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The tenth book, which we now have in our hands, will be less than the ninth and eleventh in the number of verses, but not in the importance of thoughts. For it is followed by the story of Sennacherib and Rabshakeh and King Hezekiah, which cannot be combined with the previous ones due to the excessive size of the book, nor divided due to the connection of events. So, as you wished, virgin of Christ Eustochia, and as generally pleased, I will dictate, if Christ deigns, both this and the rest of the books, just as before I dictated the previous ones in order to connect the prophecies, without tearing them apart or dividing them into the end of one and the beginning of another. Moreover, I hear that the scorpion, a silent and poisonous animal, is grumbling something over the answer I once gave in the interpretation of the prophet Daniel 39, or rather trying to hit him, being on the verge of death from its poison. His lamentations and plaintive chatter have not yet been conveyed to me, and therefore I postpone the answer, and consider it more necessary to obey you and the holy and most learned man, your brother Pammachius, who with insatiable zeal through letters encourages me, after finishing Isaiah, go to Ezekiel, while I, depressed by the weakness of both age and body and due to the lack of scribes who could help me with their services, all I am still stuck in the same mud 40 and, as I believe, I will hardly finish the middle part of Isaiah in this book. If, according to your prayers, I do this, then I will take on the rest, which will begin in the fourteenth year of King Hezekiah. Chapter XXX. Art. 27 et seq. Behold, the name of the Lord comes from afar: His anger burns and it is hard to bear. His lips are filled with indignation and His tongue is like a consuming fire. His breath is like a flood, inundating to the middle of the neck, for the complete destruction of the nations, and the bridle of error [or leading to error] which was in the jaws of the nations. You will have a song like the night [or voice] of a sacred festival, and joy of heart like one walking with a flute as you go up to the mountain of the Lord, to the mighty Israel. Seventy: Behold, the name of the Lord comes after a long time: burning wrath with glory, the word of His mouth, a word full of wrath, and the wrath of wrath will devour like fire, and His breath, like water in a valley, will come to the neck and be divided, to throw the nations into confusion with vain error, and error will be rejected and take them before their face. Should you always have fun and constantly go to My shrines, and, as if celebrating festivals and rejoicing, enter the holy mountain to the God of Israel? First we will say in relation to Hebrew. What is said here depends on what goes before. The prophetic speech denounced those who, despising the help of God, out of fear of the Babylonians, fled to the Egyptians, and threatened those who were leaving that they would die there. And again, after the punishments, he not only gives hope to those who want to listen to him that they will live in Jerusalem under the rule of Zerubbabel, Ezra and Nehemiah, but we also promise to all who believe in the word of God a greater bliss at the end of the world, when rivers of water will flow over all the mountains and hills and, after many have been destroyed, the towers will fall. Also, the moon and sun will receive a brighter light when the Lord binds and heals the wound of His people. Some argue that this was hyperbolically (ὑπερβολιϰῶς) fulfilled in the land of Judea during the time of Cyrus, who freed the people from captivity. So, since rewards are promised to the good and submissive, now, on the contrary, punishments are announced to the wicked and the disdainful - that the Lord will fulfill His purpose and after a long time will come to punish sinners, and will pronounce judgment against everyone and with the spirit of His mouth will destroy the wicked, whom He calls the bridle of the nations: not in order to rule those who are subordinate, but in order to draw those under His control to destruction. He also imagines the likeness of a stream, flooding up to the neck, to testify that the end has come for everyone. For just as a stream strangles the one whose neck it reaches, so the judgment of God will not allow anyone to go unpunished. When the bridle, which was in the jaws of all nations, together with the peoples subject to it, destroys and brings to destruction: then, he says, among you, the saints who obey My commandments, there will be a song like the night [or voice] of the sacred festival, when you came out of Egypt and on the feast of the Passover overthrew the yoke of slavery of the Egyptians, saying after the drowning of Pharaoh in the Red Sea: Let us drink to the Lord, gloriously glorified (Exod. 15:1), and joy of heart, so that you will become like those who, carrying the firstfruits of fruits to the church and bringing gifts to the winepress of God, go with flutes, expressing heartfelt joy through song. I briefly outlined this in a few words in relation to Jewish. But regarding both editions, it should be noted that after a long time it is not the Lord who comes, but the name of the Lord, about which the psalm says: fabulous is he who comes in the name of the Lord, even God the Lord, and he appears to us (Ps. 117:26-27). And He himself says in the Gospel: I came in the name of My Father, and you do not accept Me (John 5:43). It is also beautifully said that he will come after a long time, while human impatience says: How long will the Lord forget Me completely? How long will you turn Your face away from Me (Ps. 12:1-2)? Likewise, His burning wrath comes with glory, so that we may fear Him in greatness, Whom we despised in humiliation. The same thing is written in the Psalms: God will come, our God, and will not be silent: fire will kindle before Him, and a green storm will come about His cross (Ps. 49:3). For He himself says in the Gospel: fire has come to burn on the earth, and whatever I want, even if it is already on fire (Luke 12:49). Another psalm reads: the voice of the Lord, who overcomes the flames of fire (Ps. 28:7), so that everything, no matter how much hay, wood and straw, is destroyed by the stealing flame. Therefore, God is called a destroying fire (Deut. 4). As for joining: the wrath of His wrath will consume Him like fire, then most of us by the wrath of the wrath of the Lord mean the devil, to whom we are surrendering for punishment, who, according to the book of Samuel, aroused David to number the people of God (2 Sam. 24). And the apostle says: deliver such a one over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved (1 Cor. 5:5). This same wrath and wrath of the wrath of the Lord will do nothing of its own free will, but what is commanded. Therefore it follows: the word of His mouth is a word full of wrath. Also, His breath, like water in a valley, will carry it away to the neck, so that the punishments will drown the sinners. It will be divided according to the quality of merit in order to destroy and confuse the nations who were deceived by vain error, and so that they would understand that they were deceived. Therefore, it is said to this kind of people who are strong in the power of this world and carried away by their error that they will not always do this. Some of our people believe that in this place and in the entire content of the section it is mainly spoken against heretics and all teachings contrary to the truth - that when the time of judgment comes, they will not enter His shrines and the mountain, that is, the Church of the Lord, so that, under the guise of piety, they do not accumulate wealth and do not indulge in excess, as when celebrating the feasts of the Lord. The Jews attribute this to the peoples of Gog and Magog, who are believed to come from the north, that is, from the countries of Scythia, and about which Ezekiel speaks in more detail (Ezekiel ch. 39). Art. 30 et seq. And the Lord will let the glory of His voice be heard and His terrible arm will be revealed in terrible wrath and in the flame of a consuming fire: He will strike with a whirlwind and hail of stones. At the voice of the Lord, the Assyrian, struck by the rod, will tremble, and the passage of the rod will be strengthened: the Lord will allow him to stand over him, with tympanums and harps, and in great wars he will subdue them. For tophet has long been prepared, it is prepared by the king, deep and wide, its food is fire and much wood: the breath of the Lord, like a stream of brimstone, will kindle it. Seventy: And the Lord will cause them to hear the glory of His voice, and the fury of His arm will show with fury and anger and the flame of fire will smite the consuming one with great force and like water and hail coming down with force. For according to the voice of the Lord, the Assyrians will be defeated through the plague that will strike them, and those around them, from whom he hoped for help and on whom he relied, with tympans and zithers will fight against him as a result of the change. For before the days you will be deceived: is not the kingdom prepared for you also? Over the deep valley, over the wood laid, the fire and the wood of many; The wrath of the Lord is like a valley on fire with brimstone. By going over it briefly, I could explain to the readers in relation to the Hebrew what seemed necessary to me. But what will I do with the zeal of those who would recognize my work as unfinished if I did not explain the editions of the LXX interpreters? So, I will follow the order of explanation that I started. The voice of the Lord and the commandment will be known to everyone, and the power of His arm will be revealed to everyone: when the time of retribution comes, it will be revealed in a great flame, a whirlwind and hail, and in the weight of stones. Ezekiel writes about this in detail, as we said, in his prophecy against Gog and Magog (Ezekiel 38:39). At the voice of His command, Assyrian, struck by the rod, will tremble. Every wicked person, everyone who imitates a hostile people: not in the sense that on the day of judgment only Assyrian will be defeated, but so that by Assyrian we mean the devil. Then