(Vers. 8, 9.) Their burnt offerings and their sacrifices will please me on my altar: for my house will be called a house of prayer for all peoples, says the Lord God, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: I will still gather together those who have been gathered to him: All the beasts of the field, come to devour, all the beasts of the forest. LXX: Their burnt offerings and sacrifices will be acceptable on my altar. For my house will be called a house of prayer for all nations, says the Lord, who gathers the dispersed of Israel: for I will gather a congregation to him. All wild animals, come, eat, all wild animals of the forest. We learn more fully about the difference between sacrifices and burnt offerings in Leviticus. Burnt offerings are those that are completely burned on the altar. The victims and offerings, of which part is offered on the altar, part is handed over to the priests. Therefore, it should not be believed that the offerings of foreigners and eunuchs are required in the Jewish rite. But we must know that eunuchs offer burnt offerings, those who consecrate themselves fully to God; while foreigners offer victims, who are temporarily dedicated to prayer, of whom God speaks: The sacrifice of praise has glorified (alternatively, will glorify) me; and in another place: Offer to God the sacrifice of praise (Psalm 49:14). Concerning these victims and burnt offerings, the Lord speaks through Hosea: 'I desire mercy and not sacrifice; the knowledge of God rather than burnt offerings, which are offered on the altar of the Lord' (Hosea 6:6). This is testified by John in the Apocalypse, when he saw souls of martyrs under the altar (Apocalypse 6). From this, one of the Seraphim took a coal with tongs and brought it to Isaiah to cleanse his lips (Isaiah 6:6). This is the altar and the tabernacle, to which all things made in Exodus refer, on which spiritual offerings were presented to God (Exodus 38). Furthermore, concerning bodily sacrifices and burnt offerings, God also testifies the same thing: 'Why do I need the multitude of your victims?' says the Lord. I am full of burnt offerings of rams and the fat of lambs, and I do not desire the blood of bulls and goats. For my house shall be called a house of prayer for all nations. Not for one nation of Judah, nor for one place of Jerusalem and the city, but for the whole world: not of bulls and goats and rams, but of prayer. By the testimony, the Lord denounced those who were selling the gifts of the Holy Spirit under the name of doves in the Temple, and sitting in the seats of pestilence, and having the tables of money-changers (Matthew 21 and John 2), doing all things for the sake of shameful profit, not knowing what is written: 'You have received freely, give freely' (Matthew 10:8). But the Lord promised that these things would come to pass, he who gathers the scattered Israel. To whom also Peter the Apostle writes an Epistle, concerning whom the Evangelist speaks: 'But this he said not of himself: but being the high priest of that year, he prophesied that Jesus should die for the nation. And not only for the nation, but to gather together in one the children of God, that were dispersed' (John 11:51-52), and that what was said might be fulfilled: 'A congregation of people shall surround thee: and for this cause return thou on high' (Psalm 7:8). But when the remains of Israel were gathered together by the Apostles, and the flock, who had been previously scattered, were united into one, all the beasts are provoked to come and devour Israel, that is, those who refused to believe, of whom the Apostle says: For their end will come upon them (Philippians 3). And the Lord in the Gospel: But when you see Jerusalem surrounded by an army, then know that its desolation has come (Luke 21:20). Or it must be said, that they are given over to beasts to devour, whom the Prophet detests, saying: Do not hand over to beasts the souls professing to You (Ps. 73,19): concerning these tropological beasts, which have devoured a certain part of the Lord, and we read above (In Ch. IX), Syria from the rising sun, and the Greeks from the West, who devour Israel with all their mouth. And in Jeremiah: Israel, the wandering sheep, the lions have driven her away: the first king of Assyria devoured her, and the last king of Babylon will crush her bones (Jeremiah. 50, 17). This can also be said, that when the people of Israel, full of rage, first provoked the nations to faith, so that they would come to the Church and eat the heavenly bread, and be satisfied with the flesh of the Lamb, which killed many from the army of Abessalon, in the deserted forests.
