Commentary on the Twelve Prophets 1 part 13/19

You shall not muzzle the ox that treads out the grain. And again:

They who attend at the altar share with the altar. But these men shall fall into such misfortunes;

but I will exult in the Lord;

I will rejoice in God my Saviour.

The Lord my God is my strength, and he will set my feet as those of a deer, and he will lift me upon the high places, that I may conquer in his song. For even if on account of those men I was filled with despondency and fear, yet because of the glory of my God which shall be made manifest to all men, I both delight and rejoice.

For he will uphold the weakness of my nature, and like a deer he will make me trample upon the serpents and the scorpions and the spiritual forces of wickedness, until, having attained to the height of virtue, I may sing the hymn of victory to my Saviour and Maker.

I know indeed that some, having understood the whole prayer of Habakkuk historically, have said that the Prophet foretold these things concerning the return from Babylon;

but I, for my part, if one wishes that these things were also foretold typically concerning those events, shall not contend against it;

for such a meaning also agrees with the things interpreted by us, if indeed the old things are truly a clear type of the new.

But I thought it absurd, when the truth prevails and the shadow has been covered by the body, to take the prophecy for other things which do not at all suit those events.

But if anyone wishes to learn accurately, let him search the prophecy, and he will see that most of it in no way suits the types;

yet concerning these matters let each judge as he wishes.

After Hezekiah, the pious and God-beloved king, his son Manasseh, having become king, drove impiety to the utmost;

and indeed he caused the people also to run aground into transgression and the worship of idols.

And his son Amon, having reigned a short time, followed his father in impiety, but did not emulate that man's repentance;

but likewise he too trained the people in every kind of vice,

choosing all things together at once.

In the time of this man the inspired Zephaniah composed this prophecy;

and the most divine Jeremiah also began to prophesy in the thirteenth year of his reign.

This admirable prophet foretells the things that would befall both Jerusalem and the tribe of Judah;

and he also foretells grievous things to the neighbouring Philistines, and predicts utter destruction to the Assyrians.

This, then, in summary, is the subject of the prophecy;

and he begins the prediction thus:

The word of the Lord which came to Zephaniah, the son of Cushi, son of Gedaliah, son of Amariah, son of Hezekiah, in the days of Josiah son of Amon, king of Judah.

By failing let all things fail from the face of the earth, says the Lord.

Let man fail, and the cattle;

let the birds of the heaven fail, and the fishes of the sea. And, showing the justice of the prophecy, he adds:

And the stumbling-blocks together with the impious;

and I will take away the lawless from the face of the earth, says the Lord. For on account of the impiety and transgression of men, I will consume also the things that came into being through them and were made for their use, the kinds of irrational creatures.

For just as I made both winged creatures and swimming creatures and cattle for their service,

so together with them I will destroy these also.

For their use is superfluous, when those who would enjoy them no longer exist.

And teaching with whom he is displeased and against whom he is angered, he adds:

And I will stretch out my hand upon Judah, and upon all who dwell in Jerusalem;

and I will take away from this place the names of the Baalim, and the names of the priests together with the priests.

And those who worship the host of heaven upon the housetops. The catalogue of the sins showed the justice of the punishments;

for the punishment too is full of loving-kindness;

for he promises deliverance from error, and forgetfulness not only of the worship of the idols, but even of their very name.

And by the host of heaven he named the order of the luminaries in the heaven;

for to these they offered their sacrifices upon the housetops, desiring to behold them more clearly.

And those who swear by the Lord, and those who swear by Milcom;

(3.) 'And those who turn aside from the Lord, and those who do not seek the Lord, and those who do not hold fast to the Lord.' One might perhaps inquire why, through another prophet, He enjoins that the names of the Baalim be removed from the mouth, and commands that one swear 'The Lord lives, in truth,' whereas here He threatens punishment upon those who swear by the Lord.

But the solution is easy to find at once.

'For those who swear by the Lord,' he says, 'and those who swear by Melchom.' Now this was an idol of the Ammonites, as indeed we also find in the other prophets and in the Third Book of Kingdoms.

'For Solomon served,' it says, 'Astarte the queen of the Sidonians, and Melchom the idol of the sons of Ammon.' He therefore threatens chastisement upon those who at one and the same time swear both by the true God and Lord and by the idols;

so that the two prophecies agree with one another.

'If you remove the Baalim from your mouth, and swear, The Lord lives, in truth': and yet here too He rebukes those who pretend to serve God while choosing the worship of idols.

Having thus threatened grievous things, He tempers the threat with exhortation, lest, despairing of salvation, they should run aground upon a more grievous wickedness.

