Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 20:27-29:29

(Verse 27, 29 onwards) Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and tell them: Thus says the Lord God: Moreover, your fathers have blasphemed against me and have treated me with contempt, even as they spurned me. And I brought them into the land that I had lifted my hand to give them ((Vulgate adds: that land)): they saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and there they offered their sacrifices and presented there the irritation of their offerings, and they placed there the fragrance of their sweetness, and they poured out their ((Vulgate is silent on this)) libations there. And I said to them, 'What is the high place to which you are going?' And its name was called the High Place until this day. Therefore speak to the house of Israel, son of man, and say to them, 'Thus says the Lord God: As for your fathers, they have provoked Me to anger by their iniquities, by the fact that they have fallen away from Me. So I brought them into the land that I had lifted My hand in an oath to give them.' They saw every high hill and every leafy tree, and there they offered their sacrifices. They also presented there the provocation of their gifts, and they set there their pleasing aroma, and they poured out there their drink offerings. And I said to them: What is abbana, because you enter there? And they called its name abbana until this day. I wanted, he said, to scatter them in the wilderness, and to give them not good precepts, so that they would sacrifice to idols what they should have offered to me, and consecrate all their first-fruits to them by fire, so that I might kill them and destroy them. But when he says, I wanted, he shows that he did not do what he wanted. And that which follows: 'And they shall know that I am the Lord,' is not found in the Septuagint. For it did not seem fitting to them to know after their destruction that he himself is the Lord. But you, son of man, speak again to them, that is, to the elders of the house of Israel, who have come to inquire of you: Your fathers, from whom you have descended, have also blasphemed against me and held me in contempt; after I brought them into the land which I had given them to possess, they turned against me to provoke me. For when they saw every high hill and leafy tree, they would sacrifice on the mountains and in the groves and thickets, and offer victims to the idols, and pour out libations. And when I saw this, I said to them: What is this, Bama? for it is called high: or why do you enter into such a place which you have chosen for yourselves in all the hills, so that even today these places are called Bamoth, and the ancient error retains its original name? Regarding Bama, which we translate as excelsum, there is an error in the Septuagint edition, where it is written as ἀββανὰ, which does not resonate in the Hebrew language. Bama can mean 'in which' if the two syllables are divided into two words, but in the present context, that sense does not fit. However, wherever it is written in the Books of Kings and Chronicles: 'The people still sacrificed and offered incense on the high places,' Bama in the singular and Bamoth in the plural mean 'high places.'

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 20:35-36:38

(Verse 35, 36, and following) And I will bring you into a desert of peoples, and there I will judge you face to face. Just as I contended with your fathers in the desert of the land of Egypt, so I will judge you, says the Lord. And I will subject you to my scepter, and I will bring you into the bonds of the covenant, and I will choose from among you the transgressors and the wicked: from their place of residence I will bring them out, and they will not enter the land of Israel, and you will know that I am the Lord. Thus says the Lord: I will do for you who are in Babylon, and now serve idols, what I did for your ancestors in Egypt. I will lead you into the desert of the peoples, and there I will judge you face to face, just as I contended with them in judgment when they came out of Egypt. And after I have judged you, I will subject you to my scepter and rule, and I will make a covenant with you and bring you into your land with the bonds of love, so that bound by my love, you will never be able to depart from me. But I will choose from among you the transgressors and the wicked, who persist in the hardness of their hearts in evil deeds, not for possession, but for rejection. And I will indeed bring them out of the land of their dwelling, so that when they are brought out, they will not enter the land of Israel; but they will perish in various regions. And by the distinction between good and evil, you shall know that I am the Lord, who judges all things. The rest of the discourse hastens, and we briefly go through each point, in order to provide only the meaning to the readers.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 25:1-7

