Commentary on Isaiah, Discourses 1–19

Commentary on Isaiah, Discourses 1–19

continued

Discourse 17

1 Those weaned from milk, those drawn from the breast, expect tribulation upon tribulation, hope upon hope, yet a little while, yet a little while, through mockery of lips, through another tongue. Our first discourse ended with, "To whom have we announced evils? and to whom have we announced a message? And interpreting the meaning of the aforementioned, we say that the person of the holy prophets was introduced, rebuking in a way those of the blood of Israel, as having encountered their words in vain, having benefited not at all, although both evils and, indeed, a message had been foretold to them. And we affirm that evils are the punishments prepared for those accustomed to transgress, and the message the honors upon good hopes. Since, therefore, those of the blood of Israel have benefited not at all, even though the prophets announced to them the things from God, I mean both threats and promises of good things to come, "To whom," it says, "have we announced evils? and to whom have we announced a message? But with the holy prophets having fallen silent, as it were, and having brought their discourse to this point, God of all himself addresses the saints, saying: "Those weaned from milk, those drawn from the breast, expect tribulation upon tribulation, hope upon hope. For the unadmonished, it says, and those greatly afflicted with stubbornness, were justly cast out, and having become without a share of salvation in Christ, they will go to destruction.

2 But you, for your part, who are called through faith to the knowledge of truth, who, like from some breast and milk, have been weaned from the pedagogy in the law; you who once received food fit for infants, and had a more unlearned mind, but have now advanced to a perfect man, to the measure of the stature of the fullness of Christ, and have passed over to the food fitting for the perfect, and have not remained unskilled in the word of righteousness, direct your own hearts to the reception of the new proclamation of the evangelical way of life of the ordinances through Christ. Be strong for endurance, and if frequent and successive tribulation should come upon you from the arising of temptations, and the cruelty of persecutors assails you, endure for a little while, and for a little while expect the tribulations, so that you may be rich in hope, I mean that which is beyond human understanding. "For eye, it says, has not known, and ear has not heard, and it has not entered into the heart of man, what God has prepared for those who love him. Then it shows what the first tribulation against them will be. For "through mockery," it says, "of lips, and through another tongue. And such is the meaning of the prophecy.

3 For in the Acts of the holy apostles it is written that, "On the day of Pentecost they were all together gathered in the same place, and behold there came from heaven a sound like the rushing of a mighty wind. Then he says: "There appeared to them tongues as of fire, distributed and resting on each one of them, and they began to speak in other tongues, as the Spirit gave them utterance. For Christ had commanded them not to depart from Jerusalem, but to wait for the promise of the Father, until they should be clothed with power from on high. Then having come down they were speaking to those from Israel, and to all those from other lands in the tongues given to them by God, "and they were amazed as they listened, and indeed they said, Are not all these who are speaking Judeans? And how is it that we each hear them speaking in our own language? But others were saying," he says, "that they are full of new wine," that is, they are drunk; this, I think, is the "contempt of lips, by another tongue. For they were speaking in other tongues, as the all-powerful God had also foretold this. For "with men of other tongues," he says, "and with the lips of others I will speak to this people, and not even so will they believe.

4 But although they should have received the sign for full conviction, having considered the prophecy made about it by God, they did not do this, but reproaching them for being drunk, they remained in disobedience. That they will speak to this people, saying to it: This is the rest for the one who drinks, and this is the ruin, and they would not listen. Somewhere God, indignant at the madness of the Jews, said: Behold, I am bringing a famine upon the land, not a famine of bread, nor a thirst for water, but a famine of hearing the words of the Lord. And from east to west they will run to and fro seeking the word of the Lord, and they shall not find it. Therefore a spiritual famine has been brought upon those of Israel, and since they did not receive through faith the bread of life that came down from heaven and gives life to the world, for this very reason and quite fittingly they have come to be in want of the food given by God; "For man," he says, "shall not live by bread alone, but by every word that proceeds from the mouth of God. And they have acted insolently toward the Savior and Redeemer of all; but since He is good, even though they had acted impiously in an intolerable way, He called them to repentance through the holy apostles.

5 For the blessed Peter addressed them, that indeed they denied the Holy and Righteous One, and killed the Author of life, and asked for a murderer to be granted to them. Yet he also added this, "And now, brothers, I know that you acted in ignorance, as did also your rulers. Repent therefore, and let every one of you be baptized in the name of the Lord Jesus, and you will receive the gift of the Holy Spirit. For the promises are for you, and for your children. Therefore, he says, those who have been weaned from the breast and from milk, those who have been called to apostleship. And having become ministers of the new proclamations, they will speak to this people, showing clearly what rest there will be for the one who drinks, and what sort of ruin, that is, what is profitable, and the opposite. And he would not listen. Whence, I think, one of the saints, being moved, said to them: "You stiff-necked and disobedient in heart, you always resist the Holy Spirit. For consider how, although they had acted impiously in an intolerable way, they had the holy apostles as teachers, bringing them to repentance and instilling in them the knowledge of what is profitable; but they were arrogant, and very much hardened, and had immoderately turned aside to the disobedient and intractable way. And the word of the Lord God will be to them, tribulation upon tribulation, hope upon hope. To whom will it be?

6 To the holy apostles and evangelists, evidently, who, ministering the divine proclamation, went about under heaven, catching in their net those who had gone astray, bringing to Christ through faith those who formerly said to the wood, 'You are my father,' and to the stone, 'You gave me birth.' Yet not without sweat did they accomplish the course of their own mission, but being afflicted, being mistreated, and enduring the plots of the godless. Therefore the oracle of the Lord became for them affliction upon affliction, and not only this, but also hope upon hope. For having endured the struggles for piety towards Christ, they will have long, or rather even endless, hopes, and they will be crowned with the wreath of incorruptibility, reigning together with Christ. Yet a little while, yet a little while, that they may go, and fall backward, and be endangered, and be broken, and be taken. He sharpens them for courage, and anoints the holy mystagogues for endurance. For they proclaimed to those of Israel, and preached to them the word of salvation. But they leaped upon them like untamed beasts, they brought them into councils, and accusing them of the genuineness of their love for Christ as something utterly monstrous, they used bitter reproaches against them, and after torturing them and tearing them with lashes from whips, they would say: "Did we not strictly command you not to speak to anyone in this name? And behold, you have filled Jerusalem with your teaching.

