Ezekiel 25

And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set (or make firm) your face against the Ammonites and you shall prophesy concerning them, and you shall say to the Ammonites: Hear the word of the Lord God. Thus says the Lord God: Because you said: Well done, well done, over my sanctuary (or because you rejoiced over my sanctuary) because it was profaned, and over the land of Israel because it was made desolate, and over the house of Judah because they were led into captivity, therefore I will hand you over to the sons of the east (or Cedem) as an inheritance; they shall set up their sheepfolds in you, and they shall pitch their tents in you; they themselves shall eat your fruits, and they themselves shall drink milk (or your richness). And I will make Rabbath a dwelling for camels (or the city of Ammon pastures for camels), and the Ammonites a lair for cattle, and you shall know that I am the Lord. For thus says the Lord God: Because you clapped with the hand, and struck (or stamped) with the foot, and rejoiced with all your feeling (or mocked from your soul) over the land of Israel, therefore behold, I will stretch out my hand over you, and I will hand you over for plunder to the nations, and I will slay you from among the peoples, and destroy from the lands, and crush, and you shall know that I am the Lord. When Jerusalem had been taken or besieged, after the one who had been able to escape came to Babylon and announced that the city was at any moment to be taken, or had been overthrown together with the temple, the prophetic discourse, according to the custom of all the prophets, turns against the other nations round about, which had mocked at the ruin of Jerusalem and the burning of the temple; and first against the Ammonites, who had a capital named Rabbath, which today is called Philadelphia after the king of Egypt Ptolemy, surnamed Philadelphus, who held Arabia together with Judea: 'Son' he says 'of man, set (or make firm) your face against the Ammonites, who were begotten of the stock of Lot, and you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God — for these are not the words of the prophet but of the Lord. Concerning the making firm of the face we have discussed more fully in this same prophet —: Because you said: Well done, well done, or, you mocked and rejoiced, because my temple and sanctuary was profaned by the entry of enemies, and over the land of Israel, because it was made desolate, and especially over the house of Judah, of the two tribes, which have now been led into captivity, therefore I too will hand you over to the sons of Cedem', whom we have translated 'eastern' — and no one doubts that the Midianites and the whole vast expanse of the desert lie next to the land of Arabia, who have herds of camels and multitudes of sheep and goats and live on this wealth —; which, as history relates in the book of Judges, also befell the land of Israel, when the Midianites came and grazed bare all their regions as far as Gaza. Μεταφορικῶς [metaphorically], then, Scripture signifies by way of the Midianites, the Ishmaelites and the Agarenes — who are now called Saracens, falsely taking to themselves the name of Sarah, so that, of course, they may seem to have been born of the free woman and mistress —; and it is said of King Nebuchadnezzar and all his army that he will come and take the city of Rabbath, which is called by this name either properly or because of its size — for 'Rabbath' means 'greatest' —; and so that we may not doubt that Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Arabia after Jerusalem was taken, Scripture testifies above: And you, son of man, set for yourself two ways, Ammon and Jerusalem, and the sword of the king of Babylon shall come, and again: At the head of the way of the city he shall cast. You shall set a way so that the sword may come to Rabbath of the Ammonites, and to Judah in most fortified Jerusalem, and again: Thus says the Lord God to the Ammonites and to their reproach. 'So the sons of Cedem will come and set up their sheepfolds like shepherds, and pitch tents; they themselves will lay waste your fruits and drink the milk and the richness of the land, once the flocks of camels and of all peoples have been let in, so that the Ammonites may be a lair for cattle', and by the compulsion of their misfortunes they may understand that he himself is the Lord, who both foretold the things to come and commanded that they should happen.

According to tropology we can understand the Ammonites — who were begotten of the seed of Lot in a cave, and begotten in drunkenness and incest — as all the heretics, of whom the apostle John also says: They went out from us, but they were not of us; for if they had been of us, they would surely have remained with us; these have sprung from 'inclination' — for this is what 'Lot' is rendered in our language —, because: All have turned aside, together they have become useless; there is none who does good, there is not even one. Against these the prophet's face is set, or made firm, so that it may crush them by its severity, and it says to them: 'Because you mocked my Church in the time of persecution, and because my sanctuary had been profaned through various vices, whether by the vice of those who served me or by the cruelty of the enemies who persecuted my own, and because the land of Israel too, the senses that see God, was desolate of the choir of virtues, and because the sons of the house of Judah — the house that confesses the Lord, in which is the true faith and right confession — were led into captivity and ceased to serve the Lord, therefore you, who are all mockery, will be handed over to the sons of the east, who have set out from the true light, and you will be handed over as an inheritance, so that you too may learn to confess the Lord'. And by metaphor it is said that the sons of the east set their sheepfolds over them and pitch tents and drink milk and eat fruits, and that the city once of pride becomes a dwelling for camels, which, having laid down the burden of sins, can enter through the eye of a needle, and a lair for cattle, which are ruled by the good shepherd, so that, when they have done this, mingled with and handed over to the shepherds of the east, they may understand that he himself is the Lord.

