Chapter 11

Chapter Ten

¹ Israel is a luxuriant vine, her fruit abundant; according to the multitude of his fruits he multiplied altars. Having said that he has labored at his own roots, and that he shall be childless, he now says that in former times also he was a vine flourishing with branches, and stretched out into a great multitude through his fruitfulness — as David too says: From the northern sea unto the southern sea it held sway. Yet for all that he did not use his abundance for the honor of God; but as many as they were, so many altars also did they establish — which elsewhere too he says: According to the number of your cities, O Israel, were your gods; and justly shall their multitude be diminished.

² And according to the good things of his land he built pillars. Made expansive, he says, by the good things of God, they ran riot against him, and to the idols they built pillars not unadorned, but costly; and that according to the good things which God gave them, I mean the gold, and the silver, and the rest of the substance.

³ They divided their heart. They severed their hearts from me, he says, so as to have no part with me. Or else, because one raised an altar to one god and another to another, dividing up the idols among themselves, and each giving his heart to a different idol.

⁴ Now shall they be destroyed. Not after a long time, but Now. For so long as they had not yet given their hearts to the idols, but were impious in a more superficial way, destruction was far from them. But now, since this has come to pass thus, and each is impious from the heart, their destruction has come upon them.

⁵ He himself shall dig down their altars; their pillars shall be brought to misery. God himself, from whom they severed their hearts, or the Babylonian king; for he too burned down the altars together with the cities, and plundered the pillars, costly as they were. A flourishing vine is also the man who lacks none of the good things in life, being blessed with children and abounding in the rest; yet, enslaved perhaps to the passions, he sets up an altar to each of these, presenting his members as slaves to lawlessness unto lawlessness, according to the good things of his land — that is, in so far as his land, namely his flesh, is gratified by these things and reckons them good. And he builds pillars also — that is, every unrepentant habit settled in him. And such a man also divides his heart, serving two masters. But he is benefited when God digs down his altars, whether by delivering him over to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved, or otherwise, curbing his jaws with bit and bridle, and working contrition and misery in his ways, that he may be shaken from the habit fixed in evil — through the loss of his children, it may be, and the deprivation of his other good things. All these things you will find in the case of the slayers of God, who would not even understand.

⁶ Therefore now shall they say: We have no king, because we feared not the Lord. And the king, what shall he do for us? Speaking words, false pretexts, he shall make a covenant. He teaches them what manner of words they must use when they repent. For when they see their kingdom overthrown, they will say: This has befallen us because we did not fear God, in whom we ought to have trusted, and not in the king. For the king was not able to help us at all, but only deceived us by lying, and making now one pretext, now another — making covenants and agreements of alliance, now with the Assyrian, now with the Egyptian. The very same things the Jews also said concerning Christ to Pilate: Write not, that he is King of the Jews; and the teaching of Christ they called false words, tearing it to pieces. But he himself will make a covenant with those who believe in him — the truly new one, which made peace through his blood between the things in heaven and the things upon the earth. And truly, for everyone who does not fear God there is no king; rather unreason tyrannizes within him, and the mob-rule of the passions holds civic sway, by which the King, the Word, is slandered, as one who speaks mere words, and refers us off to the hopes of things to come, and reminds us of the covenant of John, which says: If you love me, keep my commandments; and, No longer do I call you servants, but friends; and, I go to prepare a place for you; and again, Whoever does not renounce all that he has cannot be my disciple; and, He who has lost his own soul shall find it unto life eternal.

⁷ Judgment shall spring up like dog’s-grass upon the fallow of the field. Just as, he says, the dog’s-grass spreads out the more and multiplies in the fallow places of the field, where neither plough troubles it nor mattock, because it is no tilled ground; so also my judgment, and the just sentence against you, shall spring up unhindered.

