OT § 124

(Verse 7.) But the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel: and the men of Judah, his pleasant plant. That is, of God: or as the LXX translated, the beloved new plantation. Israel and Judah differ in this, that the whole people were first called Israel, and afterwards, when David reigned over the tribe of Judah, and Rehoboam the son of Solomon over the two tribes, Judah and Benjamin, those who were in Samaria, that is, the ten tribes, were called Israel; and those who reigned from the lineage of David were called Judah. And since the Israelites worshipped calves in Dan and Bethel, Samaria was first captured by the Assyrians; and much later, Judah was taken into Babylon by the Chaldeans, because they had sinned less. Therefore, in Ezekiel, for the purification of the sins of both peoples, Israel is placed on the left side, according to the Seventy, for one hundred and ninety days, or as is more accurately stated in Hebrew, three hundred and ninety days; but Judah (according to the LXX and the Hebrew text) for forty days (Ezek. IV). I say this so that by comparing it to Israel, that is, the ten tribes, I may show the beloved and chosen Judah, in which there were priests and Levites, and the religion of God was practiced at that time when the prophet Isaiah spoke to the people. And beautifully Israel, that is, the whole people, is the house: but Judah, which afterwards sprouted from the separated tribes, is called a delightful new growth. But it should also be noted that according to the prophetic custom, which was first spoken in metaphor or parable, it is later explained more clearly: that the vineyard and new plantation are Israel and Judah.

And I waited for judgment, and behold there was iniquity: and for justice, and behold there was a cry, as the LXX translated, I waited for judgment, and he did iniquity, and not justice, but a cry. We want to reveal to Latin ears what we learned from the Hebrews: Judgment, among them, is called Mesphat (): iniquity, or dissipation, as Aquila interpreted, is called Mesphaa (). Again, justice is called Sadaca (): but a cry is called Saaca (). Therefore, either by adding or changing a single letter, he tempered the similarity of the words, so that instead of Mesphat, he wrote Mesphaa: and instead of Sadaca, he put Saaca, and he rendered the elegant structure and sound of the words according to the Hebrew language. However, God expected the people of Judea to produce judgment, that is, grapes: but they produced iniquity, that is, wild grapes: and he expected righteousness, that they would receive the generous sender of such great gifts from the Father, but instead they shouted, crying out against the Lord, and they shouted, saying: "Take him away, take him away, crucify him" (John 19:15). And so the Apostle Paul writes: Let all bitterness and wrath and anger and clamor and slander be put away from you, along with all malice (Ephesians 4:31). Or certainly, because they had shed innocent blood, the blood of the Lord's Passion cried out to the Lord: therefore they made a cry for justice, according to what we read in Genesis, The voice of your brother's blood is crying to me (Genesis 4:10).

169. For the vineyard of the Lord of hosts. Here he explains the metaphor:

and first, as to the vineyard,

second as to the trial of the vineyard, where it says, I looked that he should do judgment.

Concerning the first, he explains the vineyard saying, for the vineyard of the Lord of hosts is the house of Israel, either all of Israel, or as to the ten tribes, which were called Israel after the separation of the kingdom because of their multitude (1 Kgs 12; 2 Chr 10).

Second, as to the plant or branches, men of Judah, that is, the two tribes in which the worship of God was still observed: if you play the harlot, O Israel, at least let not Judah offend (Hos 4:15); or because the princes came from Judah: but of the race of Judah, who was the strongest among his brethren, came the princes (1 Chr 5:2).

170. I looked that he should do judgment. Here he explains the trial of the vineyard, which consists in the fault and the punishment that follows upon the fault. Hence it is divided into three parts:

in the first, the fault in general is set out;

in the second, the punishment and the fault together in particular, where it says, woe to you that join house to house (Isa 5:8);

in the third, the punishment in general, where it says, for after this (Isa 5:25).

