Micah 2
Commentary from 4 fathers
And they desired fields, and plundered orphans, and oppressed families, and spoiled a man and his house, even a man and his inheritance.
καὶ ἐπεθύμουν ἀγροὺς καὶ διήρπαζον ὀρφανοὺς καὶ οἴκους κατεδυνάστευον καὶ διήρπαζον ἄνδρα καὶ τὸν οἶκον αὐτοῦ, ἄνδρα καὶ τὴν κληρονομίαν αὐτοῦ.
и҆ жела́хꙋ се́лъ, и҆ гра́блѧхꙋ сиро́тъ, и҆ до́мы ѿима́хꙋ, и҆ расхища́хꙋ мꙋ́жа и҆ до́мъ є҆гѡ̀, и҆ мꙋ́жа и҆ наслѣ́дїе є҆гѡ̀.
Therefore thus saith the Lord; Behold, I devise evils against this family, out of which ye shall not lift up your necks, neither shall ye walk upright speedily: for the time is evil.
διὰ τοῦτο τάδε λέγει Κύριος· ἰδοὺ ἐγὼ λογίζομαι ἐπὶ τὴν φυλὴν ταύτην κακά, ἐξ ὧν οὐ μὴ ἄρητε τοὺς τραχήλους ὑμῶν καὶ οὐ μὴ πορευθῆτε ὀρθοὶ ἐξαίφνης, ὅτι καιρὸς πονηρός ἐστιν.
Сегѡ̀ ра́ди сїѧ̑ гл҃етъ гдⷭ҇ь: сѐ, а҆́зъ помышлѧ́ю на пле́мѧ сїѐ ѕла̑ѧ, ѿ ни́хже не подви́гнете вы́й ва́шихъ и҆ не по́йдете про́сти внеза́пꙋ, ꙗ҆́кѡ вре́мѧ ѕло̀ є҆́сть.
In that day shall a parable be taken up against you, and a plaintive lamentation shall be uttered, saying, We are thoroughly miserable: the portion of my people has been measured out with a line, and there was none to hinder him so as to turn him back; your fields have been divided.
ἐν τῇ ἡμέρᾳ ἐκείνῃ ληφθήσεται ἐφ᾿ ὑμᾶς παραβολή, καὶ θρηνηθήσεται θρῆνος ἐν μέλει λέγων· ταλαιπωρίᾳ ἐταλαιπωρήσαμεν· μερὶς λαοῦ μου κατεμετρήθη ἐν σχοινίῳ, καὶ οὐκ ἦν ὁ κωλύων αὐτὸν τοῦ ἀποστρέψαι· οἱ ἀγροὶ ὑμῶν διεμερίσθησαν.
Въ то́й де́нь прїи́метсѧ на вы̀ при́тча, и҆ воспла́четсѧ пла́чь съ пѣ́снїю, глаго́лющь: бѣ́дство пострада́хомъ: ча́сть люді́й мои́хъ и҆змѣ́рисѧ ᲂу҆́жемъ, и҆ не бѣ̀ возбранѧ́ѧй є҆го̀, є҆́же ѿврати́тисѧ: се́ла ва̑ша раздѣлє́на бы́ша.
Therefore thou shalt have no one to cast a line for the lot.
διὰ τοῦτο οὐκ ἔσται σοι βάλλων σχοινίον ἐν κλήρῳ ἐν ἐκκλησίᾳ Κυρίου.
Сегѡ̀ ра́ди не бꙋ́детъ тебѣ̀ вме́щꙋщь ᲂу҆́жа въ жре́бїи въ со́нмѣ гдⷭ҇ни.
Weep not with tears in the assembly of the Lord, neither let [any] weep for these things; for he shall not remove the reproaches,
μὴ κλαίετε δάκρυσι, μηδὲ δακρυέτωσαν ἐπὶ τούτοις· οὐδὲ γὰρ ἀπώσεται ὀνείδη.