follows: And the rod will pass through strengthened: the Lord will cause it to stop over it. The meaning is this: having struck him with a rod, he will not weaken him again and, according to the custom of those who beat him, will not stop the blows: but he will do what he, as if strengthened and confirmed by means of a deep root, will constantly punish him. And if it is understood this way; then when will the devil repent, especially since sinners are told: go into eternal fire, prepared by God for the devil and his angels (Matthew 25:41)? With timbrels and zithers and in great wars he will conquer them, that is, the Lord, with the joy of everyone, will defeat the demons and all the wicked. For from ancient times and in times past, the king of the Lord prepared tophet, that is, wide and extensive Gehenna, which will burn them with eternal fire. Its food and igniting object is fire and a lot of wood, that is, the eternal flame and the punishment of sinners. And since the prophetic speech predicted, as it were, about a hearth and furnace of fire, it holds the metaphor so that we know that it is ignited by the breath, breath and will of God, as a result of mixing with sulfur, which ignites the flame to make the torment more intense. What is said in the LXX: according to the voice of the Lord, the Assyrians will be defeated through a plague that will strike them, and those around them, from whom he hoped for help and on whom he relied, with tambourines and harps will fight against him, due to the change, means that those who were once his subjects will rise up against the devil, and with joy and gladness will fight against him due to a sudden change when, Having realized their error, they will overthrow the one by whom they were deceived. It is said to him that he himself was mistaken from the beginning, considering his kingdom to be eternal, for which Gehenna and eternal punishments were prepared. Chapter XXXI. Art. 1ff. Woe to those who go down to Egypt for help, trusting in horses and relying on chariots, because they are many, and on horsemen, because they are very strong, and did not trust in the Holy One of Israel and did not seek the Lord. But He, the wise one, brought disaster and did not revoke His words, and will rise up against the house of the worst and against the help of those who practice iniquity. Egypt is a man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit: and the Lord will stretch out His hand, and the helper will overturn, and the defended one will fall, and they will all perish together. After the burden of the beasts of the south and those who sent their wealth to Egypt to a people who could not be useful to them, who hoped for reinforcement by the power of Pharaoh and relied on the shadow of Egypt, the prophetic speech announced, under the image of the return to Jerusalem and liberation from captivity by Cyrus, about the end of the age and the perfect bliss of the righteous: now it returns to the same ones to whom it said above that they should not go down to Egypt. But the difference between the present and the former place is that there the tribe of Judah is commanded not to go down to Egypt, but here - since, having despised the command of the Lord, they were preparing to go - it is predicted that Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Babylon, will equally destroy both Israel and the Egyptians, both those who fled and their helpers. Jeremiah speaks about this in great detail (Jer. 42). So, woe to those who go down to Egypt and, out of fear of the Chaldeans, despise the commandments of the Lord, relying on idolaters who boast that they have reverence for God, and relying on the help of horses, do not know what is written: a lie is a horse for salvation (Ps. 32:17) and they put their hope in chariots, carriages and horsemen and do not remember that song: horse and rider are thrown into the sea ( Ex. 15:1). And they did not trust in the Holy One of Israel, who through Jeremiah promised His help to those remaining in the land of Judah. And they did not seek the Lord - not in the sense that they did not seek, but in the sense that they despised the words of Him Whom they did not seek. Therefore, it is said about bad priests: my devouring people have not called the Lord (Ps. 52:5). The wise one himself, that is, the Lord, brought upon them disaster and the worst, that is, Nebuchadnezzar, or simply disaster, meaning a thing, not a person; and He did not revoke His words spoken through the prophets. Therefore he will rise up against the tribe of Judah, against the house of the worst, and against the help of the Egyptians, who practice iniquity. For Egypt, or the Egyptian, as the LXX translated, is a man, and not God, and their horses are flesh, and not spirit. Therefore, it is also written in Jeremiah: Cursed is the man who trusts in man, and the flesh of his arm will be established on him, and his heart will depart from the Lord. And it will be like the wonder of the world in the desert, and it will not see when the good ones come (Jer. 17:5-6). And in another place it is written: human salvation is in vain (Ps. 59:13) or, as it better stands in Hebrew, in man. And when the Lord stretches out his hand to punish or, under the metaphor of the charioteer, turns and lowers the reins of the running horses, then the helper of Egypt and Israel, who was helped, will fall. We can also understand this in relation to those who, during persecution, sorrow and disaster, rely not on the Lord, but on the help of the Egyptians and the people of the world, not knowing that Abraham was in danger in Egypt and the people of God worked on clay and bricks in this country, which is spiritually called an iron furnace. Therefore, in the Apocalypse of John it is read: the place where our Lord was crucified will be spiritually called Sodom and Egypt (Apoc. 11:8). Art. 4–5. For thus the Lord said to me: As a lion or a lion's cub roars over his prey, even if he meets a crowd of shepherds, he will not be afraid of their cry and will not be shaken by their multitude: so the Lord of hosts will come down to fight on Mount Zion and on the hill thereof. Like the birds that fly, so the Lord of hosts will protect Jerusalem, protecting and delivering, passing through and saving. Where it is clear, we present one edition, especially where there is no difference of thought. After the Israelites and Egyptians were killed in Egypt, for whose help they hoped, they would return to Jerusalem, during the reign of Cyrus, as captives. And through two likenesses the power of the Lord, who promised to be a helper, is depicted. Just as a hungry lion and cub, if he sees a flock of sheep, is not afraid of any cry of the shepherds and does not pay attention to their numbers, knowing his strength: so the Lord of armies will fight not against Mount Zion and his hill, but on Mount Zion against his enemies. Let's talk about another comparison: like birds, to protect their chicks, fly over their nests and, seeing a snake or a person or other birds, approach their chicks, forgetting about weakness, attack with their beak and claws and aggravate the heartache by chirping and screaming: so the Lord will protect Jerusalem and, passing, will deliver and save it. Instead of the word passing, in Hebrew there is phase; three translators, except LXX, have ὑπερβαίνων. From this it is clear that Easter, that is, the phase of the Lord, does not mean suffering, but passing, and that the Lord, like the birds, was the defender of Jerusalem, He himself testifies to this in the Gospel: Jerusalem, Jerusalem, beating the prophets, and stoning those who were sent to you, because your fellow children desired, as they gather their chicks under the wing, and did not desire (Matt. 23:37)? And in Deuteronomy it is said about the Lord: He stretched out His wings, and received them, and lifted them up on His frame (Deut. 32:11). Art. 6 et seq. Turn back, for you have fallen deeply, O children of Israel. For on that day man will cast away his silver idols and his gold idols, which your hands have made for you because of sin. And Assur will not fall by the sword of man, nor will the sword of man consume him; neither will he flee by the sword, nor will his young men become tributaries. And his strength shall pass away for fear, and his princes shall tremble and flee, said the Lord, whose fire is in Zion, and whose furnace is in Jerusalem. Seventy: Turn back, for you have fallen deeply, O children of Israel. For on that day man will cast away his silver idols and his gold idols, which your hands have made for you because of sin. And Assur will fall by a non-human sword, and a non-human sword will consume him, and he will not flee from a sword; his young men will be overcome: for they will be surrounded by the rock as with a trench, and will be overcome; and whoever runs away will be captured. Thus says the Lord: Blessed is he who has seed in Zion and family members in Jerusalem. Since the Lord enters into battle on Mount Zion against His enemies and protects it like birds; then turn, sons of Israel, or, as Symmachus translated: bring repentance because of your deep design and sin, you who have departed from God. For if you do this, throwing away the gold and silver idols that served you for sin and because of which your city was taken, then Ashur, out of fear of whom you now flee, will fall, not by the sword of man, not by the strength of the army, but by the strength of God. He means the angel by whom one hundred and eighty-five thousand Assyrians were destroyed in one night. Also, the king of Assyria himself will flee not from the sword of man, but from the wrath of God, so that his young men and strong men will become tributaries of the Medes, about whom it is said above against Babylon: behold, I will raise the Medes against you. And the strength of the Assyrians, because of the fear of the Lord, will pass away and disappear, and all his princes will be afraid. For the Lord has spoken and promised this, whose word is deed, and who has a fire in Zion and a furnace in Jerusalem, so that His enemies, like stubble and wood, may be consumed by the flames that come out of Jerusalem. Someone explains the words: on that day a man will throw away his silver idols and so on in the sense