He denounces the fault in general as to their superiors, to whom it belongs to do judgment, where he says: I looked, following the order of benefits, that he should do judgment, judging justly; and behold iniquity, as inequality of judgment: I saw under the sun in the place of judgment wickedness, and in the place of justice iniquity (Eccl 3:16).

Second, as to their subjects, to whom it belongs to hold to the justice appointed to them by their superiors: and do justice, which is through comparison to the precepts of the law; and behold a cry, the tumult of quarrelers, or of the lamentation of the poor, below: what ails you also, that you too are wholly gone up to the housetops, full of clamor, a populous city, a joyous city? (Isa 22:1-2).

Attend to yourself, poor one; for your soul is precious: and if mortal flesh, a temporary soul: and if you lack money, grace does not lack: and if there is no spacious house, widespread possession, heaven is open, the earth is free. The elements have been given to all in common, the ornaments of the world are open equally to the rich and the poor. Are not the faces of the heavens, adorned with shining stars, more beautiful than the most precious gold-leaf ceilings of luxurious houses? Are the riches of the rich wider than the expanses of the earth? Whence it was said to those who join house to house and villa to villa: Will you alone dwell upon the earth? You have a larger house: the poor, in which you cry out and are heard. ... The house of God is common to the rich and the poor.

Let him use those tenths and first-fruits, which are given according to the command of God, as a man of God; as also let him dispense in a right manner the free-will offerings which are brought in on account of the poor, to the orphans, the widows, the afflicted, and strangers in distress, as having that God for the examiner of his accounts who has committed the disposition to him. Distribute to all those in want with righteousness, and yourselves use the things which belong to the Lord, but do not abuse them; eating of them, but not eating them all up by yourselves: communicate with those that are in want, and thereby show yourselves unblameable before God. For if you shall consume them by yourselves, you will be reproached by God, who says to such unsatiable people, who alone devour all, "You eat up the milk, and clothe yourselves with the wool;" [Ezekiel 34:3] and in another passage, "Must you alone live upon the earth"? [Isaiah 5:8] Upon which account you are commanded in the law, "You shall love your neighbour as yourself." [Leviticus 19:18] Now we say these things, not as if you might not partake of the fruits of your labours; for it is written, "You shall not muzzle the mouth of the ox which treads out the grain;" [Deuteronomy 25:4; 1 Corinthians 9:9] but that you should do it with moderation and righteousness. As, therefore, the ox that labours in the threshing-floor without a muzzle eats indeed, but does not eat all up; so do you who labour in the threshing-floor, that is, in the Church of God, eat of the Church: which was also the case of the Levites, who served in the tabernacle of the testimony, which was in all things a type of the Church.

(Verse 8) Woe to those who join house to house and connect field to field, until there is no more room and you are left to dwell alone in the land. In our opinion, they have transferred this phrase, 'until there is no more room,' to 'until you take away your neighbor's property.' Symmachus and Theodotion have done this, until the land fails or there is no place left; so that when the land fails, greed will not be satisfied. I believe that this applies generally to all those who are never satisfied, and specifically to the vineyard of the Lord, which produces wild grapes instead of good grapes, meaning injustice instead of justice, and outcry instead of righteousness. For what madness is it, when houses and fields should be had for driving away the rains and for sowing crops, to desire to have those things in which you cannot dwell and which you are not sufficient to cultivate, and to make your own pleasure the necessity of another? Some consider this saying according to the trope, against the heretics: when they move their feet from the East, they come into the plain of Shinar, which is interpreted as the scattering of teeth; and they build a city of confusion and a tower of pride, and they hear under other words: 'Hear this, rulers of the house of Jacob, and you remnant of the house of Israel, who loathe justice and pervert all that is right, who build Zion with blood and Jerusalem with iniquity' (Micah 3:9-10). They join houses to houses, that is, doctrines to doctrines; about which it is said by Michael, 'Do not build in a scornful house' (Micah 3), nor above the foundation of Christ, which the apostle Paul placed (1 Cor. 3), and in which they should have built gold, silver, precious stones; on the contrary, let them build wood, hay, straw, the end of which is fire. The Savior speaks about these kinds of houses in the Gospel: 'Everyone who hears my words and does not do them will be like a foolish man who built his house on sand.' Rain descended, rivers came, winds blew and beat on that house, and it fell; and great was its fall. (Matthew 7:26, 27). For so long heretics seek to join new things with old, and to change the same things for more recent ones, until human perception and speech fail.

