Chapter 5
Chapter V.
Second, the state of the just is compared to the state of the unjust in the judgment itself with respect to three things.
Then shall the just stand etc. Here he compares the state of the just to the state of the unjust in the judgment itself. And first he touches upon the steadfast accusation of the just: second, the forced confession of the reprobate: Seeing this, they shall be troubled: third, the just retribution of both: But the just shall live forever.
First, concerning the accusation of the just.
(Verse 1). Then shall the just stand etc., as if thus: The impious shall come to judgment fearful: then: The Gloss: "When the peoples shall be judged," namely on the last day: and he says then, indeterminately, because "of that day no one knows," Matthew twenty-four: likewise Acts one: "It is not for you to know the times or moments which the Father has placed in his own power." They shall stand, namely those who in the present had seemed to fall or to lie prostrate: Luke sixteen: "There was a certain beggar named Lazarus, who lay at his gate." On the contrary, the wicked, who now seem to stand, shall then lie prostrate: Proverbs fourteen: "The wicked shall lie prostrate before the good." They shall stand, I say, the just in great constancy, that is, steadfastly and boldly on account of the confidence which they shall have.
The confidence of the Saints in the judgment shall arise from seven things. From the justice of their cause: Job thirteen: "If I shall be judged, I know that I shall be found just"; likewise in the Psalm: "Judge me, O Lord, according to my justice."
Second, from the sufficiency or abundance of proofs: for they shall have proof ready through a written instrument: Job thirty-one: "Let him who judges write the book himself" etc.: likewise Apocalypse twenty: "The dead were judged from those things which were written in the books"; likewise through witnesses: Job sixteen: "Behold, my witness is in heaven," namely God himself; whence Jeremiah twenty-nine: "I am the judge and witness, says the Lord." - Third, from the faithfulness of their advocates: First John two: "We have an advocate in heaven, Jesus Christ "; likewise the Holy Spirit: Romans eight: "The Spirit intercedes" etc.: likewise the Blessed Virgin: whence we cry out: "Our Advocate" etc.
Fourth, from the powerlessness of their adversaries, according to that word of the Psalm: "The impious shall not rise in judgment," namely to accuse the just: Apocalypse twelve: "The accuser was cast out" etc.
Fifth, from the friendship and kinship of their judge: Genesis thirty-seven: "He is our flesh and our brother": Bernard: "I think he will not be able to spurn me, bone of my bones and flesh of my flesh."
Sixth, from the benevolence of the assessors, that is, the Apostles: Matthew nineteen: "You also shall sit upon twelve seats, judging" etc.: likewise Job thirty-six: "He grants judgment to the poor."
Seventh, from the familiarity of the officials of the judge, namely the Angels: Matthew thirteen: "The Angels shall go forth and shall separate the wicked from the midst of the just."
Against them: Gloss: "Their persecutors," who distressed them: Gloss: "In martyrdom," afflicting them personally: Hebrews eleven: "Distressed, afflicted," etc. And who took away their labors, bodily, namely despoiling them through violence, although the Saints bore these things joyfully: whence Hebrews ten: "You accepted the plundering of your goods with joy." Or: labors, spiritual, attempting to take away their fruit, namely by provoking them to sin: concerning this fruit above in chapter three: "Glorious is the fruit of good labors." Or: both together, according to the Gloss: "Namely by judging their bodily and spiritual labors vain and foolish."
Second, concerning the confession of the reprobate in three ways.
Seeing, they shall be troubled, etc. Here he touches upon the forced confession of the reprobate: and first he touches upon the motive for such a confession: second, the matter of the confession: These are they whom once: third, the confirmation of their confession: Such things they said, etc.
A twofold motive for the confession is touched upon, namely affliction over the true happiness of the good, and anxiety over their own unhappiness — Saying within themselves, etc.
