Is 3:1.
“For behold, the Lord, the Lord of hosts, shall take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the strong and the mighty, every support of bread and every support of water.”
Is 3:2.
“The strong man and the warrior, the judge and the prophet, the diviner and the elder.”
Is 3:3.
“The leader over fifty, the honorable in appearance, the wise counselor, the master-builder among architects, and the one prudent in mystical speech.”
All these things happened to the people of the Jews after the Passion of the Lord. For through the Romans the Lord took away from Jerusalem and from the Jewish people the strong and the mighty, and every support of bread and every support of water, and the strong man and the warrior—so that in that siege they perished by famine and thirst, and were at last captured and killed by their enemies, while those who remained were everywhere crushed by miserable servitude.
From that time they have no judge, because, scattered throughout the world, they are governed by no ruler of their own. And the Lord took away from them the prophet, because He withdrew the word which He is accustomed to speak through the prophets. For now among them there is no one who says, “Thus says the Lord” (Exodus 5:1). All have fallen silent, because the word of the Lord has departed from them.
Nor do they have any diviner, that is, a prophet such as Balaam was (Numbers 22:5). For he was a diviner, and yet the Lord spoke to him and revealed many of His secrets to him. Often, even through foreigners, future events were foretold, as we read of Balaam himself and also of divine matters among the Philistines. Thus the diviner—that is, one who sometimes announces truth and sometimes falsehood—has been taken away from the Jews, because they lost both truth and falsehood together.
The elder, that is, one mature in conduct, is also not among them. They do not even have a leader over fifty, because they killed the Lord of hosts, that is, Christ. Nor do they have one honorable in appearance, because He who is “beautiful in form beyond the sons of men” did not appear to them to have form or comeliness. Nor do they have a counselor, because Wisdom, who says, “Counsel is mine, and equity” (Proverbs 8:14), has departed from them. The Angel of Great Counsel has withdrawn.
There is no one among them now who can say, “As a wise master-builder, I laid a foundation” (1 Corinthians 3:10). The architects have migrated from them; they have come to the Church and have laid her foundation, Jesus Christ. And the Lord has taken away from them the prudent interpreter of mystical speech, because no teacher has been left to them. Among them the interpretation of the Law and the Prophets has ceased: they read and do not understand.
At this point the Lord’s voice adds: “They prostituted themselves effeminately.” What then of the common people?
Is 3:4.
“And I will give children as their princes, and the effeminate shall rule over them.”
For after the Lord’s Ascension they had princes who were children, that is, childish in wisdom and acting childishly. And effeminate men ruled over them—that is, those who, as we shall hear, love transitory praise.
Is 3:5.
“And the people shall rush, man against man, each against his neighbor; the child shall rise up against the elder, and the base against the honorable.”
Before Titus besieged Jerusalem, the people of the city fought among themselves and rushed upon one another, each killing his neighbor; the child did not show honor to the elder, but quarreled with him, and the base man insulted the noble. And after Jerusalem was captured, when a few of them again attempted rebellion to their own destruction, let us hear what they did.
Is 3:6.
“For a man shall seize his brother, a member of his father’s household, saying: ‘You have a cloak—be our leader, and let this ruin be under your hand.’”
Such rulers they deserved to have, who—as it is written—said, “We do not want this man to reign over us” (Luke 19:14). For they judged him worthy to be a ruler merely because he had a garment, not because of virtue but because of kinship, preferring him on that account.
The words “let this ruin be under your hand” mean this: “Let misery and calamity be borne and sustained by your help.” But how weak such a chosen man is becomes clear immediately from his own words, for it is added at once:
Is 3:7.
“He will answer on that day, saying: ‘I am not a physician; in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; do not make me ruler of the people.’”
“I am not a physician,” he says—that is, “I do not know how to heal your infirmity so that you might recover your former health through me and once again be able, as formerly, to resist your enemies.”
At this point the prophet adds:
is 3:8.
“For Jerusalem has fallen, and Judah has collapsed, because their tongue and their deeds were against the Lord, provoking the eyes of His majesty.”
Jerusalem fell because it was destroyed by the Roman army, and Judah collapsed because the Jewish people were miserably subdued by them. And this happened because their tongue was against the Lord, when they said, “He is guilty of death” (Matthew 26:66), and “Crucify Him” (Mark 15:13). And their inventions were against Him when they said, “We heard Him say, ‘I will destroy this temple made with hands, and in three days I will build another not made with hands’” (Mark 14:58).