You see, even if many people do not admit this in so many words but claim to believe in the doctrine of the resurrection and future retribution, nevertheless I take notice not of their words but of what they do day to day. That is to say, if you are looking forward to resurrection and retribution, why go chasing the values of this life to such an extent? Why, tell me, do you put yourself to such trouble day in and day out amassing more possessions than there is sand on the seashore, not to mention property and dwellings, as well as buying baths, often acquiring these things through robbery and greed and thus fulfilling that saying from the inspired author "Woe to those who add house to house, and join field to field so as to steal from their neighbor"? Cannot this sort of thing be seen happening day after day? One person says, "That house casts a terrible shadow on mine," and he invents countless pretexts to get hold of it, while another lays hold of a poor person's property and makes it his own. And what in fact is worse, remarkable and unheard of and quite beyond excuse, is for a person comfortably situated in one locality being able to move elsewhere without any good reason for wanting to, either on account of a change of circumstances or because constrained by physical disability; all over the place, in city after city, he is bent on procuring monuments to his own avarice and having timeless effigies of his own evil for all to see. He heaps all sins of this kind on his own head without feeling his heavy and troublesome burden, whereas enjoyment of them he leaves for others, not only after his departure from this life but even here before his demise. You see, no matter what he wishes, he is stripped of his possessions, they are all squandered, so to say, by his friends and left in tatters without the smallest part of them falling to him to enjoy. Yet why do I say enjoy? Even if he wanted, how could he with one stomach manage to dispose of such an abundance of good things?

171. Woe to you that join house to house. Here he sets out their fault in the abuse of things in particular, going through it part by part. And this is divided into two parts:

in the first, he denounces them as to the fault itself,

in the second, as to their obstinacy in sinning, where it says, woe to you that draw (Isa 5:18).

Concerning the first, he does two things:

first, he denounces them as to the abuse of possessions, which occurs through avarice;

in the second part, as to the abuse of food, which occurs through gluttony, where it says, woe to you that rise up (Isa 5:11).

172. Concerning the first, he sets out three things.

First, their superfluous multiplication of possessions is denounced, whence he says: woe to you that join house to house and lay field to field, even to the end of the place, as to the public road: the princes of Judah are become as they that take up the bound upon them (Hos 5:10); woe to him that builds up his house by injustice, and his chambers not in judgment: that will oppress his friend without cause, and will not pay him his wages. Who says: I will build me a wide house, and large chambers (Jer 22:13-14); and they have coveted fields, and taken them by violence, and houses they have forcibly taken away: and oppressed a man and his house, a man and his inheritance (Mic 2:2).

173. Second, the interpretation of the judge is set out: shall you alone dwell in the midst of the earth, which is broad and spacious and given in possession to many: increase and multiply, and fill the earth (Gen 1:28).

(Ver. 9.) In my ears are these things of the Lord of hosts: Unless many houses are deserted, great and beautiful without an inhabitant. Because we translate according to the Hebrew, 'In my ears are these things of the Lord of hosts,' that is, the words that the Lord spoke still resonate in my ears: The LXX translated, 'These things have been heard in the ears of the Lord of hosts.' Not that the Prophet heard the words of the Lord, but that the things the Prophet is about to say have been heard in the ears of the Lord: it is more consistent to understand that the Prophet heard, what the Lord spoke. But the Lord spoke, saying that after the captivity, the great and beautiful house will be desolate, having no inhabitant.

