I consider that this chapter should be repeated (per Üíá÷åøáëáßùóù - as a
Recapitulation), and it is not preached immediately after the preceding, but long after. But everything in this chapter is easy, because he only punishes external vices, just as above. Everything concerns moral things (moralia), and it is nothing that could endure the reader.
V. 1. [It should be you who would know the right].
Judicium, that is, the law.
V. 2. You flay their skin and the flesh from their legs.
This is a figurative and poetic way of speaking by which he punishes the violence of the leaders, as we have also seen in the previous chapter. The Germans use to speak in the same way about such godless oppressors of their subjects: "He flays them to the ridge. Thus, in this passage, he also used a violent figure of speech against the godless tyranny of godless princes.
V. 3. [And when you have skinned them etc.]
"They skin them alive." He remains with the description of the violence, as if he wanted to say: They take with the highest violence all belongings of the whole people.
V. 4. but will hide his face from you etc.
The prophets are used to follow Moses, as this is also taken from the Song of Moses [Deut. 32:20]. That God hides his face means that he is angry; that he shows his face means that he is merciful and favorable and wants us to be well, as in the 80th Psalm, v. 4: "Let your face shine, and we shall be healed. And everywhere in the Psalms is this way of speaking of the Scriptures.
V. 5. 1) Thus says the Lord against the prophets.
From this it is clear that this chapter is directed against the princes, prophets and priests of the people. The summary of this passage is: the prophets and the priests flatter the princes and thus deceive the people, they prevent the people from turning away from their godless nature, but rather they despise the word of the prophets sent by the Lord and strengthen the people in their godlessness. And this is what he says:
They preach that it should go well where they are fed. 2)
That is, they oppose the good prophets who proclaim the word of the Lord correctly.
1) The preceding verse numbers in this chapter are missing in the Weimar edition, but these verse numbers are only set in the following section.
.2) Vulgate: Hui morüsut üsutidus suis, vt prasüieaut xaesin, who bite with their teeth, and preach peace. From this the interpretation refers.
They shout and persecute the prophets of the Lord and strengthen the people in their godlessness "by preaching that it should go well" (pacem). So it is also said in Jer. 6, 14: "Peace, peace! and yet is not peace" etc. This is also taken from Moses. But the opinion is: they call the people safe, they say that the disturbance will not happen, they accuse the prophets of lying, threatening captivity, they say that God will not abandon His people, since He has promised to be with them. Such false prophets, who preach peace where there is no peace, are the monks and all those who preach that one should trust in works.
But where they are not given anything in their mouths, they preach that war must come. 1)
"The mouth" (os) is almost always referred in Scripture to the ministry of the Word, but the devouring and devouring is attached to the "jaws" (guttur), as in Psalm [Ps. 5:10.], "Their jaws are an open grave." Therefore this seems to me to be the opinion, although others are of a different opinion, as if he wanted to say: so great is their ungodliness and their bitterness against the prophets of the Lord, that they stir up and instigate war against him who does not agree with them in preaching, who does not approve of their ungodliness, and persecute and kill him.
V. 6 Therefore your face shall become night, and your divination darkness.
That is, your preaching of peace will cause you to be blinded, so that when calamity comes, because it would be most necessary for you to prophesy, you will see no visions, prophesy nothing. So great will be the misfortune: you will leave the people in the lurch, you will also find no remedy against the misfortune; you will perish with the people. This is how the godless preachers are finally disgraced by GOU etc.
1) Vulgate: Lt si quis non üvüsi-it in oro ooruro quippiain, sanotiüoant super euru proelium. In contrast, our original offers: Lt qui nou eonseuserit ori eorum, sanotiUoant contra 6um proelium. The interpretation refers to the latter.
V. 7. And the showers shall be put to shame, and the diviners to scorn.
Namely, because their lie will be revealed, since they have falsely preached peace. Therefore, when the calamity comes, when all the people will see that their lamentable destruction is imminent, as we have proclaimed before, then they will be convicted of the lie, and we will be found to be true.
And must cover their mouths all.
This is again taken from Moses and followed him in it. For this is how Moses speaks of a leper in the 3rd book of Moses, Cap. 13, 45, that he should cover his mouth with the garment. So the prophet said here figuratively: They shall cover their lips, that is, they shall be so disgraced that they will not dare to speak to others. They will not be allowed to speak, nor will they be able to speak, because they will be quite miserably disgraced. So also the Germans say, "They will have to shut their mouths."
Because there will be no God's word.
Because the existing calamity will teach them what they taught, since God did not answer them.