Chapter 25: And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, set your face against the sons of Ammon, and prophesy against them. And you shall say to the sons of Ammon: Hear the word of the Lord God! Thus says the Lord God: Because you said, 'Aha!' over my sanctuary when it was profaned, and over the land of Israel when it was laid waste, and over the house of Judah when they went into exile, therefore behold, I am giving you to the people of the East for a possession, and they shall set their encampments in you and make their dwellings in you. They shall eat your fruit, and they shall drink your milk. I will make Rabbah a pasture for camels and the land of the Ammonites a fold for flocks. Then you will know that I am the Lord. Because the Lord God says these things: Because you clapped your hands, and stomped your feet, and rejoiced with all your heart (or insulted with all your soul) over the land of Israel; therefore (Vulgate adds behold) I will stretch out my hand against you, and deliver you to be plundered by the nations, and I will kill you from the peoples, and I will destroy you from the lands, and I will crush you, and you will know that I am the Lord. When Jerusalem was captured or besieged, after it came to Babylon, whoever could (or had the power to) escape, and he reported that the city was about to be captured very soon, or that the temple had been destroyed, according to the custom of all the prophets against the other surrounding nations, who insulted the ruins of Jerusalem, and the burning of the temple, the prophetic message turns, firstly against the sons of Ammon, who had a metropolis called Rabbath, which today is named Philadelphia by King Ptolemy of Egypt, also known as Philadelphus, who held both Arabia and Judah. Son, he says, of man, set your face against the sons of Ammon, who are descended from Lot, and say to them: Thus says the Lord God (for these are not the words of a prophet, but of the Lord. Concerning the hardening of the face, we have argued more fully in this same prophecy): Because you have said, 'Aha, Aha,' or have insulted and rejoiced because my temple and sanctuary have been defiled by the invasion of enemies, and over the land of Israel, which has been devastated, and especially over the house of Judah, that is, the two tribes that are now in captivity: therefore I will give you over to the sons of Edom, whom we interpret as the Easterners. There is no doubt, Madianites, that they border the entire wilderness of the land of Arabia, who have herds of camels, and multitudes of sheep and goats, and they sustain themselves with these resources. This is also narrated in the book of Judges (Judg. VI) about what happened to the land of Israel when the Midianites came and devoured all their regions up to Gaza. Metaphorically, therefore, by the term Midianites, it signifies the Ishmaelites and Hagarites, who are now called Saracens, taking for themselves the false name of Sarah so that they may appear to be born of a noble and mistress lineage. Scripture also says about king Nebuchadnezzar and his entire army that they come and capture the city of Rabbath, which either has this name specifically or because of its greatness. For Rabbath is said to be the greatest. And so that we do not doubt that Nebuchadnezzar overthrew Arabia after Jerusalem was captured, Scripture testifies above: And thou, son of man, set thee two ways, Ammon and Jerusalem, and there shall come the sword of the king of Babylon. And again: At the head of the city's way he shall cast it, and thou shalt set up a way, that the sword may come to Rabbath of the children of Ammon, and to the fortified Jerusalem (Above, XXI, 19, 20). And again, thus says the Lord God to the sons of Ammon, and to their reproach (verse 28). Therefore, the sons of Kedem will come and set up their tents like shepherds, and they will pitch their tents. They will destroy your crops and drink the milk and abundance of the land, with herds of camels and all the peoples, so that the sons of Ammon will be in the dwelling place of cattle and understand the necessity of evil, that it is the Lord himself who foretold the future and commanded it to be. And this was not enough for the Ammonites, that they insulted and said, 'Hurrah, hurrah for the temple and sanctuary of the Lord, which was defiled by the entrance of various nations'; but such was the wickedness of their insults that the whole people clapped their hands and stamped their feet, and with all their heart cried out: because the land of Israel was desolate. Therefore, not by angels, nor by other ministries, but by the Lord himself, extending his hand to strike, will he hand it over to plunder, not to camels and sheep herds, but more clearly to the nations, so that it may be completely eradicated from the number of peoples, and perish, and be reduced to nothingness: and after it has been crushed, then it will understand that he himself is the Lord who judges all things, and has power over all lands. We can understand the sons of Ammon according to the tropology, who were born from Lot in the cave, both born in drunkenness and incest, all heretics, of whom the Scripture and the Apostle John say: They went out from us, but they were not of us. For if they had been of us, they would have remained with us (John 2:19). For they arose from inclination, for this is how Lot is translated into our language: For all have turned aside, together they have become worthless; there is no one who does good, not even one (Psalm 14:3). Opposite to these, the prophetic face is set or hardened, in order to crush them with its severity, and it says to them: Because you have insulted my Church in the time of persecution, because my sanctuary was defiled by the fault of various people, either by those who served me, or by the cruelty of the enemies who persecuted me: and also the land of Israel, which saw the sense of God, is desolate of the choir of virtues; and how the children of the house of Judah, that is, those who confess God, in which true faith and right confession exist, were led into captivity and ceased serving the Lord: therefore, O all who insult, you will be handed over to the children of the East who have come from the true light, and