33:1 Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens :
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
33:2 Fili hominis, loquere ad filios populi tui, et dices ad eos : Terra, cum induxero super eam gladium, et tulerit populus terrae virum unum de novissimis suis, et constituerit eum super se speculatorem :
*H Son of man, speak to the children of thy people, and say to them: When I bring the sword upon a land, if the people of the land take a man, one of their meanest, and make him a watchman over them:
Ver. 2. Take. Before (C. iii. 17.) God made the choice, (C.) as he does here, v. 7. He confirms the authority of those who are appointed to govern. — Meanest. Lit. "last," (H.) which seems to denote such as are chosen without regard to their dignity or obscurity in life. Gen. xlvii. 2. and 3 K. xii. 31. C. — Pastors are not excused from admonishing the people for fear of danger or despair of reclaiming them, as each one is bound to do his duty. S. Jer. W.
33:3 et ille viderit gladium venientem super terram, et cecinerit buccina, et annuntiaverit populo :
And he sees the sword coming upon the land, and sound the trumpet, and tell the people:
33:4 audiens autem quisquis ille est sonitum buccinae, et non se observaverit, veneritque gladius, et tulerit eum : sanguis ipsius super caput ejus erit.
Then he that heareth the sound of the trumpet, whosoever he be, and doth not look to himself, if the sword come, and cut him off: his blood shall be upon his own head.
33:5 Sonum buccinae audivit, et non se observavit : sanguis ejus in ipso erit. Si autem se custodierit, animam suam salvabit.
He heard the sound of the trumpet, and did not look to himself, his blood shall be upon him: but if he look to himself, he shall save his life.
33:6 Quod si speculator viderit gladium venientem, et non insonuerit buccina, et populus se non custodierit, veneritque gladius, et tulerit de eis animam : ille quidem in iniquitate sua captus est ; sanguinem autem ejus de manu speculatoris requiram.
*H And if the watchman see the sword coming, and sound not the trumpet: and the people look not to themselves, and the sword come, and cut off a soul from among them: he indeed is taken away in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at the hand of the watchman.
Ver. 6. Iniquity, not regarding the admonitions of his pastor; (C. iii. 18. C.) or rather of conscience, when the guide proves faithless and silent, as in this instance. H. — The people were persuaded that none suffered except for some fault. v. 10. Jer. xxxi. 30. Dan. xiii. 52. Gen. xliv. 16. The author of the Book of Job takes great pains to remove this mistake. God sometimes sends crosses for a trial, (C.) and to increase the merit of his servants; though it be very true, (H.) "no one is miserable except he deserve it." S. Aug.
33:7 Et tu, fili hominis, speculatorem dedi te domui Israel : audiens ergo ex ore meo sermonem, annuntiabis eis ex me.
So thou, O son of man, I have made thee a watchman to the house of Israel: therefore thou shalt hear the word from my mouth, and shalt tell it them from me.
33:8 Si me dicente ad impium : Impie, morte morieris : non fueris locutus ut se custodiat impius a via sua, ipse impius in iniquitate sua morietur ; sanguinem autem ejus de manu tua requiram.
*H When I say to the wicked: O wicked man, thou shalt surely die: if thou dost not speak to warn the wicked man from his way: that wicked man shall die in his iniquity, but I will require his blood at thy hand.
Ver. 8. Surely die a temporal, (Theod.) or rather an eternal death. S. Jer.
33:9 Si autem annuntiante te ad impium ut a viis suis convertatur, non fuerit conversus a via sua, ipse in iniquitate sua morietur, porro tu animam tuam liberasti.
But if thou tell the wicked man, that he may be converted from his ways, and he be not converted from his way he shall die in his iniquity: but thou hast delivered thy soul.
33:10 Tu ergo, fili hominis, dic ad domum Israel : Sic locuti estis, dicentes : Iniquitates nostrae et peccata nostra super nos sunt, et in ipsis nos tabescimus : quomodo ergo vivere poterimus ?
*H Thou therefore, O son of man, say to the house of Israel: Thus you have spoken, saying: Our iniquities, and our sins are upon us, and we pine away in them: how then can we live?
Ver. 10. Live? They suppose their case to be desperate, as their fathers had sinned. C. xviii. The prophet shews that none are punished except for their own faults, (C.) and that "each one has free-will to be saved or to be lost." S. Jer.
33:11 Dic ad eos : Vivo ego, dicit Dominus Deus, nolo mortem impii, sed ut convertatur impius a via sua, et vivat. Convertimini, convertimini a viis vestris pessimis, et quare moriemini, domus Israel ?
*H Say to them: As I live, saith the Lord God, I desire not the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way, and live. Turn ye, turn ye from your evil ways: and why will you die, O house of Israel?