7 And attacking them in other ways, and savagely plotting against them, they became the cause of their affliction and toils. Therefore the God of all weaves for them a lasting comfort, and reveals beforehand the imminent destruction of their persecutors, saying: Yet a little while, yet a little while. For the time will not be long, he says, for them to fall backward, and be broken, and be endangered, and indeed be captured and go to destruction. And these things, we say, happened to the peoples of the Jews both spiritually and bodily, that is, perceptibly. For they have been endangered and have perished in two ways, first being consumed by war and sieges. Second, having become sweet prey for Satan himself, and having drawn down upon their own heads destruction from their impiety. Therefore hear the word of the Lord, you afflicted men, and rulers of this people in Jerusalem, because you have said: We have made a covenant with hades, and compacts with death. If a rushing storm should pass by, it will not come to us; we have made falsehood our hope, and by falsehood we shall be protected. For since, he says, the things that will come upon you are unbearable, and a bitter and inescapable justice will await those who are said to be impious to the end; for this reason hear the word of the Lord. For it was possible to turn away from evil, by applying their minds to the apostolic proclamations, and by assenting without neglect to what Christ might say.

8 Hear therefore the word of the Lord, you afflicted men, and rulers of this people in Jerusalem. And he calls those of Israel afflicted, because they were burdened by the condemning law. For the law brings about wrath, and anyone who has set aside the law of Moses dies without mercy on the evidence of two or three witnesses. Therefore also the most wise Paul writes to those who after the faith, clearly that in Christ, wish to return to the shadows of the law and says: "Our mouth is open to you, O Corinthians, our heart is enlarged, you are not restricted in us, but you are restricted in your own affections, but for the same reward I speak as to children, be enlarged yourselves, do not become unequally yoked with unbelievers. Therefore they would be afflicted who are still lying under the command of Moses and are oppressed in a certain way, having the burden of the law in their mind and heart. He has therefore addressed both rulers and peoples. Then he inserts in between a certain saying of the Jews, impiously devised by them out of madness and as it were out of desperation. And what this is, it is necessary for me to say: for the God of all, being long-suffering and patient, did not immediately bring punishment upon the offenders, but postponed his wrath, frightening them with terrors and by the foretelling of evils to come, sometimes driving them to repentance.

9 In this way, indeed, we will often find him saying through the holy prophets, "Behold, it is coming," and, "yet a little while," Yet a little while, and the, ‘a very, very little while. But the insolent and arrogant, although it was necessary to correct their past faults with subsequent actions, made the Lord's gentleness a pretext for laughter. For as soon as they heard the prophet saying, 'Yet a little, yet a little, a very, very little while;' they immediately said to one another, 'Long times will lie between the prophet's words, and the manifestation of the things foretold. We will be dead, and the divine wrath will leap upon those after us.' And so God said to the prophet Ezekiel, "Son of man, the sons of your people say: The vision that he sees is for many days, and he prophesies of times that are far off. Therefore say, As I live, says the Lord Adonai, none of my words which I shall speak shall be delayed any longer. For I will speak a word and I will do it, says the Lord Adonai. He reproaches, therefore, those of Israel, as being accustomed to despise, and all but saying: We have made a covenant with hades, and with death agreements. And what are these? When the rushing tempest passes by, it will not come upon us.

10 For it is almost as if, he says, even if they do not say it with their voice, yet they have cried out by their actions, that 'We have made agreements with hades, for it will take us; and even if the storm should happen to come, that is, the danger threatened to be against us, it will not come upon us. For we have made a lie our hope, and by a lie we will be hidden.' For those who fashioned for themselves what seemed good to them, and say that 'We will die before the storm,' that is, before the calamities, how did they not make a lie their hope? For it was not in their power to be able to escape and to precede by death the assault of the things threatened, but rather it lay in the authority of the divine and ineffable power and pre-eminence. Therefore thus says the Lord: Behold, I am laying in the foundations of Zion a precious stone, a chosen, cornerstone, honored, for its foundations; and he who believes in him shall not be put to shame. And I will make judgment for a hope, and my mercy for a balance. These things must be connected to the preceding, casting aside the things inserted in between; For therefore, he says, hear the word of the Lord, you afflicted men, and rulers of this people in Jerusalem. And what indeed has he commanded them to hear?

11 Behold, I am laying in the foundations of Zion a precious stone, a chosen, cornerstone, honored, for its foundations, and he who believes in him shall not be put to shame. He calls, therefore, our Lord Jesus Christ a chosen, precious and honored stone, excelling in the glory and pre-eminence of his divinity. And that he himself has become the foundation and support and unshaken base for the spiritual Zion, that is, the Church, he makes clear by saying that he was cast into the foundations by the Father. And he says he is a cornerstone, as through one faith binding together for spiritual unity the two peoples, the one from Israel, I say, and indeed the one from the gentiles; for in some way in the corners of buildings two walls always come together, and being fitted together with one another are bound together into unity. But he who believes, he says, in him, shall not be put to shame. But see how he in a way releases those who are pressed, and for the afflicted he makes wide the freedom of the evangelical way of life. For, O afflicted ones, he says, behold, I place the chosen stone in the foundations of Zion. And what is the benefit from this? He who believes in him will not be put to shame.

12 And through this he persuades them to release their neck from the burden of the law, and to depart from the foolish and powerless shadow, and rather to choose the grace that is through faith, and to seize the righteousness in Christ which has no toil. And I will place, he says, judgment for a hope, and my mercy for a balance. For as the Savior himself says: "The Father judges no one, but has given all judgment to the Son, that all may honor the Son just as they honor the Father. Understanding this, the blessed Paul writes and says that "we must all appear before the judgment seat of Christ, that each one may receive each one according to the things done in the body, whether good or bad. We expect, therefore, that the judgment will be, and that we will be shown mercy as is fitting for each one, and clearly in proportion to what has been rightly accomplished. For this, I think, is what is meant by mercy coming from our judge by measures, that is, according to the standard of justice, and as it were a reckoning that balances with good works. And you who trust in vain, you liars, that a tempest will not pass over you, lest it take away your covenant with death, and your hope with Hades, will it not remain? If a rushing tempest should come, you will be for it to be trampled underfoot. When it passes by, it will take you.

13 Early, early it will pass by in the morning, and at night there will be a wicked hope. I said that when the holy prophets foretold the future to those of the blood of Israel, and pointed out to them the divine wrath as if it were all but present already, being puffed up into strange follies they both reasoned and said, that even if these things should happen, nevertheless it will be a postponement of times, and the end of the things foretold will not be present immediately, but the time of our life will be spent, and the terrible things will be after us. And saying and thinking these things, they seemed to be making covenants, so to speak, with death, and a sort of hope with Hades. For this reason he says to them: You who trust in vain, you liars, that a tempest will not pass you by. Fear lest it also take away your covenant with death, and your hope with Hades not remain. For the Creator of all things knows, he knows hearts and minds, and the power of the movements in the mind. When therefore having such a hope it says: Lest perhaps, having known what is in you, he may take away from you this covenant with death? And in what way will he take it away? For if the things from wrath should come, that is, the tempest, not some others after you, but you yourselves will become a thing to be trampled.

