Lecture 10

^2:10^ Jod. The ancients sit upon the ground, they have held their peace; the daughters of Zion have sprinkled their heads with ashes; the virgins of Jerusalem are girded with haircloth; the virgins of Judah hang down their heads to the ground. (This is a translation of the text Thomas Aquinas was working with. The Douay-Rheims translation of the Vulgate reads as follows: Jod. The ancients of the daughter of Zion sit upon the ground, they have held their peace: they have sprinkled their heads with dust, they are girded with haircloth, the virgins of Jerusalem hang down their heads to the ground.)

32. Here he weeps over the destruction of those who are miserable on account of their reverend condition.

First, the elders: the ancients sit upon the ground, they have held their peace, which are signs of great sadness*. And they sat with him on the ground for six days, and no man spoke to him a word: for they saw that his grief was very great* (Job 2:13).

Second, as regards the virgins: the daughters of Zion, who were in the citadel, or, adjoining the temple, the daughters of the priests; have sprinkled, in sign of sorrow; the virgins of Jerusalem, those who lived in the city, are girded with haircloth; the virgins of Judah, those who lived all over the kingdom, hang down their heads to the ground, for shame and fear. And instead of a sweet smell there shall be stench, and instead of a girdle, a cord, and instead of curled hair, baldness (Isa 3:24).