Amos — Chapter 3

Tantummodo vos cognovi ex omnibus familiis terrae

'You only have I known of all the families of the earth; therefore will I visit upon you all your iniquities.' À Lapide expounds the paradox of election: divine intimacy intensifies rather than diminishes accountability. He draws on Thomas Aquinas's teaching that those who receive more grace bear greater responsibility. This verse becomes a cornerstone of his anti-Pelagian anthropology.

Non faciet Dominus Deus verbum nisi revelaverit secretum suum

'The Lord God doth nothing without revealing his secret to his servants the prophets.' À Lapide reads this as an affirmation of the continuous prophetic tradition and, by extension, of the Church's Magisterium as the ongoing prophetic voice. He cites Origen: the 'secret' (secretum) is the divine plan of salvation hidden from eternity and disclosed progressively through the prophets and fully in Christ.