Bible Verses and Early Church Commentary | Historical Christian Faith

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 4:1-2

Jerusalem is to be represented on a brick, and the brick itself is to be placed before the prophet, so that when it looks like Jerusalem in the dust, it can portray the whole blockade against it.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:4.1-2

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 4:1-2

(Chapter 4, Verses 1-2.) And you, son of man, take a brick for yourself and set it before you, and portray on it the city of Jerusalem. Build siege works against it, build a siege mound against it, raise a ramp against it, set up camps against it, and place battering rams against it all around. As we have said before, go inside and enclose it in the midst of your house; and behold, ropes will be put on you, and you will be bound, and you shall not go out. This is a symbolic representation of the prophet's future siege of the city of Jerusalem. Now he is commanded to use geometric art to depict it on a brick, and to place that brick in front of the prophet. After he has portrayed Jerusalem with dust, he is to depict the entire siege against it, representing the fortifications, the raised mound, the encircling army, and the battering rams, all of which are typical in capturing cities. Fortifications are called the things by which a city is enclosed, so that none of the besieged can escape: mounds are brought together by which ramparts and ditches are filled; camps are the guards of soldiers in a circuit; battering rams are those by which the foundations of walls are shaken, and the joining of stones is dissolved. However, this is said in order to signify the neighboring captivity of the city of Jerusalem under Zedekiah: in the eleventh year of which both the king and the city were captured. On the side, which is called in Greek the feminine gender ἡ πλίνθος, Symmachus has more clearly interpreted it as πλίνθιον, which we can call a brick and a tile. In whose dust geometers are accustomed to draw lines, that is, lines and rays. From which some wish, not unreasonably, also to have knowledge of this doctrine (replicating those examples, that Joshua son of Nun sent explorers, who described the land (Joshua 2), which is properly called Geometry: and the Angel in Zechariah had a Geometric cord to measure Jerusalem (Zechariah 2). And what the Prophet now commands to describe in the dust (which is properly called scenography) we can take as a brick and as a stroke of the Israelites, which served Pharaoh in mud and clay (Exodus 1). Or suppose that the city, which they thought was strong and impregnable, is compared to a very fragile wall, which immediately dissolves upon contact with water, as was previously stated: is the hardest rock or a deserted mountain turned into a brick, which is corrupted by the Babylonian flood; according to what is written: Therefore, the Lord will bring upon you many and strong waters, the king of Assyria.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 4:1-2

Some things, however, ought to be reproved strongly, so that when a fault is not recognized by the one who has committed it, he may be made aware of its gravity by verbal reproof, or when anyone glosses over an evil that he has perpetrated, he may be led by the harshness of his censure to entertain grave fears of its effects on him. For indeed it is the duty of a ruler to show by the voice of preaching the glory of our heavenly country, to disclose what great temptations of the old enemy are lurking in this life’s journey, and to correct with zealous harshness such evils among those who are under his sway that should not be gently borne with, lest, in being too little incensed against such faults, he himself be held guilty of all faults.

Source: PASTORAL RULE 2:10

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 4:1-2

When we know that one thing is accomplished according to history and we recognize that another lacks any reason according to history, we are to hold both in holy Scripture, since we are to believe that the siege of Jerusalem, which according to the meaning of the words happened later, is prefigured in the words and deeds of the prophet, and yet another siege, an inward one, is meant by it.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:12.21

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 4:1-2

Every teacher, when he accepts any earthly hearer of the teaching of the heavenly words, takes a brick.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:12.23

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 4:1-2

A teacher ought to come to know which temptations beset the progressing soul in order that he may be able to prepare it to be on its guard against the traps of the evil spirit.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:12.25

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 4:3

An iron plate, which is meant to be the image of the wall between the prophet and the city, represents the anger of God in all its fullness, which does not diminish as a result of any prayers, nor does it bend toward mercy in any way.

