Luís de Sotomaior (c. 1526–1610) was a Portuguese Dominican theologian, professor at the University of Salamanca, and censor of the Spanish Inquisition. His monumental commentary on the Song of Songs—one of the most exhaustive produced in the Catholic tradition—draws throughout on patristic, scholastic, and Rabbinic sources, and contains extensive Adversus Judaeos material organized around the allegorical interpretation of the Synagogue as the repudiated former Bride of God, superseded by the Church.
All passages below are quoted directly from the Latin text. Volume 1 = Cantici Canticorum Salomonis Interpretatio (Salamanca, 1589); Volume 2 = the continuation (Salamanca, 1598).
I. The Perfidy and Dispersion of the Jews as Fulfillment of Prophecy
Latin (Vol. 1):
Iudæis erat apud Deum gratia, vbi, & insignis iustitia, & fides originalium authorum, &c. Sed quanta deliquerint, & si ipsi non confiterentur, probaret exitus hodiernus ipsorum, dispersi, palabundi, & cæli, & soli sui extorres, vagantur per orbem sine homine sine Deo rege, &c. — Tertullianus, Apologeticum cap. 21, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“The Jews had favor with God, where there was also distinguished justice, and the faith of their original fathers, etc. But how greatly they have sinned—even if they themselves would not confess it—their present condition proves: dispersed, wandering, exiled from their own sky and soil, they roam throughout the world without a man, without God as king, etc.”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Ibi corvupta est mater tua, ibi violata est genitrix tua. … Quasì verò hæc verba posteriora: Ibi corrupta est mater tua, &c. referenda sint ad Synagogam, seu Ecclesiam Israëliticam, quæ Christum Dei filium, id est, Authorem vitæ, crucifixit, & occidit. Maius enim fuit hoc peccatum Synagogæ, quod commisit occidendo Christum filium Dei, quam peccatum illud, quod iam olim commiserat, vitulum aureum, id est, figuram vituli comedentis fœnum, pro Deo adorando.
Translation:
“‘There thy mother was corrupted, there she that bore thee was violated.’ … These latter words—There thy mother was corrupted, etc.—are to be referred to the Synagogue, or Israelitic Church, which crucified and slew Christ the Son of God, that is, the Author of life. For greater was this sin of the Synagogue, which it committed by killing Christ the Son of God, than that sin which it had long ago committed by adoring the golden calf—that is, the image of a calf eating hay—in place of God.”
II. Deicide: The Jews Killed Christ
Latin (Vol. 1):
Vt Iudæorum gens tam multa, & grauiora postea ubique pateretur, pœnas luens semper delicti, seu peccati illius maximi, quo Christum Autorem vitæ impie, & crudeliter interemerint, fratrem, & filium matris suæ, id est, Synagogæ, vel Ecclesiæ Israëliticæ. Sacratus enim ille Christi cruor, pro nobis fusus etiam nunc vociferatur adversus Iudæos. Sed tamen melius, quam sanguis Abel, ut inquit Paulus. Ideoque ubique in orbe terrarum cum sint peregrini, & advenæ, timore, ac tremore perpetuo divexantur. Cæterum ne penitus intercideret veluti signo quodam notati sunt, ut Caimus.
Translation:
“So that the nation of the Jews suffers so many and so much graver things afterward everywhere, always paying the penalty for that great crime by which they impiously and cruelly slew Christ the Author of life, the brother and son of their mother—that is, of the Synagogue, or Israelitic Church. For that consecrated Blood of Christ, shed for us, even now cries out against the Jews. Yet better, as Paul says, than the blood of Abel. And therefore, as they are pilgrims and strangers everywhere throughout the world, they are perpetually afflicted with fear and trembling. But lest they perish altogether, they are marked as with a sign, like Cain.”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Denique supra modum horribilia, & infinita sunt illa mala, & damna quæ Iudæis accidisse narrat Iosephus sub Tito Vespasiani filio Romanorum Imperatore propter hoc peccatum, quo Christum D. occiderunt. Et tamen nihilominus omnia hæc quadraginta annis antea certissimè a Christo D. ipsis Iudæis prædicta fuerant, præsertim Matth. c. 21. cum ait exponendo vineæ parabolam: Ideo dico vobis, quia auferetur a vobis regnum, & dabitur genti facienti fructus eius.
Translation:
“And finally, beyond measure horrible and infinite are those evils and calamities which Josephus recounts as having befallen the Jews under Titus, son of Vespasian the Roman Emperor, on account of this sin by which they slew Christ the Lord. And yet, all these things had been foretold with certainty forty years beforehand by Christ the Lord to the Jews themselves, especially in Matthew chapter 21, when in expounding the parable of the vineyard He said: Therefore I say to you, that the kingdom of God shall be taken from you, and shall be given to a nation yielding the fruits thereof.“
Latin (Vol. 2):
Synagoga igitur amplius non gignit, quia occidit sponsum, & virum suum, & pro sponso amplectitur effatum Mosem. Verum nova sponsa, & nupta, cum maxime vexaretur per Iudæos, ac gentes exidijs, cruciatibus, ac mortibus, tum maxime pariebat sponso suo legitimos filios, ac filias.
Translation:
“The Synagogue, therefore, no longer brings forth offspring, because it slew its Spouse and Husband, and in place of the Spouse it embraces the lifeless Moses. But the new Bride, newly wed, when she was most grievously afflicted by the Jews and the nations with ruins, torments, and deaths, at that very time was bringing forth for her Spouse His legitimate sons and daughters.”
III. The Blood Curse
Latin (Vol. 2):
Unanimiter etiam, atque etiam clamauit adversus Deum, seu Christum filium Dei: crucifigatur. Et rursus. Sanguis eius super nos, & super filios nostros, id est, cædes hæc, seu homicidium … Devovit enim se his verbis ultro populus ille sanguinarius, & quasi imprecatione Christi sanguine consecravit, vel potius obsignavit, & confirmauit: Et quidem bene convenit ea vox populo sanguinario.
Translation:
“Unanimously, again and again, they cried out against God, that is, against Christ the Son of God: Let him be crucified! And again: His blood be upon us and upon our children—that is, this slaughter, this murder … For that bloodthirsty people freely devoted itself with these words, and as it were consecrated, sealed, and confirmed itself with a curse by the Blood of Christ: and indeed that cry well befits a bloodthirsty people.”
IV. The Synagogue Crowned Christ with Thorns
Latin (Vol. 1):
Spectate dispensationis rationem in diademate, quo dilectum meum coronauit mater sua in die desponsiationis ipsius. In spinea nimirum corona, quam Christi capiti imposuit Iudæorum Synagoga, ex qua ipse est secundum carnem. In die salutifere mortis eius, in qua proprio sanguine Ecclesiam sibi desponauit. — Triumpatrum commentarius (Gregory of Nyssa, Maximus, Nilus), cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘Behold the manner of the dispensation in the diadem wherewith his mother crowned him in the day of his espousals’—namely, in the crown of thorns which the Synagogue of the Jews placed upon the head of Christ, from whom He Himself is according to the flesh. On the day of His saving death, in which with His own Blood He espoused the Church to Himself.”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Mater siquidem Synagoga, non matrem sanè se exhibens, sed novercam, regem nostrum spinea coronauit. Pudeat igitur sectari gloriam membra, quibus caput suum tam inglorium exhibetur. Pudeat sub spinato capite membrum fieri delicatum. — St. Bernard, Serm. 2 in Epiphania, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘For the Synagogue, his mother, showing herself not a mother indeed, but a stepmother, crowned our king with a crown of thorns. Let the members be ashamed to seek glory when their head is exhibited so ingloriously. Let them be ashamed to be a delicate member under a thorn-crowned head.'”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Matrem appellat Iudæa, quantum pertinet ad eius humanitatem, quæ hanc illi inuita, id est, præter sententiam suam, coronam imposuit. Spinis enim illum, contemptus causæ, coronauit. Ipse vero per spinas suscepit diadema charitatis. — Theodoretus, Commentarius in Canticum, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘He calls Judea his mother, insofar as it pertains to His humanity, which imposed this crown upon Him against its own intent—that is, contrary to what it had purposed. For it crowned Him with thorns, by reason of contempt. But He Himself received through the thorns the diadem of charity.'”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Quam dura conditio, ut possessio, quæ Domino suauitatis fructus ferre debuit, spinarum illum asperitate compunxerit! Hoc est, cum Iudæi Salvatorem debuerint tota devotione suscipere, spinarum cum coronauerunt passione. Quæ tamen corona, quantum in Iudæis est, iniuriarum erat contumelia: quantum vero in Domino, corona erat virtutum. — St. Ambrose, Serm. 73, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘How harsh the condition, that a possession which ought to have brought forth for the Lord fruits of sweetness pricked Him with the roughness of thorns! That is, when the Jews ought to have received the Savior with all devotion, they crowned Him in His Passion with thorns. Yet that crown, insofar as it came from the Jews, was the insult of outrages; but insofar as it was in the Lord, it was the crown of virtues.'”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Quasi dicat Author sacer per ironiam: Egredimini filiæ Sion, & considerate, quali corona, id est, quam egregia, seu præclara corona rex vester, & Dominus pro tot, & tam egregijs meritis a matre sua vel potius mala nouerca Synagoga, unde carnem acceperat, affectus est.
