Книга четвертая

We dictate uneven books; due to the difference in visions and thoughts, one book is shorter, the other more extensive. So, having finished the third book, we move on to the fourth, which is a third less than the first and half the size of the fifth book that follows it, containing a historical interpretation. For desiring not to separate what is in connection, and to bypass what was explained by us in the past, we, as it were, directed our ship between two Semplegadas 19 of the Black Sea, which enters the sea with the breath of the Holy Spirit, with the direction of its course by the Lord Savior and with your, virgin of Christ Eustochia, prayer words: “Come from the four winds, O soul, and revive the dead bones.” (Ezek. 37:9), so that what lies in the dust of the ground may be stirred up by the breath of the Lord. Chapter IX. Art. 8–13. The Lord sent the word against Jacob, and it fell on Israel. And all the people, Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria, will recognize him, saying in pride and arrogance: “The bricks have fallen, but we will build with hewn stones; The sycamores have been cut down, but we will replace them with cedars.” And the Lord will raise up the enemies of Racine against him, and will stir up his enemies: Syria from the east, and the Philistines from the west, and they will devour Israel with their mouths full. For all this His wrath was not turned away, but His hand was still stretched out. But the people did not turn to him who struck them, and they did not seek the Lord of hosts. We read above that in the days of Ahaz the son of Jotham, the son of Uzziah king of Judah, Racine the king of Syria and Pekah the son of Romelia the king of Israel rose up against Jerusalem to conquer it (2 Kings 16), and that Isaiah the prophet was sent with his son Jasub to meet Ahaz to tell him not to be afraid and so that his heart would not be afraid of the tails of two smoking brands, since he had the kingdom of Syria and Israel will end (Ex. 7). And when, due to the greatness of this matter and his present misfortune, Ahaz did not believe it, then he was commanded to ask himself for a sign; and since he was an idolater and did not want to do this, then for this the Lord gives a sign, not to the king himself, but to the house of David, - the sign of His Son, who will be born of the Virgin, by the power of whose invocation they will be delivered from the threatening danger, and so on, which we have interpreted to this point. So, having laid out many mysteries in the middle, he now returns to where he began, and prophesies about the destruction of Racine and Ephraim, that is, Syria and Samaria: the word, he says, was sent by the Lord against Jacob, and it fell on Israel. Among the Jews, dabar is represented by three consonant letters: dalet, bet and resh, according to the difference in places, if dabar is read, then it means the word, if - deber, then death and pestilence; why many, misled by the ambiguity of the word, say not the word was sent, but death. So, the Lord sent a word against Jacob, and it fell on Israel: he wanted Judah to reign, as Jacob prophesies in the book of Genesis (Gen. 49), and he appropriated the kingdom of Israel to himself, i.e. ten tribes, about which it is said: “They themselves reigned, and not through Me” (Hos. 8:4). Thus, the royal dignity, which by the anointing of Samuel after the rejection of Saul began in the line of David, sent to Jacob, that is, to the twelve tribes that were formerly called Jacob, fell on Israel, did not come, as LXX translated, but fell, for it fell from the wicked, and restored to the saints, was exalted. So let the people of Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria know that, due to their numbers, they are puffed up with pride and say: the kingdom of Judah is small and too insignificant in comparison with ours; while they fall apart like bricks, we will build ourselves a house of hewn stone; while their sycamores, these trees of the lowest grade, are cut down by the enemy invasion, we will build our kingdom from cedars that do not rot, pointing to the eternity of our kingdom - let all the people of Ephraim and the inhabitants of Samaria know that Syria, which is now in alliance with her, will go over to the side of her enemies, and even against Syria itself unexpected wars will arise from the enemies and everyone will be in confusion, so that they will rise up against Israel Syria from the east and the Philistines, that is, the Palestinians, from the west, and together they will devour Israel. And yet, even after all this, My hand is stretched out, or high, over Israel, and does not cease to smite them. But those struck by God will not turn to the one who beats them and will not seek the Lord of hosts, worshiping golden calves instead of God. In a mysterious sense, ours explain it this way: God sent His son to Jacob, that is, to the Jews, and He came to Israel, that is, to the people of the pagans, whom the Apostle calls Israel (Rom. 9). Others explain this way: the Lord sent His word to the Church, which overthrew the former people, and it fell on Israel, that is, on the heretics who boast that they see God. Let their princes and all those living in Samaria know, that is, those who say that they keep the law of God and live in abundance of virtues and bear the fruits of righteousness (for this means Ephraim), who in the pride of their hearts despise the Church and consider its simplicity ignorance, say: instead of her bricks we will build our churches from hewn, the strongest stones and instead of barren and soon rotting trees we will erect the highest cedars that the Lord will crush and about which the righteous says that he saw in them the likeness of the wicked and their place was not found (Ps. 36). So, the Lord says that Racine, which means secular wisdom, whose help Ephraim uses, will turn against him and all his enemies will rise up against him and press him, both from the east and from the west, and will devour him with their mouths full. Instead, LXX translated: and let us build ourselves a tower; and God will destroy those who rise up on Mount Zion and will scatter his enemies. For they desire to build themselves a church in Samaria in the likeness of the church of God; but although they will come from the east and say: Come, let us build ourselves a pillar and make for ourselves a name more than we would be scattered (Gen. 11:4), but through the opposition of the Lord their agreement will be destroyed and scattered and their tongues will be separated from one another, so that in agreement they will not become worse, but will be mutually disunited. However, even struck in this way and devoured by enemies, they will not return to the Lord, but His hand is still prepared for beating, in accordance with what we read in Jeremiah: “In vain did I strike your sons: you did not receive instruction” (Jer. 2:30). Art. 14–21. And the Lord will cut off the head and the crooked and ugly tail of Israel in one day. An old man and a noble one is the head; and the false teacher prophet is the tail. And those who call this people blessed will be deceivers, and those who are called blessed will be overthrown. Therefore, the Lord will not rejoice over his young men and will not have compassion on his orphans and his widows, for every one of them is a hypocrite and an evildoer, and every mouth has spoken foolishness. For all this His wrath was not turned away, but His hand was still stretched out. For wickedness burned like fire; it will devour the thorns and thorny bushes and will burn in the thicket of the forest and swirl in the pride of smoke. The earth will tremble at the wrath of the Lord of hosts, and the people will be as food for fire. The husband will not spare his brother; he will bend over to the right side and hunger; He will eat on the left, and will not be satisfied; Each one will devour the flesh of his own arm, Manasseh Ephraim, and Ephraim Manasseh, and both together Judah. For all this His wrath was not turned away, but His hand was still stretched out. The Lord will not only raise up the enemies of Racine against him and stir up his enemies, Syria from the east and the Philistines from the west, so that they devour Israel with their mouths full, but since he did not return to him who beat him and did not seek the Lord of hosts, then He will stretch out his hand to defeat in order to cut off from Israel the head and tail of the crooked and ugly, that is, the one who perverts the right. He himself explained who the head was - an old man and a noble man; and whoever is the tail, he says, is a false teacher prophet, that is, a false prophet. He spoke about princes, and now he adds nobles and people to them, saying that teachers and students, the educated and the ignorant mob will equally perish. For those who called the people blessed are deceivers, and those whom they called blessed and called not for the sake of their virtue, but for the sake of gifts, will be cast into destruction. That’s why we read above: “My people! those who call you blessed deceive you and pervert the paths of your feet” (Isaiah 3:12). In such a people, God will not take pity on anyone, neither on the orphan, nor on the widow, since everyone is a hypocrite, showing one thing in appearance and doing another, promising chastity and living depravedly, extolling poverty and filling the purse. Therefore he adds and says: and every mouth has spoken foolishness. For all this, the Lord does not cease to be angry, but still raises his hand to defeat. And since they did this, wickedness will burn like fire, so that the greedy flame will devour not the cultivated field, but the thorns and thorny bushes, and will destroy not the fruit trees, but