7:7
(Ver. 7.) The time has come, the day of slaughter is near, and not the glory of the mountains. The Hebrew word Adarim, which we have divided into two words, first Ad, second Arim, according to Theodotion, we have translated as the glory of the mountains. Symmachus translates it as the restoration, and he said: And the time is near: the day of hastening, not of restoration. Moreover, the LXX translates it as: The time has come, the day is approaching, not with disturbance, nor with pains. Theodotio: The time has come, the day of hunger is near, and not the day of glory for the mountains. It is also a time of slaughter, and even now it is evident among the Jewish people, who have no prophets or the word of God to nourish the souls of believers. But understand, O mountains, you who have knowledge of the Scriptures. As it is said elsewhere: 'You shine forth wondrously from the eternal mountains' (Psalm 75:5). Furthermore, the Seventy who said 'not with disturbance, and not with pains' signify that they have such great ignorance of God and blindness of soul, that they are not troubled by their sins, and are not tormented by the pains of repentance.
7:8
(Verse 8) Now I will pour out my anger upon you and vent my fury against you; I will judge you according to your ways and bring upon you all your abominations. If we calculate from the fifth year of the exile of King Jehoiachin to the ninth year of the reign of King Zedekiah, when Nebuchadnezzar came and besieged Jerusalem, it will be three years in total. Therefore, it is rightly said: Now I will pour out my anger upon you. I will by no means foretell to you what is to come, nor will I threaten you with things that are far off in the future: now I will unleash my fury upon you. This fury and anger is by no means without judgment: but it is to return your ways upon your own head, and to make you feel all your abominations. Moreover, we can also speak of the ultimate captivity, that after the killing of Christ, when their end came and sin awoke against them, that was fulfilled which was written: Now the wrath of God has come upon them to the end (1 Thess. 1:16). When Titus and Vespasian surrounded Jerusalem, and its desolation arrived, and it was fulfilled: Behold, your house will be left abandoned to you (Matthew 23:38). Then they were judged according to their ways and the blasphemies with which they denied the Lord; and they felt the fury of God, and all His indignation was poured out upon them, and they received their crimes, so that the destruction of the temple might endure until the end.
7:9
(Verse 9.) And my eye shall not spare, neither will I have compassion: but I will lay (or give) upon you your ways, and your abominations shall be in your midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord who strikes. He subjects the causes of severity and sternness, or, as heretics think, the cruelty of God that his eye does not spare nor have compassion, saying: I will give you your ways, and your abominations shall be in your midst; so that you may feel what you have done, and seeing your abominations either before you or placed in the midst of all, you may correct your error with repentance, and turning away from your former works, when you hate what you have done, then you shall feel that he himself is the Lord (Heb. XII). He who strikes in order to correct and chastise every son whom he receives.
7:10-11
(Vers. 10, 11.) Behold the day, behold it comes, the contraction has gone forth: the rod has blossomed, pride has sprouted. Iniquity has risen in the rod of wickedness, not from them, and not from the people, nor from their noise: and there will be no rest for them. LXX: Behold the day brings forth, behold the end comes, the complex has gone forth, and the rod has blossomed, pride has sprouted, injury has been awakened, and it will crush the strength of the wicked, and not with disturbance nor with haste, and they are not from them, nor is there beauty in them. The day has been contracted, says [someone], and shortened. And approaching is a neighboring captivity. The rod that threatened you for a long time has blossomed, and from the flower of its bloom it has given birth to the fruit of punishments. Your pride has sprouted what you deserved, so that the injustice, which is not from a pitiable people, nor from those who are led like dumb animals by their masters, nor from the shouting and noise with which they vociferated in vain, deceived by the priests and pharisees, may rise up with a united voice and say: 'Crucify, crucify such a one.' (John 19:6) Where there will be no rest for them, but eternal captivity. Furthermore, the Seventy interpreted it in the sense in which it is written: 'For you do not know what the coming day may bring' (Prov. 27:1), saying: 'Behold, the day brings forth what was conceived long before: and the end has come, and the fulfillment has gone forth, which embraces all your evils and holds them, or as Symmachus interpreted, inspection, so that God may see all that you have done and consider your works, and render to each one what he deserves.' And in that which they have likewise transferred, the rod flourished, as we can use that testimony: Do not take the rod away from your son (Prov. XIII, 13). And the Apostle: What do you want? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and the spirit of gentleness (I Cor. IV, 21)? But even God speaks through the mouth of the Psalmist: I will punish their iniquities with the rod, and their sins with scourges: but I will not take away my mercy from them (Psalm LXXXVIII, 33, 34). Therefore the Lord visits and strikes, so that every pride which was long hidden and enclosed may arise and be revealed; and injury is aroused against the arising and budding pride, and the strength of the wicked is crushed, not with disturbance or haste. For the end of a flourishing rod is health and correction, which comes not by merit to those who are reproved, nor by beauty which they do not possess in themselves, but by the mercy of the Lord. A difficult passage, and one that differs greatly between the Hebrew and the Septuagint, to which many additions have been made from Theodotion's edition, in order to make it seem to have some consistency.
