(Verses 9, 10.) On that day your fortified cities will be deserted like plowed fields and cornfields that have been deserted by the children of Israel. And it will be desolate, because you have forgotten your God, your Savior, and have not remembered your strong helper. LXX: On that day your cities will be deserted like the cities abandoned by the Amorites and the Hivites before the children of Israel. And they will be deserted because you have abandoned your God, your Savior, and have not remembered the Lord, your helper. Just as under Moses and Joshua the son of Nun, the Amorites and the Eves and the other nations dwelling in the promised land abandoned their plows and crops and heaps in the fields and fled, lest they be seized by enemies, so too the land of Judea and all its mighty cities, with the Romans ravaging Judea and besieging Jerusalem, were deserted by their inhabitants. And there is an apostrophe to the very land of Judea, that is, to those who dwelt in it. But all these things you have suffered, because you have forgotten your God and Savior, who is called Jesus, whom the Law and the Prophets constantly proclaimed would come to you; and you have not remembered your strong helper, who has always come to your aid. Therefore, the reason for the desolation of the cities of Judea is the forgetfulness of the Savior, who, at the beginning of this prophecy, said: Israel did not know me, and my people did not understand me.
17:11
(Verse 11.) Therefore, you will plant a faithful plantation and sow a foreign seed. On the day of your planting, your grapevine will be in bloom, and in the morning your seed will sprout; the harvest has been taken away on the day of inheritance, and there will be great sorrow. LXX: Therefore, you will plant an unfaithful plantation and unfaithful seed, and on the day you plant, you will wander. But if you sow in the morning, it will bloom for the harvest on the day of inheritance, when a father gives inheritance to his sons. For that reason, because we have interpreted it according to Aquila and Symmachus and the LXX, on the day of inheritance, which in Hebrew is called Biom Nehela (), it can be read in Hebrew, on a very bad day. And for that reason, because it has been interpreted by Aquila and Theodotion, and the man will grieve: we learned from the Hebrews, for the man who is called Enos in their language, we have interpreted as Anus (), that is, heavily: concerning the ambiguity of this word, if there is time in this life, we will discuss it more fully in Jeremiah, where according to the LXX it says: And there is a man, and who will know him? Therefore I say what I proposed: Because you have forgotten, O land of Judah, your Savior God, and the one who always provided strength for you, you have not remembered; therefore you will indeed plant a faithful plantation, as the interpretations of Aquila and Theodotion say, beautiful; or as Symmachus says, good, preaching one God: but you will sow a foreign seed, not receiving the Father, because you do not receive the Son. For whoever believes in the Father, also believes in the Son. And because you have sown the seed of blasphemy against Jesus in the synagogues of Satan, therefore you shall not gather grapes, but wild grapes. And when it appears that your seed is flourishing and you have some shade of piety, while you withdraw people from idols: yet when you will grieve deeply in the day of harvest to gather the fruits, seeing that the people of the Gentiles are preferred to you. Hence the Apostle says: I have great sorrow and unceasing pain in my heart. For I myself wished to be anathema from Christ for the sake of my brethren, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites, to whom belongs the adoption of sons, and the glory, and the testament, and the giving of the law, and the promises: whose are the fathers, and of whom is Christ, according to the flesh, who is over all things, God blessed forever. Amen (Romans 9:3-5). And not only Paul, but also every saint speaks this, wishing to save even the root with the branches of the olive tree. But that inheritance is what we obtain from the Lord, about which the Apostle says: There are divisions of grace, but the same Spirit; and there are divisions of ministries, but the same Lord; and there are divisions of operations, but the same God, who works all things in all. Let someone wonder why we have called our faithful congregation a faithful plantation, considering the beautiful and good translations made by Aquila, Theodotio, and Symmachus. The Hebrew word Neemanim, if spelled with the letter Aleph, means faithful; but if spelled with Ain, and pronounced as Neamenim, it means beautiful. Thus, Noemi, which is spelled with this letter, speaks in Ruth (Chapter I, 20): 'Do not call me Noemi, that is, beautiful, but call me bitter.'
