13:15
(Verse 15.) However, you will be dragged down to the depths of the lake. LXX: But now you will descend to the underworld, and to the foundations of the earth. You will not descend to the underworld willingly (or, by your own choice), for this is the work of the Lord and Savior, to free the bound from the depths. But you will be dragged down to the underworld against your will, for while you were able to ascend to the heights through virtues, you will be dragged down to punishment through vices. The saints have the wings of an eagle, and the wings of a dove, and they can say: I will fly and find rest (Psalm 54). But the wicked, like the Egyptians, were submerged as lead in the violent waters, and they were submerged into the depths like a stone (Exod. XV). Therefore, iniquity, or as is better understood in Hebrew, impiety, is seen sitting upon a talent of lead (Zach. V). Therefore, what we read elsewhere, 'Everyone who exalts himself will be humbled' (Luke XVIII, 14), even the king of confusion suffered, so that he would be cast down to the foundations of the earth, or as is more true in Hebrew, into the depths of the abyss. In Deuteronomy, it is written about the foundations of the earth: A fire is kindled in My anger, and it shall burn to the lowest hell. It shall consume the earth and its foundations, namely those who are earthly. Concerning the pit, which signifies the depths of hell, there are these testimonies: I am made like those who go down into the pit. And: You have laid me in the lowest pit. Just as a lake receives descending waters, so does hell receive souls: to this lake did Benaiah descend in the time of snow and cold, and he killed a lion there. And so the heretics forsake the fountain of the living water, the Lord, and dig for themselves broken cisterns that cannot hold water. Concerning these cisterns, which do not have the fervor of the Holy Spirit, they are not like the prophet Jeremiah, who spoke according to the Septuagint translators: 'I found warm water in the desert' (Jeremiah 2). But with charity growing cold, they have lost the heat of the Holy Spirit. That is the cistern of which Jeremiah also speaks: 'As a cistern cools the water, so does malice cool those who have it' (Jeremiah 6:7). Oh, would that they were either hot or cold (Apoc. III), that is, either believers or not believers at all, so that they would not be rejected by the Lord because of lukewarmness and feigned faith!
13:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) Those who see you will bow down to you, and they will look at you. Is this the man who troubled the earth? who shook kingdoms? who made the world a desert, and destroyed its cities, and did not open the prison to those who were bound? Or as the Seventy translated: did he not release those who were led? Those who see King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon, not with the eyes, but with the sight of the heart, falling from heaven to hell, will bow down with humility, which is contrary to pride, and they will look at him saying these things: Is this not the man, or the human, who troubled or stirred up the earth? Testimony of the senses: Whoever said, 'I will be like the Most High, and exalted himself as God,' is proven to be a man, as is stated in the ninth psalm, which is specifically against the devil: 'Arise, O Lord, let not man prevail' (Psalm 9:19). And in the Gospel: 'An enemy has sown weeds among the wheat' (Matthew 13:25). Therefore, we read that it was said to him and his companions: 'I said, You are gods, sons of the Most High, but you shall die like men, and fall like any prince' (Psalm 81:6). And to the same person under the figure of the prince of Tyre it is said: Because your heart is exalted, and you have said: I am God, I dwell in the heart of the sea, whereas you are a man, and not God, and have set your heart as if it were the heart of God (Ezek. 28:2). This man, and this man alone, has troubled the whole earth, namely those who heard with Adam: You are dust, and to dust you shall return (Gen. 3:19), and has shaken kingdoms and kings whose hearts are in the hand of the Lord (Proverbs 21). He struck, he says, but did not overthrow. And hence one of those who had been struck, and yet had not fallen, spoke: But my feet have almost stumbled (Psalm 73:2). And the Apostle speaks to the believers, that they should take up the armor of God, and stand against the wiles of the devil (Ephesians 6). But the house which is founded upon a rock is not shaken by any storm (Matthew 7). It follows: He who established the inhabited world, or according to the Hebrew, all others have translated it as 'desolate.' For by vice and sins the world, which is called Thebel in Hebrew, was made a desert, so that it had no virtue, or was subject to the same vices with which the wilderness is full of nations. He also destroyed the cities of the same world, so that he might make the synagogues of the devil out of the Churches of Christ, and pollute the purity of true faith with heretical filth. But he did not open the prison to his captives, that is, to the world. We were all bound and held captive in prison, to whom the Savior said, 'Come out,' and to those who were in darkness, 'Be revealed.' For he sets free those who are bound; those who are freed by him give thanks, saying, 'You have loosed my bonds' (Ps. CXV, 17; Jer. II, Prov. V). For each person is bound by the cords of their own sins, which cords and bonds the Apostles can loose, imitating their Master who had said to them, 'Whatever you bind on earth shall be bound in heaven, and whatever you loose on earth shall be loosed in heaven' (Matthew XV). And the Apostles loose them by the word of God, and the testimonies of the Scriptures, and the exhortation of virtues.
