OT § 110

Nevertheless, lest under the cover of abundance anyone think that we are concealing a lack of defense, we shall bring forward one testimony from the prophets, by which it can clearly be shown that they are holy prophets, divinely inspired. They predicted with a certain and most faithful prophecy that in the time of New Testament, spiritual sacrifices were to be offered not to the Father only but also to the Son by the faithful. For Zephaniah says, " 'Therefore wait for me,' says the Lord, 'for the day when I arise as a witness. For my decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them my indignation, all the heat of my anger; for in the fire of my passion, all the earth shall be consumed. At the time I will change the speech of the peoples to a pure speech, that all of them may call on the name of the Lord and serve him with one accord. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, my suppliants, my scattered ones, shall bring my offering.' "

(Verse 8, 9.) Therefore, wait for me, says the Lord, in the day of my resurrection in the future: because I will gather the nations and gather the kingdoms to judge them, and I will pour out my indignation, all the fury of my wrath, for in the fire of my zeal all the earth shall be consumed. For then I will restore to the peoples a pure speech, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord and serve Him with one accord. LXX: Therefore wait for me, says the Lord, on the day of my resurrection as a testimony: for my judgment is in the gatherings of the nations, to receive kings, to pour out all my wrath upon them, the fury of my anger; for in the fire of my zeal all the earth will be consumed, for then I will turn to the peoples a pure language, that they may all call upon the name of the Lord, and serve him under one yoke. The Jews interpret these things as referring to the coming of Christ, whom they hope will come, and they say to all the gathered nations, with the Lord's fury poured out upon them, the earth will be devoured in the fire of his zeal. And just as before the building of the tower, when one language was spoken by all people, so now with all turned to the worship of the true God, speaking in Hebrew, the whole world will serve the Lord. But we, who do not follow the letter of the West, but the life-giving Spirit, and do not listen to Jewish fables, hear from the Lord: Prepare, rise early: all their clusters are scattered; and we, prepared, say: My heart is ready, O God, my heart is ready (Ps. 56:8). And we hear in Proverbs the commandment: Prepare your work in the field (Prov. XXIV, 27). And that which is sacredly said in Leviticus (Chapter XVI), where on the seventh month, the tenth day of the month, Aaron offers a goat sent away, and living, and placing his hands upon its head, he curses upon it all the sins of the people of Israel, and delivers it into the hands of a prepared man, and sends it into the wilderness (we understand within ourselves), and preparing ourselves under the true command of the priest, we remove evil from the midst of the Church. And when we have done these things, the night passes, the day draws near, and as if walking properly in the day, we say: God, my God, I am awake to you from the light (Psalms 62:1). And immediately we conclude: In the morning, you will hear my prayer, in the morning I will stand by you, and I will see (Psalms 5:4, 5). For if we are not prepared, the sun of justice will not rise for us. But when the sun rises, all the clusters from the vineyard of the Sodomites are scattered and perish, so that not only the great bunches, but also what seemed small in us, may be dispersed by the shining lamp of Christ. And promising us a reward for all these things, God said: Expect me on the day of my resurrection as a testimony. For after our vices and sins, God will rise in us. And according to what He commands in another place: Be witnesses for me, and I am a witness, says the Lord God; and the boy whom I have chosen (Isai. XLIII, 10): the Father is a witness with the Son and the Holy Spirit, so that by the mouth of two or three witnesses, every word may be established (Deut. XVII). And it seems to me that the opinion stands in this way, and truth is confirmed by these three witnesses, rather than according to the letter. For there were two witnesses against Susanna (Dan. XIII), and against the Lord Himself (Matt. XXVI), and yet their words did not stand in their mouths. Likewise, the whole city testified against Naboth, but the agreement of wicked witnesses did not have the strength of truth, but the conspiracy of crime (III Reg. XXI). For, he says, it is my judgment to gather the nations together, to assemble the kings in the place of their punishment, to pour out my anger on them, all the fury of my wrath. The one who is lesser quickly deserves forgiveness, and mercy is close at hand. But the powerful endure torments with power. (Wisdom 6:6) From where the peoples and the multitude of nations gather for judgment; but the kings, that is, the leaders of perverse doctrines, will be brought for punishment, that all the fury of the Lord's wrath may be poured out on them. And this is not done out of any cruelty, as the bloodthirsty Jews think, but out of mercy and the counsel of a healer. For it follows: For in the fire of my zeal will all the earth be consumed. For the nations, gathered for judgment, and the kings, for punishment, so that wrath may be poured out upon them, not in part, but in whole, and wrath combined with fury, so that whatever is earthly, whatever belongs to the works of the earth, that is, of the flesh, may be consumed, laying waste all its brambles and thorny thickets, the fire of my zeal will devour it all. And then I will restore to the people their pure language, that every one may return to the ancient confession of the Lord, after having cast off error; and that in the name of Jesus, every knee may bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth, and that every tongue may confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. And having cast away the burdens and the bitumen which we had for stones and mud, with which we were building up the pride of our error against the Lord, let us receive the language which we formerly lost, and let us be under the yoke of Christ, who says: My yoke is sweet and my burden light. But it must be noted that in the place where we have translated, 'I will give peoples a chosen lip, for the chosen one,' the Septuagint said, 'in his generation, so that the earth may be understood.' And hence the error arose, because the Hebrew word 'Barura' which Aquila and Theodotion translated as 'chosen,' Symmachus interpreted as 'world.' The Septuagint read 'Badura,' thinking that the letter 'Resh' was a 'Daleth,' due to their strong similarity, which is distinguished by a small apex. Moreover, where we have been transferred to, on the day of my resurrection in the future, and all have interpreted, as a testimony. The Hebrew who instructed me in the Scriptures claimed that the word 'Laed' in the present context should be understood more as 'in the future' than as 'as a testimony.' For, what is written with the letters Ain and Dalet can be understood as 'future' and 'testimony.' We can also explain this passage in relation to the first coming of Christ, when all errors were removed, demons were defeated, and earthly works were destroyed, and the apostles spoke in all languages (Acts 2), and through the removal of the old error, one confession was restored. But even the kings who are destroyed and consumed by divine fire are regarded as leaders of perverse doctrines.