Не пла́читесѧ слеза́ми, нижѐ да слезѧ́тъ ѡ҆ си́хъ: не ѿве́ржетъ бо ᲂу҆кѡри́зны
6–8(Verses 6-8) Do not speak, speaking ones, for the droppings will not fall upon them, confusion will not overtake them, says the house of Jacob. Has the spirit of the Lord been shortened, or are such his thoughts? Are not my words good when dealing with the one who walks rightly? And yet my people have risen up against me as an adversary, you have lifted up the tunic, the cloak, over those who pass by innocently, and you have turned them into battle. In the church of the Lord, should you not weep with tears, nor should you mourn over them? For he will not reject reproaches, saying, 'The house of Jacob has provoked the spirit of the Lord, if these are his inventions: are not his words good with him, and have they not walked uprightly?' And before, my people resisted against their own peace with enmities: they scraped off its skin, to take away the hope of crushing war. 'Do not speak,' he said, speaking; for which Aquila interpreted: 'Do not be silent, dripping droplets, formerly in the Hebrew idiom, calling the speech that flows and reaches the ears of the hearers, likening it to descending rain, calling it a drip.' Do not let yourselves be deceived, O house of Jacob, and do not say to one another in mutual consolation, God is good: the captivity that we fear will not come. Will his great mercy, his most compassionate spirit, who has risen up widely and abundantly for all, be so limited and severe in us? Or are his thoughts like those that we see in humans, that he holds onto ancient anger and is suddenly stirred up with fury for vengeance? To which the Lord responded: I am certainly good, and my words sound like kindness: but to those who walk the right path. But as for the one who, not just once, but yesterday, revered idols in my dishonor, and as much as he could, seized tyrannical weapons against me, who plundered the unfortunate people with the help of God, and like a garment from above, took away their cloak, who turned even the simplest of believers and those who acquiesce to the authority of their elders into enemies against me, will not the Lord rain down punishment from above and bring confusion upon him? But what we translate as 'Et econtrario populus meus in adversarium consurrexit;' Symmachus translates more openly to say: 'my people rose up against me as an enemy, one day before;' in order to solve the question of why God would not impute past sins to the people, but rather recent ones that seemed like they were committed yesterday. This is according to the Hebrew understanding, but the Septuagint translators do not agree with this interpretation in this passage. For to that which has been said, 'In the Church of the Lord do not weep,' which is a consequence, it is inferred, for he will not reject the reproaches which he says, 'The house of Jacob has provoked the spirit of the Lord.' But also that which follows: 'If these are his inventions: are not his words good with him, and have they not walked uprightly?' What do the following refer to, which are said: 'And my people resisted first, against their own peace, they have flayed his skin, to take away the wound of war?' However, it seems to me that, in a difficult place, the meaning can be rendered or expressed in this way, if the wise reader agrees with our reasoning. Therefore, it is commanded to the Church not to have sadness and concern about worldly matters, and the losses that usually happen in this world, and it is said to the inhabitants of it, O you who are in the Church of the Lord, always rejoice, and whatever judgments may befall you, be glad. I do not say this so that you should not weep; for blessed are those who weep, for they themselves shall laugh (Luke 6:21). But I warn you not to mourn over the things of the world. If someone among your close ones has died, if the treasury has seized your property, if your body is oppressed by gout or any other illness, do not weep, do not shed tears, and do not consider the present, but the future, and be more burdened that you dwell longer in this mortal tent. Rather, be careful not to insult those who have fallen, and do not consider their ruin to be your own accomplishment: let each person measure themselves by their own strength, not the weakness of others. Otherwise, what kind of justice is it to insult the branches of an olive tree with the branches of an olive tree that were broken off due to their unbelief (Rom. XI), and to say, 'The house of Jacob has provoked the spirit of the Lord to anger, killing the prophets, worshiping idols, crucifying the Son of God'? Whoever does this will not be unfamiliar with shame, and the measure by which he judged will be used to judge him. And just as he speaks of the sins of the falling, so another will insult him in his ruin. It follows: If these are his inventions, are not his words good with him, and have they walked uprightly? What offends, he says, the Jewish people, so that the fullness of the Gentiles might enter, is the dispensation of God, so that afterwards, with Israel believing, all might be saved, and all might need God's mercy. And so the Apostle, coming to this place, declares that the depths of wisdom and knowledge and judgments of God are unfathomable. Therefore, if the inventions and thoughts of God are such that the previous branches of the olive tree are broken off, and other branches are grafted in from the wild olive tree, you should not insult, but fear lest you fall, nor should you think that you please God if you read His words, that is, His Scriptures. Then the Scriptures are of benefit to the reader if what is read is fulfilled by deeds. If you can speak about the Scriptures: Are you seeking a proof of Christ speaking in me (II Cor. XIII, 3)? For the Lord will give his word with great power to those who proclaim the Gospel (Ps. LXVII, 12): Ascend to the high mountain, you who proclaim good news to Zion; lift up your voice with strength, you who proclaim good news to Jerusalem (Isai. XL, 9). In this way, the words of God are good if they are accompanied by Him, that is, if God does not abandon the preacher, whose heart and lips are in agreement. Moreover, he who confesses with his lips and his heart is far from God, and narrates his righteousness, and takes his testament on his mouth, and is defiled with the filth of sins, with this, the words of God are not good. Not only of the sinner, but also of him who does not have spiritual grace, that is, of prophecy and doctrine, and interpretation, and the greater charisms, it must be said that if such a man wishes to give reasons for the causes of the elements and for his own faith, and why God, who is good and the Creator of all, came only to the Jews and called the nations in the last age, he does not have good words of God with him; but even those things which are good, he contaminates the words of God, which walk rightly and require righteous ears. And indeed, the Lord commands the people who are his successors and the Church gathered from the nations, not to insult the previous generation and not to be alienated by insulting others. However, it is important to note that he himself, who is the true judge and speaks without disturbance, reveals how in his suffering Israel was against him, and he did this not because the Creator could be harmed by his actions, but because he committed everything against his own peace. Hence, the word came to Jerusalem: If you knew what is for your peace (Luke 19:42). But with peace lost, they stripped off their own skin, that is, they took away from themselves the protection of God, and left themselves like naked flesh without skin and covering, so that whatever appeared beautiful, with the mercy of God covering it from above, would offer ugliness to those who saw it when it withdrew. But with peace and the help of God withdrawing, because they resisted the Lord, of whom it is said: The Lord who breaks wars, the Lord is his name (Judith XVI, 3), they could not resist their adversaries, but in every battle they were defeated, and there was no one to crush the wars that arose against them, on either side of the enemy, or of the men who took them captive, or the strength of their adversaries, who slaughtered their souls daily with blasphemy.