(Verse 2). There follows therefore: Seeing: Gloss: "Themselves led from glory to punishment, and their adversaries transferred from punishment to the crown"; they shall be troubled with horrible fear: Exodus fifteen: "Then the princes of Edom were troubled": likewise Ezekiel seven: "Trouble upon trouble shall come," namely the trouble over the affliction of the resumed body upon the trouble previously had over the affliction of the soul previously tormented in the flames of Gehenna. With horrible fear, namely on account of the constancy of their accusers, of whom above in the same chapter. Second, on account of the severity of the divine judgments, according to that passage in Hebrews ten: "It is a horrible thing to fall into the hands of the living God"; likewise below in chapter six: "Horribly and swiftly shall he appear to you." Third, on account of the presence of horrible torturers; Job twenty: "Horrible ones shall go and come upon him." Or thus: They shall be troubled, on account of the gnawing conscience: with fear, on account of the irrevocable sentence of the judge: horrible, on account of the visible presence of the prepared punishments and horrible torturers. And they shall marvel at the suddenness, that is, the sudden attainment, of salvation, namely of the just, unhoped for, that is, not expected by the impious themselves, yet hoped for by the just, according to that passage of the Psalm: "In you our fathers hoped," etc. Groaning, inwardly, from anguish of spirit, from the consideration of that glory and salvation which they lost: First Kings four: "The Philistines groaned, saying: Woe to us," etc.
(Vers. 3.). Saying within themselves, by an interior speech, and they do not engage in exterior speech, perhaps on account of the vehemence of their grief. Doing penance, for the evil that they did: penance, but a late one, like the penance of the rich man, of whom it is said in Luke 16: "Father Abraham, have mercy on me," etc.: doing, or rather suffering. This is the penance of despair, like the penance of Judas, of whom it is read in Matthew 27 that "moved by penance, he returned the thirty pieces of silver." And groaning from the anguish of spirit, on account of the evil of punishment which they incurred: Isaiah 65: "From the sorrow of spirit you shall howl," etc.
These are they whom once etc. Here he sets forth the matter of the confession of the impious confessing their own error, first concerning the life of the just: second concerning their own life: We are wearied etc.
In the first, they first confess their past contempt and mockery of the Saints: second, their rejection of the Saints' state: We fools etc.: third, their then present exaltation: Behold, how they are numbered: fourth, their own error: Therefore we have erred.
(Vers. 3.). These, namely those worthy of mocking display according to the judgment of the impious, are they whom we once held in derision, by deeds and signs: Job 12: "The simplicity of the just man is laughed to scorn": likewise in the Psalm: "All who saw me mocked me," etc. And as a likeness of reproach, reproaching with words: in the Psalm: "The reproaches of those who reproached you fell upon me." But when a good work is reproached in a man, which is rather matter for praise, it is not a true reproach, but a likeness of reproach: on account of which it is said here: as a likeness of reproach: 2 Corinthians 6: "Through infamy and good fame," etc.; Acts 5: "The Apostles went rejoicing," etc.
(Vers. 4.). We fools etc, living in the manner of foolish children: fools, I say, because we did not perceive things as they were: Ecclesiasticus 16: "In all these things the heart is foolish"; 1 Corinthians 14: "Do not be children in understanding." Their life, that is, their manner of life, which was in poverty, labor, lowliness, fasting, etc.: we esteemed madness. So David was reputed insane by Achish, 1 Kings 21; so also Christ: John 8: "Do we not say well that you are a Samaritan and have a demon?" Likewise John 10: "He has a demon and is mad"; so the messenger of Elisha, 4 Kings 9: "Why did this madman come to you?" Hosea 9: "Know, O Israel, that the prophet is a fool and the spiritual man is mad"; a fool, namely in temporal things, and mad, according to the judgment of the worldly. And their end, that is, death, without honor, namely of any recompense: against which it is said in the Psalm: "Your friends are exceedingly honored, O God"; likewise John 12: "If anyone serves me, my Father will honor him," who is in heaven.
(Vers. 5.). How then are they numbered among the children of God? Through grace: Romans 8: "You have not received again the spirit of bondage in fear, but you have received the spirit of adoption of children," etc.; likewise John 1: "He gave them power to become children of God," etc. And among the Saints their lot is, that is, the portion of glory, of which in the Psalm: "Let my portion, O Lord, be in the land of the living"; likewise Colossians 1: "Who has made us worthy for a share in the lot of the Saints in light." And these things are against the two things which they had said: for they had said that the life of the Saints was foolish and their end disgraceful.