17:12-14
(Verse 12 and following) Woe to the multitude of many peoples, like the roaring of the sea, and the tumult of the nations, they shall make a sound like the noise of many waters. The peoples shall sound like the noise of abundant waters: and he shall rebuke him, and he shall flee far off: and he shall be carried away as dust of the mountains before the wind, and as a whirlwind before a tempest. In the evening, and behold trouble: in the morning, and he shall not be. This is the portion of them that have wasted us, and the lot of them that spoiled us. Above, we read about the calling of the Gentiles and the rejection of the Jews, and also about the election of a few Jews among the Apostles. And since in comparison to the whole world and all the nations, only a small part of the people believed in Christ, as it was said above: 'And the remnant of Syria shall be as the glory of the children of Israel' (for 'many are called, but few are chosen' - Matthew 22:14) and 'not all have faith' (2 Thessalonians 3:2), now it follows that there is not mourning, but woe to those nations who refused to believe and persecuted the Christian people. And they are compared to the mass of waves and the roaring sea, and as much as is within them, they desire to overwhelm and occupy everything. For the people will sound forth in the spectacles of theatrical luxury, and in the cruelty of the amphitheater, and in the madness of the circus, just as the sound of overflowing waters, when with a united voice of impiety they blaspheme, and they say to the Christians, 'Throw them to the lions and beasts,' and other things of this kind. But to them, like raging seas, the Lord will rebuke the instigator of their sedition, and He will drive him away from His people. And as dust moved on the mountains, the higher it is, the stronger it is carried away; and as a whirlwind, which rises from the earth, is carried away into the sky by a sudden storm: so also he, being carried away, will be separated from the people of God and will flee, lest he be relegated to the abyss. And when the day of consummation comes, which is interpreted as evening, then there will be turmoil, acknowledging his sins. And in the morning, on the day of resurrection, it will not continue, as the LXX translated, it will not be. But if it will not be, what will those who give penance to the devil respond, and they promise as much as they can, an archangelic rank? This is the role of those who have devastated us, and the fate of those who will plunder us. This is either the speech of the Christian people or the prophet speaking from the perspective of the believing people, that the persecutors will have eternal destruction, who have oppressed the holy ones of God with exile, imprisonment, and the seizure of goods, and will possess eternal punishments.
18:1-3
(Chapter 18—Verse 1 and following) Woe to the land of buzzing wings, which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, that sends ambassadors by sea, in vessels of papyrus on the waters. Go, you swift messengers, to a nation tall and smooth-skinned, to a people feared near and far, a mighty nation and conquering, whose land the rivers divide. All you inhabitants of the world, you who dwell on the earth, when a signal is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet is blown, you will hear it. LXX: Woe to the land of winged ships beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, who send ambassadors by sea in papyrus vessels over the water. Go, swift messengers, to a tall and smooth-skinned nation, to a people feared far and wide, a powerful and oppressive nation whose land the rivers divide. All you people of the world, you who live on the earth, when a banner is raised on the mountains, you will see it, and when a trumpet sounds, you will hear it. I have placed both editions in the most obscure prophecy so that nothing may seem to be lacking to those who want to understand what is written. At the same time, I greatly admire those who think that our faith and Christian hope are satisfied with simplicity, because it is written: The commandment of God is a clear light, enlightening the eyes (Ps. XIX, 9): and that we should not seek more than what is commanded, but that what is commanded should be done: for this reason, both the whole Scripture and the Prophets are specifically involved in the mysteries of the future, so that they may provoke us to understanding and to what is said in the Gospel: Ask and you shall receive, seek and you shall find, knock and it shall be opened to you. Therefore, since I have explained the history and what is contained in Hebrew in the fifth book, now I will explain what seems to me according to the allegory. Perhaps a discerning reader may inquire what the Vision, or the Burden of Damascus, the sounding cymbal, and the other things that follow mean. After the calling of the Gentiles was mentioned, along with the objection of the Jews and their election, those who believed through the Apostles, and then the multitude of the Gentiles and the persecutors who were compared to the waves of the sea: it followed that the prophetic discourse would also announce the heresies that have troubled and continue to ravage the Church, which, while the master of the household slept, sowed weeds in the field of the Church (Matthew 13). And they are called cymbals, lacking the love of God, according to the saying of the Apostle: 'If I speak with the tongues of men and of angels, but do not have love, I have become a noisy gong or a clanging cymbal' (1 Corinthians 13:1). And not only a cymbal with its harsh resounding sound, but because of the lightweight heretical discourse that flows in different directions, they are called cymbals of wings, or according to the Septuagint, wings of ships, who, promising great goods, sail in the waves of this world. But understand the wings of the ships, the sails by which they are suspended and drawn. And beautifully he called them the wings of the ships, for every heretic promises lofty things and boasts of having wings, yet he clings to the salty waves and does not depart far from land, and in the middle of his course he suddenly suffers shipwreck. Hence the Eagle, as a symbol of the ship, interpreted the shadow of the wings, for eagles do not have wings, but a resemblance to wings. And he brings forth the fact that which is beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, signifies that all heretics are conquered by their impiety. For example: Epicurus says that there is no providence, and that pleasure is the greatest good. By comparison, Marcion is even more wicked, and all heretics who tear apart the Old Testament. For when they reject providence, they accuse the Creator, and assert that He has erred in most of His works, and has not done them as He should have. For what benefit do serpents, scorpions, crocodiles, fleas, bugs, and mosquitoes bring to human beings? Therefore, these people across the rivers of Ethiopia are sending messengers into the sea of this world, that is, their disciples, who are said to carry their volumes, rightly called papyrus vessels, that is, papers carried on the water, which are quickly erased. For just as books are quickly obscured and destroyed by water and moisture, so too their message and teaching, once it appears to possess some strength in the beginning, passes away and slips away. Therefore, through irony, it is said to them: O Angels of heretics, go quickly. These false apostles, deceitful workers, who transform themselves into apostles of Christ, are referred to as such by the blessed apostle Paul (2 Cor. XI). And go to the nation torn and ravaged: torn from God and torn apart by the bites of heretics. To a horrible people; for there is nothing more horrible than blasphemy, which lifts up its own mouth in arrogance. After which there is no other people; for every sin when compared to blasphemy is lighter. A people waiting, waiting, and trampled upon. For all heretics promise themselves celestial things, and they promise great things, and yet they are trampled upon by demons. Whose land the rivers have plundered, which do not have waters from the sky, but from the earth. For what corner is there, what remote wilderness of the earth, to which the polluted speech of heretics does not reach? Therefore, all who dwell and live in the world, lift up their eyes to the sign of the heretics, which is raised as if on mountains, and they hear the sound of the trumpet, that is, their teaching. These things are according to Hebrew. Furthermore, according to the Seventy, the wings of the heretics lament, which fly like ships across the sea of this age, and they surpass the impiety of the Gentiles, whom Scripture now calls Ethiopians: and it is said about their teaching and their language: You who send books of this age into the sea, the hostages of your perversity, and letters to deceive those who will read them. The swift messengers go to the high and foreign people, and the most wicked. For no ecclesiastics have so much zeal for good as heretics have for evil, and they believe they will gain advantage by deceiving others and destroying those who are already doomed. But this people is called exalted because of their pride: and foreign and wicked because they are estranged from God. Truly a people without hope, and oppressed, whose rivers throughout the whole earth imitate the dwelling of the Church, so that they may find for themselves a home and a region, in which they may raise the sign of their teaching, in which they may sound the trumpet of the Scriptures.
18:4-7
(Vs. 4 and following) Because this is what the Lord says to me, I will rest and observe in my place: just as the bright midday light is, and like the clouds of dew in the day of harvest. Before the harvest, the whole field has blossomed, and the immature perfection will sprout, and its branches will be cut off by the sickle: and what has been left behind will be cut off, shaken off. And they will be left to the birds of the mountains, and to the animals of the earth, and in perpetual summer, birds will be above it, and all the animals of the earth will winter over it. In that time the gift of the Lord of hosts will be brought by the scattered and torn people, by the dreadful and desecrated people, by the waiting and trampled people, whose rivers they have plundered, to the place of the name of the Lord of hosts, Mount Zion. God rests and contemplates in His place, or near the Eagle, in the firmament, that is, in the Church, of which the Apostle Paul speaks: Pillar and foundation of truth (I Tim. III, 15). But the things that happen in the Church are contemplated; and just as the clear midday light illuminates everything, so it surveys the whole: according to what is said in the eighteenth Psalm in the mystical sense about the sun of justice: There is none that can hide himself from its heat. And just as the clouds of dew in the day of harvest, and in the scorching heat of summer are most welcome, so the Lord refreshes the inhabitants of His Church, in whose presence all things flourish. And before the time of consummation comes, because now we know in part and we prophesy in part, many perfect ones will be found, of whom the Apostle speaks: As many as are perfect, let us think this way (I Cor. XIII; Phil. III, 15). But the useless branches will be cut off by the sickles, as the Savior says in the Gospel: I am the true vine, and my Father is the vinedresser. Every branch in me that does not bear fruit, he will take it away; and every branch that bears fruit, he will prune it, that it may bear more fruit (John XV, 2). And those things which have been cut off will be left for the birds of the mountains and the beasts of the earth. For the birds, which are sown along the way, will be preyed upon, and for the beasts, to whom the soul is delivered, not confessing God, so that he who has been cut off and rejected by the Lord, and separated from his body, which is the Church, may find his dwelling among birds and beasts both in summer and winter, that is, in prosperity and adversity. And just as those who are useless and unfruitful in the Church are pruned and cast out, lest a little yeast corrupt the whole mass: so, on the contrary, it can happen that those who were deceived by heretical error, and torn away from the Lord and lacerated, and terrifying for their blasphemy, and waiting in vain for lies, and trampled by demons, and scattered in various parts by rivers, when they have remembered their God, and have abandoned their many teachers, offer a gift to the Lord of hosts, nowhere else but on Mount Zion, and in the watchtower, which is interpreted as the Church. We will be brief, because we have already discussed many things in the book of historical explanation.