56:10-12
(Verses 10-12.) His spies, blind all, knew nothing: mute dogs unable to bark, seeing vain things, sleeping, and loving dreams. And the most shameless dogs knew not satisfaction: the shepherds themselves ignored understanding: all turned aside unto their own way, each to his own greed, from the highest even unto the lowest. Come, let us take wine, and be filled with drunkenness, and it shall be as today, so tomorrow, and much more. LXX: See that all are blind: they all do not know, mute dogs cannot bark: dreaming of a bed, loving sleep. And impudent dogs have ignored satisfaction. And they are evil, not understanding intelligence: they have followed all their own ways. Each together from its summit. Come, let us take wine, and let us become drunk, and let tomorrow be such a great day, even more so. That all, he says, beasts should come forth from the forest, and devour those gathered together, whether they succeed into the place of the Jews, the crowd of the Gentiles, their spies are in fact the Scribes and Pharisees: because all the blind have not known the Lord Savior, nor did they want to see the present light. To whom the Lord spoke: Foolish and blind, what is more, gold or the altar that sanctifies the gold (Matthew 23:17)? And again: Blind guides, straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel (ibid., 24); and: Blind leading the blind, both fall into a pit (Matthew 15:14). But as for why they are called watchmen and we have read above. In that place where according to the LXX it says: The voice of your watchmen has been lifted up (Isaiah 52:8), it is written in Hebrew: The voice of your watchmen. Of whom was Ezekiel, to whom God speaks: Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel (Ezekiel 3:17). But those watchmen were not blind. In fact, they were called seers. But these of whom the Prophet is now speaking, are not only blind watchmen, but they are also called dumb dogs, unable to bark. For those who were supposed to protect the flock of the Lord, and drive away the wolves, and bark for the Lord, they love dreams and take pleasure in demonic visions. And it is understood: They cannot speak the truth, but only lies. And they are not satisfied with this, those who slept in the care of the flock of the Lord, and could not bark, and loved the bed, which indicates the pleasure of the body; but among themselves, they did not know the shamelessness of their souls, who are never satisfied with their own error. Those who devour the people of the Lord like the bread, and the houses of widows: and serve their gluttony and lust. For they cannot say: The commandment of the Lord enlightens the eyes (Ps. 18:9), nor know what is written: The wisdom of a man enlightens his face (Prov. 17:24). And they are mute dogs against enemies, of whom it is written: Do not give what is holy to dogs (Matt. 7:6). And they are sleeping dogs, who do not know the commandment: Do not give sleep to your eyes, and slumber to your eyelids (Ps. 131); and again: Watch, because you do not know at what hour your Lord will come (Matt. 24:42). And for this reason, giving a place to the devil, they are shameless dogs, who are never satisfied. For they vomit what they have eaten, and they return to their vomit (Prov. XXVI). Of whom Peter the Apostle also speaks: That true proverb has happened to them: The dog has returned to its own vomit, and the sow that was washed to the wallowing in the mire (II Pet. II, 22). The following discourse shows that these spies and dogs are the same as the shepherds: The shepherds themselves have neglected understanding. For the Hebrew word 'Roim' (also spelled 'Rom') which is written with four letters, 'resh' and 'ayin' and 'yod' and 'mem', if it is read as 'roim', it means shepherds; if it is read as 'raim', it sounds like the worst. We have said this to show the reasons for the various interpretations. For everyone has sought their own things, and not the things that are of God, nor have they walked in the way of the Lord (Philippians 2), of which it is written: Seek what the good way is, and walk in it (Jeremiah 6:16). But according to what is read in the Book of Judges: There was no king in Israel; everyone did what he thought was right, and followed his own errors (Judges 17:6), and what follows: Everyone to his own greed, from the greatest to the least: come, let us take wine, and let us fill ourselves with drunkenness, and it will be as today, so also tomorrow, and much more, is not found in the Seventy Interpreters, but is added from the Hebrew, indicated by the shining stars. Finally, no interpreter of the Church has discussed these verses, but they leap and pass over it as if it were an open pit. However, what he says is this, that is, because they have turned away from the way of the Lord, they have followed their own paths. Therefore, greed burns from top to bottom, from leaders to the common people, so that after they have started to strike their fellow servants and eat and drink with the drunkards, they say: Come, let us take wine and be filled with drunkenness. Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we die. And it will be as today, so also tomorrow: and much more (I Corinthians XV, 2). This is what has been said above: They did not know satiety; nor are they satisfied with past pleasure, but they prepare for future delights, much greater than those they had previously enjoyed. If this is said of the leaders of the Jews, because of whom the people were devoured by beasts, let us avoid the examples of the wicked, let us not be drunk with wine, in which there is luxury, nor overwhelmed by pleasures; let us not be silent in speaking, but let us be fierce dogs against our adversaries; rather, let us follow the ways of God rather than our own, and let us heed the Scripture that warns us: Taste and see that the Lord is good (Wisdom I, 1). And again: The best intelligence is for those who do it. And if we were dogs, let us not despair of salvation, hearing the words of the Canaanite woman saying to the Lord: Yes, Lord, for even the little dogs eat the crumbs that fall from their masters' table (Matthew XV, 27). For this reason, having obtained mercy, she hears from the Lord: O woman, great is your faith: let it be done to you as you wish. For she could have said with the Prophet: I have run in the way of your commandments (Psalm CXVIII, 32). Again: Lead me on the straight path.
