25.7–12

The man tells Brendan that he is Judas: he sits on the rock thanks to the mercy of Christ, because it is Sunday.  On ordinary days he burns inside the fiery mountain they have just seen (which is Hell); he was actually there when the third brother was swallowed up (in chapter 24); the mountain spewed forth flames when it devoured the sinner, as it always does on such occasions.

[7] quid meritī: “what fault”; partitive genitive.

[8] negōtiātor pessimus: Judas is presumably called a “trader” because of the deal he made for his 30 pieces of silver.

meritī ... misericordiae ineffābilis: genitive of cause (rare in CL; Pinkster, Oxford Latin Syntax 1.906).

[9] Nōn mihi ... Redēmptōris: = locus mihi computātur nōn poenitentiae sed indulgentiae Redēmptōris.  poenitentiae and indulgentiae are dative of purpose, in a double dative construction (AG § 382).  On Sundays and other holy days (25.13) Judas gets to sit on the rock as an act of God’s mercy.

[11] Nam ārdeō: Judas means that normally he burns; at present he is on a break.

in mediō montis quem vīdistis: in the volcano, an entrance to Hell; see 23.15.

Leviathan: i.e., Satan; he is a serpent, rather than a whale, and is identified with the Devil (Isaiah 27.1).

cum suīs satellibus: Satan’s followers are the fallen angels, appearing on earth as demons (Matthew 12.24; 25.41; Revelation 12.4; 7; 9).

[12] Ibi fuī quandō dēglūtīvit frātrem vestrum: sc. Leviathan. Judas was in Hell (on a non-respite day) and thus had witnessed the devouring of the monk in chapter 24.

ideō erat īnfernus laetus: probably “for that reason the underworld was happy,” but possibly “for that reason (Leviathan), in the underworld, is happy,” since īnfernus can also be an adjective.