Chapter IX.

By collating similar passages with 1 Sam. iii. 25, St. Ambrose shows that the meaning is not that no one shall intercede, but that the intercessor must be worthy as were Moses and Jeremiah, at whose prayers we read that God spared Israel.

40. But you say, It is written: “If a man sin against the Lord, who shall entreat for him?”59    1 Sam. [1 Kings] ii. 25.    A good deal of controversy has arisen about this passage, which certainly appears, prima facie, to contrast confession to God and to a man obviously priest or bishop. The Benedictine editors insist much upon the use of the singular number, homini, a man. But the word might conceivably be used in a general sense. There is no real doubt as to the practice of the Early Church. See note at the end of this treatise. First of all, as I already said before, I might allow you to make that objection if you refused penance to those only who denied the faith. But what difficulty does that question produce? For it is not written, “No one shall entreat for him;” but, “Who shall entreat?” that is to say, the question is, Who in such a case can entreat? The entreaty is not excluded.

41. Then you have in the fifteenth Psalm: “Lord, who shall dwell in Thy tabernacle, or who shall rest upon Thy holy hill?”60    Ps. xv. [xiv.] 1.    Ps. cii. [ci.] 9. It is not that no one, but that he who is approved shall dwell there, nor does it say that no one shall rest, but he who is chosen shall rest. And that you may know that this is true, it is said not much later in the twenty-fourth Psalm: “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord, or who shall stand in His holy place?”61    Ps. xxiv. [xxiii.] 3.    Ps. cxix. [cxviii.] 136. The writer implies, not any ordinary person, or one of the common sort, but only a man of excellent life and of singular merit. And that we may understand that when the question is asked, Who? it does not imply no one, but some special one is meant, after having said “Who shall ascend into the hill of the Lord?” the Psalmist adds: “He that hath clean hands and a pure heart, who hath not lift up his mind unto vanity.”62    Ps. xxiv. [xxiii.] 4.    Rev. v. 4. And elsewhere it is said: “Who is wise and he shall understand these things?”63    Hos. xiv. 10.    Rev. xvii. 4. And in the Gospel: “Who is the faithful and wise steward, whom the Lord shall set over His household to give them their measure of wheat in due season?”64    S. Luke xii. 42.    S. Matt. xvi. 24. And that we may understand that He speaks of such as really exist, the Lord added: “Blessed is that servant, whom his Lord when He cometh shall find so doing.”65    S. Luke xii. 43.    Col. ii. 21. We have here an instance of a very extreme kind, of the way in which St. Ambrose and other writers occasionally quote the words of holy Scripture without reference to their context or real meaning. The words suit the argument of St. Ambrose and he uses them. But they mean almost the very opposite in the original. They are part of the argument which St. Paul is opposing, not his argument. And I am of opinion that where it is said, “Lord, who is like unto Thee?”66    Ps. lxxi. [lxx.] 19. it is not meant that none is like, for the Son is the image of the Father.

42. We must then understand in the same manner, “Who shall entreat for him?” as implying: It must be some one of excellent life who shall entreat for him who has sinned against the Lord. The greater the sin, the more worthy must be the prayers that are sought. For it was not any one of the common people who prayed for the Jewish people, but Moses,67    Ex. xxxii. 31. when forgetful of their covenant they worshipped the head of the calf. Was Moses wrong? Certainly he was not wrong in praying, who both merited and obtained that for which he asked. For what should such love not obtain as that of his when he offered himself for the people and said: “And now, if Thou wilt forgive their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book of life.”68    Ex. xxxii. 32. We see that he does not think of himself, like a man full of fancies and scruples, whether he may incur the risk of some offence, as Novatian says he dreads that he might, but rather, thinking of all and forgetful of himself, he was not afraid lest he should offend, so that he might rescue and free the people from danger of offence.

43. Rightly, then, is it said: “Who shall entreat for him?” It implies that it must be such an one as Moses to offer himself for those who sin, or such as Jeremiah, who, though the Lord said to him, “Pray not thou for this people,”69    Jer. vii. 16. and yet he prayed and obtained their forgiveness. For at the intercession of the prophet, and the entreaty of so great a seer, the Lord was moved and said to Jerusalem, which had meanwhile repented for its sins, and had said: “O Almighty Lord God of Israel, the soul in anguish, and the troubled spirit crieth unto Thee, hear, O Lord, and have mercy.”70    Bar. iii. 1, 2. And the Lord bids them lay aside the garments of mourning, and to cease the groanings of repentance, saying: “Put off, O Jerusalem, the garment of thy mourning and affliction. and clothe thyself in beauty, the glory which God hath given thee for ever.”71    Bar. v. 1.