of evidence that after returning from Babylonian captivity until the coming of Christ, the sons of Israel did not worship idols; in this place it is also indicated that the Assyrian should be defeated not by an angel, but by the Medes, whose kingdom, very ancient and once strong, after insulting God, will be exterminated and enslaved by the victors. The Nazarenes understand this passage this way: O children of Israel, who rejected the son of God due to evil intent! Turn to Him and His apostles. For if you do this, then you will throw away all the idols that previously served you for sin, and the devil will fall from you, not through your strength, but by the mercy of God: and his young men, who once fought for him, will be tributaries of the church and all his power and rock will pass away; likewise, philosophers and every perverse teaching will take flight. For the Lord has determined that this should be, the fire or light of which is in Zion and the furnace in Jerusalem. Fire and light in Hebrew are written with the same letters: aleph, vav and resh, which if you read ur, then it means fire, and if or, then it means light. This is said because instead of fire, as Symmachus alone translated, Aquila and Theodotion translated light. And why in the Seventy it is read: they will be surrounded by a rock, like a trench, and will be defeated, and whoever runs away will be captured, I cannot know this. Can we only say that the young men of the Assyrian king, who are to be defeated and taken captive, will be surrounded by a rock, that is, by the power of the Lord, just as a city is surrounded by a trench. In explaining the further: blessed is he who has seed in Zion and family members in Jerusalem, we can say that, in accordance with the meaning of the present passage, the divine speech exhorts those fleeing to Egypt to return to Jerusalem and bear children. He is promised such bliss that he will be protected and protected by the help of the Lord. And in another place it is written about him: “the glory of this last house will be greater than the first” (Hag. 2). This can also be attributed to the church - a vision of the world and a watchtower, about which it is written: the glorious verb was spoken about you, the city of God (Ps. 87:3). And in another place: river aspirations make glad the city of God (Ps. 46:5). For in it there is fire and a furnace, devouring sinners and destroying wood, hay and straw, or light and furnace, signifying the glory of the righteous and the punishment of the sinners. Chapter XXXII. Art. 1ff. Behold, the king will reign with righteousness and the princes will rule with justice. And man will be like one hiding from the wind and hiding from a storm: like streams of water when thirsty and the shadow of a rock rising in a desert land. The eyes of those who see will not be darkened, and the ears of those who hear will listen attentively. And the heart of fools will understand knowledge, and the tongue of the tongue-tied will speak quickly and clearly. They will no longer call the foolish prince and the treacherous one will no longer call him great. For a fool speaks foolish things, and his heart will do iniquity, to make pretense and speak deceitfully to the Lord, and to exhaust the soul of the hungry and take away the drink of the thirsty. The treacherous has destructive weapons: for he has formed plans to destroy the meek with a word of lies, even if the poor pronounce judgment. The prince will think about what is worthy of a prince, and he himself will stand above the leaders. Seventy: For behold, a righteous king will reign, and princes will rule with justice. And man will hide his words and hide as if from rushing water: and he will appear in Zion like a river flowing, glorious in a thirsty land, and they will not trust in people: but they will turn their ears to listen, and the heart of the weak will listen attentively; and the tongues of the tongue-tied will soon learn to say: peace; and they will not tell a fool to be a prince, and your servants will no longer say: Be silent. For a fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will understand vain things, to do iniquity and speak lies to the Lord, to scatter the hungry souls and make empty the thirsty souls. For the council of the wicked plots wicked things: to destroy the humble with wicked words and to scatter the words of the humble in judgment. The godly have taken counsel concerning wisdom, and this counsel endures. According to the Seventy Interpreters, who said: for behold, a righteous king will reign and princes will rule justly, what follows should be connected with the previous one, that is, with what the previous section is completed: blessed is he who has seed in Zion and family members in Jerusalem. According to the Hebrew, after the end of the previous prophecy about those who descended into Egypt, another prophecy now begins, namely about the coming of Christ and His apostles. For this king will reign righteously, without showing partiality in judgment, and his princes will rule with righteousness, looking at works and not at people. And whoever will be under His shadow will be as safe during the sorrow, cramped conditions and storms of this world as the one who, fleeing from the wind and storm, hides in a safe place and who has found very clean springs in the desert or who, in intense heat, when the heat of the sun dries up everything, has found peace under a towering rock. Where we said: like streams of water when thirsty, there the Seventy were translated: and they will appear in Zion like a river flowing. For the Hebrew word, which we spoke about above, basaion, which means in thirst, or in dryness and impassability, Seventy and Theodotion translated in Zion, instead of saion, that is, thirst, reading Sion, which is written in the same letters. So, when Christ reigns and His princes rule justly, then the eyes of the believers will not be darkened and the ears of the hearing, which were previously deaf, will listen with attention, and the heart of the once foolish will understand the knowledge and tongue of the tongue-tied and dumb, who could not speak about Christ, will clearly and openly confess the Lord. They will no longer call the foolish prince: for God has made foolish the wisdom of this age (1 Cor. 1). And a treacherous teacher and a corrupt one will not be called great among the nations: that is, the scribes and Pharisees, to whom the Lord said: fools and blinders, what is more, gold or the church that sanctifies gold (Matthew 23:17)? For a fool speaks foolish things, instead of which in Hebrew it is written nabal nabala idabber. We say this in order to quote the words of Abigail, who said about Nabal of Carmel: “befitting his name, he is mad” (1 Sam. 25:25). For in truth a fool will speak foolish things, and his heart will do iniquity, who fears where there was no fear, and uses foolishness instead of wisdom, saying: This is not of God, for it does not keep the Sabbath (John 9:16). This is what the teacher of the synagogues does to this day in order to perform pretense, instead of which in Hebrew it is written oneph, that is, hypocrisy (ὑπόϰρισις). Therefore, it is very often said to the Pharisees: woe to you, scribes and false Pharisees (Matthew 23:13). And he says, he says, insidiously to the Lord: “Teacher, we know that You are from God and that you do not care [about pleasing] people: is it permissible to give tribute to Caesar” (Matthew 22:16)? They drain the souls of the hungry people and take away the drink from the thirsty masses, without entering themselves and without allowing others to enter. For the treacherous teacher and prince have all destructive tools and weapons; he builds forges to destroy the simple-minded with a word of lies, saying to the deceived people: test and see, for the prophet does not come from Galilee (John 7:52). Even if the poor man pronounced judgment among them, the poor man, who was rich, became poor for our sake (2 Cor. 8). For Christ pronounced judgment and truth upon them, saying: If I do not do the works of My Father, do not have faith in Me; Even if I do, even if you do not believe Me, believe by deeds (John 10:37–38). This poor man who pronounces judgment, the Prince and the Lord, will think about what is worthy of a prince, saying: “I have come only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel” (Matthew 15:44). And he will take care of the unbelievers, wanting to save the unbelievers, and stand over His leaders, the apostles, to one of whom he says: you, an indifferent man, are my leader and my known one (Ps. 54:14). This applies to Hebrew, with which the Seventy disagree in many respects, not only regarding words, but also thoughts. For when a righteous king reigns and his princes rule righteously, then man will hide his words, the man who is God by nature, and will hide his words, speaking in parables. It hides, as it were, from flowing water, that is, from the Jewish people, who, like water, at the will of the teachers, are carried away and carried away here and there. This man, hiding his words, will appear in Zion, that is, in the Church, like a glorious river flowing in a thirsty land. For He will appear to the pagan people, who previously suffered from a thirst for truth, and the thirsty fields will be watered by the river of God, about which it is written: the river’s aspirations make glad the city of God (Ps. 45:4), and in another place: the river of God is filled with waters (Ps. 64:10). For He Himself says in the Gospel: if anyone is thirsty, let him come to Me and drink. Believe in Me, as the Scripture says, rivers of living water will flow out of his belly (John 7:37–38). Then they will not rely on teachers, but will turn their ears to listen to the Lord, and with both heart and tongue will confess the peace of the Lord, leaving behind the foolish rulers and their servants who ordered those who believe in Jesus to be silent. The following then contains almost the same meaning as the Hebrew text, and may refer to heretics. For they speak lies against the Lord, and corrupt the hungry and thirsty souls and cause them to go away empty, so that if they had anything good by nature, they even lose this through the fault of the teachers, whose entire plans are aimed at destroying the humble with wicked words and scattering the words of the humble in judgment. At the same time, it should also be noted that the humble and earthbound is the one who can be deceived by them. Art. 9 et seq. Rich women! Arise and listen to my voice. Daughters are arrogant! Incline your ears to my word. After [a few] days and a year, you who are presumptuous will be in confusion: for the gleaning of the grapes has ceased, and there will be no more harvest. Be amazed, you rich, be dismayed, you self-confident; undress and be ashamed, instead of which Symmachus translated naked. What follows: gird up your loins, strike your breasts for the desired land, for the fruitful vine. In the land of my people shall thorns and thistles grow: how much more in all the houses of joy in the rejoicing city? For the houses are abandoned: the multitude of the city is abandoned; darkness and darkness will be over the caves forever, joy for the wild asses, pastures for the flocks, until the spirit from above is poured out on us and the desert is not Carmel and Carmel is considered a forest. And judgment will be established in the wilderness, and righteousness will abide in Carmel. And the work of truth will be peace and the fruit of truth will be silence and tranquility for centuries. And My people will dwell in the beauty of the world and in safe villages and rich resting places. But hail will fall on the forest and the city will be extremely humiliated. Blessed are you who sow on all the waters and give freedom to the foot of the ox and the donkey. Seventy instead of darkness and touch, which will be over the caves forever, translated: and your villages will be caves forever, which in Hebrew is called ophel and b eep, regarding which the Jews believe that these were two towers in Jerusalem, high and very strong, called by these names. The first of them means darkness or fog, because its top reached the clouds. The second is testing and firmness, or, as Symmachus translated, seeking, because the eyes, looking at its peak, were deceived. Also at the end of the section they translated it like this: blessed are those who sow on all water where the ox and donkey trample. After the calling of the pagans, when Christ the King will reign in righteousness and His princes, the apostles and apostolic men, will rule the believers with justice; the prophetic speech will address rich women, by which we must understand either the cities of the Jews, or the synagogues of that time, or, as is generally believed, the matrons of rich people who were once among the Jewish people, and to whom, as if lying down after the fall, it is said: stand up. Nevertheless, they are called presumptuous or hopeful, and they are commanded to listen to the words of the Lord and remember the days and year, about which we will later say, in the words of the Savior himself: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for His anointing's sake, to bring good news to My ambassador, to preach remission to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, calling the year of the Lord pleasant (Luke 4:18–19 ). And this remembrance will serve them, according to the Seventy, with sorrow along with hope - that they will grieve that they have renounced God, and will have hope of salvation if they repent. For he says that the picking of grapes has ceased, and after the last devastation that took place under Vespasian, Titus and Hadrian, there will be no other captivity and the peoples will have no bunches of grapes left to collect later. Therefore, they are called to weeping and are commanded to bare their breasts and gird their loins, because the land that was once desired, and the fruitful vine, about which it is written: I have planted you, fruitful grapes, all true: you have fallen into sorrow, strange grapes (Jer. 2:21), were destroyed during the devastation of the Romans. In the land of My people, he says, thorns and thistles or grass will grow. The meaning is this: if the land of Judea, which was the promised land, was filled with thorns and thistles, then much more the other cities that are full of joy and over which these words of the Gospel will be fulfilled: woe to you who laugh now, for you will mourn (Luke 6:25). For the house [or Lord], that is, My church, is abandoned, as I said to the apostles: Arise, let us go from here (John 14:31), and to the unbelievers: your house is left to you empty (Luke 13:35). A tangible darkness covered the sanctuaries of the church and the hidden mysteries, and they became not places for storing the vessels of the Lord, but caves forever. For they heard from the Lord Savior: My Father’s house is a house of prayer: but you will make his cave a thief (Luke 19:46). Joy, he says, is for wild donkeys, pasture for flocks. This should be understood either literally, in the sense that everything is abandoned, or spiritually, that after the expulsion of Israel, wild people and those without knowledge of God live in Judea. And this will happen until the Spirit from above is poured out on us, which the Savior, ascending to the Father, promised to the believers, saying: “Behold, I come and will send you the Comforter, the Spirit of truth” (John 16), and again: until he is clothed with power from above (Luke 24:49). And what he said above: yet a little, and Lebanon will be Carmel and Carmel will be considered a forest: and on that day the deaf words of the book will be heard, and out of darkness and gloom the eyes of the blind will see (above, 29:17), the same thing is repeated in other words now - that the pagan desert will turn into the wealth of Israel, and Israel will be considered as pagans: at that time judgment will be established in the desert, the Lord and Savior, to whom the Father gave all judgment (John 5:22). And the truth will rest in Carmel, about which it was said above: and there will be a desert in Carmel, because judgment and truth dwells in the desert and rests in Carmel, which was formerly called the desert. Also, the work of righteousness will be peace, which, according to the apostle, is beyond all understanding (Phil. 4:7). And the fruit of righteousness is silence, so that not with the much verbosity of the Jews, but briefly with faith, they may worship God, and rest in safe, eternal peace, and so that in their villages there will be that wealth about which the apostle said: I thank my God in Christ Jesus, for you will be enriched in everything through Him, in all word and in all understanding (1 Cor. 1:4-5). When the Christian people will abide or dwell in beauty, or as the LXX translated, in the city of peace, no doubt in the church, then hail, storm and the cruel wrath of the Lord will break out over the forest, about which it was said above: and Carmel will be considered a forest; and the city of Jerusalem will be humiliated, and according to another Scripture, it will speak of the earth. If this is so and if we know how many benefits the church will receive and how many disasters Jerusalem will experience: then blessed are you, apostles and other teachers, who sow on all the waters of the Holy Scriptures, on which the ox and the ass trample. The ox is a clean animal because of the election of the fathers; the donkey is unclean because of the former idolatry of the pagans, so that the church of the Lord may be composed of the circumcised and the uncircumcised. What was said above, according to the Seventy, thorns and thistles will grow in the land of My people, can apply both to heretics and to all simple believers who do not understand the Holy Scriptures in a way befitting its importance. Therefore we have applied one to some, and another to others, so that the land of God’s people brings thorns to heretics, and grass to all the ignorant in the church. Chapter XXXIII. Art. 1. Woe to the robber: will you also be robbed? and to the one who despises: will you not also be despised? When you finish plundering, they will rob you too; When you get tired and stop despising them, they will despise you too. LXX: Woe to those who make you miserable: for no one makes you miserable, and those who reject you are not rejected: those who reject you will be captured, and they will be betrayed, and, like a moth in a garment, they will be overcome. He said about the apostles and teachers of the churches: blessed are those who sow on every water where the ox and the ass trample; now turns the curse on their pursuers, or rather against their prince, who possesses the souls of the wicked, that they will receive retribution for everything they have done and that the present power will serve as the cause of future torment. Therefore, according to the Seventy it is said: woe to those who make you miserable: for no one makes you miserable. The meaning is this: when they pursue you as much as possible and subject you to various torments, they consider those killed and tormented to be unfortunate. But no one can make you unhappy, because they have power not over the soul, but over the body, and whoever rejects you, rejects not you, but the one who sent you, according to the words that the Savior says to the disciples: cast away you, I am swept away: sweep away Me, the one who sent Me is swept away (Luke 10:16). Thus, the pursuers will be captured and consigned to eternal fire. And as the moth [eats] clothes, so the eternal flame will eat them. This is also written about at the end of this prophecy: their worm will not die and their fire will not be quenched (Is. 66:24). Art. 2ff. God! have mercy on us: for in You we trust; be their [or our] arm every morning and our salvation in times of trouble. Nations fled from the voice of the angel, nations were scattered from Your majesty. And they will gather your spoil as they gather locusts when the ditches are filled with them. The Lord is magnified, for He dwells in the highest: He filled Zion with judgment and righteousness. And faith will be in your times: wisdom and knowledge are the riches of salvation; the fear of the Lord will be his treasure. LXX: Oh my God! have mercy; for in You we trust; the seed of the wicked was in destruction, but our salvation was in the time of trouble; Because of the terrible voice, the nations were amazed at Your fear and the nations were scattered. Now they will gather up your spoils, small and great; just as [or when] if anyone gathers locusts, they will mock you: Holy is God who dwells in the highest. Zion was filled with judgment and righteousness; in the law they will be delivered; our salvation is in treasures; wisdom and knowledge and godliness come from the Lord: these are the treasures of righteousness. Jews think that the previous section, in which it reads: woe to the robber: will you not also be robbed? and the rest is completely said against Sennacherib, king of Assyria, that after the destruction of the cities of the ten tribes called Israel, and the capture of the cities of Judah, with the exception of Jerusalem, he himself will be defeated and his army, due to the defeat of the angel, will be destroyed. Therefore, they claim that now on behalf of the people giving thanks to God and saying: Lord! have mercy on us; in You we trust, it is said contained in the present [or in the next] section, that He Himself was the muscle and strength of the people surrounded by siege in the morning and salvation in times of need and distress. For from the voice of the angel, which Symmachus translated as it is written in Hebrew, atip 41 - the Jews believe that it was Gabriel, and that it has a common origin with the word people - the Assyrian fled and from the greatness of God the tribes that were with him were scattered everywhere. When they fled, the Jews collected prey in the same way as caterpillars and locusts are usually collected when they are raked in heaps into ditches. The Lord was magnified in victory over them; and Zion was filled with judgment and righteousness, and the faith of the besieged people was proven, and all their wealth was in wisdom, the knowledge of God, and the fear of the Lord, who alone was their treasure. They say this in relation to history, trying in every possible way to destroy the sacraments of Christ and His apostles. We affirm that after the blessing of the apostles, about whom it was said above: blessed are those who sow on every water where the ox and the ass trample, and weeping and lamentation on the part of those who pursued them, about which it is further said: woe to those who make you miserable, but no one makes you miserable: and like moth in clothing, so they will be crushed, this is said on behalf of the apostles and all believers. And the meaning is as follows: Lord, we hoped for Your help, and we trusted in You: the seed of the infidels perished forever, and our salvation appeared during the tribulation. For when You provided help, all the many tribes were scattered and they became the subject of prey and reproach from the victors. And this happened because the holy Lord dwells in the highest, and Zion was filled with judgment and righteousness, about which it is written above: judgment and righteousness will rest in the desert. Thus, this is the same Zion that was previously called the wilderness, and everyone who dwells in it will be taught the law of the Gospel, in the treasury of which is our salvation, and the wisdom of believers, and knowledge, and piety or faith, which is characteristic of Christians, and the fear of the Lord, in which lies the treasures of wisdom. Art. 7 et seq. Behold, those who see will cry out from without: the angels of the world will weep bitterly. The roads were empty: there was no one passing along the way: the agreement was broken: he destroyed the cities, did not recognize them as people. The earth was sad and faint, Lebanon was ashamed and deaf, and Sharon became like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel were shaken. Now I will arise, says the Lord, now I will be exalted, now I will rise. You will conceive fire, you will bring forth stubble: your breath like fire will devour you. And the nations will be like ashes of a fire, [like] gathered thorns they will be burned with fire. Jews believe that the Hebrew word a rellam, instead of which Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotion translated appear to them, dividing the last syllable and reading are lahem, means angels and that after the prophecy about the calling of the pagans and the riches of the church, the destruction of the temple is predicted, which will be mourned by the angels who do not dwell within, but go out, and who were formerly messengers of peace will weep bitterly. Or are they the apostles themselves, who were sent to proclaim peace to Jerusalem, to which the Lord said: If only you would understand your peace (Lk. 19:42), to whom the Lord appeared to strengthen them with His vision, they will mourn Jerusalem, since it did not accept their preaching, because the roads were deserted, there were no walkers on the right path, in accordance with what is said in the Lamentations of Jeremiah: the paths of Zion weep, for there are none who walk on them on the holiday (Lamentations Jer. 1:4). The covenant with Abraham, Isaac and Jacob was also broken: he destroyed the cities of Judah, and did not recognize as people those who themselves wanted to be cattle. The earth became sad and faint, instead of those who lived on the earth. Lebanon has become ashamed and deaf: it, without a doubt, means the church about which we read in Zechariah: open, Lebanon, your doors, and let fire girdle your cedars (Zech. 11:1), or Jerusalem, which in Ezekiel is called Lebanon, according to the prophet: the great eagle with great wings, who has the command to enter Lebanon (Ezek. 17:3), and then explaining this, the divine speech said: “when Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem,” clearly showing that the eagle is the king of Babylon, and Lebanon is Jerusalem. Sharon became like a desert, and Bashan and Carmel were shocked. Instead of Bashan, the Seventy translated Galileo, a region, instead of one place region. The whole country around Ionia and Lydda is called Saron, in which there are very vast and fertile fields. Bashan is also a country beyond the Jordan, which was occupied by two and a half tribes and which means very abundant and fat, and Carmel is the one we spoke about above. Thus, the places of Judea, once fertile, will turn into desert, which metaphorically (μεταφοριϰῶς) indicates that all the wealth of the Jews should be replaced by scarcity and poverty. So, for its unwillingness to accept the speech of the apostles, Lebanon was put to shame, and Sharon was turned into the wilderness, and Bashan and Carmel were shocked. Therefore, the Lord says that He will rise either from the greatest patience or from the underworld, will be exalted among the nations and raised to the cross. And he makes an appeal to the Jews themselves: you will conceive fire, and you will give birth to straw, and your breath will cause fire in you, so that what is conceived and born will be destroyed by the consuming flame. And, he says, the nations of Judah will be like ashes from a fire, showing through the remainder of the ashes the magnitude of the misfortune. For their thorns, collected by a multitude of sins, will be consumed by fire, which is mostly attributed to the final captivity and destruction of Jerusalem. Others argue that this will be more fully and completely realized during the trial. Art. 13ff. Hear, you who are far off, what I have done, and you who are near, know My power. The sinners in Zion were afraid, and the hypocrites were in awe. Which of you will be able to live with the consuming fire? Which of you will live with an eternal flame? The one who walks in righteousness and speaks the truth, who despises the gain of oppression and shakes off his hands from every gift, who stops his ears so as not to hear about blood, and closes his eyes so as not to see evil. He will dwell on the heights; fortified rocks - its height; bread is given him, his waters are sure. His eyes will see the King in His beauty: they will see a distant land. Your heart will learn fear. Where is the scribe? Where is the weigher of words and law? Where is the children's teacher? You will not see an unwise [or shameless] people, a people with high speech, so that you cannot understand the eloquence of their tongue, in which there is no wisdom. Seventy: Those who are far away will hear what they have done; Those who draw near will know of My power. The wicked ones in Zion have retreated; trembling seized the wicked. Who will tell you that the fire is burning? Who will tell you about the eternal place! He who walks in righteousness, and speaks of the right path, and hates wickedness and lawlessness, and shakes his hands from gifts, and stops his ears so as not to hear the judgment of blood, and closes his eyes so as not to see iniquity: this one will dwell in a high cave of a very strong rock. He will be given bread, and he will have faithful water. Your eyes will see the King with glory, they will see the earth from afar; your soul will learn fear. Where are the scribes? Where are the advice givers! Where is he who numbereth those who feed, 42 both the small and the great people, to whom he gave no counsel: and he knew not his low voice, so that the despised people did not hear, and he that heard had no understanding. Since the roads were deserted, there was no one walking along the paths, the agreement with the Jewish people was broken, God destroyed their cities, and did not count them among the people: then you who are far away, listen to what I have done, and come closer to know My power. The sinners or wicked who were in Zion were afraid or fell away, and trembling took possession [or will take possession] of the hypocrites, to whom the Lord said in the Gospel: Woe to you, scribes and hypocrites (Matthew 23:14). Which of you will be able to live with Him Who is a consuming fire? Who will live with the eternal flame? Or according to the Seventy: who will announce [or has announced] to you that the eternal fire is burning, prepared by God for the devil and his angels? Who will thus be able to live with God or announce the coming punishments? Anyone who is like the one described in the prophetic speech - who walks in many righteousnesses and more than once, but always loves the truth, and not in one case, but constantly speaks the truth, who despises covetousness, which is the mother of oppression. For money is not accumulated by anyone without