Commentary on Ezekiel32

145:18-25

2(Verse 18 and following) Thus says the Lord God: In the first month, on the first day of the month, you shall take a young bull without blemish, and you shall purify the sanctuary. The priest shall take some of the blood of the sin offering and put it on the doorposts of the house, and on the four corners of the ledge of the altar, and on the doorposts of the gate of the inner court. So you shall do on the seventh day of the month for everyone who has sinned inadvertently and been deceived by error, and you shall make atonement for the house. In the first month, on the fourteenth day of the month, there shall be a solemn feast for you: for seven days you shall eat unleavened bread. And on that day the prince shall make a sin offering for himself and for all the people of the land, a young bull. And during the seven-day feast he shall offer a burnt offering to the Lord: seven young bulls and seven spotless rams each day for seven days, and a male goat for a sin offering each day. And for each young bull he shall offer a hin of oil, and for each ram he shall offer a hin of oil, and for each male goat he shall offer a measurement of oil. In the seventh month, on the fifteenth day of the month, during the feast, he shall perform as mentioned above for seven days: both for sin and for burnt offering, and in sacrifice and in oil. I have included the entire passage so as not to disturb the reader's mind by dividing it into individual parts. And first, we must speak of the variety of interpretations. Where we have interpreted, at the four corners of the altar's base. The Septuagint translated it as on the four corners of the temple and on the altar. And where we said 'for each and every one who is ignorant and deceived by error,' they put 'for the ignorant and for the little one.' In that same place where we said 'the offering of an ephah for a calf and an ephah for a ram,' and 'a hin of oil for each ephah,' their edition holds 'the offering and cooking of a calf and the cooking of a ram you shall give, and the cooking of oil.' And in the final verse where we said 'in the sacrifice and in the oil,' they said 'as in the manna, as in the oil.' In the first month and on the first day of the month (no doubt, Nisan signifies) you shall take a calf from the cattle: not one that is raised in the house, but one that is from the cattle, that is, from the flock and a larger number. On the seventh day of the same month: these two solemnities, that is, the first day of the first month, and the seventh of the same, are not found in the Mosaic law. But the fourteenth day of the month, on which the Passover is celebrated, and Moses commanded to be observed, when we eat unleavened bread for seven days. But the fourth solemnity, of which he says: On the fifteenth day of the seventh month, in the solemnity (Exod. XII), and the rest, seems to me to signify the scenopegia, which he has placed here without a name. So let us run through each [topic] and briefly discuss what seems to us [to be relevant]. There are spiritual celebrations, and the Apostle teaches: Therefore let no one pass judgement on you in questions of food and drink or with regard to a festival or a new moon or a Sabbath. These are a shadow of the things to come (Colossians 2:16). And thus God speaks through Isaiah: I cannot endure solemn assemblies with iniquity. Your new moons and your appointed feasts my soul hates (Isaiah 1:13). It is clear that whoever despises the Jewish feasts loves his own, namely the Sabbath that was left to the people of God. Let us see what has been given to us by God, and let us speak, not in the learned words of human wisdom, but in the teaching of the Spirit, comparing spiritual things with spiritual things. In the present age, which is under the power of the evil one, we cannot see good days, but in the new age: of which days the Holy Spirit sings in the Mosaic song: Remember the days of old: understand the years of generations upon generations (Deut. XXXII, 7). Of which (things) even the Holy One spoke in the psalm: In the night my heart meditated (Ps. LXXVI, 7). And again: And I have kept eternal years in my mind, and have meditated (Ibid., 6). Whoever does not understand this, let him answer how he can explain what Isaiah prophesies about the future and the new age: There shall be a month from month to month, and a Sabbath from Sabbath, and all flesh shall come to worship the Lord (Isa. LXVI, 23): when true worshippers shall not worship on Mount Gerizim or in Jerusalem, but in spirit and truth (John. IV); when there shall be a new heaven and a new earth, and all creation shall be freed from the bondage of corruption, unto the liberty of the sons of God, and the sun shall receive light seven times brighter, and the moon shall be compared to the sun (Rom. VIII, Isa. LXV). For we have come to Mount Zion, which is interpreted as the lookout, and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the thousands of angels in festive gathering. Concerning this feast, another prophet speaks: What will you do on the days of the assembly and on the days of the Lord's solemnity? (Hosea 9:5). This is what is also said elsewhere: Celebrate, O Judah, your festivities; fulfill your vows (Numbers 1:15). Therefore, if we have learned spiritual solemnities, we will subsequently be taught spiritual sacrifices. A calf is taken from the herd, or a bull, as Symmachus interpreted, free and not burdened by any yoke, that is, the burden of sins, and spotless: who did not commit sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth, a young calf, carrying horns and hooves: so that in him the sanctuary may be cleansed and atoned. And the priest will take, he says, from his blood which will be for the sin of all: who is called in other words the lamb in Exodus, and in the Gospel, John the Baptist saying: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John 1:29). But the blood itself is precious, in which we are redeemed in the passion of the Lord and Savior; in whose flesh we are nourished, and in whose blood we are made to drink; by which the four corners of the altar of the Temple, which Theodotius placed, the Hebrew word itself, Azara (), or the Temple, as the LXX translated it, are touched, so that the house and the altar may be sanctified. For all the elements of the world are sanctified by this blood, so that when someone has been purified and cleansed, they may enter the gate of the inner court and be able to know the secrets of the Lord and subsequently come to the seventh day of the first month, and attain rest, and offer a sacrifice to the Lord for both ignorance, of which David speaks: The sins of my youth and my ignorances do not remember (Ps. 24:7), and for the child who, when he reaches the measure of a perfect man, will destroy those things which are childish and speak with confidence: When I was a child, I spoke as a child, I understood as a child (2 Cor. 13:11). Whether it is for the one who has been deceived by error, and not so much by will, as by the opinion of good, he has sinned. But when the two solemnities of the first month are completed, that is, the first day and its seventh, he comes to the fourteenth day of the month, in which the solemnity of Easter is: of which it is written: For Christ our Pasch is sacrificed (I Cor. V, 7). Then we eat unleavened bread for seven days in rest and security of all things, when we eat the bread of sincerity and truth, destroying the leaven of malice and wickedness, our prince offering all these things for us, and first for himself. For he assumed the human body and, through sin, destroyed sin; he who suffers for us and bears our weaknesses. Then, for his own house, as is written in the Septuagint, but not in the Hebrew, that is, for the Church, and for all the people of the earth, that is, for the entire human race. For the Savior is the Savior of all men, especially of the faithful, and he is the one who offers forgiveness for our sins; and not only for ours but for the whole world. But a calf is offered for the whole people of the earth, and for the seven remaining days of the Lord's Passion, seven calves and seven unblemished rams are offered daily, so that they may be consumed as a burnt offering and in the Lord's fire. And there are seven calves and seven rams, which symbolize the Lord's Passion, so that they may imitate the true calf and the true ram, and the blood of the martyrs may purify the sins of the whole world for seven days. And a goat of the goats is also offered for sin daily, specifically for seven days. And it must be observed more diligently that in the sacrifice of the calf, and the ram, and the hin of oil, the offerings which are commanded by the Law are made. But in the offering of the goat, neither the hin nor the preparation (as the Septuagint has rendered it) is mentioned, which they have interpreted as referring to the hin, that is, to the preparation. But the hin of oil, which is a fixed measure, as we have already said, is used in the sacrifice of the calf and the ram, so that we may be able to receive the nourishment of eternal light, and the rest from labor, and the health from weariness, after the propitiation of sins. In the seventh month also, on the fifteenth day of the month, that is, the Feast of Tabernacles, the same order of offerings and sacrifices is to be observed, both for sin and burnt offerings, and in the sacrifice, and in the oil, so that we may obtain the Lord's festival, the darkness being banished and the light of the oil rising: and that we may have brighter solemnities, in which all sins are forgiven.

