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Luke
6:24
But woe to you that are rich: for you have your consolation.
*H Woe to you that are wealthy in Sion, and to you that have confidence in the mountain of Samaria: ye great men, heads of the people, that go in with state into the house of Israel.
Ver. 1. Wealthy. Sept. Syr. and Arab. "despisers of Sion." Heb. also, "who hate Sion." The prophecy wholly regards Israel. C. — It is a great crime for the rich to neglect the poor; but still more so, when wealthy clergymen shew no compassion for the spiritual or corporal wants of their neighbours. W. — State. Heb. "to whom the house of Israel comes" for judgment.
* Summa
*S Part 4, Ques 8, Article 6
[III, Q. 8, Art. 6]
Whether It Is Proper to Christ to Be Head of the Church?
Objection 1: It seems that it is not proper to Christ to be Head of the Church. For it is written (1 Kings 15:17): "When thou wast a little one in thy own eyes, wast thou not made the head of the tribes of Israel?" Now there is but one Church in the New and the Old Testament. Therefore it seems that with equal reason any other man than Christ might be head of the Church.
Obj. 2: Further, Christ is called Head of the Church from His bestowing grace on the Church's members. But it belongs to others also to grant grace to others, according to Eph. 4:29: "Let no evil speech proceed from your mouth; but that which is good to the edification of faith, that it may administer grace to the hearers." Therefore it seems to belong also to others than Christ to be head of the Church.
Obj. 3: Further, Christ by His ruling over the Church is not only called "Head," but also "Shepherd" and "Foundation." Now Christ did not retain for Himself alone the name of Shepherd, according to 1 Pet. 5:4, "And when the prince of pastors shall appear, you shall receive a never-fading crown of glory"; nor the name of Foundation, according to Apoc. 21:14: "And the wall of the city had twelve foundations." Therefore it seems that He did not retain the name of Head for Himself alone.
_On the contrary,_ It is written (Col. 2:19): "The head" of the Church is that "from which the whole body, by joints and bands being supplied with nourishment and compacted groweth unto the increase of God." But this belongs only to Christ. Therefore Christ alone is Head of the Church.
_I answer that,_ The head influences the other members in two ways. First, by a certain intrinsic influence, inasmuch as motive and sensitive force flow from the head to the other members; secondly, by a certain exterior guidance, inasmuch as by sight and the senses, which are rooted in the head, man is guided in his exterior acts. Now the interior influx of grace is from no one save Christ, Whose manhood, through its union with the Godhead, has the power of justifying; but the influence over the members of the Church, as regards their exterior guidance, can belong to others; and in this way others may be called heads of the Church, according to Amos 6:1, "Ye great men, heads of the people"; differently, however, from Christ. First, inasmuch as Christ is the Head of all who pertain to the Church in every place and time and state; but all other men are called heads with reference to certain special places, as bishops of their Churches. Or with reference to a determined time as the Pope is the head of the whole Church, viz. during the time of his Pontificate, and with reference to a determined state, inasmuch as they are in the state of wayfarers. Secondly, because Christ is the Head of the Church by His own power and authority; while others are called heads, as taking Christ's place, according to 2 Cor. 2:10, "For what I have pardoned, if I have pardoned anything, for your sakes I have done it in the person of Christ," and 2 Cor. 5:20, "For Christ therefore we are ambassadors, God, as it were, exhorting by us."
Reply Obj. 1: The word "head" is employed in that passage in regard to exterior government; as a king is said to be the head of his kingdom.
Reply Obj. 2: Man does not distribute grace by interior influx, but by exteriorly persuading to the effects of grace.
Reply Obj. 3: As Augustine says (Tract. xlvi in Joan.): "If the rulers of the Church are Shepherds, how is there one Shepherd, except that all these are members of one Shepherd?" So likewise others may be called foundations and heads, inasmuch as they are members of the one Head and Foundation. Nevertheless, as Augustine says (Tract. xlvii), "He gave to His members to be shepherds; yet none of us calleth himself the Door. He kept this for Himself alone." And this because by door is implied the principal authority, inasmuch as it is by the door that all enter the house; and it is Christ alone by "Whom also we have access . . . into this grace, wherein we stand" (Rom. 5:2); but by the other names above-mentioned there may be implied not merely the principal but also the secondary authority. _______________________
SEVENTH
*H Pass ye over to Chalane, and see, and go from thence into Emath the great: and go down into Geth of the Philistines, and to all the best kingdoms of these: if their border be larger than your border.