13:18-19
(Verse 18, 19.) All the kings of the nations slept in glory, each one in his own house. But you have been cast out of your tomb like a fetid liquid: defiled, wrapped up with the slain and those pierced by the sword, who descend to the depths of the pit. LXX: All the kings of the nations slept in honor, each one in his own house. But you will be cast down on the mountains like an untimely birth, abominable and wrapped up with the slain who descend to the foundations of the earth. The kings of the nations, to whom God had entrusted the governance of the nations according to the Song of Deuteronomy (Deut. XXXII), were shaken by Nebuchadnezzar, but not overthrown, because their sin did not reign over them; rather, because their hearts were in the hand of God, they did not fall. Indeed, just as the Savior is called the God of gods, so the Lord is the Lord of lords and the king of kings. Therefore, all these kings rested in their glory, each in his own house. For there are many mansions in my Father's house (John 14): and due to the variety of virtues, there are differences in dwellings. Moreover, Nebuchadnezzar was thrown out of his tomb and did not rest from torments in death. He was thrown out like a discharge, which in Hebrew is called Neser, which Aquila interpreted as ichor, i.e., decay and filth, which Symmachus called abortion, i.e., dead in the Septuagint, Theodotion germ: although this very word above (Chapter 11, verse 1) where we read about Christ: A shoot shall come forth from the stump of Jesse, and a branch from his roots shall bear fruit, in the Septuagint they translated it as flower, Theodotion germ, Aquila as sapling, i.e., twig. But Neser is properly called a sapling, which grows at the roots of trees and is cast aside by farmers as useless, hence we have transferred the useless stock. Therefore, let Nabuchodonosor, like a useless sapling, be prepared for fire, or like polluted blood, wrapped up with those who were killed by his sword and have descended to the depths of the lake, may he be dragged down into the abyss, and not even have the company of those whom he killed in burial. For the punishment of one is the act of the guilty, and of another who is compelled by the one who committed the act. This is the sword by which many were wounded and killed, of which we read in the seventh psalm: Unless you be converted, he will brandish his sword; he hath bent his bow, and made it ready. And he hath prepared for him the instruments of death; he hath made ready his arrows for them that burn. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, the corpse of Nebuchadnezzar, along with many others who were killed, will be defiled and cast down on the mountains of pride, and they will be led to the underworld. But the foundations of the lake, interpreted by Symmachus as the stones of the lake, in other words, he meant the deep and abyss of the underworld.