174. Third, the threat of punishment is set out, and concerning this, two things are set out.

First, the authority and power of the one who punishes; hence he says: these words of the Lord of hosts, who is able to punish, are in my ears; these words, which I will speak to you, are still sounding in my ears, within: in which the certitude of the words is noted, below: in the morning he wakens my ear, that I may hear him as a master. The Lord God has opened my ear, and I do not resist (Isa 50:4-5).

175. Second, the severity of the punishment is set out, where it says, unless many great and fair houses.

And first, as to desertion of their houses; hence he says, unless many great and fair houses shall become desolate, as to guardianship, and without inhabitant, as to desertion of their houses, as if to say: unless this happens, my wrath will not rest. And this is an aposiopesis, which is the failing of speech. And he sets out those things in which the riches of houses consist: namely, in multitude, and as to this, he says, many; in beauty, and as to this, he says, fair; in size: great: and their strength shall become a booty, and their houses as a desert (Zeph 1:13).

(Verse 10.) For they will make one small jar from ten acres of vineyards, and they will make three bushels from thirty bushels of seed. For the small jar, which only the seventy translated, all others have interpreted as a bat, which is said in Hebrew Beth (). And for the thirty bushels, which we have called a cor, which in Hebrew is called Omer (), the seventy translated as six artabas: which is an Egyptian measure and makes twenty bushels. Therefore, in the extreme barrenness that follows the captivity, ten acres of vineyards will make a bat, that is, three amphoras: and thirty bushels of seed, that is, a cor, will make an ephah, which the seventy have interpreted as three measures, that is, three bushels. But batus is said to refer to liquid measures, and ephi, or epha of the same measurement, to dry measures. As we read in Ezekiel according to the Hebrew: A just ephi and a just batus shall be for you. Ephi and batus shall be equal and of the same measurement, so that a batus may hold a tenth part of a cor, and an ephi may hold a tenth part of a cor; their balance shall be according to the measurement of a cor (Ezek. 45:10-11). According to anagoge, we ask how the houses of heretics, which are large and beautiful, will have no inhabitant when the time of judgement comes. For every parade and elaborate arrangement of words, and every dialectical argument, are reduced to nothing. And since according to the Apostle Paul (2 Corinthians 3) we are not just the building of God, but also the cultivation, which the heretics imitating are dug up and eradicated by Jeremiah: therefore where ten acres of vineyards, or where ten pairs of oxen work, they will make one bath, and thirty measures of seed they will make an ephah (Jeremiah 18), to signify the mystical and perfect number of ten in the holy scriptures: and the thirty, in which Ezekiel prophesied (Ezekiel 1), and the Lord was baptized (Luke 3), are reduced to the ephah, which is connected by comparison with a multiple number through unity. But when it comes to spiritual understanding, building and agriculture, the Apostle Paul also teaches in another place (Ephesians 4) that believers are rooted and grounded in love. Furthermore, Ecclesiastes (Ecclesiastes 2) not only built houses for himself, but also planted vineyards, made gardens and orchards, and established all kinds of fruit trees. He also constructed pools to irrigate the forest. On the other hand, heretics, having only the image and shadow of virtues and not the truth itself, promise empty words without the fruit of works. Regarding their trees, the Lord says: Every plant that my heavenly Father has not planted will be uprooted (Matt. 15:13). For the vineyard of the Sodomites is their vineyard, and their offspring is from Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters are bitter. Their wine is the venom of serpents and the deadly poison of cobras (Deut. 32:32, following).

There are many instances in which the land suffers because of people's sins. Why are you surprised if the people's sin makes the land infertile and unfruitful when we caused it to be corrupt in the first place (and will again make it incorruptible)?… See Noah, for example. When humanity had become utterly perverse, turmoil ensued everywhere. Everything—the seed, the plants, all types of animals, the land, the sea, the air, the mountains, the valleys, the hills, the cities, the ramparts, the houses and the towers—everything was covered by the flood. When the time came for humanity to be replenished, the land was restored to the order and beauty it had before. It is clear that the land was restored in part as an honor to humanity.

