In the last chapter, he has summarized his entire prophecy in a bundle, as it were, by first punishing the godless customs of the people and then moving on to the kingdom of Christ. But he is driven by a great movement for the people, for he thirsts greatly for their salvation; with great vehemence he penetrates them and does everything to convert them from godlessness. He compares himself to a vinedresser who goes into his vineyard, which he has planted with great diligence, and looks for grapes to eat, but finds nothing. This image is taken from Moses and here and there also in 1) the other prophets. Thus it is written in the Song of Moses, Deut. 5:32: "Their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the field of Gomorrah; their grapes are gall, they have bitter berries" etc. So Is. 5, 7. the people of Israel are called the vineyard of the Lord. Therefore, the one who reads wine, or the vine dresser, is the prophet who walks among the people seeking some good fruit, but finds nothing but thorns, that is, a godless people who despise God and God's word. I have become like a householder who visits his vineyard to look for the fruit of his labor; this vineyard had at first given rise to great expectations, but I find nothing in it but thorns and briars (Isaiah Cap. 5, 2. also said: "I waited for it to bring forth grapes, but it brought forth thorns"); I do not even find a bunch of grapes that I can eat, much less an abundance of grapes from which I could press wine.
V. 1. And yet would gladly have of the best fruits. 2)
[Instead of: praecoquas ficus it should rather read: 3) Primitias [the firstling, that is, not even so much do I find that I can give to those the
1) Instead of ex in our template, we assumed in.
2) Vulgate: krasoo^uas ücnis äesiäeravit unirna wen.
3) Supplemented by us according to the Hall manuscript.
could give firstfruits to whom they are due, namely the priests etc. He therefore speaks of the whole vineyard, of the crests of the grapes, which seemed to become full of grapes, that is, of the whole people; we must not understand it only from the remnants, as some want to understand it.
V. 2. The pious people (sanctus) are gone in this land.
He himself interprets the simile he used. The Scripture calls "holy" (sanctum) the one who is made righteous by grace, who has obtained mercy from God. Such holy people he contrasts with others, the hypocrites and those who pretend to great holiness, as if he wanted to say: Although many pretend to the name and appearance of holiness, they are godless, not holy, as also Hosea says above [Cap. 4, 1. f.].
The ranked ones are no longer among the people. 4) They all lie in wait for blood.
He explains this by accusing all of them of ungodliness, as if he wanted to say: "Love is so extinct, no one has any consideration for his neighbor, the ferocity (feritas) of one against the other prevails, that all are pursuing one another, all are full of hatred and envy, all are unloving as Paul says [Rom. 1, 31. "disruptive"].
Each one chases the other to destroy him (Quisque fratrem suum ad anathema quaerit).
That is, he wants to see his brother completely destroyed, so that he is no longer remembered and there is no salvation. Because the banished (anathema) was not solved, but as it was vowed, so it was also ' killed, as one reads 3 Mos. 27, 28. f. 5).
4) These words, which undoubtedly belong here to the keyword, find in the Weimar edition drawn to the preceding passage as if they were a quotation from Hosea.
5) In our original: in Nurnsris. Our correction is according to the Zwickau manuscript.
V. 3. and think they do well when they do evil.
The prophet does not mean that they were so blatantly senseless that they said that murder, robbery and ungodly violence against their neighbor were good, and they approved of this, but he is punishing the attitude of the hypocrites. For the hypocrites have certain pretensions, certain outward good works, which are very evil in the sight of God, since they have come forth from an evil and godless heart, but at the same time seem to them to be good. With these they flatter each other and boast about them, while they should be punished because of them. So also Christ says on the same opinion [Matth. 7, 15. "They come to you in sheep's clothing, but inwardly they are ravening wolves." And Isaiah says Cap. 5, 20: "Woe to those who call evil good and good evil, who turn darkness into light and light into darkness" etc., for the hypocrites cannot do otherwise.
What the prince wills, the judge will speak.
This can be understood in two ways: first, that it is related to what follows, to this opinion: If the prince lays out intolerable levies, the judge is immediately ready to concede this (est in reddendo), that is, he approves of the prince's ungodly extortion. The other opinion is: All princes are oppressors, all seek only their own, and that with danger and harm to their subjects. But the judge est in reddendo, that is, he takes gifts, with which bribed he also perverts justice. According to each one's greatness, he judges for him etc., and so for each one there is a special judgment (divisa est sententia). For godless princes and preachers cannot do otherwise, they seek only their own, not what is the Lord's [Phil.2, 21.]. As the apostle Rom. 16, 18. says, they oppress and corrupt the people physically and spiritually, which also the [tenth] Psalm describes gloriously, which deals with the Antichrist.