13:20
(Verse 20) You will not have the fellowship of a putrid corpse nor be buried with them. For you have destroyed your land and killed your people. LXX: Just as a garment mixed with blood cannot be clean, neither will you be clean, for you have destroyed my land and killed my people. Because there is a significant difference between the Hebrew and LXX translations, let us discuss them separately. Like a putrid corpse, or as Aquila translated, trampled, you will not have the fellowship of burial, nor even with those whom you have killed. For you are the master, they were the disciples: and to whom more is entrusted, more is required from him. For you have destroyed your land, you have killed your people, namely those who were entrusted to you for governance. Therefore, dare to say to the Savior: All these things have been entrusted to me, and I will give them to you, if you prostrate yourself and worship me (Matt. IV, 9). However, the putrid carcass of the devil cannot doubt due to the magnitude of sins, as one who reads that sin is the foulest, with the sinner himself saying: My wounds have become rotten and have festered because of my foolishness (Psalm XXXVII, 6). On the contrary, the virtue of good odor is: from which also the love of spiritual brothers is compared to an ointment, which descended upon the beard, the beard of Aaron, and upon the edge of his garment (Psalm 132). And the bridegroom speaks to the bride: Your fragrance is sweet, and your face is lovely (Song of Songs 2:14). But how the body of the devil is spiritually trampled, the Apostle teaches us: God will quickly crush Satan under your feet (Romans 16:20). And the Lord said: I will wipe them out like the mud of the streets (Ps. XVII, 43). Because he lost the land entrusted to him, and he crushed the people committed to him, not reserving them alive for God, but preparing partners for his own tomb: therefore he will not be, nor will he be called forever the seed of the wicked. Furthermore, according to the Septuagint, this has the following meaning: O Lucifer, you who rose in the morning, when you had the works of virtue and light, you were the garment of God, and it could be said of you: clothed with light as with a garment (Ps. CIII, 2): because you have killed many with the sword, who have descended to the underworld, and you are defiled by their blood, you will not be called the garment of God, but a garment mixed with blood, not stained and polluted, so that you appear to have something clean, but completely drenched in blood. And this should be noted, that concerning the devil it is said: just as a garment mixed with blood will not be clean, so you will not be clean. Where therefore are those who grant repentance to the devil, and say that he can be cleansed? Let us not immediately embrace the heresy that asserts there are diverse natures; and that there is another which will never receive healing. For this garment is not unclean in itself, and thus was ordained by God, by which God Himself was once clothed; but because it is mixed with blood, and has polluted itself entirely with its own vice, and with added evils, it will not be clean. And therefore it will not be clean, because it has lost the earth of the Lord, killing His people, destroying the land of Judah and the land of confession, and also killing and destroying the saints. And therefore it will not remain forever. Hence it is said in the Gospel: Go into the eternal fire, prepared for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41). But just as the holy garment is of God, and the new garment, and is clothed in the robe of salvation and joy, saying: My soul shall rejoice in the Lord, for he has clothed me with the garment of salvation and has wrapped me with the robe of joy (Isaiah 61:10): so, on the other hand, the sinner, who bears the image of the old and earthly man, deserves to hear: Behold, all of you shall become like a worn-out garment, and the moth shall devour you (Isaiah 50:9). But whoever progresses in evil and does not desire to cleanse the old with newness, will be compared not to an old garment, but to the cloth of a menstruating woman, saying: We have erred, and we have all become unclean, like the cloth of a menstruating woman; all our righteousness is as the cloth of a menstruating woman.
13:21-22
(Verse 21, 22.) The seed of the wicked, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sins of their fathers: they will not rise nor inherit the land, nor fill the face of the cities of the world. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy the name and remnants of Babylon, and its seed, and its offspring, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: The wicked seed, prepare your sons for the slaughter of the sin of your father: so that they will not rise and possess the land, and fill the land of cities. And I will rise up against them, says the Lord of hosts: and I will destroy their name and remnants and seed. For the evil seed, which the Septuagint translated, is written in Hebrew as Zera Mrim (), which others have interpreted as the seed of wicked men. Not that the seed itself is inherently evil: for God made all things good (Gen. I); but from those who are wicked by their own will, the seed has become evil, which is done by will, not by nature: Hence we read in Daniel: The seed of Canaan and not of Judah (Dan. XIII, 56). And of good sons it is said by the Apostle: In Christ Jesus through the Gospel I have begotten you (1 Cor. 4:15). And in the Gospel: To as many as received him, he gave them power to become the sons of God (John 1:12). For whoever commits sin is of the devil. Therefore, it is commanded to this seed, that is to say, his sons, to prepare for destruction all wicked thoughts and evil deeds, which are born from impious fathers, undoubtedly signifying contrary strengths. The worst sons are therefore slain in the wickedness of their fathers, so that they may not rise up anymore and possess the land which is to be possessed and filled by the saints, that the cities of the Lord may be built in it. And because there is no perfect victory for men: For unless the Lord keeps the city, those who guard it will watch in vain (Psalm 126:2): therefore the Lord himself will rise up against the sons of the worst, and he will destroy their name and remnants from their confusion, and every offspring and progeny, so that they may no longer sprout forth in the cities of the Lord. We read in the Gospel of John (VIII) that the devil is a liar from the beginning and that his father, that is, of lies, which many do not understand, they want the father of the devil to be the dragon who reigns in the sea, which the Hebrews call Leviathan. And they think that this agrees with the present passage according to the Septuagint interpreters, who have said: for the sins of your father: when clearly in Hebrew, it means not 'your father' but 'their fathers'.
