This third chapter prophesies 1) about the city of Jerusalem and the people of God, who lived in Jerusalem after the return from the captivity, after the rulers, the priests and the scribes were again appointed, which are often mentioned in the Gospel. Thus, I believe (not like others) that he is describing the condition of the people who returned to Jerusalem from the Babylonian captivity, who had again ordered the worship and sacrifices as the Lord had commanded through Moses. Then the prophet again threatens the whole earth with desolation, after first describing, as I said, the godless people to whom Christ would come. For he deals with this immediately in the beginning of this chapter. For even then, namely when Christ came, there were again many ungodly people who deserved the desolation. The prophet sees all this here as it were present. For this is the course of the world, which, as it lasted from the beginning of the world, will last to the end, that when the word of God is made known by the grace of God, there are people who despise and persecute it, just as it happened before the Babylonian captivity. But because the Lord was a righteous judge, he could not suffer the contempt of his word without avenging it. He punished them with lamentable captivity.
Then, after they were brought back from captivity and the pure word was reinstated together with the right worship, there was again no lack of false prophets who perverted the true word and turned the people away from the right godliness to godlessness, as all the histories of the gospel indicate. Therefore, it finally happened that the whole nation was completely destroyed and miserably rejected by the judgment of the Lord.
We experience the same thing. We have the Word of God clearly and abundantly. Many will
1) Handwriting: proxfüktavit; Wittenberg xroxüstat. We have assumed the latter.
others despise and persecute it, which the wrath of God awaits. For it is impossible that the Lord should not avenge the contempt of His word. Therefore, we can proclaim with the utmost certainty that a great calamity will come upon the despisers of the Word. For here we cannot fail. Then, when the pure word is restored, there will never be a lack of people who will adulterate the word and this pure wine, until Christ puts an end to this evil and destroys all. And this is what I wanted to say as a preface to this chapter.
V. i. Woe to the vile, foul, tyrannical city! 2)
Just by this word, when he calls the city a redeemed one (redemptam), he indicates almost the entire content of this chapter, as if he wanted to say: You have been brought back from captivity and reinstated by the Lord to your old dignity, but still you do not cease to provoke God again by ungodliness and unbelief. For he starts from the highest vices, which are the roots and sources of all outward shameful deeds. For this is what God hates above all, and by it we provoke God, namely when we attribute righteousness to our powers and works, when we contend with God and want to be righteous, and do not suffer these abominations of ours to be condemned, but persist in defending them against the word of God etc.
"The dove." Why he called Jerusalem a dove, we must guess. So it is also said in the Song of Solomon, Cap. 6, 8: "One is my dove." So here he calls Jerusalem the dove of the Lord, that is, the beloved one that he had chosen, as Isaiah [Cap. 1, 21.] calls it "the pious city." But secretly the prophet indicates that the Holy Spirit is in Jerusalem, because the Holy Spirit is the dove of God etc.
2) Vulgate: Va6 xrovoeatrix, 6t rkUerupta civitas, Loluuava.
V. 2. She will not obey nor be chastened.
All verba must be read in the indicative presentis, then the sense will be clearer. But here he enumerates the sins with which she will challenge the Lord, as if to say: she does not hear the voice of the Lord, she does not obey the voice of the Lord or the word of God. Immediately after the Babylonian captivity, they despised the true prophets; the Pharisees, the Sadducees, and other such sects forced their way in, by which the people were divided and corrupted with false opinions. Therefore, the word of God was not respected etc.
She does not want to be chastised.
That is, she does not want to be punished, does not want her own to be condemned, as I said shortly before. For so much is lacking in it that she abandons her ways, that she rather thinks that hers alone is godliness and the right worship. "Therefore let her not say."
She does not want to trust in the Lord.
That is, it teaches the righteousness of the flesh, not the faith that teaches to trust in and fear God.
Nor hold to their God.
One comes to God by knowledge, that is, by faith and not by works, not by hands or feet, but by constant perseverance and daily practice, which Paul calls "by faith into faith," from one power to another, from one glory of the Lord to another, until we become perfect men, as it says in the letter to the Ephesians [Cap. 4:3].