Source: COMMENTARY ON EZEKIEL 1:4.3

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 4:3

(Ver. 3.) And you shall take for yourself an iron pan: and you shall place it as an iron wall between you and the city, and you shall set your face against it, and it shall be for a siege, and you shall surround it. This is a sign for the house of Israel. What we previously said, both the prophet himself and the description of the side, the fortifications, the rampart, and the battering rams surrounding (or surrounding), as a sign before the siege of Jerusalem, is now stated more clearly, after many things that are in the middle: The sign for the house of Israel is an iron pan, which is placed as a wall between the prophet and the city, demonstrating the great wrath of God, which shall not be tired by any prayers, nor be inclined to mercy. For just as iron tames all metals and there is nothing harder than it, so the incredible crimes of Jerusalem, by their own fault, made the gentle nature of God to be the harshest. The frying pan is also said to be a wall placed in the middle between the people and God, so as to show that the whole multitude is to be broken in a short time and reduced to nothing. However, the sternness of the face towards the city is an indication of severity, according to what we read elsewhere: The face of the Lord is against those who do evil, to cut off the memory of them from the earth (Psalm 34:16).

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 4:3

Why is it that the prophet places this pan between himself and the city as a wall of iron? The meaning is that this strong zeal now at work in the mind of the teacher will be a witness on the day of the last judgment between him and the soul for which he is zealous against vices. Even if he who is taught is unwilling to hear, yet the teacher, by reason of the zeal that he exhibits, will not be answerable for the negligence of his hearers.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:12.30

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 4:3

The teacher lays siege against the soul of the hearer when he proclaims that traps of temptations may be laid in everything that happens in this life, so that when the mind is everywhere fearful, everywhere circumspect, the more timidly it lives, the more vigilant it will be.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:12.32

[AD 604] Gregory the Dialogist on Ezekiel 4:3

Just as the house of Israel physically underwent a siege, so each soul that now begins to serve almighty God perceives the traps the evil spirits are laying siege to it.

