In these two previous chapters he has generally finished the prophecy of Christ and the reign of Christ through the gospel. Now he returns to his ministry in what follows, namely by punishing the ungodliness of the people. First of all, however, he attacks their lives, as is the way of all prophets, that they first attack ungodliness as the source and well of evil works, and then present godliness. When this has been taught and inculcated, then the good works follow in a suitable manner. This is the correct order of the prophets and apostles, as can be clearly seen in the epistles of Paul. But this is not done by false teachers, who only teach about life, punish vices and offer rewards, completely ignoring the doctrine of godliness and justification of the heart etc.
V. 1. Listen to what the Lord says.
As I said, he is completely in the process of punishing life and vice. But he proceeds with great boldness, because he is sent by the Lord and driven to do so. 2)
Scolds the mountains.
Lead the cause against the mountains. For thus it is more correctly translated [than in the Vulgate], as it is also translated in the 43rd Psalm, v. 1. "Lead my cause." Hence the opinion is, Set thyself against the mountains, that is, the princes; punish them for their ungodliness, show them their shameful deeds and sins.
2) In the Erlanger: extrusus; in the Weimarschen: 6xt6nöu8 with the note: "is uncertain to read". The sense cannot be doubtful. The Zwickau manuscript offers: Because the HErr commanded that he speak thus.
And let the hills hear your voice.'
"The hills," that is, the very mighty and rich, who excel above others, who are more glorious than others. As everywhere in the whole of Scripture, so also here we see that the word of God attacks the proud, the high, and that which is glorious and holy according to your reputation, in short, that which the world esteems great. "For what is foolish in the sight of the world God has chosen to put to shame the wise, and what is weak in the sight of the world God has chosen to put to shame what is strong" etc., 1 Cor. 1, 27.
V. 3. 1) Together with the strong foundations of the earth.
That is, you princes, kings, priests and prophets on whom the people rely. But he calls them [in the Vulgate fortia] "hard" with a special epithet, that is, strong and mighty from the earth.
For the Lord will rebuke his people, and will punish Israel.
He distinguishes his people from Israel, so that we can already see from this that the prophet speaks when the kingdom of Israel still existed and was in bloom, so that we should learn that in the prophets there is not always the right order of the chapters, which can be seen quite clearly in Jeremiah, and indeed very often. For it is possible that these two last chapters preceded the others, which mentioned that Israel had already been taken away. It is useful to keep this in mind when reading the prophets.
V. 3. What have I done to you, my people?
This is an advancement and remembrance of the good deeds done, by which he urges them and puts the matter before them, as if to say: Why do you do this, that my name gets an evil sound among the Gentiles, since you, devoted to your godless nature, give the Gentiles an opportunity to blaspheme my name? He imitated Moses, Deut. 32, 6: "Do you thus give thanks to the Lord your God, you foolish and foolish people? Is he not thy father and thy Lord?" etc.
1) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
V. 4. I brought you out of Egypt.
Now he remembers the good deeds done. First of all, the execution from the miserable servitude in Egypt, which is imprinted everywhere in the Scriptures. He wanted to show them this exodus 2) as an outward sign, by which they would be reminded of the divine goodness, so that they would not doubt that they would be saved from any danger and misfortune, no matter how great, if they believed and remembered the execution from Egypt. Thus he has given us the outward signs of grace, baptism and Holy Communion, by which we are to remember what has been granted to us through the gospel and will be granted to believers forever.
V. 5 My people, remember what Balak king of Moab foretold.
This is another blessing. By the former he reminded them of salvation from Pharaoh's might and all his power; by the latter he reminded them of salvation from cunning and guile, namely, that Balaam could not harm them, who had come to curse them, Numbers 22 and 23. 22 and 23. But as the Lord had made Pharaoh's strength, forces, power and authority weak and ineffective and nullified, but the weakness of his people strong and powerful, so he turned Balaam's curse into a blessing. These are benefits that he still shows to all the godly, and they are certainly very great.
From Sittim to Gilgal. 3)
"Sittim" is a place or a field in the fields of Moab, from which the people of Israel had pitched camp. It extends from Moab to the Jordan, Num. 25, 1. Jos. 3, 1.