But now, returning, let us see whether these words can also be understood of us—namely, of Christians.
“Cease from man whose breath is in his nostrils.” Those who were once enlightened, who tasted the word of God and the power of the age to come and then fell away, the Apostle says, “crucifying again for themselves the Son of God and holding Him up to contempt” (Hebrews 6:4–6). These, therefore, have not yet ceased from man whose breath is in his nostrils.
Indeed, with the coming advent of Antichrist, they have so infected others with the stench of their pestilence that now a true Christian is rarely found. Therefore, grieving, let us acknowledge that in large part this has already been fulfilled—and we do not doubt that it is yet to be fulfilled more fully, as what follows declares:
“Behold, the Lord of hosts shall take away from Jerusalem and from Judah the strong and the mighty, every support of water,” and so forth.
For Jerusalem and Judah now signify the people of the faithful, who have become so weakened that it is difficult to find among them anyone strong and mighty in spiritual things. Bread is the Body of the Redeemer, received in the sacrament; water is sacred knowledge. The support of bread is taken away because the power of the sacrament is removed from those who receive it unworthily. Likewise the support of water—that is, the power of knowledge—is taken from the unworthy, because if the Spirit is lacking, knowledge has no strength and cannot enable one to do the good one knows.
A warrior, fighting faithfully with spiritual arms, is now rarely found. An ecclesiastical judge who judges justly is hard to find—one who possesses knowledge of divine law for judgment—since now all things are vain, unstable, and full of error. The prophet, that is, the teacher who foretells the future joys of the just and the punishments of the wicked, has become exceedingly rare. For scarcely anyone now offers the word of preaching to this people except for the sake of gaining money or some other transitory thing.
Such a preacher may perhaps be expressed by the term diviner, because just as Balaam, a diviner, served the word of the Lord while enslaved to the superstition of avarice, so this one contradicts by his life the good things he preaches with his voice. Hence Samuel says, “Rebellion is as the sin of divination” (1 Samuel 15:23), that is, refusing obedience and offering resistance. But whoever is such a diviner will be suddenly swept away by the blast of the final persecution.
An elder, that is, one mature through the gravity of morals, is exceedingly difficult to find in this people. The number fifty customarily signifies repentance and the remission of sins. Thus David, repenting, received forgiveness in the fiftieth psalm. He who is a leader over fifty is therefore one who gives an example of repentance, proclaims repentance, and converts others to it.
Such a leader was John, who wore a garment of camel’s hair, ate locusts and wild honey, and exhorted others to bear fruits worthy of repentance (Luke 3:8). Indeed, Christ Himself is the Prince of repentance and the head of those who are saved through repentance. And because the Jews did not want Him as their leader over fifty, they said to Him, “You are not yet fifty years old” (John 8:57). But He, knowing that He is not only the Prince of penitents but also of the just, replied, “Before Abraham was, I am” (John 8:58).
One is honorable in appearance whose inner maturity is visible in his face. A counselor is one who gives counsel on how to overcome the cunning of demons and preserve righteousness. An architect is one who builds up the Church by preaching. One prudent in mystical speech is he who prudently understands the mystical language of Scripture, or who wisely speaks in a mystical manner.
Such a man seems to me to be one learned and exercised in the Law and the Prophets, as well as in the Gospel and the Apostles. But persons of this kind are withdrawn more and more each day as the time of Antichrist draws nearer, while the malice of those who remain grows ever greater. For when Antichrist reigns, if any such men survive, they will either be deceived by him or slain.
Thus the Church laments through Jeremiah concerning that time, saying: “The Lord has taken away all my mighty ones from my midst; He has called against me a time to crush my chosen ones” (Lamentations 1:15).
Rightly, therefore, it is said that the Lord will take away from Jerusalem and Judah the strong and the mighty, every support of bread and water, the warrior, the judge, the prophet, the diviner, the elder, the leader over fifty, the honorable in appearance, the wise counselor, the architect, and the one prudent in mystical speech.
These are taken away—and in their place the useless are given:
“I will give children as their princes,” that is, lustful, undisciplined, dissolute, and childish men, “and effeminate men shall rule over them”—that is, lovers of transitory praise. They are effeminate because arrogant leaders prostitute their hearts to human praise, as though corrupted by their lovers. Because they seek not God’s glory but their own, they wish rather to dominate their subjects than to benefit them, scarcely deigning to speak counsel, but hastening to rule harshly.