14 And it will take you early, early, that is, not in the distant future, but as it were at dawn and tomorrow. There will be no rest from evils at all, but by day and by night there will be a wicked hope, that is, you will be consumed at all times by the expectation of terrible things. For when God wishes to inflict evil, who will turn aside the assault of calamity? or who will fight against the divine wrath? Learn to hear, you who are in distress: We are not able to fight. And we ourselves are weak, for us to be gathered together. As a mountain of the impious he shall rise up, and he shall be in the valley of Gibeon. With wrath he will do his works, a work of bitterness; and he will use wrath strangely, and his bitterness is strange. Being exceedingly good, the God of all wills all men to be saved and to come to the knowledge of the truth. For this reason, admonishing the weak and bringing back to a straight and unerring path those who have neglected their own soul, he comes through every manner and word. For sometimes he terrifies them beforehand toward what is better with threats of punishments and with fears from his wrath, and sometimes he lures them toward what is profitable with promises of good things.

15 Having threatened, therefore, and having foretold both that they will in every way and altogether be captured by the tempest, that is, by the calamity that is all but upon them, and that at all times they will be in wicked hopes, he graciously gives a word of exhortation and does not permit them to despair. Just like one of the most wise and skillful physicians, who treat the ailing members of the body, sometimes with a harsh medicine, and with exceedingly strong remedies they check the advance of the passions toward what is worse, and sometimes with moderate and, as it were, very gentle ones, enchanting them, so to speak, they soothe them very well. Having threatened, therefore, he admonishes, and commands them to submit their mind to the evangelical proclamations, saying: Learn to hear, you who are in distress. Then, he says, We are not able to fight. And he also recalls the things that happened from time to time in the valley of Gibeon. And the rendering of the words has been made very obscurely, and the very composition itself the style. And I think it necessary to tell the things from history. For in this way what is being shown will become clear to those who love learning.

16 When, then, Joshua the son of Nun was general and leader of those from Israel, and was descending intolerably upon the lands of the nations, and very many had perished, those from Gibeon, fearing to suffer the same things—this was one of the cities of the foreigners—ran to him, and speaking falsely they were at first undetected, and so they were received. But when after this it was known who they were and from where, they became water-carriers and wood-cutters for the congregation. When the kings of the nations learned this—and there were five of them—they marched against Gibeon, accusing them because they had fled to those from Israel. And since those from Gibeon were in dire straits, and considered resistance impossible for themselves, they begged to be saved by the hand of Joshua. And he, helping those who had once come under his power, set himself against the generals of the foreigners. Then what happened at that time by the hand of God, the Holy Scripture will teach. For it is as follows: "And Joshua came upon them suddenly, for he had marched all day from Gilgal. And the Lord threw them into a panic before the sons of Israel, and He crushed them with a great crushing at Gibeon, and they pursued them on the road of the ascent of Beth-horon, and they struck them down as far as Azekah and as far as Makkedah.

17 And as they fled from before the sons of Israel on the descent of Beth-horon, the Lord cast down hailstones upon them from heaven as far as Azekah; and more died from the hailstones than the sons of Israel killed with the sword in the war. It receives, therefore, from what happened to the ancients, an image and type of the future help from Israel from God who knows how to save, if they should choose to obey the words of our Savior. For you, he says, who are in distress, that is, who have passed through much pain, who are, as it were, afflicted by losses and by fears of things to come, learn to listen, you too call upon Jesus for help, say just as those from Gibeon indeed said: We cannot fight, and we are too weak to gather, clearly, for resistance against the approaching enemies. And what, they say, will this be? You will know, he says, that even if an attack of impious men should be brought against you like a mountain, what happened in the valley of Gibeon will happen to them. For against those who war against you He will do His works with wrath, and works of bitterness, that is, of anger. And who then, if not clearly God who defends? And his wrath he will use in a strange way, and his bitterness will be strange. For a strange and unaccustomed wrath, he says, marches against those who persecute you.

18 And heaven will war against them from on high and from above, pouring down like some hail the things from unmitigated wrath. He says something like this also through the voice of the psalmist: "If my people had listened to me, if Israel had walked in my ways, I would soon have humbled their enemies, and laid my hand on those who afflict them. And you, be not glad, nor let your bonds be strong; because I have heard from the Lord of Sabaoth of things finished and decided, which he will do upon all the earth. Again the person of the blessed prophet is introduced, enjoining and saying to the leaders of the Jews, that it will be entirely and in every way necessary for them neither to rejoice, that is, not to exult in their audacious acts against Christ, but rather to be gloomy, and to weep over their own impieties, nor indeed to tighten the bonds of the law upon the peoples under their hand, but rather to allow those who believe in Christ to be outside the ancient commandment, and having left behind the things in shadows and types, to accept worship in spirit and in truth. For God is spirit, and He must be worshipped in spirit and in truth. But that the law was like a bond, justifying no one; for it perfected nothing; against- binding, as if for punishment, those who were weak, and had been convicted of being guilty of transgressions, one would not doubt.

19 Whence I think also that the blessed prophet David very rightly advises those of Israel to come swiftly to the grace that is through faith, saying: "Let us break their bonds asunder, and cast away their yoke from us. For the teachers of the Jews were, they were, wickedly burdening those yoked under them, and placing upon them a yoke hard to bear, that is, clearly, the yoke of the legal commandments, and binding them as if with certain unbreakable chains. For this reason the prophet says to them: Let not your bonds be strong, because I have heard from the Lord Sabaoth things that are finished and cut short, which he will do upon all the earth. And what are these things that are finished and cut short? The evangelical proclamation, the grace through faith, the justification in Christ, the sanctification through the Spirit. For the law was not cut short, nor was it finished. For it perfected, as I said, nothing. But the teachings in it were as if in cycles, and in long periods of the letter. But the saving proclamation has a most perfect and shortened way; for it brings one through faith to righteousness and sanctification. And the law was given only to those of Israel, with Moses ministering. But grace and truth came through Jesus Christ, and no longer only to those of Israel, but to those throughout the whole world under heaven. For the divine Moses addressed those of Israel, saying thus: Hear, O Israel;

20 but our Lord Jesus Christ through the lyre of the psalmist: "Hear," he says, "these things, all you nations; give ear, all you who dwell in the world. Give ear, and hear my voice; attend, and hear my words. In these things again the person of the Savior himself is introduced, as it were charming those of Israel, and persuading them very clearly to accept the word of the evangelical proclamations, and his voices, not to cast them aside after the commandment through Moses. And that one must not approach the divine and evangelical things carelessly, nor indeed negligently, he shows by saying: Attend, and hear my words. For there is need of attention, and indeed of obedience for those who have come to this point of good reasonings, so as to seek to fill the breadth of their own mind with the instruction that is beyond the law, that is, clearly, the one through Christ. For that, once he was revealed, for some to lay claim to the worship according to the law is precarious and harmful, Paul will confirm by speaking to those who, after faith in him and the cleansing through holy baptism, out of very great folly returned to the things of Moses, that is, the things in the law: "You who are justified by the law have been severed from Christ; you have fallen away from grace. For we through faith await the hope of righteousness. But it is likely that something else is also hinted at by Christ's saying: Attend and hear my words.