Source: HOMILIES ON EZEKIEL 1:12.33

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 4:4-6

(Ver. 4 seqq.) And you shall lie on your left side, and you shall bear the iniquities of the house of Israel upon it, according to the number of days that you lie on it, you shall bear their iniquity. For I have laid on you the years of their iniquity, according to the number of days, three hundred and ninety days; so you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Israel. And when you have completed these, you shall lie again on your right side, and you shall bear the iniquity of the house of Judah forty days. I have given you one day for a year, I say, one day for a year. Let us consider the 390 years that are counted as the same number of days, during which the prophet lay bound and constrained on his left side; so that he did not turn to his other side, showing the captivity and miseries of the ten tribes, that is, the Israelites. And as for the other forty years, in which he lay on his right side for the sins of Judah, or as the holy Scripture narrates, slept, it must be said about Israel that under King Pekah, the son of Remaliah, who reigned in Israel for twenty years, Tiglath-pileser, the king of Assyria (2 Kings 15), came and captured Aijon, Abel, the house of Maacah, Janoah, Kedesh, Hazor, Gilead, Galilee, and all the land of Naphtali, and took them into Assyria. After whom, Osee, the son of Ela, reigned for nine years in Israel, and he was captured with all of Samaria by Salmanassar, king of the Assyrians, and he was transported to Elam and the rivers of Abor and Gozam in the cities of the Medes. But in the sixth year of the reign of Ezechias, as the holy history of the Kings relates, Osee was captured. From this, if we calculate in order, how many years Israel was in distress and oppressed by the yoke of captivity, we can find out. From the sixth year to the twenty-ninth year (for Hezekiah reigned for twenty-four years) a total of twenty-four years are counted: after him came Manasseh, and he reigned for fifty-five years. After him, Amon reigned for two years. After him, Josiah reigned for thirty-two years. After him, Joakim, also called Eliakim, reigned for eleven years. After him, Jeconiah, also known as Jehoiachin, who was immediately led into captivity, reigned for eleven years, and for him, Zedekiah reigned for eleven years, during whose reign Jerusalem was captured and the temple destroyed. Therefore, from the first captivity of Israel, which occurred under King Pekah until the eleventh year of Zedekiah, when the Temple was desolated, there were 164 (or 174 according to some) years. From the second captivity, when Hoshea was captured and all of Samaria was destroyed, there were 135 (or 80 according to some) years. And the years of the desolation of the Temple were 70, added to the first captivity, making a total of 234 years. For in the second year of the reign of Darius, king of the Persians, the temple was built by Zerubbabel, the son of Salathiel, and by Jesus, the son of Josedech, while Haggai and Zechariah were prophesying. Darius reigned for thirty-six years, and after his death, thirty-five years were added. After him, Xerxes, the son of Darius, reigned for twenty years. After him, Artabanus reigned for seven months. And Xerxes, who was also known as Macrobiochus, reigned for forty years. After him, Xerxes reigned for two months, and Sogdianus reigned for seven months (or four, according to some). After him, Darius, nicknamed Νόθος, reigned for nineteen years. After him, Artaxerxes, nicknamed Μνήμων (also known as Memnon), son of Darius and Parisatis, reigned for forty years. He is called Assuerus by the Hebrews. During his reign, the story of Mordecai and Esther is told (Esther VIII), when the entire Jewish people were saved from the danger of death and regained their freedom. From the second year of Darius to the final year of Assuerus, there are a hundred and fifty-five years and four months. In the last 234 years that have been added to the previous ones, they make 389 years and 4 months. However, the death on the right side, that is, the 40 years, can be easily calculated. For after Eliakim, who was also called Joachim, his son Joachin, also known as Jechonias, reigned for three months. During his reign, the servants of King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came up to Jerusalem, and it was surrounded by fortifications. Then King Nebuchadnezzar of Babylon came to the city, while his servants were besieging it. And Joachin, the king of Judah, went out to the king of Babylon, along with his mother, his servants, his princes, his eunuchs. And the king of Babylon received him in the eighth year of his reign and brought out all the treasures of the house of the Lord and the treasures of the royal house. And after a little while, he carried away all of Jerusalem, and all the princes, and all the mighty men of valor, ten thousand into captivity, and every craftsman and smith. And nothing was left except for the poor of the land (Ibid.) . After capturing it with an infinite multitude of people, and with all the resources of Jerusalem, Zedekiah ruled for eleven years: under him the city was captured and the temple was destroyed. Its desolation lasted until the second year of Darius, seventy years in total. In the thirtieth year of the desolation of the temple, Cyrus ruled in Persia, after overthrowing King Astyages of the Medes. In accordance with the prophecy of Isaiah (Isaiah 45), he sent back almost fifty thousand men from the tribe of Judah to Jerusalem, along with the temple vessels that Nebuchadnezzar had taken away, and other things that are narrated in the history of Ezra (3 Ezra 1). So just as in Israel, that is, the ten tribes under King Phacee of Israel, under whom Salmanasar devastated the Israelite people greatly, we count three hundred and ninety years until the fortieth year of Assuerus, when the persecution of all the Jewish people was mitigated; so from the first year of Jechoniah, when a large part of Jerusalem was transferred to Babylon, until the first year of Cyrus, king of the Persians, which was the thirtieth year of the desolation of the temple, forty years are counted, under which the captivity of the Jews was loosened and freedom was restored to the people. Around 390 years after the Israelites and 40 years after the joining of the Jews, making a total of 430 years, they wish to be fulfilled by the baptism of the Savior until the end of the world. However, others, especially the Jews, want to be reckoned in tribulation, distress, and the yoke of captivity of the people from the second year of Vespasian when Jerusalem was captured by the Romans and the temple was destroyed, for a total of 430 years. And thus, the people will return to their former state, just as the children of Israel were in Egypt for 430 years. And it is written in Exodus: Now the time that the children of Israel dwelt in Egypt was four hundred and thirty years. And again: It came to pass after four hundred and thirty years, all the armies of the Lord went out by night. And I am quite amazed why the Vulgate manuscripts have ninety hundred years, and in some it is written one hundred and fifty, when clearly the Hebrew, Aquila, Symmachus and Theodotian versions hold three hundred and ninety years; and among them the Septuagint, which, however, is not corrupted by the fault of the scribes, has the same number. We believe that the most difficult question, and dare I say arrogantly, not explained by anyone, has been made known not so much by our knowledge but by the grace of the Lord, fulfilling what He Himself promised: Seek, and ye shall find; ask, and ye shall receive; knock, and it shall be opened unto you (Matthew 7:7). But whoever wishes to calculate from the first captivity, which took place under Manahen the son of Gaddi, king of Israel, who reigned in Samaria for ten years (2 Kings 15); when Phul, the king of the Assyrians, came into the land of Israel and took a thousand talents of silver; and after him, two years later, Phacce, who reigned in Israel, will find that three hundred and ninety years were completed in the twenty-eighth year of the reign of King Assuerus, when the history of Esther is said to have taken place, which is also more credible. For Israel, not after the reign of Assuerus had ended, but while he still reigned, cast off the yoke of a most grievous servitude.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 458] Theodoret of Cyrus on Ezekiel 4:4-6