To such it is said through another prophet: “You ruled them with harshness and power” (Ezekiel 34:4). For they do not correct their subjects calmly by reason, but hasten to dominate them harshly. Such priests and prelates now abound in the Church, to the great harm of the people.
That the people deserved to have such leaders is shown by what follows: “The people will rush, man against man,” that is, one will fight another, injure or harm him, because the wicked strive to dishonor the good. “The child will rage against the elder,” that is, one with childish, lustful behavior will quarrel with one mature in conduct. “The base against the noble,” that is, the sinner against the just.
That the people deserve childish princes is shown by the added words: “A man will seize his brother, a member of his father’s household.” By “man” is meant any person; by “brother” or “member of the household,” a carnal relative or friend. A man seizes his brother to make him a ruler because, as religion declines, it often happens that ecclesiastical office is given not to the holier or more worthy man, but to one chosen through carnal affection. Thus the Church has children as princes.
And it is said to the one thus chosen: “You have a cloak—be our leader.” The cloak signifies a certain outward decency of life by which some cloak themselves so as to appear blameless to men, though within they possess no true or perfect virtue. Such men are easily chosen by the unskilled. “Be our leader,” they say, “and let this ruin be under your hand.” This ruin is the ruin of the inner man; this ruin is death. “Let this ruin be under your hand” means: “Lift up this ruin.” But the one chosen does not care to lift up the fallen; he wishes only to appear above others.
Therefore he excuses himself, saying: “I am not a physician, and in my house there is neither bread nor clothing; do not make me ruler of the people.”
Whoever is chosen for pastoral care must be a spiritual physician, able to heal diligently the diseases of the inner man; and in the house of his conscience he must have the bread of spiritual doctrine, so that, when placed over the household of the Lord, he may give them food at the proper time (Matthew 24:45).
Jerusalem, that is, the Church, falls because the wall of faith and discipline has been broken down toward the end of the age, and the towers of lofty virtues have collapsed. And Judah, that is, the people of the faithful, has fallen because almost this entire multitude has lost the state of uprightness. For their tongue is against the Lord whenever they speak things contrary to God, and their inventions are against Him whenever they devise new ways of doing evil. Thus they provoke the eyes of His majesty, because in their inventions they sin through deliberation.
For every sin is committed either through weakness, or through ignorance, or through deliberate intention. It is worse to sin knowingly out of weakness than through ignorance, but far graver still to sin through deliberate intention than through weakness. Therefore, those who commit evil through the deliberate devising of wicked inventions are said not merely to sin before the Lord, but—which is more serious—to provoke the eyes of His majesty.
Is 3:9.
“The recognition of their countenance answers against them.”
A lustful and undisciplined mind is accustomed to be recognized in the eyes and in the face; and the movements of the eyes and the expressions of the face are followed by the perpetration of wickedness. Hence it is fittingly said here, “The recognition of their countenance answers against them,” as if it were said: the fault of the heart, which had begun to betray itself through the signs of the face, answers against them in the execution of lustful deeds, so that the outward shame of an impure act reveals what they are inwardly.
But after such works are turned into habit, they lose all sense of shame. Hence it is added:
“They proclaimed their sin like Sodom and did not hide it.”
They proclaim their sin like Sodom who shamelessly—or even boastfully—expose to others the works of shame they commit, so as to entice others to similar deeds. But while they glory in such things, sudden destruction comes upon them. Therefore it is added, as though speaking of the past:
“Woe to their soul, for evils have been repaid to them.”
For the evils they committed in time, their soul receives everlasting evils. Hence the prophet exhorts us to praise the just Judge, adding:
Is 3:10.
“Say to the just man that it is well, for he shall eat the fruit of his inventions.”
Who is this just one, if not He to whom it is sung, “You are just, O Lord, and upright is Your judgment” (Psalm 119:137)? To Him we must all say, “He has done well,” in destroying those who proclaimed their sin like Sodom and devoted themselves to wicked inventions. For they shall eat the fruit of their inventions, because they will be punished eternally for their faults. For when sin is consummated, it begets death (James 1:15). This is its fruit.
And because everyone who still commits similar deeds will later receive a similar sentence unless he quickly corrects his actions, it is rightly added:
Is 3:11.
“Woe to the wicked! Evil shall be repaid to him; the retribution of his hands shall be done to him.”
