(Chapter 45, Verse 8) Drop down, ye heavens, from above, and let the clouds rain the just: let the earth be opened, and bud forth the saviour, and let justice spring up together: I the Lord have created him. Septuagint: Let the heavens above rejoice, and let the clouds rain down righteousness: let the earth bring forth salvation, and let mercy spring up, and let justice bud together: I the Lord have created thee. There is a double interpretation of this passage. For some believe that it refers to the previous statements, and that when Cyrus the king releases the captives, heaven and earth rejoice: metaphorically, this signifies those who dwell in heaven and on earth. Others separate it from what has gone before, and consider this chapter to be the beginning of its own section, and to prophesy concerning the coming of the Lord, which is commanded to come with clouds, about which it was written above (in ch. V, 6): 'I will command the clouds that they rain not upon it,' that is, upon the vineyard of Israel; and concerning those to whom the truth of God has come, so that they may rain righteousness upon the world or righteousness; and let the earth open, and let it bring forth a Savior. Concerning whom it is sung in the Psalms: 'Truth has sprung from the earth, and righteousness has looked down from heaven' (Ps. LXXXIV, 12); or, according to the Septuagint: 'The earth has brought forth mercy and righteousness together,' so that both sinners may obtain mercy and the righteous may receive rewards. And furthermore, I, the Lord, who created him, or, I, the Lord who created you, shall not be scandalized by the name of the creature, who has read him to be a worm, a servant, and a plant sprung from the earth.
45:9-13
(Verse 9 and following) Woe to those who contradict their maker, a pot made of clay, and say to the one who formed them, 'What are you making?' or 'Your work has no hands.' Woe to those who say to their father, 'What are you begetting?' or to their mother, 'What are you in labor with?' This is what the Lord says, the Holy One of Israel, and its maker: Ask me about the things to come, concerning my children, and about the work of my hands, give me orders. I made the earth and created humans on it, I stretched out the heavens with my hands, and I command all their host. I have raised him up to righteousness, and I will direct all his ways. He will build my city, and he will release my captivity, not for a price or with gifts, says the Lord of hosts. LXX: What better have I done than clay to a potter? Will the plowman plow the earth? Will the clay say to the potter, what are you doing, since you do not work and do not have hands? Woe to him who says to his father, what do you beget, and to his mother, what do you give birth? For thus says the Lord God, the Holy One of Israel, who created what is to come. Ask me about my sons and command me concerning the work of my hands. I made the earth and created man upon it. I, with my own hand, stretched out the heavens; I commanded all the stars. I raised him up with righteousness as a king; all his ways are straight. He himself will build my city and will turn the captivity of my people, not with price nor with gifts, says the Lord God of hosts. Those who want to apply what was said to the character of Cyrus interpret this place as follows: With me promising great things, because of the return of my people to Judea, I will subjugate all the kingdoms to Cyrus: Woe to him who is incredulous and does not believe what I say will come to pass, as if clay and broken pottery were to criticize its potter why it was made or why it was made in that way; and a work should speak against its artist's hands; and a son should criticize his father and mother, why he was poured out onto the earth by the law of nature. Since I am the Holy Lord of Israel who formed Cyrus and caused him to be born by my command, it is pointless for you to doubt the future. Rather, you should know that my sons, the people of Israel, and the work of my hands are not subject to your control, but to my will. I, who created darkness and evil for them in the past, will now give them light and peace. For I am the God who did not create the earth in vain, but for the purpose of habitation by humans. I have extended and established the heavens as the dwelling place of the angels. I have adorned them with the diversity of the stars, and I have commanded each one to run its course in order, and to fill the different spaces of days, months, and years. Therefore, if I have made the heavens and the earth, what is it of great significance if I create one king who will obey my commands and direct all his ways? For he will be commanded to build my city, Jerusalem, and to bring the captives back to Judah. Not for reward or gifts, but for my own willingness, says the Lord God of hosts. But whoever brings understanding to Christ refers to his explanation in the following words: Woe to those who contradict God and do not believe that Christ will come; as if clay and a vessel were to contradict its potter. Woe to him who says to the Almighty Father, why do you beget a son, and to the holy woman Mary, what are you giving birth to? Of whom the Apostle also writes (Galatians 4): That Christ was made from a woman, made under the law. Therefore, the Holy Lord of Israel, who formed the Savior in a virgin womb, says, speaking through Gabriel: The Holy Spirit will come upon you, and the power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:35). And what will be born in you, holy, will be called the Son of God. Let the earthen vessel ask me, and let it seek the secrets of the future. And let it command me how I should regenerate the