“Oh that thou wouldest rend the heavens, that thou wouldest come down, that the mountains might flow down at thy presence,”
Presence, as at Sinai, Exodus xix. 16., and Judges v. 4. Judas [the Machabee] continues to pray. (Calmet) — The faithful sigh for Christ’s coming. (Haydock) — All good people desired it most fervently. (Worthington)
“As when the melting fire burneth, the fire causeth the waters to boil, to make thy name known to thine adversaries, that the nations may tremble at thy presence! the melting: Heb. the fire of meltings”
They. Septuagint, “As wax melts before the fire, so also fire will burn the adversaries, and thy,” &c. (Haydock) — Burn. Sparks of fire seemed to proceed from it.
“When thou didst terrible things which we looked not for, thou camest down, the mountains flowed down at thy presence.”
Bear. Exodus xx. 18. Hebrew, “expect.” Judas [the Machabee] appeared victorious, when the nation was prostrate.
“For since the beginning of the world men have not heard, nor perceived by the ear, neither hath the eye seen, O God, beside thee, what he hath prepared for him that waiteth for him. seen: or, seen a God beside thee, which doeth so for him, etc”
Thee. Never was deliverance more unexpected or miraculous. St. Paul quotes this passage, to shew the wisdom manifested in the incarnation, 1 Corinthians ii. 9. It is commonly applied to the glory of heaven.
“Thou meetest him that rejoiceth and worketh righteousness, those that remember thee in thy ways: behold, thou art wroth; for we have sinned: in those is continuance, and we shall be saved.”
Thee. The little band of Judas was sincerely attached to the Lord, 2 Machabees i. 3. — Sinned. This excited thy anger. Yet thou wilt shew mercy. Sin is often put for punishment. (Calmet) — Vau means also, “for, and, yet.” Protestants, “for we have sinned.” But we follow St. Jerome and the Vulgate. (Worthington)
“But we are all as an unclean thing, and all our righteousnesses are as filthy rags; and we all do fade as a leaf; and our iniquities, like the wind, have taken us away.”
Unclean: leper. (Grotius) (Leviticus xiii. 45.) — Justices. That is, the works by which we pretended to make ourselves just. This is spoken particularly of the sacrifices, sacraments, and ceremonies of the Jews, after the death of Christ, and the promulgation of the new law. (Challoner) — The justice which is under the law is stated uncleanness, when compared with evangelical purity, Philippians iii. 8. — “If any one after the gospel….would observe the ceremonies of the law, let him hear the people confessing that all that justice is compared to a most filthy rag.” (St. Jerome) — The good works which are done by grace, and not by man alone, cannot be said to be of this description. They constitute the internal glory of man, and God will one day crown these his gifts. Of ourselves indeed we can do nothing, and the works of the Mosaic law will not avail, as St. Paul inculcates; but those works, point out the saint, which are preformed by charity with faith in Christ. This justice is not imputed only, but real; and shews where true faith exists, according to St. James. Thus the apostles explain each other. (Haydock) — Woman. Septuagint, “of one sitting down;” like Rachel, Genesis xxxi. 35. Symmachus, “lying-in.” Aquila, “of proofs.” Grotius, “like a plaster on a sore, which is thrown away.” Such were Alcimus, &c. (Calmet) — To practise (Haydock) the Jewish rites would now be sinful. (Menochius)
“And there is none that calleth upon thy name, that stirreth up himself to take hold of thee: for thou hast hid thy face from us, and hast consumed us, because of our iniquities. consumed: Heb. melted because: Heb. by the hand”
Of thee; to remove thy indignation, like Moses, Jeremias, (vii. 15.) &c. See Ezechiel xiii. 5.
“Thy holy cities are a wilderness, Zion is a wilderness, Jerusalem a desolation.”
Desolate, under Antiochus Epiphanes, 1 Machabees i. 31., and iv. 38. (Calmet)