the barren forest in which the animals live; which is why it is said that when fire is added, the thicket of the forest will be covered with proud and high smoke, for everything that is high and protruding upward can be called proud. Instead, I don’t know what they meant, LXX was translated: and will devour everything in the circle of the hills. The earth trembled with the wrath of the Lord and the people became food for fire because he was so cruel that he did not spare even the most dear bonds of brotherhood, but, leaving and neglecting the right side, was satisfied with what is on the left side - thirsting for pleasure and wickedness and constantly striving to add worse to the bad. And Manasseh and Ephraim themselves, born from the same womb and from the same father, fell into such a frenzy that they were at enmity with each other with the hatred of enemies. Let us read the books of Kings and Chronicles, and we will find internecine wars in Samaria, when some quarreled with others over different kings, and also how they, killing their kings, were unanimous in their hostile attitude towards Judah. In an allegorical sense, the Lord will take away the head and the tail, both the greater and the lesser. Mentioning the tail shows that heretics are not people, but cattle, for whom this member serves to cover up sewage and drive away insects. And after the head he mentions the crooked and ugly tail, showing that they destroy the commandments of the law and pervert the right path. He will destroy the old man, as the head, and the false prophet, denoted by the tail, and he will equally destroy teachers and students, some because they praise sinners because of their gifts, others because, while receiving praise, they do not feel their vices and do not bring repentance. Therefore the Lord will not rejoice over their young men; for woe to the city, in it there is a youthful king (Eccl. 10:16). And those who betray God the Father or the true Lord will not receive mercy. For every heretic is a hypocrite, doing something else and showing something else outwardly, and whatever he says, although it seems to be wisdom, is in essence stupidity. For this, God stretches out his hand for punishment, and all their iniquities, like a thorny bush, will be destroyed by a devouring flame. And words without virtues, like a barren forest, will be covered with high smoke. When they are punished, the whole earth will tremble, and the deceived peoples will be consigned to eternal fire because they do not spare even their own people for the sake of gain, but vying with each other to rob the deceived peoples, abandoning the good and persisting in the worst. And although they constantly find the left, they are never satisfied with their delusions, devouring the flesh of their muscles and fighting against the church with unremitting hatred. Because of luxury, pleasures and because of profits from the nations, they disagree among themselves, so that out of one heresy two are made, these are again divided into parties to lead their own flocks and devour the houses of widows and women sinners, always learning and never achieving the knowledge of the truth (2 Tim. 3). With all this, the wrath of the Lord will not be turned away, destroying and destroying vices, but the more they succeed in sin, the more He stretches out His hand for punishment. Chapter X. Art. 1–4. Woe to those who make unjust laws and constantly write untruths in order to oppress the poor in court and to do violence to the cause of the humble of My people, so that widows may be their prey and so that they may rob the orphans. What will you do on the day of visitation and disaster coming from afar? Whose help will you resort to, and where will you leave your glory, so as not to bend under the bonds and fall among the slain? For all this His wrath was not turned away, but His hand was still stretched out. Many think that this is also said against the ten tribes who lived in Samaria - that they added these to the previous crimes. It seems to us that the prophetic speech cries out against the judges of the tribe of Judah and Jerusalem, that is, the scribes and δευτερωτὰϛ, - that contrary to the law of God they wrote unjust laws and with their traditions perverted the truth of the court. For while God says: Honor your father and mother (Ex. 20:12), they, on the contrary, inspired sons to say to their parents: It is a gift that you would enjoy from Me: and let him not honor his father or mother (Matthew 15:5-6; Mark 7:11), and other similar things. In addition to this, they wrote the most evil laws in order to oppress the poor and humble of the people, in order to receive booty from widows and rob orphans. They are given the question: what will they do when the day of either captivity or judgment comes - the day of disaster coming from afar, which was predicted long before? To whose help, he says, will you resort when you have offended God, your true helper, and where will you leave your glory? For wealth will not profit you in the day of wrath, nor will it prevent you from being taken captive by the Assyrians, nor will you fall in battle. And in conclusion, just as he often spoke above against Samaria, he also speaks against Judas: despite all this, His wrath was not turned away, but His hand was still stretched out - that their final captivity is not yet the end of the disaster, but even in the enemy’s land the sword of the Lord will pursue them. In a mysterious sense, every heretic writes lies in order to deceive the poor and humble people and rob widows and orphans. For the rich man of whom we read: the deliverance of a man's soul is wealth to him (Prov. 13:8), does not tolerate threats, is not easily caught by heretics; the poor, humiliated and insignificant among the people, are soon led into temptation by them. It is also easy for a widow who has lost her husband, God, to fall, and an orphan who has lost the Creator Father, about whom it is written: You have forsaken the God who gave birth to you, and you have forgotten the God who feeds you (Deut. 32:18). What will they do, having deceived such people, on the day of judgment and disaster coming from afar? For as it is said to a righteous man, “You are near,” the word is in your mouth and in your heart (Rom. 10:8), and in another place: the kingdom of God is within you (Luke 17:21); so the misfortune of the heretics will come from afar, having been prepared for them long ago. To whom will they resort when they have lied to God? To whom will they give their glory when everything is treacherous? And they will not be able to escape the bonds with which they have bound so many. Therefore, in the vision of the Valley of Zion, which was abandoned by the heights of God and deceived by the heretical lowlands, it is said about the teachers of false wisdom: “all your princes fled, and those who were taken were tightly bound” (Isa. 22:3), - that when they fall during the general destruction and kill others themselves, when they suffer a lot and the day of visitation comes, then there will be no end to their destruction, but they must always fear the hand of the Lord threatening them. Hitherto the threat of God is directed against the twelve tribes, that is, against Samaria and Jerusalem; This threat began to be fulfilled over the people during the reign of Ahaz: two and a half tribes were taken into captivity under Ahaz, and the rest under Hezekiah, who was Ahaz’s successor (2 Kings 16:17). A further prophecy is written against the Assyrians. Art. 5–11. Woe to you, Assur! He is the rod and reed of My wrath; in their hand is My indignation. I will send him to a lying people, and against the people of my wrath I will command him to take spoil and plunder with robbery and put them under foot, like dirt in the streets. He himself did not think so and his heart did not think so, but his heart will be towards extermination and the killing of very many nations. For he says: Are not my princes also kings? Isn't Halanno the same as Harkhamis? And isn't Hamath also Arphad? Isn't Samaria the same as Damascus? As My hand found the kingdoms of idols, so also did My hand find their graven images from Jerusalem and Samaria. As I did to Samaria and its idols, so shall I not do to Jerusalem and its graven images? Let us present at this point the translation of the LXX, which in many respects disagrees with the Hebrew text. LXX: Woe to the Assyrians: the rod of My wrath is in their hands. I will send My wrath against a wicked people, and I will command My people to commit robbery and spoil, and to trample down the cities and lay them in the dust. He didn’t think like that and didn’t think like that, but his intention was to crush so many nations. And if they say to him: You are the only prince, then he will answer: I did not take the country that is higher than Babylon and Halane, where the tower was built, but I took Arabia and Damascus and Samaria: as I took these countries, so I will take all the kingdoms. Shout the statues in Jerusalem and Samaria; For as I did to Samaria and her idols, so I will do to Jerusalem and her graven images. Firstly, you need to take into account that in Hebrew it is not Halane, but Halanno; because the last letter of this word is not iod, as LXX thought, but vav, which letters differ from each other only in size. The tower was built on the field of Shinar, on which were Arek, Akad, Halanne and Babylon, which received its name from the confusion of languages ​​(Gen. 11). There is no Arabia in Hebrew, but Hamath stands, which country the Syrians still call Epiphany. They also added to the crying statues in Jerusalem from themselves. It was said above: if they say to him: you are the only prince, then he will answer: I did not take this and that