19 Woe unto him that saith to the wood, Awake; to the dumb stone, Arise, it shall teach! Behold, it is laid over with gold and silver, and there is no breath at all in the midst of it.
(Verse 19, 20). Woe to him who says to wood, 'Wake up!' or to silent stone (or lying stone), 'Arise!' Can it give instruction? Look, it is covered with gold and silver, but there is no breath in its midst. The Lord, however, is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. LXX: Woe to him who says to wood, 'Wake up!' and to the stone, 'Rise!' and it is the image, the production of gold and silver, but there is no spirit in it. But the Lord is in his holy temple; let all the earth be silent before him. This can also be applied to Nebuchadnezzar and all those who worship idols. And it describes the human error, that they consider silver, gold, gems, and silk, with which idols are adorned or covered, to be gods because of the brilliance of the material, even though an artist can give form, but cannot give life to the limbs. And on the contrary, the Lord is said to be in his holy temple (Psalm X): not in a temple made by hand, but either in heaven or in each of the saints, according to the apostle who says: Do you not know that you are the temple of God and that the Spirit of God dwells in you (I Corinthians III, 16)? And elsewhere: Your bodies are the temple of God (I Corinthians VI, 19); or in the Son, as He Himself says: The Father who dwells in me, He does the works (John XIV, 10). But certainly according to that, which created the heavens and the earth, the seas and the entire world (Virg. VI Aeneid.)
The spirit nourishes within; infused throughout the limbs, the mind moves the mass, and mingles itself with the great body: the whole world, which consists of the sky, the earth, and the circles of the heavens, is said to be the house of God. Hence the Apostle confidently says: 'For in Him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17:28). And if anyone opposes this, let him learn the custom of Holy Scripture, which never refers to a perverse spirit absolutely, but always qualifies it with some addition, as in the case of being led astray by the spirit of fornication (Hosea 4:12). And in the Gospel: But when an unclean spirit goes out of a man (Luke XI, 24), and similar things to these. However, the spirit wherever it is mentioned alone and absolutely without any addition, is always referred to the good part, that is, to the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle says: He who sows in the Spirit, will reap life eternal from the Spirit (Galatians VI, 8). And elsewhere: But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace (Galatians V, 22); and in another place: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh (ibid., 16). Nor do we say this because the Holy Spirit is not also referred to with an attribute. For he is called both the Holy Spirit and the principal spirit and the upright spirit and the spirit of God, and similar expressions. But what we do say is that the Holy Spirit is often referred to both with an attribute and alone, while the perverted spirit is never mentioned without an attribute. And it can even be said (if someone wants to interpret the perverted spirit contentiously in this passage), that it is something else; 'Every spirit is not in him' means something different from 'Every spirit is not around him', for it can sit by idols; but it cannot be within. And Aquila translates more accurately from Hebrew, saying: 'And his spirit is not in his entrails, or in his midst.' Therefore, it must be understood that in some Hebrew texts, the word 'omnis' (all) is not added, but the word 'spirit' is read in an absolute sense. And if someone, being overcome by reason, understands the word 'spirit' in a positive way, and asks why, when it is said about the Holy Spirit, it is read with the addition: 'And all spirit is not in Him?' Let it be known that every spirit, various graces are understood to be of the Holy Spirit: so that there may be understanding: Nothing in itself of grace, it will have nothing of power. Indeed, this is understood more according to tropology, that in all the idols of heretics and the inventions of the devil, there is no grace of the Holy Spirit; but they seem to prefer the image of divinity and the beauty of teachings, while in them there is nothing breathing and alive. Let us also say this, lest we appear to conceal from the reader what we know, that the spirit and the wind are called by the same word among the Hebrews, that is, Rua (), and it is usually understood either as the sense of a place or as the wind. Therefore in this place we can understand 'spirit' as referring to wind, because idols do not breathe; or as referring to soul, because the inanimate sculptures. But that 'spirit' is understood as soul is clearly indicated by the prayer of the Savior: 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit' (Luke 23:46). For Jesus could not entrust to the Father a perverse spirit (which is also wrong to even consider), or the Holy Spirit, who is God himself, but rather his own soul, of which he had said, 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death' (Matthew 26:36, Mark 14). And: No one can take my life from me, but I lay it down voluntarily, and I take it up again of my own accord. (John 10:17, 18).
[AD 420] Jerome on Habakkuk 2:19-20
The spirit nourishes within; infused throughout the limbs, the mind moves the mass, and mingles itself with the great body: the whole world, which consists of the sky, the earth, and the circles of the heavens, is said to be the house of God. Hence the Apostle confidently says: 'For in Him we live and move and have our being' (Acts 17:28). And if anyone opposes this, let him learn the custom of Holy Scripture, which never refers to a perverse spirit absolutely, but always qualifies it with some addition, as in the case of being led astray by the spirit of fornication (Hosea 4:12). And in the Gospel: But when an unclean spirit goes out of a man (Luke XI, 24), and similar things to these. However, the spirit wherever it is mentioned alone and absolutely without any addition, is always referred to the good part, that is, to the Holy Spirit, as the Apostle says: He who sows in the Spirit, will reap life eternal from the Spirit (Galatians VI, 8). And elsewhere: But the fruit of the Spirit is charity, joy, peace (Galatians V, 22); and in another place: Walk in the Spirit, and you shall not fulfill the desires of the flesh (ibid., 16). Nor do we say this because the Holy Spirit is not also referred to with an attribute. For he is called both the Holy Spirit and the principal spirit and the upright spirit and the spirit of God, and similar expressions. But what we do say is that the Holy Spirit is often referred to both with an attribute and alone, while the perverted spirit is never mentioned without an attribute. And it can even be said (if someone wants to interpret the perverted spirit contentiously in this passage), that it is something else; 'Every spirit is not in him' means something different from 'Every spirit is not around him', for it can sit by idols; but it cannot be within. And Aquila translates more accurately from Hebrew, saying: 'And his spirit is not in his entrails, or in his midst.' Therefore, it must be understood that in some Hebrew texts, the word 'omnis' (all) is not added, but the word 'spirit' is read in an absolute sense. And if someone, being overcome by reason, understands the word 'spirit' in a positive way, and asks why, when it is said about the Holy Spirit, it is read with the addition: 'And all spirit is not in Him?' Let it be known that every spirit, various graces are understood to be of the Holy Spirit: so that there may be understanding: Nothing in itself of grace, it will have nothing of power. Indeed, this is understood more according to tropology, that in all the idols of heretics and the inventions of the devil, there is no grace of the Holy Spirit; but they seem to prefer the image of divinity and the beauty of teachings, while in them there is nothing breathing and alive. Let us also say this, lest we appear to conceal from the reader what we know, that the spirit and the wind are called by the same word among the Hebrews, that is, Rua (), and it is usually understood either as the sense of a place or as the wind. Therefore in this place we can understand 'spirit' as referring to wind, because idols do not breathe; or as referring to soul, because the inanimate sculptures. But that 'spirit' is understood as soul is clearly indicated by the prayer of the Savior: 'Father, into your hands I commend my spirit' (Luke 23:46). For Jesus could not entrust to the Father a perverse spirit (which is also wrong to even consider), or the Holy Spirit, who is God himself, but rather his own soul, of which he had said, 'My soul is sorrowful even unto death' (Matthew 26:36, Mark 14). And: No one can take my life from me, but I lay it down voluntarily, and I take it up again of my own accord. (John 10:17, 18).