Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[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 33:1-9

(Chapter XXXIII, Verse 1 and following) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, speak to the children of your people and say to them: When I bring a sword upon a land and the people of the land take one man from among them and make him their watchman, and he sees the sword coming upon the land and blows the trumpet and warns the people, then whoever hears the sound of the trumpet and does not take warning, if the sword comes and takes him away, his blood shall be upon his own head. He heard the sound (or voice) of the trumpet, and did not pay attention, his blood shall be upon himself: but if he takes heed, he shall save his soul. But if the watchman sees the sword coming, and does not blow the trumpet; and the people are not warned, and the sword comes and takes any person from among them, he is taken away in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at the watchman's hand. And you, son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore hear from my mouth the word, and proclaim it to them from me. If I say to the wicked, wicked one, you shall surely die, and you do not speak to warn the wicked to turn from his way, that wicked person shall die in his iniquity, but his blood I will require at your hand. But if you warn the wicked to turn from his way, and he does not turn from his way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you will have delivered your soul. Once again, the word of the Lord came to the prophet, who had been silent for some time because neither the prophet nor human frailty can bear a constant and continuous prophecy. And he speaks the same things that are contained in the previous verses. Son of man, I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, and you will hear a word from my mouth, and you will warn them from me. If I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' and you have not warned him, nor spoken to warn the wicked to turn from his wicked way and live, the wicked shall die in his iniquity; but his blood I will require at your hand. And even if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness and his evil ways, he will die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul. If you carefully consider, you will understand that they are indeed similar, but not the same, as they disagree in many things. And in all Holy Scriptures we must observe this, where there seems to be a similarity in the sentiment, not all things are said in the same way: but many things are either subtracted or added, and there is a reason for the discrepancy between the words of individuals. And meanwhile, before we come to deeper matters, a brief statement must be explained. If a watchman is appointed among the people to announce the coming sword of the Lord's wrath, and if, when he announces it, the people refuse to listen, the watchman will be free, and the one who is oppressed by the sword will bear the guilt of his own blood: but if he hears and saves himself. But if the watchman does not blow the trumpet, and the ignorant people do not observe the approaching sword, the people will indeed die in their iniquity, but I will require the blood of the dying from the hand of the watchman. And in order for the prophet Ezekiel to know that the general dispute concerned him in particular, He said to him, 'And you, son of man, have not been appointed as a watchman for the land and the people of the land, as I have already said, but you have been appointed as a watchman for the house of Israel. Therefore, if when I say to the wicked, 'You shall surely die,' you do not speak to warn him, that he may turn from his wicked way to save his life, his blood shall be upon you. But if you warn the wicked, and he does not turn from his wickedness, or from his wicked way, he shall die in his iniquity, but you have delivered your soul.' But if you announce and command the wicked to turn away from their worst ways, and they refuse to do so: they will indeed die in their iniquity; but you will deliver your soul from the death brought on by negligence. From these words we learn that a person, no matter how wicked and impious, can be saved from their wickedness if they hear the words of the teacher and repent. The teacher also faces a danger if they refuse to teach, either out of fear or despair of the sinner's fate. The teacher is guilty of shedding the blood of the one who could have been saved and rescued from death if the teacher had not remained silent, and in both cases the free will of the person is preserved, as it is up to the teacher to choose whether to speak or remain silent, and up to the listener to choose whether to listen, act and be saved, or to ignore and perish through their own disdain. And immediately it does not follow that because the prophet predicts, what he predicted will come. For he does not predict so that it may come, but so that it may not come. And because God speaks, it is not necessary for what he threatens to happen, but he threatens so that the one to whom he threatens may be converted to repentance, and what is future does not happen if the words of the Lord are despised. However, we can discuss this passage in three ways: as the land that appoints a watchman for itself, either according to the literal sense, that is, the land of Judea, or according to the spiritual interpretation, the Church, which often chooses a watchman for the last things of its people, namely the one whom the Apostle, writing to the Corinthians, takes as a judge (1 Corinthians 15), or certainly the soul of the believer, which sets its mind and reason above the people and crowd of its thoughts, so that it does not accept all the incentives of thoughts, but judges and discerns what should be followed by itself and what should be avoided. A watchman of the land of Judea, either a king, or a prophet: a watchman of the Church, either a bishop, or a presbyter, because he is chosen by the people, and knowing the reading of the Scriptures, and foreseeing what is to come, he announces to the people and corrects the wrongdoer. Therefore, it is greatly to be feared that we approach this office unworthy and chosen by the people, giving ourselves to neglect and idleness: and what is worse, serving pleasures, the belly, and laziness, we think that we have received honor, not ministry. For indeed the Son of Man came not to be ministered unto, but to minister (Matthew 20:28); and he washed the disciples' feet (John 13), to show that all filth and vices must be washed and purged from the masters in the disciples. Let us not immediately answer what profit is it to teach, if the hearer is unwilling to do what you have taught? For each one is judged according to his own mind and duty. If you have not spoken, he, if he has disregarded listening. Salomon speaks about negligent magistrates: Hidden wisdom and hidden treasure, what is the use for both? What does this signify in the Gospel (Mark 9) as well, that whoever scandalizes one of the least of the Church, it is expedient for him to be tied around his neck with a millstone of a donkey and be cast into the deep, rather than being placed on a high watchtower where he can harm many.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 390] Gregory of Nazianzus on Ezekiel 33:2