CAPUT IX.

Scripturae verbis, Si autem in Dominum peccaverit 0478C homo, quis orabit pro eo? collatione similium locorum ostenditur non significari neminem rogaturum, sed dignum deprecatorem inquirendum esse, quales fuerunt Moyses ac Jeremias, quorum precibus populo Israelitico pepercisse Deus legitur.

40. [Alias cap. VIII.] Sed dicitis: Scriptum est: Si peccaverit homo in hominem, orabunt pro eo ad Dominum: si autem in Dominum peccaverit homo, quis orabit pro eo (I Reg. II, 25)? Primum, ut supra jam dixi, tunc te ista paterer objicere, si solis praevaricantibus non relaxares poenitentiam. Tamen quid scrupuli ista affert quaestio? Non enim scriptum est: Nullus orabit pro eo: sed, Quis orabit, hoc est, quis ille sit, qui in tali causa orare possit, quaeritur, 0478D non excluditur.

41. Denique habes in psalmo decimo quarto: Domine, quis habitabit in tabernaculo tuo, aut quis 0479Arequiescet in monte sancto suo (Psal. XIV, 1)? Non enim nullus, sed probatus habitabit: nec hoc dicit quod nemo requiescat, sed requiescat electus. Ut scias hoc esse verum, non multo post in psalmo vigesimo tertio ait: Quis ascendet in montem Domini, aut quis stabit in loco sancto ejus (Psal. XXIII, 3)? id est, non quicumque de vulgo, nec plebeiae vilitatis aliquis; sed vitae egregiae, singularisque meriti. Et ut scias quia cum quis dicitur, non intelligitur nullus, sed aliquis significatur, cum dixisset: Quis ascendet in montem Domini? subjecit: Innocens manibus, et mundo corde, qui non accipit in vano animam suam (Ibid., 4). Et alibi: Quis sapiens, et intelliget haec (Ose. XIV, 10)? Numquid dicit quia nullus intelliget? Et in Evangelio: Quis fidelis dispensator 0479Bet prudens, quem constituet Dominus super familiam suam, ut det illis in tempore tritici mensuram (Luc. XII, 42)? Et ut comprehendas quia de eo dixit, qui utique est, non de eo qui non est, subjunxit: Beatus ille servus, quem cum venerit Dominus, invenerit sic facientem (Ibid., 43). Et illud ita opinor dictum: Deus, quis similis tibi (Psal. LXXXII, 1)? non utique nullus; quia imago Patris Filius est (De Poenit. dist. 1, c. Si sacerdos, § Deus).

42. Similiter igitur accipiendum: Quis orabit pro eo (Hebr. I, 3)? hoc est, singularis vitae aliquis debet orare pro eo, qui peccavit in Dominum. Quo major culpa, eo majora sunt quaerenda suffragia (I Reg. II, 25). Non enim quicumque de vulgo pro Judaeorum populo, sed Moyses rogavit, quando 402 vituli caput 0479C fidei immemores adoraverunt (Exod. XXXII, 31). Numquid erravit Moyses? Atqui non erravit, qui quod rogavit, et meruit et impetravit. Quid enim talis affectus non impetraret, quando se objecit pro populo, dicens: Et nunc si dimittis illis peccatum, dimitte; sin autem, dele me de libro vitae (Ibid., 32)? Vides quia non tamquam deliciosus intercessor, et fastidii plenus sibi consulat, ne offensionem contrahat, quod Novatianus metuere se dicit: sed magis omnium memor, sui immemor, offendere non timebat ipse, ut plebem ab offensionis periculo exueret et liberaret.

0480A 43. Merito ergo scriptum est: Quis orabit pro eo? hoc est, talis qualis Moyses, qui se offerat pro peccantibus: talis qualis Hieremias, cui prophetae cum esset dictum a Domino Deo nostro: Noli orare pro populo isto (Jerem. VII, 16); tamen oravit, et veniam meruit. Denique intercessione prophetica, et obsecratione tanti vatis inflexus Dominus dicit ad Hierusalem; quoniam ea quoque poenitentiam pro delictis egerat, dicens: Domine omnipotens, Deus Israel, anima in angustiis, et spiritus anxius clamat ad te: audi, Domine, et miserere (Baruch. III, 1, 2). Et jubet luctus vestimenta deponi, et abjici gemitus poenitentiae; sic enim scriptum est in fine libri: Exue te, Hierusalem, stola luctus et vexationis tuae, et indue te decorem ejus, quae a Deo data est tibi gloria 0480Bin aeternum (Baruch. V, 1).