⁸ For the calf of the house of On shall the inhabitants of Samaria dwell as sojourners. They will sit in attendance, he says, upon the idol of the golden heifer, the one honored in Bethel; for this he calls the house of On — that is, of the Useless, which is an idol. And they attend upon it whenever dread things come upon them, seeking help from it. This he says, tearing to pieces their folly, in that they supplicate the idol of an irrational beast to help them. The judgment of God sprang up also upon the fallow people of the Jews, whom thereafter neither prophet nor priest tilled any more; but there came up upon it, as a thorn upon fallow ground, the smiting disposition, out of which they also crowned the Lord with thorns; for by a just judgment they were delivered to the Romans. And upon the nations too, which were fallow indeed, the judgment of God — that is, the law — sprang up. For where sin abounded, grace superabounded. For we have the law, we who possess its end; for Christ is the end of the law. And the word Sprang up is well chosen; for from the shadow the Spirit appeared. And the inhabitants of Samaria — that is, those now called Israelites, who resemble the Samaritans. For just as those seemed indeed to keep the law, yet departed in nothing from their ancestral ways; so these too seem indeed to guard the law, yet cling to their ancestral impiety against Christ. These, then, sojourn at the house of the Useless; for useless is the letter.

⁹ For his people mourned over it, and as they provoked it, they shall rejoice over its glory. Not only, he says, did they receive no benefit from the golden idol, but rather they even mourned over it. For there is a Hebrew tradition that, when Ader king of Syria came down against the cities of Samaria, then Manaem king of Samaria called as ally Phua the Babylonian; and to him, when he had given aid and overthrown Ader, having nothing with which to pay the wage, which was large, he gave the golden heifer. So the people mourned, he says, their god, thus dishonored. Yet they supposed, in their folly, that even though they themselves had provoked it, dishonoring it so, the Babylonians at least would glorify it, honoring it as a god. And these hopes will make them rejoice.

¹⁰ For it was carried away from him. From Ephraim the calf was carried away, being given to the Babylonian Phua, and so forth.

¹¹ And having bound it, they carried it away into Assyria as gifts to king Jarim. That is, to their avenger the king, to Phua. Jarim, as was said before, is interpreted “avenger” or “vindicator.” And most wittily did he say, Having bound it, as though, in the case of a calf, mocking their folly.

¹² By a gift of Ephraim shall he receive it, and Israel shall be put to shame in their counsel. Phua, he says, will receive the golden calf, as given by way of a gift of Ephraim — that is, of the king; yet the people shall be put to shame for their counsels concerning such an idol. For the Chaldeans did not honor it, but cut it up and melted it down. Some have taken these things also as referring to Christ: over whom his own people mourned — that is, the disciples and the women, to whom he said: Daughters of Jerusalem, weep not for me; and others too were beating their breasts, when he was upon the cross. But the Jews, blaspheming, provoked him, and rejoiced, when his glory was carried away from him, when, being crucified, he was dishonored, and had no form nor comeliness. And Pilate, having bound him, sent him up to Herod, who was an Assyrian king by reason of his pride. And the Christ within us also, whom through baptism we have dwelling in our inner man, the sin that reigns in our mortal body carries away from us; and having bound him, so that he can work none of the things belonging to active virtue, it bears him off as a gift to the enemy and avenger — that is, to the devil; who, being an enemy of the salvation of the man who had committed fornication in Corinth, became also an avenger, taking him for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit might be saved. And those of Phygellus and Hermogenes, delivered to him by Paul, he disciplined not to blaspheme. A great gift, then, to such an avenger is this: that we Christians should be bound, working none of the commandments of Christ, who said: If you love me, keep my commandments.

¹³ Samaria has cast away her king, like a twig upon the face of the water. That is, the kingdom shall be removed from Samaria as lightly as a frail twig swept off by the water. Or else by “king” he means the calf, which she lightly sent away into Assyria, as has been said.

¹⁴ And the altars of On shall be removed, the sins of Israel. For those filthy altars shall be made to vanish, which were the sins of the people. For through them the people kept provoking God to anger.