Nor was it enough for the Ammonites to mock and say 'Well done, well done' over the temple and sanctuary of the Lord, which had been profaned by the entry of various nations; but so great was the wantonness of their mocking that the whole people together clattered with hands and feet and shouted with all the passion of the heart, because the land of Israel was desolate. Therefore not through angels nor through other ministries, but the Lord himself, stretching out his hand to strike, will hand it over for plunder — not at all to camels and flocks of sheep but, more plainly, to the nations — so that it may be utterly uprooted from the number of the peoples, and perish, and be brought to nothing; and after it has been crushed, then it may understand that he himself is the Lord, who judges all things and has power over all lands.

And again he reproaches them for having mocked with excessive passion of heart at the ruins of the people of God, and for having thought the land of Israel utterly deserted, for which they deserve the hand of the avenging God, so that those who had exceeded the measure of exultation and joy over the ruin of the house of Judah are not handed over to the sons of the east at all, but become a plunder for all the nations, and are slain from among the peoples, and perish, and are crushed, and are to be believed to belong not at all to the stock of Abraham but to all the nations; and then, by the greatness of their misfortunes and by their own crushing and the slaughter of their people, they may know that he himself is the Lord. What we have understood generally of the Church can be understood of each one of the saints, at whose ruin the men of the world rejoice, and the adverse powers too, if they have lost a chastity of long standing, since the wicked think it a consolation for their own crimes if they have many partners in crimes and in punishment; and no one does this unless he is a son of Ammon, that is, a son of the people, who was begotten in declination.

Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir said: Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations, therefore behold, I will open the shoulder of Moab, from its cities, I say, and from its borders, the glorious places of the land, Bethiesimoth and Beelmeon and Cariathaim, to the sons of the east together with the Ammonites; and I will give it as an inheritance, so that there may be no more remembrance of the Ammonites among the nations. And upon Moab I will execute judgments, and they shall know that I am the Lord. (LXX: "Thus says Adonai the Lord: Because Moab ※ and Seir ⁚ said: Behold, the house of Judah is like all the nations, therefore behold, I will loosen the shoulder of Moab from the cities of its promontories, the chosen land, the house of Bethiesimuth above the spring of the maritime city, the sons of the east over the Ammonites; I have given it to him as an inheritance, so that there may be no remembrance of the Ammonites among the nations. And upon Moab I will execute vengeances, and they shall know that I am the Lord." What we have translated 'and Seir' is not found in the Seventy but has been added from Theodotion.) In this place, however, the Hebrews tell a ridiculous tale: after the city was opened and the temple unbarred, and the sons of Ammon and Moab and Seir had entered the temple and seen the Cherubim protecting the mercy seat, they said: 'As all the nations worship images, so Judah too has idols of its religion'; and for this reason, they say, the Lord was angered and handed them over to captivity. We, however, say this: that these too mocked the house of Judah when it was taken by the Chaldeans, thinking that, as there had been no help from God among the other nations, so too the kingdom of Judah and Jerusalem, bereft of God's protection, had lain open to the power of Babylon.

But to this day 'Moab', which means 'from the father', and 'Seir', which is rendered 'hairy' and 'shaggy', looks down on and despises the house of Judah, in which is the true confession, and thinks that it can be overthrown as easily as the fortifications of the other cities are overthrown.

Therefore, not a long time afterward but at the present moment, the Lord threatens that he will loosen, or open, the shoulder of Moab — that is, its strength and might — from its cities, so that the Babylonian conqueror may enter in to them too, and the cities in Moab may cease to be, and in its borders and boundaries the glorious cities may be destroyed whose names he sets down: 'Bethiesimoth and Beelmeon and Cariathaim', for which the Seventy, intending I know not what, translated 'the house of Bethiesimuth', although this word signifies 'a deserted village', while 'Beelmeon' too is to this day a very large village in Moab, which they rendered 'above the spring', and 'Cariathaim' 'a maritime city'; and it too is handed over, together with the Ammonites, to the sons of the east, namely the Babylonians, according to the sense which we have expounded against the Ammonites. 'And I will give,' he says, 'Moab as an inheritance, so that, as there is no more remembrance of the Ammonites among the nations, so also upon Moab I will execute vengeances and judgments, and they may know that I am the Lord, who handed Judah over for sin and stand forth as avenger against the Ammonites and against Moab'.