(Vers. 6.). Therefore we have erred etc. They conclude against themselves: whence that word of the Psalm is verified: "Their tongues have been weakened against them." We have erred, they say: for they approved false things as true: but Augustine says that "to approve false things as true is proper to error": Isaiah 19: "They have caused Egypt to err in all its work, as a drunkard staggers and vomits." From the way of truth: The Gloss: "Of the Gospel of the divine law," with respect to believing; Isaiah 53: "All we like sheep have gone astray: each one has turned aside to his own way." And the light of justice, with respect to acting: the light of justice, taken intransitively, that is, justice which is light, according to that word of the Psalm: "Light has risen for the just"; likewise Proverbs 4: "The path of the just is as a shining light" etc. Has not shone upon us; Isaiah 59: "We waited for light, and behold darkness"! This was the cause of their error, just as a lack of light is the cause of going astray. And the sun of understanding, namely with respect to enkindling: The Gloss: "Christ, the sun of justice, who rises upon those who fear God," as is found in the last chapter of Malachi: has not risen upon us. It should be noted that the deficiency is not on the part of the sun, but on the part of those who lie in darkness and are unwilling to rise and do not seek to open their eyes: the Psalm: "Fire," of envy, "fell upon them, and they did not see the sun," of justice. The material sun indeed rises upon the good and the evil, as is clear from Matthew 5: "Who makes his sun to rise upon the good and the evil," but the sun of understanding rises only upon the good, as is clear here.
But Christ is called the sun, because the sun is so called as if "alone shining" [solus lucens]: but Christ shines singularly, that is, above all others as the light of the world and its eye: John 1: "He was the true light, which enlightens every man coming into this world," even by the illumination of natural knowledge. "For he is the teacher who, having his chair in heaven, teaches the hearts of men on earth," as Augustine says. Likewise John 8: "I am the light of the world." - Likewise, because by the illumination of the moon, that is, of the Church: Ecclesiasticus 50: "As the full moon shines in its days," namely from the irradiation of the sun. - Likewise, because he is the fountain of all heat, that is, of spiritual love: the Psalm: "In the sun he has set his tabernacle"; and afterward: "There is none who can hide himself from his heat": 2 Maccabees 1: "The time came when the sun shone forth, which before was in a cloud: and a great fire was kindled" etc.: likewise Luke 12: "I have come to cast fire upon the earth," that is, heat.
Likewise, because he is the father of spiritual plants, that is, of all spiritual sprouting: John 15: "He who abides in me, and I in him, bears much fruit, because without me you can do nothing."
But he is called the sun of understanding because his light is apprehended by the eye of understanding alone, because by his ray, namely by the spirit of understanding, the intelligence is illuminated.
We are wearied etc. Here he touches upon the confession of the error of the impious concerning their own life: and first they confess the toilsomeness of their own life; second, the blindness: But the way of the Lord; third, the uselessness: What has profited us etc.; fourth, the instability: They have passed away.
(Verse 7). We are wearied therefore, by our own strength, in the way of iniquity, as regards guilt in the present: Jeremiah 9: "They have labored to act unjustly"; and of perdition, as regards punishment in the future; Proverbs 2: "The impious shall be destroyed from the earth, and those who act unjustly shall be taken away from it." Nor is it a wonder if we are wearied by our own strength, because we have walked difficult ways, by their very nature, namely the ways of sinners, which greatly afflict the soul in the present through the remorse of conscience. For the order of divine justice does not permit that even for a moment there be guilt without punishment.
Whence Augustine: "You have commanded, O Lord, and so it is, that every disordered soul is its own punishment"; Sirach 21: "The way of sinners is paved with stones."
But against this: Matthew 7: "Wide is the gate and broad is the way that leads to perdition."
It must be said that it is easy at the entrance, as if strewn with flowers, namely with the sweetness of present delight and temporal pleasure; but difficult in its progress on account of the remorse of conscience; more difficult at its exit on account of separation from present pleasure; but most difficult after the exit on account of the torment of hell.