country, but took Arabia and Damascus and Samaria gives this meaning: when, he says, those taken into captivity say to the king of Assyria: you are a prince over everyone, then he, recognizing himself not yet strong, will answer: how do you call me a prince, when I took only Arabia, Damascus and Samaria, and have not yet subjugated his the powers of distant nations beyond Babylon? Just as I took Arabia, Damascus and Samaria, so I will enslave all the kingdoms. Let's move on to the Hebrew and briefly note what appears to us. Woe to the Assyrian, that is, Sennacherib, because he is the rod and reed of My wrath, for My indignation is in his hand, and with it I will defeat the most deceitful people, who constantly limped between Me and the idols and who lied that they would fulfill My commandments. Against the people of My wrath I will command them to rob them and plunder them, to turn them into dust and trample them down like dirt in the street, that is, to strike them, but not to kill them, to inflict a wound, but not to take away their souls. But he exceeded the measure of My wrath and rushed not only at Israel, against whom he was directed, but also at very many nations, with the intention of crushing the surrounding kingdoms, and his sword raged even until the destruction of all these very many nations. And being proud, he dared to say: my princes are kings of other nations, and under my authority they will rule all nations. As I took Kharkamis, so I took Halanno; as he took possession of Arphad, so he took possession of Hamath; just as he subjugated Damascus, so he subjugated Samaria; Just as I subjugated other kingdoms that served idols under my feet, so I will bring Jerusalem and Samaria, where the same idols are located, under my power. Just as I took Samaria with its idols, I will also take Jerusalem, because it worships the same gods. Instead of Kharkamis, LXX, adding on their own, translated: the country beyond Babylon and, completely omitting Arphad, they put only: and Khalan, where the tower was built. According to their translation and according to the free tropology, since it is pious, in the words: and I will command My people to plunder and plunder and trample down the cities and turn them into dust, we can see the meaning that the Lord constantly commands His people to turn into dust and show insignificant the cities of opponents, rebelling against the mind of God, built by heretics with extraordinary efforts. He (the people of God), understanding the weakness of the human heart, and the fact that in mortal flesh he cannot have the perfect victory of virtue and take possession of all nations, although others are surprised at him and say: you alone are a prince, he will answer them: I must destroy a lot, but I have not yet been able to destroy; I know that I don't know; Although I have refuted many of the opponents’ evidence, there are still many more to refute. But at the same time, based on the achieved refutation, hoping for the future, he promises himself victory over others. The statues of Jerusalem and Samaria are commanded to cry out, not to the statues themselves, but to those who made them: metonymically, those who made them are indicated by what they did; - that not only those who made idols in heresies, but also those who in the church, out of ignorance, defend a lie instead of the truth, will testify to their error with outcry and repentance. Art. 12–14. And it will come to pass, when the Lord has completed all His works on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, that I will visit the fruit of the great heart of the king of Asshur, and the glory of the height of his eyes. For he said, “By the strength of my hand I have done, and by my wisdom I have understood, and have taken away the borders of the nations and plundered their princes, and as a mighty one I have cast down those who sat on high; and my hand found the strength of the nations, like a nest, and as the eggs left in it are gathered, so I gathered the whole earth, and there was no one who moved a wing or opened his mouth and squeaked. LXX instead of the word fruit translated meaning or great mind. After the captivity of Samaria, the victory of the Assyrians and the threat to Jerusalem that since it imitated Samaria in sculptures, it would be punished with a similar sentence, the prophet now speaks against the Assyrians themselves, who were puffed up with pride and considered victory a matter of their strength. For the Assyrian, proudly boasting, said that he had conquered all nations by the strength of his hand and had taken possession of the borders of all of them due to his incredible wisdom. And, according to LXX, he was so powerful that he completely destroyed the cities of warlike people, captured the whole world as a nest and turned kingdoms into his prey like eggs left by females. Having once taken a metaphor from birds, nests and eggs, he kept it in the rest, saying: there was no one who moved a wing and opened his mouth and squeaked. My strength, he says, and my victory brought such horror that the vanquished could not freely utter even tears and groans. Some think that this is generally said against the kingdom of Assyria - that after the Lord completes all His works on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem, that is, after Jerusalem is destroyed, the kingdom of Assyria will also be destroyed. Based on what follows, it seems to me that this is a threat specifically against Sennacherib, king of Assyria. The words: after the Lord has completed all His works on Mount Zion and in Jerusalem do not mean the destruction of the city, but a siege, when Rabshakeh, the leader of Sennacherib, came and did what the same prophet speaks about below (Is. 37:17). In a figurative sense, when Samaria and Jerusalem suffer the wrath of God and feel that they were mistaken in making idols, then the mind of the great Assyrian will be destroyed, who was puffed up with such pride against the Lord that he thought that everything would bow before his wisdom, then all the high teachings (dogmata), even if strengthened by dialectical art, will be shocked and destroyed so that, like bird chicks, they are unable to They will rise to the heights, and as not yet animated, insensitive and numb, as indicated by the comparison with eggs, they will not be able to even make a sound or move their tongue against the persuasiveness and His word. Art. 15. Will the ax be proud before the one who cuts it, or will the saw be proud before the one who moves it? It is as if the rod is raised against the one who lifts it, and as if the stick, which of course is a tree, is proud. Against Sennacherib, or, as many people think, Nebuchadnezzar, who boasted and said: by the strength of my hand I have done, by the wisdom of my wisdom I have understood, etc., the holy prophet answered: O most foolish of mortals! You consider the wrath of God to be your wisdom and you attribute His commands to your strength! It is as if the ax is magnified before the one who holds it, and the saw before the one who moves it, and as if they say that everything that is done with the ax and the saw is done by their art! And just as if someone took a rod and raised a stick to beat someone, and the rod and stick itself began to boast and say that they beat the beaten one: so you, being an instrument of the will of God, exalt yourself in pride and boast that everything that happens is the work of your strength - what is said to the Assyrian can be attributed to the pride of heretics and to the devil, who is called in the Scriptures with an ax, a saw and a rod, since they cut and split barren trees and saw through the hardness of the unbelievers and, like a rod, strike those who do not accept admonitions. Likewise, heretics, whose mouth is set in heaven, and whose tongue passes through the earth, use the mind received from God for good to the contrary and perverse, to speak against the One by whom they were created, and turn the ministry of the tongue, with which they should praise the Lord, into blasphemy (Ps. 72). Art. 16–19. For this reason, the Lord of armies will send sickness to the fat ones, and under His glory it will kindle like a fiery flame. And the light of Israel will be in the fire, and his holy one in the flame, and his thorns and thorns will be consumed and burned in one day. And the glory of his forest and his Carmel will be destroyed from the soul even to the body, and will be a fugitive from fear, and the remnants of the trees of the forest, due to their small number, will be listed, and a child will rewrite them. Since you did and said what I cited above, then for this the Lord will send his angel, and in one night one hundred and eighty-five thousand of your army will die; so that the most powerful, whom he calls fat, will turn into stunted and insignificant, and, as the Jews say, while the clothes of the Assyrians remain intact, their bodies will be burned by hidden fire. Then the light of Israel and the holy one, that is, the angel, will be in fire and flame, and all the thorns and thistles of Assyria, that is, wickedness, will be destroyed, and not over a long period of time, but in one day and in one instant. And just as the forest and Carmel - this forest-covered mountain of Galilee - will soon burn up when fire is set, so all the glory of the Assyrian will be destroyed from soul to body. Then, having lost his army, he will take flight (as the same prophet says in further words), and from such a countless multitude, which was compared to Carmel and the forest, he will turn into such an insignificant number that a small child will be able to count and compile a census of soldiers. For the Jews say that only ten men remained of his army. Some of ours want