7:12
(Verse 12.) The time has come, the day is approaching. It is not only said of Jerusalem that the time of its captivity has come and the day has approached when it will be besieged by the Babylonian army, but also to the one who was rejoicing in his built and expanded storehouses, the Lord speaks: Fool, tonight your soul will be taken from you; and the things which you have prepared, whose will they be (Luke 12:20)? From where the Apostle also says: The time, he says, has been shortened (1 Corinthians 7:29). And in another place: For the form of this world passes away (Ibid., 31). It is to be noted that he did not say it will be postponed to the future, but he spoke of the present, it passes away, and the form of the world slips away daily. For it never remains in the same state; but the form of things that are growing and decaying flies by and changes. Hence the Lord also said: Heaven and earth will pass away (Matth. XXIV, 35). But if these things, in which all things that are in the world are contained, pass and go through, what can be perpetual in human affairs?
7:13
(Verse 13). The one who buys should not rejoice, and the one who sells should not mourn. It is natural to rejoice in the purchase of possessions and mourn in their sale. However, when slavery and captivity are imminent, both joy and sorrow are in vain. Hence, the Apostle says: Time is shortened. Henceforth, those who have wives should live as if they did not have them, those who weep as if they did not weep, those who rejoice as if they did not rejoice, those who buy as if they did not possess, and those who use this world as if they did not make full use of it (I Cor. VII, 29 seqq.). For just as the flood came and swept them all away, so will be the coming of the Son of Man. (Matthew 24)
Because his anger is upon all his people. This is found in the Septuagint. For the word 'people' can also be understood as 'multitude' and 'crowd' according to the Hebrew, for it signifies 'Amona.' And the reason is clear: that the one who buys should not rejoice, and the one who sells should cease mourning, because the anger of God will soon come upon all the multitude of the land of Judah, or Jerusalem. For it is understood from the preceding text, in which it is written: Thus says the Lord God of the land of Israel, etc.
7:13
(Verse 13.) Because the one who sells will not return to that which he sold. He speaks according to the Hebrew custom. For every sale was returned to the seller in the fiftieth year of remission, which among them is called the Jubilee. Therefore, before the year of remission comes, when possessions return to their previous owners, captivity will come upon them, which will take away all the city's customs. Moreover, what the Seventy translated as: Because the buyer will not return to the seller, although it does not completely agree with the historical account, according to allegory, it can have this meaning: that we can say that the one who was deceived by a heretical error, when he understands the deceit of the teacher, will by no means return to the seller, that is, to the teacher; but will despise and reject him.
And yet in the lives of those still living, because the vision will not return to the entire multitude. Just as possession does not return to the previous owner with the imminent destruction of a city, so the prophetic vision and warning, which is directed to the entire multitude of the city, will by no means return and will become invalid; but it will be fulfilled in the remaining days, to those to whom the prophetic message is directed. However, he says this in order to show the impending captivity, lest they should say according to custom: This vision will be for a long time, and will be fulfilled after many years. We can say this, that after the prophetic vision has departed from the Jews, the Law and the Prophets do not return to them, nor do they deserve to have prophets anymore after the killing of the Savior. And significantly, he says that the vision will not return to any multitude. Therefore, it will return to those who believed in the Lord, namely the apostles and the remnant of the Jewish people who have been saved from Israel. But these two verses are not found in the Septuagint edition.
And a man in the wickedness of his life will not be strengthened. LXX: And a man in the eyes of his life will not obtain. And the meaning according to the Hebrew: His wickedness will not benefit a man, nor will it provide him with any strength. According to the Septuagint: And a man, who desired what he thought to be precious in the world, will not obtain it; but with freedom perishing, everything that is beautiful will be lost. However, the ambiguity of the Hebrew letters Yod and Vav, which are distinguished only by their size, caused some to interpret it as wickedness and others as eyes.
