Bede

In his own words on 2 Kings

• 2 Kings 2:11-14

  The prophets proclaimed the mystery of the Lord's ascension not only by their words but also by their actions. Both Enoch, the seventh [in the line of descent] from Adam, who was transported from the world, and Elijah, who was taken up into heaven, gave evidence that the Lord would ascend above all the heavens.…Elijah presented an image of this festivity of the Lord by a miracle with richer significance. When the time in which he was to be taken away from the world was near, he came to the river Jordan with his disciple Elisha. With his rolled-up cloak he struck the waters, they were divided, and both of them crossed over on dry land. And he said to Elisha, "Ask what you want me to do before I am taken away from you," and Elisha said, "I entreat you that your spirit may become double in me." As they went on conversing together, behold, Elijah was suddenly snatched away, and, as the Scripture says, "He ascended as if into heaven." By this action of his soaring aloft it is meant that [Elijah] was not taken up into heaven itself, as was our Lord, but into the height of the air [above the earth], from where he was borne invisibly to the joys of paradise. Elisha took up the cloak of Elijah that had fallen from him; and, coming to the river Jordan, he struck the water with it, and after calling on God, he divided the water and crossed over. Let your love take note, my brothers, how the symbolic event agrees point by point with its fulfillment. Elijah came to the river Jordan, and having laid aside his cloak, he struck the waters and divided them. The Lord came to the stream of death, in which the human race ordinarily was immersed, and laying aside from himself for a time the clothing of flesh that he had assumed, struck down death by dying and opened up for us the way to life by rising. The change and decline of our mortal life is properly represented by the river Jordan, since the meaning of Jordan in Latin is "their descent," and since as the river flows into the Dead Sea, it loses its praiseworthy waters. After [the water of the river] Jordan was divided, Elijah and Elisha crossed over on dry land; by his rising from the dead the Savior bestowed on his faithful ones the hope of rising too. After they had crossed over the river Jordan, Elijah gave Elisha the option of asking for what he wanted. The Lord too, after the glory of his resurrection had been fulfilled, implanted in his disciples a fuller comprehension of what he had promised previously, that "whatever you ask in my name, I will do [for you]." Elisha asked that the spirit of Elijah might become double in him. The disciples, thoroughly instructed by the Lord, desired to receive the promised gift of the Spirit, which would make them capable of preaching not only to the single nation of Judah, which he himself taught when he was present in the flesh, but to all countries throughout the globe as well. Did he not pledge the double grace of his Spirit when he said, "A person who believes in me will himself also do the works that I do, and he will do even greater ones than these"? As Elijah and Elisha were conversing together, a chariot with fiery horses suddenly snatched Elijah as if into heaven. By the chariot and fiery horses we are to understand the angelic powers, of whom it is written, "He makes the angels his spirits and his ministers a burning fire" (Elijah, being an ordinary human being, had need of them to be raised up from the earth). The Lord too was suddenly taken up as he was speaking with his apostles and as they were looking on; although he was not assisted by the help of angels, he was served by an angelic band of companions. He was truly assumed into heaven with the angels also bearing witness to it, for they said [to the apostles], "This Jesus who has been taken up from you into heaven." When Elijah was raised up to the heavens, he let the cloak with which he had been clothed fall to Elisha. When our Lord ascended into heaven, he left the mysteries of the humanity he had assumed to his disciples, to the entire church in fact, so that it could be sanctified by them and warmed by the power of his love. Elisha took up Elijah's cloak and struck the waters of the river Jordan with it; and when he called on the God of Elijah, [the waters] were divided, and he crossed over. The apostles and the entire church took up the sacraments of their Redeemer that had been instituted through the apostles, so that, spiritually guided by them and cleansed and consecrated by them, they too learned to overcome death's assaults by calling on the name of God the Father and to cross over to undying life, spurning the obstacles of death.