21 For if indeed you wish, he says, to apply a keen mind to the shadows of the law, and to deem the types worthy of due attention, you will certainly hear my words. For I am written in types, and the power of my oracles has introduced nothing foreign, if indeed the law is understood spiritually. "For if you believed," he says, "Moses, you would believe me; for he wrote about me. Does the one who plows intend to plow all day? Or to prepare seed before working the earth? Is it not when he has leveled its surface, that he then sows a little black cumin and cumin? And again he sows wheat and barley, and spelt in your borders. The riddle is very deep, and the meaning of the things set forth is altogether hard to see; but I will speak as I am able, and as far as is possible. The wretched Jews were rejecting the word of the Savior, and their pretext was that they loved to hold fast to the commandment through Moses. For they thought that they are perhaps also pious, pretending to be of those in types, but scorning as it were the beauty of the truth. For this reason they also persecuted Jesus, as one who was diverting the power of the legal commandment somewhere else, and leading them away to another worship, I mean, the evangelical one. He takes, therefore, the example from the agriculture they had at hand, and says: Will he that ploweth plow all day?

22 And what he wants to show, is of this sort. The hearts of the idolaters are hard and unyielding, and like some wild fallow land. They need, therefore, like a plow, the word that opens them up, that is, of catechesis; so that they might receive the seed from above and from heaven; and so at last they might bear fruit for God, the desire and readiness for everything that is good. Something like this happened to those from Israel. For they were in Egypt worshiping the gods there, but they were called through the all-wise Moses; and a law was also given to them, able to cut through their constricted hearts like a plow, and their fallow mind. But it was necessary not only for them to be called to the beginnings of spiritual agriculture, but, when our Savior of all, Christ, had already shone forth, to bear fruit for God also the power of worship in the spirit. Therefore, since, as I said, they were rejecting the word through Christ, preferring the things of Moses, for this reason and very appropriately he changes them from this way of thinking, saying: Will he that ploweth plow all day? Or when opening up, he says, the unplowed, wild, and thorn-bearing land, so that it might be ready for the reception of seeds, does he plow forever? But he who wishes to work the land, he says, will he prepare seed before he takes this to mind?

23 Is it not when he has smoothed its surface that he then sows a little black cumin, and cumin? And again he sows wheat, and barley and spelt in your borders. For it was necessary, it was necessary, he says, for the heart of those being instructed to be smoothed beforehand through the commandment in types , and for its surface to be prepared like some piece of land, so that it might be seen to be most ready to be able at last to be suitable for bearing fruit. But the farmer, he says, even if he levels the surface of the land, does not immediately or at first make the sowing of the harder seeds, but whatever are for the time being small, and weak, that is, black cumin and cumin; and when the land has already been trained for fruit-bearing, then indeed then he sows, he says, also wheat and barley and spelt. For this is the way of skilled farming in your borders. The law, therefore, became for all almost a smoother-beforehand and like a most skillful farmer, sowing among those being instructed, as it were, black cumin and cumin, the small things and those as in shadows, and whatever seeds, by and of themselves alone, are by no means edible, but seek in every way combination with others, in order that they might be seen as useful also.

24 For if indeed it should be added to wheat and barley, that is, to breads of wheat or barley, then it seems somehow to be also most useful. Of such a kind somehow is also the power of the worship according to the law. For if it did not seem to be brought together through spiritual interpretation with the more solid food, that is, the evangelical, alone and by itself it would have nothing beneficial. And you will be disciplined by the judgment of God, and you will rejoice. For the black cumin is not cleansed with harshness, nor does a cart wheel turn over the cumin, but the black cumin is beaten out with a rod, and the cumin will be eaten with bread; for I will not be angry with you forever, nor will the voice of my bitterness trample you down. And these wonders came forth from God Sabaoth. Since the law is powerless, he says, for the cleansing of sins, the shadow has been removed, the things in types have been shown to be useless, and a judgment that gives life, and is truly most beneficial, has been brought in. And what is this? For since it was not possible for man to be justified in the law, he has appeared to us who the only-begotten Word of God, having proposed a perfected and abbreviated matter, that is, justification by faith.

25 You therefore, he says, O Israel, having placed your obedient neck under Christ, the Savior of all, you will be instructed by the judgment from Him, that is, to learn the way of salvation from Him. For thus you will be in gladness. And since He has once made His statement about the black cumin and the cumin, He takes something useful from them, and says: The black cumin is not cleaned with harshness, and so forth. For Israel was guilty of transgressions, and was found to have been negligent in the observance of the law itself. For God of all said: "This people honors Me with their lips, but their heart is far from Me. In vain they worship Me, teaching as doctrines the commandments of men. Would he not then have paid the penalty, and quite rightly, for negligence concerning the law? Yes, he says. But the purpose of the lawgiver is philanthropic. For just as the black cumin, he says, is not cleaned harshly, nor does a wagon wheel turn upon the cumin, threshing, that is, and grinding it, as is indeed done with wheat, but is rather cleaned or beaten out with a rod; so will the lawgiver deal with those who have sinned against the law, not demanding harsh punishments, but rather with a rod, and with measured movements cleansing them. And adding that the cumin will be eaten with bread, he has shown that the outward appearance of the legal worship by itself alone is useless for profit.

26 But it will be useful and necessary if it is joined to the solid food, that is, to the gospel decrees. Indeed, interpreting the riddle, I mean, concerning the cumin and the black cumin; and what he would mean by indicating that the black cumin is beaten out with a rod, he adds and says: For I will not be angry with you forever, nor will the voice of my bitterness trample you. For I will not be implacably wrathful, he says, nor will I pronounce the ultimate sentence against you, nor will I render a bitter judgment upon you, so that it becomes a trampling by the things that happen from wrath. And that He has come to the height of forbearance, even in this, again the God of all appears, He further demonstrates by saying: And these wonders came forth from the Lord of Sabaoth. For it is truly a wonder, and no unmarvelous sign, that Israel, being in so many faults, is pitied, and obtains forgiveness for innumerable charges, as God takes pity. Take counsel, exalt a vain exhortation. Promising them amnesty for the things in which they have acted insolently, and having stated very well that He will not be too bitter towards them, He commands them to take up good counsel; but He accuses them, because, thinking a vain exhortation to be something great and lofty, they are carried beyond what is reasonable. And what is this exhortation, considered great among them, but which is futile? That one, surely.

