Here he still urges them to convert and shows them the destruction of the neighboring Gentiles and the surrounding peoples. 3) We have seen in the previous chapter the prophetic threat of the future Babylonian captivity. After the threat of disaster, he exhorts them to repentance, so that they could only be hidden if they could not flee in the day.
3) We have not been able to extract a suitable meaning from the words in our draft: st pouit ob ooulos prus^idiri vieinurom gsntium st popuiorum udsuvuntiura, and therefore we have assumed: st xonit ob osulos psrditionsrn vicürmruin Asutmm st xopuloruru udsassutiurn.
of the Lord's wrath, lest they be destroyed from the foundation of the world unless they repent etc.
V. 1.4 ) Gather yourselves together and come here.
One expression is in Hebrew, "Gather, and come near." The One Word means to gather and draw near so that they may call upon and propitiate God in community etc. - Non amabilis, in whom mall has no pleasure etc., in German: "You hostile people", which you are worth of hate, never of love.
4) The Weimar edition has the first verse number only at v. 4.
V. 2 [Before the judgment (jussio) goes out (pariat.)].
Some Klügling has added visio [face] in the margin. It is neither Beseht jussio) nor face. It is a judgment, a pronouncement, a decision, Ps. 2, 6. f. [: "wise" (praeceptum)). According to this judgment the thing must be executed. The expression stands for ceremonial laws. "Before the judgment goes out," that is, before the judgment itself is put into effect. The judgment has already been passed on you; only the execution remains, which he calls the birth (partum) of the judgment. (It would have been good,) 1) if the Latin interpreter had translated thus: Before the judgment brings forth the day itself.
That you, like the chaff by day, pass by.
"The day," that is, the time when the Babylonian king will come. - "Like the chaff," that is, that is violently carried away by the whirlwind, Ps. 1:4. This is frequent in Scripture, as in Job [Cap. 21:18.], "They shall be like stubble." The punishments of the wicked are wont to be thus described. - "By day," that is, in the day appointed by Him; that is, ye shall be scattered, as "chaff" is scattered, as Ps. 1:4, by the king of Babylon. This is an exhortation that they should hasten repentance.
Before the day of the Lord's wrath comes upon you.
This [antequam non veniat] is a Hebrew way of speaking, but it is better to read in an affirmative way: "until", before the day of the Lord's wrath comes (before: the wrath). It is not enough that you have come together, make your coming together not in vain. When you have decided what must be decided, do what must be done. This is what you will do in your assembly etc.
V. 3. Seek the Lord, all you wretched of the land.
Mansueti, "wretched," the lowly, who are oppressed and nothing with the world, as Mary sang [Luc. 1, 48.); whom one does not even
1) Supplemented by us according to the Altenburg manuscript.
worthy of respect. Christ comes from an ass, for he is oppressed, lowly, without splendor, without glory, without riches. You who are lowly in the land of Judah, seek what is the Lord's, seek what is ordained in the law of God.
Which you hold his rights.
That is, there are still some of you left who are humble and do not seek high things, 2) come forth, admonish the others and draw them to your opinion.
Seek righteousness, seek humility.
He insists on humility before other virtues, because he knows that God looks at the lowly, that is, at the oppressed, the rejected. Take this to humble yourselves before God, you who have brought about captivity through hopefulness and injustice.
That you may be hidden in the day of the Lord's wrath.
"That you may be hidden", that is, that you may be protected. He continues as if the captivity is irrevocable. Pray that the Lord will protect you until the captivity is over. Thus Job says [Cap. 14:13], "Alas, that thou shouldest cover me and harden me." [Pray that you may obtain some mercy, that you may experience the captivity only as individuals.
V. 4. For Gaza must be abandoned.
He makes a conclusion of the strength. It was a miracle and always is that this small nation of the Philistines, five cities, could always resist the kingdom of Judah and Israel etc.; only once has it been defeated, so warlike and strong was it. The captivity will be so rampant that it will include not only you Jews but also the neighboring cities etc. There is a beautiful play on words in Hebrew etc. Gaza will be deserted, even Ascalon will be deserted etc.
in Arabic means strength, that is, the
2) Instead of saxltis in the text we have assumed saxiunt.