19:1
(Chapter 19, Verse 1) The Burden of Egypt. Symmachus and Theodotion: The Assumption of Egypt. Septuagint: The Vision of Egypt. Where in Hebrew it is written Massa Mesraim (), which we have interpreted as the Burden or Weight of Egypt: for which Aquila translated ἄρμα Αἰγύπτου, we can say that because the prophet carries and bears the yoke of the Lord, it is fitting for him to carry the burden of Egypt and see or bear the prophecy of Egypt. Hence, I wonder that the Septuagint translated it as Vision in Babylon; and as Word in Philistia, Moab, and Damascus; and now as Version in Egypt; when in Hebrew it is not Word and Vision in all these cases, but Massa (), that is, Burden, weight, that is placed. But what Symmachus and Theodotion have always translated as λῆμμα, that is, assumption, we must understand that the prophet received spiritual grace from the Lord to know the sacraments of Egypt, or to see with the eyes of the mind, as the Septuagint translated. However, this Egypt is not the same as the one the Jews think, as Josephus believed, who relates in the book of Antiquities: that Onias the priest fulfilled the prophecy of Isaiah by building a temple in the region of Heliopolis, which the Egyptians call νομὸν, according to the likeness of the Temple of God, and an altar. For let us grant that these things were said about Onias, and about the altar that he built in Egypt, which will be five cities that speak the Canaanite language in Egypt, of which one is called ἀσεδὲκ according to the LXX; according to other interpreters, the city is called Ars or Ares, or city of the sun? And who will be this savior who was sent to the Egyptians to save them, and so that the Egyptians may know the Lord? When they worshiped him with sacrifices and gifts, and fulfilled their vows? When did the Lord strike Egypt and heal it? At what time can we teach that there was a way from Egypt to Assyria, and the Assyrians entered Egypt and the Egyptians into Assyria; and the Egyptians served Assyria? When Israel was in Egypt for the third time; and among the Assyrians, it was like a blessing in the midst of the land, so that the Lord said: Blessed is my people in Egypt, and the work of my hands in Assyria? It is clear that these things do not pertain to the Egypt that the Jews estimate. Therefore, we can call this place in which we live, and the world which is situated in evil: Egypt, especially because Mizraim, which is called Egypt, is interpreted as ἐκθλίβουσα, that is, troubling or bringing into distress. However, it should be known that many Egyptian burdens or visions pertain to the province of Egypt, which is inhabited and seen even today. But both in this and in other places of Scripture, many things are stated which cannot stand according to history, so that by necessity we are compelled to seek a deeper understanding.