Commentary on Micah
who says, The house of Jacob has provoked the Spirit of the Lord; are not these his practices? Are not the Lord’s words right with him? and have they not proceeded correctly?
ὁ λέγων· οἶκος ᾿Ιακὼβ παρώργισε πνεῦμα Κυρίου· οὐ ταῦτα τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτοῦ ἐστιν; οὐχ οἱ λόγοι αὐτοῦ εἰσι καλοὶ μετ᾿ αὐτοῦ καὶ ὀρθοὶ πεπόρευνται;
гл҃ѧй: до́мъ і҆а́кѡвль разгнѣ́ва дх҃ъ гдⷭ҇ень: не сїѧ̑ ли сꙋ́ть начина̑нїѧ є҆гѡ̀; не словеса́ ли є҆гѡ̀ сꙋ́ть дѡбра̀ съ ни́мъ, и҆ пра́вїи ходи́ша;
But some one will say to me, You adduce a thing strange to me, when you call the Son the Word. For John indeed speaks of the Word, but it is by a figure of speech. Nay, it is by no figure of speech. For while thus presenting this Word that was from the beginning, and has now been sent forth, he said below in the Apocalypse, "And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him (was) Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. And His eyes (were) as flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no man knew but He Himself. And He (was) clothed in a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called the Word of God." See then, brethren, how the vesture sprinkled with blood denoted in symbol the flesh, through which the impassible Word of God came under suffering, as also the prophets testify to me. For thus speaks the blessed Micah: "The house of Jacob provoked the Spirit of the Lord to anger. These are their pursuits. Are not His words good with them, and do they walk rightly? And they have risen up in enmity against His countenance of peace, and they have stripped off His glory." That means His suffering in the flesh. And in like manner also the blessed Paul says, "For what the law could not do, in that it was weak, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be shown in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit." What Son of His own, then, did God send through the flesh but the Word, whom He addressed as Son because He was to become such (or be begotten) in the future? And He takes the common name for tender affection among men in being called the Son. For neither was the Word, prior to incarnation and when by Himself, yet perfect Son, although He was perfect Word, only-begotten. Nor could the flesh subsist by itself apart from the Word, because it has its subsistence in the Word. Thus, then, one perfect Son of God was manifested.
Fragments - Dogmatic and Historical
Even beforetime my people withstood [him] as an enemy against his peace; they have stripped off his skin to remove hope [in] the conflict of war.
καὶ ἔμπροσθεν ὁ λαός μου εἰς ἔχθραν ἀντέστη· κατέναντι τῆς εἰρήνης αὐτοῦ τὴν δορὰν αὐτοῦ ἐξέδειραν τοῦ ἀφελέσθαι ἐλπίδα συντριμμὸν πολέμου.
И҆ пре́жде лю́дїе моѝ во враждꙋ̀ сопроти́вишасѧ, проти́вꙋ ми́рꙋ своемꙋ̀: ко́жꙋ є҆гѡ̀ ѡ҆дра́ша, є҆́же ѿѧ́ти ᲂу҆пова́нїе, сокрꙋше́нїе ра́тное:
The leaders of my people shall be cast forth from their luxurious houses; they are rejected because of their evil practices; draw ye near to the everlasting mountains.
διὰ τοῦτο ἡγούμενοι λαοῦ μου ἀπορριφήσονται ἐκ τῶν οἰκιῶν τρυφῆς αὐτῶν, διὰ τὰ πονηρὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτῶν ἐξώσθησαν· ἐγγίσατε ὄρεσιν αἰωνίοις.