346:1-7

4(Chapter 46—Verses 1 onwards). Thus says the Lord God: The gate of the inner court that faces east will be closed for six days, during which work is being done; but on the Sabbath day it will be opened, and also on the day of the new moon it will be opened. And the prince shall enter through the vestibule of the outer gate, and shall stand at the threshold of the gate. The priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings, and he shall worship at the threshold of the gate and then leave. But the gate shall not be closed until evening. And the people of the land shall worship at the entrance of that gate on the Sabbaths and on the new moons before the Lord. The prince shall offer on the Sabbaths, as a burnt offering to the Lord, six unblemished lambs and an unblemished ram, and a grain offering of an ephah for the ram. And for the lambs, whatever his hand gives as a sacrifice, and a hin of oil for each ephah. On the new moons, he shall offer an unblemished bull from the herd, and six lambs and rams shall be unblemished. And one ephah for a young bull, and one ephah for a ram shall he make a sacrifice: and with every ephah there shall be a hin of oil. Where we have translated ephah, which is a tenth part of an ephah, they have rendered it πέμμα, which in our language means a measure of volume. And where we have said sacrifice, they have used the Hebrew word Manaa, which Aquila translated as gift or sacrifice, and Theodotion translated as sacrifice. And meanwhile, before we discuss what these things mean, the very words of Scripture must be explained paraphrastically. 'The gate,' it says, 'of the inner court shall be closed for six days, as it is written: Six days you shall work and do all your works (Exod. XXIII, 12); and it shall not be any gate, but the one facing the East, where the sun of justice rises. Moreover, on the Sabbath day, that is, on the seventh day, which is a day of rest, it shall be opened each week, and again, when thirty days are complete, which is the end of one month and the beginning of another, that is, on the day of the calends, it shall be opened, so that what the seventh day has as a privilege in the week, the beginning of the month may have as a privilege as well.' But why it is opened on the seventh day, and on the first day of the month, the inner gate of the atrium facing the East will be explained in the following discourse. And the prince will enter, he says, through the path of the outer gate of the atrium: and he will stand at the threshold of the inner gate of the atrium, which faces the East: and he will not enter the inner atrium, but while he is standing there, other priests will make a burnt offering for him, which offering Symmachus interpreted as a holocaust: and peace offerings, or those pertaining to salvation, so that after the offering of the prince has been consumed by the holy fire, and the leader has been reconciled with God, then he may be able to worship on the threshold of the inner gate of the atrium where he stood, and he may exit. What then? Will the gate be immediately closed after the departure of the prince? By no means, but it will be open until evening, so that after the prince, all the people of the land may worship in front of that gate; they shall worship on the Sabbaths and the first days of the month when the gate is opened. And because he had said before: 'The priests shall make his burnt offering and his peace offerings,' and he had not indicated the number of burnt offerings, now he adds: 'On the Sabbaths, the prince shall offer this burnt offering to the Lord.' However, it is offered not by itself, but by the priests, of whom it is written: 'And the priests shall offer its burnt offering and its peace offerings: six flawless male lambs, and one flawless ram; and the sacrifice of the ram shall be measured by an ephah, which in Hebrew is called an Epha (). And the sacrifice that his hands who offer it are able to offer shall be six lambs; and for each ephah, the measure of oil shall be a hin, which is called in Hebrew a hin. But on the first day of the month, which is the day of the new moon, it shall have a greater privilege than the Sabbath, and a calf shall be offered from the herd, or a flawless bull.' The rest, that is, six spotless lambs and one spotless ram, and their sacrifices, shall possess the ritual of the Sabbath: only in this way, that just as in the ram the same amount of flour and oil is offered as a sacrifice, so it should be offered in the calf. These things are stated for the sake of clarity: now, with the Lord's gift, let us unlock the spiritual meaning. But when we have come to the seventh day, that is, the Sabbath, on which eternal rest is, or to the day of the Kalends, when after a blind night and horrible darkness, the beginning of light is, the Eastern gate is opened to us: and if any of us, by the merits of virtues, shall have attained to the name and dignity of leader by the way of the porch of the outer gate, that is, by the labours of this world: and shall enter the gate of the Church, which is as yet placed in earthly boundaries: it shall enter not the inner court, for this is written in the present place; but it shall stand at the threshold of the inner gate, and abide in it. But if the prince does not enter the inner atrium in the present Scripture, but stands at its threshold, there is no doubt that now we see and know in part; and not yet revealed, we contemplate the glory of the Lord. Finally, with the prince standing at the threshold of the gate of the inner atrium, the other priests, to whom this duty is delegated (whom we can understand as angelic virtues), will make a burnt offering and peace offerings on behalf of him. For we are born of the mercy of God, and every creature is unclean in comparison to the Creator, and must be cleansed by divine fire, as the lips of the prophet Isaiah were cleansed, so that after receiving peace through sacrifice, he may then stand at the threshold and worship the almighty God, and acknowledge his unworthiness to enter the inner court, and immediately enter. After the first person has exited, the inner gate of the court will not be closed until evening of this age, but will remain open so that the people of the earth may come to the door and worship him. Not at all times, but when they have rested from sins and the darkness of faith has been dispelled, and they have received the light of knowledge. But this very burnt offering that the prince offers through the priests on the Sabbath day is concluded with six unblemished lambs; namely, for the six days in which we work in the world, and a flawless ram, which is the leader of the flock; so that through each ram it may be offered in sacrifice an ephah, that is, a tenth part of a measure. In the sacrifice of the six lambs, a certain measure is not specified: but whatever amount the hand of the one offering has given, that is, according to the quality and measure of the works (Matthew 25). But he shall offer a hin of oil for each ephah, that is, the oil which the five virgins prepared for themselves, so that he may anoint the flour or mix it, and every offering of God may be full of the light of truth and the face of the one offering the oil may be brightened. But on the day of the kalends, that is, the thirtieth day, when the firstborn and the Levites are numbered in the Law, apart from all of Israel, of whom we have spoken above, an unblemished calf from the herd is offered, about which we discussed more fully in the previous chapter, and six lambs, and unblemished rams, and whatever is offered on the Sabbaths, so that we may attain eternal rest and deserve to hear: 'Well done, good servant, because you have been faithful in a few things, I will set you over many, enter into the rest of your Lord' (Matthew 25:21; Luke 19:17); and not only arrive at the gate of the inner courtyard, but also be able to enter its innermost parts, and possess it by work: 'Planted in the house of the Lord, they will flourish in the courts of our God' (Psalm 92:14).