Translation:
“As if the sacred Author speaks by way of irony: ‘Go forth, ye daughters of Sion, and see with what a crown—that is, how excellent and illustrious a crown—your king and Lord has been treated, for so many and so great merits, by his mother, or rather by the wicked stepmother the Synagogue, from which he had taken flesh.'”
V. Annas, Caiphas, and Judas as Sons of the Synagogue
Latin (Vol. 1):
Annas, & Caiphas, & Iudas Scarioth filii Synagogæ fuerunt, & hi contra Ecclesiam Synagogæ filiam in ipso exortu ipsius acerbissimè pugnauerunt, suspendentes in ligno collectorem ipsius Iesum. — St. Bernard, Serm. 29 in Canticum, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘Annas, and Caiphas, and Judas Iscariot were sons of the Synagogue, and these fought most bitterly against the Church—the daughter of the Synagogue—at the very moment of her birth, hanging upon the wood her very Founder, Jesus.'”
VI. The Jews as a Generation of Vipers
Latin (Vol. 1):
Viperarum natura est rumpere viscera matrum suarum, & sic nasci. Quoniam ergo Iudæi assiduè persequentes prophetas matrem suam Synagogam corruperunt (sicut ipsa lugens dicit in Canticis: Filij matris meæ. &c.) Ideo viperarum Genimina nuncupantur. — Pseudo-Chrysostom, Comment. in Matth. hom. 3, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘It is the nature of vipers to rupture the entrails of their mothers, and so to be born. Because therefore the Jews, by continually persecuting the prophets, corrupted their mother the Synagogue (as she herself, lamenting, says in the Canticles: The sons of my mother. etc.), for this reason they are called a Brood of Vipers.'”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Rectissime ergo Baptista Matth. c. 3. Et item Christus D. Matth.c.23. Iudæos genimina viperarum ob eam potissimum rationem, quia de more viperarum viscera matris suæ Synagogæ crudeliter disruperunt, & dilacerarunt, persequentes, vexantes, & affligentes, & interficientes optimos quosque illius populi, id est, veros Dei prophetas.
Translation:
“Most rightly therefore did the Baptist in Matthew chapter 3, and likewise Christ the Lord in Matthew chapter 23, call the Jews a brood of vipers for this very reason above all: that after the manner of vipers they cruelly burst asunder and tore to pieces the entrails of their mother the Synagogue, persecuting, vexing, afflicting, and slaying all the best men of that people—that is, the true prophets of God.”
VII. The Perfidy of the Jews as the Occasion of Salvation for the Gentiles
Latin (Vol. 1):
Perfidia Iudæorum, occasio quædam fuerit salutis gentium. Vnde (ut refert Lucas Act. cap. 13.) Iudæis prædicationi Evangelicæ contradicentibus, & blasphemantibus Paulus, & Barnabas constanter ita dixerunt: Vobis oportebat primum loqui verbum Dei, sed quoniam repellitis illud, & indignos vos iudicatis æternæ vitæ, ecce convertimus ad gentes.
