Exactors Who Glean the People
… gave.
Their aim, pursued with all their zeal, was to persuade people that the law had to be kept in these matters above all; of the other commandments they took little account. That is why the Savior himself said to them: “Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites! For you tithe dill and mint and cumin, and have neglected the weightier matters of the law: justice and mercy and faith” (Matthew 23:23).
So they were greedy for gain and lovers of money. At times they brought harsh penalties on those who slipped, so that by terrifying anyone accused of anything at all they might induce them to bring offerings, sometimes even beyond their means. That is why he says to those they wronged: “My people, your exactors glean you, and those who demand payment rule over you” (Isaiah 3:12).
By saying “people” he still gives Israel to understand that if they chose to turn to what pleases him, they would meet with his gentleness and love for humankind, and would not fall away altogether from their close bond with him.
By saying that the exactors glean, he shows how great their insatiable greed for gain was. In the cornfields some cut the ears with iron, while others gather the stalks that fall from the reaper’s hand and leave nothing in the fields. Those who harvest vines usually do the same. “So your exactors glean you,” he says. It is as if he said: They have harvested your wealth, and their greed does not stop there. They are already gleaning as well, that is, laying their hands even on what is still left.
Very well and fittingly he does not call them guides or teachers or anything of the kind; he names them exactors and collectors. He teaches that they lord it over the people, not dealing gently with them as teachers with disciples, but like harsh and savage masters, forcing them to think as they see fit and driving them to anything at all, at times even against their own judgment.
But the aim of those in Christ was not of this kind. The inspired Peter writes to those called to oversight, whose lot it is to lead the rational flocks: “not as lording it over those in your charge, but being examples to the flock” (1 Peter 5:3).
The mystical sense also knows of other exactors, whom those who wish to live rightly must refuse. For the wicked and hostile powers all but demand of everyone on earth eagerness for what is base, and collect from us a kind of tribute: the mind’s leaning toward the passions. And indeed the holy … calls blessed …