How are we affected by Ezekiel, the beholder and expositor of the mighty mysteries and visions? By his injunction to the watchmen not to keep silence concerning vice and the sword impending over it, a course that would profit neither themselves nor the sinners, but rather to keep watch and forewarn and thus benefit at any rate those who gave warning, if not both those who spoke and those who heard.

Source: IN DEFENSE OF HIS FLIGHT TO PONTUS, ORATION 2:64

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ezekiel 33:2

Do you see how dangerous it is to keep silent? He dies, and rightly dies; he dies in his own wickedness and sin; his own heedlessness kills him. Yes, the one who says “I live, says the Lord,” would like to find a living shepherd. But since he has been heedless, not being warned by the one who was given charge and made a watchman for this very purpose of warning him, he will die justly, and the other will be justly condemned.… It is our business not to keep quiet; it is your business, even if we do keep quiet, to listen to the words of the shepherd from the holy Scriptures.

Source: SERMON 46:20

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Ezekiel 33:2

These words teach that it is God who gives peace to people because of goodness and allows wars to happen because of the wickedness of people who bring disaster on themselves.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 13:33

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Ezekiel 33:2

Mine is the burden that you just heard about when the prophet Ezekiel was read. It is not enough that the day itself admonishes us to reflect on the burden; in addition such a lesson was read to excite great fear in us, so we will think about what we are carrying. Unless the One who imposed the burden on us carried it with us, we fail.

Source: SERMON 231:2

[AD 1022] Symeon the New Theologian on Ezekiel 33:3

So it is necessary for you, the shepherd of Christ’s sheep, to acquire, as we have said, every virtue of body and spirit. You are the head of the body of the church of Israel that is under your rule, so that the brothers may look to you as a good pattern and imprint on themselves those excellent and royal traits of character. May your trumpet never cease to resound! It should warn some of the sword that comes on the disobedient and stubborn, so that even if they ignore you, you may save your soul from the terrible wrath of God.

Source: DISCOURSES 18:15

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ezekiel 33:6

For this reason, overseers or rulers are set over the churches to reprimand sin, not to spare it. Nor is a person fully free from blame who is not in authority but who notices in those persons he meets in social life many faults he should censure and admonish. He is blameworthy if he fails to do this out of fear of hurting feelings or of losing such things as he may rightfully enjoy in his life but to which he is unduly attached.

Source: City of God 1.9

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:7

The watchman of the house of Israel can be understood as king or a prophet; the watchman of the church can be understood as to be the bishop or the presbyter who has been chosen by the people, in the reading of the Scriptures, recognizing and foreseeing what the future will hold, proclaiming to the people and correcting what is wrong.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 10:33.1-9

[AD 437] Possidius on Ezekiel 33:7

In all this he thought of himself as a watchman set by the Lord over the house of Israel; he preached the word in season and out of season, convincing, exhorting, rebuking and teaching with unfailing patience and taking special care to teach in turn those fitted for teaching others. When asked by some to take a hand in their temporal concerns, he wrote letters to various persons for them, but he regarded this occupation as a kind of forced labor that took him away from more important things. His real delight was to speak of the things of God, whether in public addresses or at home in familiar converse with his brothers.

Source: LIFE OF AUGUSTINE 19:5-6

[AD 749] John Damascene on Ezekiel 33:8

Although it is best for us to be ever aware of our unworthiness and to confess our sins before God, nevertheless it is good and necessary to speak when the times demand it, for I see the church that God founded on the apostles and prophets, its cornerstone being Christ his Son, tossed on an angry sea, beaten by rushing waves, shaken and troubled by the assaults of evil spirits. Impious people seek to rend asunder the seamless robe of Christ and to cut his body in pieces: his body, which is the Word of God and the ancient tradition of the church. Therefore I think it unreasonable to keep silence and hold my tongue.