  Homilies on the Gospels 2.15

• 2 Kings 11:5

  "Let a third part of you come in on the Sabbath, etc." [2 Kings 11:5] This is what the high priest Jehoiada said to the priests and Levites when he brought forth Joash the son of Azariah, whom he had secretly nurtured in the temple for six years during Athaliah's reign: "Let a third part of you come in on the Sabbath and keep watch at the house of the king; let a third part be at the Gate of Seir, and a third part at the gate which is behind the habitat of the guards; you will keep watch at the house of Mesha. Let two parts of you, all going out on the Sabbath, keep watch at the house of the Lord around the king, and you shall surround him, having weapons in your hands," and the rest which is mentioned or done there. These things can be better understood if some things about the places in the temple where these events occurred are more broadly recalled. The temple itself, excluding the porticos which surrounded it on all sides, was sixty cubits long and twenty cubits wide within its walls (this is the initial measurement named in the Words of the Days). The entire circumference of the courtyard was surrounded by a wall three cubits high, having an entrance on the east side, of which Scripture in the Book of Kings thus makes mention: "And he built the inner court three rows of hewn stone and one row of cedar logs" (I Kings VI). This court is called inner because there are other outer courts surrounding it. Furthermore, in the Words of the Days, it is thus written: "He made also the court of the priests and a great hall and doors in the hall which he covered with bronze" (II Chronicles IV). This court of the priests is so named because it was made to guard against the entrance of others into the temple, signifying that only the priests were permitted to enter. This same court was closer to the wall of the temple from the south, west, and north sides. Further to the east, where it also had an entrance through steps, it extended to a great length from the temple, as in that part it had the altar of burnt offerings, in that part ten lavers in which the offerings were washed, in that part the bronze sea in which the priests who were about to enter for ministry washed, in that part the choirs of Levites for the sacrificing and chanting priests. This courtyard, however, was surrounded all around at a distance by a very large square building. Its inner wall, that is, the one facing the temple from the four parts of the world, was constructed entirely in arches below, but further up it was founded in solid firmness. And it had bronze doors, as we mentioned earlier. And doors in the basilica, which it covered with bronze; which was also provided with very large porticos and was separated by suitable upper rooms. And again outside this building, another one was made in a similar scheme in a circle. But also a third one, nonetheless, made in the same order around those, surrounded all the interior at length and breadth in a circle, differing only from the previous buildings in that its Eastern and Northern wall did not have doors, for each of them pertained to the walls of the city. However, these are the courts sung about in the Psalms: "Who stand in the house of the Lord, in the courts of the house of our God" (Psalms 113, 135). And since the house of the Lord itself was constructed in a higher place, it happened that the farther the courtyards were made, the higher their walls were, as they had foundations below; so much so that the outermost had walls in height up to four hundred cubits, yet they did not come close to matching the height of the temple. Of all these things there is a general mention in the book of Chronicles as follows: "And David gave Solomon his son the description of the porch and of the temple, and of the storerooms, and of the upper rooms, and of the innermost chambers, and of the place of atonement, and also of all that he had thought of the courts of the house of the Lord and of all the surrounding rooms and of the treasuries of the house of God and of the treasuries of the dedicated things" (1 Chronicles 28:11-12). But the writing or painting of Joseph formed by the ancients distinguishes more fully how these were made in order. With these thus arranged, it was the prerogative of only the high priest to enter into the Holy of Holies once a year with the blood of sacrifices, into the sanctuary before the oracle, only purified priests entered, into the inner court all priests and Levites. Around this courtyard, under the open sky, or if weather prevented, in the surrounding buildings, Israelite men would gather to pray or hear the word. In the third order of courts, Israelite women stood to pray under the open sky, or if the weather did not allow it, they moved under the nearest roofs of the surrounding buildings. Moreover, into the outermost order of courts, the Gentiles, who had perhaps come to pray, would enter. Where also, after times of dispersion, those who had recently come from among the Gentiles, purified for seven days, finally sought the inner sanctums. And the pavements between the courts or in the courts were all paved with various stones. The doors in the buildings were so positioned opposite to each other that even those standing in the outermost parts could see the temple. There were, moreover, twenty-four lots of priests and Levites and doorkeepers, who would succeed each other in as many weeks, with a new group entering for duty on the Sabbath and after the Sabbath, the group that had served for the previous week returning home. But this high priest, because of the necessity of increasing the army around the new king, both welcomed those who were due to enter for the week and retained those who had already served their week of ministry so that they would not leave. He also gathered other Levites from all the cities of Judah, as well as the leaders of the families of Israel, having sent centurions for this purpose to Jerusalem, as the Chronicles recount (2 Chronicles 23). When bringing them out, he distinguished the king's son in such a way that all those who had completed the Sabbath, and were about to depart, divided into two parts, would surround the king armed in the inner parts of the court. But the remaining crowd, that is, those who were not of the tribe of Levi, would guard the outer gates of the courts against the queen's rage, in case she attempted anything adverse. Moreover, those priests, Levites, and doorkeepers who had recently come for the Sabbath, divided into three parts, would observe the house of the king, that is, the palace, so that the queen would not defend it against the king with a gathered army. They would also keep the gate of the shield-bearers' residence, through which one would descend from the temple to the palace, as is said below: And they led the king out of the house of the Lord, and came by the way of the gate of the shield-bearers to the palace, and he sat on the throne of the kings. Here also the gate of Seir and the house of Millo, named with the gate of the shield-bearers, seem to be present. He calls the shield-bearers guardians of the king, as the book of Chronicles affirms; and when Rehoboam had made bronze shields in place of the golden ones, he added: And he handed them over to the leaders of the shield-bearers, who guarded the entrance of the palace (2 Chronicles 12). In which book, of course, all these things are recounted more distinctly: A third part of you who come to the Sabbath, of priests, and Levites, and doorkeepers, shall be at the gates. A third part at the house of the king, and a third at the gate that is called the Foundation. And let all the remaining crowd be in the courts of the house of the Lord. And let no one else enter the house of the Lord, except the priests and those of the Levites who minister; they only shall enter who are sanctified, and let all the remaining crowd observe the watches of the Lord. But let the Levites surround the king, each having his weapon (2 Chronicles 23), etc.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #18

