The destruction of Jerusalem and the temple. God's dealings with the
Jews, and their reprobation.
11:1. Open thy gates, O Libanus, and let fire devour thy cedars.
O Libanus... So Jerusalem, and more particularly the temple, is called
by the prophets, from its height, and from its being built of the cedars
of Libanus.-Ibid. Thy cedars... Thy princes and chief men.
11:2. Howl, thou fir tree, for the cedar is fallen, for the mighty are
laid waste: howl, ye oaks of Basan, because the fenced forest is cut
down.
11:3. The voice of the howling of the shepherds, because their glory is
laid waste: the voice of the roaring of the lions, because the pride of
the Jordan is spoiled.
11:4. Thus saith the Lord my God: Feed the flock of the slaughter,
11:5. Which they that possessed, slew, and repented not, and they sold
them, saying: Blessed be the Lord, we are become rich: and their
shepherds spared them not.
11:6. And I will no more spare the inhabitants of the land, saith the
Lord: behold I will deliver the men, every one into his neighbour's
hand, and into the hand of his king: and they shall destroy the land,
and I will not deliver it out of their hand.
Every one into his neighbour's hand, etc... This alludes to the last
siege of Jerusalem, in which the different factions of the Jews
destroyed one another; and they that remained fell into the hands of
their king, that is, of the Roman emperor, of whom they had said, John
19.15, we have no king but Caesar.
11:7. And I will feed the flock of slaughter for this, O ye poor of the
flock. And I took unto me two rods, one I called Beauty, and the other I
called a Cord, and I fed the flock.
Two rods... Or shepherd's staves, meaning the different ways of God's
dealing with his people; the one, by sweet means, called the rod of
Beauty: the other, by bands and punishments, called the Cord. And where
both these rods are made of no use or effect by the obstinacy of
sinners, the rods are broken, and such sinners are given up to a
reprobate sense, as the Jews were.
11:8. And I cut off three shepherds in one month, and my soul was
straitened in their regard: for their soul also varied in my regard.
Three shepherds in one month... That is, in a very short time. By these
three shepherds probably are meant the latter princes and high priests
of the Jews, whose reign was short.
11:9. And I said: I will not feed you: that which dieth, let it die: and
that which is cut off, let it be cut off: and let the rest devour every
one the flesh of his neighbour.
11:10. And I took my rod that was called Beauty, and I cut it asunder to
make void my covenant, which I had made with all people.
11:11. And it was made void in that day: and so the poor of the flock
that keep for me, understood that it is the word of the Lord.
11:12. And I said to them: If it be good in your eyes, bring hither my
wages: and if not, be quiet. And they weighed for my wages thirty pieces
of silver.
11:13. And the Lord said to me: Cast it to the statuary, a handsome
price, that I was prized at by them. And I took the thirty pieces of
silver, and I cast them into the house of the Lord to the statuary.
The statuary... The Hebrew word signifies also a potter.
11:14. And I cut off my second rod that was called a Cord, that I might
break the brotherhood between Juda and Israel.
11:15. And the Lord said to me: Take to thee yet the instruments of a
foolish shepherd.
A foolish shepherd... This was to represent the foolish, that is, the
wicked princes and priests that should rule the people, before their
utter desolation.
11:16. For behold I will raise up a shepherd in the land, who shall not
visit what is forsaken, nor seek what is scattered, nor heal what is
broken, nor nourish that which standeth, and he shall eat the flesh of
the fat ones, and break their hoofs.
11:17. O shepherd, and idol, that forsaketh the flock: the sword upon
his arm and upon his right eye: his arm shall quite wither away, and his
right eye shall be utterly darkened.