13:23
(Verse 23.) And I will make her a possession of hedgehogs, and of swamps of water: I will sweep her away with a broom of destruction, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: And I will make Babylon a desert, says the Lord, so that hedgehogs will dwell in it, and it will be nothing. And I will make it a pit of mud, for destruction. When the Lord of hosts has destroyed the name of Babylon, and its remnants, and its offspring, he will not be satisfied with its destruction unless he gives it as a possession to hedgehogs, and swamps of water, and sweeps it away not lightly, and accidentally: but thoroughly, so that nothing of ancient filth remains in it. In the Acts of the Apostles, it is written (Acts 10 and 11) that in that linen cloth, which was let down from heaven by four corners, all kinds of quadrupeds, and reptiles, and birds were contained, which afterwards, the Apostle, in his discourse, says, 'God showed me that I should not call any man common or unclean.' Therefore, the manners of men were represented in various animals, just as the Pharisees and Sadducees are called offspring of vipers on account of their wickedness, and Herod is called a fox on account of his deceit (Luke 3 and 13); and those who are given to luxury and inclined to pleasure are called horses, raging after women (Jeremiah 5): 'And do not be like horse or mule, which have no understanding' (Psalm 32). On the contrary, the innocent are called doves and sheep. Therefore, according to the teaching of the Lord and Savior, who referred to the cares of this world and the seduction of riches as thorns, the hedgehog seems to me to be someone who rejoices in the uncertainty of riches (1 Timothy 6) and trusts in being armed not with the armor of God, but with the thorns and sins of this world. To whom it is rightly said from the Gospel: Foolish one, tonight your soul will be taken from you, and what you have prepared, whose will it be? (Luke 12:20). The inhabitants of Babylon have deserts of virtues, where there is no irrigated field that brings fruits of different seeds, but unproductive marshes, and muddy and dirty, in which animals that delight in mud crawl. Therefore, the most merciful Lord swept it vigorously, and as it were with a broom, he cleaned it completely, so that the seeds of Babylon may perish, and be inhabited by only hedgehogs. When we see someone submerged in the mud of wealth, and as the Seventy have translated, in the pit, that is, in a deep abyss, and surrounded as if by a muddy swamp, let us not hesitate to call him a hedgehog, an inhabitant of deserted Babylon.
13:24-25
(Verse 24, 25) The Lord of hosts has sworn, saying, 'Surely, as I have thought, so it shall come to pass, and as I have purposed, so it shall stand: That I will break the Assyrian in my land, and upon my mountains tread him under foot: then shall his yoke depart from off them, and his burden depart from off their shoulders. Afterward his habitation will be desolate in Babylon, and marshes shall cover the land: so that no seed of hers and no abundance shall remain in Babylon. The oath of the Lord will be fulfilled, and as I have purposed, so it shall happen, that the Assyrian shall be broken in his land, and upon his mountains he shall be trodden under foot.' For indeed the reckless enemy not only hastens to occupy the land of God and lowly things, but also those who have advanced in the service of God, so that they may be compared to mountains and it may be said of them: Its foundations are on the holy mountains (Ps. 86:1). And note the property. On earth it is crushed: on the mountains of God it is trampled by the Lord himself. For when all the enemies have been placed under the feet of Christ, so that death may be destroyed at the last, then the holy ones will be freed from the heavy yoke of Assyria, with which they had been oppressed before, and the burden, or as the Septuagint translated it, κῦδος, that is, glory, will be removed from their shoulders, so that with the yoke of the Assyrians lifted, they may see rest, because it is good, and the land, because it is fertile, and they may submit their necks to the yoke of Christ for the purpose of laboring, and become men of the field. And Issachar, which means 'reward,' received his name from his virtues. And in the Prophet we read: 'There is a reward for those who serve the Lord' (Jeremiah 31:16); and in another place: 'Behold the Lord, and his reward is with him' (Isaiah 40:10), who will render to each one according to his works. And as for the Assyrians being crushed and trampled, which represents opposing forces, the Gospel teaches us: 'Behold, I have given you power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and over all the power of the enemy' (Luke 10:19). And the words of the Apostles testify: God will crush Satan under your feet quickly (Rom. XVI, 20).