175. Second, as to the barrenness of the vineyard, he says: for ten jugera (a jugerum is 120 feet in length) of vineyard shall yield one little measure. Another reading has one bath, which is the same volume in liquids as an ephah is in dry goods.

Third, as to the loss of seed: and thirty bushels of seed shall yield three bushels, because you will harvest less than you sowed: when you went to a heap of twenty bushels, and they became ten (Hag 2:17). Other readings have cors, or ephahs, which is one tenth of a cor: the ephah and the bath shall be equal, and of one measure: that the bath may contain the tenth part of a cor, and the ephah the tenth part of a cor (Ezek 45:11).

(Verse 11, 12.) Woe to those who rise early in the morning to pursue drunkenness, and continue drinking until evening, so that they are inflamed with wine. They have the lyre, the harp, the tambourine, and the flute at their feasts, but they do not regard the work of the Lord or consider the operation of His hands. Regarding drunkenness, which Aquila and Symmachus have interpreted as the Hebrew word Siceram, the LXX have rendered it as any drink that can intoxicate and overthrow one's mental state. But it accuses, according to the sequence of the begun explanation, the farmers of the vineyard, who, with impending sterility and a nearby fire, in which brambles and thorns are to be burned, have surrendered themselves to luxury and pleasures: not only in eating and drinking, but also in the delight of the ears, and in various types of musical art. When they do these things, they do not consider the work of the Lord, nor do they consider what is to come. We will use this testimony against the princes of the Church, who rise in the morning to drink and drink until evening: concerning whom it is said elsewhere: Woe to you, O city, whose king is young, and whose princes feast in the morning (Eccl. X, 16). Those who are occupied with pleasures do not understand the Creator from His creatures, nor do they consider the works of His hands, of which we read: 'By the word of the Lord the heavens were made, and all their power by the breath of His mouth' (Psalm 32:6). According to a higher understanding, every disturbance of the soul can be called drunkenness, which is conceived from the wine of the madness of dragons, and from the incurable poison of asps, which some drink from youth to old age, that is, from morning until evening (Deuteronomy 32). But others are awakened from the banquet at the third, sixth, or ninth hour, and it is said to them: Wake up, you who are drunk with wine. On account of this wine, and on account of such grapes and vineyards, the Lord rains down sulfur and fire from the Lord; and whoever drinks from them is burned and tormented. He seeks the lyre and the harp, the inventor of which is Jubal, generated from the lineage of Cain (Gen. 4), and does not hear the Lord saying to Aaron: You and your sons shall not drink wine or strong drink, when you enter into the tabernacle of the testimony, or when you approach the altar (Lev. 10:8). The king of Babylon had lyres, and harps, and a drum, and flutes, with which, when they sounded together, the peoples of all nations would fall down and worship the golden statue (Dan. III). But as for the first time of human wisdom, when we leave childhood and come to the age of reason, it is understood in the Scriptures to be the morning, many testimonies can teach us about it, of which a few examples are to be given: In the morning I sent the prophets; and: In the morning you will hear my prayer. In the morning I will stand before you, and I will see (Ps. 5:4-5); and: From night until morning my spirit will rise (Ps. 62:1); and: O God, my God, I watch for you from dawn (Ps. 100:8); and: In the morning I would slay all sinners of the earth, that I might destroy from the city of the Lord all who work wickedness (Ps. 29:7); and in another place: We delay weeping until evening, and joy comes in the morning, and similar things. But we rise in the morning when we leave our vices in childhood, and we can say: Remember not the sins of my youth and ignorance (Ps. 24:7). And with the rising of the sun of justice, darkness is banished, and immediately we destroy all thoughts that provoke us to sin, and we scatter those sinners from the city of our mind, of whom the Savior speaks: Evil thoughts, murders, adulteries, fornications, thefts, false testimonies, blasphemies (Matt. XV, 19), and the rest. However, most unfortunate are those who, from morning until evening, occupied with drunkenness, gluttony, and various pleasures, do not understand in themselves the works of the Lord, nor consider why they were created.