'Reverence before the face of the Lord God, for the day of the Lord is near, for the Lord has prepared His sacrifice, He has sanctified those He has called.' Frequently the prophetic word calls even the slaughter of the lawless a 'sacrifice';

and this may be found both in other prophets and in the divinely-inspired Ezekiel.

By 'those called' he names the enemies;

and 'He sanctified' he sets down in the sense of 'He set apart';

thus also He speaks through Isaiah:

'They are sanctified, and I lead them'; that is, set apart for this purpose.

For since that which is truly holy is set apart and separated from profane things,

so also He calls 'sanctified' those set apart for punishment, inasmuch as they have been set apart by the very God of all.

In this way too He named the 'sacrifice' by a catachresis.

So also the word 'anathema' has a twofold meaning;

for not only that which is dedicated to God, but also that which is set apart for destruction, He has called 'anathema'.

'And it shall come to pass in the day of the Lord's sacrifice, that I will take vengeance upon the rulers, and upon the house of the king, and upon all those clothed in foreign garments.'

'And I will take vengeance openly upon all, upon those at the gateways in that day, who fill the house of their God with impiety and deceit.' Since in the days of Josiah the God-fearing king the sentence of punishment was pronounced, yet the king himself was not liable for these things,

but his children and descendants, having lived in lawlessness, paid the penalty for what they dared, He fittingly did not say:

'I will take vengeance upon the king,' but 'upon the house of the king, and the rulers.' As for 'foreign garments,' some have said they mean those gotten by plunder and greed;

and others, those that came about through utter licentiousness;

for men living in lawlessness clothe themselves in women's raiment, and women likewise, bred up in lewdness, put on men's attire.

But it seems to me that the word hints at yet another thing;

for the Law forbids garments woven together from linen and wool;

and it was likely that those who prided themselves on wealth and were addicted to luxury imitated the dress of the neighbouring nations, and upon their linen tunics laid on much elaborate and superfluous adornment from purple-dyed wool;

and this was directly contrary to the divine legislation.

He therefore threatens both these, and those who enter the divine temple with impiety and deceit.

By 'deceit' He hints that they had piety as a pretext, but secretly embraced the worship of idols.

'It shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord, a sound of a cry from the gate, and a wailing from the second quarter, and a great crashing from the hills.' For when the enemies have broken through the wall and thrown open the gates, with shouting and crying you will flee to the wall of the sanctuary;

yet nonetheless, when that gate too is opened to the foes, using lamentation you will be shot down;

and even if some of you should seize the summits of the mountains, or ascend into the lofty houses, they will undergo the same destruction.

'Lament, you who inhabit the ravaged city, for all the people of Canaan has been made like it; all who were exalted by silver have been utterly destroyed.' He called Jerusalem 'ravaged' from the calamity that had befallen it, and he bids it be lamented, having become bereft of its inhabitants.

For since they emulated the impiety of the Canaanites, they endured the utter ruin of the Canaanites, and gained nothing from their abundance.

'And it shall come to pass in that day, I will search out Jerusalem with a lamp.' No one, he says, of those owing satisfaction shall escape punishment, but I will deliver them all over to slaughter.

He has set this down figuratively, by a metaphor from those who use a lamp in searching for things that are lost, and who do not desist beforehand until they find them.

'And I will take vengeance upon the men who despise their observances.' By 'observances' he means the ordinances which the Law enjoined to be kept.

'Those who say in their hearts:'

'The Lord will not do good, nor will He do harm.' Here he accuses those who cast out Providence and dare to say that things are carried along by chance;

and who assert that the God of all neither benefits nor punishes;

against whom He threatens plunder, and the ruin of their houses, and the unfruitfulness of their toils.

'For they shall build houses,' he says, 'and shall not dwell in them;'

'their wine.' And lest they should suppose that the punishment admitted of delay, he added:

'For the great day of the Lord is near, near and exceedingly swift.' He called it 'great,' not as bringing partial correction, but as bringing complete punishment;

then, instilling a more vehement fear in his hearers, he goes on at length concerning that very day.

'The sound of the day of the Lord is set as bitter and harsh and mighty;'

'that day is a day of wrath, a day of affliction and distress, a day of untimely ruin and destruction, a day of darkness and gloom, a day of cloud and mist.'

'A day of trumpet and cry against the fortified cities, and against the lofty corners.' By 'lofty corners' he means the towers, and by 'trumpet and cry' the onset of the enemies;

and by 'darkness and gloom, and cloud and mist,' he named the assault of evils;

when these come upon them, neither does the sun seem bright to those who behold it, nor the day radiant, but all things seem full of gloom;

and teaching this, the Prophet added:

'And I will bring the men into distress, and they shall walk like the blind.' Then the cause:

'Because they have sinned against the Lord, and I will pour out their blood like dust, and their flesh like dung.' That is, they shall not be deemed worthy even of the customary rites, nor shall they obtain burial.