2) The Weimar edition has: Hoo exemxUurri externurn with the note: "vxemxturn we resolve the shortening in ^4 probably quite." The Erlanger offers: Ho" snirn kxtsrnnrQ. We have assumed, based on the Zwickau manuscript: Hüne exitum ex-
3) Instead of "Gilgal," both the Weimar and Erlangen editions, here and in the Zwickau manuscript: <Mead, gegen das Zeugniß aller Bibelausgaben.
By this you should know how the Lord has done you all good.
In Hebrew it says: propter scientiam justitiarum Domini. This is ambiguous and darkly spoken, so it can be understood in two ways. First, that you may know the righteousness of the Lord; second, that you may know, that the righteousness of the Lord may be known (but it amounts to almost the same thing), that is, that you may know that you are not preserved by your works, nor anyone by his strength, but by confidence in me, by my blessing, not by the work or merit of any man. And so I interpret the righteousness of the Lord in a suffering way, that is, of the righteousness with which he justifies us, as Paul used it several times in the letter to the Romans.
V. 6. 1) With what shall I propitiate the Lord?
The prophet interprets himself. But the opinion is: With what shall I propitiate the Lord, that I may forestall the wrath of him? It will come to pass that he will proceed against you with punishment, and you will seek to forestall him, but you will be mistaken; your worship, which you undertake, is ungodly. The heart is unclean, therefore no works, however good they may be etc.
With stooping before the high God?
Here is a clear and obvious text against the works of righteousness, which is written in Isaiah in the first chapter [v. 11. f.] with many words. He clearly condemns the vices and outward works, as good as they may appear to be, if the heart is not pure. For God does not like the works of an impure and ungodly heart, even those which he himself has otherwise commanded, as can be clearly seen in Isaiah and here, that even the works commanded by the law, as the sacrifices, are rejected, because they performed them with confidence in them and in carnal righteousness. Since the things required by the law of God are not valid without faith, how much less will the imaginary works of our monks be valid etc.
1) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
V. 7. 2) Or shall I give my first son for my transgression?
The Gentiles sacrificed their sons and daughters to the idol Moloch. The Jews, too, had fallen into this ungodliness, thinking that they would follow the example of Abraham by sacrificing their children to God. This is what the prophet alludes to. See 5 Blos. 12, 31.
V. 8. It is told you, man, what is good.
Here is a very good teacher who not only punishes what is ungodly and wrong, but also shows what is godly and right. For the office of the prophets is not only to punish the outward, evil customs, but above all hypocrisy, so that the hopeful hypocrites may humble themselves and become ashamed, who by their hypocrisy offend God to the highest degree, while in the meantime they think that they alone are pleasing to God. But God wants truly righteous and truly holy people, not hypocrites, whom He hates to the utmost. We see the same here in an excellent way. The prophet is calling the people back to the true, pure and truly good godliness, which he has summarized entirely in these three elements: "Keeping God's word, practicing love and being humble before God." Because the prophet has so far attacked their godless outward life, he here moves on to the right worship or the truly good life that God demands of the godly.
Keeping God's word (Facere judicium).
I have interpreted this phrase several times above in other prophets. But it means that one should not hurt anyone, that one should give each his own, that one should not be burdensome to anyone, that one should help others, that one should promote their advantage, that one should prevent harm and violence. To prevent harm and violence, so that the poor are not overprivileged and oppressed by the rich, and so that the guilty are punished and the innocent are protected etc. And this is what is said in Jer. 7:5: "That ye do justice one against another," that is, that ye restrain the wicked and protect the good. Therefore, this applies to all the people the prophet is referring to,
2) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
that it is meant to be close to the public, so that each one can enjoy his own with peace while maintaining the state of the community. But he expressly says: "Keep God's word" (kapere), because he wants this to be done by deed, not merely by words. In this single statement he has summarized a good part of Christian conduct or Christian morals, for violence against one's neighbor is forbidden, then the evil desire that I should not covet one's neighbor's goods, that I should not wish him ill, that I should protect him, that I should keep dangers away from him etc. Whoever does this will soon incur the hatred of many people, for it will displease tyrants and others who harm the poor to resist them. Therefore, he who resists them cannot do so without risking his position and his life. And so persecution follows immediately, since the devil cannot do these things, which are truly good works, but he can do hypocrisy, which he also promotes and causes, since through it he leads people away from true godliness, from faith in God through his works and his own righteousness. The flesh hears and says this easily, but does not do it, nor is it able to do it, unless renewed by the Spirit.