Hear also the words of the prophecy, and the "Woe" which was proclaimed for gluttons, "Woe unto those who rise up early in the morning and pursue strong drink, and who tarry long over it in the evening while wine inflameth them. With harps, and stringed instruments, and drums, and tabrets, they drink wine, and the works of God they understand not." And behold, the Spirit also hath taught thee that the man who ministereth unto his lusts is unable to understand the works of God. For as in our sleep we are not able to speak and to act as living beings who are awake, even so the man who is sunk in the sleep of lusts cannot understand the living works of God, neither doth he know how to contemplate His government, nor to wonder at the various forms of His dispensation; and he knoweth not admiration of the majesty of God, nor is he awake unto the knowledge of Him, nor is he ready to respond unto His wisdom. For whosoever is sunk in the slumber of lust perceiveth not these things, because the remembrance of these things belongeth unto those who are awake and living. And blessedness is ascribed unto the man who understandeth these things. For if unto those who eat, and drink, and who do not understand the works of God "Woe" be given, contrariwise "Blessing" is ascribed unto those who are abstinent and self-denying, and who at all times meditate upon the works of God.

Now this is the first lust which conquered the world, and because of it the first transgression of the law took place. Through it also the Prophet reproached the people, when he proclaimed, "Woe unto those who rise up early in the morning, and follow quickly thereafter."

176. Woe to you that rise up early in the morning to follow drunkenness. Here he denounces their fault as to the abuse of food.

And first, he denounces the fault,

second, he threatens punishment, where it says, therefore is my people led away captive (Isa 5:13).

Concerning the first, he does two things:

first, he denounces gluttony as to its species,

second as to its effect, where it says, and the work of the Lord you regard not (Isa 5:12).

177. Now the species of gluttony are five, which are contained in the verse: hastily, sumptuously, too much, greedily, daintily.

Therefore, he first says: woe to you that rise up early in the morning, as to "hastily": woe to you, O land, when your king is a child, and when the princes eat in the morning (Eccl 10:16); when shall I awake and find wine again? (Prov 23:35).

As to "greedily," he says, to follow.

As to "too much," he says, and to drink until the evening: who has woe? Whose father has woe? Who has contentions? Who falls into pits? Who has wounds without cause? Who has redness of eyes? Surely they that pass their time in wine, and study to drink off their cups (Prov 23:29-30); to be inflamed with wine, with lust, and to all the vices.

177. As to "daintily," he says, the harp and wine, sought out daintily, with great eagerness because they prepare for themselves pleasure in food.

As to "sumptuously," he says, in your feasts, in which there were great pomps and choice foods: you that eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the herd; you that sing to the sound of the psaltery: they have thought themselves to have instruments of music like David; that drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best ointments (Amos 6:4-6).

178. The effect is thoughtlessness, and as to this he says, and the work of the Lord you regard not, that which you ought to do, nor the works of his hands, which he himself has done: wine is a luxurious thing, and drunkenness riotous (Prov 20:1).

"Therefore my people are led into captivity, because they did not have knowledge," namely neither in the head nor in the members.

What do servants think of themselves when they dare to despise the Lord's precepts, not even condescending to reread the letters of invitation whereby he asks them to the blessedness of his kingdom? If any one of us sends a letter to his administrator and he in turn not only fails to do what is commanded but even refuses to read over the orders, that person deserves to receive punishment, not pardon; imprisonment, not freedom. Similarly, one who refuses to read the sacred writings that have been transmitted from the eternal country should fear that he perhaps will not receive eternal rewards and even not escape endless punishment. So dangerous is it for us not to read the divine precepts that the prophet mournfully exclaims, "Therefore is my people led away captive, because they had not knowledge." … Doubtless, if a person fails to seek God in this world through the sacred lessons, God will refuse to recognize him in eternal bliss.