27 For they were saying, We will make a covenant with Hades and agreements with death; if an overwhelming tempest comes, it will not come to us; we have made falsehood our hope, and by falsehood we shall be covered. But those who were pondering these things, and having a vain hope, and thinking that they would die before the terrible things, heard clearly: If an overwhelming tempest comes, you will be a trampling for it. When it passes, it will take you. Woe to the city of Ariel, which David fought. Gather produce year after year. For you will eat with Moab; for I will afflict Ariel, and her strength, and her wealth, will be, And I will surround you, as David did; and I will cast a rampart about you, and I will set up towers about you, and your words will be brought low to the earth, and your words will sink into the earth. And your voice will be like those who speak from the earth, and your voice will grow faint to the ground. He takes something of the things that historically happened in the time of the reign of the blessed David, and he does this almost for the purpose of showing the things dared against Christ by the synagogue of the Jews. For types of the the things that happened to the more ancient ones as in shadows are of true things. Therefore the present Jerusalem was once called Jebus. The blessed David besieged it.

28 And for what reason, we shall know from the Holy Scriptures themselves. For it is thus, in the second of the books of Kings: "And David and all his men went to Jerusalem against the Jebusite who inhabited the land, and it was said to David, 'David shall not enter here;' because the blind and the lame rose up, saying, 'He shall not enter here.' And David captured the stronghold of Zion. This is the city of David. And David said on that day, 'Whoever strikes a Jebusite, let him attack with the dagger the blind and the lame who war against the soul of David.' " Therefore, the blind and the lame from Jerusalem, that is, from Jebus, resisted the blessed David, and having done this they perished miserably. For he captured it; but the inhabitants of Jerusalem, lame and blind, resisted the Savior of all, Christ, at the time of His advent; for they did not know how to walk uprightly. But neither did they receive the divine light into their mind, those not accepting the faith, especially the scribes and Pharisees. And so He said through the voice of David: "Strange children lied to me, strange children grew old and went lame from their paths. And Paul also writes to them, saying: "Therefore lift up the drooping hands and the weak knees, and make straight paths for your feet, so that what is lame may not be put out of joint, but rather be healed. And that they were also blind, the Savior himself will confirm, saying:

29 "For judgment I came into this world, that those who do not see may see, and that those who see may become blind. For the Gentiles received their sight, although they once did not see. But the peoples of the Jews have been blinded, although they saw the mystery of Christ, which came to them in the initiation through the Law. He therefore laments for Jerusalem, and says: Woe to the city Ariel, against which David warred. And he calls it Ariel, using the name that was customary among the people. For Ariel is interpreted, lion of God. And since Jerusalem made irresistible assaults against all other regions and nations, conquering through God, and, in the manner of a lion, seizing and tearing to pieces those who rose up against her, she obtained such a name. Woe, therefore, he says, O wretched city; which once like a lioness roared against the nations, but after this fell into such bitter and incurable misfortunes. For David warred against it long ago, and the one born of his seed after him, that is, Christ. Then he says to them: Gather produce year after year; for you will eat with Moab. For in two whole years, traveling throughout all Judea, our Lord Jesus Christ used all-wise teachings, and set before them the divine and evangelical proclamation. Therefore, he says, since the time is at hand, and grants the ability to gather spiritual food, and to store it up as in a storeroom, into your mind and heart, do not be sluggish about this.

30 But rather, having cast aside all hesitation, gather eagerly. For you will eat with Moab; the land of the Moabites was once most superstitious, and there was no one at all in it who was willing to worship the God who is by nature and truly is. Therefore, under the name of one idolatrous country he includes the whole company of those who are in error, and says, that "For you shall eat with Moab. For the Gentiles have also been called in, and the evangelical and saving proclamation has become a common food both for those of the blood of Israel, and for those themselves who were once in error. Then he adds and says, "For I will afflict Ariel," and you will connect this with the first part. For he said, "Woe, city of Ariel. Then, having inserted in the middle matters of counsel, he returns to his subject, and says: I said, "Woe, city of Ariel"; for I will afflict it, and its strength and its wealth will be for me, that is, I all her wealth, and all her strength I will take; and this you will understand both perceptibly and spiritually. For their earthly wealth has been emptied out, clearly seized by those besieging her. Her once great and renowned strength has also been shattered, for they have been conquered by the hand of the Romans.

31 And in addition to this they have become stripped of the boasts that come from virtue, and being sick with a poverty of every good thing, they have cast away along with the others also the wealth of the wisdom in the law. But I say that "I will surround you with a rampart, I will set up towers against you," indicates the siege that took place against Jerusalem after the Savior's cross. But since the Pharisees became boasters, and uttered terrible and arrogant words against Christ. For they were saying: "We know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is from. For this reason he says, that Your words will be brought low to the ground. And it is not the words themselves that will in truth suffer this, but those who dared to speak them will be cast down, who were formerly accustomed to speaking burdensome and arrogant things, having been subjected to the evils of the war. They will have a small and very weak voice, and they will speak thus, just like those who speak from the earth, that is, the necromancers, who whenever they pretend to bring up a soul, they whisper something faint and chirping with difficulty, as if the soul itself were speaking gently and from the earth. And the wealth of the ungodly shall be as dust from a wheel, and as chaff carried away, and it shall be as a moment, suddenly, from the Lord of Sabaoth.

32 He calls ungodly those who acted insolently toward Christ, and handed the Redeemer over to the cross, and dared to subject the author of salvation to death, even if He came to life again as God in the flesh. He says that this wealth will depart like dust, and will fly away like chaff from a wheel; and not over a long period of time, but in a short one, and as it were in a moment. And that the event will happen from the Lord of Sabaoth, he has necessarily indicated, so that no empty hope might delude them into expecting that they will also escape. For there will be a visitation with thunder and earthquake, and a great voice; a rushing tempest, and a flame of devouring fire. What "From the Lord of Sabaoth" might mean, he makes clear by saying that there will be a certain visitation upon them. For God the Father will in no way overlook the charges of impiety against the Son. But He will bring on, he says, the assault of the war like some thunder, and earthquake, tempest, and a flame of devouring fire. And the wealth of all the nations shall be as one who dreams in sleep, as many as have campaigned against Jerusalem, and all who have been gathered against her, and who afflict her; and they will be as those in a sleep who are hungry and eating, and upon waking their dream is vain.

