(Verse 10, 11) If he shall offer his soul for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, and the will of the Lord shall be prosperous in his hand. Because his soul hath laboured, he shall see and be filled: by his knowledge shall this My just servant justify many, and he shall bear their iniquities. LXX: If you shall give for sin, your soul shall see a long-lived seed: and the Lord will take away the evil of his anguish, to shew him light, and give him understanding. Justify the righteous servant for many: and he shall bear their iniquities. According to the Hebrew sense here: If he shall offer his soul for sin, he shall see a long-lived seed, which he hath sowed in good ground. Of whom it is written in the Gospel: He that soweth, went forth to sow; and again: The kingdom of heaven is likened to a man that sowed good seed in his field (Matthew XIII, 3). And the will of the Lord will be directed in his hand, so that whatever the Father desired will be fulfilled by his virtues, saying to the Father: I have kept those whom you gave me in your name. I have guarded them, and none of them perished except the son of perdition. (John 17:12). But the seed will see eternity, and the will of the Father will be directed in his hand: because his soul has labored for a long time, finding no rest among the Jews, and saying in the Gospel: Foxes have dens, and birds of the sky have nests: but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay his head. (Matthew 8:10). And in this same place the Prophet says: I have labored and endured (Isaiah 1:14). Therefore, since he has labored, he will see the Churches rise in the whole world, and he will be filled with their faith. Finally, when he sat down hungry and thirsty at the well of Jacob (John 4), in the middle of the day with the sun shining, he did not want to use the food that had been bought, because he was already satisfied with the faith of the Samaritans and those who were coming out of the city of Shechem to see him. According to this meaning, he said among the eight beatitudes: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6). In his knowledge, that is, in doctrine, he himself, the righteous one who did not sin, nor was deceit found in his mouth: and the servant of the Father, who took on the form of a servant and served the will of the Lord, will justify many believers from the whole world. And he himself will bear their iniquities, which they themselves could not bear, and by the weight of which they were oppressed. According to the Septuagint, it is said: O you, for whose sins the Son of God was led to death, who are most wicked and rich in evil, you were given for burial and for his death, if you are willing to repent and offer a pleasing sacrifice to God for your sins, your contrite spirit will see the seed of long time, the Lord Savior himself. It is said in the eighty-eighth psalm: His seed shall endure forever, and his throne as the sun before me. And again: I will establish his seed forever, and his throne as the days of heaven. This, in other words, refers to the Virgin in Gabriel's message: Behold, you shall conceive in your womb and bear a son, who shall be called the Son of the Most High. And the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he shall reign over the house of Jacob forever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end (Luke 1:31-32). For the Lord indeed desires to take away the soul from grief, who said: 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death' (Matt. XXVI, 38), so that the insult of the cross may be tempered by the glory of the resurrection. And to show him light, so that he may see all illumined through himself. And to shape the understanding, it is understood that the spirit of wisdom and understanding will descend upon him. And to justify the just, who has served others well; for he did not come to be served, but to serve (Matt. XX), at the feet of Peter (John XIII), washing away the sins of all the Apostles. He who appeared in flesh, was justified in spirit. About whom even Judas the betrayer confesses: I have sinned, betraying innocent blood (Matthew 27:4). And Pilate's wife: Have nothing to do with that righteous man; for I have suffered much in a dream today because of him. And it should be noted that he was not justified in order to become just, as if he were wicked. But the just one is justified, not to begin to be what he was not; but that what he was might be evident to all. This righteous man suffered for the unjust, so that he might offer us all to God. Of whom it is said to the Jews: And you denied the Holy and Righteous One, and asked for a murderer to be granted to you (Acts III, 14). And he carried their sins, he himself, as a physician, carries the illnesses of the sick, but the healthy do not need him (Luke V).
53:12
(Verse 12.) Therefore I will divide him among the many, and he will share the spoils of the strong, because he poured out his soul to death and was numbered with the transgressors. Yet he himself bore the sin of many and interceded for the transgressors. LXX: Therefore he shall receive many as his portion, and he shall divide the spoils with the mighty, because his soul was poured out to death and he was numbered with the wicked. He himself bore the sins of many and was delivered up for their iniquities. Christ endured many sufferings so that he might attain great rewards. For, he said, he suffered and accomplished all that the previous word described, and he himself bore the iniquities of many: therefore I will divide to him many, so that for the part of the Lord Jacob, and his inheritance rope of Israel, they may believe in him coming from the East and West, and may recline in the kingdom of God with Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob (Matth. VIII): when that which is written is fulfilled: Ask of me, and I will give you the nations for your inheritance, and the ends of the earth for your possession (Ps. II, 8). Concerning which and in this same Prophet it is read: There shall be a root of Jesse, and he that shall rise up to reign over the Gentiles, in him the Gentiles shall hope (Isaiah 11:10). But these many previously were held captive by the strong; and under the appearance of an ass and a colt, they had many masters, to whom the Apostles said: The Lord has need of them (Matthew 21:3). Those who were strong before Christ assumed a human body, and strong overcame him, would plunder his house. Therefore, he delivered and distributed the spoils of the strong Apostles to his own, so that Peter, James, and John became the leaders of the circumcised people, and Paul and Barnabas were sent to the Gentiles, not separated in spirit but in different places, and stood on different fronts under one Lord, so that they might raise a triumph to the victorious army on both sides, for the Savior. From this, those who truly say that there was a disagreement and contention between Peter and Paul regarding the dispensation (Acts 15), in order to satisfy the blasphemous Porphyry: and they assert that the ceremonies of the old Law must be observed in the Church of Christ, by the believing offspring of Israel, and that they should expect Jerusalem to be golden for a thousand years, in order to sacrifice victims and to be circumcised, to sit on the Sabbath, to sleep, to be satiated, to be intoxicated, and to rise to play, a play that offends God. We said