In qua, primo, tangit occasionem defectus Iudaeorum, dicens fiat mensa eorum, id est malitia qua peccatores reficiuntur. Iob XX, v. 12: cum dulce fuerit in ore eius malum, abscondet illud sub lingua sua. Quae quidem mensa est coram ipsis quando ex certa malitia peccant. Hoc quidem fit in laqueum quando ex ea paratur tentatio ad peccandum, Is. XXIV, 18: qui explicaverit se de fovea, tenebitur laqueo, et in captionem, quando delectationi succumbit per consensum, Is. c. VIII, 15: capientur et irretientur, et in scandalum, id est in pactionem casus quando ruunt de peccato in peccatum, Ps. CXVIII, v. 165: pax multa diligentibus legem tuam, et non est illis scandalum, et in retributionem illis quando scilicet punientur pro suis peccatis. Vel quia hoc ipsum est retributio delictorum, quia Deus eos permittit sic cadere. Ps. XCIII, 2: redde retributionem superbis.
First, he touches on the things which occasioned the fall of the Jews, saying let their table, i.e., the malice with which sinners are nourished: though wickedness is sweet in his mouth, though he hides it under his tongue (Job 20:12). This table is before them, when they sin from malice aforethought and it becomes a snare, i.e., a temptation to sin: he who comes out of the pit shall be caught in the snare: (Isa 24:18), and a trap, when they succumb to the pleasure of the temptation: they shall be trapped and taken (Isa 8:15), and a stumbling block, when they fall from one sin into another: much peace to those who love your law, and it is not a stumbling block to them (Ps 119:165), and a retribution unto them, namely, when they will be punished for their sins. Or because the very fact that God permits them so to fall is itself a retribution for their sins: render to the proud their deserts (Ps 94:2).
Vel mensa est Sacra Scriptura Iudaeis apposita. Prov. IX, 2: proposuit mensam suam. Quae quidem fit in laqueum, quando occurrit aliquod ambiguum, in captionem, quando male intelligitur, in scandalum, quando ruit in pertinaciam erroris, et retributionem, ut supra.
Or the table is the Sacred Scripture put before the Jews: she has set forth her table (Prov 9:2). It becomes a snare, when something ambiguous occurs; a trap, when it is not correctly understood; a stumbling block, when it falls into obstinate error; and a retribution, as explained above.
877. Secundo ponit ipsum defectum quantum ad cognitivam virtutem, cum dicit obscurentur oculi eorum ne videant, quod magis praenuntiando quam optando dicitur. Eph. IV, 18: tenebris obscuratum habentes intellectum. Et quantum ad effectum cum dicit et dorsum eorum, id est liberum arbitrium quod portat ad bona et ad mala, semper incurva, id est incurvari permitte ab aeternis ad temporalia, a rectitudine iustitiae ad iniquitatem. Is. LI, 23: incurvare ut transeamus.
877. Second, he mentions the weakening of their power to understand when he says: let their eyes be darkened, that they may not see, which is said more as a prediction than as a desire: having their understanding darkened (Eph 4:18). And he mentions the effect when he says, and their backs, i.e., free choice, which carries something for good or for evil, bow down always, i.e., bend from eternal things to temporal things, from the path of justice to iniquity: bow down, that we may pass over (Isa 51:23).
Lectio 2
Lecture 2
Delictum Judaeorum pro salvationem gentium
The Jews’ offense is for the salvation of the gentiles
11:11 Dico ergo: numquid sic offenderunt ut caderent? Absit. Sed illorum delicto, salus est gentibus ut illos aemulentur. [n. 878]
11:11 I say then: have they so stumbled, that they should fall? God forbid! But by their offense salvation is come to the gentiles, that they may be emulous of them. [n. 878]
11:12 Quod si delictum illorum divitiae sunt mundi, et diminutio eorum divitiae gentium: quanto magis plenitudo eorum? [n. 883]
11:12 Now if the offense of them be the riches of the world and the diminution of them the riches of the gentiles, how much more the fullness of them? [n. 883]
11:13 Vobis enim dico gentibus: quamdiu quidem ego sum gentium Apostolus, ministerium meum honorificabo, [n. 885]
11:13 For I say to you, gentiles: as long indeed as I am the apostle of the gentiles, I will honor my ministry, [n. 885]
11:14 si quomodo ad aemulandum provocem carnem meam, et salvos faciam aliquos ex illis. [n. 888]
11:14 If, by any means, I may provoke to emulation them who are my flesh and may save some of them. [n. 888]
11:15 Si enim amissio eorum, reconciliatio est mundi: quae assumptio, nisi vita ex mortuis? [n. 890]
11:15 For if the loss of them be the reconciliation of the world, what shall the receiving of them be, but life from the dead? [n. 890]
11:16 Quod si delibatio sancta est, et massa: et si radix sancta, et rami. [n. 891]
11:16 For if the firstfruit be holy, so is the lump also: and if the root be holy, so are the branches. [n. 891]
878. Postquam Apostolus ostendit quod casus Iudaeorum non est universalis, hic incipit ostendere quod casus eorum non est inutilis neque irreparabilis.