33 And as a thirsty man dreams that he is drinking and upon waking is still thirsty, and his soul hoped in vain, so shall be the wealth of all the nations, as many as have campaigned against Mount Zion. By saying that the wealth of the ungodly will be as dust, and as chaff from a wheel, obviously of those who acted insolently toward Christ, he insists that it will not become a safe and sure possession even for those who plundered it. For they will be thus enriched, he says, as if some who in a night vision thought they had become very rich, but had gained absolutely nothing. For upon becoming awake, they will recognize the deceit of their dreams, and what they had considered to be true, this they will surely find to be a shadow, and an illusion. One can see something of this sort happen also in the case of those possessed perhaps by hunger or by thirst; for the nature of the body necessarily desires its own things; and when sleep has at some time charmed the mind, nature is no less in desires for what it might wish for. From this, I suppose, like some vapors and subtle phantoms of the thing run around the mind, but the illusion will be completely vain and unprofitable, when sleep finally from the eyes of his return. So let it be, he says, the wealth of all the nations, as many as have campaigned against Mount Zion.

34 But when or how these things came to pass, let it be omitted to say. Be ye faint, and be ye astonished, and be drunk, but not with strong drink, nor with wine, because the Lord has given you to drink a spirit of deep sleep, and he will close their eyes, and of their prophets, and of their rulers, who see the carved things. He speaks again to the despisers of the divine ordinances, and to those who have made it a practice to count for nothing the divine and heavenly proclamation, I mean the evangelical one. For although it was possible for them, and very readily, to profit from the grace of salvation through Christ, they lead on the well-reined neck of their mind. Therefore, the wretched ones did not do this, but being stubborn and thinking great things of themselves, they openly said: "We are disciples of Moses; we know that God has spoken to Moses, but as for this man, we do not know where he is from. But they heard Christ saying clearly: "I am the light of the world. And again: "While you have the light, walk in the light, so that the darkness does not overtake you. But since, although hearing such venerable words, they became in no way better or wiser than themselves; but they were henceforth found to be hard and unbending.

35 Then indeed, at that time and very fittingly, they were overtaken by the darkness, and they have been enfeebled in a way, and have been driven out of their right mind, and as if drunk from wine, they have been easily shaken towards anything whatever that is out of place. Signifying something of this sort, he says to them: Be ye faint, and be ye astonished, and be drunk, but not with strong drink, nor with wine. For he knows, he knows how to intoxicate the mind, not in every way and entirely the perceptible wine, that is, the intoxicating mixture, that is, strong drink. But calamities do this more vigorously, and a certain hardening from divine wrath happening to the mind, for this, I think, he teaches by saying: And he will close their eyes, and of their prophets, and of their rulers who see the carved things. For those of old, he says, who were made wise through the instruction of the law, and who still contemplated the beauty of the truth as in dim shadows, and who understood in part the words of the holy prophets, will be deprived of this very thing. For he will close the eyes of their mind, although they formerly saw the carved things [venerable, hidden, now carved]. And this will be suffered, he says, by ruler and prophet, that is, by leader and priest. For they called prophets those who were busy with the things of the holy prophets, the things of the prophets.

36 And there were some among the Jews, instructors and teachers having a reputation for knowledge of the law, such as Gamaliel, of course, about whom there was much talk among them. And all these words will be to you as the words of this sealed book, which if they give it to a man who knows letters, saying: Read this, he will say: I cannot read, for it is sealed. And this book will be given into the hands of a man who does not know letters, and one will say to him: Read this, and he will say: I do not know letters. Somewhere our Lord Jesus Christ said to the Jews: "You search the Scriptures, because in them you think you have eternal life. And these are they which testify of me, and you are not willing to come to me, that you may have life. Therefore, those of Israel have labored in vain, up and down, always reciting the commandment through Moses and pretending indeed to gather from the legal writings into their mind and heart a not ignoble understanding, yet not seeking Christ, although the law speaks His mystery. for again: "If you believed Moses, you would believe me, for he wrote about me. Therefore, since the word of the law was not of much account among them, or rather, they have killed the one proclaimed beforehand through it, and having disregarded the honor due to Moses, it was sealed in a way by God, just as the divinely-inspired Scripture is one book.

37 For the whole is one and has been spoken by the one Holy Spirit; but in what way has it been sealed? For neither are those who are able to read and who know letters able to understand any of the things in it, nor indeed if one does not know letters will he know any of the things hidden in it; but the law will be sealed for all in a like manner, so that the power of its concepts is altogether incomprehensible, even to those who know the letter. And this was then what was sung through the voice of David to God; "Let their eyes be darkened so that they cannot see, and bend their back always. And the Lord said: This people draws near to me with their mouth, and with their lips they honor me, but their heart is far from me. But in vain they worship me, teaching the commandments and doctrines of men. For the Jews, pretending to see the depth of the legal commandments, and having on their tongue the command long ago ordained for the fathers, have measured the power of their worship of God by this alone. For they did nothing at all of what was decreed, but having dishonored as it were the will of the lawgiver, they turned to the teaching and commandments of men.

38 For innovating for themselves some vain traditions, they thought they were both lovers of God and good, but they were convicted by the facts themselves of having foolishly leapt away from the love of God. Therefore, as far as having the law on their tongue, they considered themselves to be near God, but by not enduring to fulfill it, they were convicted of departing, and of being somewhere outside of it. For that they were more attached to the commandments of men, would become quite clear from this; "For the Scribes and the Pharisees once approached the Savior, saying: Why do your disciples transgress the commandment of the elders? For they do not wash their hands when they eat bread. And to this the Lord said: Why do you also transgress the commandment of God? For God said: Honor your father and your mother; and he who speaks evil of father or mother, let him be put to death. But you say: Whoever says to his father or mother, It is a gift, by which you might be profited by me, he shall not honor his father or his mother; and you have made void the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition. And he added to this the saying before you; for he said that, "You hypocrites, well did Isaiah prophesy of you, saying, This people honors me with their lips.

39 Therefore, since having dishonored the tutor, and having considered the law from God of no account, they turned to the teachings and commandments of men, for this very reason, and quite rightly, the book of divinely-inspired Scripture was sealed. For it was not fitting to enrich with understanding through the divinely-inspired Scripture those who despised it. Therefore, behold, I will proceed to remove this people, and I will remove them, and I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and I will hide the understanding of the prudent. For the people of the Jews were removed, as it were, in many ways, I think. For it was called God's inheritance, both his portion and his measuring-line; but it was, as it were, removed. For it is no longer called his inheritance, but has become a portion for foxes, and has been given to Satan and to the unclean spirits for food, and it was removed also from thinking rightly, to a reprobate mind, from glory to dishonor, from strength to weakness, from being wise to extreme foolishness. For I will destroy, he says, the wisdom of the wise, and I will hide the understanding of the prudent. For the Scribes and the Pharisees seemed to be wise and very learned, having the reputation of legal learning, but the understanding of the wise has been hidden by God, and well-nigh restrained, that is, the law, or rather the divinely-inspired Scripture. Woe to those who make a plan deeply, and not by the Lord;

40 who make a plan in secret, and their works will be in the dark, and they will say: Who has seen us? and who will know us or what we do? When penalty and justice the God of all defines certain things, he immediately brings forward the causes of the matter, and makes clear the accusations of those who have suffered, so that he might be seen as just, punishing all things in justice. He said, therefore, that the peoples of the Jews will be completely without understanding, with the law being sealed and all understanding among them removed, to remain blind, spiritually, that is. What, therefore, are the accusations, and for what reasons it happened that they stumbled in this, he makes clear at once. For very many were their plots against Christ, and displeasing to God. For this, I think, is the meaning of, not by the Lord; and indeed they thought they were plotting secretly among themselves, and undertaking bitter enterprises, so as to say, perhaps, Who has seen us, or who will know what we are doing? But they were ignorant that a plan, and a bitter thought of man, and the power of enterprises could not escape the divine and pure mind, even if one were to do anything in darkness and secretly. For they hired the traitor Judas, practically saying: Let us bind the just one, because he is useless to us.