this because of what is now being prophesied: And he shall divide the spoils of the strong (Is. LIII, 12). According to what is written in another place: When he divided the heavenly kings in it. And again: The beloved king of hosts, and of beauty, shall divide the spoils (Ps. LXVII, 13). Finally, regarding the Apostle Paul, who was from the tribe of Benjamin, according to the Hebrew it is said: Benjamin, a ravenous wolf: in the morning he shall devour, and in the evening he shall divide the spoils (Gen. XLIX, 27). Of which we have already spoken: They shall rejoice in your presence, as those who rejoice in the harvest, and as those who divide the spoils (Isaiah IX, 3), dividing the churches of Christ for themselves in the whole world. Therefore, he will receive many nations, who came to preach remission to the captives and led captive captivity before, from the devil and demons, and gave it as a gift to men and believers, because he delivered his soul to death, and was reckoned with the wicked or unjust (I Cor. IX). For if the Apostle became as one without law to those who were without law (although he was not without law toward God, but was within the law of Christ), why then was Christ considered to be with the unjust, so that he might redeem the unjust from sin, and become all things to all people, so as to save everyone? For he carried our sins in his body (1 Peter 2), affixing them to the wood of the cross, in order to erase the handwriting that we had made for the devil and his angels, written by the deeds of our soul, that is, by our actions. About which Paul the apostle speaks: And you, when you were dead in sins, and in the uncircumcision of your flesh, he has quickened together with him, forgiving you all trespasses; Blotting out the handwriting of ordinances that was against us, which was contrary to us, and took it out of the way, nailing it to his cross; And having spoiled principalities and powers, he made a show of them openly, triumphing over them in it (Eph. I, 2; Coloss. II, 14, 15). But the lawless men with whom he is counted, Mark the Evangelist understands to be the robbers, writing: And they crucified with him two thieves; the one on his right hand, and the other on his left. And the scripture was fulfilled which says: 'And he was reckoned among the transgressors' (Mark 15:27). This can also be understood at a deeper level, as the Lord himself says: 'I am reckoned among those who go down to the pit; I have become like a man who has no strength, forsaken among the dead' (Psalm 88:4). Indeed, he was reckoned among sinners and transgressors, in order to descend to hell; and in many places in the scriptures, hell is referred to as a pit, and he would free the prisoners from the prison. He was handed over for our sins and was raised for our justification (Rom. IV). Such was His great mercy that He prayed for His transgressors, and even for His persecutors, on the cross, saying: Father, forgive them, for they do not know what they are doing (Luke XXIII, 34).
Book Fifteen
Book Fifteen.
Recently, Eustochium told me that whenever the Apostles and Evangelists cite testimonies from the Old Testament, if there is no difference between the Hebrew and the Septuagint, they usually use their own words or the words of the Septuagint translators. But if there is a difference between the Hebrew and the old edition, they prefer to follow the Hebrew rather than the Septuagint translators. Finally, as we have shown in many cases, they have inserted things from the Hebrew that are not found in the Septuagint; so let our rivals demonstrate that they have taken certain testimonies from the Septuagint that are not in the Hebrew books, and the dispute is settled. We have said this because although this chapter is united in meaning, it differs in words. Its explanation begins with the fifteenth chapter in the Book of Isaiah.
54:1
(Chapter 54, Verse 1) Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who is married, says the Lord. LXX: Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who have not been in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than the children of her who has a husband. For the Lord has spoken. Symmachus interpreted this passage as follows: Rejoice, O barren one who did not give birth. Rejoice in exultation, and neigh, you who have not given birth: For more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband. Theodotius and Aquila agree with him in most points. After the birth of the Savior, and the order of life and virtues, the passion of the cross, and the glory of the resurrection, when he laid down his life, he saw an everlasting seed, and in his knowledge he himself justified the just, and divided spoils of the mighty, and prayed for transgressors, giving them a place for repentance, he passed on to the calling of the Gentiles, and describes with full words those who will believe in him. The Apostle Paul refers to this place under the names of Sarah and Isaac, in reference to the Church (Galatians IV, 27 et seq.), stating that the former people from Mount Sinai and Hagar serve with their children; but the following book says: Rejoice, O barren one who does not bear; break forth and cry aloud, you who are not in labor! For the children of the desolate one will be more than those of the one who has a husband. And immediately after: But we, brothers, are children of the promise, like Isaac. But as at that time he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so also it is now. But what does the Scripture say? Cast out the slave woman and her son, for the son of the slave woman shall not inherit with the son of the free woman. Now we, brothers, are not children of the slave woman, but of the free woman. It is by this freedom that Christ has set us free (Galatians 4:27-31). Therefore, if the vessel of election, citing the testimony of Isaiah which we now have in our hands, refers to the sons of the promise and the Church gathered from the Gentiles or from both peoples, which had been deserted and left behind by the Jews, and which had not had God as its husband, nor received the Law or the Prophets, we are compelled by reason itself to follow the footsteps of our predecessor and declare it deserted, as we read above (Chapter XXXVI): Rejoice, deserted one, and similar things. It is written in Jeremiah, from the perspective of God: The one who gave birth to seven has become empty, her soul has failed. The sun has set for her even in the middle of the day (Jeremiah 15:9). And in the book of Samuel: The barren woman has given birth to seven, but she who had many sons has become weak (1 Samuel 2:5). And in the Psalms: He makes the barren woman dwell in a house, a joyful mother of children (Psalm 113:9). The synagogue is said to have given birth to seven sons, representing the mystery of the week and the Sabbath, to which the previous people were bound. Whether for seven, more should be understood according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew language, by which both the Sabbath and many [days] are signified. About this, more has been said in the book of Hebrew Questions, which we wrote on Genesis. Therefore, as long as she had God as her husband, she produced many sons by God's divine Word and was joined to the Law. But when she received a bill of divorce and refused to answer her calling husband, and heard: You are the daughter of your mother who abandoned