There will be no inhabitant, no remnant. So also Ascalon will become desolate.
Asdod is to be expelled at noon.
A wonderful addition: "at noon"; perhaps it is an allusion. They will drive it out in noon, push it out. Jerome: in open light. Not with cunning and deceit, but in open combat they will take it, not being able to resist it, but only resisting it. But I dare not do this.
And acaron be rooted out.
Akaron is extermination, as if to say: you will be exterminated in truth; as the name, so will the thing be.
V. 5: Woe to those who live by the sea (funiculum maris).
For I will destroy thee, that there shall be no inhabitant. Woe to those "who dwell by the cord of the sea" is a Hebrew phrase. It denotes distribution and measurement. In Joshua, the land was divided by cords [Cap. 17:5, 19:9]. Likewise it is said in Moses ^5. book, 32, 9.]: "But Jacob is the cord of the Lord", ^that means a part or the allotted portion. Thus he calls the Philistines the cord of the sea, because their possession, namely that of those five cities, lay on the sea. But the port is Joppa etc. - You who are a nation full of lost people (gens perditorum - "the warriors"), who are to be destroyed or exterminated. One thinks that the Cretans are designated by it, but it is not true.
You Canaan, the land of the Philistines.
I call you Canaan in the land of the Philistines. The Amorites were on the other side of the Jordan, the Canaanites on this side. The land of the Philistines was Canaan.
V. 6. 1) There shall be vain shepherds' houses (requies pastorum) and sheepfolds by the sea.
Instead of requies would be better: dwelling. Above it is full of Joel [Cap. 1, 19.] and Amos f^Cap.
1) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
1, 2.) used: "The meadows in the desert will stand miserably", in appellative meaning; as proper name it is the name of a city. Here it denotes dwellings of shepherds, as they dwell in deserts, not in cities, that they may have pasture for the sheep and the flocks. The land is joyful when it abounds in crops and livestock; it is not beautiful when they are not there etc. Dwellings of the lambs, the sheep, the shepherds, and flocks. The people of the Philistines were hitherto invincible to Judah, but the captivity shall be so great that they shall also be carried away captive, that none shall dwell there etc. Now those with the common name are called Arabs, who were once Ammonites, Moabites etc. The people is as it were a heap gathered together, and [the cities] are never rebuilt, and scarcely remain in ruins; they lie desolate. They will be dwellings for the lambs of the shepherds and hurdles for the sheep, and so it will be the inheritance for the remnant of the house of Judah; 2) they will feed on it.
V. 7. In the evening they are to encamp in the houses of Ascalou.
Requiescent, that is: they will camp. This is how it will happen: This kingdom will be so degraded that where kings have been, there shall now be hurdles etc. Funiculus, that is, the part of the tribe, the remnant of the tribe of Judah. In the places of the Philistines where Ascalon was before etc. - "Of the evening." It indicates the custom of the shepherds: in the morning they lead the cattle to pasture, in the evening they lead them back etc.
[Now when the Lord their GOd has afflicted them again.]
As much as the prophets insist on the captivity, they always have their eye on the kingdom of Christ. For the sake of this kingdom, the captive people were to return, or at least the remaining ones in part. From this little spark a more glorious and greater kingdom was to be awakened, and Jechaniah came out of the dungeon to the table.
2) Instead of ctv rkli^niis domus 4uüu will be read (according to the Vulgate): rkliquiis ctvDar.
after we have translated.
of the king, that he might be a lamp [Ps. 132:17]. There was always someone on the throne of David, whom God had chosen and appointed, until Christ came etc. But wonderfully the promise was kept, which had to stand firm. Jechaniah was, as it were, the end of David's kingdom, and yet he was preserved to spread Christ's future kingdom over the whole world. - "When he hath afflicted them." He will deal mercifully with them. This is said for the comfort of the godly, that they might be sure that they should be restored to their land, because they had the promise. They must be protected according to the promise etc., even if not all, but a part and the rest. Now he continues to the other side and toward the morning. He stands, his face turned toward the morning, as before toward the evening; "they must also be kept.