you will be handed over as an inheritance, so that you too may learn to confess the Lord. And by way of translation it is said that the sons of the East will place their dwellings upon them, and pitch their tents, and drink milk, and eat fruit, and the city which was once full of pride will become a dwelling place for camels, so that they, having set aside the burden of sins, may enter through the eye of a needle (Matthew 19), and into the fold of the animals, which are guided by a good shepherd (John 10), so that when they have done this, mixed and handed over to the shepherds of the East, they may understand that he himself is the Lord. And again he reproached them, for insulting with excessive affection of the heart the ruins of the people of God, and for thinking that the land of Israel was completely deserted. For this they deserve the hand of God's avenger, as they had exceeded the limit of rejoicing and joy over the destruction of the house of Judah. They should by no means be delivered to the sons of the East, but be for plundering by all nations, and be killed and perish, and be crushed, and by no means be considered descendants of Abraham, but be believed to be for all nations. And then they shall know the magnitude of their evils, and their own contrition, and the killing of the people, that He Himself is the Lord. What we have understood in general about the Church can be understood about each of the saints, whose ruin the people of the world and the powers of the enemy rejoice in if they have lost their chastity for a long time: while the wicked think that they find comfort in their sins if they have more partners in crime and punishment: and no one does this, unless they are a son of Ammon, that is, a son of the people, who is born in a decline.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 25:8-11

(Verse 8 onwards) This is what the Lord God says: Because Moab and Seir have said, 'Look, just like all the other nations, the house of Judah is also ours,' therefore I will expose Moab's shoulder, including its cities, with the renowned land of Beth Jesimoth, Beelmeon, and Kariathaim. I will give it to the people of the East along with the Ammonites as their inheritance, so that the Ammonites will no longer be remembered among the nations. I will also execute judgments against Moab, and they will know that I am the Lord. LXX: Thus says the Lord God: Because Moab and Seir said, 'Behold, the house of Judah is like all the other nations.' Therefore, behold, I will open up the shoulder of Moab from the cities of its coastline, the choice land, the house of Beth Jasimuth, on the spring of the coastal city. I have given the sons of the East as an inheritance to the sons of Ammon, so that the sons of Ammon may not be remembered among the nations. And I will execute vengeance upon Moab, and they shall know that I am the Lord. What we have interpreted and added from the edition of Theodotion is not found in the Septuagint. But the Hebrews tell a ridiculous fable in this place. After the city was opened and the temple was unlocked, the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Seir entered the temple and saw the Cherubim protecting the propitiatory, and they said: Just as all nations worship idols, so Judah also has idols of its own religion; and therefore, they say, the Lord is angry and has delivered them into captivity. But we shall say this, that they also insulted the house of Judah when it was captured by the Chaldeans, thinking that, as in the case of other nations, there was no divine help there, and therefore the kingdom of Judah and the city of Jerusalem, deprived of God's protection, fell under the power of Babylon. Therefore, not long afterwards, but at present, the Lord threatens that he will destroy or open his strong and fortified cities in Moab, so that even the victorious Babylonians might enter them, and the cities in Moab might cease to exist, and the famous cities in its borders and territories might be destroyed: among which he names Beth Jeshimoth, and Beelmeon, and Kiriathaim: for which, I don't know what reason, the Septuagint translators rendered them as the house of Beth Iasimuth, though this word signifies a deserted village; and Beelmeon is still today a very large town in Moab, which they translated as "over the spring," and Kiriathaim, a coastal city; and it is handed down, together with the sons of Ammon, the sons of the East, to the Babylonians, namely, according to that interpretation which we have presented against the sons of Ammon. And I will give, he says, Moab as an inheritance, that just as there is no more memory of the sons of Ammon among the nations, so I will also execute vengeance and judgment on Moab, so that they will know that I am the Lord, who delivered Judah because of sin, and I will be an avenger against the sons of Ammon and Moab. However, Moab, which is interpreted as 'from the father,' and Seir, which is turned into hairy and rough, despises and scorns the house of Judah, in which true confession resides, and thinks that it can be easily overthrown, just as the fortifications of other cities are overthrown. And the Lord threatens to open himself up, or to dissolve all the strength of the Moabites, so that they may cease to have cities and may not at all trust in the art of dialectic. But all those boundaries, which they call headlands for the purpose of deceiving the waves, shall be destroyed; and the famous and chosen land of Beth Jesimoth, which means the house of solitude and desert, and Beelmeon, which also means having a spring, or above a spring, and Cariathaim, which the 70 translated as a maritime city, shall perish. For although they may have the strength of warriors, and may proceed to battle with the art of fighting, and may march surrounded and fortified on every side: nevertheless, their famous land is not a home of habitation, but a home of solitude. And what they think they have, a source of knowledge, and a maritime city, which can withstand all the storms of the world, promising patience and fortitude to themselves: yet they will be converted there, so that they may be handed over to the sons of the East, the true light in Christ; just as the sons of Ammon were handed over, who trusted themselves in a heretical multitude. And let us consider the progress and, in the very act of punishment, the mercy of God, so that the sons of Ammon, the sons of the East, may be delivered into inheritance. And let no heresy be named among the nations. But let them come to know, at the end of things, through the judgments and punishments for their arrogance, that the Lord is the one who governs all. Now, in order to prove that the current place of the Moabites is above the pride of the philosophers, about whom it is said: 'I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the discernment of the discerning I will thwart' (1 Corinthians 1:19), a few examples from the prophets need to be repeated. Amos speaks: Thus says the Lord: Against three crimes of Moab, and against four I will not revoke it, because he burned the bones of the king of Edom into ashes (Amos II, 1). Indeed, whatever is of perverse teachings in the world, whatever pertains to earthly knowledge, and is considered to be strong, is subverted by the art of dialectic and dissolved like fire into ashes and embers, in order to prove that which was thought to be the strongest is nothing. But Isaiah rebukes the pride of Moab, saying: We have heard the pride of Moab: he is exceedingly proud; his pride is taken away (Isa. XVI). Jeremiah also, prophesying against all the nations, speaks directly to Moab: Because you trusted in your fortifications (Jerem. XLVIII, 7). And shortly after: You will have confidence in your glory. And again: How do you say, We are mighty? And then: The day of Moab is near, and his malice is exceedingly swift (Ibid. 14, 10). And more plainly: Declare how the glorious staff is broken, the rod of majesty (Ibid., 20). And again: The horn of Moab is broken. But these things are said so that under the name of Moab, the foolishness of the world, exalting itself to heaven, may be shattered by pride.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 25:12-14

(Vers. 12, 13, et seqq.) Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom has acted vengefully against the children of Judah and has incurred guilt by taking vengeance upon them, therefore thus says the Lord God: I will stretch out my hand against Edom and cut off from it man and beast. I will make it a desolation from Teman, and Dedan shall fall by the sword. I will execute my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, declares the Lord God. LXX: Thus says the Lord God: Because Edom acted revengefully against the house of Judah and took vengeance upon them with utmost hatred, therefore thus says the Lord God, I will stretch out my hand against Edom, and cut off from it man and beast, and I will make it desolate; from Teman even to Dedan they shall fall by the sword. And I will execute vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel, and they shall do in Edom according to my anger and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, says the Lord God. Above, the two proposed, for what they said about Moab and Seir, and later in silence about Seir, spoke only against Moab: now it refutes the problem that Seir, that is, Edom, has done. That Esau and Seir, and Edom, and Idumea, and Duma, are called one nation, no one should doubt who has knowledge of the Scriptures. And not to mention the other prophets, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Amos, who prophesied against Idumea, Duma, and Edom: Obadiah directed his entire prophecy against this nation, which we have discussed before as best we could. Therefore Seir is accused, who because he was hairy, received the name 'hairy', and Edom the bloodthirsty, who lost the birthright due to the cooking of a red lentil, and obtained the name from the dish. Also, Esau's actions are interpreted. And it should be known that in Hebrew, Idumaea is never written, but always Edom, which the Greek translation expressed as Idumaea. Therefore, it is not Idumaea (Edom), as Moab spoke, but he took revenge on the sons of Judah: he sinned, or retained the memory of the previous pain, in order to take revenge on them, from whom he was supplanted in the womb. Therefore not through angels, nor through any other: but the Lord himself, stretching out his hand over Idumea, took away from it man and beast, and reduced the cities thereof into a desert, that is, Themam, which we turn towards the south: and of the same city Dedan, there shall be no remains. And they shall know my vengeance and retribution, saith the Lord God: I will lay my vengeance upon Edom by the hand of my people Israel: and they shall do in Edom according to my fury, and according to my wrath, and they shall know my vengeance, saith the Lord God. Those who act in Edom, or Idumea, according to my anger and fury, to fulfill my indignation, and through the hands of my people Israel, let my wrath rage against the enemy nation, and let them understand that my just vengeance was against the unjust retribution of Idumea, says the Lord Adonai. According to the allegory, this is the meaning that I perceive. Earthly and fleshly Idumea is called, which rises against the spirit, so that we do not do those things which are of the spirit, and it hastens to draw back the soul placed in its midst; and it wants to exact revenge, to which it was previously subjected, on the sons of Judah, and it remembers the ancient pain, which was not of its own power, and therefore sought revenge on those who turned away from the flesh and followed the spirit. Therefore, the Lord Himself, being the avenger of the children of Judah, has stretched out His hand over Edom and has taken away from it both man and beast, whatever it seems to possess of reason or simple faith, in order to reduce it to a wilderness. And He has slain with the sword all of Theman, which means failing, and Dedan, which also signifies kinship, which He has placed in the hand of His people Israel, so that Edom may be overthrown and may feel the anger and fury of the Lord, and may understand that His vengeance has accomplished this, in order to serve the house of Judah. This is that which the Apostle disputes about, writing: Jacob I loved, but Esau I hated (Rom. IX, 13). But Jacob is loved, because he supplants and surpasses the carnal and earthly, and deserves to receive his blessings. For first we live according to the flesh, and afterwards according to the spirit. First vices, then virtues, by which vices are overturned, because the heart of man is inclined towards evil from childhood, and the age of maturity condemns the errors of youth (Genesis VIII). And David also says: Remember not the sins of my youth, and my ignorances. (Ps. 24:7). And yet it should be known that Jacob received the first blessing, Esau the second. And what is said of him at the end, 'You shall be your brother's servant' (Gen. 27:40), signifies that after the flesh is subject to the spirit and united to it, it ceases to be flesh and passes from Edom to Judah.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 25:15-16

(Vers. 15, 16.) Thus says the Lord God: Because the Philistines acted in vengeance, and took revenge with wholehearted malice, and filled ancient enmities; therefore thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the Philistines, and I will destroy the killers and annihilate the remnants of the coastal region. And I will inflict great vengeance upon them in furious rebukes, and they will know that I am the Lord when I execute my vengeance upon them. LXX: Therefore, thus says the Lord God: Because the aliens have committed vengeance and have provoked wrath, insultingly, from the heart, in order to destroy forever; therefore, thus says the Lord God: Behold, I will stretch out my hand against the aliens, and I will destroy or kill the Cretans, and I will destroy the remnants of the coastal region, and I will bring upon them great vengeance in the fury of wrath, and they shall know that I am the Lord God when I execute my vengeance upon them. After the sons of Ammon, Moab, and Seir, who themselves are also Edomites, and through Lot and Esau are linked to the people of Israel and the house of Judah by kinship, came to the Philistines, whom the Seventy Translators translated as ἀλλοφύλους, that is, foreigners, not by the general name of all the nations that are not of the Jewish race, but by the specific name of their own race, which is now called Palestine, with the letter P changed to Pi (π) according to the Greek custom, just as we celebrate the Hebrew Phase () in Greek and Latin as Pascha. The Philistines are interpreted as those who fall by the cup, who themselves were intoxicated by the golden cup of Babylon, and they rage and insult with their whole heart, remembering the ancient enmities against old Israel, from whom they were separated from God's people. And when the Lord says, 'Vengeance is mine, and I will repay' (Deuteronomy 32:35), they themselves take revenge by killing and fulfilling the old hatred. On account of this, they will feel the outstretched hand of the Lord above them, which will kill the killers. For this reason, the Cretans, not knowing what they wanted, interpreted the Seventy (LXX), together with Aquila and Symmachus, and Theodotion, the Hebrew word Chorethim (), as either murderers or murder. This was not only said in the present place, but also in Zephaniah where it is said against the Philistines: Gaza will be plundered, and Ashkelon will be laid waste, and Ashdod and Ekron will be uprooted. Woe to the inhabitants of the coast, the inhabitants of Crete, the word of the Lord is against you, O Canaan, land of foreigners, and I will destroy you from your dwelling place, and Crete will become a pasture for shepherds, and a resting place for sheep (Zeph. II, 4 ff.). And here, when the Seventy translated to Crete, the other translators rendered ὄλεθρον (Al. κάῤῥον) as 'interfection' or 'perdition'. About this, in the aforementioned prophet, with God's help, we have said what seemed to us. Hence, the two legions of David, one of which was called Phelethi and the other Cerethi (2 Kings 15), received the name Cherethim (Al. Cherethim), because they would kill and slaughter, that is, the name of the slain. And the Lord will destroy all the remaining parts of the maritime region, which is beaten by the salty (false) waves, and he will not inflict small but great punishments in his anger, so that his anger may have an end to mercy, and after he has taken revenge, rebuking with fury, then the Palestinians will know that he himself is the Lord.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel