Lectio 4
Lecture 4
Return of Rachel’s children
31:15 Haec dicit Dominus: vox in excelso audita est, lamentationis, luctus, et fletus Rachel plorantis filios suos, et nolentis consolari super eis, quia non sunt.
31:15 Thus says the Lord: a voice was heard on high: lamentation, grief, and wailing, Rachel weeping for her children, she refuses to be comforted for them, because they are not.
31:16 Haec dicit Dominus: quiescat vox tua a ploratu, et oculi tui a lacrimis: quia est merces operi tuo, ait Dominus. Et revertentur de terra inimici,
31:16 Thus says the Lord: let your voice be still from weeping, and your eyes from tears, for there is a reward for your work, says the Lord, and they shall come from the land of the enemy.
31:17 et est spes novissimis tuis, ait Dominus, et revertentur filii ad terminos suos.
31:17 And there is hope for your future, says the Lord, and your children shall come back to their borders.
161. Hic ponitur gentium consolatio.
161. Here is given the consolation of the nations.
Et primo inducit matris fletum: Rachel, quae fuit mater Joseph, plorantis, destructionem filiorum suorum. Figurative loquitur, secundum quod dicitur hyperbolice, in parentes mortuos tristitiam redundare de filiorum adversitate. Vel quia in Romana captivitate juxta sepulcrum Rachelis Judaei captivi ducti sunt, et venditi. Vel quia figurative dicitur plorare pueros juxta se occisos, cum ipsa juxta Bethleem sepulta sit, sicut habetur Gen. 35, lamentationis, quae fit verbis dolorem exprimentibus, fletus, quantum ad emissionem lacrymarum, luctus, quantum ad quamdam observantiam in expressione doloris, sicut fit in mutatione vestium, et hujusmodi. Supra 3: vox in viis audita est, ploratus, et ululatus filiorum Israel: quoniam iniquam fecerunt viam suam, obliti sunt Domini Dei sui. Excludit consolationis remedium: et nolentis consolari super eis, quia non sunt, reversi cum aliis, quia ad nihilum redacti sunt. Oseae 13: consolatio abscondita est ab oculis meis, quia ipse inter fratres dividet.
First, he introduces the weeping of a mother: Rachel, who was the mother of Joseph, weeping, for the destruction of her children. He is speaking figuratively—according to what is called hyperbole—of dead parents whose sadness overflows for the misfortune of their children. Or because in the Roman captivity, the Jewish captives were led by the tomb of Rachel and sold. Or because she is figuratively being said to mourn the children who were slain near her, since she was buried near Bethlehem (Gen 35:19); lamentation, which is made with words expressing grief; wailing, with regard to the shedding of tears; grief, with regard to a certain observance in the expression of grief, as occurs in the changing of garments and things of this sort. Above: a voice was heard on the roads, the crying and the wailing of the children of Israel, for they have made their way wicked, and have forgotten the Lord their God (Jer 3:21). He excludes the remedy of consolation: and she refuses to be comforted for them, because they are not, returned with the others, because they have been brought to nothing. Consolation is hidden from my eyes, because he shall make a separation between brothers (Hos 13:14–15).
Secundo impendit consolationis remedium: haec dicit Dominus: quiescat vox, quantum ad lamentationem, oculi, quantum ad fletum. Apoc. 21: absterget Deus omnem lacrymam ab oculis sanctorum: et mors ultra non erit, neque luctus, neque clamor, neque dolor erit ultra: quia prima abierunt.
Second, he applies the remedy of consolation: thus says the Lord: let your voice be still, with regard to lamentation; eyes, with regard to weeping. God shall wipe every tear from the eyes of his saints; and death shall be no more, neither mourning, nor crying, nor grief anymore, for the former things have passed away (Rev 21:4).
Tertio promittit liberationis beneficium:
Third, he promises the benefit of liberation:
et primo quantum ad terminum a quo, quia merces, in quo ostenditur per meritum sanctorum patrum eos liberatos. Inimici, Chaldaei. Isa. 40: ecce merces ejus cum eo, et opus illius coram illo.
first, with regard to the end from which the liberation begins, for there is a reward, by which is shown that they were freed by the merits of their holy fathers. The enemy, the Chaldeans. Behold, his reward is with him, and his work before him (Isa 40:10).