your husband (Ezek. 16:15). And again: You have not called me as your Lord, nor as the father and prince of your virginity (Jeremiah 3:4); therefore in this same Prophet it is lamented: How has the faithful city become a harlot, Zion full of judgment; in which righteousness used to dwell, but now there are robbers (Isaiah 1:21). But it should also be noted that when it says: More are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband, the synagogue is not completely excluded from giving birth; but the multitude of Gentiles is preferred to her. And she herself, in the Apostles and through the Apostles, first gave birth to the people from the Jews. Therefore, the two leaders of the Apostles divided the two groups of believers in Christ, the Circumcision and the Gentiles, in order to first build up Jerusalem, which had been deserted and impoverished by both peoples. And the Hebrew word for joy, 'hinnitum,' signifies the greatness of joy, in the likeness of a neighing horse to victory. More is written about this in the Book of Job (Job 39). The Jews and our Judaizers refer this place and the rest that follows to Jerusalem, which they say will be restored in the kingdom of a thousand years, and that it will be the same as it had before, and afterwards it will cease to have a husband, and will have many more children after being divorced than she had with her husband. Clearly, a comparison is made between two women: one who had a husband and was abandoned, and one who was always without a husband. And it is not surprising about the Jews, whose eyes and ears are closed, if they do not see the open truth. As for the Christians, I do not know what to say, who, as the Apostle says, interpret things allegorically and refer to the two Testaments, the old and the new, with Sarah and Hagar as examples. They give themselves over to the desires of the earth for a thousand years.
54:2-3
(Vers. 2, 3.) Dilata locum tentorii tui, et pelles tabernaculorum tuorum extende: ne parcas: longos fac funiculos tuos, et clavos tuos consolida. Ad dexteram enim et ad laevam penetrabis, et semen tuum gentes haereditabit, et civitates desertas inhabitabit. LXX: Dilata locum tabernaculi tui, et pelles aulaeorum tuorum fige, ne parcas. Protende funiculos, et clavos tuos conforta adhuc in dextris, et in sinistris dilata, et semen tuum possidebit gentes, et civitates desertas habitare facies. To whom he had said: Praise, O barren one, who does not bear; break the bonds by which you were previously bound, and shout in confession of the Lord, whom you did not have children with, now you are commanded the same as the likeness of the tent of Moses, which he once had (Exodus 36) in the desert, to expand his tent and stretch out his skins; and make longer cords and fix nails, with which the entire tent is formed, so that it may be firmly set and strengthened, lest it be dispersed by the blasts of the wind. And it should extend to both the right and the left, and by no means should it imitate the narrowness of the Jewish tabernacle, which measured one hundred cubits in length and fifty in width, nor should it be constrained by the brevity of the Temple, which had sixty cubits in length and twenty in width. But it should continue to have space on the right and on the left. (Exodus 27). And so that we may not think this can be said in vain concerning the frivolous contention of the Hebrews about Zion, which is to be restored to its ancient state by the Lord, he explains more clearly what was hidden: And your offspring shall inherit the nations. About which we also read in the Gospel: 'He went out who sows to sow' (Matthew XIII, 3); and again: 'Did you not sow good seed in your field?' (Ibid., 27)? This seed will also make deserted cities be inhabited, so that Churches of the nations may rise in the whole world. Or surely the seed must be said to be the Apostles, and the remnants of the Jewish people. About which in this same Prophet it is said: 'Unless the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we would have been like Sodom, and similar to Gomorrah' (Isaiah I, 9). And the Apostle says: 'The remnants were saved' (Rom. II, 5). This refers to the greatness of the Churches, which, starting from one place in Judea and that too very narrow, will extend their boundaries to the whole world. Let us come to spiritual understanding. He who is in a tabernacle does not possess a firm and permanent dwelling; but he always changes places and hastens to go further, saying in the psalm: 'I will pass to the place of the wonderful tabernacle' (Ps. XLI, 5), forgetting the things that are past and extending himself into the future, until he reaches the reward of the heavenly calling. We read about this tabernacle and in another place: How lovely are your dwelling places, O LORD of hosts! My soul longs, yes, even faints for the courts of the LORD (Psalm 84:1). And it continues: Blessed are those who dwell in your house; they will praise you forever and ever (Ibid., 6). For the end of the tabernacles is the possession of the eternal house, which does not change its foundations, nor is it moved from one place to another. For those who are planted in the house of the LORD, they will flourish in the courts of our God, that they may go from flowers to fruit, and may say: But I am like a fruitful olive tree in the house of God (Psalm 52:10). Finally, the holy man, hastening to pass by the tabernacles and desiring to see the house of God, says that he has one wish, that he never leaves the house of God: One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life (Ps. 26:1). Therefore, the tabernacle must be enlarged, and curtains and skins must be stretched, and ropes of various and diverse discourses must be extended further, and nails must be firmly fixed on the right and left, so that the seed of the word, that is, the teaching of God, may be able to possess the nations; and to make habitable cities, which he received who doubled the mina. However, the right hand and the left hand in the Holy Scriptures are then interpreted in a good sense, when we understand them both according to the spirit and according to the letter through the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left (2 Corinthians VI), so that we may embrace the more humble understanding of life's instruction and the examples of our elders, and be transferred from the present to the future in a spiritual and sublime manner. This is what the Lord was speaking to the Pharisees when they asked Him: 'Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's' (Matthew XXII, 21), so that we may be subject to the powers of this world, which rightly hold the sword for the punishment of those who do evil, which is understood as the left hand; and let us render to God the things that are God's, so that we may fear no other, except Him who has power over both soul and body, which is understood as the right hand (Matthew X). Finally, it is said about the wisdom of God, to which nothing precious can be compared, that it has length of life and many years in its right hand; and in its left hand, riches and glory, so that those riches are understood which exist in present knowledge and good works, and the glory which the one who receives it, through whose works God is glorified among the nations, but the length of life and many years signify eternal life, which, neglecting the present, hastens to the future.