Ezekiel was to lie down on his right side for 40 days and 150 on his left, to dig through a wall and flee, portraying in himself the captivity. Another time Ezekiel is to sharpen a sword to a point, shave his head with it and divide the hair four ways and assign a part here, a part there, without listing it all. The ruler of the universe ordered each of these things to be done so that by the strangeness of this spectacle he might gather those who would not be persuaded by speech or give an ear to prophecy and so dispose them to hear the divine oracles.… So, just as the God of the universe providentially ordered each one of these things to be done for the good of those who live carelessly, so he arranged this extraordinary novelty to draw everyone by its strangeness to the spectacle and make his counsel persuasive to those who come. For the novelty of the spectacle is a reliable guarantee of the instruction it can give, and whoever comes to the spectacle leaves instructed in divine matters.

Source: LIVES OF SIMEON STYLITES 12

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 4:7

(Verse 7.) And you shall turn your face towards the siege of Jerusalem, and your arm shall be extended, and you shall prophesy against it. LXX: And you shall set your face towards the siege of Jerusalem, and you shall strengthen your arm, and you shall prophesy over it. Preparation of countenance is necessary, as well as strength, and the confirmation of the extended and exposed arm, so that not only by voice, but also by gesture and appearance of a prophet, the siege of the city may be demonstrated.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 4:8

(Verse 8.) Behold, I have surrounded you with chains, and you will not turn from one side to the other, until the days of your siege (or conclusion) are completed. The left side, because it was without a temple and knowledge of God, is assigned to the Israelites; the right side, to the Jews, in whom (or where) the worship and religion of God reside. And it should be noted that in one side there is punishment for sinners, and in the other, exercise of virtue. He does not turn from one side to the other, so that no respite from torment is indicated, until the perfect conclusion of the aforementioned days is reached. The day of the prophets is like a year for those who are patient (Gen. XXIX). And the years that Laban thought were few days for Jacob. Not only in punishments is there diversity according to the variety of merits, but also in the retribution of good things, the lambs are on the right, and the kids are on the left. Therefore, it is also written in another place: The heart of the wise is on the right, but the heart of the fool is on the left (Ecclus. X, 1). There are other bonds of the Lord by which we are bound for salvation; there are also the devil's bonds, by which he had bound the woman for eighteen years in the Gospel (Luke XIII). Wherefore each one is bound with the cords of his own sins (Prov. V, 22). Which the Lord looses through the raising of Lazarus, who lay bound with bandages and graveclothes in the tomb (John XI).