Source: ON DIVINE IMAGES 1:1

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:10-20

(Versed 10ff.) Therefore, son of man, speak to the house of Israel and say to them: 'Our transgressions and sins are upon us, and we waste away because of them. How then can we live?' Say to them: 'As surely as I live, declares the Lord God, I take no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but rather that the wicked turn from their ways and live. Turn! Turn from your evil ways! Why will you die, O house of Israel?' And you, son of man, say to your people: 'The righteousness of the righteous man will not save him when he disobeys, and the wickedness of the wicked man will not cause him to stumble when he turns from it. The righteous man cannot live by his righteousness when he sins.' Even if I say to the just, that he shall surely live; and relying on his justice he commits iniquity, all his justices shall be forgotten, and in his iniquity which he has wrought, he shall die. But if I shall say to the wicked: Thou shalt surely die; and he does penance for his sin, and does judgment and justice, and if he restore the pledge, and render what he had robbed, and walk in the commandments of life, and do no unjust thing, he shall surely live, and shall not die. All sins ((Vulg. adds of him)), which he has committed, shall not be imputed to him: for judgment and justice he has done, he shall live: And the children of your people have said: The way of the Lord is not equal, whereas their way is unjust. When the just turns himself away from his justice, and commits iniquity, he shall die therein: in the same manner, when the wicked turns himself away from his wickedness, and does judgment and justice, he shall live therein. And you say: The way of the Lord is not right. Each one I will judge according to his ways, o house of Israel. If we read negligentl, the same prophecy seems to us which is said above, in which it is said: Do I desire the death of the wicked, saith the Lord God, and not that he should be converted from his ways, and live? (Ezek. XVIII, 23). And in the end of the same prophecy: Return ye, and turn yourselves from all your impieties, and there shall not be iniquity that may be your ruin (Ibid., 8). For there, indeed, a conversation is had with those who desire to do penance and to expiate their sins with justice, so that they may convert with confidence and perform penance with a full heart. But here, He speaks to those who, due to the magnitude of their sins, or rather their impieties, despair of salvation and say: Our iniquities and sins are upon us, and we waste away in them. How then can we live? And the meaning is: Since death has once been proposed to us and no medicine can restore health to our wounds, why must we labor and be consumed in vain, and not transact this present life in despair, so that at least we may enjoy it, since we have lost the future life? To whom God responds, that he does not want the death of the wicked, but that they should turn back and live. And he addresses a apostrophe to the despairing wicked: Turn away from your wicked ways. And so that we may know who the wicked are to whom he speaks, the following discourse demonstrates: Why should you die, O house of Israel? However, life and death in this context do not signify the common life or death shared with animals according to the natural law, but rather that which is written, I will please the Lord in the land of the living (Psalm 114:9); and, The soul that sins shall die. And with a special warning, because he was speaking to the house of Israel, he proceeds to a general discussion: that even if the just do not save their past righteousness, if they are engaged in new sins, and even if sinners or wicked people do not lose their old sins, if they correct their previous mistakes with righteous actions, God does not judge in both cases based on the past, but on the present. If I say, he says, to the righteous, you shall live, and I promise him the rewards of righteousness, and he, relying on that, sins, all his previous righteousness will be forgotten, and he will die in his present unrighteousness. My opinion has not changed, for I cannot give to the same sinner what I promised to the righteous. And if I, being a sinner and wicked, pronounce and say: Yet three days, and Nineveh shall be overthrown; and he shall repent of his sins, and amend his old error with good works, so that he may do justice and righteousness, restore the pledge, and give back the plunder, and walk in the commandments of life, and not do anything unjust: should not the life, which is Christ, live and never die, since the punishment of the sinner should not punish the righteous? This is what the divine word speaks to Jeremiah when he goes down to the potter's house and hears either the promises or the threats of God, in order to either provoke people to salvation or deter them from sin (Jer. XVIII). Hence those who say that the way of the Lord is not just are argued against because their opinion is unjust, possessed of a very evil eye, and not at all new, but of those who have passed judgment in the past. To all of whom it is shown that the sinner should not despair of salvation if he repents; nor should the righteous person place confidence in his righteousness if he negligently loses what he had earnestly sought after. We pass over those things which are clearly stated, so that we may dwell on those which are more obscure, in which the present prophecy differs from the past, and in which it speaks similar things, the comparison of both can indicate. Moreover, what it means to pass judgment and to be just, to restore a pledge, to repay robbery, to walk in the commandments of life, and other things, we have spoken of in this same prophet above.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 99] Clement of Rome on Ezekiel 33:11