(Verse 13.) Therefore, my people have been taken captive because they lack knowledge, and their nobles have perished of hunger, and their multitude has dried up with thirst. This happened literally to the people of Judah under the Roman princes Vespasian and Titus, as both Greek and Latin history relate. And even today, they suffer from this spiritually, enduring not the hunger for bread or the thirst for water, but the hunger to hear the word of God. For they have not regarded the works of the Lord, nor considered the deeds of His hands, nor have they obtained His knowledge who has spoken through the prophets (Amos 8). And in the Psalms it is said of them: They shall convert in the evening, and suffer hunger like dogs, and shall go around the city (Ps. 59:16). But the Gospel teaches that every word of doctrine is called bread and water: Man does not live on bread alone, but on every word that comes from the mouth of God (Luke 4:4); And, Whoever drinks of the water that I shall give him, shall never thirst (John 4:13). And in the Psalm it is said: He has led me by the waters of refreshment (Ps. 23:2). And the Lord does not want to send away the hungry in the wilderness, so that they do not faint and fall and be killed by hunger (Matt. XV). And of the just man it is said: I have been young, and now am old; yet have I not seen the righteous forsaken, nor his seed begging bread (Ps. XXXVI, 25). Some interpret this that is said: My people have been taken away, because they have no knowledge; and the nobles have perished with hunger, and the multitude thereof is dried up with thirst, generally as referring to Hell and Gehenna, where everyone who does not have the knowledge of God will be punished.

179. Therefore is my people led away captive. Here he sets out the corresponding punishment:

and first, as to the affection of the will; hence he says, therefore, just as their knowledge was taken captive by drunkenness, so will they themselves be taken captive: my people have been silent, because they had no knowledge (Hos 4:6).

180. But it seems that ignorance does not merit punishment, because it excuses fault.

And to this is to be said that ignorance can mean merely the negation of knowledge; and thus it merits neither punishment nor pardon, like ignorance of geometry among peasants. It can also mean the privation of knowledge, so that it neglects the aptitude one ought to have in the subject; and thus it is evident that it is vicious to not know those things which someone is able and bound to know.

181. Second, he sets out the punishment opposed to the five species of gluttony: and thus he sets out hunger and thirst, which correspond, as to cause, to what is "hastily," for hunger is caused by someone excessively postponing the taking of food; as if he were saying: you used to eat too quickly, but you only postponed your going hungry.

Again he answers the species of gluttony that is "greedily" as to its genus, for hunger is the desire for food. Hence he says: and their nobles; and he sets out thirst in opposition to the multitude of the common people, who at least were accustomed to quench their thirst with water; but against the nobles, who abounded in provisions sometimes weighed down with thirst, he sets out hunger: it was better with them that were slain by the sword, than with them that died with hunger (Lam 4:9).