to see in this king the image of an opposing force, and just as in Daniel (chapter 10) we read about the princes of the kingdom of Persia, the kingdom of Media and the kingdom of Greece, so here the prince of Assyria, who through pride is called a great mind, on the day of judgment will be consigned to the fire of Gehenna, prepared for the devil and his angels. And the light of Israel and the Holy One of Israel, that is, the Lord Himself, will burn the thorns and thistles of the Assyrian, and all his power and countless nations will be reduced to nothing. Then he is terrified, like a wriggling and cowardly snake, trying to avoid the threatened executions. Those who will be able to avoid his shame and stand out from the trees condemned to destruction will be worthy of being counted and censused by the Youth, His rulership is on His frame. This same thing can be attributed to heretics - that when the light of church teaching shines and all their deceptions are revealed, then such devastation will occur among them that from the forest of barren trees, from the countless number of those deceived by heretical false teaching, only a few will remain following their error. Instead of what we translated: the Lord will send stunting to the fat ones, LXX translated: the Lord will send dishonor on your honor and instead of what we said: and his saint in the flame, they translated: and he will sanctify him in the fire, in which some want to see the same meaning that punishment and torment are applied to sinners so that they are cleansed by divine fire. And what we said: and the glory of its forest and its Carmel, they translated: the mountains and hills and oak groves will fade away, in the sense that all the splendor and pride of the Assyrians, all their multitude, having faded away, will be humiliated. Art. 20–23. And it will be on that day that the remnant of Israel and those who are saved from the house of Jacob will not rely on him who defeats them, but they will lean on the Lord the Holy One of Israel in truth. The remnant will turn, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty Lord. For even though your people Israel were like the sand of the sea, a remnant from them will be turned back. A decisive destruction will overwhelm righteousness, for the Lord God of armies will bring destruction and a shortened work among all the earth. Where in Greek it says: the remnant of Jacob will turn to the mighty God, instead of the mighty God in the Hebrew it says: el gibbor - two names from those six names with which, as we read above, the Child and the Son given to us are called. And instead of what is written: the rest will be converted, in Hebrew it is said in a singular number - the remnant will be converted, i.e. τὸ ὐπόλειμμα ἐπιστρέϕει. In Hebrew it is written sar iasub, and from this expression it is thought that Jasub, the son of Isaiah, was the image of the salvation of the people from Israel. So, when the light of Israel and the Holy One of Israel destroys the forests and thorns of Carmel, and the king of Assyria with a few flees, then those who remain from Israel, who with king Hezekiah, after the capture of the other cities of Judah, were under siege in Jerusalem, will no longer rely on the king of Assyria, as they now do under king Ahaz, who sent ambassadors to the king of Assyria saying: your servant and your son are I am, go up and take me away from the hand of the king of Syria and from the hand of the king of Israel, who rose up against me (2 Kings 16:7), - now that he took the gold and silver that was found in the treasures of the house of the Lord and in the royal house, and sent gifts to the king of Assyria, and the king of Assyria listened to him and came to Damascus and took him and resettled and killed him. Racine; but having freed themselves from this same Assyrian oppressor, who was first a friend and then became an enemy, they will lean and trust in the Lord the Holy One of Israel, and not falsely, as they did under the former kings, but in truth. We read that this is what happened under Hezekiah, so that, leaving idols, they turned to serving God. Having said that the remnant will be saved, he moves on to later times and says that complete salvation will be with Christ. Understanding this, the Apostle Paul writes to the Romans: But Isaiah cries out for Israel: though the number of the sons of Israel be like the sand of the sea, the remnant will be saved: for the word is cut short and cut short in righteousness, even as the word cut short will the Lord create on the earth. And as Isaiah prophesied: had not the Lord of hosts left us seeds, as Sodom would have been, and as Gomorrah they would have been likened (Rom. 9:28, 29). So, when the authority of such a husband appears, then any other interpretation must yield to him. And in fact, if we read Joseph (book 10, chapter 2) and find out how great the population of Jerusalem and Judea was at the time when the Lord suffered, we will understand that in the person of the apostles and apostolic men, only a few of the Jews were saved. The shortened and perfect word is the word of the Gospel, which, instead of all the rites of the polysyllabic law, gave the shortest commandment of love and faith - so that we do not do to others what we do not want to be done to ourselves; why does the Lord say in the Gospel: according to this two commandments the whole law and the prophets hang (Matthew 22:40). Some attribute this section to the times when, under Zerubbabel the son of Shealtiel and Joshua the son of Jozedek, under Ezra and Nehemiah, some of the people returned to Judea. But we will answer them that they do not maintain historical consistency, especially when what follows is said not against the Babylonians, whose king was Nebuchadnezzar, but against Sennacherib, king of Assyria. Art. 24–27. Therefore thus says the Lord God of armies: My people who dwell in Zion! Do not be afraid of the Asshur: he will smite you with his rod, and he will lift up his staff against you on the way of Egypt. For yet a little while, and a very little time, and My indignation and My wrath will be fulfilled at their transgression. And the Lord of hosts will raise up a scourge against him, like the defeat of Midian at the rock of Oreb, and his rod on the sea, and will lift him up in the way of Egypt. And it will come to pass on that day that his burden will be taken away from your shoulders and his yoke from your neck, and the yoke of oil will rot. Instead of a rock, as in accordance with the Hebrew first translation of Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion put the very Hebrew word sur oreb, instead of which LXX translated the place of sorrow, which we will talk about in its place. To you, says the resident of Zion, it seems impossible that while all the surrounding nations are subjugated by the Assyrians, you alone will be freed from his hands. Listen to what I say: do not be afraid, My people, that the victorious Assur will touch you too. For although in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah (2 Kings. 18) King Sennacherib of Assyria will approach all the fortified cities of Judah with the goal of taking them, and will send Rabshakeh to besiege Jerusalem and bring fear to its inhabitants; but you must know that he will not smite you with a sword, but with a reed, and having gone against Taraham king of the Ethiopians and the Egyptians, going to the Red Sea on the way to Egypt, he will only raise the reed against you, and will not be able to smite you. For a little while longer, and returning from Egypt with a countless army and wanting to besiege you, he will immediately be struck by My wrath, and I raised against him the scourge that I once raised against the Midianites at the time of Gideon, also called Jerubbaal, - when the princes of Midian Oreb and Zeeb were killed on the hardest, that is, flint, rock, which in Hebrew is called sur, so from the rock and from the king who was killed on it, this place received the name of the rock of Oriva. So, he will raise his reed over the Red Sea, going against the Ethiopians, and will raise it when returning to you along the way of Egypt, but as soon as he comes from Egypt, the burden and yoke of his power will immediately be removed from your shoulders, and you will stop serving him, which yoke, that is, the power of the Assyrians, will rot from the oil, that is, from the mercy of God. The words: he will strike you with a rod, and he will lift up his reed in the way of Egypt, and also: he will also lift up his rod on the sea, and he will lift it up in the way of Egypt, can also be understood in such a way that he will smite many of the tribe of Judah and take many cities around the kingdom of Jerusalem because they trusted not in God, but in the Egyptians. Therefore, Rabshakeh also reproaches them, saying: now, behold, you trust in this broken rod of reed, in Egypt, but a man will lean on him, enter into his hand and pierce you: so Pharaoh the king of Egypt gave hope to all who hope (2 Kings 18:21). The event with the Midianites is described in the book of Judges (Judges 7), and we read about it in the Psalm: put down their princes, like Oreb and Zibah, and Zebea and Zalman (Psalm 82:12). Therefore, those who think that the time is indicated here are indicated when, as stated in the book of Numbers (chapter 25), the Midianites were beaten by the Israelites from the desert of Shur to the mountain of God Horeb, which the Jews write with different letters, since at that time they were not on Mount Horeb, but in the desert of Shittim. In a mysterious sense, the people living in the church are commanded not to be afraid of opponents, who are always ready for competition and have corrupted many souls through their