57:1-2
(Chapter 57, Verses 1-2) The righteous perish, and there is no one who takes it to heart; the men of mercy are gathered, but there is no one who understands; for the righteous is taken away from the face of evil. Let peace come; let him rest in his bed who walks in his integrity. Look, how the righteous perishes, and no one takes it to heart; the upright are taken away, and no one considers. For the righteous is taken away from the presence of iniquity; his burial will be in peace; he is taken away from among us. Because of blind spies and mute dogs, who themselves are shepherds, lacking understanding, nor are they satisfied with present pleasures, but always prepare themselves for future ones, the righteous one perishes, concerning whom the wife of Pilate says: 'Have nothing to do with that righteous man' (Matthew 27:19). With washed hands, innocent am I, says she, from the blood of this righteous one. In which it should be considered that the word "perdition," concerning which heretics often make false accusations, signifies destruction and abolition forever, and is applied to Christ, whose perdition demonstrates the magnitude of persecution and not an end of substance. And no one, he says, is there who reflects in his heart, or ponders. For it could not be that the blind and mute, seeing vain and loving dreams, and ignorant of understanding and wisdom, would think those things which belong to God. And what follows: And the men of mercy, or the just, are gathered and taken away, signifies the Apostles, who are killed by the wicked, and are gathered by the Lord. And he gives the reasons why the just one is killed and taken away, saying: For the just one was collected from the face of evil, so that he would not see the evils of the world. Whether due to the wickedness of humans, whose sins he himself bore, he ascended to the Father as the victor. Now, concerning what is said in Hebrew: Let peace come, let it rest in its own dwelling; let it walk in its own direction, the meaning is indeed clear, but the coherence of the words, which stands in its own idiomatic language, seems to be disturbed among us. Now, concerning what he says, this is it: Let the peace of the Just One come, which he left to the Apostles when ascending to the Father, saying: My peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you (John 14:27). And when the peace of Christ, which surpasses all understanding, comes, his apostles will rest in their beds, and their death will rest. From this it is shown that the martyrs do not perish, but conquer, and rest in an eternal dwelling. And he, whose peace it is and whose apostles rest in their beds, walks in his own direction, ascending to the Father as a victorious one on a straight path. Furthermore, what is read in the Septuagint: The righteous one was taken away from the presence of evil, his burial will be in peace, he was taken away from among us, everything is referred to Christ without the mingling of the apostles' person, whose burial is in peace and taken away from among us. For His flesh did not see corruption, nor did it remain in the tomb, which is the place of the dead, as the angel said to the women: 'Whom do you seek, Jesus? He is not here; come and see the place where the Lord was laid.' (Matthew 28:5-6). The Jews understand these and the following things, either in a general sense concerning all the righteous, whose blood Manasseh shed and filled Jerusalem from one end to another, or certainly concerning Isaiah's prophecy of his own death, that he would be sawn in two by a wooden saw, which is a most certain tradition among the Jews. Hence many of our people refer that which is written in the Epistle to the Hebrews about the sufferings of the Saints to the suffering of Isaiah: They were sawn asunder (Heb. XI, 37).
Book Sixteen
Book Sixteen.