• 2 Kings 11:12

  "And he brought out the king's son, and put the diadem and the testimony upon him." [2 Kings 11:12] What follows about the same: He brought out the king's son, and put the diadem and the testimony upon him, signifies the kingly insignia on the head in the diadem, and the decrees of God's law, by which it is declared what the king should do and how he is commanded to live, in the testimony. Finally, more openly in the book of Chronicles: And they put the diadem on him, and gave him the law to hold in his hand (2 Chronicles 23); and it was indeed of great and salutary wisdom, that after the death of the tyrannical and impious queen, to the succeeding son of the legitimate king, simultaneously with the state of kingship, the discipline of God's law should also be entrusted, so that he who saw himself set over the people in rule should remember that he himself was to be subject to divine laws in rule.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #19

• 2 Kings 12:15

  "And no account was made with the men who received the money, etc." [2 Kings 12:15] This is said, about the restoration of the house of the Lord by the aforesaid king Jehoash: And no reckoning was made with the men who received the money to distribute it to the craftsmen, but they dealt with it in faith, showing their devotion, because they had so much fervor in religion that no one doubted but that they handled the Lord's money without suspicion of any fraud, and that they faithfully offered it, taken from the treasury, to the workmen for repairing the house, as each had need.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #20

• 2 Kings 14:7

  "He struck down ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, etc." [2 Kings 14:7] It is said of Amaziah, the king of Judah: He struck down ten thousand Edomites in the Valley of Salt, and took Sela in war, and called its name Joktheel; the Valley of Salt was where they made salt, either from a spring of brine, as in many places, or by cutting, drying, and burning, or by boiling salty well waters until they solidified into salt, or by any other method by which salt is usually made. In that place, Joab is also recorded to have struck down twelve thousand Edomites. It must also not be overlooked that the old edition, for the Valley of Salt, placed Gemelach, as if it were the name of a region. Petra, however, is a noble city of Arabia, in the same land of Edom, which in the Book of Numbers is called Rekem, and by the Syrians today is still called thus (Num. 31). Joktheel, which Amaziah as victor gave it as a name, is interpreted as the assembly of God, or the help of God, acting faithfully so that it would be recorded for perpetual memory, because he took it either with the assembly of the people of God or with God's help.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #21