The mighty counsel according to their will of courage.
Our Latin interpreter has translated badly by the word desiderium [instead of by
pravitatem], for the Hebrew word denotes punishment and guilt, as when we say in German, "He struggles after misfortune," likewise, "He has caused a misfortune." For thus by One Word we denote both. Guilt and punishment. The same word is in the 91st Psalm, v. 3. where we read [in the Vulgate]: a verbo aspero. The Hebrew reads: a peste pravitatis ["of the noxious pestilence"], that is, of the calamity. So here the opinion is: The mighty and rich decide and set everything according to their will, "cause a misfortune" as it seems good to them etc.
And turn it as they will (Et sic perplexam fecerunt eam).
The Hebrew word means a rope and something entangled. So it is written in the 2nd Psalm, v.3: "Let us cast away their ropes", and in the 118th Psalm, v. 27: "Adorn the feast with may." Therefore the opinion is: Every man does according to his will what he pleases. The people have no regard for God and the law, so everything is confused; there is no order in public affairs. etc.
V. 4. The best of them is like a thorn.
David also used this simile in his last words [2 Sam. 23,6.]: And Christ says Matth. 7, 16.: "Can one also gather grapes from thorns or figs from thistles?" And the ram that was to be sacrificed for Isaac hung in the thorn hedge, as Genesis [Cap. 22, 13J is written. Thus here and there in Scripture the wicked are compared to thorns. The meaning is therefore: Even the holiest among them, who put on an excellent appearance of holiness, are nothing but thorns and thorns. They are beautiful in appearance, but they bear no fruit. They produce nothing but pricks in the conscience with which they wound the people.
But when the day of your preachers shall come, when you shall be afflicted (Dies speculationis).
1) Vulg.: 6on8tituit6 ülsrn solsmnsin in oonäen8, 8 Stelt a feast day in foliage huts, that is, in tightly woven foliage.
Therefore I say valet to you. In vain I try to turn you away from ungodliness], in vain I preach, you bear no fruit. Therefore, the speculation will come, the day of your visitation, because the king of Assyria will come to punish the land as it deserves. This is how the prophets use the word "speculationis", as Zephaniah also used it in Cap. 1:12, speaking in the same way: "I will search Jerusalem with lanterns", that is, I will search very carefully and look for all the wicked, that I may find them, and after I have found them, I will destroy them.
V. 5. No one believes his neighbor, no one relies on princes.
I understand this passage in such a way that the prophet describes the faithlessness in the people with general words, otherwise, if we do not understand it in such a way, everything would not stand right in the context. As in German we say: "There is no faithful man on earth", so here the prophet speaks in the same way, as if he wanted to say: The people do not believe the princes, not their priests or prophets, because they teach wrong things, as he said above. And he says this for the sake of humbling the people and taking away their vain confidence, and drawing them away from the vain promises of the false prophets, in which they promised peace and tranquility, as he said above, while there was no peace, as Jeremiah says. And so I believe that the whole passage is proverbial, as if he wanted to say: Do not be deceived by the false promises with which the false prophets lure you, because even otherwise there is no faith and belief among men, but trust in God alone, who cannot lie and deceive.
V. 6: For the son despises the father (facit stultitiam contra patrem).
The Hebrew word means what we say, "to do a disgrace." The same infidelity reigns in the world today; there is no certainty anywhere, the flesh always remains the same; gold and silver is often the
Cause for the most bitter hatred between brothers, however much they are otherwise connected by the closest blood relationship.
V. 7: But I will look to the Lord.
Now he passes over to consolation and leaves the threats in place. But the prophet speaks in the person of all the remnant of the godly, who were also to be miserably afflicted for a time and led away into captivity, but were later to be made glorious again because of the promises made to David. For, as we have said above several times, the threatenings are to the ungodly, the consolations or promises are to the godly. "I will look", that is, I will be careful, I will prepare myself to see - for the Hebrew word contains all this - that is, although we are thus punished at the same time as the ungodly, we still want to have good hope that the Lord will deliver us etc.
V. 8. Do not rejoice, my enemy, that I am down.
That is to say, you Babylon, who will boast because of my oppression, who will mock me, stop boasting because I will boast again; do not think that it is completely over me.
I will come up again.
