Thomas Aquinas

Hear, O heavens, and give ear, O earth. Here begins the treatise of this book, from which the division will be taken according to what the subject matter requires. Now it has been said that its principal intention concerns the coming of Christ, and the calling of the Gentiles. Now it is clear that all the ways of the Lord are mercy and truth, as is said in Psalm 24. Hence, when Christ was born, it was said by Simeon, Luke 2: behold, this one is set for the fall and the resurrection of many in Israel. And when the Gentiles were entering in, it was said by the Apostle, Romans 11: blindness in part has happened in Israel, until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in. This book, therefore, is divided into two parts. In the first is set forth the threat of divine justice unto the destruction of sinners; in the second, the consolation of divine mercy unto the resurrection of the just, chapter 40, there, "be comforted." The first is divided into three. For since he speaks principally concerning Judah and Jerusalem, in the first part he threatens the two sinning tribes; in the second, others who persecute them, chapter 7, "and it came to pass." In the third he delivers them from threatening enemies, chapter 32, "behold in justice." The first is divided into two. In the first he reproaches their fault and threatens a correcting punishment; in the second he threatens a punishment condemning the incorrigible, chapter 6: "in the year that king Uzziah died." The first is divided into two. In the first he charges the fault on the side of aversion, in the second on the side of conversion, chapter 2, there, "the word which he saw." The first into two. In the first he charges against them the sin of aversion from the worship of God; in the second, from justice toward one's neighbor, there, "how has she become." The first into three. In the first he rebukes the fault; in the second he threatens punishment for the fault, there, "your land is desolate." In the third he seeks a remedy for the punishment, there, "hear the word of the Lord." The first into three. In the first he seeks a witness for the judgment; in the second he charges the deformity of the sin, there, "I have nourished sons"; in the third he shows the incorrigibility of the sinners, there, "upon what shall I strike you."

Now he calls upon the creature as witness in the judgment of sin, which had also been witness in the binding of the precept. Deuteronomy 32: "Hear, O heavens, the things I speak" — for indeed the creature had been witness of the obligation to the precept. Deuteronomy 32. Now it is invoked as arbiter of the transgression. Psalm 49: "he called the heaven from above." But at another time it will be called as an instrument of divine vengeance. Wisdom 16: "the creature, serving its Creator, will grow fierce in torment against the unjust." But it seems unfitting that earth and heaven, which are insensible creatures, should be called upon to hear. But it must be said that, with respect to those who are of a rational nature, the insensible creature is called upon to show forth the divine power. Job 38: "I shut it up within my bounds." And Romans 4: "he calls the things that are not as though they were." And by the evidence of a deed. 2 Kings 12: "I indeed will do this thing in the sight of all Israel, and in the sight of the sun." And Luke 19: "the stones will cry out, if these should be silent, I say to you"; to aggravate malice. Jeremiah 2: "Be astonished, O heavens, at this, and, O gates thereof, be very desolate." To magnify joy. Psalm 95: "Let the heavens rejoice, and let the earth exult." To astonish sorrow. Hosea 4: "Because of this the land shall mourn, and everyone who dwells in it shall languish." As if he were to say: your sin is so evident that it would be convicted by irrational things, if it could be so; and likewise concerning the others.

Or there is here a metonymy, so that heaven is put for the Angels, and earth for men. "Heavens" — plural for singular. Or because, according to the letter, there are many heavens and one center, which is the earth. "The Lord has spoken." That you may hear him speaking, by whose speaking you were made. Psalm 148: "He spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created." "Hear, O heavens" — as being distant; "give ear, O earth" — as being near.

"I have nourished sons." Here he shows the deformity of the sin, and concerning this he does three things. First he shows contempt in the affection; second, ignorance in the intellect, there, "the ox has known"; third, aversion in the effect of the deed, there, "woe to the sinful nation," etc. And this order is kept, so that ignorance is aggravated by contempt, lest ignorance excuse contempt. He aggravates the contempt by the benefit bestowed; hence concerning the first he does two things. First he calls to mind the benefit; second, the vice of ingratitude, there, "but they." Now he sets down a threefold benefit. The first is that of filial adoption, when he says, "sons." Exodus 4: "Israel is my firstborn son." The second, that of careful upbringing, there, "I have nourished." Wisdom 16: "You nourished your people with the food of Angels." The third, that of singular exaltation, there, "and I have exalted." Wisdom 11: "showing, by the thirst which then was, how you exalted your own, and slew their adversaries." The first as regards the assumption and exaltation of the fathers; the second, in the deliverance of the sons; the third, in the subjugation of the enemies. "They have despised me." (Here he sets down the vice of ingratitude.) Jeremiah 3: "As if a woman should despise her lover, so has the house of Israel despised me."

