The prophets, who had the custom of the law and the ceremonies in the law, had at the same time the understanding of the future things, because the Holy Spirit taught them inwardly. Therefore, they often use the legal things as proverbs, often as images. Zechariah does the same in this passage. For after he has described the state of the church in relation to the justification of the Spirit and the putting to death of the flesh, he now plays, as it were, with a secret interpretation, and confirms what has gone before, whether to amuse himself or out of the fullness of the Spirit. The apostle did the same in his letter to the Galatians [Cap. 4, 22. ff.), when he speaks of the son of Abraham, who was born according to the flesh .and of the right seed according to the promise, finely distinguishing between the fleshly children and the right spiritual seed, which is of the faith of Abraham etc. It is therefore the opinion of this passage: We have in the legal usages divers and many washings, we are tormented with divers righteousnesses of the flesh (as the epistle to the Hebrews finely sets forth [Cap. 9, 10.]: "With meat and drink only, and divers baptisms, and outward holiness, which are laid up until the time of reformation. But Christ" etc.). By the way, when this kingdom comes, in which everything depends on the spirit being made righteous and the flesh being put to death, as has been said, then the right washing will take place. This will be exceedingly different from those many outward ablutions commanded in the law.
V. 1. At that time the house of David and the citizens of Jerusalem will have a free open fountain against sin and uncleanness. 1)
"At the time," namely, of the New Testament under the kingdom of Christ. - "If a spring
1) Vulgate: In <tis ilta since Ions patsris äoinui David 6t dabitantibus dsrusalsrn in adlutionsin pseeatoris st nwnstruatas. This is what the interpretation refers to.
be." There is an emphasis in the word "spring", as if he wanted to say: There will be a living vein of water, which is the word of the spirit, as Christ says in John [Joh. 7, 38. f.]: "From the body will flow rivers of living water. But this he said of the Spirit" etc. This spring cannot be dried up and exhausted, as happens with washing vessels, nor will it fall into decay, but will always be fresh and bubbling, as also John says [Cap. 4, 14.]: "That quilteth unto life eternal." - "Which is open" or "freely open," that is, poured out in common, publicly given to the whole world. But always, as I have said, the prophet turned his eye to the law and the legal usages. There were also in the law many vessels for washing, but they were set up in a certain place, everything was enclosed and limited by certain places, times, also by persons. To this being bound by law he contrasts grace, which is offered through the gospel throughout the world to all nations, as he adds: "To the house of David." That is, not merely for Levi, as in the law of Moses, but also for the house of David, yea, also for all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, that is, for all believers in the whole world. For I have mentioned this above, that the prophet thus uses these words in a spiritual way: house of David, inhabitants of Jerusalem, Israel, Judah etc. - "For the washing away of sin." The Hebrew does not have the word "wash away," but it is not evil added. But so the Hebrew reads: in sin and in separation, as if to say, This fountain will be prepared both to take away sin and against uncleanness. But there are two kinds of uncleanness: one that is dependent on the will, the other is in nature. The impurity dependent on the will cleansed the outward washing of the law; the natural we could not prevent. Therefore, a twofold purification was
appointed to cleanse sins, [the one for those] which we do ourselves, 1) as there was when someone had touched a dead man, a leper, a woman having her blood flow etc., the other for the cleansing of natural sin, as there was the uncleanness of women from childbirth etc. All this can be seen in the third book of Moses.
Now the prophet alludes to these legal things as if to say, "We who are under the law are afflicted with many impurities. The law makes many things unclean, and so we are tormented with the purification of all these impurities. But everything is ridiculous, it is not serious. But the task of cleansing the sins and the right impurities will be the Holy Spirit, who will finally cleanse the present and the past sins. Therefore, I call sin here actually the original sin with all its fruits. The Holy Spirit takes these away completely, but there still remains the impurity in the flesh, which is the blood-fluid or impure woman. But the Holy Spirit encourages and comforts the heart through the grace that sin is forgiven, so that it no longer fears condemnation or judgment because of sin. Then, after the heart is thus justified, Christians crucify their flesh more and more every day, so that the remnants of the old man may be cleansed, and so gradually the flesh may also be cleansed, until it perishes completely. And this is what the prophet abundantly said in the previous chapter about the justification by the Spirit and the affliction of the flesh in all generations [Cap. 12, 10. ff].