I will regain the former strength, and even in the meantime, while I will not yet boast, the Lord is my salvation when I am in the midst of darkness, that is, in tribulations, in miserable captivity. For darkness in Scripture means tribulation and times of uncertainty. Thus it is said in the Psalm [Ps. 112:4]: 1) "The light arises for the pious in the darkness" etc.
V. 9. I will bear the Lord's wrath.
This whole passage is glorious and very full of godly heart movements. The wicked in tribulation can take the hand of the Lord.
1) In the Weimarschen in the margin: Ps. 97, 11. but in this passage the word teukbras is missing, which is the point here.
But the godly confess their sin and patiently bear the hand of the Lord, waiting for the certain salvation.
That I may see my delight in His grace (Ut videam justitiam ejus).
This means that I delight in his righteousness, "that I may see my delight in it. The same way of speaking has been above. So it is also in the 91st Psalm, v. 8: "Thou castest thine eyes to see thy pleasure, and behold how it is recompensed unto the wicked." Likewise in the 54th Psalm, v. 9: "That mine eye should behold the pleasure of mine enemies." The same way of speaking is in what follows:
V. 10. 1) My eyes will see.
That is, I will delight when I see them because I will see what I have wanted.
That it will then be trampled like dung in the alley.
For Babylon and that whole kingdom was finally disturbed by the king of Persia etc. as history teaches. Thus, by His judgment, God puts to shame the wicked, who for a time seem to flourish and reign alone, and punishes sin by sin etc.
V. 11 At that time your walls will be built.
This is fulfilled when Cyrus, the king of the Persians, after the Babylonians were defeated, made it free for the Jews, who were held captive at that time, to return to Jerusalem, as the history of Ezra tells. And at that time, after they had returned, they rebuilt the temple and the ancient remains.
And God's word (lex) far out.
The Hebrew word [XX] does not denote the law of Moses, but a statute or ordinance. This is how it is written in the 2nd Psalm, v. 6. f.:
1) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
"I will preach from such a way: Upon my holy mountain Zion" etc. And Proverbs 8:27: "Since he composed (lege) the deep with his purpose," that is, set measure and order. So here: "And God's word shall go forth", (longabitur statutum) that is, the order and statute, that yoke of the Assyrians will fall away, you will become free, the Assyrian will no longer have the right to make decrees over you, because the Lord will free you, who will dissolve the girdle of kings, as it is said in Job [Cap. 12, 18.], that is, well-ordered kingdoms on which the kings rely etc.
V. 12: And in that day shall they come unto thee from Assyria, and from the strong cities unto thee; from the strong cities unto the waters, 2) from sea to sea, from mountain to mountain.
This, I believe, is the most correct reading according to the Hebrew. But it is Hebrew idioms, as we say: "from one city to another", that is, I will revive Jerusalem, I will restore the temple, several peoples from different nations will come together there; the glory of the temple will be great. For greater glory has been given to the later temple than to the first, as we said more abundantly above. Thus he comforts the godly, that they may give glory to God, that he is true, that the Lord will preserve the kingdom of David forever, though they suffer captivity for a time.
V. 13 For the land will be desolate.
This can be understood in two ways, namely that one refers it to the Assyrians. I do not like this understanding, but I connect it with the promise in this way: Though so great a multitude of nations shall come to Jerusalem, your glory shall be great, but in the meantime let your captivity be to you, because your sins have merited the same. Your land will be desolate, but afterward it will be restored.
2) The words: "to the water", which also plead in the Zwickau manuscript, are omitted here.
V. 14: But you feed your people.
I simply refer this to the kingdom of Christ. For he describes here the new kingdom, for the sake of which everything happens in the old kingdom. We have spoken of this kingdom in detail above. "Feed," that is, be thou shepherd.
With your staff.
That is, with the gospel, with which you will satisfy your sheep and make them fat. So he also calls it a staff in the 110th Psalm, v. 2. "The Lord will send the scepter of thy kingdom out of Zion."
They both live alone in the forest and in the field (in medio Carmeli).