Because bodily action is carried on by the shoulder and the arm, if the good things which he put forth with the lips he did not fulfil in deed, he wishes to himself 'the shoulder to fall,' and 'the arm to be broken in pieces.' As though he said in plain words, 'If the things that I said I refused to do, this very member of my body, which was given to me for working withal, may I lose, that surely that may fall from the body which I would not exercise to advantage.' But if this sentence of a curse is to be referred to a spiritual meaning, it is doubtless plain that the arm is joined to the body by the shoulders, and as by the arm good practice, so by the shoulder the knitting together of social life, is denoted. Whence too the Prophet, regarding the holy peoples of the Church universal, that should serve God in concord, says, And they shall serve Him with one shoulder.

Since this text did not literally refer to wild beasts, let the Jews say when this actually happened. For a wolf has never pastured a lamb. If it were to happen that they would pasture together, how would this benefit the human race? The text referred not to wild beasts but to wild people. It referred to Scythians, to Thracians, to Mauretanians, to Indians, to Sarmatians, to Persians. Another prophet made it clear that all these nations would be brought under one yoke when he said, "And they shall serve him under one yoke, and each one shall adore him from his own place." No longer, he said, will people worship him in Jerusalem but everywhere throughout the world. No longer are people bidden to go up to Jerusalem, but each one shall remain in his own home and offer this worship.

Another prophet again made clear the way God would be worshiped. "They shall each adore him in his own place and serve him under one yoke." And again another prophet said, "The virgin of Israel had fallen. Never more shall she rise." And Daniel explained clearly that everything would be destroyed—the sacrifice, the libation, the anointing, the judgment.