(Verse 14, 15.) Therefore, hell enlarged its soul and opened its mouth without any limit, and its strong ones, and its people, and its high and glorious ones descended to it. And man will be humbled, and the man will be brought low, and the eyes of the proud will be cast down. Those who rose early to pursue wine, and remained in drunkenness until evening, and were occupied with pleasure and indulgence, did not want to consider the work of the Lord, nor did they contemplate the works of His hands. Therefore they were brought into captivity because they did not have knowledge of the Son of God, as He himself said to them, 'You neither know me nor the one who sent me' (John 8:19), and in that very captivity they died of famine and wasted away from thirst. Where Hell and death extended their souls, and opened their mouths, and devoured without number and satiety those to be punished forever: so that the princes and people, and the sublimity and glory of the land of Judah would descend to him, and all pride would be humbled, and the eyes of the lofty would be lowered, understanding themselves to be mortals; and all things were fulfilled, which the Lord had foretold through the prophets. However, Hell is said to have a soul, not that it is a living creature, according to the error of some; but that by the words of human custom, we express the impassivity of things that do not sense, that it is insatiable, and is never filled by the multitude of the dead. And in the hand of the tongue, death is spoken (Prov. XVIII), and the almighty God hates the Sabbaths, and speaks of the Jews despising their own soul (Isai. I). Whatever we have said about the Jewish people can be metaphorically applied to those who are occupied with the pleasures of the world, not looking to the works of God, they are led captive into sin, and have no knowledge of God: and therefore, they perish from hunger and thirst for good works and virtues, and are dragged into hell, where they are assigned to eternal torments, and they witness the power and pride of misery being transformed by humility.

182. Second, against another species of gluttony which is "too much," he sets out the insatiability of those who take them captive in subjugation; hence he says, therefore has hell, that is, death or the devil, enlarged her soul, as to affection, and opened her mouth, as to effect. And he speaks according to a human manner, for hell does not have a soul: hell and destruction are never filled (Prov 27:20). Or hell may be said to be Nabuchodonosor: who has enlarged his desire like hell: and is himself like death, and he is never satisfied (Hab 2:5).

183. Third, as to dainty preparation of food, which arises from a certain vanity, he sets out the punishment of humiliation, where it says, and shall go down. And he shows that they are going to be humiliated as to three things.

First, as to subjugation; hence he says: their strong ones, as to the powerful, and their high ones, as to the rich and others prominent in wealth, who are prideful about it, glorious ones, as to the noble and famous, shall go down, as if humiliated, into it, namely to the hell of captivity: and the king of Babylon slew all the nobles of Judah. He also put out the eyes of Sedecias: and bound him with fetters, to be carried to Babylon (Jer 39:6-7); and below that in the same place: and Nabuzardan the general of the army carried away captive to Babylon the remnant of the people that remained in the city, and the fugitives that had gone over to him, and the rest of the people that remained (Jer 39:9).

183. Second, as to the lowering of the captives: and man shall be brought down, being in captivity, as to the high ones, and man shall be humbled, as to the powerful, and the eyes of the lofty, as to the glorious ones: neither shall you be quiet, even in those nations, nor shall there be any rest for the sole of your foot (Deut 28:65).

(Verse 16) And the Lord of hosts will be exalted in judgment: and the holy God will be sanctified in righteousness. When the people are led captive, because they have no knowledge, and die of hunger, and with thirst shrivel up, and the grave enlarges its appetite: and the mighty and noble and glorious descend into the depths, and man is humbled, and the vir is abased, and all receive according to their merits: then the Lord will be exalted in judgment, whose judgment previously seemed unjust, and the holy God will be sanctified in righteousness by all, so that what is said in the Gospel may be fulfilled: Our Father, who art in heaven, hallowed be thy name (Matthew 6:9); and: Righteous Father, the world has not known thee (John 17:25). Where should we be careful not to anticipate the judgment of God, whose judgments are great and unsearchable, and about whom the Apostle speaks: His judgments are unsearchable and his ways are unfathomable (Rom. XI, 33), until he enlightens the hidden things of darkness and reveals the thoughts of the hearts (I Cor. IV, 5), who says in the Gospel: Do not judge, so that you may not be judged (Matth. VII, 1). To which statement the Apostle Paul concurs, commanding: Who are you to judge someone else's servant? He stands or falls to his own master. And he shall stand, for God is able to make him stand. (Romans 14:4)

183. Third, as to the exaltation of God who punishes them: and the Lord of hosts shall be exalted, he will appear high, who was first despised, in just judgment, and the holy God, holy in himself, shall be sanctified, that is, he will appear holy; above: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day (Isa 2:11).