adopted children who will believe in my Son. And the evangelist John says: Whoever received him, he gave them the power to become children of God (John 1:12). But if I made the earth to be inhabited by men, and stretched out the heavens above, and adorned them with the variety of stars, so that the worshipers of God might dwell on earth: why is it surprising that I sent my Son, the righteous king, into the world, or raised him from the dead, whose ways are all straight? For he did not commit sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth (1 Peter 2:22). Whoever builds my city upon a rock, against which the gates of Hell shall not prevail (Matth. XVI); and which, when placed on a mountain, cannot be hidden (Ibid., V): and who first binds the possessed with chains, and sets all the children free, not for a price or reward: for we have been saved freely, both those who listen and those who act: You have received freely, freely give (Matth. X, 8). Some attribute these words to Zorobabel, who led the captives out of Babylon, and built the city, and constructed the temple, as prophesied by Haggai and Zechariah, who said: The hands of Zorobabel have laid the foundation of this house, and his hands shall complete it (Zach. IV, 9). But we say more correctly and truly, neither did Cyrus build the city that was later built under Nehemiah, nor were all its roads straight. To whom it was said above: I have taken you, and girded you: and you have not known me; and Zerubbabel, who was under the authority and power of the Medes and Persians, exceeds all that is said. For Zerubbabel did not build the city, nor did he release the captivity, nor can he be called a king, who, living under other kings, lacked this title. But what do the Seventy mean, who translated at the beginning of this chapter: What have I done better than the clay of the potter? Will the one who tills, till the earth? I do not know: unless perhaps I follow the edition of Theodotion, who put instead: Woe to him who contends against his maker, the one who tills tilling the earth: because he would wound the hearts of mortals in repentance, and in the manner of plows, he would undermine and overthrow it. But even this interpretation is frivolous. Furthermore, because a potter, that is, our Creator and Maker, is called God, and the apostle Paul speaks in his Epistle to the Romans: Does the thing formed say to him that formed it, Why have you made me like this? Does not the potter have power over the clay, to make one vessel unto honor, and another unto dishonor? (Romans 9:20) And in Jeremiah it is written in more detail, where he narrates among other things: I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was making a work on the wheel, and the vessel that he made was marred in his hands. And again he made another vessel from the same clay, as it pleased him in his sight. And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Cannot I do with you, as this potter, O house of Israel, saith the Lord? Behold as clay is in the hand of the potter, so are you in my hand, O house of Israel (Jeremiah 18:3-4). And that which is written: I have commanded the stars to all, and I have given opportunity to some, so that the stars may have reason and soul and sense. For they say that He would not have commanded [these things] unless they were intelligible: not remembering [what is] written in Jonah: 'The Lord commanded a burning wind' (Jonah 4:8). And again: 'The Lord commanded the morning worm' (Ibid., 7). And that in the Gospel the Savior rebuked the winds and the sea (Luke 8), in which it is clear that there is no sense or reason.
45:14-17
(Verse 14 onwards) Thus says the Lord: The labor of Egypt and the trade of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over to you and be yours; they shall follow you; they shall come over in chains and bow down to you. They will plead with you, saying: Surely God is in you, and there is no other, no god besides you. Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior. All of them are put to shame and are confounded; the makers of idols go in confusion together. Israel has been saved by the Lord with eternal salvation: you will not be confounded, and you will not be ashamed forever. LXX: Thus says the Lord of hosts: Egypt has labored, and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabaeans: men of stature shall come over to you, and they shall be yours, they shall follow you in chains, and they shall come over to you, and they shall adore you, and they shall pray to you: for in you is God, and there is no other God beside you. You are indeed God, and we did not know it: the God of Israel, the Savior: let all his adversaries be confounded and ashamed, and let them walk in confusion. In this place, those who follow the story say that Egypt and the nations of Ethiopia and the Sabaeans, who are beyond Ethiopia, served Cyrus and were subject to him. And they understood by a marvelous victory that the Lord was in him, and there was no other God besides him who dwelt in him. But this that follows, 'Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior,' how can it apply to the person of Cyrus, I do not understand. Unless, perhaps, they use the edition of Theodotion, who translated, 'In you is strength, and there is no other God besides you: therefore you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior.' Whatever way they twist it, they will not be able to escape the snares of truth. For if they make God to be in Cyrus, and there is no other besides him who is God in Cyrus, how can it be said of the person of Cyrus, 'Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel, the Savior?' Therefore, God in