54:4-5
(Verse 4, 5.) Do not be afraid, for you will not be put to shame; do not be ashamed, for you will not be disgraced. You will forget the shame of your youth and remember no more the reproach of your widowhood. For your Maker is your husband— the LORD Almighty is his name— the Holy One of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. LXX: Do not be afraid, for you have been put to shame; do not be disgraced, for you have been reproached. You will forget the shame of your eternal confusion and will no longer remember the reproach of your widowhood. For the LORD who made you is your husband— his name is the LORD Almighty— the God of Israel is your Redeemer; he is called the God of all the earth. A question arises, how is it said to the Church gathered from the Gentiles: Rejoice, you barren one who does not bear; and: More are the children of the desolate one than of her who has a husband, that is, she who had no husband, who later had more children, and she who had a husband turned into sterility: how is it now said to her who had no husband: You will no longer remember your widowhood, and the disgrace of your youth you will forget. From which the Jews want to understand that everything that is said is to be said to Jerusalem, which is deserted by God, and to be restored by Him again. Those who are easily repelled, when they are warned, are said to be spoken to in the person of the Lord in Zachariah: 'And I took for myself two staffs: one I called Beauty, and the other I called Cord: and I fed the flock' (Zech. 11:7). We have spoken more fully about this in its proper place, and now it will be partly spoken. The two staffs, each of them is the people, of the Gentiles and of the Jews, of which the former is called the multitude of the Gentiles, who have received the natural law fixed in their hearts, of which Paul, writing to the Romans, argues most forcefully (Rom. 1); by which staff, nothing is more beautiful than that all creatures are equally called to the worship of their Creator. But the second, that is, the people of the Jews, was called a cord: which after the offense of the nations is called the portion of the Lord, and his inheritance is Israel (Deut. XXXII). Finally, after Israel was called in Abraham, the Lord says: I took my rod, which was called beauty: and I cut it off, to make void my covenant which I struck with all the nations (Zach. XI, 10). Therefore, at the coming of Christ, it is said to the rod that had been cut off: Do not be afraid, nor be ashamed, nor blush with shame. For you will never again be confused as you were before, nor will you remember the confusion of your youth, and you will not recall your widowhood, by which you were forsaken by God: for your maker himself will rule over you, whose name is Almighty, who reigns not in one nation of Judah, but in the whole world. Finally, it follows: He who created you, himself redeemed you with his own blood: and God will be called the God of all the earth: for he is the God of all who dwell on earth. From this it is clearly evident that it should not be said of Jerusalem, which has never ruled over the entire world, but of the Church of Christ, whose inheritance is the possession of the world.
54:6-7
(Verse 6, 7) Because the Lord has called you, a forsaken and grieving woman, with the Spirit: and said your God to the wife rejected from her youth. For a moment, in a small thing, I have forsaken you: and in great mercies, I will gather you. In a moment of anger, I have hidden my face from you for a little while: and in everlasting mercy, I have shown compassion to you, says your Redeemer, the Lord. LXX: The Lord did not call you a forsaken and timid woman, nor did your God say of you, a woman who is hated from her youth. I have left you for a short time, but with great mercy I will have compassion on you. In a little burst of anger I turned my face away from you, but with everlasting mercy I will have compassion on you, says the Lord who delivered you. These friends of the Jews insult the abandoned woman and the wife despised from her youth, whom the Lord left for a moment and for a little while, saying that Jerusalem is. He who hides his face for a little while will receive her in everlasting mercies and will change her past sorrow into joy. According to the Hebrew, it does not say that she was called a forsaken and despised woman by the Lord, nor like a wife who has been hated since her youth, but rather that He left her for a little while and turned His face away from her in order to have mercy on her forever. So if the Jews and those among us who are Judaizers say that Israel has been forsaken for a little while so that God may have mercy on them in the coming of Christ, and they interpret 'a little while' in comparison to all of eternity, why do they not allow us to say that there is a little while of time in which the Gentiles have been forsaken, so that those who were once of God in their youth may receive eternal mercy in their old age? Especially when, in the calling of Israel, the crowd of Gentiles was never excluded; but the door of return was always open to them through proselytes, so that just as we seem to be temporarily excluded by their calling, so may their perpetual exclusion grant us a return to God. But we said perpetual exclusion, if they do not repent. Otherwise, the Apostle Paul says: God has confined all under sin, so that he may have mercy on all (Galatians 3:22). We, who are gathered from both the Church of the people, are interpreted; and the Jews of Jerusalem receive: who follow only allegory, and in the most difficult places of free debate, they avoid nascent questions, referring them to the sinful soul, which, rejected by God, not out of hatred, but out of dispensation, so that, burdened by the weight of evils, she may return to her original man; and having lost her substance, she may not despair of the mercy of the Father (Luke 15). It is a great mercy to meet a returning son, to extend a ring and a robe, and a kiss, and to say to a blind brother, according to the likeness of another parable, 'Friend, if I am good, why is your eye wicked?' (Matthew 20:15).
