17 And he hath cast the lot for them, and his hand hath divided it unto them by line: they shall possess it for ever, from generation to generation shall they dwell therein.
(Verses 8 and following) For it is the day of the Lord's vengeance, the year of retribution in the judgment of Zion. Its streams will be turned into pitch, and its soil into sulfur; its land will become burning pitch. Night and day it will not be extinguished; its smoke will go up forever. From generation to generation it will lie desolate; no one will pass through it forever. The pelican and the hedgehog will possess it, the owl and the raven will dwell in it. It will be stretched out with a measuring line, and it will be reduced to nothing, and its plumb line to desolation. Her nobles will not be there; rather, they will call upon the king, and all his princes will be nothing. Thorns, thistles, and briers will grow in his palaces; it will become a haunt for jackals, a feeding place for ostriches. And wild creatures will meet with hyenas; the wild goat will cry to his fellow; indeed, there the night bird settles and finds for herself a resting place. There the owl nests and lays and hatches and gathers her young in her shadow; indeed, there the hawks are gathered, each one with her mate. Search diligently in the book of the Lord and read. One of them did not fail, and one did not seek the other. For what proceeds from my mouth, he commanded, and his spirit gathered them. And he sent them a lot, and his hand divided it for them in measure; they will possess it forever, and they will dwell in it from generation to generation. The Hebrews, as we have said above, contend that these things are prophesied about the Roman Empire and are preached as a vengeance on Zion, the former devastation of the most powerful kingdom, which many of ours also think is written in the Apocalypse of John according to the letter. But we consider this to be the year of the vengeance of the Lord, the year of retributions and judgments in Zion, of which the Savior himself spoke: 'The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because he has anointed me to bring good news to the poor; he has sent me to proclaim release to the captives and recovery of sight to the blind, to let the oppressed go free, to proclaim the year of the Lord's favor.' (Luke 4:18-19, Isaiah 61:1-3). Also, as it is written: 'Rise up, you women who are at ease.' (Isaiah 32:9). And remember the days of the year in sorrow with hope, so that, after the general consummation of the whole world, the prophecy may return to Jerusalem, to which it was spoken at that time, and its devastation be described in full detail: namely, that after the time of the Roman siege has come, everything will be consumed by pitch, sulfur, and burning flames, and its smoke will remain forever, and it will be inhabited by the pelican and the hedgehog, and the ibis and the raven, which are creatures accustomed to inhabiting desolate places. And let this be done, because the cord and the plumb line of the Lord, that is, his judgment, cannot be changed. His nobles, that is, the Apostles and believers, will not be there, nor will they be joined with the number of the damned: but rather they will invoke King Christ. But all the leaders of the city, namely the Scribes and the Pharisees, will be reduced to nothingness, and thorns and nettles and brambles will grow in their once ornate houses. And there will be a haunt for dragons, and pastures for ostriches, which themselves are signs of extreme desolation. And there they will encounter, according to the LXX, various apparitions of demons, or as all others have translated according to the Hebrew, Siim and Iim, onocentaurs, and shaggy figures, and lamia, which the fables of the Gentiles and the creations of poets describe. Also, there the hedgehog nurtures its puppies, and it has a very faithful watchpost: there the kites gather, a very carnivorous bird, which in Hebrew is called Dajoth (or, as the LXX translated, deer, which we will discuss later). Among these things, the Prophet speaks to those who hear: O men (or, all) who hear me speaking, what I announce about the future, all things will be fulfilled. For in the book the words of the Lord are written, and His intention is determined, and not even one thing will be in vain. For whatever proceeds from my mouth, he has commanded, that is, I speak on his behalf; but the words are the Lord's, and by his spirit whatever is said will be accomplished. Each thing will be fulfilled according to his decree and measure: and they will not leave their order even unto eternal generations. Let these things be said according to the Hebrew and historical explanation. Moreover, those who follow the allegory, expelling the people of the Jews under the names of beasts and monsters, affirm that they will dwell in Jerusalem, serving idols and various superstitions: and these are the onocrotali and hedgehogs, the raven and dragons, and ostriches, and onocentaurs, and demons, and shaggy creatures, and the lamia, which is called Lilith in Hebrew (); and the lamia has been translated from the ground by Symmachus, which some Hebrews suspect to be the Fury. And indeed, if we consider the various colonies brought to Jerusalem from different nations, and according to the customs of their provinces, each family worshipped their own demons as wonders, we will affirm that all of this existed in Jerusalem. And what the LXX translated: 'There the deer met them and saw their own faces: they passed by in number, and not one of them perished or sought another. For the Lord commanded them, and his spirit gathered them; and he himself gave them lots, and his hand divided them: that they may feed forever, and possess it in generation after generation, and rest in it.' We will interpret this allegorically, teaching that the deer, that is, the Apostles and all holy teachers, about whom it is written: 'As the deer longs for the fountains of water, so my soul longs for you, O God' (Ps. 41:1); and elsewhere: 'The voice of the Lord perfects the deer' (Ps. 28:9); and again: 'Let the deer of friendship and the colt of your graces speak to you' (Prov. 5); and in Job: 'You keep the minds of the deer, and you send forth their offspring' (Job. 39:2); and in the Song of Songs it is said: 'My beloved is like a roe or a young deer on the mountains of spices' (Song. 2:9); that they met each other in Jerusalem and saw each other's appearances, and passed by and left it, and went to different provinces, because the Lord had commanded them: 'Go and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit' (Matthew 28:19); and his spirit gathered them, giving them lots and dividing them, so that some would go to the Indians, others to Spain, others to Illyricum, others to Greece; and each would rest in their own province of the Gospel and teaching. What we have said above about Jerusalem being prophesied, and the Jews suspecting that it refers to the Roman rule, some people attribute to the whole world, so as not to seem to differ from the earlier interpretations.
[AD 420] Jerome on Isaiah 34:8-17