whom God is, our Lord Jesus Christ is understood more rightly and truly, who speaks in the Gospel: I and the Father are one (John 10:30). He who is called God, hidden because of the sacrament of assumed body, and the God of Israel the Savior, which is interpreted as Jesus. For it is he who, according to the Angel Gabriel, will save his people (Luke 1). Indeed, all were confused and ashamed together. Specifically, the scribes and the Pharisees. And the fabricators of error went away in confusion, who spread lies throughout the whole world, saying that it was stolen from the Apostles. But Israel, saved in the Lord with eternal salvation, refers to the chorus of the Apostles and those who believed through the Apostles. Therefore it is said to them: You will not be confused or ashamed, not only in this present age, but also in the future. It is not doubted that Egypt, Ethiopia, and the Sabaeans, great and lofty men, served him, when they see the world subjected to him, and from the names of a few nations dwelling at the ends of the earth, they see that all the corners of the heavens and all the shores of the earth will believe in him. From where 'Cessarelabor of Egypt' is called, elegantly as if to those who are laboring in the error of idolatry. For no other nation was so dedicated to idolatry and worshipped so many countless wonders as Egypt, of which we read above (19:1): 'Behold, the Lord will ascend on a light cloud, and will enter Egypt, and the idols of Egypt will be moved from his presence, and the heart of Egypt will waste away within it.' Moreover, what is added in the Septuagint: 'Be renewed to me, O islands,' we can explain in this way, that the churches gathered from the Gentiles are renewed in Christ, and are called islands because they endure the madness of persecutors and the storms, and, being founded upon the rock, are not shaken by the mass of whirlwinds. The Hebrews foolishly strive to assert, up to the point where it is read: There is only in you, God, and there is no God outside of you, God, neither to Jerusalem, nor to Cyrus to be called. However, what follows: Truly you are a hidden God, the God of Israel the Savior, suddenly turns into an apostrophe to the omnipotent God, even though it is clear to the foolish that there is one connected context of the discourse, and that the meaning cannot be divided, which is linked in the very order and reason of the narration.
45:18-25
(Vers. 18 seqq.) Because this is what the Lord says, the one who created the heavens, the one who formed the earth and made it, the one who established it; he did not create it in vain, but formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I did not speak in secret, in a dark place on the earth. I did not say to the offspring of Jacob, 'Seek me in vain.' I am the Lord, speaking truth, declaring what is right. Gather together and come, draw near, you who have been saved from the nations. They have no knowledge, those who carry about their wooden idols and pray to a god who cannot save. Announce, and come, and counsel together: Who has declared this from the beginning, and from then on predicted it? Is it not I, the Lord? There is no other God besides me, a righteous God and a Savior; there is none besides me. Turn to me and be saved, all the ends of the earth; for I am God, and there is no other. By myself I have sworn, from my mouth has gone forth in righteousness a word that shall not return: 'To me every knee shall bow, every tongue shall swear allegiance.' Therefore, in the Lord, it is said: My justice and power belong to me; they will come to him, and all who oppose him will be put to shame. In the Lord, all the descendants of Israel will be justified and praised. LXX: Thus says the Lord who made the heavens: this is the God who revealed the earth and made it, he prepared it: he did not make it empty, but formed it to be inhabited. I am the Lord, and there is no other. I have not spoken in secret, nor in a dark place on the earth. I have not spoken in secret, in a place of a land of darkness: I have not said to the seed of Jacob: Seek me in vain. I am the Lord that speak justice, that declare right things. Assemble yourselves, and come, and draw near together, ye that are saved of the Gentiles: they have no knowledge that set up the wood of their graven work, and pray to a god that cannot save. Tell ye, and come, and consult together: who hath declared this from the beginning, who hath foretold this from that time? Have not I the Lord, and there is no God else besides me? A just God and a saviour, there is none besides me. Turn to me and you will be saved from the ends of the earth. I am God, and there is no other. By myself I swear: righteousness will go out of my mouth, my words will not be turned away, for every knee will bow to me, and every tongue will swear and confess to God, saying: Righteousness and glory will come to him, and all who separate themselves from the Lord will be put to shame. Every descendant of Israel will be justified and glorified in God. He calls Egypt, and Ethiopia, and the Sabaeans with their exalted men, through whom the salvation of all barbarian nations and the conversion of the whole world to God is shown, God shows His justice; so that the Lord is not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles. For He is the maker of heaven and earth equally the God of all, and He created the earth for no other reason than that it should be the habitation of mankind who would worship and understand their Creator, and despise all idols. For on Mount Sinai, from its lofty summit, he spoke these words to the listening people: You shall have no other gods before me, nor shall you make for