V. 3. her princes found lions roaring under her.
He does not speak of the kings [, but of the rulers] 4) As if to say: kings.
They will no longer have but violent tyrants who will devour all their possessions. Thus they will be inflamed with greed, possessed by extraordinary avarice, so that they make their goods bigger. For this is the first fruit of godlessness, avarice, which is followed by violence, indulgence, fornication, idleness etc.
And their judges wolves in the evening.
The same word we had above in Habakkuk Cap. 1, 8: "They are swifter than the wolves of the evening", where I said that it should have been translated: "than the wolves of the wilderness". But I am still uncertain in these two passages which of the two is more correct. Here he calls them evening wolves, and he also shows by this contrast, since he says: "who leave nothing over until the morning," that it must be translated in this way. Therefore the opinion is: So great is the rage of the judges, so great their avarice, that they are insatiable. For such great greed has taken hold of them that they would devour the whole nation at once, all the wealth and goods of the people.
V. 4. Their prophets are frivolous (vesani).
In German I would give it this way, "They are loose jacks, frivolous." The Septuagint have translated it quite daintily:
swho let himself be driven by the wind. The same word is I Mos. 49, 4.: "He went along lightly like water." Paul has rendered it quite actually, when he says [Eph. 4, I4.]: "Do not be swayed and swayed by all kinds of wind of doctrine", [by this he means people,] who let themselves be turned everywhere by a slight impulse of the heart, just as poured out water flows apart without all order. It is the same word Jer. 23, 32, where the Latin interpreter shows his fullness of words in his own way by different translations: "They deceive my people with their lies and with their miracles. This, of course, agrees perfectly with the expression [vesanus] by which the Latin interpreter has translated the same word here. For how does the word "reckless" (vesanus) agree with the word "miracle"? Therefore, in Jeremiah he would have translated more correctly thus: "and with their
loose divisions", that is, "with their babbling". So the same word is in the Book of Judges [Cap. 11, 3.], since the Scripture writes that to Jephthah "loose people" [Vulg: viros
inopes et latrocinantes - poor and predatory men], that is, "careless", who do not act seriously on a matter. So I translate here also: "Their prophets are careless", that is, heedless, who consider nothing well, act nothing seriously, who babble everything in the sermon that comes into their mouths, who do not pay attention to the great meaning of God's word. They think it is something human etc., as he also adds:
And despisers.
Instead of viri infideles it should be more correct: "despisers" who consider the word worthless, who do not take God's word into consideration. I have translated it in the Psalm [Ps. 25, 3. 119, 158J in German by "Verächter".
Their priests desecrate the sanctuary.
That is, the holy things, they treated the holy things in an unseemly manner. For this is desecrating holy things when we ascribe righteousness to them, when we teach people to trust in holy things as they taught trust in works, and so desecrated the temple and the sacrifices that God had not ordained for it etc.
And interpret the law sacrilegiously.
That is, they have perverted the law, they have interpreted it carnally, not spiritually as it should be interpreted. For it is spiritual, as the apostle says [Rom. 7:14]. Thus they profaned the sanctuary and the law by relying on the services, sacrifices and works required by the law. It is not that they did not keep the law, nor that they despised the temple and other holy things, as our interpreter might think, who is a works saint 1).
V. 5 But the Lord, who is among them, teaches rightly and does no evil.
1) Weimarsche: juäieiarius instead of: justieiarlus.
He speaks of the Savior Christ JEsu, who teaches the right righteousness, not like them. For at that time, when Christ came, again the highest ungodliness prevailed, therefore he sat down against their ungodliness etc.
He lets all the mornings teach his rights publicly.