Secundo quantum ad terminum ad quem: et est spes novissimis ad significandum quod in novissimis temporibus revertentur ad veram fidem, et forte etiam ad terram suam mortuo antichristo. Proverb. 10: expectatio justorum laetitia, spes autem impiorum peribit.
Second, with regard to the end to which the liberation is directed: and there is hope for your future, to signify that in the last times they shall be turned to the true faith and perhaps even to their own land, at the death of the antichrist. The expectation of the just is gladness, but the hope of the wicked shall perish (Prov 10:28).
Lectio 5
Lecture 5
Ephraim’s conversion
31:18 Audiens audivi Ephraim transmigrantem: castigasti me, Domine, et eruditus sum, quasi juvenculus indomitus. Converte me, et convertar, quia tu Dominus Deus meus.
31:18 For I have surely heard Ephraim going into exile: ‘You have chastised me, O Lord, and I was chastened, as an unbroken calf: turn me and I shall be turned, because you are the Lord my God.
31:19 Postquam enim convertisti me, egi poenitentiam, et postquam ostendisti mihi, percussi femur meum. Confusus sum, et erubui, quoniam sustinui opprobrium adolescentiae meae.
31:19 After you turned me, I repented; and after you showed me, I struck my thigh. I was put to shame, and I blushed, for I have borne the reproach of my youth.’
162. Hic ponitur poenitentium susceptio, cui praemittitur confessionis cognitio, audiens audiri, idest misericorditer exaudivi. Exod. 3: videns vidi afflictionem populi mei qui est in Aegypto, et clamorem ejus audivi. Et subditur confessio: castigasti me, Domine, et eruditus sum quasi juvenculus, qui difficile corripitur, et multis verberibus. Isa. 28: sola vexatio intellectum dabit auditui.
162. Here is given the acceptance of those who repent, to whom is promised an acknowledgement of their confession: I have surely heard, that is, I have heard them mercifully. I have surely seen the suffering of my people, who are in Egypt, and I have heard their cry (Exod 3:7). And the confession is given: you have chastised me, O Lord, and I was chastened, as a calf, who is corrected with difficulty and with many blows. Only vexation gives understanding to hearing (Isa 28:19).
Secundo ponitur petitio: converte me, et convertar. Thren. ult.: converte nos, Domine, ad te, et convertemur: innova dies nostros sicut a principio.
Second, the petition is given: turn me and I shall be turned. Turn us, O Lord, to yourself, and we shall be turned; renew our days as from the beginning (Lam 5:21).
Tertio assignatur petitionis ratio ex poenitentia quam inchoavit.
Third, the reason for the petition is given as arising from the repentance which he has begun.
Unde primo ponit poenam: postquam enim convertisti, infundendo gratiam, postquam ostendisti, flagellis peccata, percussi femur meum, interiorem dolorem exteriori percussione designans, ad modum hominis dolentis. Vel percussi femur, voluptates carnales reprimendo. Job ult.: auditu auris audivi te, nunc autem oculus meus videt te.
For this reason, he puts the punishment first: after you turned me, by infusing grace, I struck my thigh, signifying interior grief by an exterior blow, after the manner of a grieving person. Or, I struck my thigh, by repressing carnal pleasures. With the hearing of the ear I have heard you, but now my eye sees you (Job 42:5).
Secundo poenitentiam, quia ex poena quam sustinuit peccatum recognoscens, confusionem passus est, quae signum poenitentiae fuit: confusus sum, interius, erubui, exterius, quoniam sustinui opprobrium, idest poenam, et confusionem pro peccatis adolescentiae meae. Et nominat adolescentiam, tempus ante conversionem; quasi dicat, quod ex ignorantia peccavit. Job 13: scribis contra me amaritudinem, et consumere me vis peccatis adolescentiae meae.
Second, repentance, because from the punishment which he has endured, recognizing his sin, he has suffered shame, which was a sign of repentance: I was put to shame, inwardly; I blushed, outwardly, for I have borne the reproach, that is, punishment and shame for the sins of my youth. And he calls the time before his conversion “youth”; it is as though he is saying that he sinned out of ignorance. You write bitter things against me, and wish to destroy me with the sins of my youth (Job 13:26).