yourself an idol (Exod. XX, 3, 4). But it is better to believe this saying about the preaching of the Gospel: For Moses spoke to the people in the hidden solitude alone. But the sound of the Apostles went forth into the whole world, and their words reached to the ends of the earth (Psal. XVIII). I did not say, he said, that I am seeking the seed of Jacob in vain. For I have promised them the kingdom of heaven, and I spoke first to them: I have come only for the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matth. XXV, 24). And for this reason I spoke of justice and proclaimed what is right, or the truth, so that, with the images of the Law and the ceremonies set aside, they would follow the truth of the Gospel. But because they did not want to believe and judged themselves unworthy of salvation, therefore I say to the Gentiles: Gather from all over the world; and come and join me, all of you who have been saved from the Gentiles. By which he shows that not all nations will believe immediately, but gradually and in part. Finally, he rebukes those who remained in their former error, saying: They did not know those who lift up the wood of their carved image, and they pray to a God who does not save. And the meaning is: They did not understand my words, burdened by the weight of their idols, and hoping in them, in which there is no salvation. Therefore, the Apostles are commanded to proclaim the truth opportune and importune (2 Timothy 4), and to devise a plan for the salvation of the nations. But, that is, in order that many might be saved, God spoke from the beginning that they should be gathered and come from the nations, and the mouths of all the prophets proclaimed those who spoke the word of the Lord, except for whom there is no other. For the Son is not without Him, but in Him is God. And elegantly He joins together: God is just, not of one nation alone, but of the whole world, to whom He speaks: Turn to me and you shall be saved, all the ends of the earth; this having been fulfilled which the Father promised to the Son: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations as your inheritance, and the ends of the earth as your possession (Psalm 2:8). And He swore by Himself, since His word and judgment are unchangeable, that the declaration which He uttered once concerning the salvation of the nations might not in any way be voided, but that His promise might be fulfilled by His work, saying above: Turn to Me, and you will be saved, all the ends of the earth. He also swore by the Apostle (Heb. 6) that through two unchangeable things, in which it is impossible for God to lie, we may have strong consolation; and He also swore that every knee should bow to Him, heavenly, earthly, and infernal, and every tongue should swear by Him among mortal men (Phil. 2). In which it is clearly stated that the Christian people are signified. It is the custom of the Church to bow the knee to Christ: which the Jews, demonstrating the pride of their minds, absolutely do not do. But also every tongue of all barbarian nations, not in synagogues but in the Churches of Christ, confesses God. Moreover, every tongue confessing Christ will speak in the Lord, and will say: 'Mine are righteousness and mine is dominion, not the people of the Jews.' To him all nations will come, and those who previously resisted his Gospel will be put to shame; and all the descendants of Israel will be justified and praised, whose preaching and most fruitful sowing has brought abundant fruit throughout the whole world. Whether according to the Seventy or in every language, swearing and confessing God, it will be said that the righteousness and glory of the whole world come to him, and the Jews who separate themselves from him will be confounded. But those who are descended from the children of Israel and have sprung from the seed of the Apostles, and have believed in Christ, may they have eternal righteousness and glory.
46:1-2
(Chapter 46, Verses 1, 2.) Bel is broken, Nabo is crushed. Their idols have become beasts and livestock, burdening you with heavy loads until exhaustion. They have melted together and crumbled. They could not save those who carried them, and their souls will go into captivity. Seventy: Bel has fallen, Dagon is crushed. Their statues have become beasts and livestock, bound together as a burden for the laboring, the weak, and the hungry, unable to prevail together. They could not save from war. However, they themselves were led away as captives. After the calling of the Gentiles and the election of the believers from Israel, it is testified that the idols have fallen. Bel has fallen, indeed, he has fallen, or Saturn has been broken: whom the Greeks call Belus and the Latins call Saturn. So great was the reverence for him among the ancients that they not only offered him the human sacrifices of captive and lowly mortals, but also sacrificed their own children to him. But now even that idol itself, which is interpreted as prophecy and divination, signifies that it has fallen silent throughout the whole world after the truth of the Gospel. Or, according to the Septuagint, Dagon, which, however, is not found in Hebrew. And it is the idol of Ashkelon, Gaza, and the other cities of the Philistines. And from a specific case it passes to a general one: their images were made in the form of beasts and animals. Not that the images of the Gentiles were exposed as prey to beasts and animals, but that the religion of the nations is such that the images are of beasts and brute animals, which are especially consecrated to divine worship in Egypt. About which Virgil says (Aeneid VIII, 698):
All the various gods and the barking dog Anubis.