Mane, mane, that is, very quickly and soon. For thus the prophets are wont to use the word mane searly, as in the Psalm [Ps. 46:6.], "God help her early." The prophet's opinion, therefore, is: however much ungodliness may prevail when Christ the righteous comes, however much the Pharisees may blaspheme against the true righteousness which he will teach, and despise it as a vain thing, yet it will stand. He will bring forth his righteousness as a light; his cause will remain unharmed against the ungodly. For it will do them no good to want it suppressed: he will break through, he will advance his cause to the highest glory. It follows:
But the bad people don't want to learn shame.
That is. He will not approve of the shameful injustice of others, which another's people want to talk about. Thus it is said in the first Psalm, v. 6: "For the Lord knows the way of the righteous," that is, he approves the way of the righteous, it pleases him. And Christ will say to the ungodly [Matt. 25:12], "I know not yours." In short, he will let the others pass away in their ungodly nature, he will have no fellowship with the rejected ungodly nature.
V. 6. Therefore I will cut off these people and lay waste their castles.
Here is a new section that is different from the previous one. For in this chapter the prophet has begun to address his prophecy to the people who had been brought back from Babylon, which we have explained above. Now he starts to tell them about the past benefits they received from the Lord, as if he wanted to say: I brought you back from the Babylonian captivity, I asked for your blessings.
I have led you out of Egypt with a strong hand and drowned Pharaoh with all his people, I have destroyed and overthrown the extremely powerful empires of the Babylonians and Assyrians, and yet you forget everything, everything becomes something old with you, you never once remember these miracles that have been done for you. For it happens, not only in human, but also in holy things, that nothing becomes obsolete faster than the gratitude and the memory of received benefits. So also in spiritual things we soon forget everything that has been granted to us through the grace of Christ. For how many people today remember from how great burdens and bonds of the pope we have been snatched by the gospel of Christ, which is now revealed to us? The same thing the prophet here impresses upon the Jews. "Their castles" (anguli earum1 ) - their cornerstones), that is, the princes or heads. That is, I have destroyed the principalities in these nations; the kings with the princes I have destroyed. For so the scripture uses to call the princes or the heads of the kingdoms, sometimes it calls them heads, sometimes the hair, elsewhere the beard, mountains, elsewhere cornerstones etc.
And empty their alleys.
As if he wanted to say: Now their kingdoms are very populous, young men and girls run in heaps to and fro on the streets. But I will take them all away, I will make them a wasteland, I will take away the multitude of the inhabitants.
V. 7 I said to you, "Fear me and be disciplined.
That is, I sent you prophets who preached to you, who taught you that you should fear me, that you should be chastened, that is, that through the remembrance of those works and miracles which I did for you, you should learn to fear me, lest you do similar things to those which I did before, lest I again be-
1) Instead of 6orum in our template, read earuru as it refers to mutes.
would be compelled to destroy your dwellings, as I destroyed them before, when you were carried away into captivity. For if thou shalt not learn fear and discipline, I will not spare thy dwelling; as then he spared it not, 2) for the Romans have most miserably disturbed all etc. And in these few words the prophet has understood everything that the life of a true Christian holds. For the fear of God brings with it faith, humility of heart, that we hold in honor the majesty of the Lord. Discipline includes the outward life, that we may walk in honorable manners, without offense to the brethren, one with the other, living demurely, one serving the other by love. This is the summa and the goal of all the prophets and all the Scriptures.
But they are diligent to practice all kinds of wickedness.
As if to say, "As much as the prophets taught fear, they did it all in vain. For nevertheless you continue to be ungodly, you persist in the ungodliness that you inherited from the fathers, and you do this with great zeal, with great effort. For "early" 3) means, as I also reminded you shortly before, quickly and hastily. Ps. 78, 34: "And taught themselves early to God," that is, they came hastily to propitiate the Lord, to find grace etc. So here: they rose up early and were eager to practice all wickedness, that is, they not only did not listen to the prophets who warned them, who taught the fear of God and discipline, but they were also zealous and busy to increase their ungodliness, to corrupt the faith and the outward life, since those who deny the faith are also unfit for all good works, as Paul says [Titus 1:16]. For we are of such a nature that we are more eager for ungodliness than for godliness. And Christ says [Luc. 16:8] that the children of this world are wiser in their generation than the children of light.