Greek
ον ἐδίδου. Σκοπὸς δὲ ἦν αὐτοῖς, καὶ διὰ πάσης τέθειτο σπουδῆς τὸ ἀναπείθειν ‹70.112› τοὺς τὸ χρῆναι φυλάττειν ἔν γε δὴ τούτοις μάλιστα τὸν νόμον· τῶν γε μὴν ἑτέρων ἐντολῶν οὐ πολὺς ἦν ἄγαν παρ' αὐτοῖς ὁ λόγος. Ταύτῃ τοι πρὸς αὐτοὺς καὶ αὐτὸς ἔφασκεν ὁ Σωτήρ· "6Οὐαὶ ὑμῖν, Γραμματεῖς καὶ Φαρισαῖοι ὑποκριταὶ, ὅτι ἀποδεκατοῦτε τὸ ἄνηθον καὶ τὸ ἡδύοσμον, καὶ τὸ κύμινον. Καὶ ἀφήκατε τὰ βαρύτερα τοῦ νόμου, τὴν κρίσιν, καὶ τὸ ἔλεος, καὶ τὴν πίστιν."6 Ἦσαν οὖν ἄρα φιλοκερδεῖς καὶ ἐρασι- χρήματοι, καὶ πικρὰς ἔσθ' ὅτε τοῖς πταίουσιν ἐπῆγον τὰς δίκας, ἵνα ἐκδειματοῦντες τοὺς ἐφ' ὁτῳοῦν ἐγκα- λουμένους προσάγειν αὐτοῖς ἀναπείθωσιν καὶ τὰ ὑπὲρ δύναμιν ἔσθ' ὅτε. Ταύτῃ τοί φησι πρὸς τοὺς παρ' αὐτῶν ἀδικουμένους· "6Λαός μου, οἱ πράκτορες ὑμῶν καλαμῶνται ὑμᾶς, καὶ οἱ ἀπαιτοῦντες κυριεύουσιν ὑμῶν."6 Καὶ διὰ μὲν τοῦ λαὸν εἰπεῖν, ἔτι τὸν Ἰσραὴλ δίδωσι νοεῖν, ὡς εἴπερ ἕλοιντο μεταφοιτᾷν ἐπὶ τὸ αὐτῷ δοκοῦν, τῶν ἐξ ἡμερότητος τεύξονται καὶ φιλ- ανθρωπίας, καὶ οὐκ εἰσάπαν ἀποπεσοῦνται τῆς πρὸς αὐτὸν οἰκειότητος σχετικῆς. Καλαμᾶσθαι δὲ εἰπὼν τοὺς πράκτορας, τῆς ἐνούσης αὐτοῖς ἀπλη- στίας τε ὁμοῦ καὶ φιλοκερδίας δείκνυσι τὸ μέγεθος. Ἐν μὲν γὰρ τοῖς ληΐοις οἱ μὲν ἀποκείρουσι σιδήρῳ τὸν στάχυν, οἱ δὲ τοὺς ἐκπίπτοντας τῆς τοῦ κείροντος χειρὸς συλλέγοντες, οὐδὲν ἀφιᾶσιν ἐν ἀγροῖς. Ἔθος δὲ καὶ τοῖς τὰς ἀμπέλους τρυγῶσι τοῦτο δρᾷν. "6Κα- λαμῶνται τοίνυν ὑμᾶς, φησὶν, οἱ πράκτορες ὑμῶν."6 Ὅμοιον ὡς εἰ λέγοι· Τετρυγήκασιν ὑμῶν τὰς πε- ριουσίας, καὶ οὐ μέχρι τούτου τὰ τῆς ἀπληστίας αὐτοῖς. Ἀλλ' ἤδη καὶ καλαμῶνται, 38 τοῦτ' ἔστι, τὰς χεῖρας ἐπάγουσι, καὶ τοῖς ἔτι καταλελειμμένοις. Εὖ δὲ δὴ σφόδρα, καὶ πρεπόντως αὐτοῖς, οὐ καθηγητὰς, οὐ διδασκάλους, οὐχ ἕτερόν τι τῶν τοιούτων εἶναί φησιν, πράκτορας δὲ ὀνομάζει, καὶ ἀπαιτητάς. ∆ι- δάσκει δὲ ὅτι κατεξουσιάζουσιν αὐτῶν, οὐχ ὡς δι- δάσκαλοι μαθηταῖς ἠπίως προσφερόμενοι, ἀλλ' οἷον σκληροὶ καὶ ἄγριοι δεσπόται, τὸ δοκοῦν αὐτοῖς φρονεῖν ἀναγκάζοντες, καὶ πρὸς πᾶν ὁτιοῦν ἀποφέ- ροντες, καὶ τῶν παρὰ γνώμην ἔσθ' ὅτε. Ἀλλ' ὅ γε τῶν ἐν Χριστῷ σκοπὸς οὐ τοιοῦτος ἦν. Γράφει γοῦν ὁ θεσπέσιος Πέτρος τοῖς κεκλημένοις εἰς ἐπισκοπὴν, καὶ καθηγεῖσθαι λαχοῦσι τῶν λογικῶν ποιμνίων, μὴ ὡς κατακυριεύοντες τῶν κλήρων, ἀλλὰ τύποι γενόμε- νοι τοῦ ποιμνίου. Οἶδεν δὲ ὁ λόγος ὁ μυστικὸς καὶ πράκτορας ἑτέρους, οὓς ἀνάγκη παραιτεῖσθαι τοῖς ἐθέλουσι βιοῦν ὀρθῶς. Αἱ γὰρ πονηραὶ καὶ ἀντι- κείμεναι δυνάμεις ἕκαστον τῶν ἐπὶ γῆς μονονουχὶ καὶ ἀπαιτοῦσι τὴν εἰς τὸ φαῦλον σπουδὴν, καὶ ὥσπερ τινὰ δασμὸν παρ' ἡμῶν συλλέγουσι, τὴν εἰς τὰ πάθη τῆς διανοίας ῥοπήν. Καὶ γοῦν ὁ ἱερὸς μακαρίζει