And practice love (Diligere misericordiam).
This means that it pleases us to be kind to others. For the Hebrew word means actual mercy, which is shown, as also Christ indicates Matth. 9, 13: "Go and learn what this is: I am pleased with mercy and not with sacrifice. God does not demand anything of us in terms of good works, but wants everything to be for the benefit and advantage of our neighbor; it is enough for God that we give Him glory through these works. Faith is the beginning of justification, as all Scripture teaches. After we have been justified by faith, we can do nothing to God, nor should we, except the sacrifice of praise, that is, that we bear witness by our preaching of the grace we have received, that we praise God, that we proclaim His glory, and that is
through the gospel. Then we should show mercy to our neighbor, that is, it should be a pleasure for us to help our neighbor, we should seize every opportunity to help our neighbor and also encourage others to do acts of love, so that our whole life will be for the good of our neighbor, since we owe no one anything other than to love one another, Rom. 13, 8.
And be humble before your God (Et sollicitum ambulare cum Deo tu).
The prophet is definitely talking about the good behavior that we should show towards our neighbor. He condemns all other works, even those that appear to be extremely holy, by which the godless hypocrites thought they were pleasing God, while in the meantime they were miserably afflicting and harming the poor, and were exploiting them with robbery and extortion and ungodly usury. This third thing he adds here is certainly an extremely necessary admonition, since there is danger when we are justified by faith, we want to become lukewarm, we want to become puffed up, we want to be tickled by the gifts of the spirit, which we have ahead of others, we want to please ourselves, 1) as if he wanted to say: If you do what I say, if you take your neighbor into consideration, see to it that you are not sure that you do not have a sham eye, that you do not please yourself and try to get for yourself the praise and honor that is due to God alone. Even the most spiritual people cannot be without this exceedingly wicked self-love. Immediately when they see that they are better than others, that they are more learned than others, and that they have received more spiritual gifts, they please themselves well; immediately they despise others inferior to themselves. For grace and good works also by their nature delight men. Scripture has presented us with a frightening example in Saul, who shone by very good works. There was not a finer man in Israel, as the Scripture says 1 Sam. 9, 2, and full of the Spirit of the Lord, but this
1) Weimarsche: plao6wu8 instead of: plaesamus.
he lacked what Micah demands here, therefore he fell exceedingly badly and was even terribly rejected by God. It is a quite correct word of the holy fathers, with which they used to punish this godless self-love (öéëáõôßáí): Wherever you may throw a thistle head, it always stands upright. Thus this exceedingly evil disposition has crept into the hearts of the saints at all times; they cannot be without it. And this is the only evil that attaches itself to good works, as St. Augustine says in his Rule. That is why God often lets His saints fall in an exceedingly shameful way, as Peter, the very holy David, so that they, frightened and humiliated by a very heavy fall, would always stand in fear, so that they would not rise above it and realize how weak they still are. So also David cries out in the 51st Psalm, v. 5: "My sin is always before me." Thus, the saints should be humbled by the sight and knowledge of their weakness and sin, and refrain from puffing themselves up because of their good works or gifts of the Spirit that they have received from God. And this is "to walk carefully with God," that is, to think moderately and lowly of oneself, to walk with a simple eye, to always want to be hidden, and to seek and seek no glory, no honor from good works; this the exceedingly poor self-love and that godless disposition cannot do. For it always wants everything it does to be seen, wants it to be known to all, so that it may gain honor and praise for itself, so that it may be praised before men etc. Here belongs completely what Christ teaches Matth. 6, 3. f.: "When you give alms, do not let your left hand know what your right hand is doing, so that your alms may be hidden" etc., and [v. 5.]: When you pray, you should not be like the hypocrites etc. So we are to be modest, and communicate out of a simple conscience, and do everything, whatever it may be, in such a way that we want no one to know. Therefore, those who are rich in the gifts of God before others, and those who must preside over others through the ministry of the word, which is not the business of common people, are in great danger. For even the most holy Lenten people have always complained about this evil, and could not be without it, no matter how hard they tried.
to be set aside. Here belongs what is written in Sirach 1), Cap. 3, 20: "The higher you are, the more you humble yourself" etc.