Hence the Lord threatens that he will open, or loosen, all the strength of the Moabites, so that they may cease to have cities and may no longer trust in the dialectical art, but that all its boundaries, which he calls promontories because of the dashing of the waves, may be destroyed, and that the glorious and chosen lands — 'Bethiesimoth', which means 'house of solitude' and 'deserted', and 'Beelmeon', which is likewise rendered 'having a spring' or 'above the spring', and 'Cariathaim', which the Seventy translated 'a maritime city' — may perish; for although they have the strength of fighters, and the glorious go forth to battle with the art of fighting, and advance hedged about and fortified on every side, yet their glorious land is not a house of habitation but a house of solitude; and though they think that they have a spring of knowledge and a maritime city that can withstand all the storms of the world, promising themselves endurance and strength, yet they will be turned to this end, that they too may be handed over to the sons of the east of the true light in Christ, just as the Ammonites were handed over, who trusted in their heretical multitude. And let us consider the benefit, and the clemency of God in the very threat: that they are handed over together with the Ammonites to the sons of the east as an inheritance, and that no heresy at all may be named among the nations, but that, judgments and vengeances having been executed upon Moab for its arrogance, they may know by the outcome of things that it is the Lord who orders all things. Now to prove that in the present place Moab is to be understood of the pride of the philosophers, of whom it is said: I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the understanding of the understanding I will reject, a few examples from the prophet must be unfolded: Amos says: Thus says the Lord: For three impieties of Moab and for four I will not turn away from him, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom to ashes — for truly, whatever there is in the world of perverse doctrines, whatever pertains to earthly knowledge and is thought to be robust, this is overthrown by the dialectical art and, like a fire, dissolved into ashes and embers, so that what was thought to be strongest is proved to be worth nothing —; Isaiah too rebukes the pride of Moab, saying: We have heard the insolence of Moab, he is exceedingly insolent; I have taken away his pride; Jeremiah also, prophesying against all the nations, speaks specifically to Moab: Because you trusted in your fortifications, and a little after: You had confidence in your glory, and again: How do you say: We are strong?, and then: Near is the day of Moab, that it should come, and its malice is exceedingly swift, and more plainly: Say: How has the glorious staff been broken, the rod of magnificence?, and again: The horn of Moab is broken; and these things are said so that, under the name of Moab, the foolish pride of the world that lifts itself up to heaven may be crushed.

Thus says the Lord God: Because Idumaea took vengeance, to avenge itself on the sons of Judah, and sinned in transgressing and sought vengeance on them, therefore thus says the Lord God: I will stretch out my hand over the Idumaeans, and I will take away from it man and beast, and I will make it desert from the south, and those who are in Dedan shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance on Idumaea by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and my fury, and they shall know my indignation, says the Lord God. (LXX: "Thus says the Lord Adonai: Because Idumaea acted so that they avenged a vengeance on the house of Judah, and they kept the memory of evil and avenged themselves with vengeance, therefore thus says Adonai the Lord: I will stretch out my hand over Idumaea, and I will slay from it man and beast, and I will make it desert, and those fleeing from Theman shall fall by the sword. And I will lay my vengeance on Idumaea in the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Idumaea according to my anger and my fury, and they shall know my vengeance, says Adonai the Lord.") Above he had set out two: Because Moab and Seir said, and afterwards, keeping silent about Seir, he spoke against Moab only; now he returns to the πρόβλημα [problem, the question set] he had begun: what Seir, that is, Idumaea, did — that Esau and Seir and Edom and Idumaea and Duma are called one nation, no one who has knowledge of the Scriptures will doubt; and, to say nothing of the other prophets — Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, who prophesied against Idumaea and Duma and Edom — the prophet Obadiah directs his whole prophecy against this nation; we expounded him long ago as best we could —. So Seir is rebuked, who, because he was shaggy, received the name of hairy, and bloody Edom, who for the cooking of red lentils lost his birthright and took his name from the dish; Esau too they interpret as 'made'; and this must be known, that in the Hebrew Idumaea is never written, but always Edom, which the Greek translation expressed as Idumaea. So Idumaea did not speak, as Moab did, but took vengeance on the sons of Judah, and sinned, or kept the memory of the former pain, so as to take vengeance on those by whom he had been supplanted in the womb.

