path woven with blind walls, and a thousand-fold deceit in its many ways, where the signs of following would deceive the unsuspecting, and the mistake was irretrievable.
So I, too, have entered into the ocean of these Scriptures, and the mysteries of God, to speak thus, the labyrinth, of which it is written: He has set darkness as his hiding place; And: Clouds surround him (Ps. XVII, 12): I dare not claim to possess a perfect knowledge of the truth, but I have provided some indications of doctrine for those who desire to know, not by my own strength, but by the mercy of Christ, who himself unravels the tricks and ambiguities of the hidden, guiding us in the blind paths with the Holy Spirit; by following him, we may arrive at the port of the explanations of the prophet Ezekiel, where the last, that is, the fourteenth book is. If, while you are praying, I, the virgin Eustochium of Christ, lead you all the way to the end, and the Lord grants me the span of this life, I will then move on to Jeremiah, who remains the only prophet for us; the interpretation of which, indeed, will be the work of myself and your prayers, but primarily of the mercy of Christ.
45:10-12
(Chapter 45, verses 10 and following) 'A fair balance and a fair ephah and a fair bath shall be for you. The ephah and the bath shall be of the same measure, so that the bath may contain a tenth part of a homer, and the ephah a tenth part of a homer: their measure shall be according to the homer. Now a shekel has twenty obols. Furthermore, twenty shekels, and twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels make a mina.' LXX: A just balance, a just measure, and a just dry measure shall you have: the dry measure shall be a choenix, and a choenix shall be the same as a homer. The tenth part of a homer shall be a choenix, and the tenth part of a homer shall be an ephah. A homer shall be equal to twenty obols in weight. Twenty shekels, twenty-five shekels, and fifteen shekels shall be a mina for you.» This passage in the LXX does not cohere, and cannot be entirely understood, since not only have they changed the numbers of the measures, but also the names. For they have interpreted pro ephi as a measure, a general term for a specific one, and for bato choenica: for homer also Hebrew, which is called κόρος in Greek, they translated as gomor: and again for bato choenica. Let us therefore speak according to the Hebrew and the letter, and let us explain more clearly what seems to us, individually. The balance, which is called Mozene in Hebrew (), is understood as those which are attached. The ephah, which is corruptly called Ἔφι in the Greek language, pertains to the measure of various grains, for example, wheat, barley, legumes. Furthermore, a batus, which in Hebrew is called Bath, is the same measure as the ephi, and is used only for liquids, such as wine and oil, and the like. It holds thirty modios, both in the dry and liquid measure. The tenth part of a cor in those things which are measured by the modius is called epha, that is, three modii; and the tenth part of a cor in liquid measures is called Batus or Vadus, so that epha and batus are of the same measure. Furthermore, the coin called στατὴρ in Greek has twenty obols. But the weight called mna has sixty siclos, which makes twelve hundred obols. However, it should not confuse the reader that there are twenty siclos, twenty-five siclos, and fifteen siclos in a mina. For the difficulty lies in the numbers, to focus the attention of the listener. Hence, many things are said in parables and riddles, so that those who have ears to hear may hear. And all prophecy contains truth in obscurity, so that the disciples may hear from within: the common and lowly people, positioned outside, may not know what is said. Therefore, divine Scripture commands that the weights be just, saying: You shall not have in your bag two kinds of weights, a large one and a small one: a true and just balance shall be yours, and a true and just measure shall be yours (Leviticus 19:36). And in Proverbs it is said: Both a large and a small weight are an abomination in the sight of God (Proverbs 11:1). Indeed, this should be observed not only in commerce and in the use of everyday life, but in all things justice must be preserved, as the Scripture says: 'You shall make a balance and weights for your words' (Eccl. 28:23), so that in both words and deeds and thoughts, we may do everything with proper measure and reason. However, we read in another place that 'to him who is faithful, the whole world of riches belongs', and for him who is unfaithful, not even an obolus remains (Prov. 17:6 LXX). In other words, he said: The unbeliever possesses nothing in the world: but even the smallest portion is needed. Regarding this, in other words, it is said in the Gospel: He shall not depart from there until he pays the last farthing (Matt. 5:26), that is, even the last and least coin. We read of ten minas given to each servant to trade with (Luke 19); and in another parable, talents divided among servants; and a debtor of five hundred denarii, and fifty (Matt. 25); and the vineyard workers who each receive a denarius (Luke 7); and the widow who had lost a drachma and found it only by lighting a lamp (Matt. 20, Luke 15). To discuss all of these things and their meaning is not of this time.