'And their silver and their gold shall not be able to deliver them in the day of the Lord's wrath, for in the fire of His jealousy all the earth shall be consumed;'

'for He will make a full end and a hastening upon all who inhabit the earth.' Useless, he says, shall wealth be even to the rich;

for they shall not obtain deliverance from evils by means of their possessions, but shall be consumed by the divine wrath as by some fire, which shall bring a swift destruction upon those who inhabit this land.

Having thus threatened gloomy things, He offers them an exhortation to repentance.

'Gather yourselves together, and be bound together, O undisciplined nation.'

'Before you become like a flower passing away by day, before there come upon you the wrath of the Lord's anger.' Some, not having understood the passage, in place of 'be bound together' (syndethēte) have set down 'beseech together' (syndeēthēte);

but most of the copies have 'be bound together.'

The word hints at the healing by means of medicines and bandages, understood figuratively;

for this we also find in the divinely-inspired Isaiah;

for, pointing out the incurable nature of the wounds of the Jews, he cries aloud:

'There is no emollient to lay on, nor oil, nor bandages.' Be bound together, then, he says, with the medicines and bandages of repentance, O you who are ignorant and untaught in good things, and forestall His face with confession, lest, like the flowers of spring, you flow away and perish when the divine wrath comes upon you.

'Seek the Lord, all you humble of the earth.' Look, he says, upon the meanness of your nature, and upon the dust, your forefather, and seek out the Fashioner who has flooded you with so many good things.

Then he also teaches the manner of seeking God.

'Work judgment, and seek righteousness;'

'seek meekness and give answer of these things.' Hold fast, he says, to uprightness and righteousness, and embrace the fair and temperate life;

and resolve to pursue these things unto the end.

For this is what the words 'And answer them' signify. Then he sets forth the fruit of these things.

That you may be sheltered in the day of the Lord's wrath.

Woe to those who inhabit the tract of the sea, sojourners of the Cretans!

The word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of the Philistines, and I will destroy you so that no inhabitant remains.

And Crete shall become a pasture for flocks and a fold for sheep. By 'the tract of the sea' he means the seacoast.

to measure out the land and to apportion to each person what belongs to him.

Since, then, God had also left the Philistines—who trace their descent from Canaan—along the seacoast, allotting them this land as a kind of inheritance, he called them 'the tract of the sea.'

And he set down 'sojourners of the Cretans' in the sense of 'colonists.'

For it is likely that in the coastal cities certain people came from Crete and settled there.

So then by 'Canaan,' by 'the tract of the sea,' by 'Crete,' and by 'sojourners of the Cretans,' he named the coastal regions of Palestine, against which he threatened desolation.

And the tract of the sea shall belong to the remnant of the house of Judah;

upon these they shall graze in the houses of Ashkelon;

in the evening they shall lie down there, driven from before the sons of Judah, because the Lord their God visits them and has turned back their captivity. These things came to pass in full measure after the return.

For we find also in the books of the Maccabees that Jonathan and Simon prevailed over Gaza, Ashkelon, and Ptolemais, and brought them under their own rule.

But the precise and incontestable fulfillment of the prophecy can be seen after the Ascension of our Savior and the preaching of the holy apostles.

For these men, setting out from among the Jews, lodged in these cities in the evening;

before the evening of the consummation, when the God of the universe visited the nations and freed them from their bitter slavery and captivity.

From here he pronounces sentence against the Moabites and the Ammonites;

for these, being kinsmen of Israel and tracing their descent from Lot, rejoiced at their calamities and hurled blasphemies against the God of the universe, as though no help had been furnished to the Jews by Him.

I have heard the reproaches of Moab and the revilings of the sons of Ammon, wherewith they reproached my people and magnified themselves against my borders.

and the remnant of my people shall plunder them, and the remnant of my nation shall take them for a possession.

This shall come upon them in return for their insolence;

but the Babylonians overthrew all these;

and it was to the Jews alone that the God of the universe granted the return, through Cyrus the Persian.

And they flourished again, and recovered their former rule, and struck fear into all these nations;

and they themselves possessed the lands of those peoples, while those peoples had no strength to resist them.

These things they endured during the invasion of the Chaldeans.

But nevertheless here too the prophecy received its precise fulfillment through the sacred apostles and the holy men who succeeded them;

for these the divine Apostle also called a remnant.