сегѡ̀ ра́ди старѣ̑йшины люді́й мои́хъ и҆зве́ргꙋтсѧ и҆з̾ домѡ́въ сла́дости своеѧ̀, ѕлы́хъ ра́ди начина́нїй свои́хъ ѿринове́ни бы́ша. Прибли́житесѧ гора́мъ вѣ̑чнымъ:
9–10Let him who cannot fly like an eagle fly like a sparrow. Let him who cannot fly to heaven fly to the mountains. Let him flee before the valleys that are quickly destroyed by water. Let him pass over the mountains. Abraham’s nephew passed over the mountain of Segor and was saved. But Lot’s wife could not climb it, for she looked back in womanly fashion and lost her salvation. “Draw near the everlasting mountains,” the Lord says through the prophet Micah, “arise from here, for this is not a rest for you by reason of uncleanness. You have been corrupted with corruption, you have suffered pursuit.”And the Lord says, “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains.” Mount Zion is there, and so is the city of peace, Jerusalem, built not of earthly stones but of living stones, with ten thousand angels and the church of the firstborn and the spirits of those made perfect and the God of the just, who spoke better with his blood than Abel. For the one cried out for vengeance but the other for pardon. The one was a reproach to his brother’s sin; the other forgave the world’s sin. The one was the revelation of a crime; the other covered a crime according to what is written, “Blessed are they whose sins are covered.”
Flight from the World 5:31
9–10“In the Lord I take refuge; how can you say to me, ‘Flee to the mountains like a sparrow!’ ” Shrewd adversary; he tempted the Lord Savior in the desert, and now he wants the faithful, every one of them, to depart from the land of Judea and to dwell in a wilderness barren of virtues, that there he might crush them more easily. Even the counsel itself is crafty. It is not an exhortation to assume the wings of a dove, a gentle, simple and domestic bird—one, they say, entirely lacking in gall—which was offered in the temple in behalf of the Lord. [Instead it is an exhortation to take] the wings of a sparrow, a chattering, roving bird, one that is a stranger to its mate after hatching its young—notwithstanding that Aquila and Symmachus have usually translated “bird” in the place of “sparrow.” … The mountains, moreover, we may identify as those to which Scripture refers in another place: “Draw you near to the everlasting mountains,” and in the second of the gradual psalms: “I lift up my eyes toward the mountains, whence help shall come to me.” They are the mountains too in which we must take refuge after the abomination of desolation shall stand in the holy place.
Homilies on the Psalms, Alternate Series 60
9–10(Versed 9, 10.) You have expelled the women of my people from their delightful homes, and you have taken their praise from their children forever. Arise and go, for you have no rest here, because of your uncleanness. It will be corrupted with the worst decay. The interpretation of the Septuagint (if indeed it is Septuagint; for Josephus writes, and the Hebrews affirm, that only five books of the law of Moses were translated by them and given to King Ptolemy, or rather contradicted) differs so greatly in this passage from the Hebrew truth, that we cannot put the chapters equally nor explain their meanings together. Therefore, let us first discuss our translation, and afterwards we will come to the same points. This is still in opposition to the people of God, of whom he had already said: On the contrary, my people have risen up against me as an adversary: you have taken away their outer garment, not only that, but also the women, that is, the once delicate matrons, have made them go as captives, or under the metaphor of the cities of Judea, which he also calls the daughters of Zion in Isaiah (Isaiah 26), because Zion was the metropolis. You have also taken away the praise of them from their little ones, he says, forever, there remained no one in the people, all being either killed or captured, who would sing my psalms; but even the few who remained in Babylon testify that they cannot sing. How, they say, shall we sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land (Ps. 136:4)? Arise and go into captivity, for in this land you shall not have rest, which has been defiled because of your sins, and it cannot be cleansed unless it has first observed a long sabbath. Therefore I say to you, you do not have rest here, because your land is polluted, and it will be corrupted with the worst decay, namely captivity, whether Babylonian or Roman, because it has shed the blood of the Lord: for it can be understood according to the truth of both histories.
LXX: The leaders of my people will be cast out from their luxurious homes; they have been rejected because of their wicked inventions. This can be understood both generally of the leaders, priests, and Pharisees of the Jewish people, who were cast out of their city of luxury after the passion of the Lord, where they had previously indulged in wicked inventions, and specifically of the lineage of David, because as soon as the Lord was born, the prince of Judah failed, and the ruler from his loins, who was awaited by the nations, came. But even the leaders of the Church who abound in pleasures, and believe that they can preserve their chastity amid feasts and revels, are described by the prophetic word as being expelled from spacious houses and luxurious banquets, and from meals acquired with great effort, and expelled on account of their evil thoughts and deeds. And if you want to know where they will be expelled to, read the Gospel: Into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matt. 22:13). (Is it not a confusion and disgrace to preach Jesus crucified, the master, poor and hungry, while gorging on well-fed bodies, and to proclaim the doctrine of fasting with blushing cheeks and bloated mouths? If we are in the place of the Apostles, let us not only imitate their speech, but also embrace their conduct and abstinence.) It is indeed holy and the ministry of the Apostles to serve widows and the poor (Acts 6:2). They say that it is not fitting, with the word of God dismissed, to serve ourselves at the table. But now I am not speaking of the poor, I am not speaking of brothers, and those who cannot invite in return (from whom, except for the favor, the episcopal hand hopes for nothing else), but rather soldiers and those girded with a sword, and judges, with centurions and troops standing guard before their doors, the priest of Christ invites to the meal. The whole clergy runs through the city: they seek to display to judges what they cannot find in their own praetoriums, or certainly what they have found but do not buy. Nor indeed should it be thought that this invective is directed generally at everyone; but rather that the prophetic discourse strikes those who are such, and threatens them with punishments and eternal darkness: so that those who are not bound by shame and modesty may at least take action in repentance through the threat of punishment.
