Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 220] Tertullian on Amos 6:1

Jesus’ miracle was performed in the district of Samaria, to which country also belonged one of the lepers. Samaria, however, had revolted from Israel, carrying with it the disaffected nine tribes, which having been alienated by the prophet Ahijah, Jeroboam settled in Samaria. Besides, the Samaritans were always pleased with the mountains and the wells of their ancestors. Thus, in the Gospel of John, the woman of Samaria, when conversing with the Lord at the well, says, “No doubt yours are greater,” and again, “Our fathers worshiped in this mountain, but you say that Jerusalem is the place where men ought to worship.” Accordingly, he who said “woe unto them that trust in the mountain of Samaria,” promising now to restore that very region, purposely requests the men “to go and show themselves to the priests,” because these were to be found only there where the temple was, submitting the Samaritan to the Jew, inasmuch as “salvation was of the Jews,” whether to the Israelite or the Samaritan.

Source: AGAINST MARCION 4.35

[AD 420] Jerome on Amos 6:1

(Chapter 6, Verse 1) Woe to those who are rich in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, the notable men of the nations, who enter pompously into the house of Israel. The Septuagint version says: Woe to those who despise Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria, they have gathered the first fruits of the nations for themselves. The prophet's words are directed primarily to those who are the nobles and rulers in both peoples, and who indulge in the luxuries as an example of the rich man dressed in purple, who delighted in feasting and was so filled with pride that he disdained to even look at Lazarus, covered with sores at his gate, and would not give him even the scraps from his table (Luke 16). These are the heads of the people who trust in riches, and are wealthy in Zion, and have confidence in the mountain of Samaria, and enter triumphantly into the house of Israel, to show the swelling of their hearts and appear to be like the pompous feasts. According to the laws of tropology and the Septuagint interpreters, Zion refers to the Church, of which we read: He who lifts me up from the gate of death, that I may declare all your praises in the gates of the daughter of Zion (Psalm 9:15). But Mount Samaria, because of the pride and arrogance of the custodians of God's commandments, is understood to be about heretics who despise the Church; for God chose the weak of the world to confound the strong, and the foolish to destroy the wisdom of the wise and the understanding of the prudent (1 Corinthians 1). These have harvested the first fruits of the nations, to introduce them under the Christian name into their winepresses, where grapes are not crushed, but lost; where must is not expressed, but venom is. And they entered for themselves. Beautifully, he said to himself: for they did not enter for God, but they entered for themselves. Otherwise, they would have left for God, as they depart from the Church. And what follows, the House of Israel, according to the Septuagint, should be read at the beginning of the next chapter; according to the Hebrews, at the end of this chapter, which we have explained.

Source: Commentary on Amos

[AD 420] Jerome on Amos 6:2-6

(Vers. 2 seqq.) Go through Chalane, and see: and from there go to great Emath, and descend to Geth of the Philistines: to the best of their kingdoms, if their boundary is wider than your boundary. You who are separated on the day of evil, and approach the throne of wickedness. You who sleep on ivory beds, and indulge in your own beds: you who eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the middle of the herd: you who sing to the sound of the harp. Just as David thought he had the vessels of a song, drinking wine in cups, and they were anointed with the finest oil, and they did not suffer from the sorrow of Joseph. LXX: House of Israel, all of you pass over and see in Chalane, and pass through there to Emath Rabba, and descend to the best of the foreign Geth in all these kingdoms, if their boundaries are greater than your boundaries, you who come on an evil day, who approach and touch the lies of the Sabbath. You who sleep on ivory beds, and overflow with delights in your couches, and eat young goats from the flocks, and suckle calves from the midst of the herds, who make noise at the sound of the organ: as if they considered themselves stable, and not fleeting; you who drink refined wine, and anoint yourselves with the finest ointments, and do not grieve over the ruin of Joseph. Pass over all of you to Chalane, which is now called Ctesiphon, and pass over all. Who are these people? Both of those mentioned above: the nobles, the leaders of the people, and those of you who are wealthy in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria. Therefore, go to the city of Persis, and pay close attention, and from there, go to the great city of Emath, which is now called Antioch. It is called great, to distinguish it from the smaller Emath, which is called Epiphania. And to this day, for those traveling to Mesopotamia, the first stop is called Emmas, although the name has been corrupted; but it retains traces of its original name, whose region is called Reblatha, in which, in the presence of Nebuchadnezzar, the king of Judah (or Judea), the sons were killed, and his eyes were blinded. And descend, he says, into Gath of the Philistines (2 Kings 25). You who dwell on Mount Zion and Mount Samaria, descend to the Philistines who dwell in the plains, and to the best of their kingdoms, which are subject to different cities: Gaza and Ashkelon, Ashdod, Ekron, and Gath. And see if their territory is wider than yours, whether you or they possess the larger provinces. You, I say, you from the people of Israel, who are separated for the day of evil, namely the day of captivity, and approaching the throne of wickedness, going to the unjust judge, the king of Babylon. For those who are about to suffer these things, you now sleep on ivory beds and indulge in soft cushions, so that you may unite desire with sleep. For you do not eat to drive away hunger and sustain the human body, but for pleasure and luxury, so that whatever is tender and fat in herds and flocks may serve your gluttonous appetites. Your desires are not satisfied with the pleasures of sex, throat, and drink, but you must also soothe your ears with the songs of flutes, harps, and lyres, imitating what David did in the worship of God (1 Chronicles 23-26), finding the variations of the Levitical orders and instruments, you indulge in pleasure and luxury. And you drink wine from goblets, not to quench your thirst, but to intoxicate your mind. And you anoint yourselves, not to soothe the fatigue of the body, with pure oil, but with precious ointments. And when you are filled with these things, if you see any of the people perishing, you have no mercy on their suffering, but you treat them like dumb animals, and you allow them to perish in their own blood. This same sentiment is also expressed by the prophet Ezekiel in the example of the shepherds: They consume the milk of the sheep and clothe themselves with their wool, and they devour whatever is best, and they do not heal the wounded, nor mend the broken, nor seek out those who are perishing. Let us transfer all the things we have said according to the history, according to the Septuagint interpreters, to the allegory of the clouds. O house of Israel, you who have departed from me, who trust in the mountain of Samaria, who have harvested the firstfruits of the nations, go beyond and see, and proceed to many walls. For this is the interpretation of Emath Rabba: and then descend gently into the presses of those who fall while drinking. For Geth and the Philistines resound with this. And consider all things, especially the best (or all) kingdoms, or the best cities among all kingdoms; and consider if their boundaries are more numerous than yours. For if we wish to ponder with our mind, and to explore the wisdom of all nations, we will find that the boundaries of the Egyptians, Indians, and Persians are narrower than the holy boundaries of the Scriptures: Their sound has gone out into all the earth, and their words to the ends of the world. To those whom he had previously said: House of Israel, all of you pass through and see, from what vices they are commanded to pass over to better things, the following discourse describes: Those who come into an evil day, preparing for themselves their evil day according to their own vice: not that any day is inherently evil; but rather, each person prepares for themselves their own evil, according to what we read in Ecclesiastes: Do not say, 'The former days were better for me than these,' for it is not in wisdom that you ask about this (Ecclesiastes 7:11); for it is foolish to compare times, when it is within our power to either make a good day for ourselves or an evil one. These are those who approach and touch the sabbaths of falsehood. For just as the circumcision of the flesh is called, and the circumcision of the heart, and they are manifestly Jews, and in secret, one of which is rejected, and the other is approved: thus the sabbaths of the Lord are holy, and supported by truth, and the others are not holy and are falsehoods, which follow the idleness of the western letters. That which follows: those who sleep on ivory beds, we can interpret it as follows: He who is an athlete of the Lord, and exercises for the struggle, and prepares himself against opposing powers, sleeps on bare earth imitating Jacob (Gen. XXVIII); and he places a stone at his head, which the builders rejected, and it became the head cornerstone (Ps. CXVII, and Act. IV). But those who indulge in pleasures and luxury, and do everything for the sake of their stomach, sleep on ivory beds made from dead animals and cling to unclean bones; and because vices appear beautiful and delight in their present splendor, they rest on their beds and are weighed down by deep sleep. They do not eat solid and nourishing food, which strengthens the powers of those who wrestle, but rather soft and delicate food, such as young goats from the flocks and fattened calves, and tender ones, in fact still nourished by milk. For this is what μοσχάρια γαλαθηνὰ signifies. Moreover, they clap their hands to the sound of the organ and the noise, as if all their works expect pleasure: and they do nothing but provide for the belly and lust. Nor does the wise reader immediately oppose us with this, and how it is written: Let the rivers clap their hands (Ps. XCVII, 8). And: All you nations, clap your hands (Ps XLVI, 1). And: Rejoice in God our helper (Ps. LXXX, 1). For there, they are not said to clap their hands to the sound of the organ; but to have one consent in praising God. He introduced the voice of the organs: they thought it was standing still, and not fleeing. For according to Epicurus, things of the world and all bodies flow and pass away in moments, and nothing remains in its own state, but everything either grows or diminishes, and they flow down like rushing waters. Hence we read also in secular literature (Virgil, Georgics III):

But meanwhile it flies, irretrievable time flies. And in another place (Horace, Odes II, 14).

Alas, fleeting, Posthumus, Posthumus, the years slip away. For nothing is more fleeting than the century and the things of the century. While we hold onto them, we lose them, through infancy, childhood, youth, and the growing and maturing age, and the final years of old age, which Philo describes as the seven stages of human life, we are changed, and we run, and unknowingly we reach the boundaries of death. And what follows: Those who drink clarified wine can properly be referred to heretics, who approve some scriptures and reject others, desiring to drink clarified wines: since in the Holy Scriptures there is nothing turbid and muddy, but everything is most pure in the divine stream. Those who do not have the art of anointing, without any knowledge of the Scriptures, traditions, and teachings of the apostles, claim the dignity of priesthood and say that they are anointed by the Lord; and they contaminate the purest oil of their own understanding with the dregs. And when they do these things to the destruction of those whom they have deceived, they are not tormented by any pain; but they rejoice in the deaths of others and delight in the blood of the wretched. This beautiful sense in which it is said 'they thought as if things were standing, and not as if they were fleeing' is not found in Hebrew; but instead it is written: as David thought he had vessels of song. Therefore, it seems to me that the interpreters added it, who, in describing luxury, expressed a sentiment against vices and pleasures of this kind, so that they would not translate what was written, but would add or even change it, according to what seemed to them.

Source: Commentary on Amos

[AD 215] Clement of Alexandria on Amos 6:4

Again, whenever he speaks of “young suckling calves” and of “the guileless and meek dove,” he means us. Through Moses he orders that two young birds, a pair of pigeons or turtledoves, be offered for any sin. This means that the sinlessness of such gentle birds and their guile and forgetfulness of injury is very acceptable to God. So he is instructing us to offer a sacrifice bearing the character of that which we have offended against. The plight of the poor doves, moreover, will instill into us a beginning of abhorrence for sin.

Source: CHRIST THE EDUCATOR 5:14

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Amos 6:4

Let us not be careless, dearly beloved, in dealing with matters concerning our salvation; recognizing instead the troubles that could come from that evil source, let us avoid the harm it produces. After all, we are warned against intemperance not only in the new dispensation by its greater attention to right thinking, its more frequent struggles and greater effort, its many rewards and ineffable consolations. Not even people living under the old law were permitted to indulge themselves in that way, even though they were sitting in the dark dependent upon tapers and were brought forward gradually into the light, like children being weaned off milk. Lest you think I am idly finding fault with intemperance in what I say, listen to what the prophet says: “Woe to those who fall on evil days in sleeping on beds of ivory, luxuriating on their couches, living on a diet of goats picked from the flocks and suckling calves from the herds, and drinking strained wines, anointed with precious unguents—like men treating this as a lasting city, and not seeking one to come.” Do you see the heavy accusation the prophet levels against intemperance in charging the Jews with these faults of stupidity, sensuality and daily gluttony? I mean, note the accuracy of the words: after attacking their gluttony and their drinking to excess, he added, “like men treating this as a lasting city, and not seeking one to come,” all but stating that their satisfaction got as far as lips and palate, and they went on to nothing better. Pleasure however, is brief and fleeting, whereas pain never lets up and has no end. The truth of this comes from experience, the true meaning of lasting realities—“like men treating this as a lasting city”—and fleeting things—“not seeking one to come”—that is, not lasting for a moment.

Source: HOMILIES ON GENESIS 1:10

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Amos 6:4

For when he said, “Woe … to you who are approaching the evil day,” and added, “and adopting false sabbaths,” he showed by his next words how their sabbaths were false. How did they make their sabbaths false? By working wickedness, feasting, drinking, and doing a multitude of shameful and grievous deeds. To prove that this is true, hear what follows. He reveals what I am saying by saying what he adds immediately: “… who sleep upon beds of ivory, and live delicately on their couches, and eat kids out of the flocks, and sucking calves out of the midst of the stalls … who drink filtered wine, and anoint yourselves with the best ointment.” You received the sabbath to free your soul from wickedness, but you have enslaved it further. For what could be worse than this frivolity, this sleeping on beds of ivory? The other sins, such as drunkenness, greed and profligacy, provide some pleasure, however small; but in sleeping on beds of ivory, what pleasure is there? What comfort?

Source: HOMILIES ON LAZARUS AND THE RICH MAN 1

[AD 379] Basil of Caesarea on Amos 6:6

Just as it is not proper to provide ourselves with worldly trappings like a silver vessel, or a curtain edged with purple, or a downy couch, or transparent draperies, so we act unfittingly in contriving menus that deviate in any important way from our usual diet. That we should run about searching for anything not demanded by real necessity but calculated to provide a wretched delight and ruinous vainglory is not only shameful and out of keeping with our avowed purpose; it also causes harm of no mean gravity when they who spend their lives in sensual gratification and measure happiness in terms of pleasure for the appetite see us also taken up with the same preoccupations that keep them enthralled. If, indeed, sensual pleasure is evil and to be avoided, we should on no occasion indulge in it, for nothing that is condemned can at any time be beneficial. They who live riotously and are anointed with the best ointments and drink filtered wine come under the denunciation of Scripture. Because she lives in pleasure, the widow is dead while she is living. The rich man is debarred from paradise because he lived in luxury upon earth. What then have we to do with costly appointments? Has a guest arrived? If he is a brother and follows a way of life aiming at the same objective as ours, he will recognize the fare we provide as properly his own. What he has left at home, he will find with us. Suppose he is weary from his journey. We then provide as much extra nourishment as is required to relieve his weariness.

Source: THE LONG RULES, QUESTION 20

[AD 441] John I of Antioch on Amos 6:6

There is nothing else to see happening everywhere in the world except disorder, unheralded war, unrestrained wrath and savagery exceeding all barbaric inhumanity, and there is no one suffering “by the collapse of Joseph.” We bite and we devour one another, and then we have been destroyed by one another, providing pleasure to the enemies of piety.

Source: LETTER TO CYRIL OF ALEXANDRIA 6

[AD 420] Jerome on Amos 6:7-11

(Vers. 7 seqq.) Therefore now they will migrate to the head of the transmigrants, and the faction of the revelers will be removed. The Lord God has sworn by his own soul, says the Lord God of hosts: I detest the pride of Jacob, and I hate his houses, and I will deliver the city with its inhabitants: and if there are ten men left in one house, they shall die; and their close relative shall take them, and burn them, to carry out the bones from the house; and he who is in the innermost chambers of the house shall say: Is there still anyone with you? And he will answer: It is the end; and he will say to him: Be silent, and do not remember the name of the Lord. LXX: Therefore now the strong ones will be captives from the beginning, and the noise of horses will be taken away from Ephraim; because the Lord has sworn by himself, says the Lord God of hosts: because I will abhor all the reproach of Jacob, and I will hate his regions, and I will take away the city with all its inhabitants. And it shall come to pass, if ten men remain in one house, and they die; and the household members shall take them, and they shall make an effort to remove their bones from the house; and those who are in charge of the house shall say: Are there still any with you? And he shall say, by no means; and he shall say, Be silent, and do not mention the name of the Lord. Because of the higher causes that the prophetic discourse describes (of those who sleep on ivory beds, and revel on couches, and eat lambs from the flock, and calves from the midst of the herd, and sing to the sound of the harp and drink from bowls, and are anointed with the finest ointment, and yet suffer nothing in the destruction of their people, who are descended from Joseph), now the Lord threatens, and says: Because they have done these things and these things, now they shall migrate at the head of the exiles. And the meaning is this: Punishment is never delayed for the future, nor is it prophesied for long centuries to come. What is now imminent, is now coming, my words predict, that they will go in the beginning of the transmigration, namely the rulers and the powerful, of whom he said above: Hear this word, you fat cows, who are in the mountain of Samaria (Above, IV, 1). And again: Woe to you who are wealthy in Zion, and trust in the mountain of Samaria: you nobles, heads of the people, who enter pompously into the house of Israel. You who are the first in wealth, will be the first to endure the yoke of captivity, according to what is written in Ezekiel: 'Begin from my sanctuary' (Ezek. IX, 6). Not from the saints, as many think; but from the destruction of the temple, which was holy. For the powerful will endure torments powerfully (Wisdom VI), and to whom much is entrusted, much will be demanded from him (Luke XII). And as it is said, the faction of the indulgent will be taken away, those who had one consent in taking pleasure and engaging in feasts and revelry: they will be taken away together, so that for those whose unity was in luxury, their punishment will also be united. As for why the LXX translated it, the neighing of the horse of Ephraim shall be taken away: which is not found in the Hebrew, and will be discussed by us as unnecessary when we begin to weave the tropology. The Lord has sworn by himself, or as we read in Hebrew, by his soul, according to what is written in Isaiah: My soul hates your new moons and your Sabbaths and your feast days (Isa. I, 13): not that God has a soul, but in order to speak in human terms. It is not surprising if it is said to have a soul, since even the other parts, which are less valuable than the soul, such as the feet, hands, stomach, and other organs, attest to having themselves. But if those who deny that Christ had a human soul oppose us, saying that God was in the human body instead of a soul, let them hear that in Christ the substance of the soul is demonstrated: just as the members of his body had substance. In God the Father, however, the head, feet, and other things that are said to be, are not members, but the diversity of efficient acts is indicated by the words used to describe them: similarly, the soul is not substantial, but the seat of the inner mind and the place where thoughts reside, through which God reveals His will. Therefore the Lord, the God of hosts, that is, Sabaoth (which the Seventy translated as powers), swore that he detests the pride of Jacob and hates his dwellings. This is Jacob according to the previous chapter, where it is written: And they allowed nothing to prevail over the affliction of Joseph, or the ten tribes, or certainly the entire house of the twelve tribes. And he will deliver the city with its inhabitants; either Samaria, or certainly Jerusalem, or both in common. As for the time of the Lord Savior, after whose coming and passion God detested all the pride and injury of Jacob, because they cried out against him, the son of a carpenter and a Samaritan and possessed by a demon (Matthew 13; John 8): therefore Jerusalem was handed over to the Roman armies with its inhabitants. And to such an extent did the wrath of God rage against them, that even if ten men were to remain in one house, they would also die, and the neighbor or neighbor would burn the corpses of the dead to remove the bones from his house, because they are not able to remove the whole bodies due to the crowds of the dying. And when he has become tired from carrying [the body], let him ask the person who is in the innermost part of the house if there are any bodies left for him to hand over, and let that person respond: It is over, I no longer have anyone to give to you for burial; and before he swears that he does not have [any bodies], let that person, who asked the question and was outside, and did not know [that there were no bodies], order him and say: Be silent, and do not remember the name of the Lord. But he mentions this in order to show that even those who are not compelled by the weight and necessity of evil do not want to confess the name of the Lord, and that the name of God has come into such great oblivion among the people of Israel that it does not even deign to be heard in a simple oath. We have drawn fine lines of history, now let us imprint the hand of allegory. The leaders of heretics, who devoured my people because of their pleasures, and allowed nothing to stand in the way of Joseph's torment, will be led first to punishment, and the neighing of the horse will be taken away from Ephraim: which is understood in holy scriptures in two ways, either in the pride and power of those who neigh, or in the magnitude of lust. In the pride and consent of evil people, as it is written: Some trust in chariots and some in horses (Psalm 20:7). And: A deceitful horse for salvation (Ps. XXXII, 17). And to the kings of Israel, it is commanded that they not multiply horses for themselves (Deut. XVII). And in the book of Job, the voice of the horse is compared to the sound of the trumpet (Job. XXXIX). In Zachariah also we read, which is confirmed by the testimony of the Gospel, and it is referred to the presence of the Savior: Rejoice greatly, O daughter of Zion: proclaim, O daughter of Jerusalem. Behold, your King comes to you righteous and Savior: He is gentle, and riding on a donkey and the foal of a donkey: and he will destroy the chariots from Ephraim, and the horses from Jerusalem (Zach. IX, 9). But the magnitude of lust and unrestrained desire for sexual intercourse, as Jeremiah, describing the luxurious adulterers, declared: Each one neighs over the wife of his neighbor (Jer. V, 8). The coming of Christ subdues such horses, as does the wrath of God. And the Lord swears by Himself (since He has no one greater to swear by) that He abhors all heretical blasphemies and hates all their regions (Heb. VI). For whatever they speak is injustice, and worthy of God's hatred. And He will take away their city and their assemblies with those who dwell in it, and the people indeed, and the leaders, even if there were ten men left (for if they had been in Sodom and Gomorrah, no fire would have come down upon them), they will all die the same death that leads to Tartarus, of which Ezekiel writes: The soul that sins, it shall die. Their relatives and domestics bury the bones of these people, of whom it is said: Let the dead bury their own dead (Luke 9:60). And the one who is outside and does not enter the house of the dead; but rather casts out the dead outside, the one who burns the dead gives orders, and reduces them to ashes, and breaks their bones, so that he may remain silent; and the most pure name of God not be defiled by the mouth of the dead. For to the sinner, God says: Why do you declare my righteousness, and take my covenant in your mouth? (Psalm 50). Wherefore, we also must provide, that we may not bury the dead dead, but rather, that as living, we may bring forth to life those who are dead. And if we do not do this, it is commanded to us and it is said: Be silent, for we are judged unworthy of the name of God.

Source: Commentary on Amos

[AD 428] Theodore of Mopsuestia on Amos 6:9-10

The passage involves deep obscurity from the viewpoint of commentary. It resembles the part in Genesis where there is mention of the treaty that Laban and Jacob made with each other about ownership of the offspring of the sheep, one man owning some, the other owning others. While that is obscure in its expression, the sense gains clarity in the course of comment. Now it is necessary to expound the sense of this passage as well, whose reference is not clearly expressed. His intention, in fact, is to cite a proof of the devastation affecting them in that it was very extreme. In many cases scarcely ten will be left from a large household of many members, the rest being done away with in various ways through the war.

Source: COMMENTARY ON AMOS 6:9–10

[AD 420] Jerome on Amos 6:12-14

(Verse 12 onwards) For behold, the Lord will command and strike down the great house with ruins, and the small house with breaches. Can horses run on rocks, or can it be plowed with oxen? For you have turned justice into bitterness, and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. You who rejoice in nothingness, who say: Have we not taken horns for ourselves in our strength? Behold, I will raise up against you, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God of hosts, a nation, and they will oppress you from the entrance of Hamath to the brook of the wilderness. LXX: Therefore, behold, the Lord will command and will strike the great house with ruins and the small house with breaches. Will horses run on rocks? Will men be silent at women? For you have turned justice into bitterness and the fruit of righteousness into wormwood. You who rejoice in nothing good, who say, 'Have we not relied on our own strength?' For behold, I will raise up against you, O house of Israel, declares the Lord God of hosts, a nation, and they shall oppress you from Lebo-hamath to the brook of Egypt. Because you have sprung into such rage that, even in the time of death and impending evils, you were unwilling to utter the name of the Lord, therefore the Lord will command and strike the greater house with ruins, and the lesser house with divisions. If He commands, how does He strike? If He strikes, how does He command? But in that which He commands and orders to His ministers, He Himself seems to strike. Just as in commanding the Father and acting through the Son, He Himself who commanded does the work, the verse being fulfilled: He spoke, and they were made; He commanded, and they were created (Ps. 148:5). For all things were made through him, and without him was made nothing that was made (John 1). And in Egypt, where the firstborn who were killed by the destroyer are reported to be referred to, the Lord testifies that he himself killed them (Exodus 12). So also in the present place the Lord commands, and he himself strikes through his ministers the greater house with ruins, that is, the ten tribes, who were called Israel, and the lesser house with divisions, the two tribes, who were governed by the lineage of the house of David. And note the properties of each. Israel, because it had sinned more, is struck by ruins and is handed over to eternal captivity. But the house of Judah, in which the temple exists, and which had sinned in part, is held in captivity for seventy years and is not struck by ruins but by divisions. For a divided house can be repaired: ruins require not so much restoration as rebuilding. He compares the ruins and divisions of both houses to horses and oxen, of which the former cannot run on rocks, and the latter are so untamed that they do not accept the yoke on their necks, and since they are wild oxen, they are unwilling to plow the earth due to their fierceness. But you, though horses and buffalo cannot change their nature, have changed the nature of God, turning the sweet into the bitter and the fruit of his justice into wormwood, which is a very bitter herb. You who take delight in things that are nothing, like golden calves and idols, which are nothing, as Esther said to the Lord: Do not give your scepter to those who are not (Esther 14:11), or in nothing and falsehood. You who think you have taken horns and kingship and power by your own strength, with which you can scatter your enemies. Therefore, because you have done these things, behold, I will raise up against you, O great house and O lesser house, that will be struck by ruin and division, that is, O house of Israel and all twelve tribes, the most savage nation of Assyrians and Chaldeans, who will crush and overthrow you from beginning to end, from head to tail, from the borders of your land, which face the sun, to the desert river, or the West, as the LXX translated, that is, from Emath to Rhinocorura, between which the river Nile, or the stream coming from the desert, enters the sea. We have mentioned Emath above Epiphaniam, which got its name from Antiochus who was called Epiphanes. However, those who think that this refers to the house of Israel and the ten tribes, cannot explain how it is said in the threat against the ten tribes that they should be crushed from Epiphania to the borders of Egypt. These borders do not include only the ten tribes, but all twelve, including Judah and Benjamin. Some people, according to the allegory, believe that the large house and the smaller house symbolize the Jewish people and the Church gathered from the Gentiles. They are called 'great' because of their ancestors, the law, and the prophets. We are called 'lesser' because we were without the Testament and the commandments of God, of which we also read in the Song of Songs: 'My sister is little and has no breasts' (Song of Songs 8:8). If the great and small house, gathered into one family of God, does not have discipline and does not follow God's commandments, it will be struck by ruins and divisions. Whenever, therefore, the house of God, which is the Church, collapses and is torn apart, either in persecutions or in heresies and schisms, it shows the hand of God striking: which if we want to avoid, let us listen to and follow the comparison and example. They are not able to pursue on the rocks of the horse. Christ is the rock (I Cor. X), who gave to his apostles that they also be called rock: You are Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church (Mat. XVI, 18). Those who are in these stones, called horses, about which we have spoken above, will not be able to pursue him, their courses hindered and falling down through each stone. Let us come to another comparison, according to our custom, discussing the edition of the Seventy Interpreters, lest if we adhere too much to the Hebrew, we seem to have deceived the reader's diligence, and by not mentioning the Vulgate edition, we appear to have proposed it in vain. But they will certainly be silent in women, he said, no doubt meaning horses, about which he had spoken above. If they pursue horses on rocks. These horses, that is, contrary strengths, who go mad for women when they see a masculine spirit, and having been strengthened by the power of God, are not bold enough to approach. But when they see a effeminate mind, weakened by ointments and pleasures, and turned towards feminine softness, they immediately go mad and cannot hold themselves back; and they long for lust. It follows: Because you have turned judgment into fury. Judgment turns into fury for the one who judges in anger, and the Lord says: You shall not show partiality in judgment (Deut. XVI, 19). And in another place: You shall not pity the poor in judgment; for it is God's judgment (Exod. XXIII, 3): with an angry mind he descends to judge, indeed, without knowing the cause, nor does he know the truth of the judgment, he prejudges what sentence he should pass: he also turns the fruit of justice, which is most sweet, into bitterness. What we have said about one virtue, let us understand about the others as well: prudence, courage, temperance. Whoever is angry cannot enjoy their fruits, and when they do, they will be bitter. Hence it is said in Isaiah: Woe to those who call sweet bitter, and bitter sweet (Is. 5:20). This is what those say who do not consider the causes in judging, but rather the individuals, and they turn the fruit of Christ's righteousness, which is most sweet, into bitterness. Therefore, whoever is guided in judgment by either blood ties or friendship, on the other hand, is led by hostile hatred or enmities, perverts the judgment of Christ, who is justice, and turns its fruit into bitterness. Those who do this rejoice in no good word, or, as Symmachus translated, irrationally, and proudly say: Have we not had horns in our strength? But let the righteous glory in the Lord and say: In you we will scatter our enemies with horns. And in another place (Al. in the same place): For I will not hope in my bow, and my sword will not save me (Ps. 43, 6, 7). Hence, in Exodus according to the Hebrew and the Aquila edition, we read: And Moses did not know that the appearance (Al. face) of his face was horned (Exod. 34, 29), which truly could be said: In you I blow away my enemies with a horn. We also read in another place: And he will exalt the horn of his people; And: He will exalt the horn of his Christ (Ps. 148, 14, and 1 Sam. 2, 10), and the horn of the altar, and clean horned animals, which are offered only to God, whose interpretation is not of this time. Because of these great sins and extreme pride, which speaks unrighteousness against God and exalts its mouth, the Almighty Lord God declares that he will raise up the most savage nation, which will crush and afflict them, indeed, even prevent them from entering into Emath, and as far as the Western torrent. Emath is interpreted as a wall or fortified town. Therefore, they will be forbidden from seeking refuge in the most savage nation, to whom punishments have been assigned, to flee to the fortified city, which is the celestial Jerusalem, lest they enter and be saved, similar to that chapter which we read in Genesis, where God placed Cherubim and a flaming sword (Gen. II), which turned to guard the way to the tree of life, so that the one who had been expelled from paradise would by no means enter there unworthy. And what follows: We will interpret the 67th Psalm, in which it is written: Sing to the Lord, sing a psalm to his name: make a way for him who ascends upon the west: the Lord is his name (Psalm 67:5). For unless evil works have died in us, Christ will not ascend upon us. And when they have died, and we have Christ as our charioteer: then as we make progress and advance to better things, it will be commanded in the same psalm: Sing to God, sing psalms to the Lord who ascends upon the heaven of heavens towards the east (Psalm 67:33, 34). And in the mysteries, first we renounce him who is in the West, and who dies for our sins, and thus turned towards the East, we make a covenant with the sun of righteousness, and we promise to serve him. Regarding the stream of the West, Symmachus interpreted it as a valley plain: Theodotio, a stream in Arabia: Aquila, a stream that is in the plain. With these words, it is shown that those who are not excluded from the walled city cannot die to sin, nor can they reach the plain and level stream of the desert, which is called the stream of pleasure, according to what we read: You shall make them drink from the stream of your pleasure (Psalm 36:9).

Source: Commentary on Amos

[AD 420] Jerome on Amos 6:13

Whence also we say that the holy men are just and that they are made pleasing to God after their sins not only through their merits but through the mercy of him to whom every creature is subject and stands in need of his mercy. Let heretics hear, who are lifted up by pride and say, “We have taken unto us horns by our own strength.” Let them listen to what Moab heard said to him: “We have heard the pride of Moab, he is exceedingly proud. ‘His haughtiness and his arrogance and his pride and the loftiness of his heart I know,’ says the Lord, ‘because his strength is not according to the loftiness thereof.’ ”

Source: AGAINST THE PELAGIANS 2:29