The eminent saying of a most eloquent orator is that the arts would be happy if only artists judged them. And so as not to appear to take an example only from secular sources, this is indeed that which the Prophet demonstrates in other words: Blessed is he who speaks into the ears of the listeners (Eccles. XXVI, 12): With what happiness, daughter Eustochium, you have made me familiar; for when you read the preface of the previous book, in which I asserted that the Apostles and Evangelists only put forth testimonies from the Seventy Interpreters, either in their own words or in those words which agreed with the Hebrew: but if anything was added by others, to completely disregard it: immediately you presented to me not an insignificant question, namely why the Apostle, writing to the Romans, used the eight verses that are read in the Churches but are not found in the Hebrew, of the thirteenth Psalm: Their throat is an open sepulcher: with their tongues they have used deceit: the poison of asps is under their lips. Whose mouth is full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Destruction and misery are in their ways. And the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes (Romans 3:13 seqq.). When I heard this, I was struck as if by a mighty boxer, and I began to seethe in silence and to show the astonishment of my mind in the paleness of my face. He, I say, who was a Hebrew among the Hebrews, according to the law a Pharisee, and educated at the feet of Gamaliel, either ignored these things or abused them through ignorance of those who were to read them (Philippians 6, Acts 22:3). The first of them is unlearned, the second is cunning in malice, and not he who said, “And even though I am unskilled in speech, yet not in knowledge” (2 Corinthians 11:6); and again, “For our boasting is this: the testimony of our conscience that with simplicity and godly sincerity, not with fleshly wisdom, but by the grace of God, we have conducted ourselves in the world” (2 Corinthians 1:12). Finally, turning to myself, I asked for a single day’s time, so that my response would in no way be an argument based on human intelligence, but rather the fruit of diligent study. Thus, thoroughly examining every Scripture in my mind, I noticed that just as almost the entire letter to the Romans is constructed from the Old Testament, so this testimony is taken from the Psalms and Isaiah. There are two first verses: Their throat is an open sepulcher; with their tongues they have practiced deceit. They are verses 11 of the fifth psalm. And that which follows: The poison of asps is under their lips, is verse 4 of the 139th psalm. And it is again said: Their mouth is full of curses and bitterness, is taken from the ninth psalm, verse 29. But the three verses that follow: Their feet are swift to shed blood; destruction and misery are in their ways; and the way of peace they have not known, I found them in the prophet Isaiah, which I will explain in the sixteenth book of my commentary, which I now desire to dictate. But the last verse, that is, the eighth: 'There is no fear of God before their eyes,' is at the beginning of the thirty-fifth psalm. And in this it does not seem to anyone to be different, if what is said in singular number in its place may be said in plural by an Apostle, who was writing to many, and was bringing together many examples into one meaning. I think your question is resolved, and our rule on the translation of the Old Testament is more shaken than moved. And not so much that the Apostle took from the thirteenth Psalm, which is not found in Hebrew, as those who did not know the art of connecting the Scriptures with each other, sought a suitable place where they could put the testimony taken from him, which they did not think was placed in the Scripture without authority. Finally, all the commentators of Greece, who have left us their comments on the Psalms, clearly note and pass over these verses, confessing that they are not found in Hebrew, nor in the Seventy Interpreters, but in the Vulgate edition, which is called 'common' in Greek, and is different throughout the whole world. But now it is time to devote ourselves to the task and pursue the rest.
57:3-4
(Vers. 3, 4.) But you come here, sons of a fortune teller: whose seed have you played with? Whose mouth have you opened wide, and whose tongue have you cast out? LXX: But you come here, wicked sons, seed of adulterers and prostitutes, with whom have you played? Whose mouth have you opened: and whose tongue have you cast out? By removing the just one, whose burial is in peace, indeed by removing from the midst, you who are sons of wickedness, come to me, and hear what I say (John 8). For just as he who does wickedness is called a servant of wickedness, so anyone who betrays like Judas, is called a son of perdition, and can be called a son of wickedness. Finally, it is written about the Lord and Savior: And a son of wickedness shall not be able to afflict him (Ps. LXXXVIII, 23). For wickedness, or the wicked, which the LXX translated, Theodotion put the Hebrew word 'Onena' (Ps. LXXXVIII, 23), which according to Symmachus, we translate as an augur, meaning that Jerusalem, which is always the mother of those who listen, has been devoted to idolatry. Therefore, He calls them offspring of adulterers, or adulterers themselves (of whom it is said: They committed adultery with wood and stone (Jeremiah III, 9))) and prostitutes: there is no doubt that it signifies the same, of whom we read above: How the faithful city Sion has become a prostitute (Isaiah I, 21) ? Whom, he says, have you mocked, spitting in His face and pulling His beard; and whom have you enlarged your mouth at and opened your lips against, saying to Him: You are a Samaritan, and have a demon (John VIII, 48) ? And again: He does not cast out demons, except by Beelzebub the prince of demons (Matt. XII, 24). And then during the Passion: Crucify, crucify him (Luke XXIII, 21). And again: His blood be upon us and our children (Matt. XXVII, 25). And elsewhere: Woe to you who destroy the Temple and rebuild it in three days. He saved others, but he cannot save himself. Come down now from the cross, and we will believe in him (Ibid. 40).