2) Handwriting: pepereit; Wittenberger: anten pexerei.
3) Instead of "diligent" in our Bible, the Vulgate says: äilueuto surMntes - by looking in the twilight.
But in the 14th Psalm, v. 1, there are almost the same words as here: "They are no good, and are an abomination with their nature."
V. 8. Therefore, says the Lord, you must wait for me again, until I make myself ready in his time (ad diem resurrectionis meae in futurum).
That is, because they do not care for the word of God, because I exhort in vain through the prophets, even though they have already returned from captivity, and have felt my wrath more than enough, therefore I am weary of them. I will go through the world and look for another people, but I will reject you. "I will make an end of you." It will happen in a short time that the kingdom will be taken from you and given to the Gentiles who bear its fruits etc. [Matth. 21, 43.] I will provoke you on a foolish people, which is not a people etc. [Deut. 32, 21.), as it is written in Genesis 1). And this will happen "at the time when I arise". I do not dislike the view, but I accept it, that one interprets this passage from the resurrection of Christ, as if he wanted to say: By the power of my resurrection, when I will have risen from death, it will happen that a new people will arise. But the other view is that this rising (surrectio) of the Lord is taken, as the Scriptures take it, for avenging and preparing against the enemy. Thus it is written in the Psalm [Ps. 44, 24.], "Awake, O Lord, why sleepest thou?" and the opinion is, I will reject thee, I will choose me a new nation, when I shall make myself out, that is, by the Romans, whom I will send against thee, that they may destroy thee, and lay waste all that is thine. So it is also said in Moses [Ex. 33:5], "I will come upon thee once suddenly, and will destroy thee" from all the face of the earth. Next, that he says in futurum, Jerome struggled over this extraordinarily, but the very simple opinion is this: de caetero [by the way], when I set out once more.
1) "in Mose" by us, in agreement with the Zwickau and the HallWen manuscript, instead of: in OMa, which is found in the Weimar one.
I will also do the right thing, and gather the nations together, and bring the kingdoms in multitude.
The prophet declares of which rising he speaks, namely, of the raising of Christ, as I have said that I like this opinion before the other. For after Christ was raised again, he ascended into heaven, and became the judge of the whole world, as it is said in the Psalm [Ps. 110:6.], "He shall judge among the Gentiles." Therefore, "the judging" here does not mean both the execution of wrath and the office and power to rule, as it is in many places in the Psalms. But this gathering of the kingdoms and the Gentiles was done through the word of the gospel, which was spread throughout the whole world.
To pour out my wrath on them, yes, all the wrath of my fury.
The apostle Paul interpreted this with round words in his letter to the Romans, Cap. 1, 18: "God's wrath from heaven is revealed against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men" etc. For the voice of the gospel is this [Matth. 3, 2. 4, 17.], "Repent, the kingdom of heaven is at hand." And Christ says Luc. 24:47, "Repentance had to be preached in his name." For the gospel first proclaims the flood of the Lord's wrath and fury, as he says here, "My wrath will I pour upon them, yea, all the fury of my wrath. "etc. For he thus says [Marc. 16, 16.], "He that believeth not shall be damned," likewise [John 3, 18.], "He that believeth not is already judged."
V. 9. Then I will preach differently to the nations with friendly lips (labium purum).
Thus the prophet turns all his words so that we cannot doubt that all this must be understood from the Gospel.
[That they may all call upon the name of the Lord.]
Thus he describes here "the friendly lips" as the invocation of the name of the Lord and the unanimous worship. Therefore, the opinion is: I want these people who practice wickedness, who do not use the word GO1-.
But I will prepare for myself a holy people, and I will give them a pure mouth, which shall teach my word aright, and call upon my name. And therefore he says: I will make (or change) it differently, as if he wanted to say: Your lips are unclean, as it says in Isaiah Cap. 6, 5. Therefore I will give to the nations other lips that are pure; they shall teach the word of faith, which is pure and unpolluted, and shall receive very abundant fruit thereof. For they shall call upon my name, which they could not otherwise do, if they taught not with pure lips, that is, the pure gospel. For where works and reliance on works are mixed into the teaching of faith, they cannot call upon the name of the Lord, for (Rom. 10:14.] "How shall they call upon Him in whom they believe not?"