The ministers of the grace of God have, by the Holy Spirit, spoken of repentance; and the Lord of all things has himself declared with an oath regarding it, "As I live, says the Lord, I desire not the death of the sinner, but rather his repentance;" [Ezekiel 33:11] adding, moreover, this gracious declaration, "Repent, O house of Israel, of your iniquity." [Ezekiel 18:30] Say to the children of my people, Though your sins reach from earth to heaven, and though they be redder than scarlet, and blacker than sack-cloth, yet if you turn to me with your whole heart, and say, Father! I will listen to you, as to a holy people. [2 Chronicles 7:14] And in another place He speaks thus: "Wash you and become clean; put away the wickedness of your souls from before my eyes; cease from your evil ways, and learn to do well; seek out judgment, deliver the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and see that justice is done to the widow; and come, and let us reason together. He declares, Though your sins be like crimson, I will make them white as snow; though they be like scarlet, I will whiten them like wool. And if you be willing and obey me, you shall eat the good of the land; but if you refuse, and will not hearken unto me, the sword shall devour you, for the mouth of the Lord has spoken these things." [Isaiah 1:16-20] Desiring, therefore, that all His beloved should be partakers of repentance, He has, by His almighty will, established [these declarations].

Source: Clement's First Letter to the Corinthians, Chapter 8

[AD 220] Tertullian on Ezekiel 33:11

Come now, you tightrope walker, walking on a tightrope of purity and chastity and every sort of sexual asceticism, you who, on the slender cord of a discipline like this, far from the path of truth, advance with reluctant feet, balancing the flesh by the spirit, moderating your desires by the faith, guarding your eyes through fear, why do you watch your step so anxiously?

Source: ON PURITY 10

[AD 220] Tertullian on Ezekiel 33:11

Having considered God’s generosity, we pray next for his indulgence. For of what benefit is food if, in reality, we are bent on it like a bull on his victim? Our Lord knew that he alone was without sin. Therefore he taught us to say in prayer, “Forgive us our trespasses.” A prayer for pardon is an acknowledgment of sin, since one who asks for pardon confesses guilt. Thus, too, repentance is shown to be acceptable to God, because God wills this rather than the death of the sinner.

Source: ON PRAYER 7:1

[AD 258] Cyprian on Ezekiel 33:11

He who has thus satisfied God, who by repentance for his deed, who by shame for his sin has conceived more of both virtue and faith from the very sorrow for his lapsing, after being heard and aided by the Lord, will cause the church to rejoice, which he recently had saddened, and will merit not only the pardon of God but a crown.

Source: Treatise III. On the Lapsed 36

[AD 391] Pacian of Barcelona on Ezekiel 33:11

You, I say, who are timid after being shameless, who are bashful after sinning! You who are not ashamed to sin but are ashamed to confess! You who with an evil conscience touch the holy things of God and do not fear the altar of the Lord! You who approach the hands of the priest and who come within the sight of the angels with the boldness of innocence! You who insult the divine patience! You who bring to God a polluted soul and a profane body, as if, because God is silent, he does not know! Hear what the Lord has done and then what he has said.

Source: ON PENITENTS 6:2

[AD 407] John Chrysostom on Ezekiel 33:11

How then is he good and merciful and full of loving kindness to humankind? Even here he is merciful, and he shows in these things the greatness of his lovingkindness. For he shows us these terrors, that through being constrained by them we may be awakened to the desire of the kingdom.

Source: HOMILIES ON 2 TIMOTHY 3

[AD 420] Palladius of Galatia on Ezekiel 33:11

Now therefore, Christians, since we know from the holy Scriptures and from divine revelations how great is the grace that God dispenses to those who truly run to him for refuge and who blot out their sins through repentance, and also how, according to his promise, he rewards them with good things and neither takes vengeance according to what is just nor bring on people a punishment for their sins, let us not be in despair of our lives.

Source: LAUSIAC HISTORY 2:44

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:11

Nothing makes God so angry as when people from despair of better things cleave to those which are worse; and indeed this despair in itself is a sign of unbelief. One who despairs of salvation can have no expectation of a judgment to come.

Source: LETTER 122.1

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:11

Now this is what he actually is saying: you have entertained sin, I have pardoned you; you have done evil, I have forgiven you; you have not repented of your sins, I have excused you: did you also have to teach evil? What the Scripture implies is this: For three sins and for four, I shall not be angered against you, says the Lord.