For the more blessed the wicked man thinks himself when everything he desires succeeds, the more miserable he truly is, because the more he multiplies iniquities, the more he heaps up retribution for himself. For the retribution of his hands shall be done to him, because he will receive according to all that he has done.
This also applies to the Jews, of whom it was said, “Woe to their soul, for evils have been repaid to them,” for the evils they inflicted upon Christ they received from the Romans, and they shall eat eternally the fruit of their inventions by which they falsely accused the Lord. And still today, persisting in the same Jewish impiety, “woe to them,” for the retribution of their hands shall be done to them.
Is 3:12.
“My people—its oppressors have despoiled it, and women have ruled over it.”
Oppressors are those who exact tribute and similar burdens. Such men imposed tribute upon the ancient people of God, and when they could not pay, they despoiled them, serving the avarice of rulers; and the wives of the powerful dominated them with proud authority. The same things we see happening even now in this people, both through oppressors and through the wives of rulers.
This sentence, therefore, is pronounced against those who plunder and oppress. Concerning those who exalt them with excessive favor, it is added:
“My people, those who call you blessed deceive you and destroy the way of your steps.”
For the flatterer deceives the one whom he calls blessed, because he misleads him with falsehood, lifts him up into empty glory, and destroys the path of his actions. For when a man believes himself blessed, he thinks the good he has done sufficient and neglects to walk the path of righteousness as he once did. Thus many have perished by acting more carelessly toward the end or by slipping into sin.
But lest we be deceived by human favor, we must always consider that terrible judgment of God which still awaits us. Hence it follows:
Is 3:13.
“The Lord stands to judge, and He stands to judge the peoples.”
He does not say “sits,” but “stands.” In sitting, the Judge is shown as already condemning sinners; but He stands, that is, He observes those who are still running or fighting in the arena of this life, helps them, and reserves the rewards prepared for them. Conversely, He observes those who act wickedly, so that He may repay them according to their works at the end. For He who now stands to judge will one day sit—that is, He will then actually execute judgment.
It follows, because He has not yet fully exercised that judgment:
Is 3:14.
“The Lord will enter into judgment with the elders of His people and with its princes.”
Who are these elders, if not those mature in wisdom and morals—that is, all the perfect? For venerable old age is not measured by length of time nor by the number of years, but “gray hairs are understanding for a man, and an unspotted life is old age” (Wisdom 4:8–9). And who are these princes, if not the prophets and apostles and the good shepherds of the Churches?
With these elders and princes, therefore, the Lord will come to judgment, because He promised them, saying, “You who have left all things and followed Me…” (Matthew 19:29). And He will come especially to punish those who plunder and oppress the faithful. Hence He immediately adds the cause:
“You have devoured My vineyard.”
The vineyard of the Lord is His people; whoever takes away the goods of the faithful devours it. Hence He adds more explicitly:
“The plunder of the poor is in your houses.”
And reproving them, He adds:
Is 3:15.
“Why do you crush My people and grind the faces of the poor?” says the Lord of hosts.
They crush the people of God who afflict and oppress His servants, and they grind—or wear down—the faces of the poor when they deprive them of sustenance. These, therefore, kindle the wrath of God vehemently against themselves.
It follows:
Is 3:16.
“And the Lord said: Because the daughters of Zion are proud and walk with outstretched necks and wanton glances, walking and mincing as they go, making a tinkling with their feet…”
Is 3:17.
“The Lord will make bald the crown of the daughters of Zion, and the Lord will lay bare their locks.”
Historically, these words can be understood of the Jewish women who acted thus in pride and wantonness, and who, at the sudden siege of Jerusalem, were shorn and disfigured. But since Zion means “watchtower,” we may understand the daughters of Zion in a more subtle sense as faithful souls, placed as though on a watchtower, accustomed to foresee approaching temptations with cautious vigilance from the citadel of the mind.
Often such souls are lifted up in pride and dissolve all religious discipline. And because the elevation of the mind is accustomed to appear even in the face and bodily gesture, it is said that these daughters, once lifted up, walked with outstretched necks and wanton glances. By contrast, holy David, because he had pride neither in heart nor in face, confessed: “Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes lofty” (Psalm 131:1).
They also “walked,” that is, wandered, with gestures of dissoluteness, lust, and empty joy, and with mincing steps, because they had cast aside all discipline and therefore behaved outwardly in this manner. Because the daughters of Zion—that is, Christian souls—did not fear to do these things, the Lord will make bald their crowns and uncover their hair.