But the way of the Lord, namely that by which the Lord comes to us, by which we go to him, namely charity, according to that word of the Apostle, 1 Corinthians 12: "I show you a yet more excellent way"; we have not known, namely with a crass and affected ignorance; whence Job 21: "Who say to God: Depart from us, we desire not the knowledge of your ways." He who is ignorant with such ignorance "shall be ignored," as the Apostle says, 1 Corinthians 14. (Verse 8). What has pride profited us, namely in the excellence of honors, as if to say: nothing; indeed rather it has harmed us, because it is said in the Psalm: "He will repay abundantly those who act with pride"; Proverbs 16: "Pride precedes destruction"; Luke 1: "He has scattered the proud in the conceit of their heart." Or the boasting of riches, namely concerning the abundance of exterior goods, what has it conferred upon us? As if to say: nothing; Ecclesiastes 5: "He who loves riches shall reap no fruit from them"; likewise Luke 6: "Woe to you who are rich!" etc.
They passed away etc. Here he touches on the confession of the instability of the state of the reprobate under a manifold metaphor: first under the metaphor of a shadow; second, of a messenger: As a messenger; third, of a ship: And as a ship; fourth, of a bird: Or a bird; fifth, of an arrow: Or as an arrow.
(Vers. 9. 10.). All those things passed away, namely riches, pleasures, and honors of secular power: whence 1 John 2: "Everything that is in the world" etc., and in the same place below: "The world passes away and its concupiscence": that is, the concupiscible things that are in it, namely as regards the outward form, not as regards substance: whence 1 Corinthians 7: "The form of this world passes away." As a shadow, namely by darkening the mind: Ecclesiasticus 34: "As one who grasps at a shadow and pursues the wind, so is he who attends to lying visions," because the soul, by its turning toward earthly things, is darkened and eclipsed by the interposition of the earth between it and the true sun.
And as a messenger running ahead, by its passing removing the mind: Job 9: "My days were swifter than a runner." And as a ship that passes through the surging water, by enduring many tribulations: Luke 10: "You are troubled about many things." Of which, when it has passed, no trace is to be found, namely in the water: Proverbs 30: "Three things are difficult for me, etc., the way of a ship in the midst of the sea." Nor the path of its keel in the waves, that is, of the small boat, which usually accompanies the larger ship for escape from danger. Or: keel can be said to be the middle part or the middle place of the ship, according to those verses:
The prow is the front part of the ship, the stern the last part. Call the side the hull, call the belly the keel.
(Vers. 11. 12.). Or a bird, namely, by exalting the heart into pride and wantonness: Proverbs 10: "He who relies on lies feeds the winds: and the same pursues birds in flight." Which flies across through the air, namely swiftly, of which no evidence is found, namely no certain sign, of the passage of that one: but only a sound is heard, a sound, I say, of wings beating the light wind, that is, the moved air, according to that saying of Damascene: "Wind is moved air": and cutting, that is, dividing, by the force of its passage the air, namely the still air. So the light sound of fame accompanies the wicked, according to that saying of the Psalm: "They called their names upon their lands": Isaiah 18: "Woe to the land of the cymbal of wings," etc. And with wings set in motion, it flew across, namely to another place: Hosea 9: "Ephraim flew away like a bird." And after this no sign, that is, no certain indication, is found of its passage: Proverbs 30: "Three things are difficult for me, etc., the way of the eagle in the sky"; likewise Job 28: "The bird knew not the path, nor did the eye of the vulture behold it." Or as an arrow, namely, by wounding the heart fatally; shot toward its appointed place, by the archer: Proverbs 7: "Until the arrow pierces his liver." The divided air, namely by the motion of the arrow, immediately closed back upon itself, so that its passage might be unknown. The Gloss: "Because it left no traces of itself."
(Vers. 13.). So we also, having been born, immediately ceased to exist, that is, quickly after birth; or: immediately we ceased, that is, we began to cease, according to that saying of Augustine: "What is our life but a continuous course toward death?" The Gloss: "So also the course of this life is uncertain and unstable"; Job 14: "Man born of woman, etc., and flees like a shadow." Or: we cease to exist continually, through the acceleration of sinning. And indeed we were unable to show any sign of virtue, namely in our life through good conduct: Mark, last chapter: "These signs shall follow those who believe"; Galatians, last chapter: "I bear the marks of the Lord Jesus in my body." In our wickedness for we were consumed, through final impenitence; Job 13: "I who am to be consumed like rottenness": John 8: "You shall die in your sin."
Such things they said, etc. Behold, the confirmation of their confession through fitting examples, first, through the example of down: second, of foam: And as foam: third, of smoke: And as smoke: fourth, of a guest: And as the memory of a guest.