V. 9: The voice of the Lord will call over the city.
This is a new section and a completely new teaching or sermon. For it is not all prophesied at once by the prophets, as we have reminded you several times above, but one thing at this time, another at another. Now the opinion is: It is the voice of the Lord with which I speak to you, not mine. He himself preaches through me; he uses me only as an instrument for the preaching of his word, and not in vain, for blessed are they that fear the name of the Lord, but not blessed are they that fear him not. For the Hebrew word, which our Latin interpreter translated by salus, I believe, actually means well-being, success, and that which goes out happily and well. So the same word is in Proverbs Cap. 8, 14: "Mine is both counsel and action, I have understanding and might," that is, by me is right counsel, otherwise, if I do not counsel, is bad counsel, and by me the counsels are also carried out happily; I give happiness and prosperity, that what men counsel also goes forth happily etc. Thus, I believe, we have attained the true meaning of the word. Next, when he says, "about the city," the singular stands for the plural. For he addresses all the cities, just as in Hebrew the text reads: the voice of the Lord calls city by city (op- pidatim), that is, the Lord sends his word throughout the whole kingdom of Israel. The apostle Paul also uses this idiom quite nicely in the letter to Titus Cap. 1, 5: "Occupy the cities to and fro (ζατά πόλφ) with elders."
Hear, ye tribes, what is preached. 2)
The Hebrew word has been translated in many ways. The seventy interpreters translated it by ornabit, Jerome by approbabit, others still differently. I ver-
1) Weimarsche in the margin: "Weish," instead of: Sirach.
2) Vulgate: Quälte iridu8, st huis approdadit Muä?
I am afraid that we do not yet know some things in the Hebrew language, especially when there are such peculiar words in the Scriptures as this. In order not to pass over this passage completely, we nevertheless say and translate with others: quis transfere or who will go away? so that the opinion would be: he was sent by God to the service of the word, he received the command from God to preach, therefore there is no reason why he could leave the imposed office etc.
V. 10. Unjust goods still remain in the house of the wicked (Adhuc ignis in domo et.).
Above he taught that the Lord demanded that they keep God's word and practice love, here he punishes them for not doing both, for not having God's word, much less practicing love. For they atoned for the poor in order to enrich themselves. But this is not keeping God's word, nor practicing love, if one uses a smaller measure than is right. For those who have too small a measure do evil to the poor and lowly people, for in this way they suck their goods from them etc. Therefore the opinion is: As much as we preach and rebuke you by the word of God, we do not accomplish anything; there are very few who have the word of God at heart, the others persist in their godlessness. I still see a fire in the house of the wicked, that is, many treasures acquired with ungodliness, which I consider nothing but a fire that will consume the wicked who possess them. So I interpret the fire as a punishment, as if he wanted to say: They still suffer from their ungodliness, they rob the goods of others with stingy cheating, with false scales etc., but all these goods will bring them evil, they will bring them destruction. This is also the same expression in Amos, Cap. 5, 6: "Lest there be a fire in the house of Joseph" etc.
And the hostile low epha.
The Hebrew language speaks daintily. It calls it a measure of reduction, that is, by which they make others low, other people's
They are singing out their goods and chattels, with which they cheat and fatten themselves, with which they enrich themselves etc. In the same way as the previous piece I also interpret this, so that the opinion is: There is still anger in the Hanse of the wicked, namely the low Epha; they pile up anger by devouring with unjust measure the poor un< harm. That, by which they now become rich, will cause them a. great evil and ruin.