45:13-14
And these are the firstfruits that you shall offer: one-sixth of an ephah of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah of barley. The measure of oil: a bath of oil is one-tenth of a cor; and ten baths make one cor, for ten baths fill a cor. And these are the firstfruits that you shall separate: one-sixth of a measure of wheat, and one-sixth of an ephah of barley, and a prescribed measure of oil, a cotyle, which is a tenth of a cor; and ten cotyles make one measure, for ten cotyles are a cor. And here, in the 70th edition, all the names of the measurements were changed and confused, so that it is not possible to understand what is being said. For those who had previously called the measure "ephi" and the measure "bato," they now call them "choenica" and "gomor" for the measure "coro." And for the measure "siclo" they now call it "appendiculum," and here they put the measure "ephi" for the measure "coro," now called "gomor," and sometimes even "corum." And in the measurement of oil, instead of "bato," they use the term "κοτύλην," that is, "cyathum." Therefore, let us first say, according to the letter, that the "δεκάδα" (or "δεκάδας"), that is, the tenth part of all fruits, was to be given to the people of Leviticus according to the law. Again, from the tithes themselves, the Levites, that is, the lower order of ministers, gave tithes to the priests, and this is what is called the second tithe. There were also other tithes, which each person from the people of Israel set aside in their own barns to eat when they went to the temple in the city of Jerusalem, and in the vestibule of the temple, and the priests and Levites were invited to feasts. There were also other tithes, which were given to the poor, and these are called the poor tithe in Greek. But the first fruits that they offered from the crops were not defined by a specific number, but left to the discretion of the offerers. And we have received a tradition from the Hebrews, not commanded by law but established by the decision of the teachers: the one who had a lot gave a fortieth part to the priests, the one who had little gave a sixtieth part. Between the fortieth and the sixtieth part, they were allowed to offer whatever they wanted. Therefore, what was left doubtful in the Pentateuch is specifically defined here because of the greed of the priests, so that they do not demand more from the people in the offering of the first fruits, that is, that they offer a sixtieth part of what is produced from the land. For if a kor, which in Hebrew is called a homer, and is called a gomor by the Septuagint, holds thirty modii, both in dry and liquid commodities; and if an ephah and bath, as we have said before, is the tenth part of a kor, it is commanded that the sixth part of an ephah and bath be given to the priests in the offering of first-fruits, which is half a modius out of three, and it is clearly computed that the priests ought to receive the sixtieth part of the first-fruits. Let this be enough for now, to understand and hear the literal and Hebrew truth. Now let us turn to spiritual understanding, in which we must first seek to discern: Honor the Lord with your righteous labors, and give Him the fruits of your righteousness, so that your storehouses may be filled with grain, and your vats may overflow with wine (Prov. III, 9); so that after you have offered the firstfruits of your labors and virtues, and have said: Behold, I have brought you the firstfruits of the fruits of the land that you have given me, O Lord; may you deserve to hear: Blessed are you in the city, and blessed are you in the field; blessed are the fruit of your womb, and the produce of your land, and the offspring of your livestock (Deut. XXVIII, 3), and the rest, and may you possess, according to the Apostle (Ephes. I), every spiritual blessing in the heavenly places in Christ: for whatever you have, do not consider it to be of your own virtue, but of His mercy, who gave the fruits. And if indeed we have such knowledge of the Scriptures, that we may unfold and teach mystical things, and instruct men, that is, rational animals, we offer the first fruits of our grain. But if after the anagoge, we follow only the pure history, which can nourish the simple, according to what is written: You will save men and animals, Lord (Ps. 35:7), we offer the first fruits of our barley, which Isaac sowed, but in a foreign land, and it brought him a hundredfold (Gen. 26). He who gives firstfruits of barley can say: The Lord feeds me, and nothing shall I lack, in a place of pasture He has placed me: He has led me up on the waters of refreshment (Ps. 23:1-2). But he who feeds rational beings turns the sentiment, and says: You have prepared in my sight a table against those who trouble me. And after he has offered firstfruits of oil and wine, he joins in and speaks: You have fattened my head with oil, and your chalice which inebriates, how brilliant it is, that oil which is most pure without sediment, is prepared for the lamp of the Lord. The one who prepares this, his face will be exhilarated with oil; with the oil of exultation, with which Christ is anointed before His companions; and he will be like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God (Psalm 51:10). And with that wine which flows abundantly from the true vine in the winepresses of the Savior, as the Lord says: I am the vine, and you are the branches, my Father is the vinedresser (John 15:5). Concerning these winepresses, we read three psalms, the eighth, the eightieth, and the eighty-third, which all refer to the sacraments of the Church. And indeed, in the old law, there were no measures and no fixed number: for God did not give the spirit in measure. However, in the second building of the temple that is contained in the prophecy of Ezekiel, there is a definite measure, that is, the number sixty, by which the world is completed, as it is said to us: 'With the measure you measure, it will be measured to you' (Matt. VII, 2).