(Vers. 14.). Such things therefore said in hell those who sinned: they said, I say, by interior speech through the remorse of conscience, even if not perhaps by exterior speech, since they are in hell without bodies until the day of judgment and without bodily organs, although not without the powers of the organs: Luke 16: "Lifting up his eyes," that is, the power of sight, which had used the organs of the eyes in the present life.
In hell etc. How did this author know that they thus said in hell? Since he had never been there, nor had another come from there who had reported it to him: whence above in chapter two: "No one has been recognized who has returned from the underworld."
It can be said that he knew this through the revelation of the Holy Spirit, because, according to Ambrose, every truth, by whomever it is spoken, is uttered at the dictation of the Holy Spirit: likewise 2 Peter 1: "Holy men of God spoke, inspired by the Holy Spirit." Or: They said, that is, they were able to say.
(Vers. 15.). Because etc., as if to say: and they spoke truly, because the hope of the ungodly, that is, temporal prosperity, in which the ungodly place their hope: Isaiah twenty-eight: "We have made falsehood our hope"; is like down, that is, the flower of the thistle, with respect to the fragility of the flesh: which is carried away by the wind, that is, by a slight breeze: the Gloss: "Down expresses the fragility of the flesh, which is quickly carried away by the wind of sickness or trouble"; Isaiah forty: "All flesh is grass." And rightly is the fragility of the flesh compared to the flower of the thistle, because the flesh generates thorns and thistles of temptations: whence Genesis three: "Thorns and thistles shall it bring forth to you." And like thin foam, generated from the agitation of waters, which is scattered by the storm. Like foam etc., he speaks with respect to the vanity of boasting: whence the Gloss: "This is the appetite for human favor and popular boasting, which is scattered by the storm of tribulation and of some present or eternal adversity": Hosea ten: "Samaria has caused her king to pass away, as foam passes over the face of the water"; likewise Jeremiah twenty-three: "Behold, the whirlwind of the Lord's indignation shall go forth, and a tempest shall burst upon the head of the ungodly." And like smoke, which is dispersed by the wind, with respect to the brevity of life: James four: "What is your life? It is a vapor appearing for a little while"; dispersed by the wind: for when it is lifted on high, it is forced to vanish, according to that saying of the Psalm: "As soon as they are honored and exalted, failing they shall fail like smoke"; the Gloss: "Just as smoke is dissolved by the wind, so is human life by the change of times." And like the memory of a guest of one day passing through, with respect to the brief duration of fame: Job thirteen: "Your memory shall be compared to ashes." He compares man existing in this life to a guest, because we are pilgrims and guests as if in another's house, according to that saying of the Psalm: "I am a sojourner with you and a pilgrim, as all my fathers were": likewise Hebrews eleven: "Confessing that they are pilgrims" etc. Passing through, because we pass from life to death: Lamentations one: "O all you who pass by the way" etc.; likewise Ecclesiastes one: "A generation passes away" etc. Of one day, because we remain here but a short time; whence Hebrews thirteen: "We have not here a lasting city" etc.
Third, concerning the retribution of the just and the reprobate, in two ways.
But the just forever. Here he sets forth the fitting retribution of the just and the reprobate, and first, the reward of the just; second, the punishment of the reprobate: And he shall take up armor.
He touches upon a twofold reward of the just: first, for the doing of good; and second, for the victory over evil: Therefore they shall receive etc.
(Vers. 16.). But the just etc., as if to say: such is the life and death of the impious: but, that is, "however." The just, on the contrary, shall live forever: The Gloss: "They shall live with eternal life," of which John 17: "This is eternal life" etc. And with the Lord, that is, in the Lord himself through hope, according to the Gloss: in the Psalm: "But it is good for me to adhere to God," namely through charity, "it is good to place my hope in the Lord God"; is their reward: The Gloss: "The recompense of labor": for he himself is the reward of the Saints: Genesis 15: "I am your protector and your reward exceedingly great": likewise Numbers 18: "I am your portion and your inheritance in the midst of the children of Israel." And their thought etc., as if to say: and deservedly with the Lord is their reward, because their thought, that is, their whole solicitude and intention through faith, is with the Most High, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Cast your thought upon the Lord" etc. Or: thought, that is, the knowledge of their understanding, is with the Most High alone: for the just think only about God, or about those things which contribute to possessing him, according to that passage of 1 Corinthians 7: "The unmarried woman thinks about the things of the Lord."