V. 11. 1) Or should I approve the wrong scale and the wrong weight in the bag?
The same expression is in Proverbs 16:11: "Right weight is from the Lord, and all the pounds in the sack (sacculi) are his works", where our books read saeculi in an inconsistent way. Thus the Lord says here, namely: "Should I then approve your unjust weight and false weight, with which you have enriched yourselves with ungodly usury and robbery? He adds this quite necessarily, because he sees that they act ungodly, that the poor are overcharged and cheated by them with usury and false weight, and yet they want to remedy this ungodliness with supposed good works. They put on a certain appearance of godliness by sacrificing and doing the works of the law, as the godly do, but all these things he rejects and condemns this perverse holiness by which they thought to be pleasing to God, while in the meantime they miserably plundered the poor etc. And so he says all this against the ungodly presumption and certainty of the perverse saints.
V. 12 By which their rich do much wrong.
[Instead of äivit68 6^U8 in the Vulgate divites eorum is to be read,] for I said above [v. 9.] that the singular stood for the plural, namely civitatem 2) [for civitates]. That is, by these false chariots and weights they have become rich, have brought about great Gnt. Therefore, everything they have in goods is acquired with wrong.
1) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
2) Instead of civitatnin we have assumed civitatsm.
And its inhabitants deal with lies.
That is, they confirm their deceptions and their godless fraud nnmin sell, praise them highly. Through these deceptions, they deceive the neighbor, as is the custom of our merchants, who do not care about godliness, if they only bring money and goods to themselves.
V. 13. Therefore I will also begin to plague you.
This must be read [instead of coepi percutere] in the present time, just as when we say in German, "Therefore I will also lift." It is a wonderful judgment of God. While the wicked want to propitiate God through the worship they perform, they irritate Him even more, and while they want to obtain money and goods through robbery and evil artifices with which they deceive their neighbor, they finally come to the extreme lack. Thus God is wrong with the perverse, as it is said in the 18th Psalm, v. 27. Thus those goods, which are thus acquired with injustice, however much and great they may be, have no other end in store for them than that they will completely decay, as he said above Cap. 1, 7: "They are gathered from whores' wages, and shall also become whores' wages again." And our princes today can expect nothing better, who know nothing else than to suck the belongings of the poor and to collect many treasures; while they could help many with a hundred or a thousand florins given for the benefit of the poor, they give nothing. They have no regard for the poor and are only eager to enrich themselves. Afterwards, they will be forced to squander many thousands of florins on the godless men of war, when war has arisen through God's judgment. "Then it will be for the lancers." Others will sell theirs with whores, and however much property may come to the heirs, they will scatter it in the most shameful way. This is God's judgment, which we do not lack; no one expects anything better for himself. Easy come, easy go; the wages of whores shall be restored.
become the wages of a whore. God will not lie, just as we, taught by experience, must confess that this is true.
V. 14. You shall not have enough to eat.
That is, I will give you a famine in such a way that, 1) even if you eat, it will not be enough to satisfy the hunger through meals. Food will come to you in bits and pieces, but you will never be full.
And shall languish (Et erit incurvatio in medio tui).
It is the same word in the 38th Psalm, v. 7: "I walk crookedly (curvatus sum) and very stooped, all day long I walk sadly." But the opinion is as if he wanted to say: I will see to it that you are oppressed more and more every day; I will bring about the decrease and diminution of all your goods, in a miserable way all your things shall perish.
And what you get shall not get away.
That is, your possessions, your descendants, which you hope to save from destruction, will not be able to be preserved, since everything will become a prey to the Assyrian, and if one will be anxious to save something by flight and escape, I will see to it that it perishes by the sword. Namely, this is how God overthrows the wicked, so that even their name no longer remains, as the 37th Psalm [vv. 10, 28, 36] says.
V. 16. For one holds the wise Amri.
He adds this so that we may see that he is speaking of the kingdom of Israel, as I also said above. Amri was the father of the godless king Ahab, under whom the kingdom of Israel first began to flourish. For the king Ahab was very blessed, but exceedingly wicked.
' And follows their advice.
That is, anything they liked, you approved rc,
1) Here is one too many in our template.