| Deuteronomy 32:32
| Their vines are of the vineyard of Sodom, and of the suburbs of Gomorrha: their grapes are grapes of gall, and their clusters most bitter.
| Bitter. The enemies of Israel, were of an accursed progeny. (Haydock) --- They imitated the vices of those wicked cities. Moses cautioned his people to beware of the root of bitterness, Deuteronomy 29:18. (Calmet) --- If they should neglect the admonition, and become like the Chanaanites, they knew what they had to expect. (Haydock) --- Their works being hateful to the Lord, (Menochius) he would surely punish them. The fruits which grow near the lake of Sodom, though sometimes fair to the eye, (Haydock) are full of dust, "black and empty, they fall to ashes," in cinerem vanescunt. (Tacitus v.; Josephus, Jewish Wars 5:5.) Growing on a bituminous soil, they could not but have a disagreeable taste. (Calmet) --- The authors of the Universal History call in question what the ancients have reported concerning the fruits of Sodom. (Haydock)
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