¹⁵ Thorns and thistles shall come up upon their altars. For, the land and their altars being desolate, the places will be full of thorns. And they cast away Christ the King too, accounting him as nothing — those Samaritan Jews, as it is handed down. Then he prophesies the pulling down of the idolatrous altars, which came to pass after the coming of Christ, having signified by the one idol of On all the rest as well. And the unbeliever too casts the unbelief that reigned in him upon the face of the water of baptism, and the altars of unbelief in him are made to vanish. And then the religion that once seemed fair appears full of thorns and thistles. And the believer likewise casts the sin prevailing in him upon the water of tears, washing with such water his face — that is, the part that holds the senses, out of which and about which the war is waged; and his members, the altars of sin (which is a useless idol; for sin is without substance and without profit), become then full of thorns and thistles; for he afflicts and smites them through repentance.

¹⁶ And they shall say to the mountains: Cover us; and to the hills: Fall upon us. Such, he says, will be the vehemence and bitterness of the calamities that shall seize them, that each of them will choose to be covered by the mountains and hills falling upon him, rather than to fall in with the evils that come from the Babylonians. And he made mention of mountains and hills not without reason; but since in Bethel they sacrificed to the heifer (and he spoke of this when he made mention of those altars), while on the mountains they served the other idols — Astarte, I mean, and Chamos, and Baal — he now makes mention of these also, as being to them the causes of the calamity, and elsewhere of no use to them, but serving only to slay them before the calamities, if that were possible. And these things the Lord also said in the Gospel concerning the evils that should seize the Jews on his account.

¹⁷ From the time of the hills, Israel sinned. Not only, he says, from the time when the heifers began to be worshipped did Israel sin, but even before this, from the time when the hills received their acts of worship. For Jeroboam set up the heifers; but Solomon, persuaded by his women, made an altar on the hills.

¹⁸ There they stood; war shall by no means overtake them on the hill. He came against the children of iniquity, to chasten them according to my desire. And peoples shall be gathered together against them, to chasten them in their two iniquities. Steadfast, he says, and immovable, they stood in the idolatry of the hills, saying that war should by no means overtake them, nor should they fall into any calamity, if they served at the altar. But war did in truth come upon them, who were children of iniquity, because of chastening them according to my desire and will. And this you may understand in two ways: either, To chasten them sternly and bitterly — for this I desire, since they are incorrigible; or, To chasten them lightly, and this very thing in a disciplinary way. For chastening, properly so called, is that which is moderate and unto correction; the other is punishment and utter destruction. And thereafter many peoples shall be gathered together against them, for the chastening of them, since they committed two iniquities: they both forsook me their benefactor, and ran to the deaf and useless idols. They sinned, and slew the Lord; for it was not the passion of avarice that they fell sick with — which is called a “hill” by reason of its loftiness — for they could not endure that the Lord be glorified. Standing therefore in this passion, they supposed that, if they should kill him, war would not overtake them, nor would the Romans come upon them and take them away. But the war came, because they committed two iniquities, crucifying the Lord, and falsely accusing the resurrection. And upon every lover of dominion who will not deign to reckon himself earth and ashes, and to look downward, but serves the demons upon the hills and the heights, there shall come humiliation, which is war against pride. For everyone who exalts himself shall be humbled; and he who exalts his own doors seeks ruin; for the Lord sets himself against the proud. And the proud man commits two iniquities, exalting himself not over men only, but also over God.

¹⁹ Ephraim is a heifer taught to love victory.[1] Untamed, he says, is Ephraim, unwilling to be under my yoke, but ever loving to conquer, and to do his own will. Or else: I taught him to conquer, and to prevail over his enemies, but he did not keep it.