57:4-5
(Verse 4, 5.) Are you not wicked children, a deceitful seed, who console yourselves in gods beneath every leafy tree, sacrificing little ones in the torrents under threatening ((Vulg. lofty)) rocks? LXX: Are you not sons of perdition: an unjust seed, who call upon idols beneath leafy trees, sacrificing your sons in the valleys amidst the rocks? You, he says, have done these things that the preceding discourse narrated. Who are you, wicked sons of perdition, like Judas the betrayer, who is called the son of perdition (Jn. 17): and offspring of wickedness or deceit and falsehood, who delight in gods under every leafy tree, and sacrifice your children in the rivers (Acts 8). This is also recounted in the history of the Kings and Chronicles, that they sacrificed their sons to the gods, and consecrated them in fire (2 Kings 16 and 17). Indeed, it is without a doubt that both Achab, the king of Israel, and Manasseh, the king of Judah, committed, who went from the murder of their own children to the blood of the Prophets, as also mentioned in Hosea: 'Sacrifice,' he says, 'men, for the calves have failed' (Hosea 13:2).' Or, as it is written in Hebrew: 'Sacrificing men, you worship calves.' And in the Psalms it is written more fully: 'They were mingled with the nations, and they learned their works, and they served their idols, and it became a stumbling block to them.' And they sacrificed their sons and daughters to demons, and shed innocent blood, the blood of their sons and daughters, and sacrificed to the idols of Canaan. And the land was contaminated with blood, and was defiled in its works (Psalm 105, 35 et seqq.). Therefore, since it is evident from history that the sons are the murderers of Christ, the question arises as to how the sons are called sons of perdition, against those who wish to be different natures: one that is lost and evil, and cannot be saved; and another that is good, and cannot perish. For if, as they believe, the sons of perdition are of the most wicked nature: how is it that what was lost has been found? In the parables of the repentant, the lost sheep out of a hundred sheep and the lost coin out of ten are found, and the lost son is found, of whom the father had said to the older son: Your brother was lost, and is found: he was dead, and he has come to life again (Luke 15:32). For nothing perishes unless it was first safe, and nothing dies unless it had lived before. Therefore, those who are now called sons of perdition, or of wickedness and crime, have abandoned the Lord through their own fault, and have begun to be sons of perdition from among the sons of the Lord, as the same Prophet says to them: You have forsaken the Lord, and have provoked the Holy One of Israel to anger (Isaiah 1:4). We can understand these words according to the allegorical sense, and apply them to heretics, who are sons of perdition and of the most wicked seed, or of falsehood. For from the beginning they are liars, like the devil, who is their father, who is the father of all lies. They call those whom they have deceived to idols, or to the images of their doctrines, under leafy and wooded trees, promising pleasures and delights to them, or hiding their impurities. Therefore, after Adam sinned, he hid himself in paradise under a tree, so that he would not be revealed to the sight of God (Genesis 3). There is no doubt that the children of such destruction, and the wicked seed, have many offspring wherever they deceive and kill in deep valleys, and under the looming rocks of impiety, which always threaten ruin, which, due to the diversity of lies and the variety of perverse teachings, are called many rocks. But we have one rock, which always follows the people of God, from which the people of Israel once drank, when they enjoyed the intimacy of the Lord.