Feed your people who dwell in the forest in the midst of Carmel. This is how the passage is to be construed; our Latin Bible has no proper context. He remains with the simile of the herd and the shepherd. For he compares to a herd (which the shepherds are used to lead to pasture) the people of the Jews, who are scattered everywhere among the godless Gentiles. Those who hope only in God do not cling to any human protection, have no leader or protector in the world on whom they rely. Take care of them, he says, you Lord, you shepherd Christ. Feed them with your word and lead them back, and be their guide, for you have promised etc. "In the midst of Carmel." This mountain is greatly praised for its fruitfulness, both in the sacred Scriptures and in the writings of the Gentiles. But, as it seems, the prophet is completely contrary to himself here, since he says that this shepherd will feed the flock in the forest, and immediately states that it shall be fed in the midst of Carmel. Therefore, this contradiction obviously forces us to refer all this to the spiritual kingdom, not to the bodily or external one. Hence the opinion is: Feed thy people in the forest, that is, in the perilousness of the world, where they are exposed to the attacks of wild beasts, where the devil pursues them at every hour, seeking to devour them like a roaring lion, as Peter [1 Ep. 5, 8.) says. And "in the midst of
Carmel", that is, in the fullness of the promises of the Gospel, by which they are encouraged and made fat.
Let them feed in Bashan and Gilead as of old.
These [Bashan and Gilead) were in the kingdom of Israel, and have never been brought back from captivity, nor has all Israel been brought back. Therefore, it must be admitted that he is talking about spiritual pasture through the word. And by this I have been led to interpret all these things of the kingdom of Christ through the gospel.
V. 15. 1) I will make them see miracles.
After the manner of the prophets he changes the person. He says that he will perform new miracles, as he did when he led them out of the captivity of Egypt. This, like the preceding, cannot be understood of the new restoration of the external kingdom, but is to be understood of the spiritual kingdom.
V. 16: That the Gentiles may see, and all their mighty men be ashamed.
So great will be the course of the gospel and of this new kingdom, so far will it extend that it will reach even the Gentiles, who will see the miracles of Christ and the apostles; they will see such great power of the Spirit in them that they will be ashamed, and easily desist from trusting in the carnal arm any longer. They will no longer boast of their powers, not of their carnal righteousness in which they trusted, but will boast that they know me, Ier. 9, 24.
And cover their ears.
That is, they will no longer exalt their righteousness. After they have heard the true righteousness of Christ, all their own will be impure to them. They will only want to hear Christ.
V. 17. they shall lick dust like serpents, and tremble like the worms of the earth in
1) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
their holes; they will fear the Lord our God and be terrified of you.
It is an enormous error in our Latin Bible that it reads here: Dominum Deum nostrum non desiderabun. But all this is said of the fruit of the word preached among the Gentiles, what kind of fruit the Gentiles will bear after they have heard the gospel. These are images that indicate that the Gentiles will humble themselves and think less of themselves after they hear the gospel. It is an exceedingly strong indication of a humble confession, when after the revelation of the gospel we condemn all that is ours, [admitting that] there is no righteousness, wisdom, powers, and all that the flesh is able to do, when it is compared with the glorious and delicious righteousness of Christ. And this is what he says here: "like the worms of the earth they will tremble in their holes," that is, they will think very little of themselves in comparison with the exceeding great glory of Christ, therefore they will go out of their hiding-places in dismay and in the greatest haste (as worms are wont to flee most quickly from the presence of men), that is, out of their righteousness, their statutes, on which they relied before, and in which they endured, and will rejoice and fear at the righteousness of Christ. All that is theirs they will regard as nothing, but all that is Christ's they will marvel at and receive.
V. 181) Who forgives sin.
Not everyone will believe in the gospel, but only those who are chosen from eternity. From these you will take away the sins, because by their works, their righteousness, their ceremonies, they will take away the same sins.
1) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
cannot take away. No works will be able to save them, but this will be their salvation, that you take away their sins, since you alone are the true God who can take them away.
Who does not keep his wrath forever.
He will not hold fast to His anger, but will forgive, since it is His good pleasure to have mercy. These are exceedingly rich promises and consolations, through which the heart can take courage in any affliction, no matter how great, since it knows that God is a Father of mercy, who does not want the sinner to die, but to live, as Ezekiel Cap. 33, 11. who wants to forgive sins etc., as he adds here:
V. 19. 2) And cast all our sins into the depths of the sea.
That is, he will remove them far from us so that they can never again trouble our conscience. He will give us peace of conscience and a completely free conscience, since peace follows the forgiveness of sins, where the heart feels the sweetness of divine goodness, since sin is forgiven etc.
V. 20. You will be faithful to Jacob and gracious to Abraham.
That is, you will fulfill what you promised the fathers, namely the blessing and the good news of eternal bliss. Thus, Scripture everywhere excludes all our merit. That is why God gives grace, that is why He forgives sins, that is why He makes us blessed, because He has promised it, not because we have earned it etc.
To Christ be praise and glory.
Wittenberg, April 7, 1525.
2) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.