²⁰ But I will come upon the fairest part of his neck. That is, I will humble him by means of his enemies, and will persuade him to receive the yoke of the knowledge of me, and especially will I humble his kings. For the kingdom he called the fairest part of his neck. And these were the more impious, and led the peoples also to the same things. And well did he say, Of the neck, to show them stiff-necked. The Pharisees too, and the priests, were higher than the rest; but these the One crucified by them humbled.

²¹ I will mount upon Ephraim, and I will pass over Judah in silence. Since, as was said above, the ten tribes together with their kings ran aground upon every kind of idolatry, while Judah — that is, the two tribes — were sober (for indeed Amasias their king was godly, and Hezekiah and Josiah); he says: Now indeed I will mount upon Ephraim and weigh him down, bringing the Babylonians against him; but Judah for the present I will spare. For when Sennacherim came and besieged Jerusalem, an angel of the Lord destroyed a hundred and eighty-five thousand in a single night. Whence that king fled in great fear. Ephraim, then — that is, the one who grows in wickedness — the Lord humbles, lying heavy upon him and fixing his hand firmly upon him. But Judah, who makes confession, he does not weigh down; rather, to him who is afflicted willingly through repentance he shows that the momentary lightness of the affliction works an eternal weight of glory.

²² Jacob shall grow strong in him. He sets down the cause for which he spares Judah for the present, and says that the virtue of Jacob, emulated by him, will place strength in him. And he hints at the righteousness of Hezekiah; for it was out of regard for that man’s tears and virtue that God put Sennacherim to flight from Jerusalem with nothing accomplished. Jacob is also a name for the Lord, who is without guile by reason of his innocence; for no deceit was found in his mouth. And he dwells in a house, which is the house of the living God; or the house of the tabernacle not made with hands, which he took to himself from us; for he dwells in this still. This One, then, grew strong among the Jews; for even though he was crucified out of weakness, yet living by the power of God, he requited those who outraged him, and rising, repaid them. And every Jacob — that is, supplanter and overthrower of the passions — grows strong in Judah, which is confession. For he who has learned to supplant the passions, this man truly makes confession, not returning to his own vomit.

²³ Sow for yourselves unto righteousness. The manner of exhortation is twofold. For one urges toward the good either by pointing out the punishments of the disobedient, or the crowns of those who do well. And here, accordingly, God both pointed out what evils shall seize the disobedient, and pointed out the virtue of Judah, for which he was deemed worthy of sparing. So then he exhorts the rest as well, saying: Sow for yourselves; for you will not benefit God, but yourselves. And by “righteousness” he means the true worship of God. For it is righteous to render reverence to the Maker and Creator, and not to the idols; and he means too the whole of virtue, which is called righteousness, because he who works the virtues will judge justly, subjecting the passions of unreason to reason, and not raising up the worse against the better — which is the mark of an evil and unjust judge.

²⁴ Reap unto the fruit of life. Those who sowed unto unrighteousness, and wronged both God — by ascribing his reverence to the idols — and natural right — by preferring wickedness to virtue: those reaped unto death, being slain by their enemies. But for you who sow the things that bear toward righteousness (and the seed is altogether the good thought, which bears toward action) — for you, then, the harvest shall come out unto the fruit of life. For you shall escape the sword of the enemy, and shall live; and this life first of all, and consequently the life to come. But the perceptible life he promises them as to men of flesh.

²⁵ Enlighten for yourselves the light of knowledge. That is, Come to know God, having departed from the idols.