• 2 Kings 14:25

  "He restored the boundaries of Israel from the entrance of Hamath, etc." [2 Kings 14:25] It is said of Jeroboam, king of Israel: He restored the boundaries of Israel from the entrance of Hamath to the sea of the Arabah. Hamath, which is now called Epiphania, was the northern boundary of Israel. However, the sea of the Arabah, which in Hebrew is called Araba, designates the Dead Sea, which in length extends for 580 stadia to Zoaras of Arabia, and in width for 150 stadia to the nearby Sodoms.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #22

• 2 Kings 17:29

  "And each nation made its own gods." [2 Kings 17:29] It is said of those nations brought into Samaria by the king of Assyria: And each nation made its own gods and placed them in the high places that the Samaritans had made, each nation in the cities in which they lived; for the men of Babylon made Socoth Benoth, the men of Cuth made Nergal, and the men of Hamath made Ashima; moreover, the Avvites made Nibhaz and Tartak; indeed, in the Book of Places it is read that Benoth and Nergal were cities that the Samaritans who had come from Babylon built in the region of Judea. Asima also a town, which they who had come from Hemath built. For Nebaaz and Thartha are cities which the Hevites founded in the same land of Judea. But it seems, according to the logic of the speech, that the names of the idols which these peoples had previously worshipped in their own land can also be understood here. Because it was said: And each nation made its own god, it was added as if to complete the thought: For the men of Babylon made Socoth Benoth, that is, tabernacles of Benoth. And better, if I am not mistaken, would the translator do, if he translated Socoth into tabernacles in Latin, and placed the name of the idol Benoth absolutely; and as is clearly said in what follows: But those who were from Sepharvaim burned their sons in the fire to Adrammelech and Anammelech, the gods of Sepharvaim; where it is shown that Adrammelech and Anammelech were idols of the city of Sepharvaim. Thus it seems consequent that Nergel of the Cutheans, Asima of the Hemathites, Nebaaz and Thartha were idols of the Hevites.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #23

• 2 Kings 18:34

  "Where is the god of Hemath and Arphad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim?" [2 Kings 18:34] Rabsheh said this among other things with which he blasphemed God, crying out against Jerusalem: Where is the god of Hemath and Arphad? Where is the god of Sepharvaim, Ana and Ava? Have they delivered Samaria out of my hand? He showed that the Samaritans served the gods of all these cities or nations, and that they were not gods but idols, rightly subverted as those who worshipped vanity deserved. Hemath is a city of Coele-Syria, which is now called Epiphania, near Emesa, as we previously noted; Arphad is a city of Damascus, which Jerome also writes was conquered by the king of Assyria (Jeremiah 40). Sepharvaim, in the plural, means books or letters, is the name of places from which the Assyrians who were moved settled in Samaria, as we find in the Books of Places. In Isaiah, however, this term also appears to be a city name, where it is clearly said: Where is the god of the city of Sepharvaim? (Isaiah 37). Although it is said in the plural, like Thebes or Athens. For Ana and Ava, the old edition placed the name Aneugava as if it were one city, and indeed it is written so in Hebrew; but since the syllable u in the middle of the name signifies a conjunction, it may also be distinguished as Ana and Gava, as Aquila translated; or Ana and Ava, as our translator rendered.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #24

• 2 Kings 20:9

  "Do you wish the shadow to go forward ten lines or to go back ten steps, etc.?" [2 Kings 20:9] What the prophet Isaiah said to King Hezekiah: Do you wish the shadow to go forward ten lines, or to go back ten steps? signifies the same thing by the name of steps as by lines, that is, the division of hours, which we usually mark twelve per day on a sundial; or, as Jerome says, the steps were constructed by mechanical art, so that the shadow descending each one would mark the intervals of the hours. It was then the tenth hour of the day when the prophet spoke to the king: Do you wish, therefore, he said, that the shadow go forward ten lines, the sun proceeding above the earth through northern regions to the east, which it was about to do daily in the usual course: or that the shadow go back ten steps, the face of the sun being turned backward and returning through the southern region to the east? But the king said, It is easy, he said, for the shadow to grow by ten lines; I do not wish this to happen, but that it should go back ten steps. For he saw that it could be a greater miracle if the sun acted contrary to its usual course, than if it proceeded in the usual manner; although much higher, i.e., lifted above the earth to the east, as if flying to the morning of the second day without any intervening night. For indeed those who live in the island of Thule, which is beyond Britain, or in the farthest boundaries of the Scythians, see this happen for several days during the whole summer, because the sun, having set for the rest of the world and placed under the earth, nonetheless appears above the earth to them the whole night; and it is visibly seen how it returns from the western part to the eastern lowly, until it is again given back to the whole world at the common rising, as both the histories of the ancients and the abundant evidence of our men of this age, who come from those parts, testify. However, those who inhabit the innermost parts of the south never see the sun return from the western to the eastern through the meridian regions.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #25

• 2 Kings 22:14

  "She who dwells in Jerusalem in the second district." [2 Kings 22:14] What is said about Huldah the prophetess: "She who dwells in Jerusalem in the second district"; what this means is explained in the book of Chronicles, where it is written about the aforesaid King Hezekiah: "He also built, with great earnestness, all the wall that had been broken down, and reared up towers on it, and another wall outside" (2 Chron. 32). Zephaniah mentions this place, saying: "A voice of crying from the Fish Gate, and a wailing from the Second Quarter" (Zeph. 1). For which the old edition translated it as a proper name of the place, in Masena. Masena indeed means Second Quarter. Therefore, what is said about the prophetess dwelling in the Second, understand it as part of the second wall.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #26

• 2 Kings 23:10

  "He also defiled Topheth, etc." [2 Kings 23:10] What is said about King Josiah: "He also defiled Topheth, which is in the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, so that no man might consecrate his son or his daughter through the fire to Molech"; these places are frequently mentioned in Scripture, especially in the book of Kings and the prophet Jeremiah. Now the Valley of Hinnom, or the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, is near the wall of Jerusalem, toward the east, in which the beautiful grove of Siloam is watered by springs. But Topheth, or Tophet (both spellings are used), was a place in the same valley, near the fuller's pool, which is mentioned in Scripture, and near the field of Aceldama, which is shown to this day on the southern side of Mount Sion. In Topheth, which was a very pleasant place, altars were set up to sacrifice to demons, and to consecrate their children to a wicked fire, or to offer burnt offerings, as it is written in the book of Chronicles about King Ahaz: "He it was who burned incense in the valley of the son of Hinnom, and burned his children in the fire." Ben-Hinnom indeed means the son of Hinnom. The Valley of Hinnom is called Gehinnom in Hebrew, from which in the New Testament, the name Gehenna is applied to the punishment of hell, because just as in the Valley of Hinnom, those who served idols in it perished, as testified by the prophets, so too will sinners be punished with eternal damnation for their sins. Therefore, when Jeremiah relates that the Lord commanded him and said, "Go out to the valley of the son of Hinnom, which is by the entry of the Pottery Gate"; soon after he says: "And this place shall no longer be called Topheth, nor the Valley of the Son of Hinnom, but the Valley of Slaughter: and I will make void the counsel of Judah and Jerusalem in this place, and I will cause them to fall by the sword" (Jer. 19). Isaiah also most clearly calls Topheth hell; he, while describing the perpetual destruction of the devil under the name of Asshur, saying: "For through the voice of the Lord shall Asshur be beaten down, who smote with a rod. And the passage of the rod is prepared, which the Lord shall cause to rest upon him" (Isa. 30), forthwith added how and where he should perish, saying: "For Topheth is ordained of old; yea, for the king it is prepared; it is deep and large." Beautifully he says "And large," because Topheth means width. His nourishments, it is said, are fire and much wood; the breath of the Lord, like a stream of sulfur, sets it ablaze. But Josiah defiled Tophet, either by scattering the bones of the dead there, as it is read that he did in other places of idols, or by dispersing any other unclean things, so that the place would appear to all who looked at it as more fitting for abomination than for delight.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #27

