Cease ye therefore from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for he is reputed high.

“Withdraw yourselves from man not to heed those who cause you to stray from following Me and to prostrate yourselves to the work of his hands. whose breath is in his nostrils Whose entire life and strength are dependent upon the breath of his nostrils, which is a fleeting spirit, in him today and leaving him tomorrow. Surely the image of the moles and the bats has no substance. Another explanation is: Withdraw yourselves from all the evil ways and learn from the man who has a soul in his nostrils. Have you seen to what he is esteemed? Surely the image of his handiwork is of no esteem.”

“Therefore do not forgive. Here he threatens them with punishment. And it is divided into two parts. In the first he shows that danger is imminent for them; in the second he concludes with the remedy of escape, there, "Cease, therefore." Now he shows that danger is imminent for them by removing three things. First, presumption concerning divine mercy; second, confidence in one's own power, there, "the lofty eyes"; third, the remedy that remained in the trust placed in other things, there, "in that day a man shall cast forth idols." And because divine mercy has no measure, but always exalts over judgment (James 2), therefore he does not remove it by foretelling that it will fail, but by imprecating that it be just. He therefore does two things. First he sets down the imprecation, saying: since they do such shameful evils, therefore do not forgive them; as if to say: it would be just that you show them mercy in nothing. Jeremiah 5: Shall I not judge for these things, says the Lord, and shall not my soul take vengeance on such a nation? Second, he ironically sets down counsel for escape, saying, "Enter"; as if to say: since he himself does not forgive, it remains that you hide yourselves from his face. "Enter into the rock": literally, into the clefts of the rocks to remain there; "hide in the dug ground," that is, in the caverns of the earth, "from the face of the fear of the Lord," that is, from the face of those through whom God shows himself to be feared and glorified. Jeremiah 18: Leave the cities. But this will not avail them: whence in Psalm 138: Whither shall I go from your spirit, and whither shall I flee from your face? Bernard expounds this of Christ. For the rock was Christ: 1 Corinthians 10. Into him one must enter through the affection of devotion. He says therefore: I confidently take for myself what I lack from the bowels of Jesus Christ. For the bowels of mercy have flowed forth abundantly, nor are there lacking openings through which they may flow out: for they dug his hands, and pierced his feet. Song of Songs 2: Arise, make haste, my love (...) and come into the openings of the rock. The lofty eyes. Here he removes from them confidence in their own power; and concerning this he does two things. First he excludes the power of resisting; second he repels the precaution of hiding, there, "and they shall enter." Concerning the first he does three things. First he sets down his intention; second he explains the manner, there, "for the day"; third he concludes the proposition. And it shall be bowed down. But he sets down two things to exclude the power of resisting. First, their depression, both as regards the pride of heart, when he says, "the eyes," that is, pride, "lofty," that is, of a powerful man, "humbled," that is, they shall be humbled — the past tense for the future, on account of the certainty of the prophecy. Proverbs 30: A generation whose eyes are lofty, and whose eyelids are lifted up on high. Job 40: Look on all the proud, and confound them, and crush the wicked out of their place. Then also as regards the nobility of race: whence he says, "the height of men," that is, the nobility of race. Amos 2: I destroyed the Amorrhite before their face, whose height was the height of the cedars. Second, he sets down the exaltation of the one punishing: "shall be exalted," that is, he who seemed weak in expectation will appear lofty in the act of punishing. Psalm 9: The Lord shall be known doing judgments. Below 5: The Lord of hosts shall be exalted in judgment. For the day of the Lord. Here is set down the manner in which the foregoing is fulfilled: and first as regards the depression of men; second as regards the taking away of things, there, "and upon all." He says therefore first: this that has been said will come to pass because it is the day of the Lord, that is, the time of vengeance: below 63: The day of vengeance is in my heart, the year of my recompense has come; "of hosts," so that there be no doubt about his victory, to whom so great a multitude of servants is subject: it will come like a heavy weight to crush, "upon every proud and lofty one," that is, upon him who is exalted more on account of the great things he has; "and upon every arrogant one," who is lifted up on account of that which he does not have. Gregory: he is arrogant who attributes to himself what he does not have. Proverbs 8: Arrogance and pride, and the wicked way, and the double tongue, I detest. And it shall be humbled. Luke 14: He who exalts himself shall be humbled. And upon all the cedars. Here he sets down the taking away of the things that serve for defense: and first as regards those things that pertain to the preparation of siege-engines: either on account of height — and so he says, "upon all the cedars"; or on account of strength — and so he says, "upon every oak." Zechariah 11: Open your gates, O Lebanon, that fire may devour your cedars. And further on: Howl, oaks of Bashan, because the fortified forest is cut down. Second, as regards those things that pertain to the fortification of places: either from nature — "and upon all the high mountains," Ezekiel 6: Thus says the Lord God to the mountains and hills, to the rocks and valleys; or from craftsmanship — "and upon every lofty tower." Zephaniah 1: A day of the trumpet and of the alarm upon the fortified cities, and upon the lofty corners; and I will afflict men. Third, as regards those things that pertain to the abundance of provisions; and so he says: "upon all the ships," in which they are carried, "of Tarshish," that is, of the sea. Below 23: Howl, ships of the sea, for the house from which they were wont to come has been laid waste. And upon everything that is beautiful to see. This pertains to the provoking of enemies, or to the increase of those who fight. Judith 10: Who could despise the people of the Hebrews, who have such beautiful women? And it shall be bowed down. Here he as it were concludes the proposition; and it is entirely the same as what was said before, except that something is added about the destruction of idols, so that he alone may be shown to be lofty, when he says, "and the idols." Ezekiel 6: Your idols shall be broken and shall cease, and your shrines shall be crushed. And they shall enter into the caves. Here he sets down the precaution of hiding, and it is the same as before, except that here it is foretold as it were as future, since he had already expounded the power that would be cast down, by foretelling it and not by imprecating it. Psalm 62: They shall enter into the lower parts of the earth, they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the portions of foxes. In that day. Here he removes the third thing, namely, trust in idols. And first he removes the help, so that one might worship. Ezekiel 8: And having entered I saw; and behold every likeness of creeping things, and the abomination of animals, and all the idols of the house of Israel, painted. Below 31: In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and the idols which his hands made unto sin. Second, he repeats the recourse of hiding, there, "and he shall enter." Apocalypse 6: Every bondman and freeman hid themselves in the caves, and in the rocks of the mountains. Cease, therefore. Here he sets down sound counsel for escaping: therefore, since all these things will not avail you, cease from man, that is, cease from offending him, namely Christ. Whose spirit is in his nostrils, that is, who breathes through his nostrils, and lives like other men as regards his humanity. Because he himself is reckoned lofty, as regards his divinity, by the saints and by the angels. Psalm 112: The Lord is high above all nations, and his glory above all the heavens. Or otherwise: he speaks of God after the likeness of man, by the figure of anthropopathy. From man, that is, God, whose spirit is in the nostrils: he speaks after the likeness of one who is angry, who, on account of the increase of breath, blows it out through the nostrils; whence Homer says that strong men used to blow out harsh strength through each nostril. Psalm 17: at the blast of the breath of your wrath. Below 30: his fury burning, and heavy to bear. And again: a breath as an overflowing torrent, even to the midst of the neck, to destroy the nations unto nothing: and this is referred back to the first point, in which he removed presumption concerning the mercy of God; for he himself is lofty, distinctively, as it were alone, over against the second.”