54:9-10
(Vers. 9, 10.) As in the days of Noah, this is for me, to whom I swore, that I would not bring the waters of Noah any more over the earth: so have I sworn, not to be angry with you, and not to rebuke you. For the mountains shall be moved, and the hills shall tremble: but my mercy shall not depart from you, and the covenant of my peace shall not be moved, says the Lord, your merciful one. LXX: This is for me from the water that was under Noah: as I swore to him at that time, that the earth will never again be angry with you, nor shall the mountains be moved by your threats, nor shall your hills be moved. So neither will my mercy fail, nor will the testament of my peace be taken away, says the Lord your merciful God. In order that the congregation of saints may believe in the eternal mercy of the Lord, and therefore at this point, and briefly, that they may be deserted, in order to be joined in friendship with God, in an eternal covenant, he presents examples of the ancestors, saying: Just as with the whole world sinning, after all the earth corrupted the way of the Lord, the flood came: and when all sins were deleted with all their authors, and in one man Noah the human race was saved: to whom I swore that the flood would never be brought upon the earth: and my promise has been kept until now, and will never be made void (Gen. 8 and 9); in the same way, I swear to my Church, which I redeemed with my blood, that I will never be angry with those whom I have shown mercy, nor will my clemency be changed by any hardness of reproach. For it is easier for mountains and hills to be moved than for my opinion to be changed. Just as it is said in the Gospel: Heaven and earth will pass away, but my words will not pass away (Matthew 24:35). This, however, is my mercy, like the covenant of peace by which the world was reconciled to me, preserved not by the merit of those to whom it was given, but by my own clemency. According to the Septuagint, the meaning is confused, and everything is so disturbed that it is difficult to understand what is being said. Not because I am ignorant of what the most prudent man said in this chapter, but because it does not satisfy my mind. For it puts forward the flood, which is interpreted in the baptism of the Savior, gathering together many examples, as it is written: The Lord makes the flood inhabit (Ps. 28:10). And again: The Lord is sweet to those who wait for him in the day of tribulation, and he knows those who fear him, and he makes the consummation of the journey in the flood (Nahum 1:7, according to the Septuagint): namely, that he has washed away all sins in baptism, saying in another place: I am, I am, the one who blots out your iniquities (Isaiah 43:25). For all have turned away; together they have become useless (Psalm 13:3). There was no one who would do mercy, nor truth; nor was there knowledge of God upon the earth. Curse, and falsehood, and murder, and adultery, and theft had taken possession of all things, and they had mixed blood with blood. Therefore, He speaks through the Prophet: Woe to me! for the returning one has perished from the earth. There is no one who does what is right among humans; all are judged in my blood. Each person troubles their neighbor with tribulation, and they prepare their hands for evil (Mich. VII, 2, sec. LXX): and similar things to these. Among which is this: No one is clean from filth, not even if his life is only for one day upon the earth (Job XV, 14). Therefore, the Lord made a flood, who according to the apostle Peter was killed in the flesh, but made alive in the spirit (I Pet. III); and He preached to the spirits in prison, when the patience of God was expected in the days of Noah, bringing a flood upon the wicked. In whose example water cleanses us: not washing away the dirt of the flesh, but the inquiry of a good conscience towards God. But the mountains and hills which were not moved, and those that wavered in such a flood, are to be understood as holy ones, having received the everlasting covenant: those who were moved in the previous flood, and had lost their steadfastness. The mountains, and the demons, and the opposing powers, who saw the daughters of men, that they were good, and wounded by the arrow of love, took for themselves wives from all whom they chose, and lost their former strength: and they will by no means exist in this flood (Gen. VI). He said this, the explanation of which I leave to the reader's discretion.