In that day, saith the Lord, I will cut off the name of the idols out of the land.
Again, he compares the Old and New Testaments, as if to say: In the Old Testament, people struggled to drive out idols. This was done by many godly kings who destroyed the idols' statues and the groves. But they could never destroy the names of the idols.
1) Thus Luther himself, in the previous relation, expresses the opinion of votuutariis. - The immediately preceding insertion (of altsra) seemed necessary to us.
tigen. Everything that has therefore been carried out by them has only been accomplished according to the letter. But the New Testament stands in power; it not only takes away the idols, but also the names of the idols. For when the truth is known, when the Holy Spirit is sent, the idols fall away of their own accord. They are not broken with the hand, but by the Spirit, for those who have the Spirit of God are free from all idolatry. But he says according to Hebrew "the names of idols". Thus the prophet also used it in the Psalm [Ps. 9, 7.]: "Their memory has perished along with them," that is, their praise and esteem. For this means to remember someone, as Christ also says, "Do these things in remembrance of me." That is, praise, proclaim, extol and honor it, that my esteem may be increased. But the memory of the Jews has perished, that is, they no longer have a priesthood or a kingdom; all theirs is infamous and lowly. And this is what the Scripture calls: that God forgets us, as it says in the Psalm [Ps. 16, 4]: "I will not take their name in my mouth" etc.
I will also drive the prophets and unclean spirits out of the land.
That is, not only the service of idols, but also the teachers of this service I will take away after the Holy Spirit has been sent. He distinguishes the Holy Spirit from the unclean spirit, because only the Holy Spirit is that freely open and ever-springing; all other spirits are unclean spirits. Thus, nowadays, after the Gospel is revealed, the impure teachers in the monasteries are removed together with the monastic clergy (religione), because they do not like the Word of God.
V. 3: So that if anyone knows further, he should go.
He uses a fine simile, but still compares the Old Testament with the kingdom of Christ. Everything ungodly, he says, shall be cast away, the laws, the doctrines and the ungodly teachers, likewise those who will say that they have new visions. For the
Christians distinguish sharply between the voice of Christ and the stranger, as Christ says [Joh. 10, 4. 5.]: My sheep obey my voice, but from a stranger they flee etc. It is therefore the opinion of this passage, as if he wanted to say: In the old testament teachers and judges were appointed, who should judge about the visions and prophecies, but this will completely cease in the new testament, because all, from the smallest to the greatest, will know me, since all have the same spirit. In sum, he shows that the power to judge the false prophets will be with all Christians.
Let his father and mother, who begat him, say to him.
That is, those from whom they have been previously instructed.
And so the father and mother who begat him will cut him to pieces.
Namely with the word of the spirit. We see the same thing happening in our times. For our children also want to bring forth new visions and a new teaching. But because they prophesy false things in the name of the Lord, we cut them to pieces etc.
V. 4 For it shall come to pass in that day that the prophets shall be put to shame with their visions.
From the following it is clear of which killing or stabbing he speaks, namely of the friendly scolding of the godly, who would like to see the godless turned away from their error. For the false prophet himself will say afterwards [v. 6], when he is questioned about the wounds in his hands: "Thus am I smitten in the house of them that love me" etc. He is therefore speaking of the spiritual bruising. But concerning the defeat of the false teachers the apostle Paul says: "Their foolishness will be revealed to everyone," for they will finally be put to shame after their error is made manifest, and cannot stand in judgment, as it is said in the first Psalm [v. 5]. All this is said for the comfort of the church, that the false teachers shall not prevail, but shall be put to shame etc.
And shall no more put on a rough cloak, that they may deceive.
