Except the Lord of hosts had left us seed, we had been as Sodom, and we should have been like to Gomorrha.

“And besides, they beguile themselves and you, supposing that the everlasting kingdom will be assuredly given to those of the dispersion who are of Abraham after the flesh, although they be sinners, and faithless, and disobedient towards God, which the Scriptures have proved is not the case. For if so, Isaiah would never have said this: "And unless the Lord of Sabaoth had left us a seed, we would have been like Sodom and Gomorrah." And Ezekiel: "Even if Noah, and Jacob, and Daniel were to pray for sons or daughters, their request should not be granted." But neither shall the father perish for the son, nor the son for the father; but every one for his own sin, and each shall be saved for his own righteousness.”

“He here shows that even the few that were saved were not saved through their own resources. Even they would have perished and suffered like Sodom. That is, they would have been completely destroyed—for Sodom was destroyed root and branch, and not even the smallest seed remained. He means to say that they too would have been like those, except that God demonstrated his goodness to them and saved them by faith. This happened as well in their visible captivity in which most of them were taken captive and perished, in which only a few were saved.”

“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."”

“Except the Lord of hosts had left unto us a very small remnant,.... This is an instance of the super abounding goodness of the Lord of hosts, as the Targum expresses it; that he should, in those very wicked and calamitous times, leave and reserve a few from being defiled with the sins of the age, and from being involved in the general calamity of it; which was true of the Christian Jews at the time of Jerusalem's destruction; for that this prophecy belongs to these times is clear from the application of it by the Apostle Paul, Rom 9:29 and which confirms the sense given of the above passages: "the very small remnant" are the remnant according to the election of grace, the little flock, the few that entered in at the strait gate and are saved, or the few that believed in Christ, and so were saved from that untoward generation; these were "left", reserved, distinguished, and secured in the grace of election, being a remnant according to it, in the hands of Christ to whom they were given, and in whom they were preserved; in redemption by him, that they might be a peculiar people; in providence till called, in which the Lord watched over them to do them good, and waited to be gracious to them, and saved them to be called; and in effectual calling, in which he separated them from the rest of the world, and kept them by his power through faith unto salvation. And this was done "unto us"; for the sake of his church, that that might continue, and he might have a seed to serve him: and by "the Lord of hosts", of the hosts of heaven, the sun, and moon, and stars, and of the angels there, and of the inhabitants of the earth; which shows great condescension in him to regard this remnant, and great grace to them; since he could not stand in need of them, having the host of heaven on his right hand and on his left; nor was there any thing in them that could deserve this of him; but it was, as Jarchi observes, in his mercy, and not for their righteousness: to which may be added, that since he is the Lord of hosts, he was able to protect and preserve this remnant, notwithstanding all the opposition of men and devils, as he did; and had he not taken such a method as this, we should have been as Sodom, and we should have been like unto Gomorrah: cities that were infamous for their sins, and notorious for the punishment of them, being consumed by fire from heaven, Gen 13:13 and not only the Jews, but any and every nation, even the whole world, would have been like these cities, both for sin and punishment, had it not been for the distinguishing grace of God, in leaving and reserving a few for his glory, and the support of his interest. All the holiness that ever was, is, or will be in the world, is owing to electing, redeeming, and efficacious grace: there had not been a holy man nor a holy woman in the world, in any age, if God had not taken such methods of grace; and it is owing to, and for the sake of, this small remnant, that temporal judgments are often averted from a nation and people, and that the conflagration of the world is not yet; this is kept back till they are gathered in; and were it not for this distinguishing grace, every individual of mankind would have been cast into hell, and must have suffered the vengeance of eternal fire, which the punishment of Sodom and Gomorrah, was an example of.”

“The Lord of armies, who directs the issue of war. The appellation is given Him likewise as Lord of the heavenly luminaries, which are styled the host of heaven. Gen. 2 : 1. He is also Lord of the angels, who, in a higher sense, are His hosts. St Jerome understands the text of Christ: " Not only aooording to the Apocalypse of St John, and the Apostle Paul, but In the Old Testament likewise, Christ is called Lord of hosts that is Almighty."”

“Jehovah of Sabaoth, that is, God of the angelic and starry hosts (Psa 59:5; Psa 147:4; Psa 148:2). The latter were objects of idolatry, called hence Sabaism (Kg2 17:16). God is above even them (Ch1 16:26). "The groves" were symbols of these starry hosts; it was their worship of Sabaoth instead of the Lord of Sabaoth, which had caused the present desolation (Ch2 24:18). It needed no less a power than His, to preserve even a "remnant." Condescending grace for the elect's sake, since He has no need of us, seeing that He has countless hosts to serve Him.”

“For the present, however, Jerusalem was saved from this extremity. The omnipotence of God had mercifully preserved it: "Unless Jehovah of hosts had left us a little of what had escaped, we had become like Sodom, we were like Gomorrah." Sarid (which is rendered inaccurately σπέρμα in the Sept.; cf., Rom 9:29) was used, even in the early Mosaic usage of the language, to signify that which escaped the general destruction (Deu 2:34, etc.); and כּמעט (which might very well be connected with the verbs which follow: "we were very nearly within a little like Sodom," etc.) is to be taken in connection with sarid, as the pausal form clearly shows: "a remnant which was but a mere trifle" (on this use of the word, see Isa 16:14; Ch2 12:7; Pro 10:20; Psa 105:12). Jehovah Zebaoth stands first, for the sake of emphasis. It would have been all over with Israel long ago, if it had not been for the compassion of God (vid., Hos 11:8). And because it was the omnipotence of God, which set the will of His compassion in motion, He is called Jehovah Zebaoth, Jehovah (the God) of the heavenly hosts - an expression in which Zebaoth is a dependent genitive, and not, as Luzzatto supposes, an independent name of God as the Absolute, embracing within itself all the powers of nature. The prophet says "us" and "we." He himself was an inhabitant of Jerusalem; and even if he had not been so, he was nevertheless an Israelite. He therefore associates himself with his people, like Jeremiah in Lam 3:22. He had had to experience the anger of God along with the rest; and so, on the other hand, he also celebrates the mighty compassion of God, which he had experienced in common with them. But for this compassion, the people of God would have become like Sodom, from which only four human beings escaped: it would have resembled Gomorrah, which was absolutely annihilated. (On the prefects in the protasis and apodosis, see Ges. 126, 5.)”