57:6
(Verse 6.) In the parts of the torrent is your portion: this is your fate, and you have poured out libations for them, you have offered sacrifices. Shall I not be angry with these things? LXX: This is your portion, this is your fate: and for them you have poured out libations and prepared sacrifices. Shall I not be angry with these things? They fit with the times of Isaiah, who says: For all the mountains, valleys, and torrents were full of the worship of demons, of which Jeremiah speaks: They make idols of wood, and kindle fire to worship them, to make the heavenly powers angry, with women kneading dough and mixing fat, to provoke the Lord to anger (Jeremiah 7). There is no doubt that pancakes, or small crusts prepared by the hand of the artisan, are delightful. For in our language, they are called chavonas. Concerning these, Moses, as the mouthpiece of the Lord, foretold in the Song of Deuteronomy with prophetic spirit: They stirred me to jealousy with strange gods, with abominations they provoked me to anger; they sacrificed to demons, not to God (Deut. XXXII, 16, 17). And they did this of their own accord, for it lies within our power to choose between good and evil. Finally, those who offer themselves to God with virtues are said: He has chosen his inheritance for us: the beauty of Jacob, which he has loved (Psalms 46:5). And in another place: The people of Jacob have become the portion of the Lord, his inheritance is Israel (Deuteronomy 32:9). And it is reported in the Acts of the Apostles that many have given themselves as part and portion of Paul and Silas. Therefore, those who are the portion and inheritance of the Lord, like the Levites, will have a share of the Lord and can say with David: The Lord is my portion (Psalms 73:26). Which things we are able to receive and, regarding the person of the heretics themselves, they indeed, having set aside the worship of God, worship the images of their errors, and offer sacrifices and pour out libations to them, doing secretly those things which are shameful to even speak of, and leading away captive weak-willed women loaded with sins, who are led on by various lusts, always learning, and never able to come to the knowledge of the truth (2 Timothy 3). Therefore, since the wicked do these things in both impieties, is it not just for God's wrath to be provoked against them?
57:7
(Verse 7.) You have placed your dwelling on a high and lofty mountain, and there you ascended to offer sacrifices. And behind the door and beyond the threshold, you have set up your memorial. The Septuagint says the same. The sacred history tells that on high mountains and hills, the gods of the nations offered sacrifices to Israel, and like a shameless prostitute, spread her legs for all the demons. There was no place that was not polluted by the filth of idolatry, to the extent that they would place idols after the doors of their houses, called domestic Lares, and even shed the blood of their own souls, both publicly and privately. Many cities of various provinces struggle with this error and the worst habit of antiquity: even Rome itself, the mistress of the world, venerates Tutela's image with wax and lamps in each island and house, which they call by that name for the protection of their homes, so that both those entering and exiting their houses are always reminded of their unfamiliarity. The heretics as well, whose hearts are lifted up in pride, and who, despising Ecclesiastical humility, promise themselves lofty things, ascend the highest mountains of their own doctrines, and there they prostitute their couch to demons. And because, according to the Prophet, they turned back, imitating Lot's wife (Gen. XIX), they are transformed into a pillar of salt, having the image of Ecclesiastical condiment, and not having any taste at all: who are thrown out and are useful for nothing, except to be trampled under the feet of all. Therefore, the Lord warns in the Gospel, that whoever holds the plow's handle, should not look back (Luke VIII).