LXX: Approach the eternal mountains. By eternal mountains, we can understand either angels or prophets, about whom it is also written in the psalm: His foundations are on the holy mountains (Ps. 86:1). And in another place: I lift up my eyes to the mountains; from where shall my help come? (Ibid. 120:1). But he approaches the eternal mountains who is not separated from the company of the blessed by his own sins, just as Moses approached God, not by place, but by merit. And to those who approached the eternal mountains, the Lord himself spoke. I am a God who is near, and not a God from afar (Jer. XXIII, 23). But the eternal mountains are called so to distinguish them from those that are not eternal, namely the beginning of the dark mountains of this world, which when they are raised up like the cedars of Lebanon and pass away with the world, their place cannot be found.
LXX: Arise and walk, for there is no rest for you here. We are commanded to think of no rest in worldly things; but, as if rising from the dead, to strive for the heavenly, and to walk after our Lord God, and to say: My soul clings to you (Ps. 62:9). But if we neglect and refuse to listen to the one saying: Awake, you who sleep, and arise from the dead, and Christ will enlighten you (Eph. 5:14), we will indeed sleep, but we will be deceived, and we will not find rest because where Christ does not illuminate one rising up, what appears to be rest is tribulation.
LXX: Because of uncleanness, you have been consumed by corruption. For what we have said, you have been consumed; according to the Greek understanding, in Latin it can sound as 'you have been corrupted', so that there is order, because of uncleanness you have been corrupted by corruption. However, this is said to those who, serving the pleasure of the body and lust, corrupt not only the soul but also their own body, lovers of pleasures rather than lovers of God. He could also say, because of your uncleanness, you were corrupted, and even your understanding would have been filled without corruption. But now, because he says, you are corrupted by corruption, it seems to me that he is speaking of beneficial corruption. Along the lines of which the Apostle also speaks: And if our outward man is corrupted, yet the inward man is renewed day by day (II Cor. IV, 16). The one who always carries the death of Jesus in his body, and corrupts the external man, and subjects the flesh to the control of the soul, he is indeed corrupted, but not by corruption, because his corruption is of a beneficial nature.
You fled, with no one pursuing. It is said of those who, because of the filth of corruption, have been corrupted, that their conscience, even without punishment, does not dare to resist enemies and fight.
And so, they are expelled from the camp and repelled from the battle line, in order to not terrify the minds of their brethren, the fearful ones in the battle of the saints (Deut. 20), and in the curses of Leviticus, a word is directed towards such men: The voice of a flying leaf shall pursue you, and you shall flee, with none pursuing you (Lev. 26:36). I know that I have read in certain commentaries, explaining the beginning of the Gospel of John: All things were made through him, and without him was made nothing, that they have attributed this saying, 'nothing,' to wickedness, and furthermore, that they have interpreted wickedness itself as the devil, and in that same sense, they have understood that which was made without Christ, as nothing, as the devil. Therefore, if malice or the devil is nothing, and those who have been corrupted by corruption have fled, with no one, that is, nothing pursuing, the devil has pursued them into nothingness. But if this seems too forced to anyone, and contrary to the simplicity of Scripture, let him rather follow the skill of speech than a true interpretation, or let him follow the former exposition or any other he may discover.
Commentary on Micah
Arise thou, and depart; for this is not thy rest because of uncleanness: ye have been utterly destroyed;
ἀνάστηθι καὶ πορεύου, ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι σοι αὕτη ἀνάπαυσις ἕνεκεν ἀκαθαρσίας. διεφθάρητε φθορᾷ,
воста́ни и҆ пойдѝ, ꙗ҆́кѡ нѣ́сть тебѣ̀ се́й поко́й: нечистоты̀ ра́ди, и҆стлѣ́сте тлѣ́нїемъ,
ye have fled, no one pursuing [you]: [thy] spirit has framed falsehood, it has dropped on thee for wine and strong drink. But it shall come to pass, [that] out of the dropping of this people,
κατεδιώχθητε οὐδενὸς διώκοντος· πνεῦμα ἔστησε ψεῦδος, ἐστάλαξέ σοι εἰς οἶνον καὶ μέθυσμα. καὶ ἔσται ἐκ τῆς σταγόνος τοῦ λαοῦ τούτου.
прогна́стесѧ ники́мже гони́ми: дꙋ́хъ поста́ви лжꙋ̀, и҆ска́па тебѣ̀ въ вїно̀ и҆ пїѧ́нство: и҆ бꙋ́детъ, ѿ ка́пли люді́й си́хъ,
11–12(Verse 11, 12.) I wish I were not a man with a spirit, and I spoke lies instead. I will pour for you into wine and into drunkenness, and this people on whom it is poured will be overcome. I will gather Jacob together, I will gather all of you: I will bring the remnants of Israel together.