If anyone is able, insofar as he found that Israel is saved "after the full number of pagan nations," let him consider having passed over by reason the remaining period, when it is that "all serve God under a single yoke," according to what is said in Zephaniah, "And from the ends of Ethiopia they offer sacrifices to him," when, as it is said in the sixty-seventh psalm, "Ethiopia stretches forth its hand to God," and "to the kings of the earth" the word commands, saying, "Sing to the Lord, raise a psalm to the God of Jacob."

(Verse 10 onwards) Beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, there my scattered children, the offspring of my dispersed ones, will bring a gift to me. On that day you will no longer be ashamed of all your rebellious acts against me, for then I will remove from your midst those who proudly boast of their arrogance, and you will no longer exalt yourself on my holy mountain. I will leave in your midst a humble and oppressed people, and they will trust in the name of the Lord. The remnant of Israel will not commit injustice or speak falsehood, and no deceitful tongue will be found in their mouths. They will feed and lie down, and no one will make them afraid. LXX: Concerning the boundaries of the rivers of Ethiopia, I will gather my dispersed ones. They will bring sacrifices to me. On that day, you will not be ashamed of all your inventions, in which you have acted impiously towards me, for then I will remove from you the arrogance of your insults, and you will no longer exalt yourself upon my holy mountain. I will leave in you a gentle and humble people, and they will revere the name of the Lord, those who remain of Israel. They will not commit iniquity, nor speak falsehoods, nor will there be deceitful language found in their mouths, for they will be nourished and lie down, and no one will make them afraid. When the Lord returns the chosen lip to the people of the believers, and all invoke the name of the Lord, and bear his yoke, then even beyond the rivers of Ethiopia (where the queen of Sheba came to hear the wisdom of Solomon) they will bring offerings to the Lord. And Ethiopia will stretch out its hand to God. And truly, the Ethiopian woman, who the lawgiver struck Egypt with ten plagues, will marry, while the Hebrew synagogue looks on with envy. But what he says according to the Hebrew: From there my supplicants, the daughter of my scattered ones, will bring me a gift of this kind: O Israel, formerly the assembly of daughters, whom I dispersed throughout the whole world, although you may envy, although you may be tormented by emulation, nevertheless from Ethiopia sacrifices will be brought to me, that is, from the Gentile people. In that day, that is, when the multitude of the Gentiles believes, even you will not be completely confounded above all your errors, by which you transgressed against me, choosing Barabbas and crucifying the Son of God (John 6). Then I will remove from your midst the scribes, and the priests, and the Pharisees, proud of your arrogance, and you will no longer boast on my holy mountain; but you will have a poor people, uneducated men, and fishermen, who will hope in the name of the Lord. The remnants of Israel, not the multitude that cried out, 'Crucify him, crucify him' (John 19:6): not the priests and the nobles; but the remnants will not commit iniquity, nor speak falsehood against Christ, believing in the truth: nor will deceitful language be found in their mouths, knowing that every lie is from the devil (John 8); for they themselves will be shepherded and will say: The Lord shepherds me, and I shall lack nothing; in the place of pasture, there he has placed me. He has led me beside still waters, he restores my soul (Psalm 23:1): and there will be no one to frighten, the pride of the persecutors being conquered by the faith of the believers. Let it be understood that this refers to the first coming of Christ, which the Jews promise to themselves in the end, and hope to dwell in Jerusalem, and to be satisfied and nourished with bodily gifts and Jewish resources like sheep, and with green herbs, and with all nations destroyed and subjected to themselves, so that no one can frighten them. But we, taking from this fable an opportunity for a true story, say that, by washing our stained and sinful souls, and by our lips being restored to their chosen and pure state (as Symmachus has explained), we have left behind us in the rivers of Ethiopia the masters of perverse doctrines, with whom we were once associated, and we will bear the gifts to Christ, the scattered Israel. On that day, in which the light of Christ rose for us, it will be said to each of us: you will not be ashamed of all your inventions, namely, the worst thoughts with which we acted impiously against the Lord, and all pride and contempt through which we exalted ourselves against the Lord and against His holy mountain, our Lord and Savior, and for proud and empty names there will be left in us a gentle and humble people, so that we may think of nothing arrogant, nothing boastful, nothing that displeases God. At the same time, consider that on the day of judgment and at the end of the world, all names of dignities will be taken away, and only one people will remain, and a flock under a good shepherd, who is meek and humble. Then even the people of Israel, as the fullness of the gentiles enters (For God has concluded them all in unbelief, that he may have mercy on all. - Romans 11:32), will fear the name of the Lord. And the remnant of Israel will no longer commit iniquity, having denied the Lord exceedingly, nor will they speak vanity, promising themselves foolish stories. And in their mouth, the tongue of deceit will not be found, while Christ, who is truth, speaks through them. For then they will feed, both themselves and in one flock, and they will recline in the Church, and they will not fear the true attacks of Nebuchadnezzar. Seeing and reading such great mysteries, let us cry out with the Apostle and say: O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God! How unsearchable are His judgments and His ways past finding out! (Rom. XI, 33). Which indeed the prophet, sensing and pondering within himself, suspects concerning the judgments of God. In the night, while I was meditating in my heart, and my spirit was tormented, I said: Is God going to cast off forever, or will he no longer show his mercy? Or will he keep his mercy locked up in his anger? And I said: Now I begin: this is the change of the right hand of the Most High (Psalm 76:7, following). And the meaning is this: I understood that what I thought, that the Lord would abandon sinners forever and hold back his mercy with anger succeeding, was done for this reason, so that by the change of his right hand, which is the right hand of the Most High, he would change everything and have mercy on those whom he had previously cast away. And we, both ourselves and the rest of Israel, knowing that we shall render an account for every idle word (Matthew 12), and that the Lord will destroy all lips that speak falsehood, let us not speak vanity. For vanity of vanities, and all is vanity (Ecclesiastes 1:2). And also: All the vanity of every living man (Psalm 38). Let us not speak lies with our mouths; but having received the power to tread upon serpents and scorpions, and upon all the power of the enemy (Luke 10), let us fear no terror, neither let us dread the snares of wolves with Christ as our guardian. But let us say, 'The Lord is my light and my salvation; whom shall I fear?' (Psalm 27:1). And so forth, which are contained in the twenty-sixth psalm.

Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Sion; shout, O daughter of Jerusalem; be glad and rejoice with all the heart, O daughter of Jerusalem; the Lord hath taken away thine iniquities. The King of Israel, even the Lord, is in the midst of thee; thou shalt not see evil any more. All things are more especially applicable to the Lord Christ.

As far as the deeper meaning of the passage is concerned, it clearly commands Jerusalem to rejoice exceedingly, to be especially glad, to cheer up wholeheartedly as its trespasses are wiped out, evidently through Christ.

Take heart, O Jerusalem, the Lord will take away your iniquities. The Lord will wash away the filth of his sons and daughters by the spirit of judgment and the spirit of burning. He will pour upon you clean water, and you shall be cleansed from all your sins. Choiring angels shall encircle you, chanting, "Who is it that comes up all white and leaning upon her beloved?" For the soul that was formerly a slave has now accounted its Lord as its kinsman, and he, acknowledging its sincere purpose, will answer, "Ah, you are beautiful, my beloved, ah, you are beautiful … your teeth are like a flock of ewes to be shorn"—a sincere confession is a spiritual shearing. And further: "all of them big with twins," signifying the twofold grace, either that perfected by water and the Spirit or that announced in the Old and in the New Testament. God grant that all of you, your course of fasting finished, mindful of the teaching, fruitful in good works, standing blameless before the spiritual bridegroom, may obtain the remission of your sins from God, in Christ Jesus our Lord, to whom be the glory forever and ever. Amen.