“High. Adhere to Jesus Christ. (Origen) (Menochius) — Septuagint omit this sentence, and St. Jerome thinks they did it perhaps for fear of shocking their brethren. In Jeremias xvii. — It is supplied from Aquila’s version, “how must he be esteemed?” (Calmet) — Protestants, “for wherein is he to be accounted of?” Jesus will kill the wicked one with the spirit of his mouth, 2 Thessalonians ii. 8. (Haydock) — No dependence must be had in man. The Israelites vainly trusted in Egypt. (Calmet) Bible Text & Cross-references: All nations shall flow to the Church of Christ. The Jews shall be rejected for their sins. Idolatry shall be destroyed. 1 The word that Isaias, the son of Amos, saw, concerning Juda and Jerusalem. 2 *And in the last days the mountain of the house of the Lord shall be prepared on the top of mountains, and it shall be exalted above the hills, and all nations shall flow unto it. 3 And many people shall go, and say: Come, and let us go up to the mountain of the Lord, and to the house of the God of Jacob, and he will teach us his ways, and we will walk in his paths: for the law shall come forth from Sion, and the word of the Lord from Jerusalem. 4 And he shall judge the Gentiles, and rebuke many people: and they shall turn their swords into ploughshares, and their spears into sickles: nation shall not lift up sword against nation, neither shall they be exercised any more to war. 5 O house of Jacob, come ye, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. 6 For thou hast cast off thy people, the house of Jacob: because they are filled as in times past, and have had soothsayers as the Philistines, and have adhered to strange children. 7 Their land is filled with silver and gold: and there is no end of their treasures. 8 And their land is filled with horses: and their chariots are innumerable. Their land also is full of idols: they have adored the work of their own hands, which their own fingers have made. 9 And man hath bowed himself down, and man hath been debased: therefore, forgive them not. 10 Enter thou into the rock, and hide thee in the pit from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty. 11 The lofty eyes of man are humbled, and the haughtiness of men shall be made to stoop: and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 12 Because the day of the Lord of hosts shall be upon every one that is proud and high-minded, and upon every one that is arrogant, and he shall be humbled. 13 And upon all the tall and lofty cedars of Libanus, and upon all the oaks of Basan. 14 And upon all the high mountains, and upon all the elevated hills. 15 And upon every high tower, and every fenced wall. 16 And upon all the ships of Tharsis, and upon all that is fair to behold. 17 And the loftiness of men shall be bowed down, and the haughtiness of men shall be humbled, and the Lord alone shall be exalted in that day. 18 And idols shall be utterly destroyed. 19 *And they shall go into the holes of rocks, and into the caves of the earth, from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. 20 In that day a man shall cast away his idols of silver, and his idols of gold, which he had made for himself to adore, moles and bats. 21 And he shall go into the clefts of rocks, and into the holes of stones, from the face of the fear of the Lord, and from the glory of his majesty, when he shall rise up to strike the earth. 22 Cease ye, therefore, from the man, whose breath is in his nostrils, for he is reputed high.”

“Since all these things are to befall yon, and are foretold in a prophetic spirit, I admonish and command' you to cease from molesting Him, who is indeed man according to the flesh, and has a soul, and breathes, as we men breathe and live, but according to bis Divine majesty is high, and is considered and believed to be such."”