878. After showing that the fall of the Jews is not universal, the Apostle now begins to show that their fall was neither useless nor irreparable.
Et circa hoc duo facit.
In regard to this he does two things:
Primo ostendit casum Iudaeorum esse utilem et reparabilem;
first, he shows that the fall of the Jews is useful and reparable;
secundo excludit gloriam gentilium Iudaeis insultantium, ibi quod si aliqui ex ramis, et cetera.
second, he disputes the gentiles’ boasting against the Jews, at and if some of the branches (Rom 11:17).
Circa primum duo facit.
In regard to the first he does two things:
Primo proponit quaestionem;
first, he asks a question;
secundo solvit, ibi absit, et cetera.
second, he answers it, at God forbid.
879. Dicit ergo primo: dictum est et probatum, quod caeteri Iudaei praeter electos sunt excaecati. Dicit ergo, quaestionem movens, numquid sic offenderunt ut caderent?
879. First, therefore, he says: it has been stated and proved that except for the chosen, the rest of the Jews have been blinded. So the question arises: have they so stumbled, that they should fall?
Quod potest dupliciter intelligi. Uno modo sic: numquid Deus permisit eos offendere solum ut caderent, id est propter nullam aliam utilitatem inde consequentem, sed solum volens eos cadere? Quod quidem esset contra bonitatem divinam, quae tanta est, ut Augustinus dicit in Enchiridion, quod numquam permitteret aliquid mali fieri nisi propter bonum, quod ex malo elicit. Unde et Iob XXXIV, 24 dicitur: conteret multos et innumerabiles, et stare faciet alios pro eis. Et Apoc. III, 11 dicitur: tene quod habes, ne alter accipiat coronam tuam, quia scilicet Deus aliquos sic permittit cadere, ut quorumdam casus sit aliorum salutis occasio.
This can be interpreted in two ways: the first way is this: has God permitted them to stumble only that they should fall, i.e., not for any benefit that might follow but merely willing their fall? This, of course, would be contrary to God’s goodness which, as Augustine says, is so great that it would not permit any evil to occur except for some good, which he draws out of the evil. Hence it says in Job: he shall break in pieces many and innumerable, and shall make others to stand in their stead (Job 34:24); and in Revelation: hold fast what you have, so that no one may seize your crown (Rev 3:11), namely, because God permits some to fall in order that their fall be the occasion of salvation for others.
Alio modo potest intelligi sic: numquid sic offenderunt ut caderent? Id est perpetuo in casu remanerent? Ps. XL, 9: numquid qui dormit non adiiciet ut resurgat?
Another interpretation is this: have they so stumbled, that they should fall, i.e., that they should remain fallen forever? Will he not rise again from where he lies? (Ps 41:8).
880. Deinde cum dicit absit, etc., solvit quaestionem.
880. Then when he says, God forbid, he answers the question:
Et primo secundum primum intellectum ostendens casum Iudaeorum fuisse utilem;
first, according to the first interpretation, showing that the fall of the Jews was useful;
secundo solvit quaestionem quantum ad secundum intellectum, ostendens casum Iudaeorum esse reparabilem, ibi quod si delictum illorum, et cetera.
second, he resolves the question according to the second interpretation, showing that the Jews’ situation is reparable, at now if the offense of them.
881. Dicit ergo primo absit, ut scilicet inutiliter caderent. Sed, magis, illorum, scilicet Iudaeorum, delicto, salus gentibus facta est occasionaliter. Unde et Dominus dicit Io. IV, 22: salus ex Iudaeis est.
881. First, therefore, he says: God forbid that they fell to no use; but rather, by their, namely, the Jews’, offense, salvation is come to the gentiles. Hence the Lord himself says: salvation is from the Jews (John 4:22).
Quod quidem potest intelligi tripliciter. Primo modo, quia per delictum quod in occisione Christi commiserunt, est subsecuta salus gentium per redemptionem sanguinis Christi. I Petr. I, 18: non enim corruptibilibus auro vel argento redempti estis de vana vestra conversatione paternae traditionis, sed pretioso sanguine agni immaculati.
This can be understood in three ways. In the first way, that by their offense, which they committed in killing Christ, the salvation of the gentiles was obtained through the redemption of Christ’s blood: you know that you were ransomed not with perishable things, such as silver or gold, but with the precious blood of the Lamb (1 Pet 1:18).