What is signified by baldness except the loss of shame? For the forehead, which is exposed in baldness, is the seat of shame. Thus the Lord makes bald their crown when He uncovers in them that by which their proud mind is made more deeply ashamed, since it is exposed to all as a mockery. He also uncovers the hair of their head when He reveals the perversion of their hearts.
And although this uncovering often happens partially in this life, it will not be fully accomplished until the Lord comes, “who will bring to light the hidden things of darkness and will make manifest the counsels of hearts” (1 Corinthians 4:5).
It follows:
Is 3:18.
“In that day the Lord will take away the finery of anklets and crescents,
Is 3:19. necklaces and chains and headbands,
Is 3:20. hair ornaments and bracelets and veils,
Is 3:21. rings and nose-jewels,
Is 3:22. festal garments and cloaks and linen garments and pins,
Is 3:23. mirrors and fine linens and turbans and summer robes.”
By these feminine ornaments, the spiritual ornaments of the soul are fittingly symbolized. Therefore it is rightly added:
Is 3:24.
And instead of sweet fragrance there shall be stench; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of curled hair, baldness; and instead of a breast-band, a haircloth; and instead of beauty, shame.
For when pride has reigned, the sweetness of virtues is turned into the stench of vices. The sweet fragrance signifies the good report of virtues, of which the Apostle says: We are the good odor of Christ (2 Corinthians 2:15). This fragrance is turned into stench when virtue is corrupted by pride and dissolved by lust.
The girdle, which binds the garments lest they flow loosely, signifies the restraint of discipline and continence; in its place comes a rope, because those who refuse the gentle bond of discipline are bound by the harsh chains of sin. Instead of curled hair, which adorned the head, there is baldness, because the covering of reverence is taken away. Instead of the breast-band, which signifies the guarding of the heart, there is haircloth, that is, sorrow and affliction. And instead of beauty, that is, the splendor of virtue, there is shame, because the soul that once delighted in appearing beautiful before God is exposed in disgrace.
Is 3:25.
Your men shall fall by the sword, and your mighty ones in battle.
The men of Zion are the strong thoughts of the soul; these fall by the sword when they are slain by perverse doctrines. And the mighty ones perish in battle when those who seemed strong in virtue are overcome by temptation.
Is 3:26.
And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she being desolate shall sit upon the ground.
The gates of Zion are the senses, through which thoughts enter and exit the soul. These gates lament and mourn when they are deprived of the guardianship of discipline and truth. And she sits upon the ground when the soul, stripped of heavenly contemplation, is cast down to earthly affections.
Thus the prophet concludes this lamentation, showing that when pride and lust corrupt the daughters of Zion—that is, faithful souls—the loss is not merely external but reaches even to the inner structure of virtue itself. For when humility is lost, all virtues collapse together, and the soul that once stood adorned with spiritual ornaments is reduced to desolation.
So is fulfilled what was spoken earlier: that the Lord removes from Jerusalem and from Judah the strong and the mighty, not because He is unjust, but because pride first expelled Him from the heart. For where humility does not dwell, God does not remain; and where God withdraws, all spiritual strength necessarily falls.
Is 3:24.
And instead of a sweet fragrance there shall be stench; and instead of a girdle, a rope; and instead of curled hair, baldness; and instead of a breast-band, sackcloth.
For the sweet fragrance is the reputation of virtues, concerning which the Apostle says: We are the good odor of Christ unto God (2 Corinthians 2:15). But stench is an evil reputation and infamy. Therefore, where virtues are taken away and vices succeed them, there, in place of sweet fragrance, there is stench.
The girdle signifies the bond of chastity, but the rope signifies the sin of lust. Hence it is written elsewhere concerning the Lord: He loosens the belt of kings and girds their loins with a rope (Job 12:18). For kings are those who know how to govern well the movements of their bodily members. But when the mind is touched by pride even because of continence itself, God often abandons that pride and permits it to fall into the filth of action. He loosens the belt of kings when, in those who seemed to govern their members well, He destroys the girdle of chastity because of the fault of pride. And He girds their loins with a rope, so that, once the girdle has been loosened, the delight of sin may dominate their members—so that those whom pride defiles inwardly, He may also show outwardly as detestable in public. This, then, is what is now said of the proud daughters of Zion: instead of a girdle, a rope.
And instead of curled hair there shall be baldness. If the head is understood to be the mind, according to the custom of Scripture, what are the hairs of this head except the senses and thoughts? Hair is curled when senses and thoughts are arranged in beautiful order. But in place of curled hair, baldness is given when, instead of a well-formed disposition of rational thoughts ordered by proper steps, a shameful and ridiculous nakedness of the mind is displayed in the manifestation of perverse action.
The breast-band is divine love, which restrains the wandering motions of thoughts by the bonds of inward charity. But in sackcloth, the roughness and pricking of sin are accustomed to be signified. Therefore, in place of the breast-band there is sackcloth, when, instead of charity and the discipline of the heart—which used to bind the mind in the thought of loving God—the roughness of sins and the stings of hatreds tear the mind by the puncturing of evil thoughts.
Is 3:25.
Your most beautiful men shall fall by the sword, and your strong ones in battle.
The most beautiful men of the Church are those who fight bravely in spiritual warfare, act manfully, and live most honorably in divine religion. And her strong ones are those who contend courageously in spiritual battle. Yet sometimes even such men, while glorying in their own beauty, fall from the state of their uprightness, pierced by the sword of most wicked delight; and those who seemed strong are often conquered and fall in the battle of carnal pleasures. Hence Jeremiah also says: Let their young men be struck down by the sword in battle (Jeremiah 18:21). For young men are pierced by the sword in battle when those who in the freshness of life walk bravely and eagerly are transfixed, at the moment of temptation, by the blade of pleasure.
But if we understand this of the state of the soul which has sinned after virtue, we take its most beautiful men to be good works, which fall by the enemy’s sword; and its strong ones to be virtues, which perish in spiritual combat.
After so many losses of virtues, after so manifold a ruin of souls, it is fittingly added concerning the Church:
Is 3:26.
And her gates shall lament and mourn, and she, being desolate, shall sit upon the ground.
For the gates of the Church are the holy teachers and leaders, through whose ministry each person enters the Church. Amid these losses of virtues they chiefly lament and mourn, because just as they zealously seek the gain of souls, so they affectionately bewail their loss. Daily they see more and more things to lament grievously, because the days have come—and are coming—of which the Apostle says: In the last days dangerous times shall come. Men shall be lovers of themselves, covetous, haughty, proud, blasphemers, disobedient to parents, ungrateful, wicked, without affection, without peace, slanderers, incontinent, cruel, without kindness, reckless, puffed up, lovers of pleasure more than lovers of God, having the appearance of piety but denying its power (2 Timothy 3:1–5). For we see all these evils overflowing among the people of this time.
Hence, when evils later increase still more and Antichrist reigns, holy Church, desolate, shall sit upon the ground—that is, she shall remain in humility and sorrow, lamenting and not being comforted by any human aid amid such great evils. This Jeremiah also foresaw when he said: How does the city sit solitary, full of people! She has become like a widow, the mistress of the nations (Lamentations 1:1).
Morally, moreover, whoever gives place to the devil and does not guard his heart with all vigilance—his gates lament, and, with the Bridegroom absent, he is always in mourning, and, falling from heavenly heights, sits in the dust of the earth.
Thus the prophet has hitherto described in many ways the losses of those who, after a religious manner of life, lose the virtues and good works they had done through the devil’s ambush. From here he turns his words to that time when the sevenfold Church comes to Christ, saying: And seven women shall take hold of one man in that day.
But historically, as we began to say above, in the time of the siege of Jerusalem the Lord laid bare the crown of the daughters of Zion and took away from them the ornament of their sandals and the crescents and the necklaces and the other things that are described. Hence, when He was being led to the cross, He said: Daughters of Jerusalem, do not weep for me, but weep for yourselves and for your children; for behold, days are coming when they will say, “Blessed are the barren and the wombs that never bore and the breasts that never nursed.” Then they will begin to say to the mountains, “Fall upon us,” and to the hills, “Cover us” (Luke 23:28–30).
For who can weigh the affliction and weariness of life that they suffered, the anguish so great that they cried to the mountains, Fall upon us? Therefore, all that is now described was fulfilled there. For the most beautiful of the Jews fell by the sword of the Romans; the gates of Jerusalem mourned when, being besieged, no one could go out or enter; she sat desolate upon the ground because she was cast down in that tribulation, having no comforter, and at last was destroyed.
And because when that old Jerusalem fell, a new one arose, it is fittingly added: here the commentary turns to chapter 4.
CONTINUE
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