13:26-27
(Verse 26, 27.) This is the plan that he has devised for the whole earth, and this is the hand that is stretched out over all the nations. For the Lord of hosts has purposed, and who can annul it? His hand is stretched out, and who can turn it back? For the whole earth has been interpreted as the entire world in the Septuagint, in the end of the oracle or vision against Babylon. What was hidden is revealed, that God has planned for the whole earth, that is, the world, and not just against the land of the Chaldeans and the king of Assyria and the Chaldeans: and his hand is stretched out or lifted up over all the nations, and not just over one nation, Babylon. From this it is shown that all the things that have been said pertain not specifically to one province, but generally to the whole world. And what is said, 'Who can weaken it, and who can turn it away?' should not be understood as difficult, as it is read, 'Who is wise and will understand these things?' (Psalm 106:43). And, 'Who do you think is the faithful and prudent steward?' (Luke 12:42), and similar things. But understood as impossible. For no one can thwart the plan of the Lord, nor can they turn away His outstretched or lofty hand from striking.
13:28-30
(Verse 28, etc.) In the year in which King Ahaz died, this burden occurred. Do not rejoice, all you Philistines, for the rod of your oppressor is broken. From the root of the snake will come forth a ruler, and his offspring will swallow up the flying creatures. The firstborn of the poor will be fed, and the needy will rest securely. I will cause the root to die by famine, and I will slay your remaining ones. According to the LXX: In the year in which King Ahaz died, this word was fulfilled: Do not rejoice, all you foreigners, for his yoke that oppressed you is broken. Indeed, from the seed of the serpent, offspring of asps will come forth, and from their offspring, winged serpents will come forth. And the poor will be fed by them, and poor men will rest in peace. But your seed will be killed by famine, and your remnants will be destroyed. After the death of Ahaz, which means κατάσχεσις, that is, possession or occupation, whom we read is the most impious king, this burden falls upon the Philistines, or word. For while he was living and reigning among sinners, neither the weight against foreigners nor the word of God could come to the Prophet. Indeed, I remember having said this before, when Uzziah died, Isaiah saw the Lord sitting on a high and exalted throne. And in Exodus we read (Exodus 22) that after the death of the king of Egypt, the sons of Israel groaned because of their labors, and they cried out, and their cry rose up because of their labors, and the Lord heard their groaning. For if what was said was not mystical, they should have shouted all the more when he was reigning, when they were serving with mud and bricks. Therefore, it is commanded to the Philistines, whom they now call Palestinians, and always by the LXX called ἀλλόφυλοι, that is, foreigners; and it is said to them not to rejoice or be glad, because they have broken the rod or yoke of their oppressor (Heb. XII, 6). For whom the Lord loves, he chastises, and he punishes every son he receives. And as God instructs our children, when He visits our iniquities with a rod, and our sins with chastisements, so that He does not take away His mercy from us (Ps. 88). This is the rod about which it is written in another Psalm: Your rod and your staff, they comfort me (Ps. 23:4). This is the rod, and this yoke that the Savior wants to impose on the necks of all, so that having laid aside the yoke of Nebuchadnezzar, they may carry the yoke of Christ. But if someone rejects and destroys it, immediately from the seed or root of the serpent, which is the winding serpent, little snakes and asps will come out, and from the asps flying serpents will come out, or those that devour birds. But when the yoke of God is rejected and the discipline of the Lord is destroyed, first the seed of the serpent takes root in our thoughts, secondly a little snake is born from the evil seed, which is the king of serpents, and it is said to kill men with its breath and sight: or the offspring of asps, of which it is said in the Psalms: The venom of asps is under their lips (Psalm 13:3, and 139:4), which are the various sins, and they burst forth from the wicked treasure of thoughts into evil deeds. And when they rule among alien men, who are strangers to God, immediately feathered serpents emerge; so that it is not enough for them to have thought and done evil things, unless they also seek the protection of evil works, and invent various heresies. I believe that these feathered serpents are those who exalt and rise up against the knowledge of God, and put their mouth in the heavens: or who swallow birds, that is, those who with their venomous mouth