546:8-11

6(Verse 8 and following) When the prince enters, he shall enter through the gateway vestibule and exit through the same way. And when the people of the land enter in the presence of the Lord on the appointed festivals, the one who enters through the north gate to worship shall exit through the south gate, and the one who enters through the south gate shall exit through the north gate. They shall not return through the gate they entered, but rather shall exit opposite it. But the prince, in their midst, will enter when they enter, and will exit when they exit. And on market days and festivals there will be a sacrifice of one ephah of flour with a bull, and one ephah of flour with a ram. But the sacrifice of the lamb will be according to what his hand finds, and a hin of oil for each ephah. That prince, of whom it was said above, 'And the prince will enter through the way of the outer gate, and through the same gate he will enter and exit' (John 10), has free will and the power to lay down his life and take it up again. And when he comes to us or ascends to the heavens, he exercises the same authority of his majesty. Finally, he does not seek markets, nor solemnities, nor does he observe any difference in days: because every time is a celebration for him. But the people only enter and exit the markets and solemnities: and not through the same path, but through one and then another. For it is written: And when the people of the land enter before the Lord in solemnities: let the one who entered through the North gate to worship, exit through the way of the South gate, and let the one who entered through the South gate, exit through the way of the North gate: he shall not return through the gate by which he entered, but he shall exit opposite to it. This is not only commanded to those who depart from Sodom, and it is said to them: Do not look back (Gen. XIX, 17); nor to those who put their hand to the plow, so that they do not look at the things that are behind them: but even to those who are established in the house of the Lord, they are commanded not to look back and turn to the needy and weak elements, and being initiated in the spirit, to be consumed (or consumed) by the flesh ((Al. consumed)): but to proceed also from spiritual things to greater things, and to say with the Apostle: Forgetting the past, and extending myself towards the things that are before (Phil. III, 13): so that they may not know in part and prophesy in part, but may come to perfection according to the perfection that human nature can achieve, so that we understand that Gospel saying: So you also, when you have done everything you were commanded to do, should say, 'We are unworthy servants; we have only done our duty' (Luke XVII, 10). And the Apostle in the same Epistle speaks of two perfections: for he writes as if he were imperfect: Not as though I have already attained, or were already perfect: but I follow after, if that I may apprehend that for which also I am apprehended of Christ Jesus (Philippians 3:13). And immediately he speaks as if he were perfect: Brethren, I count not myself to have apprehended: but this one thing I do, forgetting those things which are behind, and reaching forth unto those things which are before, I press toward the mark for the prize of the high calling of God in Christ Jesus. Therefore, let us understand this: however many of us are perfect, let us know this. For how can the statement stand, that the one who said, 'Not because I have already received, or because I am already perfect,' dare to say, 'However many of us are perfect, let us know this?' From this it is clear that every person and the whole creation, although they have come to perfection, still need the mercy of God and possess full perfection through grace, not through merit. Therefore, it is commanded to the people of the land, that if someone enters through the gate of the North to worship, they should exit through the way of the gate of the South. Who is this people to whom this is commanded? It is surely the pagans; those who, leaving the gate of the North, from where evils flare up upon the earth, have entered the temple, should not exit except through the way of the gate of the South, to the gate of light, to the gate of heat, to the gate where the bridegroom lies at noon (Jer. I). Finally, it is said in the same Song of Songs: Arise, O north wind, and come, O south wind (Song of Solomon IV, 16). But whoever enters through the south gate should exit through the north gate. Who is this people? It is the Jews, who, abandoning the gate of the way of light, go to the north gate, of whom it is said: The north wind, a very strong wind (Jeremiah I). For even the pot of Jeremiah is lit from the face of the north. Let us also say this: Through the north gate enters the one who forgives sins, and through the south gate exits the one who follows virtues. And on the contrary, if the righteous person falls into sin, he enters indeed through the southern gate, but he exits through the way of the northern gate. And the Prince, he says, will be in their midst, namely, of those who enter and those who exit, according to what is written: He stands in the midst of you, whom you do not know (John 1:26). And the Apostle says: Do you not know that Christ is in you (2 Corinthians 13:5)? But if it is said to those who do not know that Christ stands in their midst, how much more to those who know! But while Christ stood among the knowledgeable, then the dead body will become because of sin, and the living spirit because of righteousness. Indeed, the prince enters with those who enter, and exits with those who exit, witnessing the power and sin of both. Therefore, at the fairs and solemnities, namely the Sabbaths, Kalends, and all the festivals we have spoken about before, both a calf and a ram will be offered as sacrifices, each measuring an ephah. But in the offerings, there will not be a fixed number, nor a diminished will; but with strength, each person will offer according to their ability and with a clear conscience: offering as much as they can, not as much as they want, and above all, a hin of oil for each ephah of flour, so that it may be used for anointing and a lamp may be lit in the presence of the Lord. And those who use it may say: But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of the Lord (Ps. 51:10).

746:12-15

8(Verse 12 and following) When the prince offers a voluntary burnt offering or a voluntary peace offering to the Lord, the gate facing east shall be opened for him, and he shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offering as is customary on the Sabbath day. Then he shall go out, and after he has gone out, the gate shall be closed. He shall also offer a year-old lamb without blemish as a burnt offering to the Lord every day. He shall offer it in the morning and in the evening. And he shall offer as a grain offering a sixth of an ephah of grain and a third of a hin of olive oil, mixed with the grain offering. This is a perpetual ordinance to the Lord. You will make a lamb and a sacrifice, and oil every morning, a perpetual burnt offering. Where we read immaculate, in Hebrew it is written Thamim (), which the Aquila perfectum. And where LXX Manaa (): Theodotion, sacrifice; Aquila and Symmachus, they translate as gift. But for what we said, spontaneous, LXX translated as ὁμολογίαν, that is, confession: and for prince, they translate as leader, for this Nasi () signifies. Moreover, there is still talk of a prince, about whom Isaiah speaks: Behold, I have given him as a witness to the nations, a prince and a teacher among the nations (Isaiah 55:4). And Ezekiel says: And I, the Lord, will be their God, and David will be their prince among them (Ezekiel 34:24). Therefore, when this prince acts willingly and says: May the voluntary and spontaneous offerings of my mouth be pleasing to you, Lord (Psalm 119:108): the voluntary burnt offering, which means offering oneself entirely to God, and the peaceful voluntary offerings, which are not mentioned earlier; for it is written: And the priests shall offer his burnt offering and his peace offerings: and concerning the voluntary and spontaneous offerings, which are now mentioned, it is completely silent, so that they are not done out of necessity, but out of free will: after the burnt offering, he shall offer the peaceful offerings and reconcile with God. Whereas virginity is greater than marriage (I Cor. VII), because it is not demanded, nor is it returned, but it is offered. The propitiatory offerings, which are called Selamim in Hebrew, are interpreted as salvific by the LXX: so too the reconciliation of the peace offerings is the salvation of the one offering them. Therefore, when the prince has done this, the gate will be opened to him; or according to the Septuagint, the gate that faces the East will be opened for him; that is, that gate about which it is written: 'This is the gate of the Lord; the righteous shall enter through it' (Ps. CXVII, 20), and from where the sun of justice arises. And he will make his burnt offering, and his peace offerings: of which we have now spoken. He shall do it alone, because it is his spontaneous sacrifice, and the priests shall not offer these things for him, nor shall they mix the sacrifices with the people. And at any time the burnt offering or the peace offering, which is offered voluntarily, has the gate of the Lord reserved: neither shall he observe the sabbath, but all days shall be to him as a day of rest. Finally, after he has offered the burnt offering and the peace offerings, he shall immediately go out, and the door shall be closed after him, or the door shall be closed: so that his privilege as prince may be preserved, and his sacrifices may not be mixed with the people. And because he had said in general, a voluntary holocaust, or a peaceful voluntary offering to the Lord, and had not added a bull or a calf, and a ram or a sheep, and a male goat for sin, he teaches what the holocaust itself should be: saying, 'You shall make a yearling immaculate lamb a holocaust; and not on certain days, but daily, and not at any hour, but in the morning, morning he shall make it; particularly every morning, when the sun rises and the beginning of light appears.' About whom David speaks in the psalm: In the morning, you will hear my voice; in the morning, I will stand before you and see (Ps. 5:4). And in another place: Weeping may tarry for the night, but joy comes with the morning (Ps. 30:6). And again: O God, you are my God; early will I seek you (Ps. 63:1). But as for that spotless lamb, or perfect and year-old lamb, Isaiah explains more fully, saying: He was led like a sheep to the slaughter, and as a lamb before its shearer is silent, so he did not open his mouth (Isa. 53:7). And Jeremiah: But I was like an innocent lamb led to the slaughter; I did not know (Jer. XI, 19). And John the Baptist: Behold the Lamb of God, who takes away the sins of the world (John I, 29). This is the lamb that was sacrificed in Egypt, whose blood the doorposts of faith are marked with, and the destroyer is excluded (Exod. XII). And the year of the Lord's favor, and the day of retribution. And the reader should not be surprised if he is also called prince, and priest, and calf, and ram, and lamb, since in the Holy Scriptures we read of him as Lord, and God, and man, and prophet, and staff, and root, and flower, and prince, and judge, and king, righteous, and justice, apostle, and bishop, arm, servant, ointment, shepherd, son, and child, only-begotten, and first-born, door, way, angel, arrow, wisdom, and many others, all of which, if I were to want to recount the testimonies, would require their own book. Therefore, the high priest himself will perform the sacrifice of that immaculate and yearling lamb in the holocaust, which is offered every morning. This sacrifice is called the Manaa, and it consists of a sixth part of an ephah of fine flour. A sixth part of an ephah is half a modius. For if an ephah is a tenth part of a cor, which is three modii, then undoubtedly a sixth part of an ephah makes half a modius. Of oil, a third part of a hin is offered, in order to mix it with or sprinkle it upon the sacrifice of fine flour, which is a legitimate, perpetual offering to God that is never interrupted. It is offered at all times, from the rising of the sun, so that what is written at the end of this chapter may be fulfilled: 'He shall offer a lamb for a sacrifice and oil every morning, a perpetual holocaust.'