54:11-12
(Verse 11, 12.) The poor thing, torn apart by the storm without consolation. Behold, I will lay your stones in order: and I will lay your foundations in sapphires. And I will make your battlements of jasper, and your gates of carved stones, and all your boundaries of desirable stones. I will make all your children taught by the Lord, and great shall be the peace of your children. And you shall be founded in righteousness. LXX: Humble and unstable without consolation. Behold, I will prepare for you your carbuncle gem and your foundations sapphire. And I will set your battlements with jasper, and your gates with crystal stones, and your walls with chosen stones. And all your children shall be disciples of God, and there shall be much peace for your sons, and you shall be built in righteousness. When we said: I will lay your stones in order, it is written in Hebrew, 'Baphphuch,' which all others translated similarly to 'I will lay your stones in stibium,' in the likeness of a adorned woman, who paints her eyes with stibium, to symbolize the beauty of the city. And when we said above that the jasper, following the LXX, has the Hebrew word Chodchod (), which only Symmachus translated as χαλκηδόνιον (chalcedony). For the crystal too, in the place where it is read among the Hebrews as Ecda (), Symmachus and Theodotion put sculpting, that is, γλυφῆς (glyphēs), and Aquila put τρυπανισμοῦ (trupanismou) which means the sense of bore and engraving of gemstones. We have spoken about the diversity of translations, let us come to the meaning. Still speaking to the Church, previously humble and poor, which did not have the Law, nor the Prophets, nor the word of God, and was convulsed or unstable by the storm, which had endured many whirlwinds of ages and fluctuated among various errors of idols, which had no comforter, and in vain lost all its substance in physicians; He Himself should come, should descend, and should build in the earth the heavenly Jerusalem, which is called bride and wife of the Lamb in the Apocalypse of John, having a light similar to a precious stone, such as jasper and crystal, and a great wall, and twelve gates inscribed with the names of the tribes of Israel, of which three were from the East, and three from the North, and three from the South, and three from the West of the sun (Apoc. XXI): and the wall supported by twelve foundations, and its entire construction of jasper stone, and each foundation of the walls had individual stones, the first jasper, the second sapphire, the third chalcedony, the fourth emerald, the fifth sardonyx, the sixth sardius ((Al. sardius)), the seventh chrysolite, the eighth beryl, the ninth topaz, the tenth chrysoprase, the eleventh jacinth, the twelfth amethyst; which as we read, we exclaim and say: O the depth of the riches both of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! For who has known the mind of the Lord, or who has been his counselor? (Romans 11:33-34) And again: Who is wise and will understand these things, prudent and will know them? (Hosea 14:10) Let the lovers of western letters answer, those who prepare exquisite foods for their gluttony and luxury in a thousand years, whose god is their belly and whose glory is in their shame. (Philippians 3) They hope for marriage after the second coming of the Savior, and for children of one hundred years, and for the injury of circumcision, and for the blood of sacrifices, and for the perpetual Sabbath. They say with Israel in a perverse way: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall reign. What is this heavenly Jerusalem, to which it is now said: Behold, I will lay your stones in order, or according to the Septuagint Version: Behold, I will prepare a carbuncle for you, your stone, so that the whole city will be filled with carbuncles, and will have sapphire foundations and jasper ramparts, or chalcedony, and crystal gates, or engravings, and a wall encircling it with precious stones. And all its children will not have human teachers, but God, and they will be called disciples of God. And let there be in it everlasting peace, and the building up of justice. From this it is clear that under the occasion of justice, which is the name of virtue, we ought to seek the other virtues for the building up of the Church and not to follow Jewish delusions. For let them explain what is meant by that which is said in Proverbs about wisdom: 'She is more precious than all precious things' (Prov. 3:15). For if Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1:24), it is foolish to compare Christ to insensible stones. And again we read about the judgments of God: The judgments of the Lord are right, rejoicing the heart: more to be desired than gold and much precious stone (Psalms 19:10-11). From which it is clear that this stone is compared to other stones, about which it is said earlier in the same Psalm, speaking in the person of God: Behold, I will lay in Zion a stone for a foundation, a tried stone, a precious corner stone, a sure foundation: he that believeth shall not make haste (Isaiah 28:16). The builders rejected this stone (Psalm 118), namely, the scribes, Pharisees, and Jewish leaders, which has become the cornerstone (Matthew 21). Concerning this, the Apostle Peter says: Therefore, to us who believe, it is an honor, a precious and chosen stone. But to those who do not believe, it is a stumbling stone and a rock of offense (1 Peter 2:7-8). He also speaks to the chief priests in the Acts of the Apostles, saying: This is the chosen, precious stone which you rejected (Acts 4:18), which has become the cornerstone and embraces two peoples, the Gentiles and Israel. He built a city, of which God is the architect and creator. Concerning this, the Apostle writes to the Corinthians: You are God's building. And: Like a wise architect, I have laid the foundation, and another builds upon it. But let each one take care how he builds upon it. For no one can lay a foundation other than that which is laid, which is Jesus Christ (I Corinthians 3:9-10). Now if anyone builds on the foundation with gold, silver, precious stones, wood, hay, straw, each one’s work will become manifest, for the Day will disclose it, because it will be revealed by fire, and the fire will test what sort of work each one has done (I Corinthians 3:12-13). Concerning this foundation, he also speaks in another letter: built on the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, with Christ Jesus himself as the cornerstone (Ephesians 2:20); and again: You yourselves like living stones are being built up as a spiritual house, to be a holy priesthood, to offer spiritual sacrifices acceptable to God through Jesus Christ (I Peter 2:5). Concerning these stones, it is said mystically: Holy stones roll upon the earth (Zech. IX, 16), by which Christ builds the Church upon the rock, saying in the Gospel: Upon this rock I will build my Church (Matt. XVI, 18). The one who is worthy to enter this city speaks joyfully to the Lord: As we have heard, so have we seen in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God: God