Translation:
“The perfidy of the Jews was in some way the occasion of the salvation of the Gentiles. Whence (as Luke recounts in Acts chapter 13), when the Jews contradicted and blasphemed the preaching of the Gospel, Paul and Barnabas steadfastly said to them: It was necessary that the word of God should be spoken first to you: but because you reject it, and judge yourselves unworthy of eternal life, behold we turn to the Gentiles.“
Latin (Vol. 1):
Tandem perfidia, & incredulitate, magna saltem ex parte, defecit, ac cecidit, id est, grauiter peccauit, seu deliquit: atque ita per occasionem delictum illius salus fuit gentium, ut loquitur, & docet Paulus Apostolus doctor ipse gentium, & quidem amplissimis verbis in Rom. cap. 11. vbi ait, Gentes propter perfidiam seu incredulitatem Iudæorum, sic per fidem insertas seu insitas fuisse in veram Dei Ecclesiam, participesque factas fuisse salutis, atque redemptionis, quemadmodum oleaster contra naturam suam, in bonam, & pinguem olivam, aliquando inferitur.
Translation:
“At length through perfidy and unbelief, for the most part at least, it [the Synagogue] fell away and collapsed—that is, it sinned and offended gravely: and so through the occasion of its crime, its fall was the salvation of the Gentiles, as the Apostle Paul himself, teacher of the Gentiles, says and teaches in the most ample terms in Romans chapter 11, where he declares that the Gentiles, on account of the perfidy or unbelief of the Jews, were thus grafted and inserted through faith into the true Church of God, and made partakers of salvation and redemption—just as a wild olive is sometimes, contrary to its own nature, grafted into a good and fruitful olive tree.”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Magis etiam dolendum esse videtur super cæcitate, & incredulitate, seu malitia, & perditione Iudæorum, exemplo Pauli Apostoli, qui licet aliàs gentium ipse apostolus esset, Romanorum cap. 9. ita dolenter super hac re conqueritur dicens. Veritatem dico in Christo Iesu, non mentior, testimonium mihi prohibente in Spiritu sancto conscientia mea, quoniam tristitia mihi magna est, & continuus dolor cordi meo. Optabam enim ego ipse anathema esse à Christo pro fratribus meis, qui sunt cognati mei, secundum carnem, qui sunt Israelitæ.
Translation:
“It seems that we ought to grieve all the more over the blindness and unbelief, or rather the malice and perdition of the Jews, following the example of the Apostle Paul, who, though he was otherwise himself the apostle of the Gentiles, laments over this matter so sorrowfully in Romans chapter 9, saying: I speak the truth in Christ Jesus, I lie not, my conscience bearing me witness in the Holy Ghost: That I have great sadness, and continual sorrow in my heart. For I wished myself to be an anathema from Christ, for my brethren, who are my kinsmen according to the flesh, who are Israelites.“
VIII. St. Peter Chrysologus Reproaches the Jews
Latin (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2):
Diuus Petrus Chrysologus serm. 114. ita eleganter inuehitur adversus perfidos Iudæos hodiernos: Iudæe, quid habes, quod non perdidisti? Quid gloriaris, quasi non perdideris, vbi est templum, vbi est Sacerdos, vbi sacrificium, vbi incensum, vbi solemnitatum tuarum non omittenda devotio?
Translation:
“St. Peter Chrysologus, Sermon 114, inveighs thus elegantly against the perfidious Jews of today: ‘O Jew, what hast thou that thou hast not lost? Whereof dost thou boast, as though thou hadst not lost it? Where is the temple, where is the priest, where is the sacrifice, where is the incense, where is that devotion of thy solemnities which was not to be omitted?'”
IX. Paul’s Anathema upon the Perfidious Jews
Latin (Vol. 1):
Paulus iure, ac merito 1. ad Corinth. cap. ultimo non veretur anathemate percellere omnes perfidos Iudæos, qui Regem Messiam, seu Christum non amant, atque desiderant, nec colunt, sicuti par est, sed adhuc expectant, ac negant eum iam in mundum venisse: & ita priorem epistolam ad Corinthios concludit, dicens: Si quis non amat Dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, sit anathema.