harm and harm to another. And he shakes off his hands from every gift: because gifts blind the eyes of even the wise. Who stops his ears so as not to hear the judgment of blood. All lawlessness and oppression and unrighteousness is a judgment of blood, and although it does not kill with the sword, it destroys with the will. And he closes his eyes so as not to see evil. Happy is the conscience that neither hears nor sees evil. Therefore, whoever is such will live on high, that is, in the kingdom of heaven, or in the high cave of a very strong rock, in Christ Jesus: this rock of Israel followed the people, so that they would drink from it and be protected by its strength. He is given bread and his reliable waters: pagan fables mean ambrosia and nectar by them; we will explain the breads and waters, which are very reliable in the sense of the law of God. So, whoever is such will see the King Christ in His glory, about whom it is said above: behold, a righteous king will reign and his princes will rule according to the law. And his eyes will see a distant land, which they have been waiting for a long time, the land of the meek and merciful, about which it is written in the Gospel: blessed are the meek, for they will inherit the earth (Matthew 5:5) or, being in heaven, they will despise the earth. Your heart will learn to fear, so that, having accomplished everything, you will say with the apostle: for I am not worthy to be called an apostle, for because of this I have persecuted the church of God (1 Cor. 15:9). For the fear of the Lord is the beginning of wisdom (Prov. 9:10). Where is the scribe! Where is the one who weighs the words of the law? Where is the children's teacher? Where, he says, are the scribes and Pharisees, who, weighing the words of the law, deceived the unfortunate people, whom Scripture now calls children, children in understanding, children in understanding. When the eyes of the believer see the King in His greatness and his heart learns to fear; then he will not see a foolish [or shameless] people, a people of Jews or worldly philosophers and orators applauding themselves for their learning or for worldly eloquence, of which he now speaks: a people with lofty speech, so that you could not understand the eloquence of their tongue, the whole adornment of which lies in words that have only the leaves and shadow of speeches, but do not possess the fruit of Truth. Finally it follows: in whom there is no wisdom: about them it is said in another place: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise and turn away the understanding of the prudent (1 Cor. 1:19). Why? Because God has made foolish the wisdom of this age. Art. 20 et seq. Look to Zion, to the city of our triumph: your eyes will see Jerusalem, a rich dwelling, a tabernacle that cannot be moved, and its stakes will not be pulled out forever, and all its cords will not be torn. For only there was our Lord exalted: the place for rivers is very wide and vast streams: a rowing vessel will not pass through it, and a large oared ship will not cross it. For the Lord is our judge, the Lord is our lawgiver, the Lord is our king, He will save us. Your ropes have weakened and will not be strong: such will be your mast that you will not be able to stretch the banner [on it]. Then they will divide the spoils of many robberies: the lame will plunder the spoils. And the neighbor will not say: I have weakened; the iniquity of the people who dwell there will be removed. Seventy: This is Zion, the city, our salvation: thine eyes shall see Jerusalem, a rich city, the tabernacles that shall not be removed, and its stakes shall not be removed for ever, neither shall its cords be broken: for the name of the Lord is great unto you, rivers and streams shall be your place, very broad and wide, a ship shall not pass through it, sailing with oars: for my God is great: the Lord our judge shall not pass me by, the Lord our prince, the Lord our king, the Lord himself will save us. Your ropes broke because they were not strong; Your mast is bent to unfurl [or not to unfurl] its sails; it will not raise its banner until it is abandoned to devastation. Therefore, many lame will plunder and will not say, “I am tired,” but the people living among them will have their sin forgiven. The righteous man to whom it was said above: your heart will learn from fear and: you will not see a foolish people and who previously heard: His eyes will see the King in His beauty! Look at Zion, at the city of our triumph, look at the Church of Christ, in which there is true triumph: your eyes will see the vision of the world, and unexpected wealth, which no eye has seen, no ear has heard, and which has not entered the heart of man, and a tabernacle that cannot be endured. For first the tabernacle which the people of the Jews had was carried away and destroyed. And its stakes will not be moved forever and all its ropes will be strong, so that the Lord will dwell in it, serving as a place for all the rivers and flowing streams, along which no one from the opposite side will be able to navigate, and the great oared ship, which means the devil, will not be able to cross it: for the Lord himself is the judge, and the prince, and the king, and our Savior, and, under His protection, we are not afraid no one's coves. This is said about Zion, the city of our triumph, and about Jerusalem, a very rich dwelling, which the Lord himself will surround and strengthen with His rivers. Now it is said to earthly Jerusalem that the ropes of its tabernacle have weakened and cannot support the curtains, and its mast, on which very beautiful sails once hung, has fallen due to broken ropes, so that it is unfit not only for sailing, but also for [raising] the banner. After their ship is destroyed and the tabernacle is dissolved, so that the ropes are broken on both sides; The victors will share the spoils, who will be so weak in their own strength that they are called lame, and yet, since divine wrath will give them strength, they will not feel any weakening, and will not say: I am tired. For whoever is among them, iniquity and sin will be removed from him, because he did the will of God. Chapter XXXIV. Art. 1. Come, O nations, and listen and give ear to the peoples: let the earth and all that fills it, the universe and all its products, hear. For the wrath of the Lord is against all nations and wrath against all their armies: He destroyed them and gave them over to be killed. Their slain will be abandoned and a stench will rise from their corpses; The mountains will be soaked with their blood. And all the host of heaven will decay; The heavens will unfold [or roll up] like a book, and all their army will fall, as a leaf falls from the vine and from the fig tree: for My sword is drunk in heaven. Behold, he will come down upon Idumea and upon the people [given over] by me for destruction for judgment. The sword of the Lord is filled with blood, made fat with fat, with the blood of lambs and goats, with the blood of fat rams: for the sacrifice of the Lord is in Botzrah, and there is a great destruction in the land of Edom. And the unicorns will fall with them, and the oxen with the mighty ones. The earth will be drunk with their blood and their ashes with the fat of the fat. After the destruction of Jerusalem and the wreck of the ship, which was once very strong, and the plunder of all its accessories, it speaks of the destruction of all tribes and the end of the world, which will happen on the day of judgment. Therefore, all the tribes and peoples of the earth and everything that fills it, the universe and all its products, places both inhabited and uninhabited due to extreme cold and heat, are commanded to listen and with every shudder of mind to learn about what is about to happen. For the wrath of the Lord is described, which will come upon not only the people of Judah, and the Assyrians, and the Chaldeans, the Egyptians, the Moabites, the Ammonites and the Philistines, but also all the nations and all the hosts, or, as they translated the Seventy: the number of them, to destroy them and so that the stench from the rotting bodies will rise high, - meaning the sins of all nations, - so that with pus, uncleanness and with their blood the mountains will be filled - all the higher powers and angels who guarded individual nations, and the entire army or power of heaven will decay: the heavens will unfold or curl up like a book, and all their hosts and hosts, and, as the Seventy translated, the stars will fall, like leaves that, when the cold sets in, dry up and curl up, fall from the vine and fig tree. This is exactly what the Savior speaks about in the Gospel: the stars will fall from heaven, and the powers of heaven will move, and then the sign of the Son of Man will appear in heaven (Matthew 24:29–30). And then you need to take into account that he does not say: the heavens will perish, but will unfold or curl up like a book, so that after all the sins are opened and read, they, which were previously open, are curled up, so that the sins of many are no longer written in them. Daniel speaks about this kind of books in his book: the judgment of the day and the books of the opening (Dan. 7:10), in which the deeds of each were described. The stars will fall, as many believe, in accordance with the Apocalypse of John (Apocalypse 6:13 and 8:10) and in accordance with what is written elsewhere: “all the burning stars will be destroyed, heaven and earth will pass away” (2 Peter 3; Matt. 21). For the image of this world comes. Some attribute this to those stars that shine in the sky in order to designate the whole through the part, that is, that through the fall of the stars the destruction of the heavens is also signified. Others think that those stars about which the Apostle Paul writes will inflate: our struggle is not against blood and flesh, but against the principalities and powers and rulers of this darkness, against the spiritual forces of wickedness in the heavenly places (Eph. 6:12). And there is nothing surprising if the demons that live in the air are called celestial, when Scripture also calls birds, which of course fly not in the sky, but in the air, celestial. For Satan is also transformed into an angel of light (2 Cor. 11:14), taking