has established it forever (Ps. XLVII, 9). The great builder of this city, and in another place it is said: 'He shall build my city and bring back the captivity of my people' (Isaiah 45:13). But it is not for this time to speak of the nature of twelve stones and gems, since many Greeks and Latins have written about it. Of these, I will mention only two: the man of holy and venerable memory, the bishop Epiphanius, who left us a remarkable volume of his genius and erudition, which he titled 'On Stones'; and also Pliny the Elder, the same esteemed as an orator and philosopher among the Latins, who completed in his most beautiful work of natural history the thirty-seventh book, which is also the last, with a discussion on stones and gems. Hello, twelve stones are written in order in Exodus and in Ezekiel, that is in the treasury of the high priest, and in the crown and diadem of the prince of Tyre. Let's first talk about Exodus: Four woven orders of stones were there (Exod. XXVIII). The first order had the stone sardius, topaz, emerald. The second order, carbuncle, sapphire, jasper. The third order, ligure, agate, amethyst. The fourth order, chrysolite, beryl, onyx, surrounded by gold; and they were inscribed with the names of the twelve tribes of the children of Israel. In which it should be noted that the second order of stones is also mentioned in the present Scripture, carbuncle, sapphire, and jasper. For we have not yet attained perfection, nor have we reached the beginning, because now we see through a glass, darkly. Moreover, in Ezekiel it is written as follows: You are the seal of semblance and the crown of beauty, in the delights of God's paradise you were. You were adorned with every first stone, sardius, topaz, and emerald, carbuncle and sapphire and jasper, also with silver, gold and onyx, and agate, and amethyst, and chrysolite, and beryl, and chrysoprase, and onyx; and you filled your treasures and your vaults with gold as well. From the day you were created, when I placed you with the cherubim on my holy mountain, you were in the midst of fiery stones. You were blameless in your ways from the day you were created, until iniquity was found in you. (Ezekiel 28:12 et seqq.). For who is so foolish and of such a dull mind to think that in the paradise of God, the prince of Tyre, whoever he may be, was placed, and conversed among the cherubim and the fiery stones (which undoubtedly we understand to be the celestial angels and virtues), and that he was made with earthly stones and had resemblance and sign? Therefore, it is not the time to speak about the nature of all stones and each part of them; for not everything must always be said. Now let us discuss only about the carbuncle, sapphire, and jasper. The carbuncle, which is obtained or placed in order, appears to me as the fiery speech of doctrine, which, by dispelling the darkness of error, illuminates the hearts of believers. This is the one that was taken by one of the Seraphim with a pair of tongs, to purify Isaiah's lips (Isa. VI): who is born, according to the faith of Genesis, in the land of Havilah, where the finest gold (Gen. II) and the carbuncle and the emerald are. Moreover, the sapphire, which is placed in the foundations, has a resemblance to the sky, and is above the air: such that it can say that Aristophanic phrase with Socrates: Ἀεροβατῶ καὶ περιφρονῶ τὸν ἥλιον; which we can translate into Latin as: Scando aerem, solemque despicio (See Suidas in περιφρονεῖν). Or as Paul the Apostle said: Nostra autem conversatio in coelis est (Philipp. III, 20). The Scripture of Ezekiel also mentions that the place where the throne of God is located has a resemblance to sapphires, and the glory of the Lord is in this color, which carries the image of the heavenly above us. But even the fortresses of the city of God, that is, the walls, are strengthened with jasper, which can destroy and prove false every height that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, and subject falsehood to truth (Ezekiel 1; 1 Corinthians 15). Therefore, the strongest in disputing and bolstered by the testimonies of the Holy Scriptures, is the fortress of the Church. There are many kinds of jasper: for there is another kind called emerald, which is found in the springs of the river Thermodon, and is called 'Grammarian,' by which they believe that all phantasms are driven away. Another greener man, and tinted as if with flowers; it is said to be born on Mount Ida in Phrygia, and in its deepest caves. Another, however, is found near the Iberians, the Hyrcanians, and the Caspian Sea, and especially near the lake Neusin. There is also another jasper that is similar to snow and the foam of sea waves, and it sparkles like mixed blood. We have said this so that we may recognize all spiritual graces in the defenses of the Church; whoever has them drives away vain fears and can say with the bride: 'My brother is white and ruddy' (Song of Songs 5:10). But the gates of this city are made of crystal stone, which is carved in various ways, and with this stone nothing is purer. Finally, they say that water freezes into crystal in the strongest cold of the Alps and in inaccessible caves: and the touch is stone, but the sight is water. By this it is shown that those who are at the gates of the Church should not be stained by any impurity, but should have the purest faith and say with the prophet: From your commandments I have gained understanding (Ps. 119:104). And this to hear: Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God (Matt. V, 8). But the walls of the city, or the boundaries and enclosure, are built with chosen stones, which we can understand as the remaining stones, and all his children are taught, or disciples of God: which testimony the Lord uses in the Gospel of John, saying: No one can come to me, unless the Father who sent me draws him, and everyone who hears and learns from the Father, comes to me (John VI, 44, 45). And after a little while, it is written in the prophets: They will all be taught by God. He also speaks through Jeremiah, saying: I will put my laws in their minds and write them on their hearts. And they will no longer teach each other, saying: Know the Lord. For they will all know me, from the least of them to the greatest. For I will forgive their wickedness and will remember their sins no more (Jeremiah 31:33-34). But the doctrine of the disciples of God has a multitude of peace, which has been abandoned by the Lord: and the building up of the most beautiful city is completed through justice; so that God may not be of one nation, but of the entire world, calling His servants and children, Greeks and Barbarians, the rich and the poor, the noble and the lowly, men and women, children and the elderly, and all things that appear to be contrary in the world (John XIV). We have exceeded the limit of brevity, which is useful in everything that needs to be said: by no means are we seeking the city of God on earth, as the Hebrews and our Semijudaeos (( Al. by seeking)), but rather in heaven, which cannot be hidden on the mountain of Christ.