Now he aggravates the ignorance by the example of brute beasts; hence concerning this he does two things. First he brings in the knowledge of brute beasts; second, the ignorance of sinners, there, "but Israel" — "the ox has known" — by a certain custom of benefit. "But Israel." He charges against them a twofold ignorance: namely, of the one commanding, when he says, "has not known me," against what he had said, "his possessor"; and against the meaning of the name; "Israel" is interpreted "seeing God." John 16: "they have not known the Father, nor me." Ignorance of the law: "has not understood," against what he had said, "the manger," and what he had said, "people," who is subject to the precepts of the lawgiver. Hosea 8: "I will write for them my manifold laws, which have been reckoned as though foreign."

Now he aggravates the effect of the deed by confirmed practice; hence first he shows the confirmation; second, their aversion, "they have forsaken." He shows the confirmation, first, through the custom of sin, which induces a habit; hence he says, "sinful nation." For thus a sinner is by habit as a singer is by art, or by office; below, chapter 48: "I have called you a transgressor from the womb." Second, through the readiness of sin, which is, as it were, a certain heaviness in the one sinning; (hence he says: "a people laden with iniquity"). Gregory: "a sin which is not washed away by penance soon, by its own weight, drags one to another." Psalm 13: "their feet are swift to shed blood." Third, from the succession of sin: because, imitating the sins of their fathers, they have them as if by propagation; hence he says, "wicked seed," that is, of the most wicked, according to another translation. Psalm 105: "we have sinned with our fathers, we have acted unjustly, we have done iniquity." Fourth, as to the magnitude of the sins, when he says, "wicked children." Ezekiel 22: "slanderous men have been in you, to shed blood, (...) they have wrought wickedness in the midst of you." Below, chapter 57: "are you not wicked children, a lying seed?"

"Upon which — adding." Here he shows the incorrigibility of the sin, removing a threefold mode of correction. First, that which is through the divine scourge, saying, "upon which," that is, to what end, "adding," namely, that from where correction comes, from there you add sins? Jeremiah 2: "in vain have I struck your children: they have not received discipline." Second, that which is through the counsel or help of a neighbor, when he says, "every head is languid": because no one is fit to come to another's aid, on account of his own weakness. And this he shows as regards the person of the king or the prince, saying: "every head is languid." 1 Kings 15: "Did you not, when you were little in your own eyes, become head over the tribes of Israel?" As regards the person of the priest, "every heart is mourning": for the heart is the first to receive life from the soul and to transmit it into the body, being as it were a medium between soul and body; so the priest is a medium between God and the people. Exodus 4: "you shall be to him in those things that pertain to God." As regards the person of a private man, when he says: "from the sole of the foot"; below, chapter 56: "all have turned aside, each to his own way." And it must be noted that the unfitness of the king is shown in languor, because he could have come to aid by punishing, through power. Ecclesiasticus 7: "seek not to become a judge, unless you are able by strength to break through iniquity." That of the priest is shown in mourning, through which he becomes unfit for the sacrifices, by which he used to expiate sins. Leviticus 10: "how could I eat it, or please the Lord in the ceremonies, with a mournful mind?" Psalm 99: "enter into his sight with exultation." But the private man could correct by example; and therefore he is shown to be unfit through sin, which is designated in the privation of health: Psalm 13: "all have turned aside, together they have become unprofitable"; namely, for correcting. Third, there, "wound and bruise," he removes the mode that is through human effort, as when someone is disposed toward grace, which blots out sins, through good works. Hence he says: "wound" — evident guilt, and "bruise" — hidden envy, and "swelling sore" — inflating pride — "is not bound up" by the restraining bond of the law. Jeremiah 2: "of old you have broken my yoke, you have burst my bonds, you have said, I will not serve" — as to the first: "nor cured with medicine" — charity healing — as to the second: Proverbs 10: "charity covers all sins": "nor fomented with oil" — humility soothing — (as to the third), Judith 9: "the prayer of the humble and meek has always pleased you." Ecclesiasticus 3: "the greater you are, the more humble yourself in all things." Proverbs 15: "a mild answer breaks wrath." Judges 9: "can I forsake my fatness, which both gods and men make use of?"