And serve him with one accord (humero uno).
Humero uno, that is, in unity and with one accord. They will not limp on both sides, as Elijah says 1 Kings 18:21: "How long will you limp on both sides?" All will be of one mind.
V. 10: They will bring me my worshippers, namely the scattered ones from beyond the water in the land of the Moors, as a gift.
He indicates the fruit of the gospel, namely that this people of his will be holy and pure of lip, not only among the neighboring nations, but also among the most distant peoples. For there will be worshippers on the other side of the river in the temple, not only in Jerusalem. For their sound has gone out into all the earth [Rom. 10, 18. Ps. 19, 5.]. And Christ says [Jn. 4:21, 23], "The time is coming, and is already now, that ye shall worship neither in this mountain, nor in Jerusalem: but the true worshippers shall worship in spirit and in truth." Likewise, my people scattered everywhere will bring me gifts, not only in the temple at Jerusalem. So even everything will become new, a new way of praying, of sacrificing, and a new people. This is certainly an excellent passage, which teaches the abdication of the law in very clear words. For
The law forbids sacrificing and praying elsewhere than in the special and certain place, namely in the temple at Jerusalem. But the Christians offer spiritual sacrifices daily to God, as Paul says, Rom. 12, 1: "Offer your bodies for sacrifice, which is holy" etc. But he calls them "the scattered ones." So also Peter writes his [first] epistle [Cap. 1, 1.) to the elect strangers who are scattered s "to and fro") in Galatia etc. For the Christians are scattered over the whole world; they do not come together in one place as the Jews had to come together.
V.11. At that time you will no longer be ashamed of everything you have done.
That is, I will purify my people for myself, I will have true saints, there will be no hypocrisy among them, nor the impurity of ungodly 1) teachings that stain souls, but I will sanctify them all by giving the Holy Spirit into their hearts as he appends and interprets:
For I will do the proud saints from you.
As if to say: Until now you have always been reproached for having false teachers with unclean lips, master, after whom your ears itch; always the prophets have punished you because of your proud saints, that is, who praised the righteousness of the flesh and works. But I will do it from you, for I teach the opposite, namely that one must completely despair of the powers, wisdom and righteousness of the flesh; all men are guilty of damnation, there is nothing of which the flesh can boast from itself, as the apostle Rom. 3, 27. says: "Where then is the glory? It is out. "etc. Likewise [v. 19]: "That all mouths might be stopped up, and that all the world might be indebted to God," so that he who wants to boast might boast in the Lord, Jer. 9, 24.
V. 12. 2) I will leave in you a poor little people.
That is, the apostles and a few remnants in Israel. The most powerful and wise, the
1) Instead of impuraruln, which Wittenberg rightly omitted, we have adopted imxiarurn.
2) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
The most select part of the people, as the priests and rulers, will perish. But the poor and lowly people I will leave among you, who will hope in the name of the Lord. With few but very fitting words he describes the church of Christ, namely that it is a poor people, scanty and oppressed, who call upon the Lord and hope in the Lord. This is the highest righteousness and the highest worship.
V. 13: The rest of Israel will do no evil.
It indicates the virtues or powers and the effect of faith. So also John 1 Joh. 3, 9. says: "Whoever is born of God does not sin, for his seed abides with him and cannot sin, because he is born of God." But we are born of God through faith, John 1:12, 13.
Nor speak falsely, and you will not find a fraudulent tongue in their mouth.
"A deceitful tongue," that is, one that seduces souls under a good pretense, that promises something other than what it can deliver. For it teaches and promises righteousness and delivers man to death etc.
But they shall feed and rest without all fear.