And in this chapter, the Septuagint interpreters differ greatly from Hebrew. Therefore, let us first explain according to what has been handed down to us by the Hebrews, and then, if the Lord wills, we will discuss their translations. O Jewish people, to whom belong the promises, the covenants, the law, and from whom Christ came according to the flesh (Rom. 9), to whom, facing the imminent Babylonians or Romans, I have said: Rise up and go into captivity, for there is no rest for you in this land, which will be devastated by its own wickedness in the final destruction. Do not think that I am unwilling to speak and preach joyfully, for I see the coming of the Lord. I myself would wish to be accursed for the sake of my brethren, the Israelites (Rom. 9:3). I wish I could speak of my own understanding, and not have the Holy Spirit; and be counted among the false prophets, and perish alone, and not have the things I say be true: and such a multitude would believe in the Son of God, and not be handed over to eternal captivity. But because I speak with the spirit of prophecy, and am sent from divinity (or truth), I proclaim the truth: therefore I will pour out my words to you like bitter wine that intoxicates you and makes you fall. But while I am still dripping, and singing of the evil of the future captivity, this people will receive my rain, whether they want it or not, for it has the capability to endure what I say. And do not think, that I am only a prophet of evils (although great evils indeed), for now the predicted captivity will come; but behold, in me the word speaks, a word that is applicable to all the prophets. For when the prophet is silent, he does not speak, and now he says: I will come, and I will assume a human body, I will be born of a Virgin. Either this: Because I came in the humility of flesh, and you did not believe in me, I will come in the consummation of the world in my majesty with the angels and other powers, and then I will gather you, Jacob, completely. Then I will bring together the remnants of Israel and join them together with the people of the nations in my fold. Then I will surround you with a most strong wall, and there will be such a multitude of believers and such a commotion among the sheepfold that the number of sheep will be overcome by the abundance. Lest you possibly think, because I said, I will place him like a flock in a sheepfold, and like a herd in a stable, that I am speaking of sheep, understand that these sheep are men. For it follows: They will be troubled by the multitude of men. Tumult is the voice of many, and the shout of an excessive multitude equally emitted: let us not think it is the voice of one man, but the common voice of all, praising the good shepherd, who has leveled every difficulty and made it equal with his foot, he himself is the gate of paradise, and says: I am the gate: by which, dividing and preceding the journey, and the gate of the way, the believing flock will pass through him. But this shepherd is a king and Lord. Hence follows: And their king shall pass before them, and the Lord at the head of them. And if we wish to understand all these things about His first coming, and the whole of Jacob and the remnant of Israel as signifying the apostles, and that multitude saved out of the Jews which is recorded in the Acts of the Apostles, we shall not depart from the truth in the interpretation of the expositor. For the Lord has truly gathered these together in His sheepfold, and has placed them in the midst of the folds, and has gone before them, and has brought them into the Church, and has been their king before them, and shall be the Lord at the head of them for ever.
LXX: The spirit establishes a falsehood. It drips into wine and drunkenness, and it will be from the drop of this people, Jacob will be gathered together. Not, as many think, the spirit stood as a liar; but the spirit establishes a falsehood, it is read, which in Greek is called πνεῦμα ἔστησε ψευδὲς, that is, deception. Just as in putrid wounds, so that cancer does not spread and devour the dead flesh, doctors establish and burn the wound with a cautery, or with a caustic powder: in the same way, the spirit of God has set a limit to falsehood, so that the people of God are not overthrown by the voices of false prophets. But the Spirit, wherever it is mentioned without addition, should be understood in a good sense, as we have often said, and now we will partially explain, so that no one should be in doubt. But the fruit of the Spirit is love, joy, peace (Galatians 5:22). And: If we live by the Spirit, let us also walk by the Spirit (Galatians 6:25). And elsewhere: But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live (Romans 8:13). And in the Old Testament: Giving breath to the people who are in it, and spirit to those who tread on it (Isaiah XLII): without doubt from what comes before that it signifies the earth. For those who trample earthly works and subject them to their feet, certainly deserve to receive not an evil, but a good spirit. On the contrary, an evil spirit is always read with an additional clause, as in this passage: But when the unclean spirit has gone out of a man (Matthew XII, 43). And in another place: He rebuked the unclean spirit (Luke 9:43). And: An evil spirit came upon Saul (1 Samuel 16:14), and similar things to these. Therefore, the Spirit of God, who puts an end to deceit in false prophets, will pour into you wine and drunkenness. Wine that gladdens the heart of man (Psalm 104); and drunkenness with which Noah was intoxicated, and of which it is said: Eat, O friends, and drink until drunk (Song of Solomon 5:1). But all this joy and drunkenness, in comparison to the wisdom of God, is like a heavenly river that waters Jerusalem, it is a drop, and a very small drop. The wisdom of God will not hesitate to call a drop in men, those who have gathered a stone cut from a mountain without hands (Dan. II), and the foolishness of God is wiser than men, and the Apostles themselves have known in part, and have prophesied in part (I Cor. XIII, 9). Therefore, concerning this wisdom, that is, concerning the tribe of the Jewish people (for He came only to the lost sheep of the house of Israel), Jacob was gathered: every one who supplants Esau and steals his birthright and blessing, and even before he is born, in his mother's womb, he attacks the heel of his hairy brother.