For most of their towns have names derived from animals and beasts, κυνῶν from the dog, λέων from the lion, θμοῦἳς from the Egyptian verb 'to have a bad smell', λύκων from the wolf, not to mention the fearful and horrible onion smell, and the sound of their bloated bellies, which is part of the religious customs of Pelusium. These idols, he says, which cannot save those who carry them, are nothing more than burdens for the priests, weighing them down to exhaustion. And when captivity comes, as payment for the metals from which they are made, the first captive is taken, and they cannot free their own soul or those who carry them. Not that the lifeless images have a soul and some sense of pain, which are devoid of sensation; but that the soul is erroneously called soul, and the limbs of those things which are without sensation and limbs. Otherwise, it is also written in the Proverbs: In the hand of the tongue is death and life. Or it must be said that the heaviest burden among the nations was the error of idolatry, which brought down its worshippers to the ground, and could not save them, but made their souls captive to the devil and demons.
46:1-7
(Verse 1, 3 and following) Hear me, house of Jacob, and all the rest of the house of Israel, who are carried from my womb, who are born from my womb. Even to your old age, I am the one, and even to your gray hairs, I will carry you. I have done it, and I will bear it; I will carry, and I will save. To whom have you likened me, and equalized, and compared me, and made me similar? You who pour out gold from the bag, and weigh silver on the scales, hiring a goldsmith to make a god, and they fall down and worship. They carry him on their shoulders, carrying and placing him in his place, and he will stand, and he will not be moved from his place. But when they cry out to him, he will not hear: he will not save them from distress. Listen to me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of Israel who are carried from the womb, and be instructed from infancy to old age. I am, and until you grow old, I am: I will sustain you: I have made you, and I will carry you: I will support you, and I will make you safe. To whom do you liken me? See, consider those who go astray and compare gold from a bag, and silver in a scale, and hire a goldsmith. They make it into an idol, and they bow down and worship it. They lift it to their shoulders and carry it. If they place it in its rightful place, it stays and will not move. It cannot hear those who cry out to it, and it will not save them from their troubles. It is not called Jacob or Israel, as we have explained above, because it is inferior, the house of Jacob, and the remnant of Israel, due to their close relationship of flesh and blood, and they are like the waste and remnants of Israel. And it teaches that they were carried from Egypt as infants and sucklings, just as from God, as if from a mother's womb and the pregnant womb, they were carried. Not because the ineffable and incomprehensible majesty of God has a womb or a womb, feet, hands, and other members of the body; but that we may learn the affection of God through our words. Otherwise, the same is sung in the hundred and ninth psalm from the person of God. For in that place where the Seventy translated, 'From the womb before the morning star I begot you,' in the Hebrew script it has 'Merehem,' which is interpreted as 'from the womb.' But at present, not only is it written about the womb and the vulva, that is, Mebeten and Merehem but also Menni, which signifies 'from my womb' or 'from my vulva'. And the meaning is: I who have begotten you from infancy and carried you in my womb and vulva, I myself will protect you even until old age, not my own, but yours, so that divine mercy may teach them to be saved. For the Creator spares his creature, and the good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep (John 10). But the hired hand, whose sheep are not his own, sees the wolf coming and flees. Therefore, because I have made and begotten children, I will bear and carry them myself. According to the Septuagint, which says: 'You who are carried from the womb, and are taught from infancy until old age,' this signifies that it is in vain for them to meditate on the law of God day and night, not having knowledge of God, but venerating the idols of humans and animals. To the extent that they require prophetic correction, by which God speaks to them: 'To whom have you made me similar and equal?' And the rest: what gold and silver they have brought, and what idols they have made by hiring a sculptor, and what works of their hands they have worshiped, which are carried on their shoulders, and which, when nailed and fixed, are unable to move, nor are they able to benefit those who worship them. We pass over the obvious things to uncover the closed mercy of Christ.