41 And indeed they delivered him to the cross, and as far as it was in their power, they killed the author of life; but when he was raised again from the dead, they wickedly attacked him and secretly did things out of an unholy and envious mind. For knowing that he had been raised, they gave sufficient silver to the soldiers who were guards of the tomb, so that they would say that his disciples came by night secretly and stole him. Woe, therefore, he says, to those who are accustomed to make such plans, not by the Lord, but rather as in Beelzebul. Will you not be regarded as the potter's clay? Shall the thing formed say to him who formed it: You did not form me? or the thing made to him who made it, You did not make me with understanding? Having said that I will remove this people, he shows in these words that he will accomplish the matter in every way and entirely and very effortlessly, saying that they will be remolded into whatever the creator wishes, just as, indeed, things crafted by the hands of a potter. The prophet Jeremiah was also taught something similar again; "Arise, he says, and go down to the potter's house, and there you will hear my words. And I went down to the potter's house, and behold, he was doing a work on the stones, and the vessel which he was making fell from his hands;

42 and he made it again another vessel, as it seemed good in his sight to make it, and the Lord said to me: Am I not able to do to you as this potter, O house of Israel? Behold, as the potter's clay you are in my hands. For the craftsman and creator of all things easily remolds what has been made by him, to whatever he may choose. Is it not yet a little while, and Lebanon will be changed into Carmel, and Carmel will be regarded as a forest? Saying that they will be like potter's clay, and will be remolded for the worse; because of the very great sin that is in them, he shows clearly in what way the matter will be, and in a way clarifies what seems to have been said obscurely. Lebanon is a mountain of Phoenicia, and all the people who lived in it and around it were among the most superstitious, and similarly Carmel was a very large mountain in the land of the Jews, in which it is said that Elijah the Tishbite also dwelt. Therefore, by the mountains, or the regions in which the mountains are, he wishes to signify those who dwell in them, and he says that Lebanon will be removed, that is, it will be changed, and it will be as Mount Carmel. And Mount Carmel as Lebanon, that is, those who once worshipped idols will recognize the God who is worshipped in Judea, and will be counted in the rank of the firstborn Israel.

43 But those of the seed of Israel will become like those who inhabit Lebanon and were once in error. For Israel has been cast out from intimacy with God because of their impiety toward Christ. But the nations were received and sanctified through the Spirit of the divine na- of... have become partakers. Therefore, Lebanon, he says, will be transformed like Mount Carmel, and Mount Carmel will be reckoned as a forest, that is, as a material of wild woods, whose end is for burning. Or also in another way. For those who devastated it have become like woodcutters to those from Israel, and this, I think, the prophet Zechariah shows by saying: "Open, O Lebanon, your doors, and let fire devour your cedars. Let the pine wail, because the cedar has fallen. Wail, you oaks of Bashan, for the dense forest has been cut down. See then, that he also compares Judea to Lebanon, as differing in nothing from those who were formerly in it, that is, from the wanderers. And he calls the pine and the cedar, and indeed also the oak, those who have fallen in it. For being high, and lifted up, they have been consumed as by the fire of divine wrath. And in that day the deaf shall hear the words of a book, and out of the darkness, and out of the mist. The eyes of the blind shall see, and the poor shall rejoice through the Lord in gladness, and the hopeless of the nations shall be filled with gladness.

44 It shows most clearly the calling of the nations through what is set before us. And it is possible to see the nature of things happening as if by inversion. For he said that the book of the law would be sealed, that is, of all the divinely inspired Scripture, and the knowledge of the divine oracles would be hidden from the mind of the Jews; so that the one who knows letters would say, I cannot read it, for it is sealed, and the one who does not know letters would say, I do not know letters, but that the nations will be called to the knowledge of God and will receive the light of the evangelical preachings into their mind and heart, and they will also understand the law through Moses, although they were once deaf and unable to hear, and living as it were in mist and darkness, which makes it clear that they were in ignorance and error. And he says they will rejoice, not in any other things of this life, but in the Lord, that is, in Christ. For being poor, and having no good things in mind, but being in want of every virtue, and having no hope; for they were without God in the world, according to what is written; they will be filled with gladness. For they will be free from sin and full of holiness, and superior to death, and full of the hopes from God, partakers of everlasting gladness.

45 The lawless one has failed, and the proud one has perished, and those who transgress for evil have been utterly destroyed, and those who make men sin by a word; and they will make a stumbling block for all who reprove in the gates, and they turned aside the just for unjust things. As those from Israel were removed from the midst, and cast out from fellowship with God, even if not entirely; for the remnant was saved according to the prophet's voice; he says that the lawless and the proud one have failed. For they were lawless as not having kept the law itself, but turning rather to the teachings and commandments of men. And exceedingly proud and terribly arrogant, as having dishonored Christ. For at one time they said: "Is not this the carpenter's son, whose father and mother we know? How then does he say that he has come down from heaven? And at another time: "Abraham died, and the prophets died, and you say, If anyone hears my word, he shall never see death. Who do you make yourself to be? And indeed elsewhere one might see the Scribes and Pharisees saying most impiously: "He has a demon and is mad; why do you listen to him? Therefore, those who always transgressed were utterly destroyed on account of their great evil and the magnitude of the perversity that was in them. These were the ones who made men sin by a word;

46 for by leading the people under their hand away from reverence for the law, as I said, they prepared them to sin, persuading them to keep their own word, that is, their own commandments; and preparing them to consider these things as law; and what is yet more than these more unholily, they made those who reproved them in the gates a stumbling block. For the holy prophets, conveying the words from above and from God, at times reproved those of Israel, and this with boldness and not secretly, but as it were in the gates. But those who were appointed to lead the flocks under their hand, and who were obliged to instruct in everything useful those who were straying from the right and blameless path, made the beneficial reproofs a stumbling block, calling them perhaps deceivers and false speakers. For their aim was always to pervert the power of the just in unjust matters. For this, I think, is what is meant by, They perverted the just in unjust things, as for instance the law saying, "Honor your father and your mother," and, "He who speaks evil of father, or mother, let him be put to death. They themselves taught those born of them to say to their parents: Whatever benefit you might have received from me is a gift. And if they should say this, he shall not honor his father, or his mother. Let it be lawful, he says, not to honor a father, or a mother. For Christ reproached them for this, saying:

