(Vers. 2 seqq.) And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision, and explain it upon tables, that he that readeth it may run over it. For as yet the vision is far off, and it shall appear at the end, and shall not lie: if it make any delay, wait for it: for it shall surely come, and it shall not be slack. Behold, he that is unbelieving, his soul shall not be right in himself: but the just shall live in his faith. LXX: And the Lord answered me, and said: Write the vision, and make it plain upon tables, that he may run that readeth it: for as yet the vision is for an appointed time, and it shall appear at the end, and shall not lie. If he fails, sustain him, for he will come, and will not delay: if he withdraws himself, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. But the just shall live by my faith. Regarding the tablets and the box, which in Hebrew is called Alluoth ((Al. Luth)), Symmachus interpreted the pages. And where the Septuagint placed: But the just shall live by my faith, all equally translated, he shall live by his own faith. Finally, Symmachus, with a more significant interpretation, said: But the just shall live by his own faith, which in Greek is said, ὁ δίκαιος τῇ ἑαυτοῦ πίστει ζήσει: Indeed, if Baemunatho had the letter Yod and not Vau at the end, as the Septuagint thought, and it was read as Baemunathi (), they would have translated it correctly, in my faith. However, the similarity of the letters Vau and Jod, which are only distinguished by their size, has been a cause of error. The following discussion explains why this is so. According to the promise made to the holy man in Isaiah, 'Before they call, I will answer; while they are yet speaking, I will hear' (Isa. 65:24), the Lord also responds to the prophet and commands him to write down the vision and make it plain upon tablets, that is, to write it more clearly. But I think those tablets, about which the apostle also speaks to the Corinthians: You are our letter, written in our hearts: which is known and read by all men: being made manifest, that you are a letter of Christ, ministered by us, and written not with ink, but with the Spirit of the living God; not on tablets of stone, but on tablets of fleshly hearts (2 Corinthians 3:23). But Solomon also signifies something similar in Proverbs, saying: Write it on the tablet of your heart (Proverbs 3:3). But he is ordered to write more clearly, so that the reader may be able to run through it without any hindrance to its speed, and may be held back by a desire to read. And this is commanded, because the vision is still far off, and at the appointed time. And when the end of things shall come, then also he will come, and the true prophecy will be proved by the completed work. And if perhaps, for your eagerness, O reader, and the ardour of seeing the vision, it may have seemed to you to make a little delay in what has been promised, do not despair of his coming; but wait patiently: for you have me, who promise and say to you: He who is coming will come, and will not delay. But if anyone is unbelieving of this promise of mine, and, while I am saying 'coming, he will come, and he will not delay,' begins to doubt and silently waver within himself, thinking that what is being delayed for a time will not come; such a person will displease my soul, according to the saying: 'My soul hates your new moons and sabbaths' (Isaiah 1:13). And when God said 'his soul,' we should understand it as meaning 'his intellect and thoughts,' so that it would be 'my intellect will be displeased.' But just as it will displease the one who, with my promise, doubts that what I pledge will come to pass, so the righteous person who believes in my promise will live by their faith. These lines describe the picture of this chapter. And what he says is this, in this way, but only if we mix in the translation of the Septuagint. Write in your heart, and like little children who learn the first elements of the alphabet, they practice curved accents and a trembling hand on a boxwood tablet, and they become accustomed to write correctly through meditation. So you, who have spoken as the voice of a doubting people, write in the tablets of your heart and in the boxwood of your chest what I am saying. For it is a vision that is promised and commanded to be described and written more plainly, so that it is not wrapped in any cloud and not obscured by any enigmatic ambiguities: clear hope may have a clear promise. And this, O prophet, I command, not because you do not know (for you would not be a prophet if you were ignorant), but so that what you have written more clearly may be read and perused by the reader without hindrance and difficulty; which the Seventy translated as: ὅπως διώκῃ ὁ ἀναγινώσκων, that