7:14
(Verse 14.) Blow the trumpet, let all be prepared. LXX: Blow the trumpet, and judge all things. We read in many places about the sound and noise of trumpets, as in Isaiah: 'Lift up your voice like a trumpet' (Isa. LVIII, 1); and elsewhere: 'Blow the trumpet at the new moon, at the appointed time, on our solemn feast day' (Ps. LXXX, 3); and in the Apostle: 'For the Lord himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice of the archangel, and with the trumpet of God' (I Thess. IV, 5). And in the Gospel: Do not sound the trumpet before you (Matthew 6:2). And the story of the trumpets, both golden and silver, is told in the book of Numbers (Numbers 10 and 31), which is compared to prophetic discourse and Apostolic doctrine. And now it is commanded that everyone be prepared for battle at the sound of the trumpet and the blowing of the trumpet. Moreover, what the Seventy said, "Judge all things," there is no doubt that it agrees with the authority of the apostles. After the trumpet of the angels has sounded, they will judge on twelve thrones the twelve tribes of Israel. Of whom Paul spoke: We will judge angels (I Cor. VI, 3); and elsewhere: The world will be judged in you (Ibid., 2). But according to the present sense, those who are entrusted with this office are commanded ironically to blow the trumpet, so that all may be prepared against the army of Babylon.
And there is no one who goes to battle. For my anger is over his whole multitude. And these are not found in the Septuagint. God had commanded (Num. X) that the trumpet should sound to prepare the army, which could resist the strength of the Babylonians; but it was of no use to command, since there is no one in the people who dares to proceed to war. Therefore, the people are weak and lacking in fighting strength, because all of God's anger is over his whole multitude, understood as the city of Jerusalem or the land of Judea. But both in our land and in Jerusalem, when either public persecution or the many enticements of vices try to overcome us, the teachers sing in vain, and hurry to prepare us for battles, even though there is no strength in the people, which has been taken away because the sins deserve the present anger of God.
7:15-16
(Verse 15, 16.) The sword is outside, and pestilence and famine are within. Those who are in the field will die by the sword; and those who are in the city will be consumed by pestilence and famine. And those who escape will be saved; they will be on the mountains like doves of the valleys, trembling. Each one in their own wickedness. The seventy, the doves of the valleys, or as Theodotus translated, the meditators, remained completely silent. And what we have interpreted, trembling: each one in their own wickedness, Theodotus translated it as: all muttering, each one in their own wickedness; so that under the metaphor of meditating doves, it signifies each person in the nation lamenting their own sin, and understanding and feeling why they are suffering these things. But we have already mentioned three classes of people who will die in the city: those who perish from plague and famine; those who are killed by the sword outside; and those who escape captivity. Of these, those who are saved will go to the mountains and, like murmuring doves, will anxiously bewail their sins. In a tropological sense, it should be understood that those in the fields and countryside, outside the borders of the Lord's city, which is called the Church, will be struck by the sword of their adversaries, but those who live negligently in the city and have not prepared food for themselves, of which it is written in Proverbs: 'He who works his land will have his fill of food,' (Prov. XII, 11,) will die from famine and plague. But few, who have avoided the sword of heretics or the hunger of their own sloth, and death, will be saved except in the mountains, and unless they have assumed the wings of a dove, and flown away, and found rest. For as long as doves are in the valleys, they tremble and fear everything: of whom we are commanded to imitate their innocence, and about whom it is written in the psalm: 'If you sleep among the midst of the flock, the wings of the dove that is silvered, and its back parts in the whiteness of gold' (Ps. 67:14): in whose form the Holy Spirit descended, and remained upon the Lord and Savior. Beautifully we will call the dove meditating according to Theodotion (Matthew 3), he who meditates day and night in the law of the Lord, and concerning whom it is written: The mouth of the just will meditate wisdom (Psalm 36:30).
7:17
(Verse 17.) All hands will be dissolved, and all knees will flow with water. And they will gird themselves with sackcloth, and terror will cover them. For knees flowing with water, Seventy have moved, thighs are polluted with moisture. But when all are trembling, and fleeing to the mountains, all hands will be dissolved, and no one will be able to resist the enemies, and with the magnitude of fear, urine will pollute the knees: and the bladder will not be able to contain the flowing waters. They will gird themselves with sackcloth, and trembling will possess all things. This happened among that people, not only under the Babylonians, but also under the Romans, when the wrath of God came upon them to the very end. Moreover, it happened in our own Judea, where the confession of the Lord is, when iniquities have multiplied and the love of many has grown cold, all the hands of good works will be dissolved, and all knees, or thighs, will flow with the waters of those who have sought unlawful unions, and who, in the law, are called eunuchs, that is, those sustaining a flow of semen and are called unclean by Scripture. Whereas those who are such, should gird themselves with the hairshirts of repentance, and fear the impending judgement. And whoever does this, will merit to hear Isaiah saying: Strengthen the weak hands, and make firm the feeble knees (Isaiah 35:3).
7:18