LXX: When I receive the remnant of Israel with all the Gentiles, and the entire world is brought to my faith, and the fullness of the Gentiles enters, then the remnant of Israel will also be saved, not those remnants about which it is written in the Book of Kings: I have left for myself seven thousand men who have not bowed their knees to Baal (3 Kings 19:18). And concerning them, Paul says: Therefore, even in this present time, the remnants according to the election of grace have been saved (Romans 11:5); concerning whom, the prophet testifies above: And he will gather together the remnant of his people from this drop of water, Jacob will be gathered together. But those remaining, who after all have been received, will be received in the end by God. And concerning them it is now said: 'Gathering the rest of Israel, I will surely receive all, just as it is written: God will conclude all under sin, and have mercy on all.' (Rom. 11:32).
LXX: I will make their destruction like that of sheep in distress. The remaining ones of Israel, whom I will take in after I have taken in all, I will take in: now in the meantime, because they have turned away from me, I will put them in distress, and I will oppress them, and I will make them sit, without priest, without altar, and without prophet: so that those whom they did not perceive through blessings, they may understand through punishments.
LXX: Like a flock in the midst of their fold: it is understood, I will set. Not only, he says, will their aversion, by which they have turned away from me, be set like a flock in tribulation; but after they have been troubled and the time of distress has been completed, they will be set at rest, that is, in their fold. And then (now) they will migrate from men and surpass the state of human condition, and fulfill what follows: They will rise up from among men. Not only they will leap out and go away, but all those to whom the word of God comes, and who, forsaking human vices, imitate the behavior of the divine, and hear: I said, you are gods, and all of you children of the Most High, they will leap out from among men, and be carried as if to heaven.
LXX: Ascend by division. The present passage has a sort of proper beginning and apostrophe of prophetic discourse, speaking to someone who wishes to be saved and commanding them to ascend by division. This will be made clearer if we take an example from Genesis, where twins are born to Tamar, with whom the patriarch Judah had relations: 'And it came to pass, when she travailed, that one put out his hand: and the midwife took and bound upon his hand a scarlet thread, saying, This came out first.' But when he withdrew his hand, his brother came out, and she said, 'Why has the wall been divided because of you?' And she called his name Perez, which means division. And after this his brother came out with the scarlet thread on his hand, and she called his name Zerah, which in our language means seed or east (Gen. XXXVIII, 27, seqq.). Therefore, the elder people showed with their hand, in which there was origin and seed before the Church was born from the nations, and afterwards they withdrew it, hearing the words of Isaiah: For your hands are full of blood (Isai. I, 15). And when he pulled back his hand, and ceased from the works of justice, his brother went out among the nations. And because of him the fence was divided, and the Lord and Saviour destroyed the wall in the middle, and the barrier that separated two peoples: and he made one flock, and in himself he created two, making peace in the new man. Hence the prophetic midwife speaks to the younger people, saying to Phares: Why was the wall divided because of you? If you understand the example from Genesis, ascend to be saved not through the old people who have a contracted hand, but through the new people, in whom is the way of Christ, in whom is the door Jesus, through whom we walk toward the Father, for he himself broke through the middle wall and partition, that is, the darkness of the old prophets, and opened all the sacraments of the ancient Law, and by dispelling the difficulty of walking, revealed the way to the eyes of all: so that whoever wants to proceed is not entangled by any obstacle, nor is he terrified by the darkness of obscurity.
LXX: Before their face they divided and passed through the gate, and went out through it. Their king went out before their face: but the Lord their prince (Heb. shall be) before them. Therefore I said to you: Ascend through the division, you who have risen with Christ, and seek those things that are above: because the Angels, whether the Father and Son, and Holy Spirit, have divided what seemed to obstruct, and have made a way for those who wish to enter, and because they have invaded the path, not only have they entered the gate, but they have also passed through it. But they entered because their king also entered the same gate, and he opened for them the way, so that they could walk without any difficulty. For he himself is the Lord, and king, and shepherd, and the way and the gate, and he says: I am the gate: through me whoever enters will be saved: he will enter and he will go out, and he will find pastures. (John 10:9). Concerning this gate, it is also prophesied elsewhere: This is the gate of the Lord, the righteous shall enter through it. (Psalm 127:20). But whoever enters, should not remain in the state in which they entered; but should go out to the pastures, so that in entering there may be a beginning, in going out and in finding pastures, there may be the perfection of virtues. Whoever enters is still in the world, and through creatures understands the Creator. But whoever goes out, transcends the whole creation, and considering all that can be seen as nothing, will find pastures above the heavens, and will feed on the word of God, and will say: The Lord feeds me, and I shall lack nothing (Psalm 23:1). This is why, in order to understand the Gospel testimony: He will enter and He will go out, and will find pasture; and what is now said through the Prophet: And they passed through the gate, and went out through it: which passage and going out, however, cannot be attributed to our king and Lord Christ, who is king and Lord. For immediately it is connected: But the Lord shall be the Prince.