is, so that the one who reads may pursue; according to that sense which is written to Timothy: Pursue justice, and godliness, and faith, and charity, and patience, and meekness (I Tim. VI, 11). And to the Romans: Pursue hospitality (Rom. XII, 13). And to the Corinthians: Pursue charity (I Cor. XIV, 1). But the vision itself that I told you about: write down the vision and make it plain on a tablet, so that the one who reads it may run. It is still for an appointed time, but it speaks of the end and does not lie. Though it may delay, wait for it, for it will surely come and will not be late (Hab. II, 3). And it will come in the consummation of the world, and in the last hour of the day, of which John also speaks: Little children, it is the last hour now (I John II, 18). And he will not come in vain: for he will save many, and with the remnant of the Israelite people he will gather a multitude of nations. But if he shall withdraw for a little while, and the vision which you, reader, are commanded to read in the box and on the tablets which the prophet described, shall begin to come later, wait for it: because it will surely come, and it will not be delayed. But if your faith doubts, and you think that what I promise will not happen, you will have as a great punishment that you displease my soul. But the one who believes in my words and does not doubt what I promise, will receive the reward of eternal life. And you should not immediately accuse, whether in killing yourself or in giving life to another, that there is partiality in me, because he himself is the cause of his own life, who lives by his faith: just as you have displeased my soul by withdrawing and refusing to believe. But clearly in these words there is a prophecy about the coming of Christ. And so the proposed question is solved, that until he comes, iniquity will rule in the world, and judgment will not come to an end: and the true Nebuchadnezzar will capture men in his net and his dragnet like little fish, and the rational creature like a reptile, not having a prince. Moreover, what we have interpreted for the vision, because it is still far off: and if it delays, wait for it, that is, the vision: let no one think, deceived by error, that he could have put the vision, which is of the feminine gender, in the masculine gender, which is less common in Latin. Indeed, the word 'vision' in Hebrew, which is translated as 'Hazon' (), is of the masculine gender and is declined in the same gender throughout, that is, as 'visus'. However, the Septuagint translators said, 'Write it as 'visionem'; and afterwards, if it fails, wait for it; because it will surely come, it will not delay. If it withdraws, my soul will have no pleasure in it.' They first translated 'vision' in the feminine gender, which, as we have said, is masculine in Hebrew. Then according to the Hebrew gender, where it is declined masculine, sustain it, and it will not please my soul in it, they also declined in the masculine gender. Indeed, they should have translated the vision according to the first interpretation, also putting the feminine gender in the other parts of the vision, saying, wait for her: for she will come, and if she withdraws, it will not please my soul in her, that is, in the vision. This is why, so that we would not appear to be silent about what we knew. Moreover, I am not unaware that according to their interpretation it can be understood in this way: Write down the vision in which Christ is promised, and weave this message in your prophecy, whether in a box, or on tablets, or, as Symmachus translated, on pages, so that at the appointed time and in the end of the world, my Son may come, who will save the lost sheep of the house of Israel, and also join other sheep with the ancient sheep, and making one flock, unite the two staffs, which Ezekiel, that is, the power of God, holds joined and closely connected in his prophetic hand (Ezek. 7). But if Christ, the prophet or you, my people (through whose person my prophet seems to have doubted), withdraws a little and seems to be delayed, wait for him, for he will come, and he will not delay; and the rest of what we have already explained. Furthermore, the reason why the Apostle used the testimony of the Septuagint more, writing to the Romans: 'The just shall live by faith' (Rom. 1:17), and not what is contained in the Hebrew, is evident. For he was writing to the Romans, who did not know the Hebrew Scriptures: and he did not care about the words, since the meaning was safe, and the discussion did not have any immediate disadvantage. Otherwise, wherever the meaning is different, and it is written differently in Hebrew and in the Septuagint, he noted it using the testimonies he had learned from Gamaliel, a teacher of the law.