57:9
(Verse 9.) Because you uncovered yourself beside me and took in an adulterer, you spread your bed and made a covenant with them. You loved their bed openly and adorned yourself with royal ointment and multiplied your perfumes. You sent your messengers afar and lowered yourself even to the depths. You thought that if you would depart from me, you would have more. You loved those who slept with you and multiplied your adultery with them, and you made many far from you and sent messengers beyond your borders, and you humbled yourself even to the depths. First, let us discuss the Hebrew text, which differs greatly from the LXX in this passage. As mentioned above, to the place where it says: 'You have set your bed on a high and lofty mountain,' and it accuses and rebukes her as a prostitute, in the entrance of houses and in dark places, a harlot behind the doors, so that anyone who wished to enter the house would have the pleasure exposed before their eyes. Now it accuses and refutes her as an adulterous wife, because while she was sleeping with her husband, she secretly received an adulterous man and uncovered his cloak, or even widened her bed and made an agreement, composing instruments of deception with adulterers. But he says this to show that not only in the fields and houses did they worship idols, but also in the Temple they placed the image of Baal, which Ezekiel also says he saw when the wall was pierced. 'You loved their bed,' he says, 'with an open hand' (Ezek. VIII), so that you would not be ashamed of your sin and desire to hide the shame of your fornication, but rather sin freely. And you adorned yourself with royal ointment and multiplied your idols. And the meaning is this: You sought various ornaments, so that you could attract adulterers both by sight and by smell. But what is said, 'You have adorned yourself with ointment for a king,' is understood in two ways: either for the king God, when you adorn yourself with those things which he has given you and prostitute yourself to idols; or certainly for the idol king of the Ammonites, who is called Moloch, and in our language, 'king sounds': which we read as Melchom in other places according to the LXX (Zephaniah 1). And you sent your ambassadors far away, so that you would have an inclination for fornicating not only with the idols of nearby nations but also with those of distant nations. But the Babylonians and Egyptians have their own meaning. And you have been humbled, it says, even to the underworld. Not the humility that is praiseworthy, but the one in which Ammon humbled his own sister Thamar (2 Kings 13). And truly great is this humility, or rather a descent even to the underworld, from the light and pinnacle of chastity into the darkness of a brothel, or rather a plunge into the abyss of lust. To whom it is said in another place: You will be led even to the underworld. According to the Septuagint, in those things which differ, this seems to me to be the meaning: You thought, O harlot, that if you had left me and joined yourself to your lovers, you would have found something more. To whom also God speaks through Ezekiel: Every harlot receives wages; but you, on the other hand, have given wages, and that act has become perverse for you (Ezek. 16:33). For not only did you receive nothing from your lovers, but you also lost what you had received from your husband. And what follows: You have enlarged your bed, and made a covenant with them; you love their bed where you see their blind spies and mute dogs dreaming vain dreams while they sleep. And you have multiplied your prostitution, so that you have not only slept with one, but frequently and with many. Because of this, you have caused many to withdraw from you: angels who were in your protection, or holy men who have departed from the company of such a harlot. Indeed, we can say the same about heretics who, having abandoned God, follow their own errors and believe they have something more when they embrace falsehood. They have lost the truth and multiplied their fornication, not in one doctrine, but in many. They have even caused the leaders of the Churches, who were like angels, to depart from themselves. Not satisfied with the fornication in their own vicinity, they send messengers beyond their own borders to spread the doctrines and errors of barbarian nations, in order to deceive those who listen with the novelty of their words.
57:10
(Verse 10) In the multitude of your ways you have labored, and you have not said: I will rest. You have found life in your hands, therefore you did not ask me to be silent (Vulgate: you remain silent). LXX: In many journeys you have labored, and you have not said, I will cease: you have made these strengthen. Therefore, you did not ask me. He who walks in one royal path does not labor, as God commanded through Moses: You shall walk in the royal path and you shall not turn aside to the right or to the left (Deuteronomy 5:32). There is one way of truth, which is said in the Gospel: I am the way, the truth, and the life (John 14:6). And there are many paths of lies, through which Jerusalem is now accused of having walked, of which paths God, knowing the difference, speaks above to those who stray: Not like my paths, your paths (Isaiah 55:8), which those confessing say to the Lord: You have made our paths turn aside from your paths (Psalm 44:19). Therefore, having known the one royal way, let us see which paths are on the right and on the left, through which we are prohibited from walking. The middle way is temperance, having neither too much nor too little. For example, prudence is the straight and royal way. We deviate to the right if we know more than we should know, and we value cunning for prudence: because the serpent was wiser than all the beasts in paradise (Genesis 3): And the children of darkness are wiser than