The short epitome and the occasion for this chapter or the following sermon is this: 3) Many were annoyed by the previous sermon of the prophet, and accused the prophet of foolishness, since he had not been afraid to condemn all at the same time and to accuse of godlessness, while the king was good and the greater part of the people was godly. And so the king's good fortune gave them an opportunity to resist the prophet. Therefore, the prophet is forced to start again and to continue eagerly in condemning them, namely, that their hypocrisy would not be valid, which they had used as a pretext for their godlessness. And he begins like this:
V. 1. Hear what the LORD speaks to you, O children of Israel 2c.
3) Instead of the following two sentences, D. offers: The Jews, angered by the previous sermon of the prophet, accused him of foolishness, that he had not shied away from condemning such a blessed king and the in religion fo zealous. People to condemn. For they thought that the happiness of the king was the strongest evidence with which they could refute the prophet, because they thought that God would not give success if the king was as godless as the prophet wanted him to be. Therefore 2c.
He himself gives the reason for this sermon as if he wanted to say: "After all, the Lord may have chosen you as his people; after all, you may be famous in the whole world, ennobled by God's manifold works and good deeds towards you; after all, he may not have done this to any other people. But for this reason you are not righteous, because you are transgressors of the divine law, yet you are well pleased because of your innocence: but this I attack and condemn. This is how the divine majesty always deals with us, that if we want to be good and holy, we are ungodly before God. He does not want sinners who 4) do not want to recognize their sin, but, puffed up, imagine a special holiness; therefore they are rejected. But even great sinners who recognize their error and do not cover their ungodliness with any hypocrisy, but ask for mercy, receive it and the Lord accepts them, since Christ did not come to call the righteous to repentance, but sinners [Matth. 9, 13]. We see this also here.
4) We have assumed here with D., instead of quia in the manuscript.
V. 2. I will also punish you in all your iniquities.
As if to say, "You think I should spare you because you are my people, but I will chasten you more, that you may know me and learn to trust in me. So he also chastens his saints whom he loves. This is what Ezekiel Cap. 9, 6. says: "Faheth unto my sanctuary." And 1 Petr. 4, 17: "It is time for judgment to begin against the house of God. But if it be first upon us, what end shall it be to them that believe not the gospel of God?" For thus the young dog receives blows, that the wolfhound may be afraid. He punishes his children so that the wicked who do not repent are beaten the harder, so that he rages against them the more fiercely 2c.
V. 3. Even if two walk together, are they one with each other?
Jerome passes by this passage undaunted; he cannot determine anything about the meaning. For the word, which stands here in the Hebrew, has various meanings: they know, they agree, also: they have come together. Some have understood this of the king of the Assyrians and of God, for God wanted to send the king of the Assyrians against Israel. To me, the text seems to be quite proverbial, so that the opinion is: Two cannot walk with each other if they are not in harmony, if they do not agree with each other. The application of the proverb is this: these two are God and the people; as if the Lord wanted to say: Already from this you can see that I am against you, that I am not on your side, since we do not walk on the same path, as it should be. I am not one with you, and yet you want to escape unpunished. You are godless and transgressors of the law, yet you plead your innocence. Therefore I, who am righteous, will not spare your unrighteousness; I will not cease to strike you until you have become one with me, which is not the case now, since you are following a way that is different from mine.
V. 4. Does a lion roar in the forest when it has no prey?
This is the same as the previous passage, and this is the meaning of the saying, as if the Lord wanted to say: When a lion is not satiated, he roars over the prey he has obtained, which he wants to devour and satisfy his hunger with. So I would desist from roaring against you, 1) I would not be against you if you were not wicked and ungodly, if you did not give me cause to rage against you. A similar way of speaking is in the book of Job, Cap. 6, 5: "The deer does not cry out when it has grass." And to this also belongs everything that follows. 2)
V. 5. Does a bird also fall into the rope?
As if he wanted to say: Because I am the bailiff, the nets are stretched out; I threaten you. Misfortune. Because you do not flee the ropes, because you continue to act ungodly, you will be caught. You will not be able to escape my judgment. The same is what follows:
Do you also pick up the rope?
He looks at the intention of the birdcatcher, not at the work itself. 3) For the fowler can be deceived that he does not catch anything, but in the intention and in the opinion he spreads his net that he wants to catch. Thus, says the Lord, I do not threaten you with disaster in vain; I will catch you through the king of the Assyrians.
V. 6: Do they also blow the trumpet in a city?
It is clearer if instead of: Si clanget tuba in civitate so translated, "Do they also blow the trumpet?" for the Latin interpreter has obscured the sense, translating it in the form of a condition. It must all be related to the preaching of the prophet, through
1) D. t: through my prophets
2) I.e., and although the images are different, they signify the same thing. For he indicates why he threatens such terrible things, why he teaches such hateful things, namely because God wants him to say this, and because through their sins they give the cause that nothing milder can be said. Nothing milder can be said.
3) D. f: or the output.
which he reminds them of the captivity to come if they do not repent, as if to say, "When the trumpet sounds, either the enemy is there or there is a conflagration in the city; do not doubt that disaster will also befall you, for I am not punishing you in vain.
Is there also a calamity in the city that the Lord does not do?
He takes his proof from the righteousness of God, just like Paul in his letter to the Romans Cap. 9, 14: "Is God unrighteous? 1) as if to say, "You should fear and be afraid, but you continue to sin against me.
V. 7 For the Lord does nothing, but reveals his secret to the prophets, his servants.
That is, when something is going to happen, when a calamity is about to befall you, the Lord always makes it known through his prophets, whom he sends to foretell the calamity to come. Therefore, do not doubt that a mighty persecution awaits you, since I am now sent 2c. This is what I said at the beginning of this prophet, that always before a great change of things took place, the prophets were sent beforehand to remind the people of the counsel of the Lord.
V. 8. The lion roars. Who should not be afraid?
He goes on to confirm his earlier sermon against the godless works saints, the hypocrites, who persuaded themselves that they were extraordinarily holy, as we said at the beginning of this chapter. Therefore, defying their privilege, they thought either the prophet was lying or he was nonsensical. Therefore, he again reminds them of the wrath and anger of the Lord, that it will happen 2) that they will perish by the judgment of God, if they do not repent.
1) Both the Erlangen and Weimar editions offer: nuva justitia azruä ckmim. The Wittenberg and the Jena have msustitia; the Vulgate has: iniquitas.
2) Weimarsche: kurs instead of: toi-s; a misprint.
The Lord is roaring against them and has a disaster in store for them; they are threatened with imprisonment 2c.
V. 9. Proclaim in the palaces of Ashdod.
He compares the surrounding Gentiles with the people of God, so that they may be dismayed and ashamed of their godless nature, in which, as they see, they also surpass the Gentiles, as if the prophet wanted to say: Behold, you Gentiles who live all around, gather yourselves 3) to us, examine whether we can also be compared to you. This people, which wants to be God's people, surpasses you in godlessness, who do not serve the true God. In this way almost all prophets justify the Gentiles in comparison to the godless Israel. Thus Ezekiel Cap. 16, 48: "Sodom, your sister, with her daughters, has not done as you and your daughters have done" 2c. The same is found in Jeremiah [Cap. 23, 14].
Gather on the mountains of Samaria.
Here he clearly indicates the godlessness of Israel, of which he also said above. There is, he says, in this kingdom no administration of justice, no worldly regiment; there is no end to avarice and ostentation. The same punishes Isaiah Cap. 2, 7. and says: "Their land is full of silver and gold, and there is no end to their treasures" 2c. Almost all prophets condemn this vice of this people, 4) the godless tyranny of the princes.
V. 10. They do not respect any right.
That is, so much is lacking in them that they should be good and godly, that they have no common sense either; they are senseless like unreasoning cattle.
V. 11. They will besiege this land all around.
The opinion is: You rob the poor of their possessions, there is no measure in stinginess, but the judgment of God awaits you in turn. You
3) Instead of oonZreZenaini in the editions, eonArsZnnaini should probably be read with the Vulgate. Likewise in the following keyword, where only the Wittenberg has correctly eonZrsZamini.
4) D. f: seiliest,
will be taken away captive, all your goods and your jewelry will be taken away from you, your kingdom and your priesthood. - "Thy power." This word is often taken in Scripture for the kingdom, as it must be taken here and in many Psalms.
V. 12: As a shepherd snatches two knees or the lobe of an ear from the lion's mouth.
God is not angry in a human way, since people are so bitter against those they hate that they would rather have them completely exterminated than to keep them alive for only one hour; and this anger is greatest in those who persecute the Word. This anger is described by Isaiah. God is angry and smites however much he rages, so that a remnant remains unharmed. We see the same thing here. He threatens them with terrible captivity, desolation and the plundering of all things; the Lord will overtake them through the king of the Assyrians, so that it seems as if all should be taken away: yet a remnant should remain, so that all do not perish completely. The prophet certainly uses a harsh and horrible simile by which he wanted to indicate the misery of the captivity. But since this prophet is a shepherd and a farmer, he takes the parables from the things he knows best, as from the flocks of sheep, cows 2c. Therefore, the meaning of the parable is: "Just as a leg or the lobe of a sheep snatched from the lion's mouth cannot be compared, indeed is nothing compared to the rest of the whole consumed body, so also the Assyrian king will consume you, but nevertheless I will see to it that a few remain intact, so that the Israelites do not perish completely. As the prophet Isaiah is finer than this farmer of Thekoa, so he also used a more sweet simile on the very same opinion, Cap. 65, 8.: "As one findeth must in a bunch of grapes, and saith, Spoil it not, for there is a blessing in it: so will I do for my servants' sakes, that I spoil it not all." The prophets are full of such passages.
And have in the corner a bed and at Damascus a sponde (In plaga lectuli [et in Damasci grabato]).
Here also even the Jews are not unanimous about this word. I translate it thus: In the corner of the bed and in the sponde at Damascus. But the meaning must be guessed. I hold completely that it is to be referred to 1) the tribe Juda. He calls the kingdom of Israel a bed. In this bed, that is, in this peaceful and excellent kingdom, he says, they do as they please. This is also how I understand the speech at Damascus about the kingdom. So it is the opinion of the prophet: only one corner of the bed will be preserved, the whole remaining part will perish, only a part of the people, and that the smallest, shall be preserved, while all the others have perished; only a few remnants will remain both in Damascus and in Samaria. For it is known from the sacred histories that this happened. For after the Israelites were destroyed by the Assyrian army, there remained very few who joined Judah. These had godliness at heart; and just as not all who belonged to Israel sinned, so not all were led away and perished. Now this is my opinion; because it agrees with history, therefore it pleases me.
V. 13 Hear and testify in the house of Jacob.
He interprets the previous saying as if he wanted to say: according to their opinion, they have arranged an excellent service, they have a fat and rich priesthood in
1) Instead of the following to "Because it happened this way" D. has: the services, so that it is a similar picture as in Isaiah, Cap. 57, 7. "Bed" and "Sponde" he calls the altars and the groves in which the adulterers lay, that is, practiced idolatry. As if he wanted to say: they serve the idols in Damascus and in the corners of the bed, that is, in Dan or Bethel. The meaning of this last part is therefore: the children of Israel, who dwell in Samaria and fornicate with idols, will suffer the punishments of their ungodliness. And yet, as a shepherd snatches a knee or the lobe of an ear from the lion that is torn, so some few will remain. Because that it happened in such a way 2c.
Bethel, they let their appetites run wild, they live most deliciously, they have houses in which they spend the winter and those in which they live during the summer, built most deliciously; they are safe and quiet, but the time will come when I will visit the priesthood, the temple and the sacrifices, "and then the priests and the pens
everything will come to naught". 1) Thus the prophets describe everywhere the wealth of the false prophets and the godless priests. The latter must have abundance of all things; meanwhile the true prophets are not honored; the latter suffer sorrow and hunger, the latter have nothing.
1) D. omits the German; for it: and there will be priest and temple at the same time.