V. 8. I have heard the reproach of Moab and the blasphemy of Ammon.
These two nations were very hostile to the Jews, they persecuted them with the most ardent hatred, as the Psalm "By the Waters of Babel" etc. [Ps. 137] shows. All the neighboring nations wished for happiness when something evil happened to the Jews. As if to say, They mock my people. All this I have heard, be silent, vengeance is mine. I know what they have reviled against my people.
And on the same borders have boasted.
Not as if they had taken the land of the Jews. "To boast" is always to exalt oneself and boast with great words. When my people were led into captivity, that people rejoiced and shouted, Behold, "is this the holy city?" etc., as it is said in the Klaglieder of Jeremiah [Cap. 2, 15.]. That is, they boasted great things, they exulted in the fall of Judah, that it was captive. They rejoice in the misfortunes of others, but vengeance will not fail; I will avenge you most abundantly.
V. 9. Moab shall become like Sodom,
The equation does not refer to all pieces, because it is not due to sulfur and
Fire etc. As an example these cities are mentioned in Isaiah [Cap. 1, 9] and in Jeremiah [Cap. 23, 14]. 1) As Sodom and Gomorrah ceased to be a kingdom, "brought nothing of it," in this Moab will be the same, so that nothing shall be left. Not as if it should be a salt sea and be destroyed by fire and brimstone. What has happened is this: the Persians and the Medes have so wrecked this nation that there was nothing left of the kingdom. Here the land will be uncultivated, so that thorns and nettles will grow in it, and salty regions or places will be in it. Ps. [107, 34. Vulg.], "Who turneth the land into a salt desert." Thus he calls a barren land, which is worked in vain, which pours forth no blessing etc.
Yes, like a nettle bush and saltgruve.
In siccitatem spinarum [to a drought of thorns] or nettles, that is, to an arid place where thorns and nettles grow, and where there is no fatness nor any ability to bring forth anything. - Desertum, a wasteland.
And the rest of my people shall rob them.
Who will return from captivity. This happened in the time of the Maccabees, when the kingdom of Moab was nothing but robbers and people thrown together. - Diripient s "they shall rob them"]. Not as if the Jews had ever taken the whole kingdom, but Moab shall be made nothing in such a way that the remnant 2) [of Judah] shall take it, and the rest of the Gentiles. And it is [residui gentis] 3) not the Jews, but the Medes, the Persians. Thus it shall become a spoil to all nations, among whom shall be my people. It will be given "into rapus." In the calamity [of my people] they have gloriously boasted and reviled my people etc.
V. ii. The Lord will be terrible to them, for he will destroy all the gods of the earth.
1) In the original: in tftrenis Hiereinine. Perhaps Klagt. 4, 6. is meant.
2) Instead of rsÜHnias, we have assumed r "1i<iuin6. Compare the Altenbnrger manuscript.
3) Inserted according to the Hall manuscript.
wipe out; and let all the isles of the Gentiles worship him, every one in his own place].
The Lord, after returning from Babylon, certainly made the temple at Jerusalem more famous than the one Solomon built. The one after Solomon was more famous than the one before. Apost. 2, 1) 5: "Out of all the people that are under heaven" etc. The prelude of the kingdom of Christ begins here under Jeshua and Zerubbabel. The apostles did not find the world empty, for out of all kinds of people people came to Jerusalem to the temple. -2 ) Attenuavit [he has made enough]. He does not say he has destroyed, he has done away. - They will worship him in spirit and in truth, who has made his word known over all the earth. - "All the islands" as far as Rome. He understands the islands of the Mediterranean Sea, as Creta was etc. They offered their gifts in the temple at Jerusalem etc.
V. 12. 3) Also, you Moors shall be slain by my sword.
["By my sword",] which the king of Babylon will wield etc. We have heard how the prophet first threatened the Jews, the chosen people, then the neighboring Philistines toward evening, then toward morning Moab and the Ammonites. Now he threatens the Moors at noon, finally we will hear how he threatens at midnight, like Jeremiah. [Cap. 25, 15.] says of the cup etc. As if to say, Behold, I will not spare my people, much less the neighboring nations, which are ungodly. And so he subjects all the nations to the wrath of God and to desolation. Not only his people, but also the Gentiles etc.; they will perish with them. He begins to punish His people, 1 Petr. 4, 17. First He crucifies His martyrs; when that is finished, a greater wrath against the persecutors soon comes. We can now give an example of this: first we will be afflicted, then they will perish at the hands of the enemy.
2 > Only here does the Weimarsche have the verse number "11."
3) This verse number, the keyword and the first sentence of the interpretation are only in our original where we have placed v. 13.
V. 13. 4) And he will stretch out his hand over midnight, and destroy Assyria. He will make Nineveh desolate, dry as a desert (et invium quasi desertum).
Instead of invium it should rather be "the ships". The Hebrew word is ambiguous: ships and waterless. The inconsistency of the text forces that "ships" be put, because the impassable is already a desert. "Nineveh," which is a very populous city etc. So also the rivers, as the Tigris, the Euphrates, so the sea cities, which are situated at the rivers, which had many ships, harbors, fords, - I will make them a desert, and I will make them so a desert, that in the midst of it the armies of all heathens shall encamp.
V. 14: That all kinds of beasts among the Gentiles will be encamped inside.
He is talking about the animals of that region, which is located in the desert etc., both wild and tame. Animals of every kind of that people. There will be pastures where before there were great cities. Moreover, [here] he also calls the onocrotalus ["bittern"], a bird that announces the springtime, 5) which dips its beak into the water and makes a muffled sound, "water pumb." 6) In liminibus suis would also be better than [in liminibus] ejus morabuntur. It is a solitary bird that is not tamed, nor is it useful to men. About ericius ["hedgehog"] the grammarians argue, and I do not know what it is. It is a solitary bird, whatever it may be; among men it is useful neither for clothing nor for work.
And will sing in the windows (vox cantantis).
There one will hear the howling of the Uhue etc. and such solitary birds. I would rather have the proper name of either the crow or another bird singing in the windows instead of cantantis. Jer. 2, 23. [Vulg/: cursor [the
4) This verse number is missing in Weimar's.
5) The Weimarsche reads here: reuuoiuvi; the Erlanger: reuuueiuru. We followed the latter reading srsuuutiub, u, um - reporting).
6) In English, the bittern is also called: dutter1>ump.
Runner etc. By this animal he understands the goat, which runs easily etc. [There] it is an appellative word, but actually it is a proper noun etc. With the words, which mean things, we remain stuck, we cannot be certain. After those cities are destroyed, night birds will surely roam in the windows where girls used to sing.
[For the cedar trees (robur ejus) are to be torn down].
"Their" (ejus), the city of Nineveh. This should rather be understood of Babylon, but I mean in such a way that these two kingdoms were one empire, although they were distant from each other according to the place. The kings tend to change their residences etc. So it is said of the Assyrian, so of the kingdom of Israel: one king dwelt here, another there. They visited different places, so that Babylon and Assyria are one kingdom; the residences were changed. In the book of Judith [Cap. 1, 6. 2,1.] Nebucadnezzar is called the king of Assyria, although he was the king of Babylon etc.
V. 15. This is the joyful city that dwelt so securely.
Confidenter, "sure". They are mocked: behold, is this the joyous (gloriosa) 1) Nineveh, the exceedingly mighty kingdom? Gloriosa, is not so much as: who has a great glory, but boastful, like the glorious man of war (miles gloriosus), who boasts': I am the queen; the cities in all the world etc. But I will stretch out my hand over them.
It is me, and no more. How it has become so desolate that the animals live inside!
Cubile belongs to the predicate. How desolate it has become, and it, which used to be the most powerful city, has become a camp of animals; the kings do not inhabit it. Thus the wrath of God, after chastising His people, is wont to chastise the neighboring godless nations.
1) In the original: loo, which has dissolved both the Erlanger and the Weimarsche by gloria. We have adopted Kloriosa.