According to tropology, this seems to me the sense: Idumaea is called 'earthly' and 'fleshly', which rises up against the spirit so that we do not do the things that are of the spirit, and hastens to draw to itself the soul placed in the middle, and wishes to repay vengeance on the sons of Judah, to whom it had formerly been subject, and remembers the old pain, that it was not in its own power, and therefore seeks vengeance on those who, withdrawing from the flesh, followed the spirit; therefore this Lord, being the avenger of the sons of Judah, stretches out his hand over Idumaea and takes away from it man and beast — whatever it seems to have either of reason or of simple faith — so as to reduce it to solitude, and of 'Theman', which means 'failing', and 'Dedan', which itself signifies 'kinship', he slew all with the sword which he placed in the hand of his people Israel, so that Edom may be overthrown, and feel the anger and fury of the Lord, and understand that his vengeance has served to this end: that it should serve the house of Judah. This is what the Apostle too argues about, writing: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated; and he loves Jacob because he supplants and overcomes what is fleshly and earthly, and deserves to receive its blessings; for first we live according to the flesh and afterwards according to the spirit. First the vices, then the virtues by which the vices are undermined, because the heart of man is set on malice from boyhood, and mature age condemns the errors of youth; hence David too: The offenses, he says, of my youth and my ignorances do not remember. And yet it must be known that Jacob receives the first blessing, Esau the second, and at the last it is said of him: You shall be the servant of your brother, so that, after the flesh has been made subject to the spirit and joined to it, it may cease to be flesh, and Idumaea may pass over into Judea.

Therefore not through angels nor through anyone else, but the Lord himself, stretching out his hand over Idumaea, took away from it man and beast, and reduced its cities to desert, that is, 'Theman', which we rendered 'south', from which, and from the other city, Dedan, the slain will fall by the sword; 'and when they have avenged themselves on Judah, I will lay vengeance on the Idumaeans by the hand, or in the hand, of my people Israel, so that they may be crushed by those on whom they exercised vengeance, who will do in Edom, or Idumaea, according to my anger and fury, so as to fulfil my indignation, and so that, through the hands of my people Israel, my anger may rage against the hostile nation, and they may understand that, against the unjust vengeance of Idumaea, my vengeance was just,' says Adonai the Lord.

Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted in vengeance, and avenged themselves with their whole soul, slaying, and fulfilling old enmities, therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will stretch out my hand over the Philistines, and I will slay the slayers, and destroy the remnants of the maritime region; and I will execute great vengeances on them, rebuking in fury, and they shall know that I am the Lord, when I have laid my vengeance on them. (LXX: "Therefore thus says Adonai the Lord: Because the foreigners acted in vengeance, and stirred up retribution, mocking from the soul, so as to destroy for ever, therefore thus says Adonai the Lord: Behold, I will stretch out my hand over the foreigners, and I will destroy (or slay) the Cretans, and destroy the remnants of the shore; and I will execute great vengeances on them in the retribution of fury, and they shall know that I am Adonai the Lord, when I have laid my vengeance on them.") After the Ammonites, Moab and Seir — who are the Edomites, and who through Lot and Esau are joined by kinship to the people of Israel and the house of Judah — he comes to the Philisthiim — whom the Seventy translated 'allophylos', that is, 'foreigners', not by the general name of all the nations that are not of the race of the Jews, but by the special name of their own nation, which is now called Palaestina, the letter 'phe' having been changed into 'pi' according to the custom of the Greeks, just as among us, in place of the Hebrew 'phascha', the Greek and Latin 'pascha' is celebrated —. 'Philisthiim' they interpret as 'falling by the cup'; they too were made drunk from the golden cup of Babylon, and they rage, and mock with their whole soul, remembering their old enmities against Israel, by which they were divided from the people of God; and whereas the Lord says: Vengeance to me, I will repay, the Lord says: They themselves avenge themselves, slaying and fulfilling ancient hatreds; on account of which they will feel the hand of the Lord stretched out over them, who will slay the 'slayers' — for which the Seventy, intending I know not what, translated 'Cretans', whereas Aquila and Symmachus and Theodotion rendered either the Hebrew word itself, 'chorethim', or 'slayers' and 'slaying', not only in the present place but also in Zephaniah, where these things are said against the Philistines: Gaza shall be plundered, and Ashkelon given to destruction, and Ashdod and Ekron shall be uprooted. Woe to the inhabitants of the cord of the sea, neighbors of the Cretans! The word of the Lord is upon you, Canaan, land of the foreigners; and I will destroy you from habitation. And Crete shall be pasture for shepherds and a fold for sheep. For there too, whereas the Seventy rendered 'Crete', the other translators translated ὄλεθρον, that is, 'slaying' or 'destruction', about which we said what seemed right to us in the above-mentioned prophet, God granting it; hence too, of David's two legions, one of which was called 'Phelethi' and the other 'Cerethim', the latter, because they slew and cut throats, received the name 'Chorethim', that is, 'of the slayers' —; and the Lord destroys all the remnants of the maritime region, which is beaten by salt waves, and will execute vengeances, not small but great, in fury, so that his fury may have mercy as its end and, after he has executed vengeances, rebuking with fury, then the Philistines may know that he himself is the Lord.