46:8-11
(Verse 8 onwards) Remember this, and be established, and return, you transgressors, to the heart. Recall the former age, for I am God, and there is no other God, nor is there anyone like me. I declare the end from the beginning, and from long ago the things that have not yet been done, saying: My purpose will stand, and I will accomplish all my desire. I call a bird of prey from the east, and from a far country a man of my counsel; I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have planned it, and I will do it. LXX: Remember these things, and groan: repent, you who go astray. Return with your heart, and remember the former things from of old: for I am God, and there is no other besides me. I announce the first things before they come to pass, and I tell you, my will shall stand, and all that I have planned, I will accomplish. I call forth a bird from the East, and from the distant land, what I have planned: I have spoken, and I will bring it to pass; I have created and I will do it. Because I myself begot you, I myself carried you, and from infancy to old age, not by your merit, but by my mercy, you are saved: abandon the idols you have made, and return to the worship of the one God. Repent, groan for the error that has held you; rather, establish yourselves, lest a sudden whirlwind of idolatry overthrow you again: and return to your heart, that is, to your mind, which, worshipping images as if insane, you were striking against wood and stones. From the beginning, consider that there is no god apart from me, and no one else can know the future except me, who through the prophets announce what I am going to do. So when I fulfill what was predicted, I will prove my divinity through divination. For I declare that I will establish the mystery that was previously unknown to all generations and reveal my plan. And when you see it come to pass, you will know that there is no god except the one who knew and commanded these future events. I am the one who calls the bird from the East, as the Hebrews believe, the king Cyrus of the Persians, or the prince Darius of the Medes; and from a distant land, a man of my will, who fulfills all my will against Babylon and the Chaldeans. Or as we are convinced to be true, the Lord Savior, about whom even Balaam prophesies: A star shall come out of Jacob, and a man shall rise out of Israel (Numbers 24:17), whose name is the East (Zechariah 6), whom the Magi from the East worshipped. For he speaks here in the Psalms: 'God, I desired to do your will' (Psalm 39:9), about whom the Father spoke and confirmed his promise by his works. In the Septuagint, since we translated from the Hebrew, they have put 'a man of my will' instead, which I have considered. Therefore, according to them, the birds called from the East, we can understand the ministries of the angels, which run throughout the world in obedience to the Lord's command. They are the ministering spirits who are sent for the salvation of the believers. Of whom it is also sung in the Psalms: 'You make your angels spirits, and your ministers a burning fire' (Psalm 103:4).
46:12-13
(Verses 12, 13.) Hear me, you with hard hearts, who are far from justice. I have brought forth my justice: it shall not be far off, and my salvation shall not delay. I will give salvation in Zion and my glory in Israel. LXX: Hear me, you who have lost heart, who are far from justice. I have brought forth my justice, and the salvation that is from me, I will not delay. I have given salvation in Zion and glory in Israel. To those whom He had spoken before: Hear me, house of Jacob, and all the remnant of the house of Israel. And again: Return, O transgressors, to the heart, even now He calls them by the Hebrew term for unbelief, hardhearted, and according to the Septuagint, those who have lost heart and mind. This was followed by the most learned man and worthy of his name, Stephen the martyr, in his speech to the Jews: With stiff neck and uncircumcised hearts and ears, you always resist the Holy Spirit, just as your fathers did (Acts 7:51). So, they are far from the justice of God because they did not believe in it, which God, in his mercy, made to be near and to come to the lands, not wanting to delay or be far away. For he gave his salvation to Zion and his glory to Israel. Let this be said about the prophecy of the future, and the coming of the Lord and Savior. Moreover, according to history, salvation is given to Zion and glory to Israel; because God has made his justice near, to call from the East a bird and from a far land a man of his will, who would avenge the injustices of Israel and the destroyed Jerusalem, and would destroy the Medes and Persians, and the Babylonians and the Chaldeans, as the following words of the Prophet testify.
47:1-3
(Chapter 47, verses 1 and following) Descend, sit in the dust, virgin daughter of Babylon: sit on the ground, there is no throne for the daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no longer be called tender and delicate. Take a millstone and grind flour: uncover your nakedness, uncover your shoulder, reveal your legs, cross the rivers. Your shame will be exposed, and your disgrace will be seen; I will take vengeance, and no one will be able to resist me. 70: Descend, sit on the ground, virgin daughter of Babylon, sit on the ground. There is no throne of the daughter of the Chaldeans, for you shall no longer be called delicate and tender. Take the millstone, grind the flour. Uncover your head, strip off your hair, uncover your legs, cross the rivers; your shame will be uncovered, your disgrace will be seen. What is right about you, I will take away; I will not deliver you to men anymore. Just as in Ezekiel under the figure of a ship and all its instruments, the adornments of Tyre are set forth, which were devoted to trading (Ezek. 26), and because of the abundance of water, the king of Egypt is called a dragon, and its scales, reeds, and papyrus, and its fish are described, and Jerusalem, together with idols, testifies to the fornication of harlots and the likeness of a brothel: so in this present place, under the person of a captive woman, who once was a queen, the servitude of Babylon is indicated; and she is told to descend from the pride of her