Greek original · 38 verses · some words can be tapped for a gloss · long chapter, split into parts; this part covers 2:3.141–2:3.178 (227 verses in all)
ℹ️ This corpus has no verse-level morphological tagging. Lemmas come mainly from word-level tagging of other books in the same language (not from this verse), falling back to dictionary form-matching for the rest. Rare homographs can still be misread; verify against the original and a specialist lexicon where precision matters.
ℹ️ The Chinese and English alongside are this site's own translation, made directly from the original text on this page (not the CUV or the WEB, which follow the Masoretic Text and a different textual tradition).
"And my chosen shall inherit it, and my servants shall inherit it, and shall dwell there. And the forest shall become a fold for flocks, and the valley of Achor a resting place for herds, for my people who have sought me. But as for you who have forsaken me, and forget my holy mountain, and prepare a table for Fortune, and fill a mixed drink-offering for the demon, I will deliver you over to the sword."
In these words too the text, making a distinction, says that a small seed from Jacob shall obtain the things promised, and that those who dwelt in the forest are the elect—naming thus the calling of the nations, in which are the elect of the Lord and the seed of Jacob, who would be the apostles and disciples of our Savior; while all the rest, besides these, are subjected to the threats indicated—the text setting forth almost in the plainest terms that the promises of God do not simply reach the whole Jewish nation as it happens, but only the seed thus named, and those called the elect of God, since "many are called, but few are chosen."
And that a new name shall now also be laid upon these, the text next prophesies, saying to the impious: "For your name shall be left as a curse to my elect, but the Lord shall destroy you; but to those who serve me a new name shall be called." What, then, could this new name be, unknown among the ancients, other than the name of Christians, blessed throughout the whole inhabited world, taken from the appellation of our Savior Jesus Christ? 50. From Micah.
"And it shall be, gathered together out of the drop of this people, Jacob shall be gathered with all of them. Eagerly waiting I will wait for the remnant of Israel; I will set their return together in one place."
In agreement with what was set forth above from Isaiah, Micah too names those whom God awaits, not simply all, but only "the remnant." And just as in Isaiah the remnant from among them was called "seed," so now here he calls those of them who shall be saved a "drop."
And through these words too is signified the chorus of the apostles, as a certain "drop" and "seed" that came to be from the Jewish nation, from which drop all who throughout the whole inhabited world have come to know the Christ of God, and have received his teaching, have been deemed worthy of the gathering that was prophesied, having obtained redemption from the enemies.
"And you, Bethlehem, house of Ephrathah, are small to be among the thousands of Judah; out of you shall come forth to me one who is to be a ruler in Israel, and his goings forth are from the beginning, from the days of eternity. Therefore he shall give them up until the time when she who is in travail shall bring forth; and the rest of their brethren shall return."
And after a little he adds: "And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as dew falling from the Lord, and as lambs upon the grass, so that none may be gathered, nor stand among the sons of men. And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a lion's whelp among flocks of sheep, which, as it passes through and, having cut off its prey, seizes it, there is none to deliver. Your hand shall be exalted over those who afflict you, and all your enemies shall be utterly destroyed."
Nothing could be clearer than these words, which proclaim together, at once, the birth of the Savior in Bethlehem, and his pre-eternal existence, and the virgin's giving birth, and the calling of his apostles and disciples, and the proclamation concerning Christ made known throughout the whole inhabited world through them.
For, concerning the ruler thus indicated, whose goings forth the text declares to be from the days of eternity, who was to come forth from Bethlehem, born of the holy virgin who was to bear him, it says that not all those of the circumcision, but only the remnant, shall be saved—those who would also become the remnant of Jacob, and be given, after the manner of dew, unto all the nations. For, it says, "the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, as dew falling from the Lord, and as lambs upon the grass."
Instead of which Aquila has rendered "as drizzle upon grass," and Theodotion "as snow-showers upon herbage." And again, instead of "so that none may be gathered, nor stand among the sons of men, nor a son of man stumble," Theodotion says, "who shall not wait for man, and shall not hope in a son of man," and Aquila, "who shall not wait for a man, and not concerning the sons of men."