²⁶ Seek the Lord until the fruits of righteousness come to you. He shows them the manner by which they shall sow and be enlightened. And what is this? To seek after the Lord — and to seek ever, until you have set righteousness aright, and the fruits of it, that is, the remaining virtues and the light of knowledge. Or, Seek, in the sense of, Make supplication to the Lord, until, being bent toward you, he render to you. For even if you work righteousness, yet do not trust in this; for without help it has not strength to deliver. Seek him, therefore, beseeching him to loose you from the dread things expected. The like David says: Our eyes are toward the Lord our God, until he have mercy upon us. If Christ is righteousness, according to the Apostle, the word seems to exhort the teachers of the law: Sow in the hearts of your hearers the things that bear toward the true righteousness, Christ. And this is to sow for themselves; for the benefit of the disciples redounds to the teacher. And reap the letter, not that you should stand still in it, but that you may gather as fruit the One who said: I am the life. He adds, then: Enlighten for yourselves the light of knowledge, you who sit at the law, which has a shadow of the good things to come; enlighten for yourselves the light of the knowledge of Christ. And each one enlightens the light for himself; for if to draw near depends upon us — and David says: Draw near to him and be enlightened; — then with good reason are we commanded to enlighten ourselves. Seek the Lord in the law; for he himself will give you the fruits of righteousness. For out of the works of the law you shall not have righteousness, that is, justification; but you shall be justified out of the faith that is in Christ Jesus. And if he who sows unto the flesh shall reap corruption of the flesh, while he who sows unto the spirit shall reap of the spirit life everlasting; let us be diligent neither to sow unto the flesh, nor, in spiritual matters, let us hasten to sow these things in order to be seen of men. For thus we sow not for ourselves, but for the birds of heaven. For the seeds that are not hidden lie exposed to these. But when we sow through the active life, then the light of knowledge and of contemplation will shine forth upon us.

²⁷ Why did you keep silent about impiety, and reap the fruits of your iniquities? It behooved you, he says, before you were taken, to use the medicines of repentance, and not to keep silent, but to make confession. But now, not having done this, you reaped the iniquities of impiety, paying for them the worthy penalties. And what the iniquities of impiety are has been said in various ways; for there is the iniquity toward God and that toward one’s neighbor. And these things fit also every priest and teacher and ruler. For one must not keep silent when brethren are impious. For both the law said: You shall reprove your brother, and you shall not incur sin on his account; and Paul commands that the one who sins be reproved before all, that the rest also may have fear. So that if he who ought to speak is silent, he too reaps the fruits of the iniquity — not only that which the sinner commits, but also that which he himself commits against the sinner, in not cutting off his impulse toward evil.

²⁸ You ate false fruit, because you hoped in your chariots, in the multitude of your power. And destruction shall rise up among your people, and all your fortified places shall be brought to nothing. By “false fruit” he means the vain hope. You, he says, hoped in the multitude of the people and in chariots; but things will turn out to the contrary. For the warrior people, together with the chariots, shall perish; and the cities themselves shall be made to vanish, and the safety from the walls shall avail nothing. These things are said also to every ruler who supposes that he secures safety for himself through human devices and contrivances. And the Hebrews too, having given sufficient silver to the soldiers who guarded the tomb, reaped as fruit the lie, that the Lord had not risen; wherefore, when the Romans came upon them, having hoped in the multitude of the people and the strength of the cities, they perished. And the destruction was in their midst; for they fell into faction. And not only by their enemies, but also by their own selves were they consumed. And the famine too wrought destruction in their midst; for mothers did not spare their children because of it.

²⁹ As the prince Salama from the house of Jeroboaal, in the days of war, dashed the mother to the ground upon the children; so will I do to you, O house of Israel, because of the face of your wickedness. When the Israelites had once committed idolatry, God let loose upon them the chieftains of the Midianites: Oreb and Zeb and Zebee and Salmana. This Salmana, then, whom God here calls Salama, was so savage that he dashed and struck the mothers together with the children against the ground, and so delivered them to a most piteous death; and this he did to the women of the house of Jeroboaal — that is, of Gideon — namely, to the Hebrew women. For by “the house of Gideon” he means the whole Hebrew kindred. So then, even now will I do to you, O house of Israel, and will deliver you to enemies for your sins, who will piteously destroy even the infants together with the mothers. And Gideon is called Jeroboaal because he did a sacred work, both casting down the pillar of Baal, and cutting down in a single night the grove that was dedicated to the idol.