Source: HOMILIES ON THE PSALMS 1

[AD 430] Augustine of Hippo on Ezekiel 33:11

You though, standing there, having made no decision to put yourself right—let me speak like this as though to a single person. Whoever you are, you do not want to put yourself right; what are you promising yourself?

Source: SERMON 40:2

[AD 435] John Cassian on Ezekiel 33:11

How can we imagine without grievous blasphemy that he does not generally will all men, but only some instead of all to be saved?

Source: CONFERENCE 13:7

[AD 449] Eznik of Kolb on Ezekiel 33:11

He wished that Adam’s transgression had not occurred. And because God knew beforehand the transgression, he commanded him beforehand not to eat of the fruit of the tree. And because he did not submit to the order, justly he was punished.

Source: ON GOD 235

[AD 461] Leo the Great on Ezekiel 33:11

As a result, dearly beloved, it was necessary (by the designs of a secret plan) for the unchangeable God (whose will cannot be separated from his goodness) to complete by a deeper mystery the first intentions of his love. It was necessary that human beings, tricked into sin by the devil’s wickedness, should not perish in opposition to God’s plan.

Source: SERMON 22:1, 2

[AD 533] Fulgentius of Ruspe on Ezekiel 33:11

At whatever age a person will do true penance for his sins and change his life for the better under the illumination of God, he will not be deprived of the gift of forgiveness.

Source: TO PETER ON THE FAITH 39

[AD 534] Pseudo-Macarius on Ezekiel 33:11

For this reason the Lord descended so that he might save sinners, raise up the dead and bring new life to those wounded by death and to enlighten those who lay in darkness. The Lord truly came and called us to be God’s adopted children, to enter into a holy city, ever at peace, to possess a life that will endure forever, to share an incorruptible glory. Let us each strive to come to a good end after a good beginning. Let us persevere in poverty, in our pilgrimage, living in affliction and petitions to God without any shame as we continuously knock at the door.

Source: FIFTY SPIRITUAL HOMILIES 11:15

[AD 542] Caesarius of Arles on Ezekiel 33:11

Let your charity believe devoutly and firmly that God never abandons a person unless he is first deserted by him. Although a person may have committed serious sins once, twice and a third time, God still looks for him.

Source: SERMON 101:2

[AD 548] Benedict of Nursia on Ezekiel 33:11

We must prepare our hearts and bodies for the battle of holy obedience to his instructions. What is not possible to us by nature, let us ask the Lord to supply by the help of his grace. RULE OF ST.

Source: BENEDICT, PROLOGUE 40-41

[AD 749] John Damascene on Ezekiel 33:11

For the wickedness of the wicked shall not hurt him in the day that he turns from his wickedness. If he acts righteously and walks in the statutes of life, he shall surely live; he shall not die. None of his sins that he committed shall be remembered against him. Because he has made the decree of righteousness, he shall live by it.

Source: BARLAAM AND JOSEPH 32

[AD 1022] Symeon the New Theologian on Ezekiel 33:11

We are naturally obliged to state our opinion clearly to such people, and to reply: O, you! Why do you reason to your own perdition rather than your salvation? And why do you pick out for yourselves the obscure passages of inspired Scripture and then tear them out of context and twist them in order to accomplish your own destruction? Do you not hear the Savior crying out every day: “As I live … I have no pleasure in the death of the wicked, but that the wicked turn from his way and live” (Ezekiel 33:11)? Do you not hear Him Who says: “Repent, for the Kingdom of Heaven is at hand” [Matthew 3:2]; and again: “Just so, I tell you, there is joy in heaven over one sinner who repents” [Luke 15:7, adapted]? Did He ever say to som: “Do not repent for I will not accept you,” while to others who were predestined: “But you, repent! because I knew you beforehand”? Of course not! Instead, throughout the world and in every church He shouts: “Come to Me, all who labor and are heavy laden, and I will give you rest” [Matthew 11:28]. Come, He says, all you who are burdened with many sins, to the One Who takes away the sin of the world; come all who thirst to the fountain which flows and never dies. - "Second Ethical Discourse"

[AD 258] Cyprian on Ezekiel 33:12

We must press on and persevere in the faith and virtue and in the consummation of heavenly and spiritual grace, that we may be able to arrive at the palm and the crown.

Source: Treatise XI. Exhortation to Martyrdom 5:8

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:12

In the lives of Christians we look not to the beginnings but to the endings. Paul began badly but ended well. The start of Judas wins praise; his end is condemned because of his treachery.

Source: LETTER 54.6

[AD 444] Cyril of Alexandria on Ezekiel 33:12

When God offers us conversion on whatever day one may be willing to practice it, why do they not instead crown with grateful praises him who aids them, instead of foolishly and (we might say) contumaciously opposing him? For by so doing they bring condemnation on their own heads and call down on themselves inevitable wrath.