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 4:9-12

(Vrs. 9 ff.) And you will take for yourself wheat, and barley, and beans, and lentils, and millet, and spelt; and you will put them into one vessel, and you will make for yourself breads according to the number of days on which you will sleep on your side: three hundred and ninety days you will eat it. But your food that you will eat will be in the weight of twenty shekels a day: from time to time you will eat it. And you will drink water by measure, the sixth part of a hin; from time to time you will drink it. And you shall eat it as barely bread, and cover it with human excrement in their sight. What vice we have interpreted as, which in Hebrew is called Chasamim (): The Seventy and Theodotion placed ὄλυραν, which some interpret as oats, others as millet. But the first edition of Aquila and Symmachus interpreted it as ζέας, or ζείας: which we call either far or spelt in the native language of Italy and Pannonia. They also added pottery to the vase, but the prophet orders a future famine and demonstrates the shortage of the people of Israel. Just as in a scarcity of all things, different types of food and delicacies are not sought after; but rather how the stomach can be filled: thus the prophet now puts wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and oats into one vessel, and makes three hundred and ninety loaves of bread, which will be eaten each day: these loaves weigh twenty sicles, that is, staters. However, a siclus, that is, a stater, has four drachmas. And eight drachmas make one Latin ounce: so that one loaf of bread is said to have ten ounces, by which the soul is more drawn than sustained. The sterility of food is increased by the sterility of water. For it is commanded to drink the sixth part of the Hebrew measure, which is called hin, each day. Furthermore, two chœnixes Attic make one hin: which we can call two Italian sextarii, so that the hin is the measure of the Jewish sextarius and our military, the sixth part of which makes a third part of the Italian sextarius. Food and drink, according to the famous Speaker, not only give strength but also prevent death. What he says, 'From time to time you will eat or drink,' means from evening to evening, although some may mistakenly understand it as from year to year. And these loaves are made like barley bread made with ashes. And it is said to him, that he cover them with human dung, not for those who will eat them (ignorance is accustomed to temper miseries) but for those who see, and in their eyes, to experience horror before enduring nausea. It is also to be noted that, according to the number of days of the left side, three hundred and ninety sub-cinereous loaves are to be made and eaten each day, and there is to be no mention at all of the forty loaves of the right side; so that the holy Scripture may secretly hint that the punishment of the people who have sinned is not the same if they have knowledge of God and of him who has completely departed from the true religion. Furthermore, we can also say, according to spiritual understanding, that the Jewish people, after offending God, still eat sub-cinereous loaves mixed with wheat, barley, beans, lentils, millet, and oats; of which one is the food of men and the other is the food of animals. For in that which they appear to believe in one God, they have something of grain. But what they deny the Son, they are sustained by the barley of animals and beans, by which the stomach of those who eat is inflated, and the mind is said to be oppressed: so much so that even to Pythagoreans, the food is detestable. Because of lentils, Esau lost his birthright (Gen. 25). Millet is the food of peasants, and of wild animals, and of birds. Oats, or vetches and alsike clover, are the food of dumb animals. But what is written, according to the Septuagint, that Elijah fleeing from Jezebel found bread ὀλυρίτην, made of ashes (3 Kings 19), is a sign of persecution and scarcity. Therefore, he is also fed by the ravens, so that because he did not find food in Israel, he would be nourished by unclean foods from the nations. The law itself, which they read but do not understand, is bread made of ashes and covered with human excrement. Therefore, the apostle Paul also says that he considered the gains of the Law and the observance of the former ceremonies as dung, in order to gain Christ (Philippians 3).