19:1-4
(Verse 1 and following): Behold, the Lord will ascend upon a light cloud, and will enter Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will be moved from before him, and the heart of Egypt will waste away within it. And I will incite the Egyptians against the Egyptians, and they will fight, man against his brother, and man against his friend, city against city, kingdom against kingdom. And the spirit of Egypt will be broken within it, and I will frustrate their plans; and they will consult their idols and their diviners, and the Pythons and fortune-tellers. And I will deliver Egypt into the hands of cruel masters, and a strong king will rule over them, says the Lord God of hosts. I have diligently examined many of the prophecies of Egypt, which Isaiah raised up or saw, in a historical explanation. Therefore, now according to tropology, the most important things are to be taken. The Lord ascends upon a light cloud, the body of the holy Virgin Mary, which is not burdened by the weight of any human seed: or certainly His own body, which was conceived of the Holy Spirit. And he entered into Egypt of this world; and immediately all the Egyptian idols were moved, so that the divinations and all the fraud of idolatry, which possessed and deceived the whole world, felt that it had been broken: to such an extent that the wise men from the East, who were taught by demons, or according to the prophecy of Balaam (Num. XXIV), understanding that the Son of God had been born, who would destroy all the power of their art, came to Bethlehem and, with the star guiding them, adored the child (Matt. II). Then the heart of Egypt trembled, and the Egyptians rose up against the Egyptians, according to that which the Lord speaks in the Gospel: Think not that I am come to send peace upon earth: I came not to send peace, but the sword. For I am come to divide a man against his father, and the daughter against her mother, and the daughter-in-law against her mother-in-law (Matt. X, 34 seqq.). At that time also this was fulfilled: The enemies of a man are they of his own household (Micah VII, 6). And a man will fight against his brother, and a man against his friend. For they were separated in one house, two against three, and three against two, and the father was divided against the Son, and the son against the father, city against city, and kingdom against kingdom, those who did not believe against those who believed, or certainly those who believed, desiring to save their closest ones. And the spirit of Egypt was disrupted in their hearts, so that they would not feel equal; but separated by a spiritual sword against themselves, they would recognize that all their plans had been thrown away: and nevertheless, remaining in their previous error, those who had refused to accept the truth of faith would consult idols and their gods, and Pythonesses, and soothsayers. And when they did this, the Lord delivered them into the hands of cruel masters, according to the apostle's saying: Whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme (1 Tim. 1:20); being oppressed by the harshest servitude, may they return to the most merciful Lord. And fittingly, he calls the cruel demons their masters, to whom nothing is more cruel. Also, the strong king, who is their Lord, clearly refers to the devil, whom the Lord also calls a fortune in the Gospel, by binding and oppressing whom, the vessels of his house are plundered.
19:5-11
(Verset 5 et suiv.) And the sea water will dry up, and the river will be deserted and dried up, and the rivers will fail, and the streams of the embankments will be thin and dry up. The reed and the rush will wither, the bed of the river will be exposed from its source, and all irrigated crops will dry up. It will dry up and cease to exist. And the fishermen will mourn, and all those who cast a hook into the river and spread a net over the surface of the water, and they will dry up. And those who work with linen will be confused, weaving and creating delicate fabrics, and their irrigated fields will become dry, all those who make ponds to catch fish. Foolish princes of Tanis, wise counselors gave Pharaoh foolish advice. When a strong and harsh king shall have dominion over Egypt, all learning and beauty of secular eloquence shall wither, and the very source of all rivers, the devil from whom all lies originate, shall cause devastation: so that other rivers and streams, which were filled by the turbid waters of the Nile, shall fail. Even the reed and the rush shall dry up from excessive drought. They made paper from the papyrus reed, which grows in the Greek language, and added their own green ink, which is not found in Hebrew. When I asked the scholars what this meant, I heard that in the Egyptian language, this word refers to everything that grows in the green marsh. The reed, according to metaphor, is a hollow speech, having nothing solid in itself. And the papyrus, while it appears to have a core and is not hollow, is still fragile and quickly withers. Moreover, all the rivers, when the source of the rivers dries up, will also dry up, and whatever was previously irrigated by the waters of Egypt will be dried up, so that the fishermen of Egypt, who are strongly opposed to the fishermen of the Lord, may mourn, and those who cast a hook into the river and spread a net over the surface of the water may lament. They deceive each individual by casting a hook into the muddy waters. But those who deceive many together, so that they speak openly in the synagogues of Satan and lead away the flocks of the people, they cast a net over the Egyptian waters. Even those who worked with linen to make the priests' garments will be confused; twisting and weaving it, which properly belongs to the art of dialectics. For 'subtilibus', the Septuagint translates it as 'byssus', which is also used for the priests' garments. And what follows: 'And its ponds will be stagnant, all those who made fish traps, this signifies that all the traps of the Egyptian fishermen will be destroyed and perish. For the gaps that were made to catch fish, as we have interpreted according to sense, both in Hebrew and in all the interpreters, in the place of the fish, souls are placed, so that we are drawn from the history to the tropology, namely that these fishermen, who made the gaps and pits, did so in order to deceive souls in them. It should be noted that for the gaps the LXX translated ζύθον, which is a type of drink made from grains and water, and is commonly called sabaium in the provinces of Dalmatia and Pannonia in both the native and barbaric language. The Egyptians use this mainly so that they do not attribute pure water to those who drink, but rather turbid water, and similar to mixed feces, so that through this kind of potion the doctrine of heretical depravity is shown. Then the princes of Taneos will be fools, which is interpreted as a humble command. For all heretics teach humility contrary to exaltation, and they bring down to the depths, and they are the princes of humble and abject command. Also, the counselors of Pharaoh, who is the king of Egypt, and rightly a scatterer, and divided, and separated into various parts, are described as foolish for giving counsel when the Lord has scattered the wisdom of the wise, and has rejected the understanding of the prudent (1 Corinthians 1).