Source: COMMENTARY ON LUKE 149

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 33:13

If you are righteous, fear his wrath lest you slip; if you are a sinner, believe in his mercy so that you can arise. But see, we have already fallen, we are not strong enough to stand, we lie prostrate in our evil desires. He who created us to be upright still waits, and he appeals to us to rise. He opens up his heart of love and seeks to get us back to himself again through repentance.

Source: FORTY GOSPEL HOMILIES 34

[AD 435] John Cassian on Ezekiel 33:14-15

We are taught that we ought not obstinately stick to our determination, but that we should with gentle pity soften down the threats which derived from some necessity.

Source: CONFERENCE 17:25

[AD 700] Isaac of Nineveh on Ezekiel 33:14-15

Remember God, that He too might always remember you; and when He has kept you in His memory and preserved you safe to the end, you will receive every blessing from Him. Do not forget Him, your mind being distracted with futile concerns, lest He forget you in the time of your warfare. When you enjoy abundance, be obedient to Him, so that in the time of your afflictions you may have boldness before Him through the heart’s persevering prayer to Him.

Source: ASCETICAL HOMILIES 5

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:18

All this shows that the sinner must not despair of salvation if he does penance, nor should the righteous person trust in his own righteousness if he lost through his own carelessness what he had laboriously sought.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 10:33.10-20

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:21-22

(Verse 21, 22.) And it came to pass in the twelfth year, in the tenth month (the Vulgate is silent on the month), on the fifth day of the month of our transmigration (or captivity), that the one who had fled (or been saved) from Jerusalem came to me, saying, 'The city has been devastated (or captured).' But the hand of the Lord had been upon me in the evening before the one who had fled came; and He opened my mouth until the morning, and I no longer remained silent with my mouth open. In the eleventh year of the reign of Zedekiah, in the fifth month, the city of Jerusalem was captured. This prophecy, however, in the twelfth year, in the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month of captivity or exile, when Jehoiachin was captured, shows that one year, four months, and twenty-five days after the capture of Jerusalem, a citizen of Jerusalem came to Babylon to announce the captured and devastated city. But one day before he came, who was to narrate this, in the evening the hand of the Lord came upon the prophet Ezekiel, who opened his mouth which had been closed for a long time, and whatever he was going to say, this happened before he could speak: nor did he remain silent any longer, seeing his prophecy fulfilled by action, and without doubt the people who were in Babylon, or those who were taken captive by prophetic prediction. For then the mouth of the prophet is opened, when what he had previously announced, he shows by action: and he proclaims with total freedom, things that are not yet to come, but either present or already past. This according to the literal sense. However, according to the anagoge, if Ezekiel is interpreted as the strength of God: but Christ is the power and wisdom of God (I Cor. I, 24), this must be understood that with the capture and overthrow of Jerusalem, whoever could escape the perfidy of the Jews, such as the apostles and the remnants that were saved, he himself declares to Christ that all the ceremonies of the Jews have been overthrown, which some people still think should be observed today, not hearing the Apostle's words: You have fallen from grace, you who are trying to be justified by the Law (Galat. V, 4). And therefore, the defenders of the synagogues in the churches of Christ, what do they proclaim? Therefore, after Jerusalem was captured and destroyed, the mouth of the Lord was opened through the apostles and the apostolic men, who can say: My mouth is open to you, O Corinthians; and: A great and effective door has opened to me (2 Corinthians 6:11). And this: I opened my mouth and drew in the breath (Psalm CXVIII, 131), which will never be silent, nor be heard with Israel: Listen, Israel, and be silent: but it will resound throughout the whole world, and will reveal the Gospel of Christ to the Gentiles. Therefore, according to this meaning, the twelfth year is referred to the twelve tribes, and the tenth month to the time of the Jewish propitiation, which is called ἱλασμός in Greek: and the fifth day of the month to the carnal senses, which all, captured by Jerusalem, and with the succession of the Gospel, have been shown to have been destroyed and passed away: and in the evening, that is, at the end of the world, the hand of the Lord was accomplished for the true Ezekiel, who had sung of the future ruins of the city through the prophets, and showed them to have been fulfilled in the morning.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:21-26

The mouth of the prophet is opened when he is shown that what he had foretold has in fact happened, and he proclaims it with complete freedom.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 10:33.21-22

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:21-26

Jerusalem is captured and the temple is destroyed, and the poor earth of which Jeremiah wrote was left behind in Jerusalem. Those who kept vines and tilled the land live in the ruins of burned city; when they ought to repent of the things that had brought about their captivity, they blind themselves with a false hope by saying, “Abraham was only one man, yet he got possession of the land.”

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 10:33.23-33

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:23-33

(Verse 23 onwards) And the word of the Lord came to me, saying: Son of man, those who dwell in these ruined places in the land of Israel speak, saying: Abraham was one, and he possessed the land; but we are many, the land has been given to us as a possession. Therefore, you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: You who eat with blood and lift up your eyes to your idols, and shed blood, shall you inherit the land? You have stood with your swords, you have committed abominations, and each of you has defiled his neighbor's wife, and you will possess the land by inheritance? This you shall say to them: Thus says the Lord God: As I live, surely those who dwell in the ruins shall fall by the sword, and the one who is in the open field I will give to the beasts to be devoured, and those who are in strongholds and caves shall die by pestilence. And I will make the land a desolation and a waste, and the pride of its strength shall cease, and the mountains of Israel shall be desolate, so that no one will pass through. And they shall know that I am the Lord when I make their land a desolation and a waste because of all their abominations that they have committed. And you, son of man, the children of your people speak of you beside the walls and in the doors of the houses, and they say to one another, each to his brother, 'Come, and hear what is the word that comes forth from the Lord.' And they come to you as the people usually come, and they sit before you as my people, and they hear your words, but they do not do them, for they show my words of their mouth in song, and their heart follows their covetousness. Indeed, you are to them like a very lovely song that is sung with a beautiful and sweet sound, and they hear your words but do not do them. And when this comes to pass, behold, it comes; they shall know that a prophet has been among them. Firstly, it must be understood that approximately eight verses prior to the place which we have established: Those who partake in blood, and lift up your eyes to your impurities, until the place where it is written: These things you shall say to them, thus says the Lord God, are not found in the Septuagint, which, along with many others, have neglected these things, or as they have been interpreted by them, gradually removed from the writings due to error. And our Latin, or rather, envious Christians, or to say it more plainly, heirs of the Grunnian faction, bark against us, because we discourse according to the Hebrew: as if food were being imposed unwillingly, and not feasts being prepared for those who receive them with thanksgiving. Certainly, if they don't trust me, let them read other editions, Aquila's, Symmachus's, and Theodotion's; let them interrogate the Hebrews from different provinces, not just one place, so they don't boast that they have been bought by me; and when they see that all agree with my error or ignorance, then let them understand that they are too wise and desire to sleep rather than to learn; and let them live in the seventy cells of the Alexandrian lighthouse, so they don't lose their sails from the ships and don't sigh for damages to the ropes. Now let us discuss what we have proposed. After Jerusalem was captured and the temple destroyed, the poor of the land, of whom Jeremiah writes, were left alone in Jerusalem to cultivate vineyards and fields and to dwell in the ruins of the burned city. And although they should have repented for the reasons for their captivity, they deceived themselves with empty hope, saying: Our father Abraham was one, and yet he possessed this land as an inheritance, not because he himself possessed it, but because his descendants received the land of promise. If, therefore, he alone was multiplied into so many peoples, we who are left behind in the land of Judea, and dwell in desolate and ruined cities, will certainly be multiplied much more, so that we may possess more than he possessed alone. To this the Lord responded: Abraham possessed the land of promise by faith. For Abraham believed in God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness (Genesis 15:8). However, these people, who are occupied with disbelief and wickedness, even if they are many, will not be able to possess. At the same time he lists the six kinds of sins that offend God, namely, those who eat in blood, and lift up your eyes to uncleanness, that is, to your idols, and pour out blood, that is, perpetrate murder: Could you, doing these things, be able to hold the land by inheritance? Nor are you content with this end of wickedness, but you stand daily in your swords, ready for killing, and imitating Esau, who stood, and lived in his sword, you do incredible abominations, namely, the shameful lusts of indecency, and each one defiles the wife of his neighbor; that you may be more wicked in that, that you have defiled the wife of your friend and neighbor. And when you do these things, do you think you will inherit the land? Therefore, answer them, O prophet, and reveal this sentence about them from my words. I swear by myself that those who dwell in ruins and walls will fall by the sword, and those who are in the fields or the plain will be devoured by beasts, and those who are in fortified places or caves cannot escape the wrath of God but will die of hunger and pestilence. And I will make the land of Judah into a desert, and its proud strength will fail, which once was its strength. But God resists the proud, and gives grace to the humble (James 4:6). Even the mountains and everything will be deserted, and it will become such a great solitude that no one will pass through them, and then those who remained will no longer trust in their multitude, but will realize the magnitude of the solitude and know that I am the Lord, who made the land a desert because of all the abominations they have done. Let these words be spoken against those who, after Jerusalem was captured and the entire region of the Jews devastated, dwelt in ruins and in deserted cities and villages. Now let us turn to tropology, and according to our custom, let us engage in a broad discussion rather than a mere dissertation. Every heretic dwells in walls and deserts, and believes himself to possess the land of Israel, and says: If Abraham, by his faith alone, came into such great blessedness that his descendants were multiplied like the sand of the sea and like the stars of heaven, how much more will we, who are many, possess the land of Israel, that is, those who see God, and the confession of the Lord's Day? To whom the Lord replied: He deservedly possessed the land of faith; but your infidelity, or rather blasphemy, will not be able to possess the land of Israel, that is, the Church. For first you eat in blood, shedding their blood whom you scandalize. Then you lift your eyes to your impurities or abominations, which you have fixed in your mind: when you ought to imitate the ecclesiastical man, and say: To you I lift up my eyes, you who dwell in heaven (Ps. CXXII, 1). Thirdly, you shed blood, not giving life to those whom you have deceived, but killing them. It is not enough for you to have done these three things, but you stand with your swords, that is, you persevere in the wickedness of your opinions, and you are ready for murder, and you commit abominations, doing those things in your beds which are shameful to speak of, and you defile the wife of your neighbor, namely, the ecclesiastical conversation, eagerly snatching away those who are daily deceived from the embrace of Christ. And when you have done these things, do you think you will possess the land of Israel as an inheritance? To whom God speaks, that whoever dwells in the ruinous assemblies of heretics will fall by the sword of Ecclesiasticus, concerning which it is written: 'Double-edged swords are in their hands' (Ps. 149:6). And in the Gospel: 'I did not come to bring peace, but a sword' (Matthew 10). And the servant who indulges in luxury and idleness will be divided, that is, he will be struck with a sword, and his portion will be placed with the unbelievers' (Luke 12). And whoever is in the field or in the countryside, will be handed over to beasts for devouring, which the prophet, desiring to avoid them, prays: Do not hand over to beasts the soul confessing to you (Ps. LXXIII, 19). But whoever is in strongholds and fortified places, of which it is written: The righteous ascends strong cities, and destroys their fortifications, in which the wicked trusted (Prov. XXI, 22); and he resides in caves, of which it is said: It is written, My Father's house will be called a house of prayer, but you have made it a den of thieves (Matt. XXI, 33): this person will die of the hunger of the word of the Lord, and of pestilence, and all the land of heretics will be turned into a desert, so that their pride is broken and the mountains are turned into a desert, which promised themselves the height of knowledge. Those mountains are called Israel, for under the name of Christ they deceive and overthrow everyone; no one will be able to pass through them, nor will anyone be able to say what Moses said: 'When I pass by, I will see this great vision' (Exodus 3:1). For the inhabitants of these perverse mountains are not strangers or visitors, but rather residents. And when they have suffered these things, then they will know that He is the Lord who has made their land a desert because of the abominations they have committed. It follows: On the same day and at the same time, that is, in the twelfth year, the tenth month, on the fifth day of the month, when he who had fled from Jerusalem came and when the prophet spoke to those who were in the land of Judah, and they promised themselves the hope of eternal possession, and the prophet commands him to say to the people who reside in Babylon and live with him, and to accuse them of deceitful plots who desire to hear the words of the prophet, not for the salvation of their souls, but for the pleasure of their ears. These people were sitting near the walls and at the doorways of houses, not at all desiring to enter into the understanding of the prophets; but they encourage one another and say: Come, let us hear what word is coming forth from the Lord; and thus they come as a people who enter the Church of God, and sit before you, my people, who claim to be mine, and do not want to do what they have heard. They seem to me to be like those who are entertained by theatrical songs: they listen to either tragedies or comedies, and there they revel with delight: so that when they have gone out from you, they repeat and sing them, and deceive themselves with sweet sounds. And they will listen, he says, to your words and not do them. Such are many in the Churches today, who say: Come let us hear him and him, rolling his words with marvelous eloquence of his preaching: they stir up applause, and shout, and wave their hands, and those things which they had neglected in their actions, once they realize that he has come (for it is necessary that what the prophet of God pronounces in his word should come to pass), then they will begin to approve and know that all the things they had heard were not the words of a man, but of the Lord, who spoke through the prophet and the man of the church.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 33:26

Every heretic lives in ruins and in the desert and thinks that he possesses the land of Israel.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 10:33.23-33