kingdom and to sit on the dust. But she is also called a virgin and a daughter, either because all human beings are creatures of God and therefore not damnable by nature like the heretics of Babylon, or because of the luxury and splendor of the once most powerful city, which, as it grew old and approached its decline, boasted of being a maiden and a girl. Although some interpret the daughter of Babylon, as written in the Septuagint, as not referring to Babylon itself but to the city of Rome, which is specifically called Babylon in the Book of Revelation (Rev. 14) and in the Epistle of Peter (2 Pet. 5), and all that is now said about Babylon testifies to its ruins, it must be understood as the bird and the justice of God. After Zion, that is, the Church, is saved, Babylon should perish forever. Therefore, it is said that the queen and daughter of the Chaldeans (for she was founded by the Chaldeans) is no longer called soft and tender, and abundant in luxuries, which was carried in the hands of all nations; so much so that she could barely leave footprints on the ground: and it is ordered that she removes the mill, and grinds grain, which is a sign of hard captivity and extreme servitude; so that she, who was once a queen, may now serve the work of grinding flour. But because it follows: Strip off your shamefulness, even the mill is understood figuratively by the Hebrews, namely that it should be open to the lust of the conquerors, like a prostitute. And what is written in the Book of Judges about Samson (Judg. 16), that he was condemned by the Philistines to the mill, they want to signify that he was compelled to do this to foreign women as the most powerful of men for offspring. In the place where we have interpreted 'strip off your shamefulness', for which the LXX translated 'reveal your covering', Theodotion put the Hebrew word Samthech; Aquila Semmathech; Symmachus τὸ σιωπηλόν σου: which we can express as 'your silence', which should be kept silent out of shame. Indeed, we also read this in the Song of Songs, where the beauty of the bride is described: at the end it says, 'Without your silence' (Song 4). Those who were unwilling to translate the name, which in Holy Scripture signifies shamefulness, made a valid point. And rightly so, it uses indecent names against Babylon (even though there is no shame in calling a part of the human body by its proper name), to whom it is commanded to bare the breasts, and to open the thighs and expose the woman, and to go into captivity, so that her shame may be seen and her disgrace may be forever exposed. And the Lord says that He has done this in order to take vengeance on her who oppressed His people, and that no one should hear her prayers, who tries to appease the anger of the Lord with their presence. But the angel of the nation of Babylon, who speaks with the other angels, signifies: We took care of Babylon, but she was not healed. And what the Seventy translated as 'I will take away what is just from you' is understood to mean Babylon: or at least this, that what is just has been taken away from Babylon. The Stoic disputants argue that many things that are considered shameful and wrong by human convention are actually morally good, such as parricide, adultery, murder, incest, and other similar acts. Conversely, things that are considered morally good appear shameful in name only, such as procreating children, relieving a swollen stomach with flatulence, emptying the bowels with feces, and urinating to relieve the bladder: in short, we cannot, as we say, turn up our nose at a fart. Therefore, that which Aquila set up, as we have said, is called the venerable woman. Its etymology among them signifies, 'thirsty yours,' indicating the unquenchable pleasure of Babylon.
47:4-7
(Verse 4 onwards) Our Redeemer, the Lord of hosts is his name. Holy One of Israel. Sit in silence, and go into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans; for you shall no longer be called the mistress of kingdoms. I was angry with my people; I profaned my heritage, and gave them into your hand: you showed them no mercy. You have made your yoke very heavy on the aged, and you have said, 'I shall be a mistress forever': you did not lay these things to heart, you did not remember their outcome. LXX: The Lord of hosts, his name, the Holy One of Israel, says: Sit down in darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans; you shall no longer be called the strength of the kingdom. I am angry with my people, I have profaned my heritage. I have given them into your hand, but you have shown them no mercy. You have made your yoke exceedingly heavy on the elderly and have said, 'I shall be queen forever'. You did not take these things to heart, nor did you remember the consequences. The first verse is connected to the previous ones according to the Septuagint, with the meaning: And this is what the Lord of hosts, whose name is the Holy One of Israel, will do for you who have been delivered. On the other hand, according to the Hebrew, the Prophet speaks in the person of the people, saying that the Lord of hosts will do these things against Babylon, whose name is the Holy One of Israel. And once again, the discourse is directed towards Babylon itself. Sit in silence, or in remorse, and remember your sins. Enter into darkness, because you cannot bear the light due to confusion and ignominy. You shall no longer be called the mistress of just one kingdom, nor of all kingdoms. And at the same time, because a hidden question was arising: why God was angry against the Chaldeans, whom he himself sent to capture Israel: he answered that he had been angry against his own people, wanting to rebuke them, not to destroy them, to chastise them, not to kill them. But they had abused his cruelty, and had imposed more punishments than the vengeance of God demanded: and it is a great sign of Babylonian cruelty that they had not spared even the old men, whose age is also respected among enemies. But this is also a sign of pride, that, deceived by present happiness, it did not consider the uncertainties of the future. Therefore, in times of prosperity, we must always beware of what is to come: not to oppress those who are entrusted to us, who are taught to become better.