questioning. For they gained some power over the people of God and struck them not so much with a sword as with a cane, that is, they did not kill them, but threatened them, because he walked the way of Egypt and did not trust in the Lord. When he turns to God and leaves the Egyptian path, then, according to the judgment of God, the scourge will be raised against his opponents. For Midian means according to judgment, so that by the spirit of His mouth and the oil of mercy the yoke of the enemies will rot. Art. 28–32. He will go to Aioth, move to Magron; in Mahmas will lay down its reserves. We moved quickly; Gava is our location (or, as we found it worthwhile on other lists: we stopped for a rest); Rama was horrified; Gava Saulova ran away. Howl with your voice, daughter of Gallimas, listen to Laisa, poor Anathoth; Medemena moved; People of Gevim, be strong. One more day for him to stop in Nova. He will lift up his hand on the mountain of the daughter of Zion on the hill of Jerusalem. LXX: For he will come to the city of Haggai, and will go to Mageddo, and will lay down his provisions in Mahmas; and he will pass through the valley and come to Haggai. Fear will embrace Ramah, the city of Saul; Gallima's daughter will run; listen to Lais, he will be heard in Anathoth. Medemena and the inhabitants of Gevim were horrified. Comfort today on the path so that it remains; comfort the mountain of the daughter of Zion and the hill of Jerusalem. In this place, the LXX diverges in many respects from the Hebrew text, which is why we presented both editions, so that, by inspiration, if we are worthy of Christ, we can express what seems to us from both editions. The prophetic speech depicts the path and triumph of the king of Assyria returning from Egypt to Jerusalem, and with what noise and in what direction he will come to besiege it. First, he says, he will come to Aiof (according to others, Aiaf), and due to extreme haste, not wanting to stop here, he will move to Magron, and will be so confident in the conquest of this city that he will lay down his reserves in Mahmas, as if having to return soon after the destruction of that city; Having stored supplies here, he will pass it quickly and will have a stopover in Gava; During a short stop there to rest the weary army, the neighboring city of Ramah will be horrified, and Gabah, once the city of Saul, will flee. Then the daughter of Gallimas, who in Hebrew is called beth gallim, will scream so much that this cry can be mistaken for the neighing of horses. Therefore, you, Laisa, and you, poor thing, or disobedient, or humble Anathoth (for it can be translated in three ways), pay careful attention and, if you can, reject the attack of the one coming, for the city of Medemena has already moved from its place. And you who live on the hills, which means Gevim, protected by the height of your location, strengthen yourself, that is, take up arms. There is only one more day left for him to stand in the town of Nova and look at the city of Jerusalem from afar, to raise his hand and shake it over Mount Zion, either with contempt and disdain for it, or with anger, threat and surprise that while the whole east has submitted to him, such an insignificant city dares to resist his power. We have summarized this according to the Hebrew text, as the Jews handed it to us. Now let us add to this what the church men think about this place according to the LXX edition. When the yoke of the king of Assyria, or, as some incorrectly think, of Babylon, is removed from your shoulders, or the yoke of the king of Assyria rots, then the fleeing Assyrian Sennacherib with the few remaining will come to Haggai, which is not in the Hebrew. And such will be the terror of the runner that he will not dare to stop there, but will go over to Maggedo, which is also not in Scripture. So, as he is embarrassed by his burdens and will not be able to escape very soon, he will lay down his supplies in Mahmas and quickly cross the valley, which is also not in the Hebrew text, and again come to Haggai, which is mentioned twice in this place and which is not in the Hebrew. At the sound of his flight, Rama, the city of Saul, will be horrified, which is obviously false, for Gava is called the city of Saul, as it is in Hebrew. Then he will come to Gallim; Laisa will hear about this, Anaphoon will hear, Medemen will be horrified. The inhabitants of Gevin and the hills that are in Jerusalem, that is, all the high men, are called to console Jerusalem - and not long after, but now, on the very day when the Assyrian is coming - to console, so that they remain in their places and do not flee in fear. This is a literal interpretation. And someone in this place, being unable to find the meanings of false names from the LXX translation and testifying that he could not find these names in the Book of Hebrew Names, refers us to the infidel, saying that when the plagues come in the last time of the world and at the end of the age, the mind of the Grand Duke of Assyria will take flight and will try to avoid the wrath of God in various places and in various ways. When he takes flight, the inhabitants of Gevim, that is, certain high powers, are called upon with prophetic speech to console the runner and admonish him not to run, but to remain on the path and wait for the mercy of God, and are called upon not only to console the runner, but also to distract the daughter of Zion from crying in good deeds and to call for the salvation of repentance, and that these are the hills in Jerusalem about which we read in the last part of this prophet: comfort my people, priests, speak in the heart of Jerusalem (Isa. 40:1). He said this because, forced by the truth of the matter, he had nothing else to say. Art. 33–34. Behold, the ruler of the Lord of hosts will crush the glass in horror, and the tall ones will be cut down, and the exalted ones will be humiliated, and the thickets of the forest will be destroyed with iron, and Lebanon with the tall ones will fall. Some think that this is also said about the Assyrian - that after his destruction, all the surrounding peoples who submitted to his power will be cut down and humiliated and the thickest forest will be destroyed, by which they want to metaphorically understand the people and princes - that Lebanon with its high ones will fall, so that absolutely nothing will remain of the Assyrian power. Others want to see from this place the beginning of the prophecy about Christ, especially when we recognize further as written about Him, both we and circumcision 20 . Above I spoke about the name of the Child who is to be born of the Virgin, that he will be called Immanuel and then that the one conceived in the womb of the Prophetess will be called hasten, take away spoils, hasten to plunder, that He is a stone of stumbling and a stone of offense for the two houses of Israel, that His government is on His shoulder and that He is called by six names: Wonderful, Counselor, God, Mighty, Father of the next age, The Prince of Peace, and that his power will increase and his peace will have no end. Now, in the prologue to His coming, before saying that He will come from the line of Jesse and David, His suffering is depicted under the image of a broken glass - that by the will of God His flesh was put to death so that the height of the Jews would be destroyed and they, once high, would fall to the ground and so that Lebanon with its cedars would be cut down, about which in Zechariah we read: “Open, O Lebanon, your doors, and let the fire consume your cedars; O tree, cry, because the cedar has fallen, because the splendid ones are desolate” (Zechariah 11:1,2). And what is said that He is crushed and smitten by the Father, this is also indicated by him: I will smite the shepherd, and the sheep will be scattered (Zech. 13:8), and another testimony: you struck him, and drove him away (Ps. 67:27). The Hebrew word phura, which Aquila translated κεραμεῖον, Theodotion and Symmachus translated ληνον, i.e. winepress, which, according to the inscription of the three Psalms, also denotes the suffering of the Lord, as He Himself says in Isaiah: “I alone trodden the winepress, and among the nations there was no man with Me” (Is. 63:3). And instead of the sharpener, LXX, introducing a new meaning, was translated by the glorious ones. Chapter XI. Art. 1–2. And a rod will come out of the root of Jesse, and a flower will come from its root. And the Spirit of the Lord will rest upon Him, the spirit of wisdom and understanding, the spirit of counsel and strength, the spirit of knowledge and piety; and the spirit of the fear of God will fill Him. Even before the beginning of the vision, or burden, on Babylon, which Isaiah the son of Amoz saw, this entire prophecy is about Christ, and we want to explain it in parts, so that the reader’s memory does not tire when presenting and considering it in its entirety. The Jews explain that the rod and flower from the root of Jesse are the Lord himself, that is, the rod indicates the power of the king, and the flower beauty. We, by the rod from the root of Jesse, must understand the holy Virgin Mary, who did not have any stem united with her, about whom we read above: behold, the Virgin shall conceive and bear a son (Isa. 7:14), and by the flower of the Lord the Savior, Who says in the Song of Songs: I am a full flower and a vale of water (PP 2:1). Instead of the root, as some LXX translated, in Hebrew there is geza, which Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion translated κοpμόν, i.e. trunk, and instead of a flower, which in Hebrew is called nezer, the branch was translated to show that long after the captivity of Babylon, when no one from the family of David possessed the glory of the ancient reign, it