Ver. 11. Desire. The sinner's damnation is not an object of God's pleasure. C. xviii. 23. C. — He has an antecedent will to save all. He knocks at the door of our heart, (Apoc. iii. 20.) and if man do what depends on him, nothing will be wanting on the part of God. S. Tho. i. 2. q. 109. and 112. W.
33:12 Tu itaque, fili hominis, dic ad filios populi tui : Justitia justi non liberabit eum, in quacumque die peccaverit, et impietas impii non nocebit ei, in quacumque die conversus fuerit ab impietate sua : et justus non poterit vivere in justitia sua, in quacumque die peccaverit.
*H Thou therefore, O son of man, say to the children of thy people: The justice of the just shall not deliver him, in what day soever he shall sin: and the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him, in what day soever he shall turn from his wickedness: and the just shall not be able to live in his justice, in what day soever he shall sin.
Ver. 12. Hurt him. God effaces all past crimes: yet a relapse makes them as it were revive, and is pardoned with more difficulty. Mat. xviii. 35. Some read, "In what day the converted sinner groans, he shall be saved," as if they had taken in part of Is. xxx. 15.
33:13 Etiamsi dixero justo quod vita vivat, et confisus in justitia sua fecerit iniquitatem, omnes justitiae ejus oblivioni tradentur, et in iniquitate sua quam operatus est, in ipsa morietur.
Yea, if I shall say to the just that he shall surely live, and he, trusting in his justice, commit iniquity: all his justices shall be forgotten, and his iniquity, which he hath committed, in the same shall he die.
33:14 Si autem dixero impio : Morte morieris : et egerit poenitentiam a peccato suo, feceritque judicium et justitiam,
And it I shall say to the wicked: Thou shalt surely die: and he do penance for his sin, and do judgment and justice,
33:15 et pignus restituerit ille impius, rapinamque reddiderit, in mandatis vitae ambulaverit, nec fecerit quidquam injustum : vita vivet, et non morietur.
And if that wicked man restore the pledge, and render what he had robbed, and walk in the commandments of life, and do no unjust thing: he shall surely live, and shall not die.
33:16 Omnia peccata ejus quae peccavit, non imputabuntur ei : judicium et justitiam fecit : vita vivet.
None of his sins, which he hath committed, shall be imputed to him: he hath done judgment and justice, he shall surely live.
33:17 Et dixerunt filii populi tui : Non est aequi ponderis via Domini : et ipsorum via injusta est.
*H And the children of thy people have said: The way of the Lord is not equitable: whereas their own way is unjust.
Ver. 17. Equitable; as we are much more inclined to vice than to virtue. This argumentation is inconclusive, as God owes nothing to man; and what good the latter does, is an effect of his grace. The propensity to evil is no excuse, as man is still free. He is judged according to the dispositions in which he is found at the hour of death; yet we must not infer, that those who have spent their lives in sinning will be no worse treated than the person who dies guilty of a single crime.
33:18 Cum enim recesserit justus a justitia sua, feceritque iniquitates, morietur in eis.
For when the just shall depart from his justice, and commit iniquities, he shall die in them.
33:19 Et cum recesserit impius ab impietate sua, feceritque judicium et justitiam, vivet in eis.
And when the wicked shall depart from his wickedness, and shall do judgments, and justice, he shall live in them.
33:20 Et dicitis : Non est recta via Domini. Unumquemque juxta vias suas judicabo de vobis, domus Israel.
And you say: The way of the Lord is not right, I will judge every one of you according to his ways, O house of Israel.
33:21 Et factum est in duodecimo anno, in decimo mense, in quinta mensis transmigrationis nostrae, venit ad me qui fugerat de Jerusalem, dicens : Vastata est civitas.
*H And it came to pass in the twelfth year of our captivity, in the tenth month, in the fifth day of the month, that there came to me one that was fled from Jerusalem, saying: The city is laid waste.
Ver. 21. Twelfth. Rom. Sept. "tenth." Syr. "eleventh year,...in the twelfth month;" which Theodoret thinks more probable, as the city was taken in the ninth of the fourth month of that year. Yet even so, it is strange that the news should not arrive before. Some think (C.) that the messenger came also to announce what happened after the death of Godolias. Sanct. — Captivity. Here it is evident that the prophet dates from that event. C. i., &c. H. — As he prophesied on the very day when the city was besieged, (C. xxiv. 2.) so (v. 26.) he foretold that one should come three years after to inform him of the capture. W. — Then the people would believe him, (ib. v. 27. C.) and he would open his mouth boldly. v. 22. H.
A.M. 3417, A.C. 587.
33:22 Manus autem Domini facta fuerat ad me vespere, antequam veniret qui fugerat : aperuitque os meum donec veniret ad me mane : et aperto ore meo, non silui amplius.
And the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening, before he that was fled came: and he opened my mouth till he came to me in the morning, and my mouth being opened, I was silent no more.