Thus we see that the prophets used a special clothing by which they could be distinguished from others. Thus it is said to Isaiah [Cap. 20, 2]: "Remove the sackcloth from your loins." But the sackcloth is the very worst clothing that the prophets used, because they were always switching and biting the people, and so the clothing and the teaching coincided with each other. Such was also the hard and rough garment of John the Baptist. Therefore, the opinion of the passage is: "The outward use that makes hypocrites will also be removed. No longer will false prophets be able to deceive Christians under the pretense of right and godliness, for Christians, taught by the Holy Spirit, will judge any falsification of doctrine, no matter how much false teachers pretend to right doctrine and godliness. No pretense will deceive the Church; the godly will immediately hold the teaching of false teachers against the Word of God, and examine whether it is similar to the faith.
V. 5. But shall say, I am no prophet, but a husbandman.
That is, the false prophets will be humiliated, convicted and disgraced that they do not want to be prophets. They will no longer have a hopeful or high opinion of themselves, but will easily give way to anyone who admonishes them. This is what the apostle wants, that the Christians are unanimous in their attitude, that one hears the other, that one follows the other, that they do not bite or quarrel among themselves, but that one precedes the other with reverence (Rom. 12, 10.). It is therefore the summa of this passage: I will no longer follow these heresies, but I submit myself to the unity of your faith; I no longer exalt myself or praise myself exceedingly insolently, as before. For I am
1) In our original: Hierenaiae instead of 468aia6. - Immediately following in the Weimar edition: sutvs instead of: 8otv6.
I am too little to offer myself under the name of a prophet. But the prophet alludes to the way of earning a living among the Jews, who, since they had no trade, lived on fruits and cattle, following the example of the patriarchs. For this was the rightest and best way in the sight of God to gain a living, without all usury etc.
I have served people (homo possedit me) from my youth.
These are words of confession and humiliation, by which he submits himself to the judgment of others, who judge more correctly about godliness, and lets of his kind by indicating that he is not different from others of the common people. But it is a Hebrew way of speaking, since he says: possedit me. It is also written in Genesis 4:1: Possedi hominem per Deum, that is, I have obtained him. Likewise [Proverbs 8:22, Vulg.], "The Lord possessed me in the beginning of his ways." We translate it quite actually by the word "have," which the Hebrews lack. The opinion, therefore, is, I have been with farmers in the pastures and in the fields from my youth, so much is lacking that I should have learned anything of mysteries or new revelations concerning the divine majesty. All these things the false prophets boast that they know; I will follow them no more.
V. 6. What are these wounds in your hands?
Bruised, disgraced, and humbled by the Word and the Spirit, he has wounds, that is, signs that he is disgraced. Signs that he has been put to shame. But when he is questioned, he answers that they are good, kind and loving wounds, namely paternal, as if to say: "Those who begat me in Christ, from them I received these kind wounds, because the church strikes by shouting, not raging with force or weapons, but so that it may call hearts back from error and win many souls for Christ. etc.
V. 7. sword, open upon my shepherd.
There seems to be no connection between the preceding and the following part of this chapter, because the prophet has so far dealt with the kingdom of Christ, how the faithful are to be justified in the spirit, and how, after the law with the ceremonies is done, they are to be put to death according to the flesh. And immediately he brings in that of the shepherd that shall be smitten, and of the flock that shall be scattered. But one thing was missing in this prophet so far, that he explained the previous vision of the stone to be cut out, which he presented above in the third chapter [v. 9]. Therefore he interprets that vision here with clear words and revelations. That is why I connect this part with the previous one: The prophet has described the kingdom of Christ, how it will be constituted, now he continues to describe who will be the head or prince in this kingdom, and how this head must be constituted, likewise how this kingdom should be set up. Therefore, in sum, the prophet indicates two pieces. The first is: this kingdom must be established in a far different way than it can be understood or believed by the world, namely through a defeated and humiliated shepherd, as it is also depicted in Isa. 53. That is to say, the kingdom of Christ is a kingdom of offense, for many will take offense at your defeated king and fall back, since hardly a few remnants will be preserved. And this is said against the carnal delusion of the Jews, that not all should be admitted to this kingdom, but many would fall back, vexed by the lowliness and the wounds of this king. The other piece is that a godly man should know that all this was done by decree and according to the will of God the Father, that the shepherd is smitten, and Christ himself says in John [Cap. 11, 49.]: As the Father has given me a commandment, so do I etc. It is therefore God's good pleasure that this King first suffered and was humbled; at last he will be crowned with glory and honor.