They shall be shepherded, namely by the word of the Gospel. "They shall rest," namely in peace, in a good conscience. They shall have a quiet conscience before God, so that nothing can frighten them. Rom. 5, 1. says: "Now that we have been justified by faith, we have peace with God," etc., and Cap. 8, 31.: "If God is for us, who can be against us?" For this is the glory of Christ's kingdom, that we may rejoice and be at peace through Christ, who has reconciled us to God. Not as if there will be no cross left, not as if the world and the devil will not pursue us, but the conscience is fortified and secure against all this, so that it does not care about any of this. And this is the work of God's power in us, as the apostle Paul says.
V. 14. Rejoice, you daughter of Zion!
After Christ's kingdom has been described, the prophet now wishes Israel and the daughter of Zion happiness in all these things that follow, that is, the believers that such a kingdom has been granted to them, just as Paul also wishes the Romans happiness in the knowledge of Christ, Rom. 1:8: "I thank my God through Jesus Christ for all your sakes. "Rejoice," that is, give thanks, be glad in the Lord.
Shout, Israel!
Also from this it is very clear that the prophet does not speak of the temporal kingdom, since he introduces Israel jubilantly, since, as is clear from Hosea, Israel was never brought back or restored after the captivity. Therefore, he clearly indicates the kingdom of grace through Christ, which has been spread exceedingly far into the whole world and has gathered all nations and kingdoms, as he said above, both from the Jews and from the Gentiles.
V. 15 For the Lord has taken away your punishment.
In this speech [abstulit Dominus judicium tuum] is an ambiguity. The same way of speaking is in Job [Cap. 27, 2. Vulg.]: "The Lord has taken away my judgment", that is, he does not pronounce justice for me, he has not allowed a judgment in "my" favor. But here the opinion is completely opposite, and here the prophet did not use the word "judgment" differently than Paul 1 Cor. 11, 31: "For if we judged ourselves, we would not be judged by the Lord," that is, if we punished ourselves. Likewise Rom. 13:2: "But they that resist shall receive judgment of themselves." So here: The Lord has taken away your judgment, that is, He no longer wants to punish you, He no longer wants to punish you, but loves you as a beloved daughter, You now have God as an exceedingly loving Father, no longer as a judge who wants to frighten your conscience through the law. And this is what the prophet calls "judgment", that is, the wrath of God threatened to us by the law; namely, that be taken away.
And your enemies averted.
Namely, so that they can no longer harm you, no matter how much they invade you, no matter how much they rage against you. For there will be no lack of people who want to see you completely destroyed, but be confident: The Lord is the one who makes it so that you do not have to be afraid, so that you can rest and not be frightened. So also the prophet says [Ps. 118:18], "The Lord chasteneth me, but giveth me not unto death." And Ps. 105,1) 14th: "He let no man harm them."
The Lord, the King of Israel, is with you.
That is, he, the right HER, is now your king and in the midst of you, now you no longer have men ruling over you, but the HER himself. Joh. 14, 23.: "We will come to him and make our abode with him." For God is present in the hearts of believers, whom He calls His temple etc.
That you must no longer fear any misfortune.
This is what he said above about the safety and turning away of enemies. It is different to suffer a calamity than to fear a calamity, just as it is different to die than to see or taste death, as Christ says in John [Cap. 8, 51]. Thus the law is dead to us, having been stripped of its power and sting, so that it can no longer terrify us, so that it no longer has the right to vilify us. So also death, although it attacks the righteous, still cannot frighten him, "s cannot exercise its tyranny against him and on him. Therefore, death is more properly for him only a sleep. Thus the prophet says here also of the fear of enemies, as it is also said in the Psalm [Ps. 64, 2. Vulg.], "Deliver my soul from the fear of the enemy." For so far does a calamity hurt as one feels it. The wicked, however, are saddened and depressed by misfortune; the fear of misfortune seizes them, that is, inwardly in their conscience they are terrified by death and sin; because they do not feel the fear of the enemy.
1) In our prelims: xsulm. 103.
are fortified by the strength of God, that peace and assurance of faith is not in their hearts etc.