By which it is shown that the whole hope of the apostles of our Savior lay not in a man, but in their Savior and Lord—and this one was he who belonged to God.
To which he adds next: "And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the nations, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forest, and as a lion's whelp among flocks of sheep, which, as it passes through and, having cut off its prey, seizes it, and there is none to deliver." By which, I think, is signified the boldness and undauntedness of the apostolic preaching.
In the manner, then, of a lion and its whelp, they burst in upon the forest of the nations and upon the flocks of human sheep, and, distinguishing the worthy from the unworthy, brought them into subjection to the word of Christ; to whom it is next proclaimed the words that follow from it: "Your hand shall be exalted over those who afflict you, and all your enemies shall be utterly destroyed"—which very thing it is possible to see with one's own eyes. For though countless are those who have afflicted the word of Christ, and even now war against it, it has been lifted up and has become stronger than them all.
But indeed the hand of Christ has been exalted over all those who afflicted him, and all his enemies, those who from time to time rose up against his Church, are said to be utterly destroyed. 52. From Zephaniah.
"For then I will turn the peoples to the name of the Lord, that they may serve him under one yoke. From the ends of the rivers of Ethiopia I will receive those who entreat me. The sons of my scattered ones shall bring me offerings. In that day you shall not be put to shame for all your deeds by which you were impious toward me; for then I will take away from you the disgraces of your arrogance, and you shall no more continue to be haughty upon my holy mountain, and I will leave in you a people meek and humble."
"And the remnant of Israel shall reverence the name of the Lord, and shall do no unrighteousness, and shall not speak vain things; nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth, for they shall feed and lie down, and there shall be none to terrify them."
And in these words the Lord has promised to leave for himself a people meek and humble, signifying none other than the one from the circumcision who has believed in his Christ. And again, he shows that only the remnant of Israel shall be saved, together with the calling of the rest of the nations, which he had signified at the beginning of the prophecy. 53. From Zechariah.
"Behold, a day comes in you, and your spoils shall be in you. And I will gather all the nations against Jerusalem to war, and the city shall be taken, and the houses shall be plundered, and the women shall be defiled, and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, but the remnant of my people shall not be utterly destroyed out of the city."
These words too are in accord with what has been set forth above concerning the destruction that overtook the whole Jewish nation, fulfilled after the coming of Christ. So then, after the return from Babylon, Zechariah prophesies these things, foretelling the last siege of the people that would be brought about by the Romans, in which, when the whole Jewish nation would fall into the hands of its enemies, he says that only the remnant of the people shall be saved—plainly indicating none other than the apostles of our Savior themselves. 54. From Jeremiah.
"Turn back, O rebellious sons, says the Lord, for I will be master over you, and I will take you, one out of a city, and two out of a family, and I will bring you into Zion; and I will give you shepherds after my own heart, and they shall shepherd you, shepherding with knowledge. And it shall be, when you multiply and increase, says the Lord, in those days they shall no longer say, 'The ark of the covenant of the Lord of Israel'; it shall not come to mind, nor shall it be named, nor shall it be made again."
In these words also he prophesies together the turning of Israel that would come to pass at the coming of our Savior Jesus Christ, according to which, having chosen one out of a city and two out of a family—very few indeed, and small in number—as shepherds of the nations that would believe in him, they were multiplied upon the earth by the calling of the nations that would come about through them.
"No longer," he says, "shall they say, the ark of the covenant of the Lord." For no longer shall they run back to the more bodily forms of worship of Moses, since a new covenant is about to be handed down to them. 55. From the same.
Their impieties have multiplied; they have grown strong in their turnings away. For which of these shall I be merciful to you? Your sons forsook me, and swore by gods that are no gods; and I fed them to the full, and they committed adultery, and lodged in the houses of harlots. They became as horses, each neighing after his neighbor's wife. Shall I not visit for these things? says the Lord; or shall not my soul take vengeance on such a nation? Go up upon her ramparts, and cut them down, but make not a full end; leave her supports, for they belong to the Lord.
And in these words together both the accusation of their whole nation is made, and the siege that came upon them is signified, and again the remnant, which he calls its support, belonging to the Lord. This was that which was made strong and firm through faith in the Christ of God, so that it did not suffer the like of what their whole nation had suffered. 56. From Ezekiel
And the slain shall fall in the midst, and you shall know that I am the Lord, when there come to be some of you saved from the sword among the nations, and in your dispersion among the countries; and those of you who are saved shall remember me among the nations where they were taken captive.
It seems to me that here too it agrees with what is said in the rest of the prophecies. For whom else could you call those who are saved, than the remnant named in other places, and the drop and the dew of that people? By which the company of the apostles of our Saviour was signified. These, at any rate, having been saved out of their whole nation, remembered God even in their dispersion, so that it is acknowledged that what has been written was said concerning them. 57. From the same
Thus says the Lord Adonai: I will drive them out among the nations, and I will scatter them among all the nations, and I will scatter them into all the earth; and I will become to them a little sanctuary in the countries into which they shall enter.
And here again he has called the same people by another name, terming a little sanctuary those of them who were to be saved and left as a remnant. 58. From the same
And I will scatter all who assist them to every wind, and I will draw out a sword after them; and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I scatter them among the nations, and disperse them in the countries; and I will leave of them a few men in number from the sword, and from famine, and from death, that they may recount all their transgressions among the nations wherever they shall enter there; and they shall know that I am the Lord.
Concerning the dispersion of the whole people, he says that even now he will leave to himself a few in number, pointing to none other than those already mentioned. 59. From the same. Thus says the Lord Adonai: Even if I send my four evil judgments -- sword, and famine, and evil beasts, and death -- upon Jerusalem, to destroy from it man and beast, yet behold, there shall be left in it those who have been saved.
Thus will I judge you, says the Lord, and I will bring you under my rod, and I will bring you in by the number of my covenant; and I will choose out from you those who have rebelled and the ungodly, for I will bring them out of the place of their sojourning, and they shall not enter into the land of Israel.
Clearly in these words too it is attested that few in number shall come to be under the rod of God, inasmuch as the rest of Israel shall fall away from the promises. But indeed, having demonstrated that the divine oracles did not, as it chanced, foretell the promises of good things indiscriminately and without distinction to all alike from the Jewish nation -- to the base and impious as much as to those not such -- but to a few of them, and to those taken by number, that is, either to those of them who had believed on our Saviour and Lord, or to those who had been justified before his coming, I think I have sufficiently shown that the divine promises were not fulfilled indiscriminately toward all the Jews, and that the sayings of the prophets apply no more to them than to those from the nations who have received the Christ of God. But what was the meaning of the divine promises I shall set forth at the fitting time.
These things I have gathered together, as necessary for the refutation of those of the circumcision who, out of irrational boasting, arrogantly assert that the Christ came to dwell among them alone, and not among all men as well, and also as a demonstration of our own reasonable diligence concerning their sacred sayings.
And in the treatise before this one I have also established the reason why we do not Judaize, even though we delight in their prophetic writings. But I have also, so far as was possible, discoursed in it upon what manner of life is that which has been proclaimed to all the nations through Christ, and upon the antiquity of the character of the evangelical polity.
Now that these matters have been accomplished by us, it is at last time to take hold of more secret discourses -- those concerning the mystical dispensation relating to our Saviour and Lord Jesus, the Christ of God -- and so that we may learn why now, and not before this, he made his manifestation to all men, and what the cause was that he did not do so long ago, but rather lately and after the long age, began his calling of the nations, together with whatever other matters belong to the secret theology concerning him. And further, concerning his becoming man -- matters which are indeed first, from a fresh starting-point of discourse, as against unbelievers -- for the present, let us, invoking the Word of God himself as our helper, proceed to examine them.