Commentari biblici

Now will I sing to my wellbeloved a song of my beloved touching his vineyard. My wellbeloved hath a vineyard in a very fruitful hill:

Now will I sing. — Now, or, Now I pray, as stirring up his hearers to attention; for here beginneth his third sermon. He had endeavoured, but with little good effect, to convince them of their detestable unthankfulness, apostasy, and other enormities, in prose. Now he resolves to try another course, and to be unto them as a poet rather than a prophet, if haply they might be taken by the sweetness of his verse, and loveliness of his voice. Ezekiel 33:32

“ Metra parant animos, comprendunt plurima paucis:

Aures delectant, pristina commemorant. ”

True it is that poets, for the most part, are dulcissime vani, most sweetly vain, as Augustine said of Homer. And some have noted well concerning St Paul, that citing his countryman, Aratus (for he was a Cilician), he nameth him not, but only saith, "Certain of your own poets," Acts 17:28 notwithstanding the piety of his beginning, ‘ Eκ Dιος αρχωμεθα , or the divineness of his subject, the heavens - more sublime and pure matter than useth to be in the wanton pages of other poets. But our divine poet is of another alloy, and his holy song is of the same strain with that of Moses, of Deborah and Barak, of Hannah, of David, - qui noster Orpheus est, saith Euthymius, the "sweet singer of Israel," 2 Samuel 23:1 - of Solomon with his Song of Songs; saving that this is lugubre carmen, saith Oecolampadius, et tragediae quam comediae similius, a lamentable ditty, and more like a tragedy than a comedy; for, though the prophet beginneth merrily, yet he endeth heavily; it is of "mercy and judgment" that he singeth.

To my well beloved, — i.e., To Christ, the Church’s bridegroom, cuius amicus et administer sum, whose paranymph advocate I am and well wisher; John 3:29 2 Corinthians 11:2-3 some render it for my beloved, or in his defence.

A song. — Or, Poem, whereto this first verse is the proem or preface. A spiritual song it is, most artificially composed, and set out with the most exquisite skill that might be.

Of my beloved. — Of him whom my soul loveth; as Song of Solomon 1:7 Jonathan loved David (1.) With a love of union; 1 Samuel 18:1 (2.) With a love of complacence; Isaiah 5:19 (3.) With a love of benevolence. Isaiah 20:4 So doth a gracious heart love Jesus Christ. My Love was crucified, said Ignatius, Rom. xii. whose heart was even a lump of love.

Touching his vineyard. — That degenerate plant of a strange vine unto him, Jeremiah 2:21 the plantation and supplantation whereof is here, first, Parabolically propounded; secondly, More plainly expounded. Some read it, "to his vineyard"; others, "for his vineyard." See Matthew 21:33-34 Mark 12:1-2 Luke 20:9 ; Luke 20:16 .

My beloved. — See how oft he harps upon this sweet string, and cannot come off. What a man loveth he will be talking of, as the huntsman of his hounds, the drunkard of his cups, the worldling of his wealth, … Ten times in eight verses together doth St Paul mention the name of Jesus, 1 Corinthians 1:1-4 ; 1 Corinthians 1:7-10 showing thereby that it was to him mel in ore, melos in aure, iubilum in corde, the sweetest music.

Hath a vineyard. — So the Church is here Isaiah 5:7 and elsewhere frequently and fitly styled: Confert autem vineae, saith Oecolampadius. To a vineyard is the Church compared for sundry reasons; as the great care men take about it, Nulla possessio maiorem operam requirit. - Cato. Itali dicunt, Vinea est tinea. the great delight they take in it, the sweet fruits they expect from it, the great worth of its fruit, the little worth of its stem Ezekiel 15:3 if it prove fruitless, the lowly and feeble condition thereof, the continual need it hath to be dressed, supported, sheltered, pruned. αιρει, καθαιρει , John 15:2 amputat, putat.

In a very fruitful hill. — Heb., In a horn the son of oil, that is, a horny hill, bowing like a halfmoon, and so exposed to the sunbeams all the day long. Soli antemeridiano, meridiano atque postmeridiano expositus. - Pisc. Some say that Judea lieth in the form of a horn, like as the low countries do in the form of a lion, unde Leo Belgicus. The "son of oil," or "fatness," that is, exceeding fat; Judea is called Sumen totius orbis, the friutful mother of all the earth, a land "flowing with milk and honey," Ezekiel 20:6 a very cornucopia of all comforts. Basil telleth us that it was a tradition of great antiquity, that Adam, when he was thrust out of paradise, ut dolorem leniret, for a mitigation of his grief, chose Judea, that most fruitful country, for a place to dwell in; whence it is that Sodom and her sisters, which were a part of that country, are said to be "pleasant as the garden of God." Genesis 13:10

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And he fenced it, and gathered out the stones thereof, and planted it with the choicest vine, and built a tower in the midst of it, and also made a winepress therein: and he looked that it should bring forth grapes, and it brought forth wild grapes.

And he fenced Pro Sepivit alii vertunt Fodit, pastinavit, plantavit. it. — Maceria munivit; he hedged it in, or walled it about, protecting his people from the rage of enemies wherewith that country was begirt. God was "a wall of fire to them," Zechariah 2:5 and a wall of water to them, as Exodus 14:22 whence their land, though part of the continent, is called "an island," Isaiah 26:6 not only because separated from other countries, but because secured and made media insuperabilis unda.

And gathered out the stones thereof. — He not only cast out the Canaanites, but flatly forbade idolatry, and all other wickednesses, παντα τα σκανδαλα , every scandal or rock of offence that might hinder their growth, or turn them out of the way. Hebrews 12:13

And planted it with the choicest vine. — Heb., Sorek; the vines of which place Judges 16:4 may seem to be the best and choicest, like as now in Germany are the vines of Herbipolis. See Jeremiah 2:21 . The saints of God are noble plants, and of choice spirits; they are the chiefest personages, and of highest account in heaven.

And built a tower in the midst of it. — For both beauty, defence, and convenience. This may be meant of Jerusalem, or the temple therein, that "tower of the flock," and the "stronghold of the daughter of God’s people." Micah 4:8 Religion set up in the power and purity of it, is the beauty and bulwark of any place.

And also made a winepress therein. — For the pressing of the grapes, and saving of the vine; but, alas! that labour might have been saved for any grapes he got, or wine he made.

“ Fallitur augurio spes bona saepe suo. ”

Little good is done many times by the most pressing and piercing exhortations and argumeuts used by God’s faithful prophets.

And he looked that it should bring forth grapes, — i.e., Good grapes, as little thinking ut opera perdatur et spes eludatur, to have lost all his care and cost, as he did. For who planteth a vineyard and eateth not of the fruit thereof? or who feedeth a flock and eateth not of the milk of the flock? 1 Corinthians 9:7

And it brought forth wild grapes. — Stinking stuff, as the word signifieth, that which was naught and noisome: grapes of Sodom and clusters of Gomorrah. Deuteronomy 32:32-33 He looked for the "fruit of the Spirit"; but behold the "works of the flesh" Galatians 5:19 No whit answerable to his continual care, culture, and custody, they made him, as one saith, a contumacious and contumelious retribution. Thus the wicked answer Heaven’s kindness with an ungrateful wickedness.

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And now, O inhabitants of Jerusalem, and men of Judah, judge, I pray you, betwixt me and my vineyard.

And now, O ye inhabitants of Jerusalem. — Here we have God’s plea before his sentence, and therein his appeal to them, and his indictment against them. First he appealeth to the Jews themselves, and maketh them judges in their own cause. So Nathan dealt by David, and Jesus by the wicked Jews of his time. Matthew 21:40 Iudicate, quaeso, only "judge a righteous judgment," John 7:24 and then I dare report me to the conscience of any one among you, and will therehence fetch witness.

Between me and my vineyard. — With which I am now at variance. Sin is that hell-hag, a diabolical or vile woman makebait, breeder of strive trouble town, that sets odds between God and his greatest favourites.

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What could have been done more to my vineyard, that I have not done in it? wherefore, when I looked that it should bring forth grapes, brought it forth wild grapes?

What could have been done to my vineyard? — See the like angry expostulations, Jeremiah 2:5 Micah 6:3 ; when God hath done all that can be done to do wretched men good, they oft do their utmost to defeat him, and undo themselves. Quid debui facere Domino meo quod fecerim? said Augustine of himself, by way of penitent confession: quis ego, qualis ego? quid non mali ego? The cypress tree, the more it is watered, the less fruitful; so it is with many people. But God can no way be charged with their barrenness.

“ At Paris ut vivat regnetque beatus,

Cogo posse negat. ” - Horat.

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And now go to; I will tell you what I will do to my vineyard: I will take away the hedge thereof, and it shall be eaten up; [and] break down the wall thereof, and it shall be trodden down:

And now go to, I will tell you, … — God loveth to foresignify, to warn ere he woundeth, and to foretell a judgment ere he inflicteth it. This he doth that he may be prevented. Amos 4:12 Prolata est sententia ut non fiat. Well might the Lord say, "Fury is not in me." Isaiah 27:3

I will take away the hedge thereof. — Hedge and wall shall be taken away at once from an ungrateful people, and all laid open to the wrath of God and rage of enemies; it shall be next indeed. Psalms 80:12-13 And what may be reasonably pleaded against God at such a time, when he may say to men, as Reuben did to his brethren, "Did not I warn you, saying, Sin not?"

It shall be eaten up, it shall be trodden down. — All shall run to ruin, as it did at Jerusalem by the Babylonians, but especially by the Romans; and as it did in Christendom about six hundred years after Christ’s incarnation, when religion was become a matter of form, yea, of scorn; then the Saracens in the east, and the barbarous nations in the west, broke in and bore down all before them.

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And I will lay it waste: it shall not be pruned, nor digged; but there shall come up briers and thorns: I will also command the clouds that they rain no rain upon it.

And I will lay it waste. — Heb., Wasteness; I will utterly root it up and ruin it. Lege et lute; by law and dirt, wrath is come upon Jewry to the utmost. Lukewarm Laodicea was swallowed up by an earthquake, as Eutropius testifieth. The rest of these seven famous churches are overrun by the Turk. And our utter ruin, unless we repent, may be as plainly foreseen as if letters had been sent us from heaven to such a purpose.

It shall not be pruned nor digged, — sc., By such painful vinedressers as were wont both to dig and beg for it, as he in Luke 13:8 . Such labour shall now be no longer lost, such cost cast away no more. Cutting shall be used where there is no longer hope of curing.

But there shall come up briers and thorns. — Being bereft of the means of grace, they shall run into foul and flagitious practices, which shall ripen them for ruin. See Hebrews 6:8 .

I will also command the clouds. — The prophets and ministers.

That they rain no rain upon it. — No, not a small shower or mist. Non pluma dignabitur nedum imbre, saith Oecolampadius.

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For the vineyard of the LORD of hosts [is] the house of Israel, and the men of Judah his pleasant plant: and he looked for judgment, but behold oppression; for righteousness, but behold a cry.

For the vineyard, … — Exponit breviter mentem huius cantici. Here we have the parable expounded and applied: the Scripture is its own best interpreter; sometimes, as here and John 7:39 , the sense is annexed. The Rabbis have a saying, Nulla est obiectio in lege quae non habet solutionem in latere. Nothing is exposed in law which does not have a solution in parts.

His pleasant plant. — Delectabilis in patriarchis, infructifera in palmitibus. Heb., "His plant of delights," but now turned into the degenerate plant of a "strange vine" unto him. Jeremiah 2:21 Good progenitors may have a bad offspring: the reason whereof is given by Augustine, Con. Pelag., lib. ii. cap. 9. Homo liberos gignit ex carne vetusta et peccatrice, non ex spivitu, … Man begetteth children of the old and sinful flesh, and not of the Spirit.

And he looked for judgment, but behold oppression. — Or, Conspiracy; or, as some render it, a scab, a cleaving scab, such as a man cannot easily be rid or recovered from. And here in the original is excellent rhetoric past interpretation. It is as if we should say, a preacher, a prevaricator rather; a dispensation, a dissipation: the sound is almost the same the sense much different. There is a lawful use of rhetoric in divine discourses. Augustine confesseth that while he heard Ambrose for his eloquence only, together with his words which he loved, the matter which he at first cared not for, came into his mind: and while, saith he, I opened my heart to listen how trimly he spoke, I came to consider also how truly he spoke; gradatim quidem, even by decrees.

For righteousness, but behold a cry. — The clamour of the oppressed entered into the ears of the Lord of Sabbaoth, who heareth their groans, and beholdeth their grievances. Job 34:28 Psalms 12:5 James 5:4

“ Clamitat in coelum vex sanguinis et Sodomorum,

Vex oppressorum, mercesque retenta laborum. ”

The twofold Ecce, "Behold oppression," "Behold a cry," showeth it to be an evil action with an accent, a wickedness with a witness. Aliam Hebroeorum labrusiam notat.

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Woe unto them that join house to house, [that] lay field to field, till [there be] no place, that they may be placed alone in the midst of the earth!

Woe unto them that join house to house. — The prophet goeth on in the exposition of his parable, showing us some more of those wild or stinking grapes, with the sad effects thereof, to the end of the chapter. He beginneth with covetousness - that "root of all evil," as Paul calleth it, 1 Timothy 6:10 that metropolis of all wickedness, as Bion - and throweth a woe at it, as do also sundry other prophets. Covetous persons are of the dragon’s temper, who, they say, is so thirsty, that no water can quench his thirst. Covetousness is a dry drunkenness, saith one, an insatiable dropsy, and like hell itself, Isaiah 5:14 insatiabiliter cava guttura pandit; its never enough will be once alive with fire enough in the bottom of hell. Here they are brought in "joining house to house," as Shallum did at Jerusalem, Jeremiah 22:13-14 as Nero did at Rome for the enlarging of his palace to a vast extent: whence that of the poet -

“ Roma domus fiet, Veios migrate Quirites,

Si non et Veios oecupet ista domus. ” - Martial.

That lay field to field. — Encroaching upon others, and engrossing all to yourselves; as William the Conqueror did at New Forest, wherein forty-six parish churches were demolished, with the removing of all the inhabitants, to make room for beasts or dog’s-game. But in true account -

“ Parva seges satis est: laudato ingentia rura,

Exiguum colito. ”

The holy patriarchs were content to dwell in tents. Abraham’s only purchase was a burying place. David in that Litany of his, as one calleth it, blesseth himself from those "men of God’s hand who have their portion here." Psalms 17:14 Christ biddeth us lay up treasures, and build tabernacles for ourselves in heaven; and having food and raiment, saith the apostle, let us therewith be content. 1 Timothy 6:8

“ Discite quam parvo liceat producere vitam:

Et quantum natura petat. ”

• Lucan. Phar., lib. iv.

If a man will study rather to satisfy his hunger than his humour, a little will serve. But it is as easy to quench the fire of Etna as the thoughts set on fire by covetousness. Unus Pelaeo iuveni non sufficit orbis. Juvenal.

Till there be no place, — sc., Left unseized upon by you: Usque ad desitionem loci, no place or room for any other.

That they may be placed alone. — Man is a sociable creature, and not born for himself. Aristotle calleth him nature’s good fellow; but the covetous wretch hath put off all humanity, and would have all to himself, be placed alone; and herein, as Ambrose rightly observeth, he is worse than the unreasonable creatures. Avis avibus se associat, saith he, pecus pecori adiungitur, piscis piscibus, Birds, beasts, and fishes sort and shoal together, and account it no loss, but a comfort, to be in company of their own kind. Solus tu homo, consortem excludis, includis feras: struis habitacula bestiarum, destruis hominum ; Lib. de Naboth et Ahab., cap. 3. Only thou, O sorry man, shuttest out men like thyself, enclosest for cattle, pullest down houses, settest up folds and sheep cotes, … And yet thou canst not live without poor labourers; only thou hatest to have them live by thee.

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