At that time they will say to Jerusalem, "Do not be afraid.
As it is said in the Psalm [Ps. 118, 15.]: "One sings with joy of victory in the tents of the righteous", as if the prophet wanted to say: This alone you will hear, this alone will be preached to you: Do not be afraid, daughter of Zion, for you have God your King with you. Whom, therefore, would you fear? "If God is for us, who can be against us?" [Rom.8, 31.] And so, with the greatest consolations, he nevertheless secretly indicates that cross and hostile adversaries will be there, but that also the power of the Spirit will be there, by which they shall be strengthened, lest they be broken by calamity, lest they be defeated, in short, lest they fear the enemies. For Satan never ceases to attack the saints, and however much the saints resist, they are sometimes overcome by weariness and the long duration, as some among the Fathers have said. For Satan always perseveres tirelessly, and carries on what he has undertaken. Therefore it is added:
And to Zion, let not thine hands be loosed.
That is, persevere, do not desist, "stop" etc.
V. 17.2) For the Lord your God is with you, a strong Savior. He will rejoice over you.
All this indicates that the consciences will experience this fatherly kindness of the Lord, their King. And this is the opinion: You will feel joy, you will realize in your conscience that the Lord wants you well, that he is present with you as a kind father in all things. For then it is said that the Lord rejoices over us because he makes us feel his favor, his kindness. He has described the nature of the kingdom of Christ in the most appropriate and clear way. For so it is with the godly that he allows them to be attacked.
2) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
that they are troubled in many ways and afflicted with many evils, so that they may be conformed to their King, but he adds this sense of joy, this security of heart, that everything becomes sweet, that nothing can separate them from the love of God, Rom. 8, 38. f.
And be kind to you(Silebit in dilectione sua).
He will be silent in his love, not in yours, as we read [in the Vulgate], that is, he will make you silent, so that in the innermost part of your heart there will be the quietest peace and calm silence. There will not be roaring and shouting, "as in the hearts of the wicked when they are beset by adversity, lacking this security of heart.
And will be happy above you with sound.
That is, you will feel that He wants you well, and this feeling of God's goodness and kindness will cause you to be joyful with praise. Daily you will give thanks, praise and rejoice in God your Savior.
V. 18: I will take away those who were troubled by the statutes.
Thus [namely, nugas, qui a lege recesserant, congregabo,] Jerome translated, and he has his reasons, by which he was guided, to translate thus, since he thought that nugas was a Latin word, which was taken from the Hebrew language, since this is the mother of all other languages. But it is strange to me that God has so grossly lacked such great people, as Jerome, such a great man, has also so grossly lacked in a grammatical matter. For this is not the Hebrew word which he wants, but the right word is Sodann, where we read: qui a lege recesserant, the Hebrew word actually means a certain time, as is quite clear from many other passages of Scripture. Gen. 1, 14: "And give times", where completely the same word is. And in the Psalm [Ps. 104, 19]: "You make the moon to divide the year according to it" (in tempora). And in the book of Judges [Cap. 20, 38.]: We will give you a sign or a certain time. And in the Psalms it is translated by
Feast days, as also with us the Michaelistag is, the Walpurgistag and the day of the birth of Christ, and I do not know which else. Therefore, according to the Hebrew, I translate thus: Those oppressed by sorrow I will gather temporally (or when the time is there), who are of you. And the opinion is: The kingdom of Christ will be such that it will gather those who are oppressed by sorrow for a time, that is, those who have fallen into some sin out of weakness. Thus Paul says in the Epistle to the Galatians [Cap. 6, 1]: "If any man be overtaken in any fault, restore him with a gentle spirit, ye that are spiritual" etc. In short, Christ bears those who are weak in faith and life to be punished, reminded, and taken up until they increase. Therefore, Christ's motherly mercy is indicated in this passage, that he cherishes and carries us no differently than a mother keeps her little child and caresses it. Thus says Isaiah cap. 49:15: "Can a woman forget her little child, and not have compassion on the son of her womb? Though she forget him, yet will I not forget thee." Likewise Cap. 46, 3. f.: "You who are carried by me in the womb and lie with me in the mother. Yes, I will carry you until you are old and gray. I will do it, I will lift and carry and save." Namely, this leniency of Christ makes it so that neither weakness in faith nor in life can harm us, if only we keep to the loud word, if only we do not fall out of this bosom of God in which He carries us. If this happens [ that we remain in the word], the kind Father easily closes his eyes to all "other" sins.
