Ezekiel — Chapter 14
The elders of Israel who come to consult Ezekiel while secretly worshipping idols in their hearts receive God's rebuke. Lapide develops the concept of interior idolatry (idola in corde) extensively: any inordinate love — of money, pleasure, reputation, self — is a form of idolatry that renders prayer futile and consultation of God an impudence.
Verse 3
These men have taken their idols into their hearts: Lapide's richest treatment of interior idolatry — any created good elevated to the status of ultimate concern becomes an idol of the heart. He follows Augustine's analysis of concupiscence in De Civitate Dei (XIV.28) and applies to contemporary forms of avarice, ambition, and pleasure-seeking.
Verse 14
Even if Noah, Daniel, and Job were in the land, they would deliver only themselves: Lapide uses this verse to refute any doctrine of vicarious merit that would exempt sinners from personal conversion. He acknowledges the intercession of saints but insists it cannot substitute for each soul's own repentance.