But we should not be concerned that the evangelist Matthew [Cap.26, 31.] this passage.
in another person. For it does not matter in which person it is said, since it is the same opinion, as I have also widely reminded above. It is certain that in Matthew it is said in the person of God the Father, but it is completely the same opinion here, since God tells the sword to strike. These things are too small for us to dwell on, but Jerome holds them very high.
About the man who is closest to me.
That is, with me or beside me, as John also says [Cap. 1, 18.]: "The Son who is in the bosom of the Father, he has declared it to us." Therefore the opinion is: My most beloved Son, who is in my bosom, whom I have appointed king, my native, I will so smite that the whole world will be offended at him. For through the cross and death he will obtain that eternal and exceedingly glorious kingdom. And this is what is said in the Psalm [Ps. 8, 6. Heb. 2, 7.]: "Thou hast made him lack a little time of angels; with praise and honor hast thou crowned him, and hast set him over the works of thy hands" etc. But the sword means persecution and crucifixion.
This is how the herd will scatter.
That is, many will be angry, even the apostles were scattered. But it seems to me that this statement is made in general, not only about the small part of the time when the apostles fled, but also about the whole time of the kingdom of Christ. For at that time Christ began to be beaten, and he will be beaten until the end of the world, as often as the wicked persecute and oppress the Christians, likewise when heresies arise, which also Christ says [Acts 9:4]:. "Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me?" The opinion is therefore: this Christ is set for the fall of many. Always he is oppressed, always he is beaten. Therefore, always many are annoyed and are shattered. Thus, at the time of the Arians, Christ was miserably beaten and afflicted throughout the world, since with great unanimity all the best and most learned people denied the deity of Christ. Therefore, we must be sure that
That sword is also drawn against our Christ today. Thus he is spit upon, crowned with thorns, crucified and blasphemed to this day by the godless teachers and persecutors of the church, as he was spit upon by the Jews. If we were not completely sure of the word of God, all this could give us a reason to despair. If we were not completely sure of God's word, all this could give us reason to despair and abandon the word, since we see the great bitterness and the great rage of so many and extremely powerful enemies of the word, who all want to see the word destroyed and suppressed in every way. Therefore, the striking of the sword is necessarily followed by the scattering of the host, which we have experienced more than enough nowadays, since many flee from the gospel who seemed to be on the side of the gospel before the striking. And the whole crowd at first received the gospel with great acclaim; but they jump away and get angry, so that hardly few persevere. Thus Christ is a reproach to men, and a contempt of the people for our sakes; but when we are gone, then shall it at last be made known that this our King is the Lord of glory.
All this is said to us for our comfort, so that we will not be offended by the reputation of the defeated Christ, which is otherwise so great that if God did not leave us a little, we would all become like Sodom and Gomorrah [Is. 1:9]. It is God's power that we do not leave the defeated king. For this is by all means something too great for the world and human reason to accomplish. Here the powers of free will are nothing.
So I will turn my hand to the little ones.
That means, in this trouble, in this case of many, I want to keep my remaining ones, my little ones, otherwise all who are the highest and best in the world will stand against Christ, as Paul I Cor. 1, 26. f. says: "Not many mighty, not many noble are called, but what is foolish in the world, that God has chosen" etc. And Christ seems to have often looked at this passage, since he so often remembers the little ones in the Gospel story.
V. 8. 1) And shall come to pass.
That is, this is how it will come, this is how it will happen in all the lands, not just in Judea.
In whichever country there are two parts, they shall be exterminated.
He himself interprets the trouble and what he wanted to say with the scattering of the flock, the defeated shepherd and the miraculous preparation of this glorious kingdom, as if he wanted to say: The gospel will be marveled at, no one will easily believe it, as Christ also quotes from the Psalm [Ps. 118, 22. f.]: "The stone that the builders rejected has become the cornerstone. This is done by the Lord, and is a wonder in our sight," that is, He gives us exceedingly great impetus, and if we were not exalted by God, we could not persevere. The same is held up to us here, since two parts are scattered and fall away, only one part is preserved. Thus the larger part always perishes, the smaller is preserved. At first, when the gospel is proclaimed in the world, it is heard with great acclaim; there are few who do not admire it. But when the sword is drawn, when the shepherd is struck, two parts immediately jump away, guided by their reason and the cleverness of the flesh. They cannot suffer the pain of the cross, and who could suffer it if he were not encouraged by God through the Holy Spirit? For to believe in life in death, honor in disgrace, righteousness in sin, peace and God's favor in the greatest persecution: this is truly beyond all comprehension of reason and indeed a miracle before our eyes.
V. 9. and will lead the same third part through the fire.
We must suffer the shame of the cross of Christ, says the apostle; the weakness of our King is reproached to us; meanwhile he presses his eyes to the branches-.
1) In the Weimar edition, this verse number only precedes the following paragraph. - Instead of: Lt srit, which is given as a keyword, should be read according to the Vulgate: M tzruut.
2) Weimarsche: possumus instead of: possewus.
of the ungodly and remain silent. In addition, we must also bear our own special sufferings, each according to the cross laid upon him by God, so that we may make up for what is still lacking in tribulations in Christ, as the apostle says in the letter to the Colossians [Cap. 1, 24]. And this is what he calls here: being led through the fire. But this, he says, will be a test for you, that you will be proved by the cross, just as silver is proved by fire. There are many today who act the gospel to our great shame, newcomers who have never been exercised by the cross. These are a part of the sword against us. While they sit securely under our peace and under our fig tree, they nevertheless rage against us. If they were also threatened with danger, if they were also oppressed by misfortune and the cross, then they would learn to cling to the goodness of God alone and despair of their advice and inventions, which are otherwise a source of many heresies. For since they are not busy with important things, their hearts, which are open to idle thoughts, cannot help but invent new doctrines.
They will then call my name.
A similar passage has been interpreted above in Hosea 3). In sum, however, this passage has this in it: the kingdom of Christ, which is plagued both in His King Christ Himself and in our own bodies, is ruled by faith alone and by calling on the name of the Lord, which is also taught by the apostle Paul in his letter to the Romans [Cap. 10, 13. f.]: "Whoever shall call on the name of the Lord shall be saved. But how shall they call upon him in whom they believe not?" etc. Therefore, this kingdom is not preserved with us by the protection of arms or our forces, but by calling upon our Avenger and Protector, who does not forsake those who call upon Him. Therefore, Christians must necessarily be secure against all violence and tyranny of the enemies and princes who conspire with each other against the Lord. They know that God cares for them.
3) Such a passage is not found in Hosea. It will probably be "Joel" [Cap. 3, 5.) to be read.
They should only call, he is there who hears those who call. This is what Paul says [Phil. 4, 6.]: "Do not worry, 1) but in all things let your petition be made known in prayer before God." But one must call in the name of Christ, that is, in faith alone in Christ, without any reliance on our righteousness or holiness etc.
They are my people, and they will say: Lord, my God.
This is the preaching of the gospel. For those who believe are sheep, are the property of Christ, in short, they are children.
1) In our prelims: niUUi soUioiti etc., while the Vulgate offers: niUil sollioiti sitis.
God, co-heirs with Christ. Believers have this praise before the angels and before the Father. Then Christians also confess this in their hearts before God, and likewise with their mouths before the world. For in these two pieces is the sum of our justification. But this confession must necessarily be followed by the cross: immediately the world and the gates of hell set themselves against it. For the world does not suffer its powers, its righteousness and wisdom to be condemned, therefore it is most bitterly hostile to those who condemn it, persecutes them and removes them from the way etc. 2)
2). Here the manuscript closes, without signs of sudden breaking off (Weim. Ausg.).