O foolish Galatians, who hath bewitched you, that ye should not obey the truth, before whose eyes Jesus Christ hath been evidently set forth, crucified among you? This only would I learn of you, Received ye the Spirit by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Are ye so foolish? having begun in the Spirit, are ye now made perfect by the flesh? Have ye suffered so many things in vain? if it be yet in vain. He therefore that ministereth to you the Spirit, and worketh miracles among you, doeth he it by the works of the law, or by the hearing of faith? Even as Abraham believed God, and it was accounted to him for righteousness. Know ye therefore that they which are of faith, the same are the children of Abraham. And the scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the heathen through faith, preached before the gospel unto Abraham, saying, In thee shall all nations be blessed. So then they which be of faith are blessed with faithful Abraham. For as many as are of the works of the law are under the curse: for it is written, Cursed is every one that continueth not in all things which are written in the book of the law to do them. But that no man is justified by the law in the sight of God, it is evident: for, The just shall live by faith. [Habakkuk 2:3-4] And the law is not of faith: but, The man that doeth them shall live in them. Christ hath redeemed us from the curse of the law, being made a curse for us: for it is written, Cursed is every one that hangeth on a tree: That the blessing of Abraham might come on the Gentiles through Jesus Christ; that we might receive the promise of the Spirit through faith.
For I am not ashamed of the gospel of Christ: for it is the power of God unto salvation to every one that believeth; to the Jew first, and also to the Greek. For therein is the righteousness of God revealed from faith to faith: as it is written, The just shall live by faith. [Habakkuk 2:3-4]
Having therefore, brethren, boldness to enter into the holiest by the blood of Jesus, By a new and living way, which he hath consecrated for us, through the veil, that is to say, his flesh; And having an high priest over the house of God; Let us draw near with a true heart in full assurance of faith, having our hearts sprinkled from an evil conscience, and our bodies washed with pure water. Let us hold fast the profession of our faith without wavering; (for he is faithful that promised;) And let us consider one another to provoke unto love and to good works: Not forsaking the assembling of ourselves together, as the manner of some is; but exhorting one another: and so much the more, as ye see the day approaching. For if we sin wilfully after that we have received the knowledge of the truth, there remaineth no more sacrifice for sins, But a certain fearful looking for of judgment and fiery indignation, which shall devour the adversaries. He that despised Moses' law died without mercy under two or three witnesses: Of how much sorer punishment, suppose ye, shall he be thought worthy, who hath trodden under foot the Son of God, and hath counted the blood of the covenant, wherewith he was sanctified, an unholy thing, and hath done despite unto the Spirit of grace? For we know him that hath said, Vengeance belongeth unto me, I will recompense, saith the Lord. And again, The Lord shall judge his people. It is a fearful thing to fall into the hands of the living God. But call to remembrance the former days, in which, after ye were illuminated, ye endured a great fight of afflictions; Partly, whilst ye were made a gazingstock both by reproaches and afflictions; and partly, whilst ye became companions of them that were so used. For ye had compassion of me in my bonds, and took joyfully the spoiling of your goods, knowing in yourselves that ye have in heaven a better and an enduring substance. Cast not away therefore your confidence, which hath great recompence of reward. For ye have need of patience, that, after ye have done the will of God, ye might receive the promise. For yet a little while, and he that shall come will come, and will not tarry. Now the just shall live by faith: but if any man draw back, my soul shall have no pleasure in him. [Habakkuk 2:3-4] But we are not of them who draw back unto perdition; but of them that believe to the saving of the soul.
“And if you will not believe, neither will you understand.” Also the Lord in the Gospel: “For if you believe not that I am he, you shall die in your sins.” Moreover, righteousness should subsist by faith. In it was life, as predicted in Habakkuk: “Now the just shall live by faith in me.” Hence Abraham, the father of the nations, believed. In Genesis “Abraham believed in God, and it was counted to him for righteousness.” In like manner Paul wrote to the Galatians: “Abraham ‘believed God, and it was reckoned to him as righteousness.’ So you see, those of faith are the descendants of Abraham. And the Scripture, foreseeing that God would justify the Gentiles by faith, preached the gospel beforehand to Abraham, saying ‘In you shall all the nations be blessed.’ So then, those who are people of faith are blessed with Abraham who had faith.”