47:8-11
(Verse 8, onwards) And now listen to this, you delicate and confident one, who says in your heart: I am, and there is no one besides me; I will not sit as a widow, nor will I know the loss of children. But suddenly these two things will come upon you in one day: widowhood and loss of children. They have come upon you in their entirety because of the multitude of your sorceries and the great abundance of your enchantments. And you have trusted in your wickedness, and you have said: There is no one who sees me. Your wisdom and your knowledge have deceived you, and you have said in your heart: I am, and there is no one else besides me. Evil will come upon you, and you will not know its origin, and calamity will rush upon you, which you will not be able to atone for; suddenly, misery will come upon you, which you will not know. Babylon will come with two things together, sterility and widowhood, so that she will have no children, that is, peoples subject to her; nor a man, whom we can understand as king: while she did not hope for these things, she suddenly endured them. For she could not anticipate that the Persians, of no previous strength, would overcome her, with Cyrus reigning, and subject her to their power. He said, 'The sufferings that you endured were not only because of your pride and abundance of wealth and luxuries, but also because of the multitude of your evils and your enchantments, in which you placed your trust. And a calamity will come upon you that you did not know before, and whose origin you were ignorant of. As the Seventy translated: Destruction will come upon you, and you will not know: a pit, and you will fall into it: so that the evil of captivity that you prepared for all nations, you yourself will fall into the pit that you prepared.' We quickly skim over things that are clear in conversation.
47:12-15
(Verse 12 and following) Stand with your sorcerers, and with the multitude of your evil deeds, in which you have labored since your youth, if perhaps it will benefit you, or if you can become stronger. You have failed in the multitude of your plans: let the astrologers of the heavens stand and save you, who observe the stars and calculate the months, to announce to you what is to come. Behold, they have become like stubble, fire has burned them up: they will not deliver their souls from the hand of the flame: there are no coals to warm themselves, nor a fire to sit beside: thus have they become to you in all your labors: each of your merchants has wandered in his own way since your youth: there is no one to save you. LXX: Stand now in your incantations and in your many sorceries, which you have learned from your youth, if they can be of any help to you; and you have labored in your counsels: let the astrologers of the sky stand and save you, those who look at the stars and tell you what is coming upon you. See, they will all be consumed like stubble in the fire; they will not deliver themselves from the flame; for you have coals of fire, and you will sit upon them. They will be for your help. You have labored in your change from youth: man has wandered in himself: but there will be no salvation for you. The reading of the Prophet Daniel proves to have had all of Babylon and all of Chaldea, the study of sorcerers and soothsayers and diviners and exorcists, whom we call haruspices, whom for their advice he recounts as having done all things for the Babylonian kings. Also, because we have interpreted it according to Symmachus and Theodotion: Let the astrologers of the heavens stand and save you, the Seventy have translated more explicitly, Let the astronomers of the heavens stand and make you safe; who are commonly called mathematicians, and by the course and movement of the stars, they judge human affairs to be governed. And so the Magi from the East came, saying that they had seen the Lord's star, either through the knowledge of their art or through the prophecy of their own prophet Balaam, who had said in Numbers: A star shall rise out of Jacob, and a man shall come forth from Israel (Num. XXIV, 17). Therefore, these people who calculate months and count years, and weigh the moments of hours, promise knowledge of the future. Let them tell you what the Lord has thought concerning you. And when they are silent about what is to come, the Prophet responds: Behold, they have become like straw; fire has devoured them. Those who promised salvation to others were ignorant of their own punishment. And there is no doubt that, with the city on fire, its inhabitants were consumed by the voracious flame. And what follows: They are not like prunes that can be heated, nor a hearth for them to sit by, as the Hebrews have taught. They have no knowledge of heat, nor a sense of light that can dispel their darkness and drive out the cold of error. For this reason, I do not know what the Seventy translators intended when they rendered it: You have coals of fire, you shall sit upon them; they shall be a help to you; unless, perhaps, we can say that the fire and burning of Babylon were much more useful than the magi and the Gazarenes, the astrologers and the enchanters. For indeed he provokes them through punishments and penalties to repentance; they, on the other hand, are led into pride by error. All his labor and the merchants of his, whom we understand to be magicians, accomplished this, that each one would wander in his own way; and he himself, being lost, would not offer salvation to another. Let us ask those who assert different natures, whether Babylon is of evil nature or of good? If they say evil, which it is not doubtful that they will answer, how is it provoked to repentance, and it is said to it: Sit in remorse, enter into darkness, daughter of the Chaldeans. After the enumeration of sins and crimes, you have charcoal fires, you will sit upon them: will they be of help to you? And what does it mean that it is mentioned next to them in the Septuagint: You have labored in exchange from youth? What is this exchange? Surely it is for the worse. From which it is clear, that by nature one becomes good, by will one becomes bad. Finally it is said: Man has wandered in himself, not by nature, but by the choice of the mind.