Ver. 2. Chalane. Ctesiphon (C.) was built on its ruins. Gen. x. 10. H. — Why do you imitate these cities? or, has their greatness protected them? Phul probably took Chalane, and Jeroboam II. the other cities. v. 15. and 4 K. xiv. 25. At that time there was no appearance of the kingdom being destroyed; yet Amos composes a funeral canticle, to shew the certainty of the event.
*H You that are separated unto the evil day: and that approach to the throne of iniquity;
Ver. 3. Separated. Heb. "remove the evil day," as if it would not overtake you. Ezec. xii. 22. Sept. "who are praying (C.) or coming (Grabe) to the evil day, approaching and touching false sabbaths." H. — They pray to be delivered, while they continue (C.) their false worship. H.
*H You that sleep upon beds of ivory, and are wanton on your couches: that eat the lambs out of the flock, and the calves out of the midst of the herd;
Ver. 4. Ivory, with which the beds for eating were adorned. v. 7. C. — Wanton. Heb. "stretch themselves out upon their," &c. H.
*H You that sing to the sound of the psaltery: they have thought themselves to have instruments of music like David;
Ver. 5. David. They think they excel him in music; but he consecrated his talent to a better purpose. C. — Sept. "they deemed them stable, and not fugitive things." H. — They have placed their chief good in such pleasures. Theod. C.
*H That drink wine in bowls, and anoint themselves with the best ointments: and they are not concerned for the affliction of Joseph.
Ver. 6. In bowels. Sept. "refined," (H.) or cleared of the dregs. — Joseph, of their brethren, or they seem to have no share in the sufferings of mankind. Ps. lxxii. 5.
*H Wherefore now they shall go captive at the head of them that go into captivity: and the faction of the luxurious ones shall be taken away.
Ver. 7. Luxurious. Heb. "the feast of those who stretch themselves out, shall," &c. Sept. "the neighing shall be removed from Ephraim." His lusts shall be punished. Jer. v. 8. — Some translate Heb. "the mourning of those who stretch themselves on their beds is at hand." Others, "their funeral feast is distant." None shall bewail their death. So ambiguous is the original. C.
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Jeremias
51:14
The Lord of hosts hath sworn by himself, saying: I will fill thee with men as with locusts, and they shall lift up a joyful shout against thee.
*H The Lord God hath sworn by his own soul, saith the Lord the God of hosts: I detest the pride of Jacob, and I hate his houses, and I will deliver up the city with the inhabitants thereof.
Ver. 8. Jacob. God loved the humility of the patriarch, and hated the pride of his posterity. W.
*H And if there remain ten men in one house, they also shall die.
Ver. 9. Die. Their numbers will not protect them from the plague.
*H And a man's kinsman shall take him up, and shall burn him, that he may carry the bones out of the house; and he shall say to him that is in the inner rooms of the house: Is there yet any with thee?
Ver. 10. Burn. After the captivity, it was more common to bury or to embalm the dead. C.
*H And he shall answer: There is an end. And he shall say to him: Hold thy peace, and mention not the name of the Lord.
Ver. 11. Lord. He has done it. Do not repine. Theod. S. Cyr. — Heb. "Be silent, and not to remember the," &c. He will offer comfort. C. — Still, none will return to the Lord. S. Jer.
*H For behold the Lord hath commanded, and he will strike the greater house with breaches, and the lesser house with clefts.
Ver. 12. Clefts. All shall perish, (C.) both Israel and Juda. Chal. Grot. — But he speaks only of the former.
*H Can horses run upon the rocks, or can any one plough with buffles? for you have turned judgment into bitterness, and the fruit of justice into wormwood.
Ver. 13. Buffles, which cannot be tamed. Heb. "with oxen." We must understand, on rocks. C. — Sept. "Shall they be silent when they are with females?" H. — To turn the works of justice into sins, is no less unnatural than to plough with wild buffles. W.
*H You that rejoice in a thing of nought: you that say: Have we not taken unto us horns by our own strength?
Ver. 14. Naught: in your idols, which are nothing, (1 Cor. viii. 4.) or in your own strength, fortifications, or allies. — Horns: glory and power. C. — Parata tollo cornua. Hor. epod. 6.
*H But behold, I will raise up a nation against you, O house of Israel, saith the Lord the God of hosts; and they shall destroy you from the entrance of Emath, even to the torrent of the desert.
Ver. 15. Nation; the Assyrians. — Desert, commonly called Bezor, (C.) between Damietta and Rhinocorura. S. Jer. — The whole territory of Israel, reaching so far, (v. 2.) shall be laid waste. C.