devour each one desiring to fly and rise to high places. And in the meantime, concerning the evils. Moreover, those who have not broken the rod and yoke of their oppressor, but have submitted their neck to the Lord, and are poor in spirit, will be nourished, and will say: The Lord feeds me, and nothing will be lacking for me (Ps. 122:1). And they will hear from the Lord: I will feed them in fertile pastures (Ezek. 34; John 10); and they will enter and leave, and will find pastures. And the poor will be nourished by Him who strikes them in order to correct them: and they will rest in peace, whether the shepherd is watchful, they will act confidently, and they will rest with Lazarus in the bosom of Abraham (Luke 16). But those who broke the yoke and the staff of their oppressor shall endure everlasting hunger, so that they may not be nourished by the word of God, but all their remnants shall perish, so that nothing may grow from the evil seed.
13:31-32
(Verse 31, 32.) O gate, howl; O city, cry out; Philisthea is completely destroyed. For smoke comes from the north, and there is no one who can escape its ranks. And what will be the response of the messengers of the nations, when it is declared that the Lord has founded Zion and the poor of his people will hope in it? Concerning the messengers, that is, the angels, whom Symmachus alone translated, all the kings have been interpreted, deceived by the ambiguity of the word, because except for one letter Aleph, which is added in the word for angels, both kings and angels are called by the same name among the Hebrews, that is, Malache (kings, angels). In the book 'The Hebrew Names', I found that the word 'Philisthiim' is interpreted as 'falling down by a cup'. Therefore, those who are intoxicated by the cup of Babylon and drink wine in which there is debauchery, and among other vices, because of drunkenness, they have not attained the kingdom of God, as it is written by the Apostle (Ephesians 5). To them it is commanded that their gate howls and the city cries out. I consider the gate to be the mouth of heretics, where they blaspheme; and the city to be the soul, which is the treasury of evil thoughts. She should wail and lament, because everything is prostrated, cast to the ground, and there is nothing of sane intelligence and of God's wisdom in her. Why does the gate wail? For what reason does the city cry out? Because all of Philistia is prostrated. And why is it prostrated, the following verse shows: Smoke comes from the North, and there is no one who can escape its army. This smoke is kindled by the burning darts of the devil, which are harmful to the eyes and contrary to the light, and it arises from the North, from which the pot is kindled in Jeremiah (Jeremiah 1:14), and from which evil is kindled upon all the inhabitants of the earth, who cannot say: I am a resident and a stranger, like all my forefathers (Psalm 119:19), but they dwell in the land. And in Proverbs it is read: Aquilo is a harsh wind (Prov. XXV, 23; Eccli. XLIII). However, by another name, it is called dexter, which, even though it is harsh and sinister in itself and does not want to receive the yoke of God with the hardest neck, is called dexter by those who regard the sweet as bitter and the bitter as sweet; those who regard darkness as light and light as darkness. And there is no one who can escape the smoke of this train; for no one is without sin, not even if his life were only one day long (Job. XXV). And when the Philistines fall and its smoke penetrates everything, so that no one can escape it, what will be said to the Angels, who oversee each nation, marveling and desiring to know why only Zion, placed in a watchtower and in high places, escaped the bitterness of this smoke? What, therefore, will be said to them? Surely what follows: Because the Lord has founded it, and He Himself is its foundation. And He has founded it upon the foundation of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance, under which names Christ is understood, about whom the Apostle also says: For no one can lay another foundation, except the one that is laid, Jesus Christ (I Cor. III, 11). But whoever is foolish, and speaks foolishly, and understands his heart in vain, builds his house upon sand, which has no foundation. In this Zion, which is founded by the Lord, the poor or meek will hope, and his humble people, of whom it is said: Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth (Matthew 5:4); and those who heard the Lord speaking: Learn from me, for I am meek and humble of heart (Matthew 11:29). Those who were humiliated before glory and heard the Apostle Peter saying: Humble yourselves under the mighty hand of God, that He may exalt you in the time of visitation. As for the poor, they are the ones of whom we read above: The firstborn of the poor shall be fed, and the poor shall rest securely.