the form of a star. And the Savior saw him like lightning falling from heaven (Luke 10:18). And allegorically it is spoken of as a great star: “how you fell from heaven, O star, who rose in the morning” (Isaiah 14:12). All this will happen because His sword is drunk in heaven—punishment, judgment, and vengeance against sinners, determined by the Lord. This sword and knife, according to Ezekiel (Ezekiel ch. 21), was shaved against the wicked and, after destroying very many, receives the command to go into its sheath. And when he is drunk and filled in heaven, that is, in the air, which is usually called heaven in the Scriptures, then he will also descend on Idumea, that is, on earthly things, so that after the punishment of the demons the souls of people will also be judged. For Idumea in our language means earthly. And he was filled with blood and filled with the fat of lambs and goats and fat rams and oxen: to show that both princes and people will be punished equally. For the Lord has a sacrifice in Botzrah, and a great destruction in the land of Edom. About this Bozra and Edomite also and subsequently this same prophet says: whoever came from Edom, his garments were scarlet from Bozrah (Isa. 63:1). Some believe that since Bosor means flesh, then the sacrifice of the Lord in Botzr means the torment of all in the flesh. But they fall into an innocent error. For in the present place it is not written through the letter sin, which is in bosor, that is, in the flesh, but through tsade, and is called Bozra (Bosra), which, according to Jesus and Jeremiah, is not in Edom, that is, in Idumea, but in the land of Moab (Jer. 48). Bosra in our language means fortified and fenced or established: to show that the universe is established by the will of the Lord according to him, which is sung in the psalm: He founded it on the seas, and prepared it on the rivers (Ps. 23:2); and about the strengthening of the earth on behalf of God it is said: I established its pillars (Ps. 75:3). And when the Lord has a sacrifice in Botzra and His destruction in Idumea, then the unicorns with the strong oxen, that is, the kings and rulers of the earth, will fall, and everything will be filled with destruction and the blood and fat of those who were once rich and strong. With these words, in accordance with the usual way of people instilling fear in those who listen, the torment is announced to all rulers and strong, peoples and weak. The Jewish teachers want to understand Rome under Bozroa, that is, under the fenced and fortified, and Edom or Duma and Idumea, and refer to it what is contained in the next section. Art. 8 et seq. For the day of vengeance is with the Lord, the year of retribution for the judgment of Zion. And its streams will be turned into pitch and its dust into brimstone, and its land will be burning pitch. Day and night it will not go out, its smoke will rise forever; it will remain desolate from generation to generation; forever and ever there will be no one passing through it. And the pelican and the hedgehog will take possession of it; both the ibis and the raven will dwell in it, and a surveying rope will stretch along it for destruction and a plumb line for devastation. Her nobles will not be there; rather they will call the king, and all her princes will be nothing. And thorns and nettles shall grow upon her house [or houses], and thorns shall grow upon her fortifications: and it shall be a den of dragons, and a pasture for ostriches. And the demons will meet with the onocentaurs and the shaggy ones will call to each other: there the night monster (lamia) will lie [or was lying] and will find [or found] peace for itself. There the hedgehog nested and fed the children, and dug in and sat in its shade; The kites gathered there, one to the other. Search carefully in the book of the Lord and read: not one of these was missing, nor did one seek the other: for the things that came out of my mouth He commanded, and His spirit He gathered them together. And He Himself cast lots for them [or her], and His hand divided it among them by measure: they will possess it forever; from generation to generation they will live on it. The Jews, as we said above, claim that this is predicted about the Roman Empire and that under vengeance on Zion the devastation of the once very powerful kingdom is predicted, which, as many of us believe in accordance with the literal meaning, is also written in the Apocalypse of John. But since it is said: a day of vengeance with the Lord, a year of retribution for the judgment of Zion, then we mean the year about which the Savior himself says: The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, for His sake is My anointing, to bring good news to the poor as My ambassador, to preach remission to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, call the year of the Lord pleasant and the day of retribution, to comfort all who mourn, to give glory to those who mourn in Zion ( Luke 4:18-19 Isa. 61:1-3), and about which it was said above (32, 5): rich women, arise and in times of trouble remember the days of the year with hope. Therefore, after the general consumption of the whole world, the Scripture turns again to Jerusalem, to which it spoke at that time, and its desolation is described in detail, that is, that after the time of the siege of the Romans comes, everything will be filled with pitch and brimstone and burning flames, and the smoke thereof will remain forever, and the pelican and the hedgehog, and the ibis and the raven will live there - animals that usually live in desert places: and this will happen, because the Lord’s rope and plumb line, that is, His decision, cannot change. Its nobles, that is, the apostles and believers, will not be there and will not join the number of the dead; but they would rather call upon the Christ-king. Yet his princes, that is, the scribes and Pharisees, will be destroyed, and thorns and nettles and prickly plants will grow on houses that were once very rich. And it will be a lair for dragons and a pasture for ostriches, which also serve as signs of extreme desolation. And there will be found in it, according to the Seventy, various demonic ghosts (phantasmata) or, as all others translated from the Hebrew text, siim and iim, onocentaurs, and shaggy ones, and a night monster, which is described in the fables of the pagans and in the fabrications of poets. The hedgehog also feeds children there and has a very secure residence; kites gather there, very birds of prey, which in Hebrew are called bajoth, or, as the Seventy translated, deer, which we will talk about below. At the same time, the prophet says to the listeners: people who listen to me speaking! Everything that I foretell will come to pass will be fulfilled in reality. For this is written in the book of the Lord, and determined by His decision, and not even one of these will remain unfulfilled. For what came out of my mouth He commanded, that is, although I speak, these are the words of the Lord, and by His spirit everything that has been spoken will be accomplished. According to His determination and measure, all this will be fulfilled and will not leave its place forever and ever. This is said in relation to the Hebrew text and historical explanation. But those who follow an allegorical meaning claim that after the expulsion of the Jewish people in Jerusalem, idolaters and servants of various superstitions will live in Jerusalem under the names of beasts and monsters, and that they are pelicans and hedgehogs, ibis and ravens, dragons and ostriches, and onocentaurs, and demons, and shaggy and night monsters (lamia), which in Hebrew is called lilith and only one Symmachus translated the night monster, in which some of the Jews suggest ἐριννην, that is, a fury. And indeed, if we pay attention to the fact that the colonies brought from various nations to Jerusalem, and each family, honored special demonic monsters, according to the customs of their countries; then confirming that all this lived in Jerusalem. Translated as the Seventies: there the deer met and saw their faces: they passed by in number, not one of them died, and did not look for another. For the Lord commanded them and His Spirit gathered them: and He Himself gave them lots, and His hand will divide them: that they may graze forever and have dominion throughout all generations and rest in it, we will explain allegorically by saying that the deer are the apostles and all the holy teachers, about whom it is written: in the same way the tree desires the springs of water, so my soul desires You, O God (Ps. 41:1), and in another way. place: the voice of the Lord, bringing forth oil (Ps. 28:9). And again: let the tree of love and the lot of your graces speak to you (Proverbs 5:19), and in Job: have you numbered the months of the deer, and have you tracked down their diseases (Job 39:2-3), and in the Song of Songs it says: my brother is like a roe or a young tree on the fragrant mountains (Song of Songs 2:9). They met in Jerusalem, and saw each other, and passed through it and left it, and went to various countries, since the Lord commanded them: go and teach all languages, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit (Matthew 28:19), and His Spirit gathered them and gave them lots and divided them, so that one would go to the Indians, another to Spain, a third to Illyria, another to Greece, and each rested in the land of his gospel and teaching. What, as we said, was foretold about Jerusalem and what, according to the Jews, was said about the Roman state, some refer to the universe, so as not to seem inconsistent with the previous one. Chapter XXXV. Art. 1–2. The desert and impenetrable country will rejoice and the uninhabited country will triumph and bloom like a lily. When it grows, it will grow and will rejoice, rejoicing and praising. The glory of Lebanon was given to her, the beauty of Carmel and Sharon. They will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God. LXX: Rejoice, thirsty desert, and let the desert be glad and bloom like a lily. The deserts of Jordan will blossom and rejoice: the glory of Lebanon is given to it and the honor of Carmel; and my people will see the glory of the Lord and the greatness of our God. Since