• 2 Kings 23:11

  "He also removed the horses that the kings of Judah had given, etc." [2 Kings 23:11] What follows about the same king Josiah, he also removed the horses which the kings of Judah had given to the sun at the entrance of the temple of the Lord; and shortly after: He burned the chariots of the sun with fire; this shows that the Jews at all times were devoted to all kinds of idolatry and superstition, so much so that in adoration of the sun, which they believed to be a god after the manner of the Gentiles, they attached his image which they had made to horses and chariots, and this in the courts of the temple of the Lord. For the Gentiles are accustomed to depict or make an image of the sun in this way, placing a young boy in a chariot, and attaching horses to him as if rushing towards the sky. They represent him as a boy because the sun, as if born anew each day with its rise, never falls into old age through the ages. But that they attribute chariots and horses to him is believed to have been taken from the miracle of the prophet Elijah, who was taken to heaven in a fiery chariot with fiery horses, as John, the bishop of Constantinople, estimates. For that which is called Helios in Greek means the sun (as even Sedulius shows, when he sang about Elijah's ascent, saying: How well the fiery path of heaven suits Elijah, who glows rightly even by name. He was worthy of this aid: for if one letter of the Greek word is changed by accent, it means the sun. Hearing from the Israelites, reputed to have divine letters, that Elijah was transported to the heavens by a fiery chariot and fiery horses, or certainly seeing this depicted among other things on the wall, the Greeks, deceived by the similarity of the name, believed this to signify the sun's passage through the heavens, and transformed a divinely performed miracle into a testimony of error, conceived by human folly; the Jews themselves, imitating them, strove not to be less foolish than the most foolish of the Gentiles in any matter.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #28

• 2 Kings 23:13

  "Also the high places that were in Jerusalem, etc." [2 Kings 23:13] What is said shortly after about the same king: Also the high places that were in Jerusalem, to the right side of the Mount of Offense, etc., up to, The king defiled and crushed the statues; it is clear as daylight that Scripture usually names high places as locations set on leafy hills, in which they sacrificed either to demons or even to the Lord, drawn by the pleasantness of the locations, contrary to the prohibition of leaving the altar which was in the temple and offering sacrifices. Whence it is often said in this book about kings who were less perfectly just: Nevertheless he did not remove the high places. But the Mount of Offense, he calls the Mount of the idol, because it is customary in Scriptures to name idols as offense, because either God is offended in them, or they bring offense and ruin to their worshipers, as is indicated in this very sentence that follows, when it says: Which Solomon, the king of Israel, had built for Astaroth, the idol of the Sidonians, and for Chamos, an offense to Moab, and for Melchon, an abomination to the children of Ammon. Where this also, if I am not mistaken, is clearly shown, which I wish had not been shown: that evidently Solomon never perfectly repented of the crime of idolatry he had committed. For if he had produced fruits worthy of repentance, he would have striven above all to remove the idols he had built from the holy city; and not, to the scandal of the foolish, would he have left what he, although once the wisest, had done erroneously, as if done wisely and rightly. Scripture mentions this above, saying: Then Solomon built a shrine for Chemosh, the idol of Moab, on the mountain opposite Jerusalem, and for Molech, the idol of the children of Ammon (1 Kings 11). Nor should it seem contradictory that the mountain where these idols were made is said to be against Jerusalem, here it is stated to be placed in Jerusalem; because undoubtedly it was situated so near the city, that it seemed to belong to it, and also to stain it with the filth gathered there.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #29