Translation:
“Paul, rightly and deservedly, in the last chapter of the first Epistle to the Corinthians, does not hesitate to strike with anathema all the perfidious Jews, who do not love and desire the King Messiah, that is, Christ, nor worship Him as is fitting, but still await Him and deny that He has already come into the world: and thus concludes the former Epistle to the Corinthians, saying: If any man love not our Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema.“
Latin (Vol. 1):
Quo quidem verbo breuiter pulsit, atque perstringit perfidos Iudæos populares suos, qui malunt Regem Messiam, id est, Christum expectare, seu sperare venturum, quam habere præsentem, ut salui fiant, sine quo tamen salui esse non possunt. Quæ quidem stulta, & supervacua expectatio Iudæorum causa fuit omnium malorum, quæ iam passi sunt, atque etiam quotidie patiuntur, & deinceps patientur. Iuxta illud oraculum Christi Evangelicum ad Hierusalem Luc. cap. 19. Hæc omnia venient super te, eo quòd non cognoueris tempus visitationis tuæ.
Translation:
“By this word he briefly strikes and lashes his perfidious Jewish countrymen, who prefer to await and hope for the coming of the King Messiah—that is, Christ—rather than to have Him present, that they might be saved; without whom, however, they cannot be saved. This foolish and vain expectation of the Jews was the cause of all the evils they have already suffered, and which they suffer daily, and shall hereafter suffer—according to that oracle of Christ the Lord to Jerusalem in Luke chapter 19: All these things shall come upon thee, because thou hast not known the time of thy visitation.“
X. The Synagogue Replaced by the Church: Supersessionism
Latin (Vol. 1):
Excluditur ab ultima despontatione Synagoga, & cum dicitur: Ite ergo ad exitus viarum, &c. quæritur Ecclesia nova ex gentibus speciosa illa, ac perantonomasiam sponsa Christi dicta. Scilicet ut ait Paulus, delictum Iudæorum divitiæ sunt mundi.
Translation:
“The Synagogue is excluded from the final espousal, and when it is said Go ye therefore into the highways, etc., there is sought that beautiful Church gathered from the Gentiles, who is called par excellence the Bride of Christ. As Paul says: ‘the fall of them [the Jews] is the riches of the world.'”
Latin (Vol. 2):
At ubi Christus venit, Ecclesia, quæ erat sterilis, cæpit esse fæcunda, plures enim filios ex ea Ecclesia, quæ erat sterilis, procreauit, quam Synagoga, quæ erat fæcunda, susciperit. — St. Ambrose, Serm. 87, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘But when Christ came, the Church, which had been barren, began to be fruitful; for she brought forth more sons from that Church which was barren than the Synagogue, which had been fruitful, had ever received.'”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Nec hoc dico in fugillationem terræ Iudæa, ut hereticus Sycophanta mentitur, aut quò auferan historiæ veritatem, quæ fundamentum est intelligentiæ spiritualis, sed vt decutiam supercilia Iudeorum, qui Synagogæ angustias Ecclesiæ latitudini præferunt. — St. Jerome, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘I do not say this in reproach of the land of Judea—as the heretical sycophant lyingly pretends—nor to take away the truth of history, which is the foundation of spiritual understanding, but to cut down the arrogance of the Jews, who prefer the narrowness of the Synagogue to the breadth of the Church.'”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Synagoga mater est Ecclesiæ. Vnde eidem in Canticis Canticorum Dominus ait: Sub arbore mali suscitaui te, ibi corrupta est mater tua, ibi violata est genitrix tua. — Eucherius of Lyons, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘The Synagogue is the mother of the Church. Whence the Lord says to the same in the Canticle of Canticles: Under the apple tree I raised thee up: there thy mother was corrupted, there she was violated that bore thee.‘”
XI. The Blindness and Present Captivity of the Jews
Latin (Vol. 1):
Ob perfidiam in Christum Dominum, stultamque falsi Messiæ expectationem vexata est misere, vexaturque hucusque Iudæorum gens, & vexabitur quousque tandem agnoscat illum docente & monstrante magistra Ecclesia.
Translation:
“On account of their perfidy toward Christ the Lord, and their foolish expectation of a false Messiah, the nation of the Jews has been wretchedly afflicted, and is afflicted even to this day, and shall be afflicted, until at last it comes to acknowledge Him under the teaching and guidance of the Church as mistress.”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Interpretatio R. Selomoh, si referatur ad captiuitatem Iudæorum, seu Israëlitarum antiquorum Ægyptiacam, aut Babylonicam, non est improbanda, secus verò si ad captiuitatem, & statum Iudæorum perfidorum præsentem referatur. Diversa enim omnino ratio est.