For having set down the prophecy which cries out plainly, 'Though the number of the sons of Israel be as the sand of the sea, the remnant shall be saved,' he interprets it, saying:

And the remnant of my nation shall take them for a possession. Then he interprets more clearly:

of the nations. These things admit not even the shameless contradiction of the Jews.

For if they should say that after the return from Babylon many of the nations, having believed in the God of the universe, performed the legal worship in the temple at Jerusalem, they will clearly be convicted of speaking falsely;

for the prophetic word says, 'They shall worship him, each one from his own place.' But this came to pass not according to the Law, but according to the evangelical teaching;

for the Law gathered all men together into that one temple;

but the Lord in the Gospels says to the Samaritan woman:

'Truly, truly I say to you, woman, that an hour is coming when neither in Jerusalem nor in this place, but in every place they shall worship the Father.' This too the inspired Zephaniah proclaims:

And he shall utterly destroy all the gods of the nations of the earth, and they shall worship him, each one from his own place, all the islands of the nations. For not only the cities on the mainland, nor those along the sea, but even those lying out in the open sea.

And you also, O Ethiopians, are the slain of my sword. And the word signifies too the throng of the demons overthrown by the assault of the saving Cross;

and the men black in soul and set against God, smitten by the divine stroke.

Having thus prophesied concerning the salvation of the nations, he transfers his discourse to the sequence of the history, and threatens destruction to the Assyrians;

for Nineveh had not yet received its punishment.

And he shall stretch out his hand against the north, and destroy the Assyrian, and make Nineveh a waterless annihilation, like a wilderness.

Flocks shall graze in her midst, and all the wild beasts of the land, and chameleons and hedgehogs shall lodge in her fretted ceilings;

and wild beasts shall cry aloud in her cuttings, and ravens in her gateways, for the cedar is her height. All the aforesaid are signs of desolation: pastures for flocks, dwellings for diverse beasts, and nests for ravens.

But she shall suffer all these things, he says, on account of the arrogance of her soul.

For her lofty pride resembled a cedar.

Then, explaining this more clearly, the Prophet adds:

This is the scoffing city. That is to say, the city that reckons every city and kingdom to be paltry and small.

That dwells in confidence. That thought it would never endure anything grievous.

That says in her heart:

I am, and there is none besides me anymore. Then, mocking her with irony, 'How has she become,' he says, 'an annihilation, a pasture for beasts?' And the things that customarily happen:

Everyone who passes by her shall hiss and wag his hands. For most people are accustomed, at grievous events that happen contrary to expectation, both to hiss and to wag their hands.

Having thus foretold concerning Nineveh, he turns his discourse toward Jerusalem.

O illustrious and redeemed city, the dove. Truly worthy of laments and mournings is the city, which was renowned indeed in prosperity and much talked of;

and which had often obtained salvation from the God of the universe and enjoyed spiritual gifts of grace.

Either this is what I suppose the prophet hinted at by 'the dove,' or the comeliness and beauty of the city;

for this creature too is comely.

And it is likely that he also intimated this: that just as the dove delights to dwell in the houses set apart for it, so, when you were pious, you who were in Jerusalem attended upon the temple consecrated to me.

Then he recounts their transgressions, and first their disobedience.

For she did not hearken to the voice. Then their want of discipline:

Neither did she receive instruction. In addition to these, their unbelief:

In the Lord she did not trust, and to her God she did not draw near. Then the savage and unjust conduct of the rulers:

Her rulers within her are like roaring lions. And the lawless and violent conduct of the judges:

Her judges are like the wolves of Arabia;

they left nothing over till the morning. The false and godless conduct of the diviners:

Her prophets are wind-borne, men who are despisers. For by 'prophets' he means the false prophets.

Then also the impious and unholy conduct of the priests:

Her priests profane the holy things and act impiously against the Law. But although all these things, he says, are perpetrated within her, still—

The Lord is righteous in her midst, and will by no means do anything unjust;

'In the morning, in the morning He will render His judgment unto light, and it was not hidden, and He knew no injustice through extortion, nor injustice unto victory.' He means: He will bring punishment swiftly upon those who have dared such great evils;

for by the words 'in the morning, in the morning' He indicated the swiftness;

and the phrase 'unto light' stands for 'openly, and not in secret.'

'And this He will do,' he says, 'destroying the insolence of injustice, and not permitting it to hold sway unto the end.'

'In destruction I have brought down the proud;'

'I will make their ways utterly desolate, so that none pass through;'

'their cities have failed, so that they are no more, nor inhabited.' Just as the corners bind together the structures of a building, so prosperity upholds dominions.

Having thus uttered His threat, the Lover of mankind again exhorts and counsels them to fear the things spoken, and to receive the fitting instruction;

to flee the destruction of the things threatened, which lawlessness has begotten;

not to delay, nor to postpone, but swiftly to offer repentance.

'For prepare yourself,' He says, 'rise early.' That is: With all haste display the works of repentance.

'For even their gleaning, and those who have escaped that punishment, I will hand over to the Babylonians.'

And explaining this more clearly, he added:

'For then I will turn to the peoples a tongue for their generations, that all may call upon the name of the Lord, to serve Him under one yoke.' Aquila, Theodotion, and Symmachus have rendered this more clearly.

For Aquila and Theodotion say:

'Then I will turn to all the peoples a chosen lip;' and Symmachus:

'Then I will turn among the peoples a pure lip;' and a pure lip is that which names not gods, but God.

Such things also God has spoken through Isaiah:

'The stammering tongues shall learn to speak peace.' And again:

'The tongue of the stammerers shall be clear.' Those tongues, then, which had been schooled in polytheism, He will turn, and will make them chosen and pure;

so that all call upon the name of the Lord, and all the nations serve Him under one yoke. Moreover, the Septuagint:

'From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia I will receive those who supplicate Me;'

'the sons of those who were scattered shall bring Me sacrifices.' For those who dwell in the uttermost parts, having received the teaching of the heralds scattered abroad by Me, shall offer Me the sacrifice of praise.

For thus Symmachus also rendered it:

'From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia those who supplicate Me, the children of those scattered by Me, shall bring Me a gift.' Those who have become children of the heralds of piety whom I dispersed among all the nations shall bring Me spiritual gifts.

'In that day you shall not be put to shame for all your practices, wherein you sinned against Me; for then I will remove from you the disgraces of your insolence, and you shall no more continue to boast upon My holy mountain.' When these things come to pass, and the nations enjoy salvation, you also who dwell in Jerusalem, receiving the salvation that comes through faith, shall be delivered from your former impiety, and shall no longer despise My commandments, nor be highminded over the old temple.

And since not all were going to give heed to the evangelical teaching, this too He plainly foretells:

'And I will leave in you a meek and lowly people, and the remnant of Israel shall fear before the name of the Lord, and they shall do no injustice, nor speak vanities, nor shall a deceitful tongue be found in their mouth;'

'Blessed are the meek, for they shall inherit the earth.' And again:

'Learn from Me, for I am meek and lowly in heart, and you shall find rest for your souls.' This is the people whom the blessed Zephaniah calls meek and lowly;

for the Israelite people is not such, but a foolish people, and not wise.

'His neck is an iron sinew, and his forehead brass.' But these He calls free from injustice, having a tongue set free from deceit.

Having therefore received such a people in place of the wicked, insolent, and impious one, (verse 14):

'Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion;'

'proclaim aloud, O daughter of Jerusalem;'

'be glad and delight with all your heart, O daughter of Jerusalem.' For God has shown you cleansed from idols, and has freed you from the bondage of the deadly demons.

'In that time the Lord shall say to Jerusalem:'

'Take courage, O Zion, let not your hands be slack;'

'the Lord your God is in you, the Mighty One shall save you;'

'He will bring upon you gladness, and will make you new in His love, and will rejoice over you with delight as in a day of festival, and I will gather your broken ones.' I know indeed that some have understood these things of the return from Babylon and the renewal of Jerusalem, and I do not contradict what has been said;

for the prophecy fits also those things that came to pass at that time;

but its exact fulfillment one may find after the incarnation of our Savior;

for then He healed those broken in heart through the regeneration of the laver;

then He renewed the nature of men, having so loved us as to give even His own life for us.

'For greater love than this,' He says, 'can no man show, than that a man lay down his life for his friends.' And again:

'So God loved the world, that He gave His only-begotten Son, that whosoever believes in Him should not perish, but have eternal life.' Then He threatens both those who at that time reproached Jerusalem, and those who afterward dare this same thing against the heralds of the truth:

'Who has brought reproach upon her? (verses 19, 20.) Behold, I will deal with those in you for My sake, says the Lord, in that time, and I will save her that was oppressed, and will receive her that was cast off, and I will make them a boast, and renowned in all the earth;'

'In that time, when I deal well with you, and in the time when I receive you;'

'because I will make you renowned, and a boast among all the peoples of the earth, when I turn back your captivity before your eyes, says the Lord.' The salvation of men depends solely on the divine loving-kindness;

for we do not reap this as a wage of righteousness, but it is a gift of the divine goodness;

'I will make them, from slaves, both free men and My own household.'