(Verse 14 and following) Praise, daughter of Zion, shout for joy, Israel, rejoice and exult with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away your judgment, he has turned away your enemies: the Lord, the King of Israel, is in your midst, you will no longer fear evil. On that day, it will be said, Jerusalem, do not be afraid: Zion, let your hands not be weak: the Lord your God, in your midst, is mighty he will save, he will rejoice over you with gladness, he will quiet you with his love: he will exult over you with praise. I will gather those who turned away from the law, because they were from you, so that you will no longer have reproach against them. Rejoice, daughter of Zion; proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem, rejoice and delight with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. The Lord has taken away your iniquities, he has redeemed you from the hand of your enemies, the Lord, the king of Israel, is in your midst: you will no longer see evil. In that time, says the Lord, Jerusalem, have confidence, Zion, let your hands not be weak: the Lord your God, who is mighty, will save you, he will bring joy upon you, and renew you in his love, and he will rejoice over you with delight, as on a solemn day: I will gather your broken ones. Woe to anyone who receives reproach upon it. It does not seem strange, as we have often said, that Hebrew chapters end differently from the Greek Septuagint and the Latin. For where there is a different sense of translation, there must necessarily be different beginnings or endings. The Jews, who expect Christ to come, promise themselves all these things, which we who have received Christ have already obtained with him. Therefore, if anyone, especially among the new wise men of the Christians, whose names I will not mention in order not to appear to harm anyone, thinks that prophecy has not yet been fulfilled, let him know that he falsely bears the name of Christ and has a Jewish soul, having only the circumcision of the body. For if these things have not yet been done, but are to come, we have believed in vain in the coming of the Savior. But in vain do we understand that the mystery, which has been kept secret from eternal times, is fulfilled in us who do not believe, and is now manifested through the prophetic Scriptures and the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. Finally, let us consider the order of the reading, and we will see that it is said to pertain not to the Jews, but to the Church of Christ. For after that which went before (My judgement concerning the nations, that they might receive kings, even unto that place where it is said: They shall call upon the name of the Lord, and shall serve him under one yoke. And I will take of my dispersed into Ethiopia, and they shall offer to me victims. And in that day there shall be no more a Pharao in the land of Egypt: but the Assyrian shall be his king, because they would not be converted. And the remnant of the house of Israel, and they that shall escape of the house of Jacob, shall lean upon the Lord, the Holy One of Israel, in truth. A remnant shall be converted, the remnant, I say, of Jacob, to the mighty God. For if thy people, O Israel, shall be as the sand of the sea, a remnant of them shall be converted. Consummation, and that determined, shall overflow justice. Because the Lord God of hosts shall make a consumption, and an abridgment in the midst of all the land. The Holy Spirit, preaching about the general consummation of the world, speaks: Rejoice, daughter of Zion, proclaim, daughter of Jerusalem, be glad and delight with all your heart, daughter of Jerusalem. For every soul of the Church, which is established on the watchtower and contemplates peace, rejoices and is glad that its iniquities have been removed and redeemed by Him who redeemed all with His precious blood. For Christ has become wisdom for us from God, and righteousness, and sanctification, and redemption (I Cor. I, 30). And the king of Israel, who dwells among us, redeemed us, saying: I and my Father will come, and we will make our abode with him (John XIV, 23); and I will dwell and walk among them (Lev. XXVI, 12): and we will no longer see evil, but only think and do virtues. In that day, says the Lord, we will see peace, and placed on high, let not your hands be dissolved, who also said through Isaiah: Strengthen the weak hands, and let your works be strong (Isaiah XXXV, 3). For the Lord is strong, against whom no one can resist: your savior, he himself will restore to you the joy that you have lost, and after casting off the old man, he will make you walk in the new, and he will do all this out of his love: not because of your