Jerusalem is turned to pitch, and eternal smoke rises above it, and the pelican and the hedgehog, the ibis and the raven, dragons and ostriches, demons and onocentaurs, night terrors and shaggy creatures live in it, and since the sentence of the Lord has been fulfilled over it: your house is left to you empty (Luke 13:35): then the former desert, about which the psalm says: the voice of the Lord, shaking the desert, and the Lord will shake the Qaddian desert. The voice of the Lord brings forth the tree and opens the oak groves (Ps. 28:8–9), will turn into abundance in everything and, as a result of the struggle of the deer, the beasts that previously owned them will be driven out of all the forests of the nations, so that what is said by this same prophet will be fulfilled: the barren one who has not given birth rejoices; It was previously thirsty or impassable, not having living water, and the Lord did not pass through it; but now she will blossom into a lily or, as Aquila expressed more clearly, ϰαλύϰωσις, which we can call a blossoming rose with still unfurled leaves. It will blossom to say with the apostle: in every place there is the fragrance of Christ (2 Cor. 2:14-15) and this is from the Song of Songs: “flowers are visible on the earth, mandrakes give off a fragrance” (Song of Songs, chapter 7). Delivered by the Seventy: the deserts of the Jordan will rejoice, although it is not in Hebrew, but we can say that this points to John’s baptism of repentance in the Jordan River, which the Lord sealed and confirmed with His washing. And since it is figuratively spoken of the desert relating to the nations, in which John was, it can subsequently be united with the desert of Jordan, so that through the desert of the nations we come to the baptism of the Savior. Further: the glory of Lebanon was given to her and the beauty of Carmel and Sharon we must understand in accordance with the previous explanation, in which we said that by Lebanon we mean the temple or Jerusalem, according to Zechariah: open Lebanon, your doors (Zech. 11:1) and Ezekiel: the great eagle with great wings, full of nails, who have the command to enter Lebanon and Carmel ( Ezek. 17:3), and means the former people, about which it was said above: and the desert will be Carmel and Carmel will be considered a forest (Is. 32); Sharon also has the same meaning according to Scripture: Sharon became like a desert (Is. 33). So all the splendor, the honor of God and the knowledge of circumcision, and the very fertile and level places called Sharon, instead of which Symmachus translated the fields, will be given to the church that was once deserted, and its inhabitants will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty or majesty of our God. Art. 3–4. Strengthen your relaxed arms and strengthen your weak knees. Tell the faint-hearted [or fearful], be strong and do not be afraid; behold, your God will bring vengeance: God himself will come and save you (or, as LXX translated: us). Then the eyes of the blind will be opened, and the ears of the deaf will be opened (or will hear). Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will be clear, for waters have broken through in the desert and streams in an uninhabited country, and what was dry has become a lake (or swamps), and what was thirsty has become springs of water. In the lairs in which dragons previously lived, green reeds and reeds will appear (instead, the LXX translated: there will be fun for the birds and a fence for the herds). And there will be a road and a path (or a clean path), and it will be called a holy path; no one who is defiled will pass through it. And this will be a straight path for us, so that the weak-minded will not get lost along it (or, as LXX translated: and there will be no unclean path there, but the scattered will follow it and will not get lost). There will be no lion there, he says, and no fierce beast will walk on it and will not be found there, but the redeemed will walk on it. And the redeemed of the Lord will return and come to Zion with praise, and everlasting joy will be upon their heads. They will have joy and gladness, and sadness and sighing will be removed. We have combined both editions so that, while presenting each separately, we do not expand the scope of the books, which [or because it] is already beyond the bounds of brevity. The apostles, about whom it was said above: they will see the glory of the Lord and the beauty of our God, are commanded that they should strengthen the weak hands of the nations and strengthen the weak knees, so that those who were previously unable to do the work of God due to the relaxation of their hands and who had a dry right hand would stretch it out for good deeds. And just recently those who limped as a result of various errors among idols will walk with firm steps in the truth and, strengthening the faint-hearted or fearful with faith in the Lord, will free them from fear, and the fear of God alone will drive out the fears of all error. The reason for security and steadfastness is that Christ, to whom the Father gave all judgment (John 5:22), will pass away and will reward everyone according to his deeds. He himself will come and save you, to whom it is said: do not be afraid, or us, so that the apostles say that they have a common salvation with the believers. Then the eyes of the blind will be opened and the ears of the deaf will be unstopped. Then the lame will leap like a deer, and the tongue of the dumb will be clear. Although this was fulfilled in many signs, when the Lord said to the disciples of John sent to Him: He went and told John what was seen and heard: the blind see, the lame walk, the scorched are cleansed, the deaf hear, the dead are raised, the poor preach the gospel (Luke 7:22): however, this is also daily fulfilled among the nations, when those who were formerly blind and encountered firewood and stones, they see the light of truth. And those who were previously unable to hear the words of the Scriptures with deaf ears now rejoice in the commandments of God, when those who were previously lame and did not walk in the right path leap like deer, like their teachers, and the tongue of the dumb will be clear, whose lips Satan has shut up so that they cannot confess the only Lord. Eyes will be opened, ears will hear, the lame will jump and the tongue of the dumb will be clear because the waters of saving baptism have broken through or been torn out in the desert, which was once the church, and in the uninhabited country - streams and streams, that is, various spiritual gifts, and what was dry turned into a lake and swamp, so that not only would it not have the dryness of thirst, but would be navigable and watered and had a very different source to which the deer strives and who drank it can bless the Lord, according to what is written: bless the Lord from the fountain of Israel (Ps. 67:27). In the lairs of pagan souls, in which dragons formerly dwelt, there will be reeds and reeds, so that they can write about the faith of the Lord and so that previously weary members may rest in them, or there will be joy for the birds and a fence for the flocks, so that they can receive the wings of a dove and, leaving the low, hasten to the high and be able to say with the psalmist: The Lord feeds me, and will deprive me of nothing. In a place of gold, there they settled me, in the calm water they raised me (Ps. 22:1-2). There will be a road and the purest path, which will be called holy and which says about itself: I am the way (John 14:6), along which the defiled cannot pass. Therefore, the psalm says: bliss on the way (Ps. 119:1). And this path, that is, God, will be so straight, even and open for us that it will be impossible to get lost, and the feeble-minded and foolish will be able to walk along it, to whom Wisdom says in Proverbs: “Let anyone who is foolish come to me.” And she said to the weak-minded: go and eat my bread and drink the wine that I mixed for you. Leave foolishness behind and live and walk in the paths of wisdom” (Prov. 9:4–6). For God chose the rest of the world (1 Cor. 1:27). He who stands at the head of these feeble-minded people says in the psalm: God, you have seen my foolishness (Ps. 68:6), and: God is wiser than man (1 Cor. 1:25). Therefore LIX was translated: those who are scattered and separated from the congregation of the Lord will not go astray. It follows further: there will be no lion there: our adversary, the devil, who walks roaring to somehow enter the sheepfold. And the fierce beasts who serve him will not walk on him. For you cannot find traces of a serpent on a rock. Those who have been delivered from the bonds of sin and redeemed by the blood of the Savior will walk on it, and those who have brought repentance and come to Zion, about which we have often said: come to Mount Zion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem (Heb. 12:22): so that we do not, like the Jews, seek golden Zion and Jerusalem, adorned with precious stones, which, according to the prophecy of Daniel, is forever turned into ashes (Dan. ch. 9). And there will be eternal joy on the heads of those who praise God, so that they, having conquered the world, can say with the apostle and prophet: I have passed away, I have kept the faith; otherwise a crown of righteousness is kept for me (2 Tim. 4:7–8), and: Lord, as thou hast crowned us with weapons of good will (Ps. 5:13). Then, after the onset of joy and gladness, sadness and sighing will disappear when the destroyer comes from Zion. According to the Apostle Paul, we explain all this regarding the first coming of the Savior; the Jews and our Judaizers refer to the second on the basis of one verse: they will return and come to Zion with praise, desiring the blood of victims and the subjugation of all nations and the beauty of women. Of course, the answer is in the preface to the interpretation of the prophet Daniel, where the blessed one. Jerome defends himself from the accusation that he shortened the book by not translating the visions, which are not in the Hebrew text. He often compares Rufinus to Scorpio. That is: I am in a difficult situation, as before. Atip or hamon actually means crowd. In the Greek text: τοὺς τρεφομένους, nourished. You might be interested in: