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11 Thus saith the LORD; For three transgressions of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away the punishment thereof; because he did pursue his brother with the sword, and did cast off all pity, and his anger did tear perpetually, and he kept his wrath for ever:
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[AD 420] Jerome on Amos 1:11-13
(Ver. 11 and following) Thus says the Lord: For three crimes of Edom, and for four, I will not revoke my judgment; Because he pursued his brother with the sword, and violated all pity, and his anger tore at them constantly, and he kept his wrath to the end. I will send fire into Teman, and it will consume the fortresses of Bozrah. LXX: Thus says the Lord: For three crimes of Edom, and for four, I will not turn away from them, because he pursued his brother with the sword and violated the womb above the earth, and seized his horror as a testimony, and kept his fury forever. And I will send fire into Teman, and it will consume the foundations of its walls. Edom himself is the same as Esau, so named because of the cooking of red lentils, whose birthright he lost with this nourishment: he is also called Seir, hairy and rough. Hence the mountains of the Edomites are called the mountains of Seir, and in Greek language Edom is called Idumea. This one pursued his brother with a sword, namely the sons of Jacob, concerning whom it is written more fully in the blessings of Isaac, to whom Jacob was blessed first, and afterwards Esau: so that the hatred of the brothers might be preserved in their descendants, and the Idumean people would persecute their brothers to such an extent that they would not even grant passage through the holy land to those leaving Egypt; and not only did he persecute his brother with a sword, but he violated mercy, or rather according to Symmachus' interpretation, his own womb: so that he would forget his kinship, and harden the bowels of mercy, and would not know that he was his brother, and would despise the womb of Rebekah, who had given birth to twin infants in one childbirth. And what follows: And he held on to his fury, and kept his indignation until the end, he shows his ancient hatred, which was never reconciled with peace. Therefore, he threatens punishment for sins, and he said: I will send fire into Theman, which is the region of the Edomites, and it extends to the southern part, which is called Theman: this province is called not only Theman, but also Daron and Nageb, because it faces the east, south, and the African wind. And when he says, 'He shall devour the houses of Bozrah,' it does not mean, as some suppose, another city, but Edom, fortified and well-fortified, according to what we read in Isaiah: 'Who is this that comes from Edom, with dyed garments from Bozrah? This one, beautiful in his robe, walking in the greatness of his strength' (Isaiah 63:2)? Whatever we have said about Esau and Jacob, let us apply it to the Jews and the Christian people. For they, who were earthly and bloodthirsty, persecuted the brother Jacob, who supplanted them, and took away their firstborn, and persecuted with the sword, so that they seized the possessions and wealth of believers, which we read about in the Acts of the Apostles (Acts 2:4): and they violated mercy and the laws of nature, forgetting their mother Rebecca, who is interpreted as patience, and at the same time they were born in Christ: holding onto their ancient fury and anger, to this day in their synagogues they blaspheme the Christian people under the name of Nazarenes: and as long as they kill us, they want to be burned with fire. But the Lord will send fire into Theman, into the dry and deserted parts of Judaea (that are not irrigated by the rains of the prophets), and it will consume all their fortifications, even the foundations of its walls, so that with the complete collapse of all literal sense, the Church of Christ the Lord may be built upon its foundations. For misericordia, they translated the Septuagint as vulva. And for furore, they used horrorem. And for indignatione, they chose impetum, led by the ambiguity of the words: because Rehem signifies both the womb and mercy; Aphpho signifies his rage and horror; and Ebrath is said to mean both indignation and impulse. Furthermore, Armanoth (), which we have interpreted as houses, Aquila and Symmachus βάρεις, that is, homes; Theodotius transferred the inhabitants: only seventy and here and above, they called foundations.

Source: Commentary on Amos