• 2 Kings 24:14

  "And he carried away all Jerusalem, etc." [2 Kings 24:14] Reporting this about Nebuchadnezzar, who carried away all Jerusalem, and all the leaders, and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, Scripture adds, saying: "And all the craftsmen and smiths." This is what was said above to have been done by the Philistines to the people of Israel when it was said: "Now no blacksmith could be found in all the land of Israel." For the Philistines said, "Lest the Hebrews make swords or spears" (1 Samuel 13:19). Just as then, they took care that the Hebrews, having blacksmiths, might not make arms to resist, so now the Chaldeans, having destroyed Jerusalem and laid waste the whole land of promise, make sure that no craftsman, no smith, remains in it, who either could repair the polluted walls of the city or restore the broken structures; on the contrary, whatever skill they found among the exterminated people, they transferred entirely to Babylon; so that it might either be useless or serve the interests of that city. Because this most lamentable history is so much in line with the negligence of our times, I do not think its allegory should be kept silent. It is known that Jerusalem and the land of Israel represent the city of Christ, that is, the holy Church; but Babylon and the Chaldeans or the Philistines signify the city of the devil, that is, all the multitude of either wicked men or angels. And Israel serves the Philistines or Chaldeans, when any of the faithful, nominally existing in the Church, but otherwise deceived by unclean spirits or men, submit their minds to greed, luxury, or any other sin. Nebuchadnezzar carries away Israel and all the leaders, the mighty men of valor, ten thousand captives, when either the teachers of the people, those who seemed to serve the Lord with an invincible spirit and to faithfully observe the Decalogue in love of God and neighbor, either suddenly, overcome by the temptations of the world or adversities, or defile themselves with greater crimes, or certainly, by deviating into heresy, incur the mark of open apostasy. But the weapons with which, resisting the devil, we defend the freedom given to us by God, what else are they but the words of the Scriptures? In which, by the examples of the Lord Himself and His saints, we learn more clearly than daylight how the wars against vices ought to be overcome. But the Philistines deprive the sons of Israel of armor smiths, just as malicious spirits obstruct the souls of the faithful from the meditation of sacred reading by inserting secular affairs, so that they neither gain confidence from this exercise in resistance for themselves, nor approach others, possibly those who cannot read, by exhorting or correcting them to resist vices. They take away the weapons smiths when they oppress those knowledgeable in the sacred words with such crimes that they are utterly ashamed to speak the good they have learned. They transfer every artisan and engraver to Babylon from Jerusalem, when they turn those who used to benefit many by various works of virtue and to fortify the city of God against the incursions of temptations away from their purpose; and compel them to use the talent, which should have been devoted to the protection of the holy Church, instead to serve the will of the king of vices. However, if we wish to understand "engraver" here not as the maker of doors or walls, but rather of gold and gems, it certainly refers to the same spiritual exposition. It is indeed said of wisdom that it is gold and a multitude of gems (Prov. 20); and therefore, we can aptly understand the engravers of these as the teachers, who, as long as they live and teach rightly, devote their art to the adornment of the holy city. But if they happen to err, what else but that they are taken captive by the Chaldean people and transferred to Babylon? And since to transfer the artisan and the engraver from Jerusalem to Babylon is to bury the talent of the word received from heaven in the earth, that is, to convert spiritual knowledge to the works of sins. I beg you, reader, if I have said anything pleasing to you in these little explanations, refer it to the praise of the God who gives. But if otherwise, may you grant forgiveness to my ignorance or presumption, so that you yourself, with all whom you can, apply to frequent meditation, continuous observance, fitting preaching of divine Scriptures; and let us strive with communal effort, so that we may be found faithful traders of the Lord's money, artisans and engravers of spiritual gems or walls, defenders of the holy city, and artificers of heavenly weapons; that on His return from the wedding, the supreme Householder may deign to say to us: "Because you have been faithful over a few things, I will set you over many; enter into the joy of your Lord" (Matt. 25). Amen.

  Questions on the Book of Kings #30