What statutes were their burden, from which they had shame.
Because the gospel is completely pure, it teaches completely pure faith and righteous love for one's neighbor, the highest morality and purity. Therefore, reason immediately censures the "preachers" of the word for their "life" and "morals" if it sees that they do not agree in all respects with the completely pure doctrine that they "preach.
For they judge their lives according to their doctrine, and so they also despise the doctrine. Today, the enemies of the gospel counter that they always hear the gospel from us, but see nothing gospel; they say that we live differently than we teach. These may be mindful of what man is, namely a being endowed with reason, who is commanded by God to rule over all creatures, Gen. 1:28. But look at a child, how in him there is nothing at all to be seen of such a powerful ruler, since he is the most miserable of all living creatures, which cannot help itself at all. It depends only on foreign help, otherwise it would have to perish. Admittedly, such a child would like to rule over all creatures and living beings, which lies in the cradle and can do nothing but cry, as Pliny says much about it. But nevertheless the dominion over all creatures still remains to him; although it is not before the eyes, it is still to be hoped for. For for this purpose the child is nourished, for this purpose it is nurtured and cared for, so that it may finally, when it gains strength, seize this dominion of its own when it grows up. The same happens with all creatures, with trees, with seeds, with plants, with fruits. Because this is necessary in the least things, it must happen much more in the highest and divine things, that we grow from day to day by faith in faith, until we become great and meet the Lord as perfect men, as the apostle says in the letter to the Ephesians Cap. 4, 14. In the meantime, however, God, our kind Father, overlooks our weakness and easily forgives everything, so that we have no shame from it, if we only keep the word unharmed and pure, if we only remain in the body and the bosom of God, in which He always carries us etc.
V.19. Behold, I will make terms with all those who offend you at the same time.
In Hebrew, ecce ego interficiam] Ecce ego faciam. It is a Mosaic word, because this is how Moses used to speak: He will make a burnt offering for sin, that is, he will sacrifice it or kill it. Virgil 1) also said: Cum faciam vitula pro fru-.
1) Ecloge III v 77.
gibus [when I will sacrifice a calf for the fruits) etc. The same opinion has been correctly rendered by our interpreter, as if to say: God allows the wicked to reign and triumph for a time, raging against the godly, until their iniquities become full; then he corrupts them irrevocably and takes vengeance on them.
And wants to help the limp.
This is almost taken from Micah Cap. 4, 7. But it means the people who were afflicted in many ways with various ills and tribulations.
And collect the outcasts.
Namely, through the Word.
And will make them praise and honor in all lands where they are despised.
That is, when they have glorified me by the cross, when they shall suffer my hand, then shall the time come that their right shall again be brought to light [Ps. 37:6.], it shall come to pass that they shall again be made glorious. Thus says Christ [Matt. 10:32.], "Whosoever shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father." Thus the apostles and the martyrs are finally set in honor before God and the whole world, whom the world had previously considered the most despised of men, as Paul also says [2 Cor. 4, 13.), for the sweepings of the world etc. Now their memory is in blessing, like that of John Hus and all who suffered persecution and death for God's glory. Their memory, which had long been obscured, is now reviving. But the memory of the wicked perishes; as they perish in the highest shame and disgrace, so they also remain in disgrace etc.
V. 20.2) For I will make you praise and honor among all nations.
With this peculiar saying he understands a general one, as if he wanted to say: You have suffered the Babylonian captivity, you are afflicted in many ways, but I will not only deliver you from this captivity, but also much more from death, the devil and hell. Amen.
To Christ be praise and glory.