(Vers. 17.). And because they are such in the present, therefore they shall receive the kingdom of glory, that is, a glorious kingdom with respect to the golden crown or the essential reward; Matthew 5: "Blessed are the poor" etc. And the crown of beauty, that is, a beautiful one: The Gloss: "The enemy having been conquered"—and this with respect to the aureole or with respect to the accidental reward: 2 Timothy 4: "There is laid up for me a crown of justice." Concerning both, Exodus 25. From the hand of God, or of the Lord;- The Gloss: "That is, from Christ, who is called the hand and arm and right hand of God the Father." For he is the hand by working: "For all things were made through him," John 1: the arm by protecting, according to that passage of the Psalm: "My arm shall strengthen him"; the right hand by rewarding: Matthew 25: "He shall set the sheep on his right hand." For his right hand shall cover them: The Gloss: "Here and in the future," from the wrath of the supreme Judge: Isaiah 49: "In the shadow of his hand he protected me": Sirach 34: "A shelter from the heat and a shade from the noonday." And with his holy arm, that is, of his holy power, he shall defend them, namely from every attack of the adversary, according to that passage of the Psalm: "The Lord is the defender of my life, of whom shall I be afraid?"
And he shall take armor etc. Here he touches upon the punishment of the reprobate under the metaphor of a king taking up arms against his adversaries. And first he describes the king's purpose: second, his equipment: He shall put on etc.: third, the battle: They shall go forth directly: fourth, the effect of the battle: And he shall bring to desolation: fifth, the remedy for the battle: Better is wisdom.
(Vers. 18.). And he shall take armor, namely against adversaries, his zeal: Proverbs six: "The zeal and fury of a man will not spare in the day of vengeance." "His arms, however, are truth, justice, and judgment," according to the Gloss. And he will arm the creature, namely as his army, according to that passage below in chapter sixteen: "The creature serving you its Maker burns against the unjust"; for the vengeance upon enemies: Psalm: "God of vengeances" etc.
(Vers. 19. 20. 21.). He shall put on justice for a breastplate: justice is compared to a coat of mail or breastplate, because, just as a coat of mail protects the whole body, so justice protects the soul on every side: whence Second Corinthians six: "By the armor of justice on the right hand and on the left"; Isaiah fifty-nine: "He put on justice as a breastplate." And he shall take sure judgment for a helmet, or certain: right judgment, that is, discernment, and it is compared to a helmet, which is the defense of the head, that is, of reason: Proverbs sixteen: "Divination is on the lips of the king; in judgment his mouth shall not err."
He shall take equity for an invincible shield: to a shield, which defends the coat of mail, equity is compared, because it renders justice irreproachable: Isaiah eleven: "He shall reprove in equity for the meek of the earth."
And he shall sharpen his fierce wrath; he says fierce to distinguish it from the light wrath with which he is now angry; for a spear: the wrath of God is compared to a spear, because it will reach even whatever is remote and will penetrate: Ezekiel twenty-one: "The sword is sharpened" etc.; likewise Exodus fifteen: "You sent forth your wrath, which devoured them as stubble." And the whole world shall fight with him against the senseless: Gregory: "When the Creator is offended, every creature is offended"; the Gloss: "The Creator through the creature subject to him corrects the offenders." That battle shall be terrible, concerning which Job forty: "Remember the battle, and speak no more."
They shall go directly etc. Here he describes the last battle according to the diverse battle lines of creatures. And first he introduces fire warring against and conquering the impious; second, the air: And from the stony: third, water: And it shall grow white-hot : fourth, wind or whirlwind proceeding from the earth: Against them shall stand the spirit of power. (Verse 22.). They shall go, therefore, namely against them, directly the bolts of lightning: Gloss: "At will, that is, according to the will of the commander": Ecclesiasticus 43: "He hastens to send forth the flashings of his judgment"; likewise in the Psalm: "Flash forth lightning, and you shall scatter them." And as from a well-curved bow of the clouds, that is, as the curved lines of the rainbow, when the sun comes upon them, the impious shall be destroyed: as if to say: just as quickly and easily the heavenly bow is dissolved, so the impious shall quickly and easily be destroyed, that is, they shall be placed outside the boundaries of present and eternal life: Baruch 3: "They were destroyed and descended to the netherworld"; in the Psalm: "He has bent his bow" etc. And they shall leap to a certain place, namely against the wicked only, so that they shall not touch the good: chapter 3 above: "The torment of death shall not touch them." To a certain place: Gloss: "Wherever it may be necessary; for that which divine wisdom has ordered cannot be confused": whence Exodus 9: "In Egypt the land of Goshen suffered no evil from the plagues inflicted upon Egypt."