V. 8. But I am full of the power and the Spirit of the Lord.
He boasts of his strength and boldness in the ministry of the word, which is commanded to him by God, as if to say: "Although all princes and priests resist me, I still continue to preach what I should. I do not leave the teaching office that I have taken upon myself, however much they rage against me and are nonsensical; I do not care about any outward appearance (larvam) of them. What I have begun, I will accomplish with God's help, even if I am to be killed, because I am full of the power of the Spirit of the Lord, full of right and strength. "Full of right" means that I am certain that I teach right. Therefore, even if the enemies of the Word threaten me with death, I do not care. The Spirit of the Lord is with me only to encourage and strengthen me. And
Certainly, to punish the rulers and all those in power with such boldness is not a work of human audacity, but of the Spirit of the Lord etc.
V. 9. Hear this, O heads of the house of Jacob.
He continues to punish the ungodliness of the princes, priests and prophets. For these formed in the Jewish people the highest classes. Among them there were always very few godly people, all others acted extraordinarily godless. And these are the fruits of godlessness, which I have already reminded several times, when we have ceased to serve God in pure faith. Our princes today are now suffering from the same ungodliness. They "spurn the right," that is, they do not distribute equal justice, so they will perish just like those. The word of the Lord will not lie.
V. 10: You who build Zion with blood.
The prophet puts himself to it. But it is a Hebrew expression: "you build with blood" (in sanguinibus), as if he wanted to say: You build magnificent palaces, very strong castles, but robbery and oppression of the poor provide you with the necessary costs. You enrich yourselves and build precious things, but in the meantime you are exploiting the poor. etc.
V. 11. straightening their heads around gifts
(in muneribus).
He interprets himself more clearly. By the way, that he says: in muneribus judicant is a Hebrew way of speaking, which we translate more correctly in Latin: propter munera. This I also mentioned above [Hos. 12, 13.sj, where I quoted the passage from the Psalm. "Israel served" in uxorem, that is, "for a woman." It is therefore the opinion: the highest ranks of the people, to whom it should be to curb godlessness, act godless themselves, the princes do not speak justice, which they should do above all things, and judge according to the reputation of the person, bribed and won by money; the priests also speak what pleases the people, they have a venal tongue, they use the word of God for their advantage, which should not happen at all. Likewise
the prophets also do it, they flatter the people, they preach peace, as Jeremiah says [Cap. 6, 14], and so they strengthen the people in their godlessness etc. And so the whole burden of this evil is thrown on the godless prophets, which Jeremiah also complains about most. In short, avarice is at the top of everyone's list, Amos 8,1) 4. ff. In a community there can hardly be a more damaging ruin than this, namely when the princes do not exercise equal rights, but allow themselves to be moved by money to pervert the law.
Relying on the Lord and saying: Is not the Lord among us?
This is an outstanding and especially noteworthy passage, because it can serve for the understanding of many prophecies. We see from it what kind of audience the prophets had, namely such people who were exceedingly ungodly, and yet wanted to disguise their ungodliness with a certain holiness, as also the apostle Paul interprets it in the letter to the Romans [Cap. 2, 17. ff.]: "You rely on the law, and teach that one should not steal, and you steal" etc. It is not possible that God should not hate this to the utmost, as we also see here. For such were the ungodly words of the wicked against the true prophets: God promised that He would be with His people, therefore the prophets are nonsensical who threaten us with calamity, as if God were not in our midst. "You shall not cry out," as we also said above [Cap. 2, 6.], "calamity will come upon us avengingly," God will not cast out His people, whom He chose before all the Gentiles, whom He also trusted in what He spoke etc. [Rom. 3:2.]
V. 12. Therefore Zion will be plowed up like a field for your sake, and Jerusalem will become a heap of stones.
These are prophetic images, as if he wanted to say: Because you are ungodly, yet you cover your ungodliness as if the Lord approves of it, therefore Zion shall be destroyed so that it can be plowed. For moreover, that ye are ungodly, boast
1) In our prelims: Lwos S.
you also still your ungodliness, and sin so twofold. - Maceria ["stone house"], about this word I also made a remark above [Cap. 1, 6.].
And the mountain of the temple become a wild cave.
That is, thorns and thistles will grow there, it will not be cultivated, it will not be visited, everything will be desolate, as also Jeremiah says in the Klaglieder Cap. 1, 4: "The roads to Zion lie desolate." These and such prophecies seemed impossible to the Jews, for other prophecies were opposed to them, which is also what I said at the beginning of this
prophets. For there was a very clear prophecy of Jerusalem in Isaiah, Cap. 31, 5: "And the Lord of hosts shall defend Jerusalem, as the birds do with wings" etc. Likewise a still clearer one, Cap. 37:35: "I will defend this city, and will help it out for my own sake, and for my servant David's sake." Therefore, emboldened by these promises, the wicked surely sinned and ridiculed and mocked the prophets who threatened otherwise. But still, God miraculously fulfilled both: for a time He protected them, but nevertheless He finally had them destroyed etc.