Commentaria in Scripturam Sacram, Vol. 11: Prolegomena (prefaces and canons)
XXVIII. Chap. xix, ver. 11. “The foolish princes of Tanis, the wise counsellors of Pharao, have given foolish counsel. How will you say to Pharao: I am the son of the wise, the son of ancient kings?” as if to say: You by your flattery have deceived Pharao; for you persuaded him that on account of his wisdom and antiquity he would stand firm and be impregnable; whereas behold he has been vanquished and laid low by the Chaldeans. For the Egyptians are called by pagan writers learned on account of their wisdom (as the Jews superstitious), and Egypt itself was called the mother of the arts.
XXIX. Chap. xxii, ver. 12. “And the Lord shall call in that day to weeping, and to mourning, to baldness, and to girding with sackcloth: and behold joy and gladness, killing calves and slaying rams, eating flesh and drinking wine: Let us eat and drink, for tomorrow we shall die. And this iniquity shall not be forgiven you till you die, saith the Lord.” This adage is clear, and today we often hear it chanted by voluptuaries.
XXX. Chap. xxiii, ver. 8. “Who hath devised this against Tyre, that was formerly crowned, whose merchants were princes, whose traders were the nobles of the earth? The Lord of hosts hath devised it, to pull down the pride of all glory, and to bring to disgrace all the glorious ones of the earth.”
XXXI. Ver. 16. “Take a harp, go about the city, thou harlot that hast been forgotten: sing well, sing many a song, …” as if to say: As a harlot uses all enticements to allure her lovers to her, so Tyre will use all inducements to call back to herself the merchants scattered in her ruin.
XXXII. Chap. xxiv, ver. 8. “The mirth of timbrels is ceased, the noise of them that rejoice is ended, the melody of the harp is silent. They shall not drink wine with a song, the city of vanity is broken down.” Let revellers hear and ponder this adage. … “fear, and the pit, and the snare are upon thee, O inhabitant of the earth. And it shall come to pass that he that shall flee from the noise of the fear shall fall into the pit: and he that shall get out of the pit shall be taken in the snare,” as if to say: He who escapes one danger and disaster will fall into another.
XXXIV. Chap. xxvi, ver. 10. “In the land of the saints he hath done wicked things, and he shall not see the glory of the Lord.” The land of the saints is the Church, especially the clergy, he says; existing as if in heaven, he has done wicked things: therefore his iniquity is found unto hatred, and shall not be forgiven.
XXXV. Ver. 18. “We have not wrought salvation on the earth, therefore the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen,” as if to say: Because we have not done works of salvation, whether of ourselves or of our neighbors, therefore the inhabitants of the earth have not fallen from their pride and malice. Let Pastors say this, also Chap. xxvii, ver. 9. “This is all the fruit, that the sin thereof should be taken away.”
XXXVI. Chap. xxviii, ver. 15. “You have said: We have entered into a league with death, and we have made a covenant with hell. When the overflowing scourge shall pass, it shall not come upon us: for we have made lying our hope, and by falsehood we are protected,” as if to say: So you live, and so securely do you laugh at God’s future vengeance, that by your very security you seem to cry out: We have entered into a league with death, etc., that is, we are safe from death and hell, as if we had made a covenant with them; hence we fear no threats of the Prophets threatening us with these things.
Ver. 17. “Therefore, etc., hail shall overthrow the hope of falsehood, and waters shall overflow its protection. And your league with death shall be abolished, and your covenant with hell shall not stand: when the overflowing scourge shall pass, you shall be trodden down by it; and vexation alone shall make you understand what you hear.”
XXXVII. Chap. xxix, ver. 4. “Thou shalt be brought down (O Ariel), thou shalt speak out of the earth, and thy speech shall be heard out of the ground: and thy voice shall be as that of a pythoness out of the earth, and thy speech shall mutter out of the ground,” as if to say: Thou shalt be cast to the ground; and thence thou shalt mutter in a thin and mournful voice, and groan. Thy lion’s roar, O Ariel, shall cease, and end in the most timid muttering of all. For a low, submissive and muttering voice is a proof of great and abject timidity and depression of mind.
XXXVIII. Ver. 10. “The Lord hath mingled for you the spirit of a deep sleep, he will shut up your eyes, the prophets, etc. And the vision of all shall be unto you as the words of a sealed book, which when they shall deliver to one that is learned, they shall say: Read this: and he shall answer: I cannot, for it is sealed.” God threatens the Jews with blindness, so that they may not understand the sacred writings, nor the oracles of the Prophets. Hence he adds:
Ver. 14. “The wisdom of the wise shall perish, and the understanding of the prudent shall be hid.”
XXXIX. Ver. 15. “Woe to you that are deep of heart, to hide your counsel from the Lord (think to hide it), whose works are in the dark, and they say: Who seeth us, and who knoweth us? This thought of yours is perverse: as if the clay should think against the potter, and the work should say to the maker thereof: Thou madest me not: and the thing framed should say to the maker thereof: Thou understandest not.” These are the adages of politicians and atheists.
XL. Chap. xxx, ver. 3. “The strength of Pharao shall be to you a shame, and the confidence of the shadow of Egypt, …” you who put your hope in men, namely the Egyptians, it will deceive and confound you: put your hope therefore in God, not in man.
XLI. Ver. 10. “Who say to the seers: See not: and to them that behold: Behold not for us those things that are right: speak unto us pleasant things, see errors for us. Take away from me the way, turn aside from me the path, let the Holy One of Israel cease from before us.”
These are the voices of libertines.
XLII. Ver. 13. “Therefore shall this iniquity be to you as a breach (of a cracked wall) that falleth, and is found in a high wall, for the destruction thereof shall come suddenly, when it is not looked for,” as if to say: As a broken wall, threatening ruin, suddenly falls, and unexpectedly overwhelms those who live under it, so you also, O Jews, who lean on Egypt as on a tottering wall, shall be crushed as it falls. Hence he adds: “And it shall be broken in pieces as the potter’s vessel is broken with a violent breaking.”
XLIII. Ver. 15. “In silence and in hope shall your strength be,” … and hope in God, he will mightily protect you, and defend you from the Chaldeans.
XLIV. Ver. 16. “And you have said: No, but we will flee to horses: therefore shall you flee. And we will mount upon swift ones: therefore shall they be swifter that shall pursue after you, etc. Till you be left as the mast of a ship on the top of a mountain, and as a sign” of shipwreck and quicksands, that those sailing by may be warned by this sign and avoid them. As if to say: O Jews, if you flee to the Egyptians, you will be slain with them, and only a few of you will be left, to be as a sign of divine vengeance to the whole world, that men warned by this example may beware of it, and be wise.