Give them sorrow of heart, thy curse unto them.
Ver. 65. Give them sorrow of heart.] In place of their mad mirth and sinful music; turn their psalm - as the Vulgate rendereth the word music in the foregoing verse - into a black santis, as they call it, ferale carmen, a doleful ditty. Dabis eis scutum cordis, saith the Vulgate. And, indeed, the word rendered sorrow signifieth a shield or cover. It noteth, saith one, the cardiaca passio, a whereby the heart is so oppressed, and there is such a stopping, that it is as it were covered sicut scute, as with a shield; there is a lid, as it were, put over the heart to keep off the most refreshing cordials, and so the heart is suffocated with sorrow. b It is as if he should say, Put them into such a condition that no creature may yield them the least refreshment. Spira was in this condition.
Thy curse upon them.] All the curses written and unwritten in thy book. This is not more a prayer than a prophecy. How effectual Christ's curse is, may be seen in the withered fig tree in the Gospel, presently dried up by the roots.
a A Lapide.
b Mr Burrough's Hos. Operculum cordis, vel apostema cordis.