47 You have made void the commandment of God for the sake of your tradition. Therefore thus says the Lord, concerning the house of Jacob, whom he set apart from Abraham: Jacob shall not now be ashamed, neither shall Israel now change his countenance; but when their children see my works, for my sake they shall sanctify my name, and they shall sanctify the Holy One of Jacob, and shall fear the God of Israel. Everywhere in the prophecy the word becomes sober, and foresees the wickedness of those accustomed to finding fault. For he said, that the lawless man has failed, the proud man has perished; they who act lawlessly for wickedness have been destroyed. But since it was likely that some, out of excessive ignorance, would think that God had spoken falsely, since Israel had not utterly perished, but, as I said, the remnant had been saved; for this reason he also very usefully remembers the hope preserved for Israel in the last times of the age. They too shall be called through the faith in Christ, and shall run after the nations. For when, he says, the fullness of the nations has come in, then all Israel will be saved. What then does he say: Therefore thus says the Lord, concerning the house of Jacob whom he set apart from Abraham? For Israel was chosen from all the nations, and like a special inheritance for God, the race of Abraham and Jacob was reckoned.

48 But not now will they be ashamed, he says, nor will they now change their countenance, that is, they will not immediately, when they have acted impiously toward Christ, having come to the knowledge of their own sin, be ashamed and, as it were, depart, so as to no longer be seen as such. For this, I think, is what it means to change one's countenance; but as time goes on, when those born of them see my works, that is, when they behold the whole world under heaven called, and those throughout all the earth believing in me; when they see the power of the devil shaken, that ancient and profane error having been clearly destroyed, and the precincts of idols burned at the same time, then they will sanctify my name, that is, they too will consider me holy; and they will sanctify as being in truth the Holy One of Jacob, and the God of Israel. For so they will fear me. And the fear of God is always somehow the path to salvation. For it is written, that "The fear of the Lord makes life. And those who are wandering in spirit shall know understanding, and the murmurers shall learn to obey, and the stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace. For having sanctified the name of the Savior of us all, Christ, and having firmly believed that he is the Holy One of Jacob and the God of Israel, they will know understanding;

49 although they were once held by a spirit of error, and had the law sealed up; and those who always murmur will learn to obey. For the Jewish crowds murmured against Christ, at one time saying: "You are not yet fifty years old, and you have seen Abraham? and at another time in addition to this, not refraining from persecuting him" and to writing down the truth for him as the substance of the charge. For the Savior of all called himself the Son of God the Father, and showing the shadow of the law to be nothing, he set forth the beauty of worship in spirit. But they persecuted him, Not only, it says, because he broke the Sabbath, but he also called God his own father, making himself equal to God. Those therefore who murmur will learn to obey, it says, and the stammering tongues will learn to speak peace. For the tongues of those accustomed to not speaking correctly about Christ were stammering, but they will learn, it says, to speak his things and to utter things for peace rather, no longer turning away to their former arrogance, but rather submitting to him the neck of their mind. To speak peace to Jesus is if one says, The Lord is our God, possess us, besides you we know no other, we name your name. Woe, apostate children, thus says the Lord You have made a plan not through me, and covenants not through my spirit, to add sin to sins;

50 you who proceed to go down into Egypt; but you did not ask me, to be helped by Pharaoh, and to be sheltered by the Egyptians. For the shelter of Pharaoh will be a shame to you, and a reproach to those who trust in Egypt, because there are rulers in Tanis, wicked messengers; in vain will they labor for a people who will not profit them, neither for help, nor for benefit, but for shame and reproach. He again bewails those of Israel as having become lovers of sin and apostates, being exceedingly wicked and devising bitter things, not through God. For it is not lawful to take counsel with God, for those who wish to agree on any wicked matter. But everyone who is pious and good, and a lover of righteousness, will take counsel with God and will proceed to what must be done. For it is written, that The thoughts of the righteous are judgments. He therefore accuses the outcast Israel, as having introduced a mind discordant with God against Christ. For they were deliberating while meeting in council, and indeed they said: What are we doing, because this man does many signs? If we let him go on like this, the Romans will come and take away both your city and your country. But another one of those ranked among the leaders said, You know nothing, that it is expedient that one man should die, and that the whole nation should not perish.

51 The Lord teaches this very thing more clearly, saying in the Gospel parables, that The householder who planted the vineyard sent his servants to collect the fruits, but the husbandmen killed them. And the charges of their impiety did not stop there; for having also seen the son sent by the father after the servants, they said, it says, among themselves, This is the heir, come, let us kill him, and let us have his inheritance for ourselves. Apostates, therefore, are the introducers of such bitter and unholy counsels, who add sin to sins; for they killed, as I said, holy prophets; then also after them the heir himself, that is, the son. That their mind has long since been inclined toward apostasy from God, he tries to confirm, saying: Those who proceed to go down into Egypt; but they did not ask me, to be helped by Pharaoh, and to be sheltered by the Egyptians, he interjected the phrase, But they did not ask me. And the sequence of the thoughts is in this manner: Woe, he says, to those who go down into Egypt to be helped by Pharaoh, and to find shelter from the Egyptians. For when war and battle had been announced to them and the king of Assyria had moved his arms against the land of the Jews, they ran ahead to the Egyptians, and called for their aid, although they should have been propitiating God, and rubbing away by their conversion to better things, the offenses by which they had stumbled against him.

52 For being rich in his benevolence, they would not have been subjected to those of the with the feet of those warring, the experience of those who have already arrived will confirm. For whom have they not conquered? whom have they not overcome through God? But considering it as nothing to be saved by him, but rather determining that the omnipotent right hand was unable to save some, they sought aid from men. But this matter, he says, will be to them for shame and reproach. For there are in Tanis, he says, leaders, evil messengers. For those from Israel went down to Egypt, and they thought, as I just said, that the aid of the leaders in Tanis, that is, the kings, would suffice for them. But some came even there, reporting to the rulers of the country evil and unbearable things, for the Assyrian had advanced against the Egyptians, after the war against the Tyrians. Therefore in vain, he says, will those from Israel labor, running down to a people, who will in no way be able to help them. For it will be for them neither sufficient for aid, nor indeed able to deliver from the impending evils, but for shame, and reproach. For it always follows for those who have turned their own heart away from hope in God, that they completely and in every way fall into every evil. And the blessed David speaks truly, saying: "It is good to hope in the Lord, rather than to trust in man.

53 He hides and delivers from every evil those who love him, and are zealous to cleave to him."