merit, but because of his mercy. And he will rejoice in you, and delight in you, receiving your salvation like a rich sacrifice of your solemnity; and he himself will say to you: I will gather your contrite ones; for a contrite and humble heart, God will not despise. (Psalm 50:19); and, a crushed reed he will not break. (Isaiah 42). But for now, if we want to understand the second coming of the Savior. Moreover, because the prophet Zechariah encourages Zion and Jerusalem to similar joy, and Matthew says that this same prophecy was fulfilled in the first coming of Christ (Matt. 21), we are compelled by necessity, or rather we are led by the very order of truth, which is said in Zephaniah, not to hope for what is to come, but for what has already happened. For it is written in Zechariah: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion; proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem: behold, your king comes to you, righteous and saving: he is humble and riding on a donkey (or a colt) (Zech. 9:9). These things are said according to the Septuagint. However, according to the Hebrew, the Church is commanded to praise and Israel is commanded to rejoice, perceiving God with understanding, and to exult and be joyful with their whole heart in the place of peace, to which it was said: Peace I give to you, my peace I leave with you (John 14:27). For in the end and consummation of the world, he took away his judgment, by no means judging or reproving it, but saving it; and he turned away his enemies, the hordes of demons. The Lord God of Israel will be in its midst: it will no longer fear evil. On that day it will be said to Jerusalem: O thou free city, thou shalt no longer serve with thy sons, but thou shalt be the mother of the saints (Galatians IV). Fear not, O Zion (for thou art indeed Jerusalem): none of thy works shall be destroyed, nor shalt thou mourn for the things which thou hast done (or, shalt thou lament, Isaiah 54:9). The Lord thy God, who will save thee, is strong and mighty: he himself will dwell in the midst of thee, he will rejoice over thee with gladness and joy, and he will silence thy sins with love (or, with peace), wherewith he hath loved thee: and he will exult over thee with praise, either because thou art praiseworthy, or because thou singest praises with thine own (people). Just as the Eagle, or, as it is interpreted, the Aquila, gathers those who have strayed from you, because they were from you, that is, those who had fled from your bosom through vice and sin, and had come under the power of demons, when the state of all things is restored, they will come to you, and you will no longer allow any reproach against your lost children. Let us know that what we have said is nonsense (), in Hebrew it is the same as the Latin language, and therefore it is placed by us as it was in Hebrew: so that we may know that the Hebrew language is the mother of all languages, which is not for this time to discuss. But I marvel at Aquila and the Septuagint, because we translated them, in that place namely where we said: I will gather because they were from you: instead of, they were, they translated it as woe, or οἴ: which Aquila always puts not for lamenting, but for calling and crying out: Haja (), for the beginning of the word signifies 'they were,' the past tense in the plural number, either were or had been. I know that this will be bothersome to the reader, who, if he notices, will not accuse me of writing controversies and declamations, nor of rejoicing in commonplaces: but rather will criticize me for playing in the manner of rhetoricians, rather than blame me for dwelling in so great obscurities, as is worthy of one lingering.

Live now in utter delight, O Jerusalem, living in complete happiness and satisfaction; for God has removed all your lawless deeds and of necessity has rescued you from the power of the foe, to whom you were subjected in paying the penalty of punishment. The Lord will now be in your midst, showing his kingship by his care for you, so that trouble will no longer be able to approach you.

The spiritual and holy Zion—that is, the church, the holy multitude of the believers—is justified in Christ and only in him. By him and through him we are also saved as we escape from the harm of the invisible enemies, for we have a Mediator who was incarnated in our form, the king of all, that is, the Word of God the Father. Thanks to him, we do not see evil anymore, for we have been delivered from the powers of evil. He [the Word] is the armor of good will, the peace, the wall, the one who bestows incorruption, the arbiter of the crowns, who shut down the war of the incorporeal Assyrians and made void the schemes of the demons.