(Vers. 23.). And from stony wrath: stony is said of that wrath on account of its effect, because it will manifest itself through rocks, or because it is unbreakable and hard like rock, or because it will be inflicted by Christ, who is called the rock in 1 Corinthians 10: "And the rock was Christ." Full hailstones shall be sent, that is, thick and great; or: fully, that is, completely or abundantly: Psalm: "Fire, hail, snow, ice" etc.; Job 38: "Have you entered the storehouses of snow?" Revelation 16: "Great hail like a talent in weight descended from heaven upon men." But the Greeks have it thus: And as from a well-curved bow of clouds they shall leap to a sure mark, and from a hurled stone, full wrath. This reading is clearer and seems truer, since this book appears to have been compiled in Greek. And it shall grow hot, that is, it shall boil, upon them, that is, against them, the water of the sea: for it shall become boiling, turbid, and foaming: Luke 21: "On earth, distress of nations from the confusion of the sound of the sea and the waves." For it shall be one of the fifteen signs, according to Jerome, that the sea shall raise itself above the height of the mountains. And rivers, that is, of fresh waters, shall rush together harshly, that is, forcefully: Exodus 15: "They sank like lead in mighty waters." Or: The water of the sea, that is, the bitterness of hell, shall grow hot against them, that is, it shall hiss and boil like water by the casting in of hot iron: Isaiah 14: "Hell beneath is disturbed." And rivers, namely of anguish, shall rush together harshly, because there shall be grief over goods lost, shame over evils committed, fear over present punishments.
(Vers. 24.). Against them shall stand the spirit of power, that is, a strong wind, according to that passage of Exodus 15: "Your spirit blew" etc., proceeding from the caverns of the earth, according to that passage of the Psalm: "Who brings forth winds from his storehouses"; likewise in the Psalm: "With a vehement wind you shall shatter the ships of Tarshish"; likewise Job 1: "A vehement wind rushed from the region of the desert." This is the "spirit of storms," of which the Psalm speaks. And as: as is expressive of truth, not a mark of similitude: a whirlwind, that is, a blast composed of contrary winds mixed with dust, shall divide them etc. Or: spirit can be called the sentence of the judge, according to that passage of Isaiah 11: "With the spirit of his mouth he shall slay the wicked." And then the term as is a mark of similitude, not expressive of truth, when it is said: And as a whirlwind shall divide them, namely from the good: Job 27: "A burning wind shall take him up, and as a whirlwind shall snatch him from his place"; the last chapter of Isaiah: "Behold, the Lord shall come in fire, and his chariots as a whirlwind." And to a wasteland, that is, a horrible and barren place, lacking every good: concerning such a place, Deuteronomy 32: "In a place of horror and vast solitude."
All the earth, that is, earthly ones, their iniquity will lead them through, that is, their own iniquity, not another's, will be the cause why they are led there, according to that passage of Isaiah 50: "Walk in the flames which you have kindled for yourselves." Or according to another reading: he says the land of their iniquity, because according to the Psalm: "Fire shall go before the judge himself," which will burn the surface of the earth on which their iniquities were committed and render it dry. And malice, which they practiced, which connotes something worse, will overthrow, that is, will be the cause of overthrowing, the thrones of the powerful, that is, kingdoms, cities and strongholds, towers and tribunals: Sirach 10: "God has destroyed the thrones of proud rulers." The Gloss expounds the preceding differently, namely, concerning the present overthrow of the impious, the unfaithful, and heretics by Christ and the Church: by the flashing of miracles, by the hail of rebukes, by the cleansing of tribulations, by the whirlwind of persecutions, by the subversion and removal of possessions, by the casting down of the powerful.