Translation:
“The interpretation of Rabbi Solomon, if it be referred to the ancient captivity of the Jews or Israelites in Egypt or Babylon, is not to be rejected; but it is quite otherwise if it be referred to the present captivity and condition of the perfidious Jews. For the case is altogether different.”
XII. The Church Prays for the Perfidious Jews
Latin (Vol. 1 and Vol. 2):
Consuetudo, & ritus Ecclesiæ catholicæ, quæ solet singulis annis in sacrosanctis mysterijs publicè Deum, id est, sponsum cælestem etiam, atque etiam orare pro perfidis Iudæis, vt Deus, & Dominus noster auferat velamen de cordibus eorum, vt & ipsi agnoscant Iesum Christum Dominum nostrum.
Translation:
“It is the custom and rite of the Catholic Church, which is accustomed each year in the most holy mysteries to pray publicly to God—that is, to the heavenly Spouse—again and again for the perfidious Jews, that God and our Lord may remove the veil from their hearts, so that they too may acknowledge Jesus Christ our Lord.”
XIII. Criticism of the Talmud and Rabbinical Traditions
Latin (Vol. 1):
Vulgus Iudæorum non pudet tales magistros & duces habere, & sequi in his quæ ad fidem, seu adventum Christi, id est, Regis Messiæ, ut ipsi loquuntur, pertinent; quasi verò super hac re non essent aperta vaticinia prophetarum, quæ testimonium de adventu Christi perhibent. Neque fontes in re tanti momenti perquirunt, ut ritè credant in Christum, sed potius Lacunas fœtidas; neque temporum historiam scire student, ut salui fiant, sed potius paucorum Rabbinorum ineptias, & nugas, & somnia mera sequuntur, proque oraculis habent omnia eiusmodi, quæ Rabbini sui tradunt, quasi ea, ut Moses, duabus tabulis exarata Dei digito perceperint.
Translation:
“The Jewish common people are not ashamed to have and to follow such masters and leaders in matters pertaining to faith, or to the coming of Christ—that is, the King Messiah, as they call Him—as though there were no manifest prophecies of the prophets bearing witness to the coming of Christ. Nor do they seek out the fountains in a matter of such moment, so as rightly to believe in Christ, but rather the fetid cisterns; nor do they study the history of the times in order to be saved, but rather follow the ineptitudes, trifles, and mere dreams of a few Rabbis, and hold for oracles all such things as their Rabbis hand down to them—as though they had received them, as Moses did, written by the finger of God on two tablets.”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Rabbini præsertim recentiores usque ad fabulas nimij supertiofique sunt, & eatenus a Christo Domino reprehensi Matthæi 15.
Translation:
“The Rabbis, especially the more recent ones, are excessive and superstitious to the point of fables, and for this they were reproved by Christ the Lord in Matthew 15.”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Præfatus Rabinus perperam, & malitiose dictionem Hebraicam הערארי [ulmmi], id est, tribus mea, ad aliam confimilem distorquet … Nihilominus tamen violentum, & falsum est, quod ait iste Rabbinus. Non enim, ut ille mendaciter citat, est apud Esaiam, aut in Hebreo … Hebræorum mendacijs, ineptijs, & fabulis repudiatis.
Translation:
“The aforesaid Rabbi perversely and maliciously twists the Hebrew word [ulmmi], meaning ‘my tribe,’ into another similar form … Nevertheless, what this Rabbi says is forced and false. For it is not found in Isaiah, nor in the Hebrew, as he mendaciously cites … With the lies, ineptitudes, and fables of the Hebrews repudiated.”
XIV. The Jews Forced by Their Own Authorities to Confess Christ’s Dignity
Latin (Vol. 1):
Est enim argumentum ad homines, ut vulgo dicitur, & valde quidem urget, & cogit Iudeos perfidos ad confitendampræstantiam & maiestatem, & diuinitatem Christi, cuius typus, seu figura fuit Salomon, tum in hoc Cantico, tum alibi.
Translation:
“For it is an argument ad hominem, as the saying goes, and it presses hard and compels the perfidious Jews to confess the excellence, majesty, and divinity of Christ, of whom Solomon was the type and figure, both in this Canticle and elsewhere.”