33:23 Et factum est verbum Domini ad me, dicens :
And the word of the Lord came to me, saying:
33:24 Fili hominis, qui habitant in ruinosis his super humum Israel, loquentes aiunt : Unus erat Abraham, et haereditate possedit terram : nos autem multi sumus : nobis data est terra in possessionem.
*H Son of man, they that dwell in these ruinous places in the land of Israel, speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he inherited the land, but we are many, the land is given us in possession.
Ver. 24. Places. He has answered those who despaired. v. 10. Now he turns to the presumptuous, who expected to be treated like Abraham, though they did not imitate his virtues. C. — They perhaps entertained these sentiments before the death of Godolias, thinking to establish themselves in the land. Afterwards the prophet Jeremias could not prevail on them to remain, though God promised them security.
33:25 Idcirco dices ad eos : Haec dicit Dominus Deus : Qui in sanguine comeditis, et oculos vestros levatis ad immunditias vestras, et sanguinem funditis, numquid terram haereditate possidebitis ?
*H Therefore say to them: Thus saith the Lord God: You that eat with the blood and lift up your eyes to your uncleannesses, and that shed blood: shall you possess the land by inheritance?
Ver. 25. To them. Grabe marks to v. 27, Thus saith, &c. as wanting in the Sept. though not in the Alex. copy. S. Jerom reckons eight verses or lines omitted. H. — The Comp. and Theodoret read them with some variations. — The blood. It must be carefully extracted. Gen. ix. 4. Lev. vii. 26. — Uncleannesses; idols, in which you trust.
33:26 stetistis in gladiis vestris, fecistis abominationes, et unusquisque uxorem proximi sui polluit : et terram haereditate possidebitis ?
*H You stood on your swords, you have committed abominations, and every one hath defiled his neighbours wife; and shall you possess the land by inheritance?
Ver. 26. Swords, thinking to live thereby, (Gen. xxvii. 40.) and to be secure. But I will disarm you. The pestilence shall find out those in the rocks. v. 27.
33:27 Haec dices ad eos : Sic dicit Dominus Deus : Vivo ego, quia qui in ruinosis habitant, gladio cadent : et qui in agro est, bestiis tradetur ad devorandum : qui autem in praesidiis et speluncis sunt, peste morientur.
Say thou thus to them: Thus saith the Lord God: As I live, they that dwell in the ruinous places, shall fall by the sword: and he that is in the field, shall be given to the beasts to be devoured: and they that are in holds, and caves, shall die of the pestilence.
33:28 Et dabo terram in solitudinem et in desertum, et deficiet superba fortitudo ejus : et desolabuntur montes Israel, eo quod nullus sit qui per eos transeat :
And I will make the land a wilderness, and a desert, and the proud strength thereof shall fail, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, because there is none to pass by them,
33:29 et scient quia ego Dominus, cum dedero terram eorum desolatam et desertam, propter universas abominationes suas quas operati sunt.
And they shall know that I am the Lord, when I shall have made their land waste and desolate, for all their abominations which they have committed.
33:30 Et tu, fili hominis, filii populi tui, qui loquuntur de te juxta muros et in ostiis domorum, et dicunt unus ad alterum, vir ad proximum suum, loquentes : Venite, et audiamus quis sit sermo egrediens a Domino.
*H And thou son of man: the children of thy people, that talk of thee by the walls, and in the doors of the houses, and speak one to another each man to his neighbour, saying: Come, and let us hear what is the word that cometh forth from the Lord.
Ver. 30. Walls, the resort of idle people. C.
33:31 Et veniunt ad te, quasi si ingrediatur populus, et sedent coram te populus meus : et audiunt sermones tuos, et non faciunt eos : quia in canticum oris sui vertunt illos, et avaritiam suam sequitur cor eorum.
*H And they come to thee, as if people were coming in, and my people sit before thee: and hear thy words, and do them not: for they turn them into a song of their mouth, and their heart goeth after their covetousness.
Ver. 31. In to a religious meeting. Chal. Perhaps they came on the sabbath to his house. Yet they made a just and song of his instructions. C. — They heard them with pleasure, but did not reform their lives. H.
33:32 Et es eis quasi carmen musicum, quod suavi dulcique sono canitur : et audiunt verba tua, et non faciunt ea.
And thou art to them as a musical song which is sung with a sweet and agreeable voice: and they hear thy words, and do them not.
33:33 Et cum venerit quod praedictum est (ecce enim venit), tunc scient quod prophetes fuerit inter eos.
*H And when that which was foretold shall come to pass, for behold it is coming, then shall they know that a prophet hath been among them.
Ver. 33. Coming. The desolation of Jerusalem, (H.) and what I have foretold, hath already taken place; or, the news will presently arrive: as it did the following morning. v. 21. C.