"Your land." Here he threatens punishment; and first he sets down the judgment of the one punishing; second, whatever comfort of consolation there is, there, "unless the Lord." He sets down a threefold punishment. First, as to the destruction of possessions; hence he says, "your land is desolate," as to the open fields, which will be as uncultivated as a desert. Below, chapter 7: "for briers and thorns shall be in all the land." "Your cities are burned," as to the towns. Amos 2: "I will send a fire into Judah, and it shall devour the houses of Jerusalem." Jeremiah 4: "I looked, and behold Carmel a wilderness, and all its cities were destroyed at the presence of the Lord, at the presence of the wrath of his fury." The second punishment is as to the destruction of the produce of the land; hence he says: "they devour the region," as to the fruits. Deuteronomy 28: "let it devour the fruit of your cattle, and the fruits of your land, until you perish." "It shall be desolate," as to the destruction of trees and vineyards. Jeremiah 4: "woe to us, for we are laid waste." Third, as to the captivity of men; hence he says: "the daughter of Zion shall be left" — that is, Jerusalem, or the temple, whence was the guard of the whole province — "as a lonely one," and "as a shelter in a vineyard," after the vintage. Below, chapter 5: "for the vineyard of the Lord is the house of Israel, and the man of Judah his delightful plant." "As a hut in a field of cucumbers," after the last fruits have been gathered, by which he signifies the fathers. Hosea 9: "as the first fruits of the fig tree, in its top, I saw their fathers." "As a city that is laid waste," because it was the metropolis. Ezekiel 33: "the city is laid waste, said he who had come from Jerusalem." Jeremiah 6: "this is the city of visitation: all calumny is in the midst of her."

"Unless the Lord of hosts." Here is set down the consolation from the promise of a seed to be delivered. Now the Lord left them the seed of the flesh gathered together. Below, chapter 43: "from the east I will bring your seed, and from the west I will gather you." The seed of blessing promised. Galatians 3: "to Abraham were the promises made, and to his seed." The seed of preaching spread abroad. Below, chapter 27: "he who shall go forth with impetus from Jacob, and Israel shall flourish and bud: and they shall fill the face of the world with seed." The new seed of the saints. Below, chapter 66: "as the new heavens and the new earth, which I make to stand before me, so shall your seed stand, and your name, says the Lord."

"I have nourished sons," etc. Here three things are noted: the benefit of nourishment, the privilege of exaltation, the contempt of ingratitude. Now he nourished them in the time of the law, when the heir was still a little child, Galatians 4, first refreshing them with promises in the fathers. Galatians 3: "to Abraham were the promises made." Second, governing by judgments in the lawgivers, Psalm 147: "he has not done in like manner to every nation, and his judgments he has not made manifest to them." Third, defending by aids in the judges and kings, Judith 5: "their God defends them, and we shall be a reproach to all the earth." Fourth, he instructed by admonitions in the prophets, Malachi 2: "and the Lord has been witness between you and the wife of your youth." Fifth, he corrected by scourges through enemies, 2 Maccabees 6: "for indeed not to allow sinners to act according to their own mind for a long time, but to apply vengeance at once, is a mark of great kindness." But he exalted them in the time of grace, first, as to the assumption of flesh. Hebrews 2: "nowhere does he take hold of the Angels; but he takes hold of the seed of Abraham." Second, by personal preaching, Matthew 10: "I was not sent but to the sheep that are lost of the house of Israel." Third, by his own manner of life, John 10: "many good works have I done among you: for which work," etc.; fourth, by the working of miracles, John 5, and Luke 7: "because a great prophet has risen up among us, and because God has visited his people." Fifth, by the preaching of the disciples, Psalm 44: "instead of your fathers, sons are born to you: you shall make them princes over all the earth." But, on the contrary, they revile the lineage of Christ, Luke 4: "is not this the son of Joseph?" They condemn his teaching, Matthew 26 and Luke 23: "from Galilee even to this place, we have found this man perverting our nation." They blaspheme his life, Matthew 9: "why does your master eat with publicans and sinners?" They pervert his miracles, Matthew 12: "he casts out devils by the prince of devils." They kill his disciples, Matthew 10: "behold, I send you as sheep in the midst of wolves."