54:14
(Verse 14.) Stay away from slander, for you will not be afraid; and from fear, for it will not come near you. LXX: Depart from evil, and you will not be afraid, and trembling will not come near you. Most beautiful order. He had comforted the poor and humble, promising them spiritual favors. Now he teaches what he should do if he does not want to fear the attacks of his adversaries. And the meaning is: If you do not want to fear your enemies, do what I say: Stay away from slander, or from wickedness: because all wickedness and plunder springs from slander; and you will not be afraid, trembling and fear will not come near you, so that you may fear not men, but God, saying with Moses: I am trembling and fearful (Deut. 9:19); and with one of Job's friends: Horror and trembling have come upon me; and my bones have greatly shaken (Job 4:14); and with the prophet: At the voice of my prayer, trembling entered into my bones (Psalm 66:2); and: On whom will the Lord rest, if not on the humble and quiet, and on him who trembles at his words (Prov. 10)? Moreover, there is another trembling of the wicked, which is born out of fear of punishment. Of this it is written: Trembling seizes the wicked (Psalm 47:7).
54:15
(Verse 15.) Behold, a resident will come, who was not with me; your former stranger will be joined to you. LXX: Behold, proselytes will come to you through me, and they will be your settlers, and they will flee to you. And the Jews believe that this is said about Jerusalem, that many from the Gentiles will become proselytes and accept the law of Moses and its ceremonies. This, according to our interpretation made in reference to the Church, which is gathered by the apostles from both peoples, which has no blemish or wrinkle, which is free, and the mother of all believers (Ephesians 5; Galatians 4). The Lord sent his disciples to gather the lost, converts, and strangers, saying: Teach all nations (Matthew 28:19), so that they may seek refuge in the Gospel and receive the new Law, that former inhabitants of idolatry may become members of the Church. Concerning them, it is said in the Psalms: The Lord makes the wise blind. Or as it is read in Latin manuscripts: The Lord enlightens the blind, The Lord loves strangers (Psalm 146:8-9): so that after the blind receive the light of truth and fools learn wisdom, then those who come to the Church are loved by the Lord, and they hear through the prophet: I will call not my people, my people (Hosea 2:24); with the entrance of these individuals into the Temple of God, zeal seizes the unlearned people.
54:16-17
(Verse 16, 17.) Behold, I have created the blacksmith who blows the coals in the fire, and brings forth an instrument for his work; and I have created the destroyer to destroy. Every weapon formed against you shall not prosper, and every tongue that rises against you in judgment you shall condemn. This is the heritage of the servants of the Lord, and their righteousness is from me, says the Lord. LXX: Behold, I have created you not as a blacksmith blowing the coals in the fire and bringing forth an instrument for work. But I have created you not to destroy: every vessel that is made against you will not prosper: and every voice that rises against you in judgment, you will overcome and they will be subject to you. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, and you will be righteous to me, says the Lord. Let us first say in Hebrew: If you want to not be afraid, and to be far from fear, do what the previous word has narrated; for I am the one through whom you will have proselytes. I am the one who created the blacksmith blowing on the embers in the fire, that is, the devil, the artisan of all evil, not by necessity of nature, but by the decision of the mind. I who kindled fires, and will bring forth vessels against you: such as Simon and Elymas were, resisting Peter and Paul (Acts 13). I created the destroyer of those who will become unbelievers. Not that I am the cause of their perdition, but that the created adversary may engage in battle, and for the defeated, there may be destruction, and for the victors, the cause may be rewards. And all those who have been fashioned against you by the blowing of a blacksmith's bellows will not be directed, but they will feel both present and future punishments. And what was previously hidden will be said more clearly in the consequences: And you will judge every language resisting you in judgment, destroying the wisdom of the wise, and rejecting the prudence of the prudent. And you will condemn all the leaders of heretics and the teachers of the Jews and the philosophers of the world, whom that blacksmith had fashioned, by your judgment. How Queen Sheba and the Ninevites condemned the unbelievers, and on the other hand, Sodom will be justified by the comparison with Jerusalem's worse state (Matthew 12). After this, it is explained what the rewards of the future are, so that they do not think that their struggle is in vain and that it ends with death. This is the inheritance of the servants of the Lord, that is, the kingdom of heaven, eternal life, and the retribution of their labor, which eye has not seen, ear has not heard, and it has not entered into the heart of man, that which God has prepared for those who love him (2 Corinthians 2). But if you love, therefore also serve those who have no other Lord except God. And this is the justice of those who are before God, says the Lord, that present tribulation may be compensated with future joy. Moreover, according to the Septuagint, this seems to me to be the meaning: I, your Creator, did not make you like the devil, the worst craftsman who molds vessels of iniquity with an unclean spirit and brings them to destruction, and who should know that such vessels do not have a successful journey, but are broken in the middle of the course. He explains what the vessels are in the following discourse; And every voice that rises against you in judgment, you shall overcome them all. The vessels of iniquity have a voice, which voice rises against the Church, when heretics put their mouth high, and their tongue passes through the earth. And what follows: And they shall be subject to you, we have marked with a note that it seems to have been added not so much by the LXX as by evil writers. But when the Church has overcome every voice rising against it, then to those who serve the Lord and obey, there will be an inheritance, an eternal possession. And in Jeremiah it is said in other words: There is a reward for your works (Jeremiah 31:36). And the inhabitants of the Church will be righteous before the Lord. For everyone who practices righteousness is born of God. To whom the Lord speaks: Be holy, for I am holy (Leviticus 20:26).
55:1