19:12-15
(Verse 12 and following) How can you say to Pharaoh: I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings? Where are your wise men now? Let them tell you and make known what the Lord of hosts has planned against Egypt. The princes of Tanis have become foolish, the princes of Memphis are deluded; the leaders of Egypt have led it astray. The Lord has poured into them a spirit of confusion; they have made Egypt stagger in all its undertakings, as a drunkard staggers and vomits. And Egypt will have no need for one who makes the head and tail bend and restrain. Heretics often say to their king or Pharaoh: We are the sons of the wise ones who from the beginning delivered to us the Apostolic teaching: We are the sons of the ancient kings who are called the kings of the philosophers, and we have knowledge of the Scriptures joined with secular wisdom. He now asks them, whether it be the king of the heretics himself, where are his wise men who despised Ecclesiastical simplicity: and he compels them to answer what the Lord of Sabaoth has thought concerning Egypt of this world, and what he will do in its consummation. The foolish princes of Taneos are approved, who held the lowly command of the heretics. All the princes of Memphis, who boast of polluting eloquence and speech, are confounded. For 'Memphis' signifies 'mouth' or 'from the mouth' and metaphorically means 'speech'. And what follows: They deceived the corner of Egypt, or according to the Septuagint: they will deceive Egypt through tribes, signifies that the kingdom of secular wisdom is shown to be foolish, and the leaders of individual doctrines, who are interpreted as tribes, are shown to have had foolish teachers. For the Lord has mixed for them the spirit of confusion, or errors, according to what is written: And as they did not think it worthwhile to retain the knowledge of God, God gave them over to a depraved mind (Rom. I, 24). And just as the holy one, Isaiah, can say: We will make the spirit of your salvation come upon the earth, so the sinner will make the spirit of error, that is, the spirit of malice. This is in accordance with what we read in Jeremiah: Your own wickedness will punish you, and your turning from me will rebuke you (Jerem. II, 19). But if a heretic is scandalized who does not accept the old Testament, which is said to be mixed with the spirit of error or confusion, let him hear the writing in the Apostle, that is, in the new Testament: God gave them up to the desires of their hearts in uncleanness (Rom. I, 24). And again: Therefore, God gave them up to shameful passions. And again: God gave them up to a reprobate sense, to do what is not fitting. But they are delivered up in the desires of their hearts, because they changed the glory of the incorruptible God into the likeness of the image of a corruptible man, and of birds, and of four-footed beasts, and of creeping things. Which indeed is not only read in the Epistle to the Romans, but also in the Epistle to the Thessalonians concerning the Antichrist: Because they receive not the love of the truth, that they might be saved. Therefore God shall send them the operation of error, to believe lying: That all may be judged who have not believed the truth but have consented to iniquity (2 Thess. 2:10). I think the Apostle Paul took this from the present reading of Isaiah, in which he says: The Lord hath mingled for them the spirit of error, and they have erred in all their works, as an intoxicated man staggereth and vomiteth, so also shall Egypt stagger and vomit because of her excess. Joel speaks of those who are drunk: Woe to those who are drunk without wine. And not only drunk, but also vomiting the madness of dragons, and the incurable madness of asps, so that after they vomit up this kind of wine, they understand their drunkenness and recognize that as long as they are drunk, they have neither beginning nor end, that is, neither head nor tail, but a trunk on both sides of the animal. For beginning and end, which both Symmachus and the Septuagint translated, Theodotion added the Hebrew words Chaphphe () and Agmon (), which Aquila interpreted as bent and perverse. In incurvo, senes intelligi volens; in perverso, lascivientes pueros, qui omniaperversa faciant; ac per hoc esse sensum, quod in Aegypto non solum caput desit et cauda, sed et senes et pueri, id est, et principium et finis.
19:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) On that day, Egypt will be like women, and it will be astonished and afraid because of the shaking hand of the Lord of hosts, which he will bring down on it. And the land of Judah will be a terror to Egypt; everyone who thinks of it will fear because of the counsel of the Lord of hosts, which he has determined against it. At that time, which is now, as we have frequently mentioned, it signifies the day when the Lord will send the spirit of error and confusion, so that Egypt will vomit out the wine of dragons and the incurable madness of asps, understanding its own error and its former drunkenness. Egypt will be afraid like a woman, not with the usual fear that anyone may experience, whom Egypt does not love but suffocates and kills; but with a feminine fear, for Egypt alone does Pharaoh desire to live. But when the commotion, or raising up, of the hand of the Lord, by which punishments are demonstrated, moves and lifts up, in order to strike Egypt. Then the land of Judah, that is, the knowledge of the Scriptures, the law and the prophets, the Gospels and the Epistles of the Apostles, will be a cause for celebration for Egypt, if they recognize them: or a cause for fear, if by comparing their teachings and truths, they understand that they have held falsehood. All who remember this land will tremble with the fear that leads to life: For the beginning of wisdom is the fear of the Lord (Prov. 9:10). And not only in the consummation of the world, but also in the present time, we can receive this; which, every heretic should fear and be frightened by, as it is a teaching of a man knowledgeable in heavenly doctrines. But he will fear and dread the counsel of the Lord, which he has conceived upon Egypt of this world. We briefly go over each thing, in order to move on to the rest.
19:18
(Verse 18.) On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing by the Lord of hosts. One city shall be called the City of the Sun. The raised and shaking hand of the Lord over Egypt greatly benefits, so that the land of Judah may be in fear of Him, and everyone who remembers Him may tremble. At that time, five cities in the land of Egypt will speak the language of Canaan, which our five senses understand: sight, hearing, smell, taste, and touch. When we see a woman to be desired, our sight speaks in the Egyptian language. When we hear a judgment of blood, with the Lord saying: You shall not entertain a vain hearing (4 Kings 12:21, according to the Septuagint), our hearing speaks in the Egyptian language. When we live in luxury according to the prophet, and lie on ivory beds, and anoint ourselves with the best ointments, our sense of smell speaks in the Egyptian language. When our God is present (Philippians III), our taste speaks the Egyptian language. If we do not hear what the Apostle says: It is good for a man not to touch a woman (I Corinthians VII); but on the contrary, let us join with the harlot, our touch speaks the Egyptian language. But if, on the contrary, we lift up our eyes and see that the fields are already white for harvesting, and we have not bowed down to the ground, but according to the Gospel, with a woman who for eighteen years could not look up to heaven (Luke XIII), we lift up our eyes and say, To you I lift up my eyes, who dwell in heaven (Psalm CXXII, 1), our eye and sight speak the Canaanite language. If we cut off our ears and hear the Lord speaking, those who have ears to hear shall listen (Luke 8:8). Our hearing speaks the language of the Canaanite. Whoever can say to the bridegroom: After you we run for the fragrance of your ointments (Song of Songs 1:3), and: We are the sweet odor of Christ in every place (1 Corinthians 2:15), his sense of smell speaks the language of the Canaanite. The taste is also received in a good manner by the one who eats the bread that came down from heaven, the living and not the dead bread, and hears this: Taste and see how sweet the Lord is (Psalm 34:9), immediately his tongue speaks the language of the Canaanite. But there is also a spiritual touch, of which the Apostle John says: Our hands have touched the Word of life (1 John 1:1); and whoever touches Jesus in faith, so that the Savior can say about him: Someone has touched me, for I know power has gone out from me (Luke 8:46). We have learned how great blessings the elevated hand of the Lord bestows; let us seek why the five cities of Egypt speak not in the Hebrew tongue, but in the language of Canaan. To this, we will attempt to respond as follows: the Hebrew word 'περάτην' means 'transitor', one who travels from one place to another. Therefore, even though we are holy as long as we are in Egypt and surrounded by the darkness of this world, we cannot speak in the Hebrew language, but in the language of Canaan, which is intermediate between Egyptian and Hebrew and closely related to Hebrew. Canaan, in translation, means 'commotion' or 'response.' Therefore, when we depart from Egypt and desire to leave the power of Pharaoh, so that our land and our fearful confession belongs to Egypt, then we are moved and as if we respond to the will of the Lord, and yet because we are still in the present age, we cannot yet speak the Hebrew language. And what follows: swearing by the Lord of hosts five cities, this signifies that even here, placed in no way among demons, but among the rememberers of almighty God. Out of the five cities, while the names of four others are not mentioned, one is called the city of the sun, which seems to me to refer to sight. Just as a city needs the sun and moon to be seen, so our eyes need the sun of righteousness to be enlightened.