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 4:13-15

(Verse 13 and following) And the Lord said: Thus will the sons of Israel eat their polluted bread among the nations to which I will drive them out. And I said, ah, ah, ah, O Lord God: Behold, my soul is not polluted, and I have not eaten carrion or torn flesh from beasts from my youth until now, and all unclean flesh has not entered into my mouth. And he said to me: Behold, I have given you cow dung instead of human dung, and you shall make your bread with it. According to the book of Zachariah (Zech. III), prophets are seen as portentous men who foretell the future through their works and are spoken of by God. We frequently read throughout the Bible that prophets are compared to God's hands (Hosea XII, 10). As we see in many instances, just as Ezekiel ate bread in dung, the children of Israel, or the entire population of Judah, or as some believe, the ten tribes, will eat polluted bread among the nations. This is not a threat to those who have already been expelled but to those who will be expelled from the promised land. When the Prophet learned this, he strongly condemned it according to Aquila, ah, ah, ah. But according to Symmachus and the Septuagint, he responded by saying 'μηδαμῶς', which means ' by no means' in Latin. For which Theodotion translated: 'O Lord God'. We should not think that he contradicts the command of the Lord, but rather that he gives reasons and even begs why he cannot do this. Finally, he obtained what he asked for, and the severity of the sentence was tempered by a milder command. It is asked why Ezekiel refused easier things: and why Hosea was immediately joined to a prostitute without objection or response, saying that he keeps his body chaste and should not be defiled by the touch of a harlot, as the Apostle says: 'Whoever is joined to a harlot becomes one body with her' (I Cor. VI, 16). From which it is shown that the figure of the Synagogue or Church was not truly accomplished according to the letter: which we have explained more fully in our exposition of the prophet. Morticinium is said to be the taking of life without the shedding of blood, and in which the soul dies, torn by beasts, which is called θηριάλωτον in Greek. But as for the filth granted to human excrement, which is called dung, lighter evils are signified: for indeed they are commanded to eat bread cooked in ox dung; but it is far from uncleanness of human excrement: and even today among the Jewish people this opinion is preserved, that they do not eat their bread in human excrement. For they do not serve idols, nor do they worship the various wonders of demons; but they work for the flesh and stomach, and the goods of this earth, as it is said: 'He who does these things shall live by them' (Leviticus 18:5; Deuteronomy 4). But we disdain earthly things, and not only do we trample on the food of human waste, and consider earthly pleasures to be worthless, but we eat the bread that descends from heaven (John 6), and we enjoy that food of which the Psalmist sings: 'Man ate the bread of angels' (Psalm 78:25); living not on the flesh of the Egyptians, but on the thinness of manna.

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel

[AD 420] Jerome on Ezekiel 4:16-17

(Verse 16, 17.) And he said to me: Son of man, behold, I will break the staff of bread in Jerusalem, and they shall eat bread by weight and with anxiety, and they shall drink water by measure and with dismay; so that when bread and water are lacking, each one shall stumble to his brother, and they shall waste away in their iniquities. The Hebrew word Mate () is interpreted as staff in the first edition of Aquila, and as firmament in the second edition and by Symmachus and Theodotion. But what he had shown through his work, he also demonstrates through his speech, and the silence of both the left and right sides, and the ash bread mixed with the six varieties of spices, signifying the evils of the world, he points to the fact that a famine of food and an incredible shortage of water will occur in Jerusalem, so that everyone will fall to their brother, hoping for help from another, which they do not foresee in themselves. For it is the nature of humans, when pressed by evils and the weight of distress, to have more confidence in what is close at hand than in themselves: and they waste away in their iniquities, while suffering everything because of their iniquities. And I fear lest this breaking of bread may also be found in our Jerusalem, in which the vision of peace is seen, which the Lord crushes when he is angry, and judges us unworthy of his bread. And if only we could at least merit to receive him with weight and solicitude, and wet the dry tongue with excessive dryness, like the last finger of Lazarus (Luke 16). But with the Church lacking in bread and water, a man will fall against his brother, and everywhere there is discord, as our Christ's tunic is torn apart by those who even the soldiers in the Savior's passion dared not tear apart (John 19); and as we waste away in our iniquities, for we do not possess the justice of God. It is written in Jeremiah that the little ones, that is, the common people of the Church, sought bread, and there was no one to break it for them (Lamentations 4:4). But Paul, truly a man of the Church, knew that Christ had broken the legal bread and given it to the disciples to distribute. He confidently speaks: The bread which we break, is it not the communion of the Body of Christ? (I Cor. X, 16.) And those who are weak and in need of the milk of infancy cannot eat the staff or the strength of bread, nor can they receive solid food. And nothing strengthens the mind of the one who eats like the bread of life, of which it is written: And the bread strengthens the heart of man (Psal. CLXXXIII, 15).

Source: Commentary on Ezekiel