XV. The Synagogue‘s Sterility and the Fruitfulness of the Church
Latin (Vol. 2):
Synagoga habuit virum Deum, sed tamen paucos generauit. Postea Ecclesia, quæ antea sterilis fuerat, in una die, vel duobus grandes partus fudit, quando generauit octo millia. — St. Jerome, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘The Synagogue had God for her husband, but nevertheless brought forth few. Afterward the Church, which had formerly been barren, poured forth great offspring in one or two days, when she brought forth eight thousand.'”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Synagoga igitur amplius non gignit, quia occidit sponsum, & virum suum, & pro sponso amplectitur effatum Mosem.
Translation:
“The Synagogue therefore no longer brings forth [children], because it slew its Spouse and Husband, and in place of the Spouse it embraces the lifeless Moses.”
XVI. The Theological Enmity Between Jews and Christians
Latin (Vol. 1):
Iudæorum fidelium, & in Christum credentium adversus alios Iudæos fratres, & populares suos perfidos, seu infideles, quippe qui non solum iam olim persequuti sunt veros Dei prophetas piosque Dei cultores, sed etiam postea vehementer oppugnabant, & vexabant, & persequebantur eos, qui in Christum D. credebant, & doctrinam eius libenter audiebant, ac profitebantur.
Translation:
“Of the believing Jews and those who believed in Christ, against their other Jewish brethren and perfidious or faithless countrymen—who not only long ago persecuted the true prophets of God and the devout worshippers of God, but also afterward vehemently attacked, harassed, and persecuted those who believed in Christ the Lord and willingly heard and professed His doctrine.”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Vævobis scribæ, & pharisæi hypocritæ, qui ædificatis sepulchra prophetarum, & ornatis monumenta iustorum, & dicitis: quia si fuissemus in diebus patrum nostrorum, non essemus socij eorum in sanguine prophetarum. Et vos implete mensuram patrum vestrorum. Ecce ego mitto ad vos prophetas, & sapientes, & scribas, & ex illis occidetis, & crucifigetis, & ex eis flagellabitis in Synagogis vestris, & persequemini de civitate in civitatem, ut veniat super vos omnis sanguis iustus. — Matthew 23, quoted by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘Woe to you scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, that build the sepulchres of the prophets, and adorn the monuments of the just, And say: If we had been in the days of our Fathers, we would not have been partakers with them in the blood of the prophets. Wherefore you are witnesses against yourselves, that you are the sons of them that killed the prophets. Fill ye up then the measure of your fathers. Behold I send to you prophets, and wise men, and scribes: and some of them you will put to death and crucify, and some you will scourge in your Synagogues, and persecute from city to city: That upon you may come all the just blood that hath been shed upon the earth.'”
XVII. The Synagogue Sought to Reject Its Own Soul: The Chaldaic Paraphrase
Latin (Vol. 1):
Futurum est, quod Deus sedebit coram iustis, intentionemque legis ac secreta prædicabit, & per manum Regis Messiæ referabit. — Ancient Talmudic gloss, Prologue of Lamentations Rabbah, quoted by Sotomaior
Translation:
“It shall come to pass that God will sit before the just, and will proclaim the intention and secrets of the Law, and will reveal them through the hand of the King Messiah.” [Sotomaior cites this gloss to demonstrate that even the Talmudists’ own ancient traditions testify to the coming of the Messiah, which Christians identify with Christ.]
XVIII. St. Ambrose: The Synagogue Quests for Christ but Cannot Find Him
Latin (Vol. 1):
Synagoga dilexit, Ecclesia diligit. Nec unquam circa Christum suum mutat affectum. … Cur quem dilexit anima mea, dicis, & non, quem diligit? Cur dimisisti, quem tenebas? Dilexisti patrum fide, amisisti incredulitate, tenebas charitatis vinculis, amisisti longo fune perfidiæ. Ideo nescis ubi pascat, ubi maneat. Nam si scires, non quæreres. — St. Ambrose, Comment. in Psalm. 118, Serm. 2, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘The Synagogue loved [past tense]; the Church loves [present]. Nor does she ever change her affection toward her Christ.’ … ‘Why dost thou say whom my soul loved and not whom she loves? Why didst thou let go him whom thou hadst? Thou lovedst with the faith of the fathers, thou lost him through unbelief; thou heldest him with the bonds of charity, thou lost him by the long cord of perfidy. Therefore thou knowest not where He feeds, where He abides. For if thou knewest, thou wouldest not seek.'”
