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*H Now shalt thou be laid waste, O daughter of the robber: they have laid siege against us, with a rod shall they strike the cheek of the judge of Israel.
Ver. 1. Robber. Some understand this of Babylon, which robbed and pillaged the temple of God; others understand it of Jerusalem, by reason of the many rapines and oppressions committed there. Ch. — Heb. "now assemble, O daughter of troops;" Babylon, famous (H.) for soldiers, who will seize Sedecias; (Jer. xxxix. 6. C.) or Jerusalem, noted for rapine. C. iii. Thou shalt be spoiled, yet restored till Bethlehem bring forth Christ, the ruler of the world. W.
* Footnotes
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Matthew
2:6
And thou Bethlehem the land of Juda art not the least among the princes of Juda: for out of thee shall come forth the captain that shall rule my people Israel.
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John
7:42
Doth not the scripture say: That Christ cometh of the seed of David and from Bethlehem the town where David was?
*H And thou Bethlehem Ephrata, art a little one among the thousands of Juda, out of thee shall he come forth unto me that is to be the ruler in Israel: and his going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity.
Ver. 2. Ephrata. This was the ancient name (H.) of Bethlehem, (Gen. xxxv. 16.) though some think that it was so called after Caleb's wife. 1 Par. ii. 19. — Art, or "art thou?" &c. which makes it agree with Mat. ii. 4. — Little. Heb. tsahir, (H.) is often rendered "considerable." Chal. — Thousands: capital cities. Zac. ix. 7. Bethlehem seemed too mean to send forth a ruler over the rest. The ancient Jews clearly understood this of the Messias. The moderns explain it of Zorobabel: but the expressions are too grand for him. C. — S. Jerom accuses the Jews of having designedly omitted some cities, (Jos. xv. 60.) because Bethlehem Ephrata is one. It is nowhere else thus described. Kennicott. — The priests substituted land of Juda instead of Ephrata. Mat. ii. H. — The evangelist recites their words, to shew their negligence in quoting Scripture. "Yet some assert, that in almost all quotations from the Old Test. the order or words are changed, and sometimes the sense,...as the apostles did not write out of a book, but trusted to memory, which is sometimes fallacious." S. Jer. — This principle would he very dangerous, (Simon. Crit. i. 17.) and we should attribute the variation to other causes, as the sacred penman could not mistake. H. — Bethlehem, though a little town, was rendered more illustrious than many others by the birth of Christ. W. — Forth. That is, he who as man shall be born in thee, as God was born of his Father from all eternity. Ch. — His coming was also long before announced. Orig. c. Cels. i. — But the former sense is preferable. C. — Eternity. These expressions singly imply a long time; (Ex. xxi. 6. Ps. xxiii. 7.) but when doubled, sæculum sæculi, &c. they must be understood of an absolute eternity, which Christ enjoyed with the Father and the Holy Ghost; though, in his human nature, he was born in time. W.
* Summa
*S Part 1, Ques 10, Article 1
[I, Q. 10, Art. 1]
Whether This Is a Good Definition of Eternity, "The Simultaneously- Whole and Perfect Possession of Interminable Life"?
Objection 1: It seems that the definition of eternity given by Boethius (De Consol. v) is not a good one: "Eternity is the simultaneously-whole and perfect possession of interminable life." For the word "interminable" is a negative one. But negation only belongs to what is defective, and this does not belong to eternity. Therefore in the definition of eternity the word "interminable" ought not to be found.
Obj. 2: Further, eternity signifies a certain kind of duration. But duration regards existence rather than life. Therefore the word "life" ought not to come into the definition of eternity; but rather the word "existence."
Obj. 3: Further, a whole is what has parts. But this is alien to eternity which is simple. Therefore it is improperly said to be "whole."
Obj. 4: Many days cannot occur together, nor can many times exist all at once. But in eternity, days and times are in the plural, for it is said, "His going forth is from the beginning, from the days of eternity" (Micah 5:2); and also it is said, "According to the revelation of the mystery hidden from eternity" (Rom. 16:25). Therefore eternity is not omni-simultaneous.
Obj. 5: Further, the whole and the perfect are the same thing. Supposing, therefore, that it is "whole," it is superfluously described as "perfect."
Obj. 6: Further, duration does not imply "possession." But eternity is a kind of duration. Therefore eternity is not possession.
_I answer that,_ As we attain to the knowledge of simple things by way of compound things, so must we reach to the knowledge of eternity by means of time, which is nothing but the numbering of movement by _before_ and _after._ For since succession occurs in every movement, and one part comes after another, the fact that we reckon before and after in movement, makes us apprehend time, which is nothing else but the measure of before and after in movement. Now in a thing bereft of movement, which is always the same, there is no before or after. As therefore the idea of time consists in the numbering of before and after in movement; so likewise in the apprehension of the uniformity of what is outside of movement, consists the idea of eternity.
Further, those things are said to be measured by time which have a beginning and an end in time, because in everything which is moved there is a beginning, and there is an end. But as whatever is wholly immutable can have no succession, so it has no beginning, and no end.
Thus eternity is known from two sources: first, because what is eternal is interminable--that is, has no beginning nor end (that is, no term either way); secondly, because eternity has no succession, being simultaneously whole.
Reply Obj. 1: Simple things are usually defined by way of negation; as "a point is that which has no parts." Yet this is not to be taken as if the negation belonged to their essence, but because our intellect which first apprehends compound things, cannot attain to the knowledge of simple things except by removing the opposite.
Reply Obj. 2: What is truly eternal, is not only being, but also living; and life extends to operation, which is not true of being. Now the protraction of duration seems to belong to operation rather than to being; hence time is the numbering of movement.
Reply Obj. 3: Eternity is called whole, not because it has parts, but because it is wanting in nothing.
Reply Obj. 4: As God, although incorporeal, is named in Scripture metaphorically by corporeal names, so eternity though simultaneously whole, is called by names implying time and succession.
Reply Obj. 5: Two things are to be considered in time: time itself, which is successive; and the "now" of time, which is imperfect. Hence the expression "simultaneously-whole" is used to remove the idea of time, and the word "perfect" is used to exclude the "now" of time.
Reply Obj. 6: Whatever is possessed, is held firmly and quietly; therefore to designate the immutability and permanence of eternity, we use the word "possession." _______________________
SECOND
*H Therefore will he give them up even till the time wherein she that travaileth shall bring forth: and the remnant of his brethren shall be converted to the children of Israel.
Ver. 3. Forth, till Babylon let them go; (Sanct.) or the Jews shall enjoy the land till Christ come; (S. Jer. exp. ii.) or he will leave them in their blindness till the nations shall have received the gospel, when there shall be one fold. Jo. x. 16. Rom. ix. 25.
*H And he shall stand, and feed in the strength of the Lord, in the height of the name of the Lord, his God: and they shall be converted, for now shall he be magnified even to the ends of the earth.
Ver. 4. Earth, Christ shall be glorified, governing his Church. The Jews shall be respected as a people singularly favoured.
*H And this man shall be our peace, when the Assyrian shall come into our land, and when he shall set his foot in our houses: and we shall raise against him seven shepherds, and eight principal men.
Ver. 5. Peace. This regards Christ and not Zorobabel. C. — Assyrian. That is, the persecutors of the Church; who are here called Assyrians by the prophet, because the Assyrians were at that time the chief enemies and persecutors of the people of God. Ch. — The Persians held the empire which had belonged to Babylon and to Assyria, and was founded by Nemrod. Gen. x. 8. C. — Seven, &c. The pastors of God's Church, and the defenders of the faith. The number seven, in Scripture; is taken to signify many; and when eight is joined with it, we are to understand that the number will be very great. Ch. — See Eccle. xi. 2. Ruth iv. 16. C. — Christ always preserves a great number, not withstanding the attacks of persecutors enabling bishops to feed them with a power which the people must revere. Heb. xiii. W. — Eight. Eschylus places Artaphanes between Smerdis and Hystaspes, the former of whom was one of the seven magi, and the latter one of the seven conspirators, (C.) or rather chief princes, who attacked the usurper. H. — They always retained great privileges, so that they seemed all to govern. V. Max. ix. 2. Herod. iii. 65. See 1 Esd. iv. 7. Est. i. 14. where we find that the kings did nothing of importance without their seven counsellors. C. — Principal. Sept. "bites (Sym. Christ's) of men," or people of the old as well as of the new law. S. Jer.
*H And they shall feed the land of Assyria with the sword, and the land of Nemrod with the spears thereof: and he shall deliver us from the Assyrian when he shall come into our land, and when he shall tread in our borders.
Ver. 6. They. Hystaspes first laid a tax of money on the Persians, who hence styled him a merchant. Herod. iii. 89. — He was severe, and often at war. C. — Feed. They shall make spiritual conquests in the lands of their persecutors, with the sword of the Spirit which is the word of God. Eph. vi. 17. Ch. — With, &c. Sept. "in the ditch." Th. &c. "gates," where sentence was given. — Borders. Seven or eight princes have taken the place of Cambyses, who had invaded Judea. v. 5. C.
*H And the remnant of Jacob shall be in the midst of many peoples, as a dew from the Lord, and as drops upon the grass, which waiteth not for man, nor tarrieth for the children of men.
Ver. 7. Jacob; viz. the apostles, and the first preachers of the Jewish nation, whose doctrine, like dew, shall make the plants of the converted Gentiles grow up, without waiting for any man to cultivate them by human learning. Ch. — Under Hystaspes, the husband of Esther, the Jews enjoyed rest, and Providence protected them. C.
*H And the remnant of Jacob shall be among the Gentiles, in the midst of many peoples, as a lion among the beasts of the forests, and as a young lion among the flocks of sheep: who, when he shall go through, and tread down, and take there is none to deliver.
Ver. 8. Lion. This denotes the fortitude of these first preachers, and their success in their spiritual enterprises. Ch. — The Jews, by leave of Assuerus, defended themselves; and the Machabees became terrible. Est. ix. and 1 Mac. iii. 4. The power of the latter was established, while the efforts of Eupator and of other Syrian persecutors for sixty years, down to Zebina, proved fruitless or destructive to themselves. C.
*H And it shall come to pass in that day, saith the Lord, that I will take away thy horses out of the midst of thee, and will destroy thy chariots.
Ver. 10. Horses. Some understand this, and all that follows to the end of the chapter, as addressed to the enemies of the Church. But it may as well be understood of the converts to the Church, who should no longer put their trust in any of these things. Ch. — God will protect his people, so that horses and fortifications will be unnecessary.
*H And I will destroy the cities of thy land, and will throw down all thy strong holds, and I will take away sorceries out of thy hand, and there shall be no divinations in thee.
Ver. 11. Sorceries. The Jews after their return abstained more from such things; but not like the Church of Christ, in which idols and dealings with the devil have never been tolerated.
*H And I will execute vengeance in wrath, and in indignation, among all the nations that have not given ear.
Ver. 14. Ear, to the admonitions of the prophets. Hence Egypt, &c. were justly punished.