946:16-18

10(Verse 16, 17 and following) Thus says the Lord God: If a prince (or leader) gives a gift to someone from his own sons, it shall be the inheritance of his sons; they shall possess it as an inheritance. But if he gives a legacy from his own inheritance to one of his servants, it shall belong to him until the year of release (for which Theodotius put the Hebrew word 'Deror'), but it shall return to the prince; however, the inheritance shall belong to his son. And the prince shall not take the inheritance of the people by violence, and from their possession: but out of his own possession he shall give an inheritance to his sons: that my people may not be scattered each one from his possession. Thus far the discourse is concerning the prince, now precepts are given concerning his heirs: indeed concerning gifts, inheritance, and legacies, to whom he ought to give them, and whose possession is either for a time, or eternal. If, says he, he shall give a gift or inheritance to his sons, they shall possess it: because it is due to them by the right of succession, and possession cannot pass from one to another. But if he has given any of his servants as a legatee, he shall possess them as long as the remission year, which is called the Year of Release (), or the jubilee, which is the fiftieth year, comes: when all sales and gifts revert to the previous owners: so that the servant has the use for a time, and the ownership of the possession of the prince's sons. But what follows: And the prince shall not take from the inheritance of the people by violence (Lev. XXIII), or as the Septuagint has translated, to oppress them, or as Aquila and Symmachus, to afflict and distress them: but he shall give his inheritance to his sons from his own possession: this rebukes not only the priests and princes of that time, but also our own, who become richer by the dignity of the priesthood and, besides what is owed to them by the Lord's disposition, take away from the poor by violence: or under the name of honor, strip the wealthy, so that they also leave nothing to their own sons, to whom paternal inheritance is due, except what has been left to them by their parents. Therefore, whoever is a wealthier priest, when he comes to the priesthood, should not give whatever excess he has to his children, but to the poor, and to holy brothers, and to the faithful domestic servants, who surpass the merits of children, so that he may render to the Lord what belongs to the Lord, who speaks in the Gospel: Whatever you have done to the least of these, you have done to me (Matt. 25:40). For he is received as a guest in the poor; he is visited in prison; he is clothed in nakedness; he drinks when thirsty; he is satiated when hungry. So that my people, he says, may not be scattered from their possession. For if the ruler has the power, either to receive or to take by force, or to hold under the pretext of honor, that which does not belong to him, and to leave it to his children, the people who were gathered in the name of God will be scattered and torn apart: either according to the Law, so that the inheritance of one gradually passes to another, and the cord of division perishes, through which perhaps the inheritance comes to each individual. Therefore, he disperses the people of God and takes away from them the eternal possession of faith, who abandons the gifts or goods of others, either through theft, robbery, flattery, seduction, or under the pretext of religion, to his own children, brothers, and relatives.

1146:19-24

12(Verse 19 and following) And he led me through the entrance that was on the side (or behind) the gate into the treasuries of the sanctuary, to the priests (or into chambers and rooms) that faced north. And there was a place there that faced west (or the sea: and as the LXX translated, separated). And he said to me: This is the place where the priests boil for the offense and for the sin (or for ignorance and therefore) where they boil the sacrifice (or the manna and the offering) so that they do not carry it out into the outer court, and the people may be sanctified. And he led me into the outer courtyard, and he led me around the four corners of the courtyard. And behold, there was a smaller courtyard in the corner of the courtyard, with a smaller courtyard in each corner of the courtyard. In the four corners of the courtyard, the smaller courtyards were arranged, forty cubits in length and thirty cubits in width. The measurements of each were the same: and a wall surrounded the four smaller courtyards in a circle. And kitchens were built underneath the colonnades around (or near) the dining areas, which Aquila interpreted as recesses, Symmachus as enclosures, and Theodotion put the Hebrew word Turoth itself. And he said, 'This is the house of the kitchens, where the ministers of the house cook the sacrifices of the people. For in Hebrew, Zeba means a man who holds a reed in his hand and a string of a mason, with which he measures the building. He led me, he says, through the entrance, which was on the side of the gate or behind the gate. He did not specify which gate, whether eastern, southern, or of another direction, but left it uncertain so that I would go to the place of the sanctuary, and to the treasury, or to the chambers of the priests, which faced north and the sea, namely, to the north and west. Holy Scripture has the custom of always calling the sea the west, according to the position of the land of Judaea. And it is to be noted that the place of the priests, where they cook sacrifices for transgressions, or ignorance, and for sins, so that they are not offered raw, is situated in the outer court facing north and west, from where the coldest wind arises and where the light of the sun sets. From this it is evident that whatever pertains to food is either for error or for sin. But if a sacrifice is offered also for ignorance, how much more for the consciousness of a transgression! Hence, Job offered a daily morning sacrifice for his sons, fearing that they had transgressed in ignorance. But what follows, 'So that they do not offer in the outer court, and the people who were not prepared for sanctification may be sanctified,' means that we should not lightly give holy things to those who are not sanctified, nor should we cast pearls before swine, nor give what is holy to dogs, as the Gospel says. Finally, Moses wished the people to be sanctified for three days from all impurity and from the embrace of their wives, so that they might approach Mount Sinai and receive the holy things when they were sanctified. But if they were commanded to be sanctified from their wives in order to approach and receive the words of God, it is clear that it is contained in the Law of the Apostles: 'Do not defraud one another, unless by consent for a time, so that you may give yourselves to prayer.' And with consent, we must abstain from our wives so that we may give ourselves to prayer. After this, it is written, 'And he led me into the outer court and led me around the four corners of the court. And behold, there was a small courtyard in the corner of the court, with small courtyards placed in each corner of the court, arranged in the four corners of the court.' That man, whom he often mentions, led him out from the place of the priests, which faced north or was separate, where the priests cook for transgressions, sins, or ignorance, and led him into the outer court. From this we understand that the court from which he went out was inside, and there were many courts in the Holy Scriptures, about which we read, 'You who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God.' And in John, 'And I have other sheep that are not of this fold, and it is necessary that I bring them also, and they will hear my voice, and there will be one fold and one shepherd.' For this in Greek is called αὐλὴ, which the simple Latin translation rendered as a sheepfold. But when he says, 'of this fold,' he shows that there is another one, which is either demonstrated in the multitude of the nations for the distinction from Israel or in heaven for the separation of the earthly fold. And according to the quality of merits, each office is assigned to a particular court, about which we have spoken more fully earlier. But this court that is now being discussed had small courtyards at each of its four corners, which the Seventy call minor, and we have called them small courtyards for the sake of easier understanding. They were forty cubits long and thirty cubits wide. Concerning these numbers, I remember that I have discussed in this same work that one refers to tribulations and narrowness, the other to perfect age. For forty days, Moses, Elijah, the Lord and Savior fasted in the wilderness, and they reach the priestly office not after the twenty-fifth year of age, but after the thirtieth. Therefore, the Lord was thirty years old when he came for baptism, and in this same work, the thirtieth year is mentioned at the beginning. Wherever there is food, there is also distress and temptation through which provisions are obtained. And when we reach the perfect age of man, everything must be trampled upon, and we must say, 'Having food and clothing, let us be content with these.' And, 'If the Lord gives me food to eat and clothes to cover me.' Or certainly, 'Food for the stomach and the stomach for food, but God will destroy both it and them.' For we will not eat or drink in the future, but we will be nourished by the bread that descends from heaven, about which it is sung in the Psalms, 'Man ate the bread of angels.' And, 'My food is to do the will of him who sent me.' But concerning the measure of the small courtyards, which possessed the corners of the large court, it signifies the four regions of the world. For in the sweat of our faces we eat bread, and every laborally profiting conduces to the stomach. Those four small courtyards or one wall surrounded, and kitchens were built underneath the colonnades all around, or they had nearby alcoves, so that where there is food, there is also the preparation of measures. And lest the prophet might not know what these things that he saw were, he said to him, 'This is the house of the kitchens, where the ministers of the Lord cook the sacrifices of the people.' Indeed, the sacrifices of the people, which are offered for transgressions, sins, and ignorance, are the food and refreshment of the priests, so that they remember not to seek anything else when the meats are also prepared for their refreshment in the temple.