XIX. Augustine and Jerome: The Jews‘ Rejection Turned the Apostles to the Gentiles
Latin (Vol. 1):
Missi sunt Apostoli tamquam nubes, ut pluerent Iudæis, & illi verbum Dei repellentes, quia pro vuis spinas dederunt, dixerunt Apostoli: Ad vos missi eramus, sed quia repulistis verbum Dei, imus ad gentes. Ex illo cœperunt nubes non pluere pluuiam suam super vineam illam. — St. Augustine, Comment. in Psalm. 88, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘The Apostles were sent as clouds, to rain upon the Jews; and those, rejecting the word of God—because for grapes they had yielded thorns—the Apostles said: We were sent to you; but since you have rejected the word of God, we go to the Gentiles. From that time the clouds ceased to rain their rain upon that vineyard.'”
Latin (Vol. 1):
Et ego dixi, in vacuum laboraui. &c. ut sint verba Christi D. conquerentis, & condolentis super cæcitate, & perfidia Iudæorum. Quasi dicat: In vanum laboraui, quia missus sum ad oues Israel, & Israel non credidit. — St. Augustine, De Civitate Dei lib. 18 cap. 35, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘And I said: I have laboured in vain,’ etc.—so that these are the words of Christ the Lord lamenting and sorrowing over the blindness and perfidy of the Jews. As if He says: ‘In vain have I laboured, for I was sent to the sheep of Israel, and Israel did not believe.'”
XX. St. Bernard on the Church’s Charity Even Toward the Synagogue
Latin (Vol. 2):
Salus enim ex Iudæis est. Non enim rami radici, non matri filij ingrati esse, aut invidere debent quod ex ea sumpere, quodque de eius sumpserint uberibus. … Teneat itaque Ecclesia firmiter salutem, quam Iudæa perdidit, ipsa apprehendit: donec plenitudo gentium introeat, & sic omnis Israel saluus fiat. — St. Bernard, Serm. 80 in Canticum, cited by Sotomaior
Translation:
“‘For salvation is from the Jews. The branches ought not to be ungrateful or envious toward the root, nor sons toward the mother, for what they have taken from her, and what they have drawn from her breasts. … Let the Church therefore hold firmly to the salvation which Judea lost and she herself has seized: until the fullness of the Gentiles enter in, and so all Israel be saved.'”
XXI. The Vine That Brought Forth Wild Grapes: The Sin of the Synagogue
Latin (Vol. 2):
Labruscas autem pro vuis fecisse, seu reddidisse videtur Synagoga planè, cum Christo Dei filio pro illis etiam crucifixo, sitienti, vel potius iam morienti dederunt vinum bibere cum felle mixtum, ut refert Matthæus c. 27. vel etiam cum dicente Pilato: Innocens ego sum à sanguine huius iusti: quippe cum non posset amplius impia coniurationis impetum conatumque retardare: unanimiter etiam, atque etiam clamauit adversus Deum, seu Christum filium Dei: crucifigatur.
Translation:
“The Synagogue plainly appears to have brought forth wild grapes in place of grapes, when, for Christ the Son of God crucified even for their sake—thirsting, or rather now dying—they gave Him wine mixed with gall to drink, as Matthew chapter 27 relates; or also when, with Pilate saying I am innocent of the blood of this just man—since he could no longer hold back the violence and attempt of that impious conspiracy—they cried out unanimously, again and again, against God, that is, against Christ the Son of God: Let him be crucified!“
XXII. The Jews Marked Like Cain
Latin (Vol. 1):
Cæterum ne penitus intercideret veluti signo quodam notati sunt, ut Caimus. Vt eleganter ait Procopius comm. in Gen. c. 4. super illis verbis. Quicunque occiderit Caim. &c.
Translation:
“But lest they perish altogether, they are marked as with a sign, like Cain—as Procopius elegantly says in his Commentary on Genesis chapter 4, upon the words: Whosoever shall kill Cain, etc.”
All selections are from:
Sources
- Luís de Sotomaior, Cantici Canticorum Salomonis Interpretatio (Vol. 1, Salamanca, 1589): Google Books
- Luís de Sotomaior, Cantici Canticorum Salomonis Interpretatio (Vol. 2, Salamanca, 1598): Google Books