Lectio 6
Lecture 6
God promises mercy
31:20 Si filius honorabilis mihi Ephraim, si puer delicatus, quia ex quo locutus sum de eo, adhuc recordabor ejus. Idcirco conturbata sunt viscera mea super eum, miserans miserebor ejus, ait Dominus.
31:20 Is Ephraim a son who brings me honor, is he a delicate boy? For from the point when I spoke of him, I shall remember him still. Therefore, are my inward parts moved for him; I shall surely have mercy upon him, says the Lord.
163. Hic suscipit poenitentem.
163. Here, he takes up the penitent.
Et primo ponitur divina miseratio;
First is given the divine mercy;
secundo poenitentis instructio, ibi, statue tibi speculam;
second, the instruction of the penitent, at establish for yourself a watchtower (Jer 31:21);
tertio ipsius revocatio, ibi, revertere virgo Israel.
third, his calling back, at turn, O virgin Israel (Jer 31:21).
Circa primum duo.
Concerning the former, he makes two points.
Primo ponit misericordiae rationem ex parte populi: si filius honorabilis mihi Ephraim; quasi dicat: numquid non filius honorabilis? propter jus primogeniturae: si puer delicatus, propter teneritudinem aetatis, quia Joseph quasi minimus filiorum Jacob, et Ephraim minor filiorum Joseph. Et haec duo provocant patres magis ad miserandum. Oseae 11: puer Israel, et dilexi eum, et ex Aegypto vocavi filium meum. Ponit etiam rationem ex parte Dei: quia ex quo locutus sum; quasi dicat: non decet ut verba Dei irritentur: recordabor, verborum. Num. 23: dixit, et non faciet, locutusque est, et non implebit?
First, he gives the reason for the mercy from the perspective of the people: is Ephraim a son who brings me honor; it is as though he were saying, “Is he not an honorable son?” Because of the birthright: is he a delicate boy, because of the tenderness of his age, because Joseph was, as it were, the youngest of the sons of Jacob, and Ephraim was the younger of the sons of Joseph. And these two factors incite fathers more to have mercy. Israel was a boy, and I loved him, and from Egypt have I called my son (Hos 11:1). He also gives the reason from the perspective of God: for from the point when I spoke; it is as though he were saying, “It is not fitting that the words of God should be made void”; I shall remember the words. Has he said, and will not do it? Has he spoken and will he not fulfill it? (Num 23:19).
Secundo ostendit miserationem: idcirco conturbata sunt viscera mea, antropospatos, in quo interior compassio, miserans, in quo exterior subventio. Oseae 11: conversum est in me cor meum, pariter conturbata est poenitudo mea.
Second, he shows his mercy: therefore, are my inward parts moved—anthropopathism, in which there is an internal compassion; I shall surely have mercy, in which there is an external bringing of aid. My heart is turned within me; likewise my repentance is stirred up (Hos 11:8).
Lectio 7
Lecture 7
Call to the straight way
31:21a Statue tibi speculam, pone tibi amaritudines; dirige cor tuum in viam rectam in qua ambulasti.
31:21a Establish for yourself a watchtower; make bitterness for yourself; direct your heart to the straight way upon which you have walked.
164. Hic ponitur poenitentis instructio: statue tibi speculam, ut consideres prospera quae nuntiatur vel viam per quam redeas, amaritudines, solicitudinem de reditu. Dirige, considera viam per quam venisti ut per eam redeas:
164. Here, the instruction of the penitent is given: establish for yourself a watchtower (speculam), so that you may consider the prosperity which has been announced, or so that you may consider the way by which you may return; bitterness, concern for the return; direct, consider the way by which you came, that by it you may return.
vel melius speculum contemplationis. Amaritudines, pro peccatis praeteritis. In viam rectam, idest in viam justitiae, per quam patres tui ambulaverunt. Apoc. 2: memor esto unde excideris, et age poenitentiam, et prima opera fac.
Or a better interpretation: establish for yourself a mirror (speculum), of contemplation; bitterness, for past sins; to the straight way, that is, to the way of justice on which your fathers walked. Remember from whence you are fallen, and repent, and do the first works (Rev 2:5).
Lectio 8
Lecture 8