15:1
(Chapter 15, Verse 1) The burden of Moab. LXX: A word against Moab. Symmachus and Theodotion: The assumption of Moab. How circumcision is both physical and spiritual and is spoken of in a spiritual sense by the Apostle: For we are the circumcision, who serve by the Spirit of God, and boast in Christ Jesus, and have no confidence in the flesh (Philippians 3:3); and again, to distinguish the spiritual Israelites, it is said of the physical: See Israel according to the flesh (1 Corinthians 10:18); and, You Gentiles in the flesh (Ephesians 2:11); thus Moab is to be understood spiritually, which is interpreted as from the father, or paternal water, conceived from incest and drunkenness, in such a way that he seemed to be generated in the absence or even ignorance of his father. In many places in the Scriptures we read about Moab, especially in the book of Numbers, when Balak, the king of the Moabites, invited the magician Balaam to curse them. Among other things, Balaam also prophesied against Moab, saying: 'A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall come forth from Israel, and he shall strike down the princes of Moab' (Num. XXIV, 17).
15:1
(Verse 1) Because at night Ar was devastated, Moab was silent; because at night the wall was devastated, Moab was silent. LXX: Moab perished at night, for the wall of Moab. Regarding Ar (), which Theodotion alone has placed in this way, as is read in Hebrew, Aquila and Symmachus have translated as 'city', not considering that between Ain and Res the Hebrew elements do not have the letter Yod, which if it were present, would correctly be called a city. Secular wisdom, of which the Lord speaks through the Prophet: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart (Obadiah 8; 1 Corinthians 1:19). For it has the author of its existence, being generated from the condition of God. It seems to be born from the father, which is interpreted as Moab; but because it is illegitimate and an adversary of the people of God, it is generated from incest and the den and the night. Therefore, it perishes in eternal darkness, namely in error. And the Egyptians in the Red Sea in the morning watch, which indicates the night time, were overwhelmed by the waves (Exodus 14). And Lot, when the people of Sodom perished in the night, came to Zoar, and the sun rose for him (Genesis 19). And understanding this, the blessed Apostle writes about the holy and perfect (I Thessalonians 5:6-7): We are not of the night, nor of darkness, but we are sons of the day. For those who sleep, sleep at night, and those who get drunk, get drunk at night. But we, who are of the day, let us be sober, having put on the breastplate of faith and charity, and for a helmet the hope of salvation. For God hath not appointed us to wrath, but to the purchasing of salvation by our Lord Jesus Christ, who died for us; that, whether we watch or sleep, we may live together with him. For therefore Christ died and rose again; that he might be Lord both of the dead and of the living. But thou, why judgest thou thy brother? Or thou, why dost thou despise thy brother? For we shall all stand before the judgment seat of Christ. For it is written: As I live, saith the Lord, every knee shall bow to me, and every tongue shall confess to God. Therefore every one of us shall render account to God for himself. Let us not therefore judge one another any more. But judge this rather, that you put not a stumblingblock or a scandal in your brother's way. Furthermore, Ar, which is interpreted as ἀντίδικος, that is, adversary, shows this, that this wisdom, which is the adversary of God, has been overcome by the opposing Ecclesiastical discourse.
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