19 Therefore thus saith the Lord GOD; As I live, surely mine oath that he hath despised, and my covenant that he hath broken, even it will I recompense upon his own head.
[Daniel 7:1] "In the first year of Belshazzar, King of Babylon, Daniel beheld a dream. And a vision of his head upon his bed. And when he wrote the dream down, he comprehended it in a few words and gave a brief summary of it, saying..." This section which we now undertake to explain, and also the subsequent section which we are going to discuss, is historically prior to the two previous sections. For this present section and that which follows it are recorded to have taken place in the first and third years of the reign of King Belshazzar (Jeremiah 39) [Jerome's citation of Jeremiah 39 seems quite pointless in this connection]. But the section which we read previously to the one just preceding this, is recorded to have taken place in the last year, indeed on the final day, of Belshaz-zar's reign. And we meet this phenomenon not only in Daniel but also in Jeremiah [cf. Jeremiah 35 and Jeremiah 34] and Ezekiel (Ezekiel 17), as we shall be able to show, if life spares us that long. But in the earlier portion of the book, the historical order has been followed, namely the events which occurred in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, and Belshazzar, and Darius or Cyrus. But in the passages now before us an account is given of various visions which were beheld on particular occasions and of which only the prophet himself was aware, and which therefore lacked any importance as signs or revelations so far as the barbarian nations were concerned. But they were written down only that a record of the things beheld might be preserved for posterity.
(Vers. 19 seq.) Therefore thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely I will bring upon his head the oath he has despised and the covenant he has broken. I will spread my net over him, and he will be caught in my snare. I will bring him to Babylon and there I will execute judgment on him for the unfaithfulness with which he has despised me. And all his fugitives, with all his troops, will fall by the sword, and the survivors will be scattered to every wind. Then you will know that I am the Lord, I have spoken. The sentence is secular.
Deception or virtue, who seeks in an enemy? They often oppose us, those who say that enemies are to be deceived by fraud. To whom should we agree, Sedecias did much worse: he did not deceive an enemy, but a friend, with whom he had been joined by the covenant of the Lord. Therefore, as long as you do not swear and do not enter into a pact in the name of the Lord, it is a matter of prudence and strength to deceive or overcome the adversary in whatever way you can. However, when you have bound yourself by an oath, the one who trusted you is not an adversary, but a friend: and under the pretext of the oath, that is, the invocation of God, he was deceived. Therefore the Scripture now says: I will set upon his head the oath that he despised and the covenant that he broke. And lest we should think that the oath and the covenant and the agreement belonged to the Babylonian king, or to Zedekiah who made it, it follows: In the transgression in which he despised Me. Therefore, the one who despises the oath, despises the one by whom he swore; and he does wrong to the one whose name he believed as an adversary. For this reason, I will spread My net over him, says the Lord, and he will be captured in My snare, and I will bring him to Babylon and will judge him there. Therefore, whatever Nabuchodonosor did against Sedecias, he did not do it by his own power, but by the wrath of God, in whose name he had sworn falsely. According to another interpretation, although it may seem violent, it should be known that just as all other animals are usually referred to in both a good and a bad sense, so it is with the eagle and the lion. In a good sense, it is said: 'The lion's whelp of Juda' (Genesis 49:9). In a contrary sense: 'Our adversary the devil, as a roaring lion, goeth about' (1 Peter 5:8). And in the psalm it is said: He lieth in wait secretly, as a lion in his den: he lieth in wait to catch the poor (Ps. IX, 9). It is said in a positive sense of the eagle that the righteous, when he becomes wealthy, makes wings for himself like an eagle, so that he can return to the house of his predecessor. And it is written in Isaiah that the righteous bring forth wings like eagles (Isa. XL): they shall run and not be weary; they shall walk and not faint. But rightly does he who said, By strength will I do it, and by wisdom will I remove the boundaries of the nations, and I will plunder their strength; and I will stir up the cities that are inhabited, and I will seize the whole world in my hand, as a nest: and as eggs that are laid (Ibid., X, 13, 14), now describe it in the persona of an eagle: because it does not want to lash out at the small and humble twigs, which are interpreted as whiteness and are related to incense, but at the tops of the cedars, and the princes, and the royal stock, according to that of Habakkuk: His prey shall be choice (Abac. I, 16). And he makes a covenant, that those whom he has captured should submit their necks to the Babylonian king, and fulfill that which the Apostle speaks of: Those whom I have delivered to Satan, that they may learn not to blaspheme (I Tim. 1:20). And in another place: Those whom I have delivered, he says, to Satan for the destruction of the flesh, that the spirit may be saved (I Cor. 5). Therefore, if perhaps we are expelled from the congregation of brothers and from the house of God because of some sin, we should not resist, but bear the sentence that has been passed on us with a calm mind, and say with the Prophet (Micah 7:9): I will endure the wrath of the Lord, because I have sinned against Him, until He justifies my cause, and so on. And it often happens that we, subjects under one another, turn to another who promises us his assistance; and he does not make us remain in our former opinion. This must be avoided by all means, so that our branches do not wither and our shoots dry up: and so that we are not believed to act against God's covenant.
[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 17:1-24