45:15-17
(Verse 15 and following) And one ram from the flock of two hundred, from those that nourish Israel, for a sacrifice, and for a burnt offering, and for peace offerings, to make atonement for them, says the Lord God. The whole population of the land shall be held accountable for these first fruits to the prince in Israel. And the prince shall have burnt offerings, and sacrifice, and drink offerings for the festivals, and for the new moons, and for the Sabbaths, and for all the appointed feasts of the house of Israel. He himself will make a sacrifice for sin, and a burnt offering, and peace offerings, to make atonement for the house of Israel. As mentioned above, a certain portion of those things that are offered, both dry and liquid measures, should be offered to the prince. Now he holds the same order of firstfruits in regard to animals: that one of the flock of two hundred rams should be commanded to be offered, which nourishes Israel, as a sacrifice and burnt offering, and peace offering, to make atonement for the people of Israel, says the Lord God. What we have interpreted, regarding what nourishes Israel, is written in Hebrew as Memmasce(), which Aquila and Symmachus interpret as 'from the waters', and the Septuagint and Theodotion interpret as 'from the reservoirs'. The former refers to irrigation, while the latter refers to canals or pools, indicating that the firstfruits of the prince should only be nourished in irrigation systems. And just as we read in previous passages that a sixtieth part should be offered to the prince from what is attached and subject to measurement, now a two-hundredth part of animals is commanded to be offered. And by such commands of the law, the entire people are subject to offering to the leader or prince, so that through him, burnt offerings, sacrifices, and libations may be offered for the people and the house of God may be exonerated. From which it must be noted that just as the people owe the offering of first fruits to the ruler, so the ruler owes the offering of victims to the people, whom, according to the trope, we can understand to be none other than the Lord Savior. It is he who receives a ram for the two hundred animals, or as the Hebrew word more significantly indicates, the sustenance that can be referred not specifically to the ram but to all animals, and he receives the animal or ram that has been nourished in fertile places, namely the holy Scriptures, and he can say, 'The Lord is my shepherd, I shall not want; he has set me in a place of pasture, he has nourished me by the waters of refreshment' (Psalm 22:1-2). These were the irrigated, or rather, these were the canals, to which Jacob led his livestock, so that they could drink and conceive in them, and according to the color of the rods, they would produce offspring for the Lord (Gen. 30). As for sacrifice, that is θυσία in Greek, Aquila and Symmachus interpret it as gift: which in Hebrew is called Manaa (), and properly does not pertain to the offering, but to those things which are offered in sacrifice, such as flour, porridge, and oil. But a Holocaust is what is entirely offered to God and is consumed by sacred fire. Pacifica, when we are reconciled to God; and the Apostle speaks for us: We beseech you in Christ, be reconciled to God (2 Corinthians 5:20). And in another place: God was in Christ, reconciling the world to Himself (ibid., 19). Now this ruler, to whom the first fruits are offered, is also a king: as is demonstrated on the title of the cross with Hebrew, Greek, and Latin letters. And when the Jews insisted that the triumphal title be removed, the crowd of the Gentiles responded to Pilate: What I have written, I have written (John 19:22). Under the prince, he says, they will be. The dignity of the priesthood should be bestowed beautifully, to which it is subject; so that it knows that it must offer sacrifices and libations that are offered from wine ((or smoke)) for the people in all solemnities: both on the kalends, that is, the first day of the month, and on the sabbaths: when darkness covers everything, the beginning of the lunar light is: and on the rest of the sabbaths: so that it may indeed make atonement for sin, to cleanse the house of Israel, which is the Church of the living God, a pillar and foundation of truth. For this is the house of the living God, and the house of Israel, which is in need of the expiation of its sins.