“But the righteous one will live from my faith.” So even if someone should be uncertain in their trust in the future and doubt if it will really happen, such a one is very much the object of dislike to me, because I define a righteous person as one who trusts in the promises and gets benefit from them.
Therefore pride is contrary to this justice of God, because it puts its trust in its own works. Thus the psalm continues, “Let not the foot of pride come to me.” This justice is the grace of the New Testament, by which the faithful are just, while they live by faith, until, by the perfection of justice, they are brought to the face-to-face vision, as they are also equally brought to immortality of the body itself, by the perfection of salvation.
Those just people also were saved by their salutary faith in him as man and God who, before he came in the flesh, believed that he was to come in the flesh. Our faith is the same as theirs, since they believed that this would be, while we believe that it has come to pass. Hence the apostle Paul says, “But having the same spirit of faith, as it is written: ‘I believed for which cause I have spoken,’ we also believe for which cause we speak also.” If, then, those who foretold that Christ would come in the flesh had the same faith as those who have recorded his coming, these religious mysteries could vary according to the diversity of times, yet all refer most harmoniously to the unity of the same faith. It is written in the Acts of the Apostles that the apostle Peter said, “Now therefore why do you make trial of your God by putting a yoke on the neck of the disciples which neither our fathers nor we have been able to bear? But we believe that we shall be saved through the grace of our Lord Jesus just as they will.” If, therefore, they, that is, the fathers, being unable to bear the yoke of the old law, believed that they were saved through grace of the Lord Jesus, it is clear that this grace saved even the just people of old through faith, for “the just man lives by faith.”
But “Mary,” the other sister of Lazarus, “took a pound of perfume made from costly, pistic, aromatic nard. She anointed Jesus’ feet and wiped his feet with her hair, and the house was filled with the ointment fragrance.” We have heard what happened; let us search out the hidden meaning. You, whoever wishes to be a faithful soul, together with Mary anoint the Lord’s feet with costly perfume. That perfume was justice, and so it was a full pound. However, it was perfume made from costly, pistic, aromatic nard. What does “pistic” mean? We might believe it to be some place in which this was costly perfume; and yet this is not an idle phrase and is quite well consonant with the mystery. The Greek word means “faith.” You were seeking to work justice: “the just man lives by faith.” Anoint Jesus’ feet by living well. Follow the Lord’s footsteps. Wipe with your hair. If you have more than enough, give to the poor, and you have wiped the Lord’s feet. For hairs seem to be the body’s superfluity. For you they are superfluous, but for the Lord’s feet they are necessary. Perhaps on earth the Lord’s feet are in need. For about whom except about his members will he say in the end, “When you did it for one of the least of mine, you did it for me”? You spent your superfluity, but you gave service to my feet.
For it is not simply the enduring of such things that is advantageous, but the bearing of such things for the name of Christ not only with a tranquil mind, even with exultation. For many heretics, deceiving souls under the Christian name, endure many such things; but they are excluded from that reward on this account, that it is not said merely, “Blessed are they which endure persecution,” but it is added, “for righteousness’ sake.” Now, where there is not sound faith, there can be no righteousness, for the just man lives by faith. Neither let schismatics promise themselves anything of that reward; for similarly, where there is no love there cannot be righteousness, for “love works no ill to his neighbor.” And if they had it, they would not tear in pieces Christ’s body, which is the church.
And hence Tobias also, while instructing his son in the precepts of godliness, says, “Give alms of your substance, and turn not your face from any poor man. So shall it come to pass that the face of God shall not be turned from you.” This virtue makes all virtues profitable, for by its precepts it gives life to that very faith by which “the just lives” and which is said to be “dead without works.” As the reason for works consists in faith, so the strength of faith consists in works.
[AD 420] Jerome on Habakkuk 2:2-4