For they have sown the wind, and they shall reap the whirlwind: the stalk has no bud: it shall yield no meal: if so be it does yield, the aliens shall swallow it up.
Read Chapter 8
George Leo Haydock
AD 1849
Whirlwind. They shall be punished for their folly, nor shall they reap any advantage from idols.
In it, or in Israel. The seed which I have sown yields no fruit. If any come up, the mildew destroys it. Yea, though any should come to perfection, which is impossible, it should be given to strangers. My people perform no acts of religion; or at least they render them useless, by adoring idols. (Calmet)
He speaks in general terms, as few continued faithful. Yet even in the worst of times, seven thousand were found, 3 Kings xix. 18. (Haydock)
The one who looks for the applause of fellow creatures in return for the good that he practices is carrying an article of great worth to be sold at a mean price. From that by which he might have earned the kingdom of heaven he seeks the coin of passing talk. His practice goes for little in that he spends a great deal and gets back but very little. Such are the hypocrites who may be compared to luxuriant and untended vines, which put forth fruit from their fertility but are never lifted from the earth by tending. All that the rich branches bud forth, stray beasts tread under foot. The more fruitful they see it is, the more greedily they devour it…. Hence it is well said by the prophet, “The standing stalk, there is no bud in them, and they shall yield no meal; if it happens to yield, the strangers shall swallow it up.” For the stalk yields no meal when the one who thrives in this world understands nothing refined and yields no fruit of good practice. .