1347:1-5

14(Chapter 47, verses 1 and following) And he brought me back to the door of the house, and behold, water was coming out from under the threshold of the house eastward. For the face of the house was toward the east, and the water was flowing down from the right side of the temple, south of the altar. Then he led me out by way of the north gate and led me around on the outside to the outer gate that faces toward the east; and behold, water was trickling from the right side. When the man went out toward the east with a line in his hand, he measured a thousand cubits, and he led me through the water, water reaching the ankles (or passed through water of remission). And he measured again a thousand, and he led me through the water up to the knees (or he passed in the water unto the thighs). And he measured a thousand, and he led me through the water up to the loins (or he passed in the water unto the waist). And he measured a thousand of a deep, which I could not pass over, because the waters were risen, waters of a deep river, which could not be passed over. For which LXX have translated: And he measured a thousand, and could not pass over: because the water was bearing a stream like the rapid stream, which cannot be passed over. These waters which were flowing out from beneath the threshold of the house, that is, the temple, did not flow towards the North and the West, but also towards the East, and on the right side of the temple, that is, towards the South, and towards the very South not of any place, but of the altar. From this it becomes clear that the waters are sacred, and they signify the doctrine of our Savior, according to that which is written: 'For out of Zion shall go forth the law, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem' (Isaiah 2:3). And in another place: The knowledge of the Lord fills everything, like water covering the sea (Isai. XI, 9). Concerning these waters, the Prophet Zacharias also predicted, saying: In that day, living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it toward the eastern sea and half of it toward the western sea (Zach. XIV, 8). Concerning these waters, the Lord spoke to the Samaritan woman: If you knew who it is that asks you for a drink, you would have asked Him, and He would have given you living water (John IV, 10). And again: Everyone who drinks from this water will be thirsty again; but whoever drinks from the water that I will give him will never be thirsty again (John 4:13). And in the temple he cried out and said: If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink. Whoever believes in me (as the scripture says), out of his belly will flow rivers of living water. But this he said of the Spirit, which those who believed in him were to receive (John 7:37-38). These are the waters that the prophet spoke of in the psalm: He led me beside still waters (Psalm 23:3). And Ezekiel: I will take you from the nations, and gather you from all the countries, and I will sprinkle clean water upon you, and you shall be clean from all your uncleannesses. (Ezek. XXXVI, 24, 25). For water fountains appeared. And in the ninety-second Psalm it is sung: The rivers have lifted up, O Lord, the rivers have lifted up their voices from the voices of many waters. Wonderful are the elevations of the sea. (Ps. XCII, 2, 3). These are the waters of Siloam, which flow with silence, of which Isaiah speaks: You shall draw waters with joy from the fountains of salvation. (Isaiah XII, 3). And the Psalmist says: Bless the Lord from the fountains of Israel (Ps. 67). Likewise, Isaiah speaks of the Lord as Savior: He, it is said, shall dwell in the high cave of the strongest rock. Bread shall be given to him, and his water shall be faithful (Isa. 33:16). For water burst forth in the desert, and a valley in a thirsty land. And it is said to the believers: Do not fear, for I have redeemed you; you are mine, and if you pass through water, I am with you (Isa. 43:1, 2). And again: 'All you who are thirsty, come to the water' (Isaiah 55:1). And through Jeremiah, God speaks: 'My people have committed two evils: they have forsaken me, the fountain of living waters, and hewed out cisterns for themselves, broken cisterns that can hold no water' (Jeremiah 2:13). Therefore, just as we read in a good sense the waters that flow from the threshold of the temple and are returned to the teaching of the Church, so are bitter waters and the worst waters to which the prophet Jeremiah forbids us to approach, saying: 'What have you to do with the way of Egypt, to drink from the waters of the Nile?' (ibid). The Hebrew term for 'turbid and muddy' is Sior. Regarding these, God speaks angrily about the heretics: Behold, I will feed them with bitterness and give them poisonous water to drink (Jeremiah 9:15), in which the Egyptian dragon reigns, saying: The rivers are mine, and I made them; he who sees all that is high, and he himself is the king of those who are in the waters. Therefore, the man from Sirach prays to the Lord and says: Save me, O Lord, for the waters have come up to my neck. I am stuck in the mud of the deep, and there is no substance, and the storm has engulfed me (Ps. 68:1-2). And again; Deliver me from those who hate me, and from the depths of the waters: let not the water storm overwhelm me, nor let the depths swallow me up, nor let the pit close its mouth over me (Ps. 15:16). And in another psalm: If it had not been the Lord who was on our side, let Israel now say: If it had not been the Lord who was on our side. When men rose up against us, then they might have swallowed us up alive. When their fury was raging against us, perhaps the water would have swallowed us up (Psalm 123:1-3). And the Bride in the Song of Songs: Many waters cannot quench love, nor can rivers drown it (Song of Songs 8:7). This is the water of which Hosea speaks: The city of Galaad has scorned me, a city that works in vanities, disturbing the water, and the strength of its men are pirates (Hosea 6:7-8). This water is called by another name, Mara, which means bitterness; into it the wood of the Cross is placed, and the bitter is turned into sweet. Consider the law of Moses, if understood according to the carnal sense of the Jews, how bitter it is, 'an eye for an eye, a tooth for a tooth' (Exodus XXI); see the fornication of Thamar (II Kings XIII), and the joining of the prostitute by Hosea (Hosea I, Jeremiah XIII), Moses' Ethiopian wife, and the killing of the Egyptian, and a thousand other things, which if understood according to the literal sense, and not according to the life-giving spirit, are bitter, and do not edify the reader as much as they destroy (Numbers XII, Exodus II). Therefore, those waters which flow out from the temple of the Lord, and proceed to the East, and descend to the right side of the Temple, to the South of the altar, where the bridegroom feeds his guests, and reclines. But what follows: And he led me by the way of the North gate, and turned to the way outside the outer gate, the way that looked towards the East, he covertly shows that we cannot immediately reach the Eastern gate, unless we go around it through the way of the North gate. For unless we conquer the most extreme cold by the heat of faith, and trample on its regions, that may be fulfilled in us what is in the Apostle: But the God of peace shall crush Satan under your feet speedily. (Rom. 16:20), we will not be able to enter the gate through which the waters flow out, which are on the right side. And note that those waters that enter through the gate of the East flee so much towards the left side, that they are described as going from the right side of the altar to the South. But the man, he said, who had a rope in his hand, when he had led me through the gate on the outer side to the road that looked towards the East, and he himself was also in the same place, measured the same water a thousand cubits; and he led me through the water up to the ankles, which Aquila and Symmachus, and Theodotio rendered as 'ankles', for which the LXX rendered: and he passed into the water, the water of forgiveness: which we can understand as signifying the first sins of men, which are forgiven for us when we enter the waters of the Lord, and they show the saving grace of baptism and are the beginnings of progress, yet they themselves are sublime. Finally, they reach the ankles, which are close to the heel and exposed to the bites of snakes, as the Lord says: You will watch out for its head, and it will watch out for your heel (Gen. III, 15, according to the Septuagint). And in the Psalms about Judas the betrayer, it is said: He who ate my bread has magnified treachery against me (Ps. XL, 10), or rather the heel, for the Greek word πτέρνη (or πτέρνα in some manuscripts) means heel. But after one thousand cubits, which bring us to the ankle, he measures another thousand cubits in water and leads me up to the knees. After the forgiveness of sins, and during the journey of progress, when we attempt to ascend even a little from earthly things to higher ones, we bend our knees to the Lord, with the Apostle saying: So that every knee shall bow, in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and every tongue confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father (Philippians 2:10). He measures another three thousand cubits, and leads me through the water up to my waist, he says. For we climb to lofty heights by degrees: but those very heights descend to the loins and kidneys, so that every base desire within us is cut off; and we possess the sanctification of the body, without which no one sees God. Hence in the same Prophet it is written: 'From His feet to His loins He is a fiery God' (Ezekiel 8:2). For the loins need fire and purgation, as the just man says, 'For my loins are filled with illusions' (Psalm 38:8), through which the enemy deludes us both in the day and in the night time. But from the loins to the head and neck, it shines with the glitter of precious electrum, so that it has nothing filthy in itself, nothing of cheapness. Hence it is now said in the fourth (book): And he measured a thousand, with the addition of cubits, of a torrent (which the Septuagint did not translate), which I could not go through: much better than the Seventy who said, and he could not go through. For the prophet and all human nature, after the loins of the torrent of thoughts, and the incentives of vices in the heart, cannot go through. But that man, who was clothed with Baddim and was the leader of the prophets, passed through easily; who did not commit sin, nor was guile found in his mouth (Isaiah 56). And he gives the reasons why the prophet could not pass through a thousand cubits: because, he says, the deep waters of the torrent had swelled, which could not be crossed. And as it is written, with the prophet boasting: Our soul has passed through the torrent (Psalm 124, 5). But it is easily resolved if we know that this is written in Hebrew: A torrent passed through my soul. Concerning this torrent, Isaiah says: Behold, I will extend peace over them like a river, and the glory like a overflowing torrent (Isa. LXVI, 12). And in the thirty-fifth psalm, it is said about the saints: They will hope in the protection of your wings. They will be intoxicated with the abundance of your house, and you will give them to drink from the river of your delights; for with you is the fountain of life (Psal. XXXV, 8, 9). And on the hundred and twenty-fifth: Convert, O Lord, our captivity, like a stream in the South (Psalm 125:5). And about the Savior: He shall drink from the brook by the wayside (Psalm 110:7). For who among men can boast of having a pure heart? (Proverbs 20). Or whose mind, through the windows of the eyes, shall not be entered by the death of desire (Jeremiah 9), and, dare I say, the tickling of the soul? For the world is placed in the evil one (1 John 5:19), and from childhood the heart of man is inclined to evil, so that from the very beginning of his birth, not even for one day, is human condition without sin (Job 15). And David confesses in the psalm: Behold, I was conceived in iniquities, and in sins my mother conceived me (Ps. 50:7). Not in the iniquities of my mother, or certainly mine, but in the iniquities of human condition. Hence the Apostle says: Death reigned from Adam to Moses, even over those who did not sin in the likeness of Adam's transgression (Rom. 5:14). We use the term cubits, in the masculine gender and not neutral, according to the rule of grammarians, as I have taught in previous passages. We do this not out of ignorance, but out of custom for the sake of the simple and uneducated, among whom the majority is in the congregation of the Church.