the children of light (Luke 16). We turn to the left when we are foolish and know less than is necessary. Of which it is said: The fool has said in his heart, there is no God (Ps. XIII, 1). Piety and true religion are also the royal way. He who is superstitious turns to the right and deserves to hear, Do not be overly righteous (Eccles. VII, 17). To the left, is he who neglects the worship of God and is counted among the goats and the rams. Generosity and giving are also the greatest virtues, from which he turns to the right, who is frugal and does not give to others, nor even to himself, what is necessary. On the left, he who consumes his substance with prostitutes and says with Israel: Let us eat and drink; for tomorrow we shall die (Isaiah 22:13). Strength and steadfastness are also the royal road, from which the reckless and stubborn turn aside to the right, the fearful and timid to the left. Therefore, the holy man, desiring to walk on the straight path, prays: Lead me, O Lord, in the straight path (Psalm 139:24). And in another place: Make known to me, O Lord, the way in which I should walk; for I have lifted up my eyes to you (Psalm 142:8). Scripture also speaks about this kind of way in other places: Seek the good way, and walk in it, and you will find the purification of your souls (Jeremiah 6:16). Therefore, Jerusalem was humbled to the depths because it labored in many ways, and did not say, 'I will amend my error through repentance,' but on the contrary, 'I will be strengthened in my beginnings, and I will not heed the judgment of the person who warns me: Turn your foot from the rough way, and your throat from thirst' (Jeremiah 2:25). Finally, it follows: But she replied, 'I will act like a man,' that is, 'I will act bravely,' which is now expressed by another word: 'I will be strengthened.' And because she did these things that the previous discourse narrated, that is why she did not implore the Lord, having more confidence in her own strength rather than in God. Furthermore, the phrase that is placed next to the Hebrew: 'You have found life in your hands,' therefore implies this meaning and understanding: 'Because you have abundance in all things and have become rich, you have neglected the Lord.' These are the riches that even Solomon detests, lest he forget God (Proverbs 30 and 31). And it is said concerning Sodom in Ezekiel: 'Because she was satisfied with bread, she became proud' (Ezekiel 16). Not only wealth, but also poverty tests a person. Hence it is written: I have tested you in the furnace of poverty (Isaiah 48), in which Lazarus, the poor man, was also tested, who endured both poverty and weakness (Luke 15).
57:11
(Verse 11.) For what reason did you fear anxiously? Because you lied and did not remember me, nor did you think in your heart? For I was silent and as if not seeing, and you forgot about me. LXX: Whom you feared, you were greatly terrified, and you lied to me, and you did not remember me. Nor did you place me in your mind and in your heart. And I, seeing you, despise you, and you did not fear me. Because you have confidence in riches with full granaries, you did not want to ask me, therefore you feared many. For you could not say: The Lord is my helper, and I will despise my enemies (Ps. CXVII, 7); And again: The Lord is my light and my salvation, whom shall I fear (Ps. XXVI, 1)? And even if you ever wanted to say this against the conscience of your mind, you have lied. For how could you invoke me, when you did not have any memory of me, nor did you ever consider the precepts of the one who says: Honor the Lord, and you will be strengthened, and without him you will have no fear (Eccles. XXXVIII)? For I am the one who, like Symmachus and Aquila, always remained silent about your sins, and whatever crimes you committed, as if I did not see them, I disregarded with dissimulation, so that if not out of fear of me, at least out of patience, you would return to me. I do not question with my eyes, but with my eyelids I interrogate the sons of men. But on the contrary, you have forgotten about me, and you deserved to hear: You have forgotten the law of your God, and I will forget your children (Hosea 4:6). And again: They have walked against me in perversity, and I will walk against them in furious perversity. What is associated with the mind in the Septuagint, not written in Hebrew, but as if an interpretation has been added, what the heart should be understood as in the Scriptures.
57:12
(Verse 12.) I will proclaim your righteousness, and your deeds will not benefit you. When you cry out, let your congregations deliver you. LXX: I will proclaim your righteousness and your evils, which will not benefit you. When you cry out, let them snatch you out of your tribulation. I have always remained silent and as if I did not see your sins, I have ignored them, but I will no longer remain silent, but rather speak what I have already said: Have I always been silent? And I will proclaim your righteousness, and your deeds. It is to be read as irony, as if someone caught in wrongdoing were to say: 'Look at your good deeds.' Therefore, if a time of trouble comes upon you and you begin to reach out not to the idols you worshiped, but to heaven and implore the help of God, may they hear you and deliver you from the danger you embraced without concern. This is also spoken by God through Jeremiah: 'Where are your gods, the ones you made? Let them rise up and save you in your time of trouble' (Jeremiah 2:28). On account of the fact that the seventy translated it as 'May they deliver you in your tribulation,' and we have said, 'May your congregations deliver you,' Symmachus translated it as 'May your synagogues deliver you.' Therefore, it speaks specifically to the Jews, that the multitude of their synagogues is not able to deliver them in the time of siege.
57:13-14