19:19-21
(Verse 19-21) On that day there will be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, and a pillar near its boundary to the Lord. And it will be a sign and a witness to the Lord of hosts in the land of Egypt. For they will cry to the Lord because of the oppressor, and he will send them a Savior and a defender to deliver them, and the Lord will be known by Egypt. Accordingly, to what he said above: On that day there will be five cities in the land of Egypt speaking the language of Canaan and swearing by the Lord of hosts, now it is introduced: There will be an altar of the Lord in the midst of the land of Egypt, which Onias, according to Josephus (Antiquities of the Jews, Book 13, Chapter 6), mistakenly tried to fulfill. And the title of the Lord containing the passion, in which it is written in Hebrew letters, Greek, and Latin: Jesus of Nazareth, the king of the Jews (John 19), as a sign of the Cross, and as a testimony to all nations, which are now called Egypt. And when the persecution of those who trouble the name of Christians grows, then they will cry out in their hearts: Abba Father (Romans 8). And the Lord of hosts will send the Savior, that is, Jesus, and the Judge, or defender who will deliver them, so that they may know the Lord, and they themselves may be known by the Lord; and where sin abounded, grace may superabound (Romans 5). But the one altar of Egypt, that is, of this world, as we know, all altars that are raised against the Church altar are not of the Lord. Until the end of the vision of Egypt, in the book of Historical Explanation, because it was a clear prophecy, we said that all things are referred to Christ.
19:20
(Verse 20.) And the Egyptians will know the Lord on that day; and they will worship him with sacrifices and offerings, and they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them. And the Lord will strike Egypt with a plague, and he will heal it; and they will return to the Lord, and he will be appeased by them, and he will heal them. After the Egyptians have come to know the Lord, they will worship him with spiritual sacrifices and offerings; and they will make vows to the Lord and fulfill them; and they will say with David: 'Sacrifice to God a contrite spirit' (Psalm 50:19); and: 'The lifting up of my hands is an evening sacrifice' (Psalm 140:2); when they believe in the Nazarene and themselves become Nazarenes, not drinking wine and strong drink (John 19); and the vinegar that was given to the Lord, and whatever is made from the Sodomite grape. And when they have fulfilled their vows with Abel, and God looks upon them, Cain, the older brother, that is, the people of Circumcision, will envy and shed Christian blood, which will cry out to the Lord (Gen. IV); and therefore he will go forth from the face of God, saying of the Savior: Crucify him, crucify him (Luke XXIII, 11); and: We have no king but Caesar (John XIX, 15). He offers and fulfills his vow to the Lord, who is holy in body and spirit. Zacchaeus also offered a vow and promised to give half of his possessions to the poor (Luke 19). The question arises, if the Savior and defender was sent to Egypt to deliver them from distress, how can it now be said, 'The Lord will strike Egypt with a plague?' But let us consider what follows: 'And he will heal it.' For whom the Lord loves, he chastises (Hebrews 12). And the Savior himself speaks to the Father in Psalm 68: 'For those who you struck, they pursued; and they added to the pain of my wounds.' If, therefore, He has not spared His own Son, but has surrendered Him for us, so that by His bruises and wounds we may be healed (Rom. 8): the Lord also surrendered the martyrs to suffering, but He will restore them in the resurrection, so that the faith of believers may be confirmed by their wounds. Hence, it is also said to Job: Do you think that I have spoken in any other way to you, unless that you might appear just? For He Himself causes pain and restores to former health; He visits His servants with a rod, so that He does not take His mercy away from them. Where are the daughters and daughters-in-law who have greatly sinned and spread their legs to everyone passing by, not visited or rebuked, as the Lord says: 'I will not visit your daughters when they fornicate, or your daughters-in-law when they commit adultery' (Hosea 4:14). Therefore, the Lord strikes the Egyptians, not with fire or sword, but with a rod. For what son is not disciplined by his father? So that once they have been healed, they may return to the Lord, and he may be appeased with them and heal them again. For we always need the mercy of God, and there is no end to His clemency.