was as if Christ came from the trunk of Mary and from Mary. Regarding what is said in the Gospel of Matthew, which all church men are looking for and do not find, where it is written that he will be called a Nazarite (Matthew 2:23), Jewish scholars think that this is borrowed from this place. But it must be taken into account that neser is written here through the letter tsade, the property and pronunciation of which, intermediate between the sounds z and s, is not expressed by the Latin language, for it is a hissing sound and is pronounced by a light touch of the tongue to the teeth, through which the city of Zion is written; and the word Nazarenes, which LXX translates dedicated, and Symmachus separated, is always written through the letter Zain. So on this flower, which will instantly arise from the trunk and root of Jesse through the Virgin Mary, the Spirit of the Lord rests, for on Him it was pleasing for the whole fullness of the Divinity to dwell bodily - not in parts, as in other saints, but, as the Gospel of the Nazarenes written in Hebrew says: “The whole source of the Holy Spirit will descend on Him.” The Lord is the Spirit, and where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is freedom (2 Cor. 3:17). In the same book of Matthew we also read what is written below (in Isaiah): Behold, my servant willed him: my beloved, and my soul will be pleased: I will lay my spirit on him, and he will proclaim judgment with his tongue (Matthew 12:18) - which also applies to the Savior, on whom the Spirit of the Lord rested, that is, he remained an eternal dwelling - not so that he flew away and again to Him descended, but remained constantly, according to the testimony of John the Baptist, who says: I saw the Spirit descending like a dove from heaven, and it remained on him. And I did not see him: but he who sent me to baptize with water, he said to me: you will see the Spirit descending on him and remaining on him; he is the one who baptizes with the Holy Spirit (John 1:32, 33). Further in the Gospel, which we mentioned above, we find the following words: “Now it came to pass, when the Lord ascended from the water, that the whole fountain of the Holy Spirit descended and rested on Him, and said to Him: My son! in all the prophets I waited for you, so that you would come and I would rest on you. For You are My rest, You are My firstborn Son, Who reigns forever.” This Spirit of the Lord is also called the Spirit of wisdom; for all things were, and without him nothing came into being (John 1:3); and in the Psalms it is sung: how great are your works, O Lord! You have created all things with wisdom (Ps. 91:24), and the apostle writes: Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God (1 Cor. 1); and in Proverbs it reads: God founded the earth with wisdom, but prepared the heavens with understanding (Prov. 3:19). And just as the same Word of God is called light and life and resurrection, so the Spirit is called the spirit of wisdom and understanding, counsel and strength, and knowledge and piety and the fear of God; not because the Spirit is also different according to the differences in names, but one and the same is the source and beginning of all virtues. Therefore, without Christ, no one can be wise, nor prudent, nor a counselor, nor strong, nor knowledgeable, nor pious, nor filled with the fear of God. It should also be noted that the Spirit of the Lord, the Spirit of wisdom and understanding - counsel and strength, knowledge, piety and fear of God, that is, the sevenfold number - just as Zechariah speaks of seven eyes in one stone - rests on a rod and a flower, which came from the tribe of Jesse and through this from the tribe of David. In particular, the spirit of the fear of God will fill Him for the sake of those who do not have the fear of God, since they are infants, and perfect love casts out fear. For whoever fears has torment and is imperfect (1 John 4:18). Therefore, the apostle says to believers: do not accept the spirit of work again into fear: but accept the spirit of sonhood, for which we cry: Abba Father (Rom. 8:15) and in Malachi we read: if I am a father, then where is my glory; and if I am the Lord, where is my fear (Mal. 1:6)? This fear is also sung about in the Psalm: come, children, listen to me: I will teach you the fear of the Lord (Ps. 33:12). Art. 3–5. He will not judge by the sight of the eyes, nor will he reprove by the hearing of the ears, but he will judge the poor in righteousness, and with justice he will rebuke the meek of the earth, and he will smite the earth with the rod of his mouth, and with the breath of his mouth he will slay the wicked. And righteousness will be the girdle of His waist, and faith the girdle of His belly. We attribute this to the first coming of the Savior, but the Jews claim that it will be fulfilled at the end of the world. Further, LXX translated: He will not judge according to glory, nor will he reprove according to words, but he will judge the humble with righteousness, and will reprove with justice the humble of the earth. For at the trial He does not pay attention to anyone’s face, but He says to the scribes and Pharisees and princes: woe to you hypocrites and: the kingdom of God will be taken away from you and given to the tongue that produces His fruits (Matthew 23:21, 41) and did not reprove them according to the words and hearing of His ears. For when they said: “Teacher, we know that you are true, and teach the way of God in truth, and do not talk about anyone, for you do not see the face of a man (Matthew 22:16), He, knowing their evil intent, answered: why are you tempting me, you hypocrites, etc. something like that. He judged in righteousness the poor in spirit, who are the kingdom of God, and convicted the meek and lowly of the earth in justice, saying to the apostle: Do you not understand below, and in particular to Peter: You have little faith, why did you doubt (Mark 8:17; Matt. 14:31)? Or, because of the humble and meek, he denounced others who tried to oppress them. And He struck down all earthly affairs with the rod, or, as the LXX translated, with the word of His mouth, saying in the Gospel: Do not think that He came to bring peace to the earth: He did not come to bring peace, but a sword (Matthew 10:34). And with the spirit of His mouth He will kill the wicked, about whom we read in the ninth Psalm: You have rebuked with your tongue, and the wicked perished: You have consumed his name for ever and ever (Ps. 9:6). And the Apostle Paul writes: the lawless one will appear, whom the Lord Jesus will kill with the spirit of his mouth (2 Thess. 2:8). After killing the wicked, the Lord girdles himself with righteousness, truth and faith; For He has given us wisdom from God, and righteousness and sanctification and deliverance; He says in the Gospel: I am the light, and the life, and the truth (John 8 and 14); and the Psalms say: truth came up from the earth, and righteousness came from heaven (Ps. 84:2); Therefore, the apostle exhorts the Ephesians: therefore gird your loins with truth, and put on the breastplate of righteousness (Eph. 6:14). If, instead of truth, faith is read, then it should be said that the girdle of the Lord, with which Jeremiah was girded (chapter 13), is the faith of believers. Art. 6–9. The wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid; the calf and the lion and the sheep will stay together, and a little child will lead them. The calf and the bear will feed together, and their young ones will lie down together, and the lion will eat chaff like the ox. And the suckling child will play over the asp's hole, and the weaned baby will stretch out his hand into the basilisk's cave. They will not harm and they will not kill in all My holy mountain; For the land is full of the knowledge of the Lord, like the covering waters of the sea. The Jews and our Judaizers claim that this too will be fulfilled in a literal sense - that in the light of Christ, who, as they think, will come at the end of the world, all beasts will be tamed, and leaving their former ferocity, the lion will graze together with the lamb, and other animals with others, whom we now see as hostile to each other. If everything in this place is accepted as it is written and nothing has a spiritual meaning, corresponding to the word of the apostle, who said: “Blessed is the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who has blessed us with every spiritual blessing in the heavenly things in Christ” (2 Cor. 1:3): then we must ask them (the Jews and Judaizers): does this mean that the root and the rod and the flower cannot be understood in a spiritual sense? And the earth smitten by the word of God, and the wicked one killed by the spirit of His mouth, must be understood as it is written? Let them also teach us how the loins of the Lord are girded with incorporeal objects - righteousness and truth. Let us also ask them whether it is worthy of the greatness of God that a wolf and a lamb will graze together, a leopard will lie with a kid, a lion will eat chaff, and a small child will put his hand on an asp’s hole? Unless, perhaps, according to the fables of the poets, they will paint before us the golden age of Saturn, in which wolves and sheep will graze together, the rivers will flow with pleasant wine, the sweetest honey will drip from the leaves of the trees and everything will be filled with milky springs. If they answer that in blessed times all this will happen, so that without harm to anyone people will enjoy all the blessings, then let them hear from us that there is no good except virtue, as the Psalmist says: whoever is a man, even if he lives, loves the days to see good things; keep your tongue from evil and do not speak flattery from