Commentary on Micah
St. Paul wished that he could be accursed if the people of Israel be saved to God’s glory. The man who knows that death is not the end is confident in his readiness to die for Christ. Again, “We rejoice when we are weak, but you are strong.” It is no wonder if St. Paul, for the glory of Christ and the conversion of his brother Jews and of the Gentiles, should be ready to be accursed of Christ. Even the prophet Micah wanted to be a liar and to lose the inspiration of the Holy Spirit if the Jews could escape the punishment and the destruction which he had prophesied: “Would that I were not man that had the Spirit, and that I rather spoke a lie.” And there was the case of the lawgiver, Moses, who did not refuse to perish with his brothers who were doomed to die but said, “I beseech you, O Lord, this people have sinned a heinous sin; either forgive them this trespass, or, if you do not, blot me out of the book which you have written.”
Conference 9:18
Jacob shall be completely gathered with all [his people:] I will surely receive the remnant of Israel; I will cause them to return together, as sheep in trouble, as a flock in the midst of their fold: they shall rush forth from among men through the breach made before them:
συναγόμενος συναχθήσεται ᾿Ιακὼβ σὺν πᾶσιν· ἐκδεχόμενος ἐκδέξομαι τοὺς καταλοίπους τοῦ ᾿Ισραήλ, ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτὸ θήσομαι τὴν ἀποστροφὴν αὐτοῦ· ὡς πρόβατα ἐν θλίψει, ὡς ποίμνιον ἐν μέσῳ κοίτης αὐτῶν ἐξαλοῦνται ἐξ ἀνθρώπων·
собира́емь собере́тсѧ і҆а́кѡвъ со всѣ́ми: прїе́млѧй прїимꙋ̀ ѡ҆ста́вшихъ і҆и҃левыхъ, вкꙋ́пѣ положꙋ̀ возвраще́нїе є҆гѡ̀, а҆́ки ѻ҆́вцы въ ско́рби, ꙗ҆́кѡ па́ствꙋ посредѣ̀ ло́жа и҆́хъ: и҆зско́чатъ ѿ человѣ̑къ.
they have broken through, and passed the gate, and gone out by it: and their king has gone out before them, and the Lord shall lead them.
διά τῆς διακοπῆς πρὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν διέκοψαν καὶ διῆλθον πύλην καὶ ἐξῆλθον δι᾿ αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐξῆλθεν ὁ βασιλεὺς αὐτῶν πρὸ προσώπου αὐτῶν, ὁ δὲ Κύριος ἡγήσεται αὐτῶν.
Взы́ди просѣче́нїемъ пред̾ лице́мъ и҆́хъ: просѣко́ша, и҆ проидо́ша врата̀, и҆ и҆зыдо́ша и҆́ми. И҆ и҆зы́де ца́рь и҆́хъ пред̾ лице́мъ и҆́хъ, гдⷭ҇ь же во́ждь и҆́хъ бꙋ́детъ.
Whoever has entered in must not remain in the state wherein he entered but must go forth into the pasture so that entering in should be the beginning, “going forth and finding pasture,” the perfecting of graces. The one who enters in is contained within the bounds of the world. The one who goes forth goes, as it were, beyond all created things and, counting as nothing all things seen, shall “find pasture” above the heavens, and shall feed upon the Word of God and say, “The Lord is my shepherd (and feeds me); I can lack nothing.” But this going forth can be only through Christ; as it follows, “and the Lord at the head of them.”
Commentary on Micah 1:2.13
They meditated troubles, and wrought wickedness on their beds, and they put it in execution with the daylight; for they have not lifted up their hands to God.
ΕΓΕΝΟΝΤΟ λογιζόμενοι κόπους καὶ ἐργαζόμενοι κακὰ ἐν ταῖς κοίταις αὐτῶν καὶ ἅμα τῇ ἡμέρᾳ συνετέλουν αὐτά, διότι οὐκ ᾖραν πρὸς τὸν Θεὸν χεῖρας αὐτῶν.
Бы́ша помышлѧ́юще трꙋды̀ и҆ дѣ́лающе ѕла̑ѧ на ло́жахъ свои́хъ, и҆ кꙋ́пнѡ со дне́мъ соверша́хꙋ та̑ѧ, поне́же не воздвиго́ша къ бг҃ꙋ рꙋ́къ свои́хъ: