Lectio 1
Lecture 1
Admonitio ex historia Israel
Warning from Israel’s history
10:1 Nolo enim vos ignorare fratres, quoniam patres nostri omnes sub nube fuerunt, et omnes mare transierunt, [n. 517]
10:1 For I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers were all under the cloud: and all passed through the sea. [n. 517]
10:2 et omnes in Moyse baptizati sunt in nube, et in mari:
10:2 And all in Moses were baptized, in the cloud and in the sea:
10:3 et omnes eamdem escam spiritalem manducaverunt, [n. 519]
10:3 And all did eat the same spiritual food: [n. 519]
10:4 et omnes eumdem potum spiritalem biberunt (bibebant autem de spiritali, consequente eos, petra: petra autem erat Christus):
10:4 And all drank the same spiritual drink (and they drank of the spiritual rock that followed them: and the rock was Christ).
10:5 sed non in pluribus eorum beneplacitum est Deo: nam prostrati sunt in deserto. [n. 521]
10:5 But with most of them God was not well pleased: for they were overthrown in the desert. [n. 521]
517. Superius monuit abstinere ab idolothitis, primo propter vitandum scandalum fratrum infirmorum, cap. VIII, secundo propter exemplum suum, qui abstinet propter alios ab acceptione sumptuum, c. IX, hic, tertio, monet ad idem ex consideratione poenae Iudaeorum in deserto idola venerantium, ubi, exemplo poenae istorum,
517. Above he warned them to abstain from the food of idols, first in order to avoid the scandal of weaker brothers (chapter eight); second, because of his own example, who refrains from accepting living expenses for the sake of others (chapter nine). Here, by a third argument he warns them about the same thing from the consideration of the punishment of the Jews who venerated idols in the desert, where, by the example of their punishment,
primo monet abstinere a perpetratione peccatorum similium;
he firsts warns them to refrain from committing similar sins;
secundo specialiter a comestione idolis immolatorum, ibi propter quod, charissimi, fugite ab idolorum cultura, et cetera.
second, he particularly warns against eating food sacrificed to idols, where he says, wherefore, my dearly beloved, flee from the service of idols (1 Cor 10:14).
In prima,
In the first part,
primo ostendit quod antiquitus Iudaeis contigit;
he first shows what befell the Jews in ancient times;
secundo propter quod, quia non propter se tantum, sed propter nos corrigendos ita evenit haec autem in figura facta sunt nostri, etc.;
second, the reason why, since it happened that way not only for them, but for our correction: these things were done in a figure of us (1 Cor 10:6);
tertio, ut exemplo eorum caveant, concludit, ibi itaque qui se existimat stare, et cetera.
third, so that they would be careful of the example of those people, he concludes at wherefore, he who thinks that he stands (1 Cor 10:12).
Ergo poena timenda, causa memoranda, cautela adhibenda.
Therefore, the punishment should be feared, the reason remembered, and caution applied.
In prima,
In the first part,
primo ponit beneficia gratiae eis impensa existentibus in Aegypto;
he first lists the benefits of grace allotted to them while living in Egypt;
secundo praestita in deserto, ibi et omnes eamdem escam, etc.;
second, he lists the even better things given to them in the desert, at and all did eat the same;
tertio flagella propter ingratitudinem inflicta, ibi sed non in pluribus, et cetera.
third, he lists the scourges inflicted because of their ingratitude at but with most of them, God was not well pleased.
518. In prima tangit tria beneficia. Primum, in protectione nubis; secundum, in transitu Maris Rubri, ibi et omnes mare transierunt, etc.; tertium, in purgatione baptismatis, ibi et omnes in Moyse, et cetera.
518. In the first section he refers to three benefits. First, the protection of the cloud; second, the crossing of the Red Sea, at and all passed through the sea; third, the purification of baptism, at and all in Moses were baptized.
Dicit ergo nolo vos, etc., quasi dicat: sic agendum est, sicuti monui. Non enim sufficiunt sacramenta Ecclesiae suscepta vobis postea peccantibus, sicut nec Iudaeis Dei beneficia, quin postea punirentur.
Therefore he says I would not have you, as though saying: you should act as I have warned you. For the receiving the sacraments of the Church does not suffice for you when you sin afterwards, just as neither did the benefits of God keep the Jews from being punished afterward.
Nolo enim vos ignorare, et cetera. Hoc dupliciter legitur. Uno modo de bonis et malis communiter; alio modo de malis specialiter.
For I would not have you ignorant. This can be read two ways. In one way, about the good and the bad together; in another way, about the bad in particular.
Primo modo sic: nolo vos ignorare, fratres, quoniam patres nostri, institutores fidei nostrae, omnes, tam boni quam mali, sub nube protegente fuerunt. Ex. XIII, 21: Dominus praecedebat eos ad ostendendum viam per diem in columna nubis, et cetera. Vel sub nube, id est, sub figura et umbra. Hebr. X, 1: umbram habens lex futurorum, et cetera. Et omnes Mare Rubrum, submersis hostibus, transierunt, non de una ripa ad ripam oppositam, sed ad eamdem, unde transierunt quemdam sinum maris. Et omnes in Moyse, id est, in ducatu Moysi, baptizati sunt in nube et in mari, id est, per visa signa illa purgati ab ignorantia; vel a vitiis per fidem, scilicet submersis Aegyptiis. Ex. XIV, 31: timuit populus Dominum, et crediderunt Domino et servo suo Moysi. Vel baptizati sunt, id est, signum baptismi receperunt. Nam baptismus constat ex aqua et spiritu. Io. III, 5: nisi quis renatus fuerit ex aqua et Spiritu. Nubes autem symbolum erat Spiritus, mare vero aquae, ut dicit Damascenus.
The first way goes as follows: I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers, the founders of our faith, were all, both good and bad, under the protecting cloud. The Lord went ahead of them to show the way by day in a column of cloud (Exod 13:21). Or else, under the cloud could mean under figure and shadow. The law having the shadow of future things (Heb 10:1). And, once their enemies had drowned, all passed through the Red Sea, not from one shore to the other, but to the same one from which they crossed a certain bay of the sea. And all in Moses, that is, under the leadership of Moses, were baptized in the cloud and in the sea, that is, they were purged of ignorance by having seen those signs; or, they were purged of vices by faith, namely, in the drowning of the Egyptians. The people of the Lord feared, and they believed in the Lord and his servant Moses (Exod 14:31). Or, they were baptized, that is, they received the sign of baptism. For baptism depends upon water and the spirit: unless someone has been reborn from water and the Spirit (John 3:5). However, the cloud is the symbol of the Spirit, but the sea is the symbol of water, as Damascene says.
519. Deinde, cum dicit et omnes eamdem escam spiritualem, etc., post beneficia exhibita Israel de Aegypto exeunti, hic tangit beneficia exhibita in deserto. Et primo beneficium mannae; secundo beneficium aquae, ibi et omnes eumdem potum, etc.; tertio potus originem mirabilem, ibi bibebant autem, etc.; quarto, originis significationem, ibi petra autem, et cetera.
519. Next, when he says and all did eat the same spiritual food; after the benefits shown to Israel when leaving Egypt, here he traces the benefits shown in the desert. And first, the benefit of manna; second, the benefit of water, at and all drank the same; third, the drink’s miraculous origin, at and they drank; fourth, the signification of this origin, at and the rock.
Dicit ergo et omnes eamdem escam spiritualem manducaverunt, manna scilicet de caelo. Vocat autem eam spiritualem, cum esset corporalis, quia miraculose fuit data; de hoc habetur Sap. XVI, 20: panem de caelo praestitisti eis. Et omnes eumdem potum spiritualem, scilicet aquam de petra. Num. c. XX, 8: loquimini ad petram, et ipsa dabit vobis aquam. Percussit petram, et fluxerunt aquae. Bibebant autem de petra spirituali, quae dicitur spiritualis propter effectum miraculosum, propter futuri signum.
He says therefore, and all did eat the same spiritual food, namely, manna from heaven. But he calls it spiritual, although it was bodily, because it was miraculously given; and this is found in Wisdom: you have given them bread from heaven (Wis 16:20). And all drank the same spiritual drink, namely, water from the rock. Speak to the rock and it will give you water. He struck the rock, and waters flowed out (Num 20:8). And they drank of the spiritual rock, which is called spiritual because of the miraculous effect, for the sake of a sign of the future.
Petra consequente eos. Dupliciter intelligitur consequente, id est, satisfaciente voluntati eorum. Ps. LXXVII, 29: desiderium eorum attulit eis. Aquae enim ubique sequebantur eos. Is. XLVIII, 21: aquam de petra produxit eis, et cetera. Vel consequente eos, id est veritatem sequentem significante. Petra autem erat Christus, non per substantiam, sed per significationem. Matth. XXI, 42: hic est lapis quem reprobaverunt, et cetera.
The rock that followed them. There are two ways to understand followed, that is, satisfied their desire: he gave to them their desire (Ps 78:29). He brought forth water out of a rock for them (Isa 48:21). Or that followed them, that is, which signified the following truth. And the rock was Christ, not by his substance, but by signification: here is the stone which the builders rejected (Matt 21:42).
520. Alio modo legitur de bonis breviter sic nolo vos ignorare, fratres, quoniam patres nostri, institutores fidei nostrae, omnes boni spiritualiter. Unde dicit: patres nostri, non illorum, sub nube fuerunt, sicut prius, et omnes eamdem escam manducaverunt spiritualem, id est, Corpus Christi in signo spiritualiter intellecto. Unde eamdem escam spiritalem manducaverunt, idem scilicet quod nos, sed aliam escam corporalem quam nos; et hoc quantum ad maiores in Christum credentes. Manducabant Christum spiritualiter, secundum illud: crede, et manducasti. Et omnes eumdem potum biberunt, scilicet Christi Sanguinem, in signo. Sic loquitur de signo et potu spirituali per fidem, non de corporali. Bibebant autem de spirituali, etc., sicut prius. Appetendus cibus et potus, quia sufficiens; unde dicit omnes manducaverunt, indeficiens, quia eumdem; utilis, quia potus et cibus spiritualis: quod notatur in ipso nomine spiritualis, et cetera.
520. In another way it can be read as concerning the good, in a nutshell like this: I would not have you ignorant, brethren, that our fathers, the founders of our faith, were all spiritually good men. For which reason he says, our fathers, not theirs, were under the cloud, (the same interpretation as before), and all did eat the same spiritual food, that is, the Body of Christ spiritually understood as a sign. For which reason, they ate the same spiritual food, that is, the same as we eat, but a different bodily food than we eat; and this, meaning the ancestors who believed in Christ. They ate Christ spiritually, according to this: believe and eat. And all drank the same spiritual drink, namely the Blood of Christ, in a sign. Thus he speaks about a sign and a drink that through faith were spiritual, not bodily. And they drank of the spiritual rock (the same reading as before). This is the food and drink to seek, because it is sufficient: wherefore he says all did eat; unfailing, because they ate the same thing; useful, because it was spiritual food and drink: which is noted in the very word ‘spiritual’.
521. Deinde, cum dicit sed non in pluribus, etc., post beneficia tangit flagella. Et primo offensam, secundo poenam, ibi nam prostrati sunt.
521. Next, when he says but with most of them, after the benefits he deals with the scourges. And first the offense; second, the punishment, at for they were overthrown.
Dicit ergo sed non in pluribus, etc., quasi dicat: his omnibus beneficiis usi sunt Iudaei, sed non in pluribus eorum beneplacitum est Deo: in illis scilicet qui Deum offenderunt, sed tantum in duobus, scilicet Caleph et Iosue, quibus solis concessum est terram promissionis obtinere, Num. XIV, 24. Mal. I, 10: non est mihi voluntas in vobis.
Therefore he says but with most of them, as though saying: the Jews enjoyed all these benefits, but with most of them God was not well pleased: namely, the ones who offended God; and to only two men, Caleb and Joshua, was it granted to reach the promised land (Num 14:24). I have no desire for you (Mal 1:10).
Lectio 2
Lecture 2
Israel figura nostri
Israel a figure for us
10:6 Haec autem in figura facta sunt nostri, ut non simus concupiscentes malorum, sicut et illi concupierunt. [n. 522]
10:6 Now these things were done in a figure of us, that we should not covet evil things, as they also coveted. [n. 522]
10:7 Neque idololatrae efficiamini, sicut quidam ex ipsis: quemadmodum scriptum est: sedit populus manducare, et bibere, et surrexerunt ludere. [n. 524]
10:7 Neither become idolaters, as some of them, as it is written: the people sat down to eat and drink and rose up to play. [n. 524]
10:8 Neque fornicemur, sicut quidam ex ipsis fornicati sunt, et ceciderunt una die viginti tria millia. [n. 526]
10:8 Neither let us commit fornication, as some of them that committed fornication: and there fell in one day three and twenty thousand. [n. 526]
10:9 Neque tentemus Christum, sicut quidam eorum tentaverunt, et a serpentibus perierunt. [n. 527]
10:9 Neither let us tempt Christ, as some of them tempted and perished by the serpents. [n. 527]
10:10 Neque murmuraveritis, sicut quidam eorum murmuraverunt, et perierunt ab exterminatore. [n. 528]
10:10 Neither murmur, as some of them murmured and were destroyed by the destroyer. [n. 528]