your lips. Turn away from evil and do good (Ps. 33:14). Wealth, bodily health and abundance in everything, as well as the opposite of this - poverty, sickness and misery, are not recognized by the philosophers of the world as either good or evil, but are called indifferent objects. Therefore, the Stoics, who agree with our teaching in many respects, call nothing good except honesty and virtue, and nothing evil except vice. We briefly expressed this in order to prove that our Judaizers are raving in a deep sleep. According to the life-giving spirit, understanding is easy. For the wolf is Paul, who at first persecuted and tormented the church, about whom it is said: Benjamin, a predatory wolf, lived with a lamb, either with Ananias, with whom he was baptized (Gen. 49:27; Acts 7), or with the Apostle Peter, to whom it was said: Feed my lambs (John 21), and the leopard, who at first did not change his motley spots, having washed himself in the spring, lay with a kid - not with the one on the neck, but with the one that is slaughtered on the Passover of the Lord. It should also be noted that it is not the lamb and the kid who will live and lie with the leopard and the wolf, but the wolf and the leopard will imitate the innocence of the lamb and the kid. And the lion, formerly the most ferocious animal, and the sheep and the calf will live together. We constantly see this in the church - that rich and poor, strong and humble, kings and private individuals live here together, and are ruled in the church by little children, by which we mean the apostles and apostolic men, ignorant in word, but not in mind. When they are united among themselves by the teaching of the Lord, so that their families are united, then it will be fulfilled that their children will lie together. And the lion will not eat meat, but chaff, which, i.e., will eat simple food. And here it should be noted that the ox will not eat meat, but the lion will eat chaff. I believe that in the holy Scriptures by chaff are meant the simple words, and by wheat and inner grain the meaning found in the letter. And it often happens that the people of the age, not knowing the mysterious, feed on the simple reading of the Scriptures. And the child—infant with malice—puts his hand into the asp’s hole—and expels demons from demon-possessed human bodies. A person who is weaned from the breast does not feed on the milk of childhood, but consumes solid food. He places his hand on the basilica's cave; that is, to the dwelling of Satan himself and removes him from there. Therefore, the apostles were also given the power to tread on snakes and scorpions and all the power of the enemy (Luke 10). And before, poisonous animals will not cause harm or death to those who will dwell in the holy mountain of God, meaning the Church, the mountain about which the Gospel says: a city cannot hide at the top of a standing mountain (Matthew 5:14). And so that we do not think that, in accordance with the error of the Jews, this is said about Mount Zion, the following verse indicates the mysteries of the Gospel preaching: for the land is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, which is also what was said above in secret: the wolf will live with the lamb, and the leopard will lie down with the kid. And, according to custom, the prophetic words are explained at the end: like the waters, he says, covering the sea. Just as the waters of the sea cover the depths of the sea, that is, the earth that is covered with waves, so the whole earth will be filled with the knowledge of the Lord. And the blessed Apostle Peter testifies that he saw such a combination of previously different customs in a linen vessel that came down from heaven, which had four edges, by which we mean the four corners of the world - he saw it as evidence that the earth was filled with the knowledge of God, in which vessel there were four-footed animals and animals and creeping things and birds of the air, so that the Church in the world also represents the ark during the flood. Art. 11. On the day that root of Jesse, which stands as a sign to the nations, the nations will pray for him, and his tomb will be glorious. LXX: And in that day the root of Jesse will arise to be a prince over the nations, the nations will trust in him, and his honor will rest. Instead of peace in Hebrew there is mnuatho, which is all translated similarly; and instead of honor in Hebrew it reads chabod, which obviously means glory. And the meaning is this: his death will be glorious, in fulfillment of what the Savior prays for in the Gospel: glorify Me, Father, with your own glory, since before you had no peace (John 17:5). It was said about His birth, it was said about the mysteries that followed; now he begins to die, which is not called by the name common to mortals, but since there was unceasing life in Christ, death is called rest. We, in order for the reader to understand the meaning, instead of dormition and peace, translated it with another word, but in the same sense, - coffin. So, at the time when the Gospel of Christ shines throughout the whole world and the whole earth is filled with the knowledge of the Lord, like the waters of the sea covering the earth, the root of Jesse and the one raised up from his family will be a sign for all nations, so that the nations will see in heaven the sign of the Son of Man (Matthew 14). He will have horns in his hands, in which His power will be hidden (Habakk 3), so that, having been exalted, he will draw everything to Himself. Or, as the LXX translated, He will rise from the dead to be the prince of all nations and so that all nations will trust in Him. Jacob also testifies about this prince from the tribe of Judah in a mysterious speech: the prince from Judah will not fail and the leader from his loins will come until the hope of the tongues will come (Gen. 49:10). Art. 12–14. And it will come to pass on that day that the Lord will again apply his hand to take possession of the remnant of his people, which will remain among the Assyrians in Egypt and in Tetros and in Ethiopia and in Elam and in Shinar and in Hamath and on the islands of the sea. And he will lift up the name of the nations, and will gather the exiles of Israel and the scattered ones of Judah, he will gather them from the four corners of the earth: and the envy of Ephraim will cease, and the enemies of Judah will perish. Ephraim will not compete with Judah, and Judah will not fight with Ephraim. And they will fly on the shoulders of the Philistines across the sea, and together they will plunder the children of the east; and Edomitea and Moab and the children of Ammon shall obey the commandment of their hand. On that day, that is, at the time mentioned above, when the root of Jesse arises as a sign for the nations, or for dominion over the nations, the Lord will apply his hand a second time - so we must understand that this will not happen at the end of the world, when the fullness of the pagans will enter and then all Israel will be saved (Rom. 9), as our Judaizers think, but at the first coming of the Lord. For when it is said both now and above about the same day, then one cannot be attributed to the first coming, and the other, the last, to the second, so that, by virtue of what follows, the previous one is not attributed to that Christ, whom the Jews recognize as not having come, but still having to come. So, after the calling of the pagans, who were once considered a tail, Israel will be considered a tail (above chapter 10), so that the Lord will again apply his hand and take possession of the remnant of his people, about which we read above that not all Israel will be saved, but the remnant remaining in Assyria, in Egypt and in various surrounding nations. For first the twelve and seventy apostles and one hundred and twenty souls, and five hundred, to whom the Lord also appeared gathered together, believed in the Lord, and then three thousand and five thousand Jews. And James said to the Apostle Paul, who himself was from the remnant of Israel: Do you see, brother, how many Jews there are who believed; and all are zealots of the law (Acts 21:20). And in the same book we read: But the Jews living in Jerusalem were men in awe of all the tongues that were under heaven, who all marveled and said, “Are not these all the speaking Galileans?” and how we hear each our own language, in which we were born; Parthians and Medes and Elamites, and those living in Mesopotamia, in Judea and Cappadocia, in Pontus and Asia, in Phrygia and Pamphylia, in Egypt and the countries of Libya, even at Cyrene, and the Romans coming, Jews and strangers, Cretans and Arabians, we hear them speaking in our tongues the majesty of God ( Acts 2:5–11). So, from all these nations, the remnant of Israel will be saved through the apostles. Church history reports that the apostles preached the Gospel, scattered throughout the world, so that some penetrated the Persians and Indians, and Ethiopia entered into a covenant with God and gifts were brought from there to Christ from across the rivers of Ethiopia. And so that it does not seem that He points only to the peoples of the east, He also adds: from the islands of the sea; The islands of the sea designate the western country surrounded by the ocean. So he will raise the sign of the cross among all nations and first gather the people of Israel from the synagogues of Judea, so that the apostles will fulfill the commandment of the Savior, who said: go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel (Matthew 10:6), just as Paul says to the unbelievers of the Jews: it is unseemly for you to first say the word: but because you have rejected it, you are unworthy to create for yourselves eternal belly, we turn into tongues. This