1547:6-12

16(Ver. 6 seqq.) And he said to me: You have certainly seen, son of man; and he brought me out, and turned me toward the bank of the river (or the stream). And when I turned (or had turned), behold, on the bank of the river (or the stream) there were very many trees (or very many trees) on both sides. And he said to me: These waters that go out to the hills of the East (or Oriental), and go down to the plains of the desert (or this water that goes out into Galilee, which turns to the East, and goes down to Arabia), shall enter the sea, and shall go out, and the waters shall be healed. And every living creature (or animal) that crawls (or of crawling creatures), wherever the torrent (or river) shall come, shall live; and there shall be very many fish, after these waters come there; and they shall be healed, and all things to which the torrent (or river) shall come shall live. And the fishermen shall stand upon its banks from Engaddi even to Engallim; it shall be a place to spread their nets. The fish of it shall be of very many kinds, like the fish of the great sea, exceeding many. But the marshes that go out of the banks will not be healed, but will be given to the salt marshes. And over the torrent (or river) there shall spring up on its banks on both sides every fruit-bearing tree, its leaf shall not wither (or it shall not grow old): and its fruit shall not fail. Every month they shall bring forth first fruits (or all things shall be renewed); because its waters shall go forth from the sanctuary, and its fruit shall be for food, and its leaves for medicine (or its ascent for health). Although this whole chapter may be lengthy, I wanted to present it all at once so as not to interrupt the reader's understanding and to avoid disrupting the listener's comprehension. First, it should be noted that in Hebrew it is called Nehel () and in Greek it is called χειμάῤῥους, which the Septuagint translates as 'river'. Then, for Galilee, which is called Galila () in Hebrew, Aquila translates it as θίνας, which means 'sand dunes'; Symmachus translates it as μεθόριον, which we can translate as 'border'. Symmachus also transferred to Arabia, which is uninhabitable; Aquila, the low and flat areas; Theodotius, to Araba. Let us therefore say what seems to us in each. That man who was the leader of Ezekiel, advises the prophet to look more closely and see, and to attentively observe the hidden mysteries with the eyes of the mind. He calls the son of man, or in the likeness of the Lord and Savior; and indeed Ezekiel is interpreted as strength, or the kingdom of God: or certainly for the disturbance of human weakness; lest he forget his own condition, while great things are shown to him: and he leads and turns to the bank of the river, so that because he could not cross the middle depth, at least he may recognize those things which are on the banks. And when, he said, I turned, or he turned me, who was the guide and teacher; behold on the river bank, or the stream, many logs, or very many trees on both sides. This torrent, which is carried by the abundance of water like a torrent, and receives rain from the sky, as we mentioned in the previous lesson, is called a river by LXX, because it has perpetual waters: not from rains collected here and there, but from a living and perpetual source. Of which river we read many things in the holy Scriptures; but for the present few things are to be said, and first this: The floods have lifted up, O Lord, the floods have lifted up their voice, the floods have lifted up their waves. (Psalm 93:3) And in Isaiah: I will make a way in the desert and rivers in the wilderness (Isa. XLIII, 19). And in another place of the same book, more clearly: There will appear in Zion a river flowing glorious in a thirsty land (Isa. XLIV, 3). Above this river there were many trees on both sides of the bank; so that between two instruments, the old and the new, the enclosed river would flow. However, there were many wood or rather, very many trees, which I believe abound in various fruits as the Scripture mentions in paradise; and the leading guide and teacher, the prophet, teaches and says: These waters that come out, either into the Galilee of the Gentiles, according to the Septuagint, or (as it is more accurately contained in Hebrew) into the hills of the eastern sand, and they descend to the plains of the desert, or to Arabia, they will enter the sea, or to the ends of the sea, and the waters will be healed. We previously said that waters either signify the grace of baptism or the Evangelical doctrine. If these waters leave the threshold of the Lord's temple and hold fast to the Apostolic discipline, they make the previously barren and infertile hills fruitful and turn everything flat and deserted into a well-watered land, so that they embody the sacrament of the Jordan River. This river, which Elisha cured with Evangelical and Apostolic salt, transformed barrenness and death into abundance and life. Not only did they heal the deserts, but they entered the Dead Sea, a sea in which nothing living could exist, and the most bitter sea, which in Greek is called λίμνην ἀσφαλτῖτιν, that is, the lake of bitumen. And in a wonderful way, the dead waters are healed by the waters of the Gospel, which, because they have nothing living in them, are given the name of death. For they had not known Him who says: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). And truly, according to the letter, nothing that breathes and can walk can be found in this sea due to excessive bitterness: not even snails, small worms, eels, and other types of animals or serpents, whose bodies we can know more than their names. Finally, if the Jordan river, swollen by rain, carries fish to this place, they immediately die and float on the oily waters. Since these things have no usefulness, as simple speech testifies, even if they were done, which the foolish superstition of the Jews believes, they will have many fish according to the spiritual understanding of the Lord, when the river is healed, and all things will live to which this river has come; so that fishermen will stand on the shores from Engedi to En-galim: the former means the source or spring of goats, and the latter means the source or spring of calves. For in the beginning, there is the sea of the Dead, where the Jordan enters. And there is En-gedi, where it ends and is consumed. But I believe that the Dead Sea is the one Zacharias speaks of: In that day living water will flow out from Jerusalem, half of it towards the eastern sea and half towards the western sea (Zach. XIV, 8). Daniel also agrees with these words: I saw in my vision by night, and behold, the four winds of heaven were stirring up the great sea (Dan. VII, 2). And David: The waves of the sea are marvelous (Psal. XCII, 4). And from the person of the Savior in the Psalm: Come into the deep sea and the tempest has overwhelmed me (Psalm 68, 2). The King of Egypt also is called the dragon according to the same Ezekiel (Ezekiel 32), who dwells in the sea, and stirs up the rivers as with his horns. And again, This great and spacious sea (Psalm 103, 25). As long as it has not taken in the waters of the river, or the torrent, it kills everything that is in it; but the Lord, of whom it is said, He will strike, and he will heal us after two days, and on the third day we shall rise, and we shall live in his sight (Hosea 6, 23), He speaks in the same Prophet Hosea: I have bound up Ephraim, I have taken him upon my arm, and they have not known, because I have healed them in the corruption of man (Hosea 11, 9); who was wounded for our sins, and weakened for our iniquities. By the discipline of our peace on him, and by his bruises we were healed (Isaiah 53:5). He himself healed this sea, which is very salty and dead with excessive bitterness, by his death. He who says through Isaiah: The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me; he has sent me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to heal the brokenhearted (Isaiah 61:1). Therefore, he also cries out through Jeremiah: Return, O backsliding children, and I will heal your backslidings (Jeremiah 3:22). For the impatient people have said, unable to bear the pain of their wounds any longer: Summer has passed, the harvest is over, and we are not saved. Then the Lord answered them: Is there no balm in Gilead? Is there no physician there? Why then has the healing of the daughter of my people not come (Jeremiah 8:22)? And Jeremiah himself cries out and says: Heal me, O Lord, and I will be healed; save me and I will be saved (Jeremiah 17:14). Finally, the angels who were the protectors of the people of the Jews at that time when the foolish crowd cried out, saying, 'His blood be upon us and upon our children' (Matth. XXVII, 25); and, 'The veil of the temple was torn, and all the Hebrew sacraments were revealed,' they responded to the Lord who was commanding, and said, 'We have cared for Babylon, and she has not been healed: let us leave her' (Jerem. LI, 9), the city of confusion and vices. And Josephus also relates in his History that after the Lord was crucified and the veil of the temple was torn, or the doorpost of the temple collapsed, a voice was heard in the innermost part of the temple of celestial powers, saying, Let us depart from these dwellings. All of this is not said in vain, but necessarily, because the Dead Sea, when the river of the Lord flows into it, is said to be healed. Above this sea, from Engedi, the eye and fountain of the goat, which is always offered for sin at Engallim, the fountain of the calves that are sacrificed to the Lord, and they imitate the calf carrying its horns and hooves, which in the type of the Savior is sacrificed at the altar, there will be fishermen, to whom the Lord Jesus speaks: Come to me, and I will make you fishers of men (Matt. IV, 19): of whom also Jeremiah says: Behold, I will send fishermen (Jer. XVI, 16). And there will be very many species, indeed, genera of fish in the once-dead sea. These fish, at the command of the Lord, were drawn out by Peter to the right side, and they were one hundred fifty-three: so much so that because of their multitude the nets were torn (John 21). However, those who have written about the nature and properties of animals, both in Latin and Greek language, say that there are one hundred fifty-three fishing methods, which were all used by the apostles, and nothing remained uncaught, while both noble and common, rich and poor, and every kind of human being from the sea of this world is drawn out for salvation. But what follows, In its shores and swamps, or in those that extend beyond the shores, the waters will not be healed, covertly shows that those who were not in Noah's ark will perish during the reign of the flood; and those whom the river did not touch will not receive health; but they will be thrown into salt pits, as it is written: When the pestilence rages, the fool becomes wiser (Prov. XIX, 25). For the examples of the wicked educate the good. Whether they are given in the salt ponds, according to what is written in the Gospel: Salt is good; but if the salt has become tasteless, with what will it be seasoned? (Matthew 5:13) so that they may forever lack fruits and vitality. This is also demonstrated by a city that, after its destruction, is sprinkled with salt. But above the torrent or river, on its banks, every fruitful tree, or as they all agree, βρῶσιμον (Al. βρῶμα) which gives food and nourishment and can be eaten, is called in the Hebrew language, Machal, and nothing will decay in it according to the Septuagint, but its fruits will be renewed daily, and its leaves will not wither, and its fruit will not fail; according to what is written in the first psalm. And he shall be like a tree, which is planted near the running waters, that shall bring forth its fruit in due season. And his leaf shall not fall off (Psalm 1:3). Each month, he says, it shall bring forth its firstfruits, or as it is written in the Septuagint: Its fruit shall be its firstfruits in its renewal; so that all the fruits of the believers may be firstfruits, and each month may be assigned to each apostle. And this shall happen, because its waters shall come forth from the sanctuary: Let us not think that the abundance of banks, trees, or months, is the cause and source of such great fruitfulness: because its waters shall come forth from the sanctuary. Therefore it is not of the one who wants or of the one who runs, but of God who shows mercy (Rom. 9:16). The principle of all these trees is the tree of life, which is understood as wisdom, of which it is written: The tree of life is to all who believe in it (Prov. 3). And that which is said: And its fruits shall be for food, and its leaves for medicine, demonstrates the sacraments of the divine books: of which one pertains to the letter, the other to the spirit: so that we may understand simple words in the leaves, and the hidden meaning in the fruits. For just as the knowledge of the Scriptures leads to the kingdom of heaven and provides us with the bread that says, 'I am the bread that came down from heaven' (John 6:41), so do its leaves contain moral doctrine and offer healing, so that they may heal the wounds of sinners. Concerning the leaves, which are called 'Ale' in Hebrew, they were translated by the Septuagint as 'ascension,' because it can also be understood in such a way that after partaking of the nourishment of the fruits, we ascend to heavenly things by the admonitions of the words.

1747:13-14

18(Verse 13, 14) Thus says the Lord God: This is the boundary in which you shall possess the land according to the twelve tribes of Israel, for Joseph has a double portion. Each of you shall possess it equally as his brother, to whom I raised my hand to give it to your fathers; and this land shall fall to you as a possession. Because we said that Joseph has a double portion, the Septuagint translated it as an increase of the portion. For indeed Joseph is interpreted as increase; understanding the matter instead of the name, and confusing the mind of the reader. For when the Levite tribe was subtracted and delegated to temple sacrifices, there remained eleven tribes, of which the tribe of Joseph was divided into two, Ephraim and Manasseh, who said to Joshua the son of Nun: Why have you given me the possession of one lot and one portion, since I am of such a great multitude, and the Lord has blessed me? To which Joshua responded: If you are a large population, go up into the forest and clear for yourself the spaces in the land of the Perizzites and Rephaim, because the possession of the mountain of Ephraim is narrow for you (Joshua 17: 14, 15). And again, Joshua said to the house of Ephraim and Manasseh: You are a large and powerful people, you shall not have one portion, but you shall go to the mountain and clear for yourself spaces to dwell, and you will be able to advance further when you have driven out the Canaanite, who you say has iron chariots and is strongest (Ibid., 27). We say this for the following reason: because the Scriptures now mention Joseph, that is, Ephraim and Manasseh, as having a double portion. But each tribe, according to its own multitude, receives equal portions of land, not divided by the will of the divider, but by lot, which is in the power of the Lord. Finally, even Joshua himself, who was the divider of the land, did not separate for himself a particular piece of land, so as not to appear to have chosen the best; but he received from the leaders of all the tribes, Timnath-serah in the mount of Ephraim.

1947:15-17

20(Versed. 15 seqq.) This is the end of the land on the northern side, from the great sea, for those coming from Ethalon, Sadada, Emath, Berotha, Sabarim, which is between the middle of Damascus and the border of Emath: the courtyard of Thicon (Vulg. house of Atthicon), which is near the borders of Auran (or Auranitis). And the boundary will be from the sea to the courtyard of Enon (or Seraranan), the boundary of Damascus, and from the North to the North the boundary of Emath on the northern side (Vulg. and the boundary of Emath; on the northern side). Concerning the description of the land of the holy twelve tribes, commanded by Joshua the son of Nun, and which is now ruled by Ezekiel, it is worth noting that there the land is divided among the tribes by lot, as ordained by the Lord. In the Book of Numbers (Num. XXXIV), which divides the entire promised land into four regions in a brief discourse, the description of the northern region is as follows: Starting from the north, that is, the northern border, they will begin from the Great Sea, reaching up to the highest mountain, from which you will come to Hamath, to the borders of Zedad, they will go to Ziphrona and the town of Enam, also known as Aser Enon. And the Hebrews say that the northern region begins from the Great Sea, which extends along the coasts of Palestine, Phoenicia, the region called Coele Syria, and Cilicia, and stretches through Egypt to Libya. And when it says, 'The borders shall reach to the highest mountain' (Numbers 34:7), the same Hebrews interpret it to mean either Mount Amanus or Mount Taurus, which we think is more likely. From there, it is said, one will come to Emath, which is now called Epiphania, with the name changed by Antiochus, the most cruel of tyrants: for he had the surname Epiphanes. He says, 'They will go to the boundaries of Sadada, a place that is currently mentioned in the reading of Ezechiel, and they will reach the borders of Zephrona, which is today called Zephyrium, a town in Cilicia. And the next part, 'And the village of Enam,' is written in Hebrew as 'Aser Enon,' or 'Enan,' and the present location is included in this. And for now, it suffices to briefly summarize the historical context, and to connect the description in both Numbers and Ezechiel: so that a discerning reader understands in which places they mentioned the same, similar, or different things. Now that we have interpreted the names of each, let us follow the anagoge and discuss what seems to us in each, with the Lord providing. Ethalon is interpreted as the cradle of sorrow. Sadada, his side, understand not in terms of width but in terms of the side. Emath, fury, which is called in Greek, χόλος. Berotha, of the well. Sabarim, circuit of mountains. Damascus, blood of the bag and the kiss, or cup. But the house, or atrium Thicon, Symmachus interprets as the middle atrium, which extends to the borders of Auran. Therefore, Thicon, the middle one, resounds: Auran, which in Greek translates to Auranitidis, anger. Aser, however, Enon, which is the boundary of Damascus, is called the atrium of the fountain in our language. Therefore, the northern region begins from the great sea through the way of Ethalon, which means the cradle of sorrow, and through repentance it comes to Sadada, where there is a decline on the side. For we understand the impending Emath upon us, which is the wrath of God; or Emath, the truth being known, the wells of Berotha are opened for us, which were dug by the patriarchs, Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob: and after a long circuit we come to the mountains of Sabarim, which are located between Damascus, that is, the blood of the cilice, and the border of Emath, as we have said above, the truth. For just as we turn away from approaching evils through fear and avoid them on one side, so after the shedding of blood and the sackcloth of a bloody life, before we come to the borders of Emath, we circumscribe and arrive at the mountains, of which it is written: Mountains surround it, and the Lord surrounds his people (Psalm 124:2). This place is called the court of Thicon, that is, the middle court, as Symmachus has interpreted, near the borders of Auran, which means wrath, and let us say with the prophet: I will endure the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against him (Micah 4:9). And from the sea as far as the borders of Damascus; in which also the Apostle Paul (Acts IX) saw the light in blindness from the Jewish fury and the shedding of Ecclesiastical blood, and having taken up the sackcloth of old persecution, he preached the Gospel in order to reach the courtyard of the eternal fountain, and being placed in the North, he grasped the boundary of truth.

2147:18

22(Verse 18) Furthermore, the eastern region stretches from the middle of Auran, and from the middle of Damascus, and from the middle of Gilead, and from the middle of the land of Israel. The Jordan River divides it, extending to the eastern sea. In the Book of Numbers, it is written as follows: From there, the boundaries extend opposite the eastern region, from the town of Enan, also known as Aser Enon, to Sephama. From Sephama, the boundaries go down to Rebla, opposite the spring. From there, they reach the eastern sea, which is the Sea of Chenereth, and continue all the way to the Jordan River, finally closing at the sea. He had said above: And the boundary shall be from the sea to Aser Enon, the boundary of Damascus (Num. XXXIV, 10, 11). Therefore, at the end of the northern region, that is, at the court of Enan, the boundaries extend according to the Book of Numbers to Sephama, which the Hebrews call Apamea: and from Apamea the boundaries descend to Rebla, which is now called Antioch in Syria. And so that you may know that this Rebla signifies the city, which is now the most noble in Coele-Syria, it follows: Against the spring, which is clearly meant to signify Daphne: from which spring the aforesaid city enjoys very abundant waters. But this place, established by Gnaeus Pompeius, who was the first to conquer Judea under Roman rule, was built with military force; and according to the fable of the poets, it was named Daphne because of the laurels and cypresses, which are very abundant trees in that place. From there, it says, the boundaries extend opposite the eastern region to the Sea of Chinnereth, all the way to the Sea of Tiberias. However, it is called a sea because it has fresh waters, according to the language of the Scriptures, in which collections of water are called seas. And the borders, he says, will stretch as far as the Jordan River, and in the end will be closed off by the sea, either the dead sea or, as others think, the Red Sea, on whose shore Ahila is located, where the legion and the Roman garrison are now stationed. This statement can be found in the book of Numbers. But according to Ezekiel, it refers to the middle of Auran, which is the city of Damascus in the desert, and the middle of Galaad, where Mount Lebanon is connected to the hills and falls into the territory of Ruben, Gad, and half the tribe of Manasseh. It is situated behind Phoenicia and Arabia. This is the mountain that Jacob reached after leaving Charran, where he was captured by Laban (Gen. XXXI), and Jeremiah also speaks of it: Galaad, you are the beginning of Lebanon (Jerem. XXII). This region was taken by Galaad, son of Machir, son of Manasseh, from the Amorite region. The boundary of this region is the Jordan River and the Eastern Sea, which in this place is understood to be the dead sea, not the shore of the Red Sea. Let us speak according to tropology: After the borders of the North, through Ethalon, and Sadada, and Berotha, also Sabarim, Thicon, and Auran, and Damascus, and the atrium of Enon, it reaches as far as Emath in the eastern region: from the midst of anger, that is Auran, and from the midst of Damascus, that is the blood of penance, and from the midst of Gilead, which is interpreted as revelation, or the hill of testimony; in order to show hope of salvation after anger and penance: and from the midst of the land of Israel, which contains the vision of peace, it reaches to the sweetest flow of the Jordan river: which, far from the distant sea, obtains the light of the East, so that it is terminated by the river Jordan, which is interpreted as the stream of judgment, and the boundary of the East. But what is called φοινικῶνος in the Septuagint, which means palmeti in Latin, is not found in Hebrew: for which reason we have translated it as metiemini: And a clear error is evident, that due to the similarity of the letters, they read Thamorru instead of Thamoddu.

2347:19

24(Verse 19.) The southern region stretches from Thamar to the waters of contradiction (or Mariboth: this word signifies contradiction or disputes). It includes Cades and the river, reaching all the way to the Great Sea. This is the southern region. According to the Book of Numbers, it is written as follows: It begins from the wilderness of Sin, near Edom, and its borders extend towards the eastern sea (some manuscripts add 'the saltiest sea'), encircling the southern region up along the ascent of Scorpio, passing through Senna and reaching south to Cadesbarne. From there, the borders extend to a village named Addar, and continue to Asemona. The boundary line then goes from Asemona to the torrent of Egypt, and ends at the shore of the Great Sea (Num. 34:3-5). This briefly signifies (so that we do not appear to have passed over the very wide stretch of Numbers by occasion of Ezekiel's exposition) to go around the wilderness of Sin, which is near Edom, and the boundary of the Red Sea, and through the ascent of Scorpions, and through Senna and Kadesh-barnea, and the courtyard of Addar, and to come from Asemona as far as the river of Egypt, which flows into the sea near the city of Rhinocorura. But truly, this boundary of the southern region, that is, the southernmost part, begins from Tamar, which is a city in the wilderness, which Solomon also built with marvelous works and is now called Palmyra; and in the Hebrew language, it is called Thamar, which in our language means "palm," as far as the waters of Meribah Kadesh, which is undoubtedly in the desert, and the river entering the Great Sea, which stretches along the coast of Egypt and Palestine, and this is the southern region to the South. Afterward, we receive the Southern region when the light from above is poured upon us, just as Abraham joined in a feast and we are intoxicated with the wine that gladdens the heart, like Joseph and his brothers. This possession begins at Thamar and extends to the waters of contradiction, a place of victory over vices. For virtue is always contradicted. Therefore, Jews opposing Paul in the preaching of the Gospel assert that it is contradicted throughout the whole world (Acts 15). And in the Gospel, we read Simeon saying: This child is destined for the falling and the rising of many in Israel, and to be a sign that will be contradicted (Luke 2:34). However, every contradiction is of holiness, which is interpreted as Kadesh, as the Psalmist says: The Lord will shake Kadesh's desert (Psalm 29:8); which originally did not have the holiness of the Lord, but it was shaken and moved to receive the guest God, who says: Upon whom will my spirit rest, if not upon the humble and quiet one who trembles at my words? (Isaiah 66:2). Beyond the deserted region of Cades, all the way to the great sea in the south, the southern region is arid, as we mentioned before; it does not have rain from the land, but rather from the sky, collected in various forms of different powers.

2547:20