Secundo modo potest intelligi de delicto quo doctrinam apostolorum repulerunt, ex quo confectum est ut apostoli gentibus praedicarent, secundum illud Act. XIII, 46: vobis oportebat primum loqui verbum Dei, sed quoniam repulistis illud, ecce convertimur ad gentes, et cetera.
In the second way, it can be understood of the trespass by which they rejected the teaching of the apostles, with the result that the apostles preached to the gentiles, as it says in Acts: it was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you. Since you thrust it from you, we turn to the gentiles (Acts 13:46).
Tertio modo potest intelligi de hoc quod propter suam impoenitentiam sunt in omnes gentes dispersi. Et sic Christus et Ecclesia ubique a libris Iudaeorum testimonium habuit fidei Christianae, ad convertendos gentiles qui suspicari potuissent prophetias de Christo, quas praedicatores fidei inducebant, esse confictas, nisi probarentur testimonio Iudaeorum; unde in Ps. LVIII, 12 dicitur: ostendit mihi super inimicos meos, scilicet Iudaeos, ne occidas eos, ne quando obliviscantur populi mei: disperge illos in virtute tua.
In a third way it can be understood as meaning that on account of their impenitence they have been scattered among all the nations. As a result Christ and the Church had from the books of the Jews testimony to the Christian faith helpful in converting the gentiles, who might have suspected that the prophecies concerning Christ, which the preachers of the faith brought forward, were fabricated, if they had not been proven by the testimony of the Jews; hence it says in a psalm: let me look in triumph on my enemies, i.e., the Jews; slay them not, lest my people forget, make them totter by your power (Ps 59:10).
882. Sequitur ut illos aemulentur.
882. There follows so that they may be emulous of them.
Et quia non dicit qui vel quos, cum etiam sit duplex aemulatio, scilicet indignationis et imitationis, potest hoc quatuor modis exponi.
And because he does not say who or whom, and since there are two kinds of emulousness, namely that of indignation and that of imitation, this phrase can be explained in four ways.
Primo modo ut intelligatur sic ut, gentiles, illos, scilicet Iudaeos, aemulentur, id est imitentur in cultu unius Dei. Eph. II, 12: eratis in illo tempore sine Christo alienati a conversatione Israel, et postea subdit: nunc autem vos, qui aliquando eratis longe, facti estis prope in sanguine Christi. I Thess. II, v. 14: vos imitatores facti estis ecclesiarum Dei, quae sunt in Iudaea.
The first way is this. That the gentiles may be emulous of them, namely the Jews, such that they imitate them in the worship of the one God: you were at one time without Christ, alien to the way of life of Israel, and later he adds, but now you, who were once far off, have been drawn near in the blood of Christ (Eph 2:12); you have become imitators of the churches of God (1 Thess 2:14), which are in Judea.
Vel ut gentiles aemulentur Iudaeos, id est indignentur contra eos propter incredulitatem eorum. Ps. CXVIII, 158: vidi praevaricantes et tabescebam, quia eloquia tua non custodierunt.
Or it can be interpreted this way. The gentiles are emulous of the Jews, i.e., they are indignant against them on account of their unbelief: I beheld the transgressors and I pined away, because they do not keep your words (Ps 118:158).
Tertio modo potest intelligi sic: ut Iudaei aemulentur, id est imitentur gentiles quando ubique et nunc aliqui eorum particulariter convertuntur ad fidem, imitantes fidem gentium et finaliter omnis Israel salvus fiet cum plenitudo gentium intraverit et sic impleatur quod dicitur Deut. XXVIII, 44: ille erit in caput, et tu eris in caudam.
Third, it can be understood in this way. The Jews are emulous, i.e., imitate the gentiles when everywhere, and now some of them particularly, they are converted to the faith, imitating the faith of the gentiles; and in the end all Israel will be saved when the fullness of the gentiles have entered. Thus will be fulfilled what is said in Deuteronomy: he will be the head and you will be the tail (Deut 28:44).
Quarto modo potest exponi sic: ut Iudaei aemulentur gentiles, id est contra eos ex invidia turbentur dum vident ad eos eorum gloriam translatam. Deut. XXXII, 21: ego provocabo eos in eo qui non est populus.
Fourth, it can be interpreted this way. The Jews are emulous of the gentiles, i.e., are disturbed out of envy towards them when they see their glory passing over to them: I will provoke you by that which is not a people (Deut 22:21).
883. Deinde cum dicit quod si delictum eorum, etc., solvit quaestionem quantum ad secundum intellectum, ostendens casum Iudaeorum esse reparabilem, quod quidem ostendit tripliciter.
883. Then when he says, now if the offense of them, he answers the question as interpreted in the second way and shows that the fall of the Jews is reparable. He does this in three ways:
Primo ex utilitate;
first, from its usefulness;