is what the Lord commanded us (Acts 13:46.47). He indicates the four countries of the world: east and west, south and north, in order to designate through this the calling of the whole world. At that time, says Isaiah, Ephraim and Judah, who are at enmity with each other now, when I prophesy, will not be enemies, but according to the prophecy of Ezekiel, the two rods will unite into one rod, and those previously divided will unite in the church of Christ, so that they will work together among the pagans and fly on the shoulders of the Philistines across the sea, that is, first they will preach to the coastal Palestinians and across the sea with the speed of birds they will be carried to other nations. Or according to the LXX interpreters: they will fly on the ships of foreigners, together they will plunder the sea, which we can understand in relation to one Apostle Paul, who on foreign ships moved to Pamphylia, Asia, Macedonia, Achaia, to various islands and to various regions, to Italy and, as he himself writes, to Spain (Acts 28; Rom. 15). So, Ephraim and Judah - from the twelve tribes who believed in Christ from Judah - together they will plunder the east, and they will stretch out their hands against Idumea and Moab according to what Christ mysteriously says on behalf of David: “I will stretch out my boot on Idumea: the foreigners will submit to me” (Ps. 59:10). For all these nations, at the time when Isaiah prophesied, were enemies of the people of Judah and therefore now he says that when the root of Jesse arises to reign over the nations and the sign of the cross is erected for the salvation of the whole world, then Edom and Moab and the sons of Ammon, that is, the entire expanse of Arabia, will submit to the apostles and churches will be erected in places of idolatry Christ's. Art. 15–16. And the Lord will lay waste the tongue of the sea of ​​Egypt, 21 and lift up his hand upon the river with the power of his breath, and smite it in seven streams, so that they shall pass over it with sandals on. And there will be a way for the remainder of my people, who will remain with the Assyrians, as there was for Israel on the day that they came out of the land of Egypt. Just as Idumea and Moab and the children of Ammon submit to the apostles in order to obey the preaching of the Gospel, so the Lord Himself, who accomplished this in the apostles, will not devastate the sea, according to the LXX, but according to the Hebrew, the language of the sea of ​​​​Egypt, which previously blasphemed the Lord and was betrayed to the superstition of the Egyptians. Therefore, in the Psalms we read: this sea is great and spacious, there are countless reptiles there, to which it is added: you created this serpent and curse him (Ps. 10:25, 26). So, he will devastate, or kill, that is, ἀναϑεματίσει, as Aquila and Symmachus translated, the tongue of the sea of ​​​​Egypt and will raise his hand on the rivers of Egypt in the strength of his spirit, or in the strongest wind, by which we mean the kingdom of Rome. For during the reign of Caesar Augustus (Lk. 2), when the flower from the root of Jesse arose and the first census was carried out in the Roman Empire, the formerly very powerful kingdom of Egypt, which had existed for many centuries, was destroyed with the death of Cleopatra and the Egyptian River was divided into seven streams, or seven valleys. For the high-water Nile, which previously flowed in one channel and was impassable, was divided and divided into seven lowest valleys and seven streams, so that it could be crossed with shod feet. In a figurative sense, this means that the Egyptian people were so devoted to idolatry and the most vain superstition that they considered kites, owls, dogs, goats and donkeys as gods. Augustus, with the boundless breadth of his kingdom, divided the Roman Empire among special judges, so that Thebes has one judge, Libya another, another Pentapolis, another Egypt, another Alexandria and various regions that The Egyptians call them nomes (νόμους). And the Nile is metaphorically divided into parts and cut into streams so that the word of the gospel can spread without any obstacle and reach the extreme nations of Egypt. And just as in the time of Moses the Red Sea was dried up so that the people coming out of Egypt could cross it, so on the contrary, the rivers of Egypt will be dried up so that the remnant of the people of God, who will be saved by the Assyrians and various nations, will cross into Egypt, not fleeing from it, but subjugating and trampling it underfoot. Let the prudent and Christian reader of the prophetic promises take as a rule that what the Jews and ours, or rather not ours, Judaizers recognize as having to be fulfilled bodily, we must recognize as already fulfilled spiritually, so that, following their fables and, according to the Apostle, ignorant contests (2 Tim. 2), we do not deviate into Judaism. Chapter XII. Art. 1–2. And he will say on that day: I confess to You, Lord, that You were angry with me, but Your wrath turned away and You comforted me. Behold God is my Savior, and I will trust in Him and will not be afraid, for the Lord is my strength and my praise, and He has become my salvation. You, who before, after leaving the land of Egypt and after the drying up of the Red Sea, said: I will sing the Lord, I am gloriously glorified, etc., now after the defeat of the tongue of the sea of ​​​​Egypt and after the drying, division and humiliation of its river, glorify the Lord and say: I confess to You, Lord, for I, who have deserved Your anger and wrath, have been awarded mercy; for You are my Savior, that is, Jesus, and I will no longer rely on idols and will not fear those who have nothing to fear, but You are my strength and my praise, and You have become my salvation. Let the most ungodly heresy take heed of this, that the Lord becomes Lord for those who are being saved, whereas before He was not their Lord, so that in the Holy Scriptures, by creation and being made, we do not always understand the coming into being of that which did not exist, but sometimes we understand grace in relation to those who were worthy to be made God for them. Art. 3. You will draw water in joy from the springs of the Savior. The One Whom he above called Emmanuel and then “carry away the spoils, hasten to plunder” and other names - so that He would not seem other than the One about Whom Gabriel announced to the Virgin, saying: and you will call His name Jesus, for He will save His people (Matthew 1:21), - now he calls the Savior and preaches that waters must be drawn from His sources; not from the waters of the Egyptian river, which are broken, and not from the waters of the Racine river, but from the springs of Jesus, for by this word the word Savior is expressed in the Hebrew language. Therefore, He Himself cried out in the Gospel: if anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Believe in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living waters will flow out of his belly. This, says the Evangelist, is spoken of by Dus, and those who believe in His name want to receive Him (John 7:37, 39). And in another place in the Gospel He Himself says: whoever drinks of the water that I will give him will never thirst for it; but the water that I will give him will be in him a fountain of water flowing into an eternal belly (John 4:14). By the sources of the Savior we must understand the teaching of the Gospel, about which we read in the sixty-seventh Psalm: in the churches bless God, the Lord of the fountains of Israel (Ps. 67:27). Art. 4–5. And say on that day: Confess to the Lord and call on His name; proclaim His plans among the nations; remind them that His name is exalted. Sing to the Lord, for He has done great things; Proclaim this throughout all the earth. This is commanded by the apostles and the remnant of Israel to the Gentile believers, that they should confess to the Lord alone, and leaving idols, call on His name and preach to the unbelievers all His works, so that they may know that He alone is exalted and that to Him alone they should sing, for He has done great things and His mercy is proclaimed throughout the world. Art. 6. Rejoice and praise, people of Zion, for great is the Holy One of Israel in your midst. First you need to say the literal meaning. People of Zion! rejoice and praise your God, since He, who previously seemed only to be your God and was limited to the small borders of the land of Judea, has now filled the whole earth with the knowledge of Himself and, having risen from the dead, reigns over the pagans, and He is prayed to and revered by the nations, so, however, that the second time He will apply His hand to take possession of the remnant of His people, to gather those scattered from Israel and unite those scattered from Judah from four countries of the earth; for the seedbed of the Gospel, through the apostles who came from Judaism, received its beginning from the sources of Israel. It is better under Zion, that is, a tower placed on a hill, to understand the church, about which the fiftieth psalm sings: O Lord, bless Zion with Thy good pleasure, and let the walls of Jerusalem be built (Ps. 51:20), - so that in it the sacrifice of righteousness, offerings, and burnt offerings, and the calf that he slaughtered for his repentant son would be pleasing to God. most merciful father (Luke 15). Fabulous rocks at the entrance to the Black Sea. Those. The Jews, whom the apostle calls circumcision. Linguam maris Aegypti. Although the lingua has a meaning close to the usual translation of this place - gulf of the Egyptian Sea, but bl. Jerome, as can be seen from his interpretation, understood this word precisely in the meaning of language. You might be interested in: