Ambrose of Milan — Commentary on Scripture

Jeremiah 20:8-10 · 2 passages

For since I spake, I cried out, I cried violence and spoil; because the word of the LORD was made a reproach unto me, and a derision, daily.

I think, too, we cannot leave out of sight that fire when we read that the Lord Jesus baptizes with the Holy Spirit and with fire, as John said in his Gospel. Rightly was the sacrifice consumed, for it was for sin. But that fire was a type of the Holy Spirit, who was to come down after the Lord’s ascension and forgive the sins of all, and who like fire inflames the mind and faithful heart. For this reason, Jeremiah, after receiving the Spirit, says, “It became in my heart as a burning fire flaming in my bones, and I am vile and cannot bear it.”

But even now He discloses them partly and in a figure to those whom He deems worthy, and at the same time sheds forth from the Spirit and from His own countenance floods of resplendent light, so that he who is illuminated thereby may say, "But it was as a fire blazing in my bones and I am melted on all sides, and cannot stay." And David says, "Let my sentence come forth from Thy presence!"

Jeremiah 20:14-18

Cursed be the day wherein I was born: let not the day wherein my mother bare me be blessed.

How much dissatisfaction do we see that even the brief stages of our lives bring on us! The boy longs to be a young man. The young man counts the years when he will be older. The mature man, ungrateful for the blessing of being in the prime of life, eagerly desires the honor associated with old age. Thus, to all there comes naturally a desire for change, simply because we become dissatisfied with what we are now. Therefore, even the very things that we have wished for become wearisome to us on their enjoyment, and what we have desired to obtain we reject on its attainment. Consequently, holy people have not without reason lamented their prolonged sojourning here: David lamented it, Jeremiah lamented it, Elijah lamented it. If we can believe wise people, even those in whom the divine Spirit spoke were hastening to better things.

Jeremiah 22:13

Woe unto him that buildeth his house by unrighteousness, and his chambers by wrong; that useth his neighbour's service without wages, and giveth him not for his work;

But such a house as this sensual persons, they who dwell in cieled houses and delight in chased silver, do not build. For as they despise pure silver, so also they despise simple dwellings. They enlarge the site of their houses, they add more and more, joining house to house and farm to farm, they dig up the ground; so that the very earth itself gives way to their habitations, and like sons of the earth they are laid up within her womb, and hidden in her bowels. They surely are those of whom Jeremiah says, "Woe unto him that buildeth his house in unrighteousness." For he who builds in righteousness, builds not on earth but in heaven.

Jeremiah 23:24 · 3 passages

Can any hide himself in secret places that I shall not see him? saith the LORD. Do not I fill heaven and earth? saith the LORD.

Of what creature can it be said that it fills all things, as it written of the Holy Spirit: “I will pour my Spirit on all flesh.” This cannot be said of an angel. Lastly, Gabriel, when sent to Mary, said, “Hail, full of grace,” plainly declaring the grace of the Spirit that was in her, because the Holy Spirit had come on her, and she was about to have her womb full of grace with the heavenly Word. It is the Lord who fills all things, who says, “I fill heaven and earth.” If, then, it is the Lord who fills heaven and earth, who can judge the Holy Spirit to be without a share in the dominion and divine power, seeing that he has filled the world, and what is beyond the whole world, filled Jesus, the Redeemer of the whole world? For it is written, “But Jesus, full of the Holy Spirit, departed from the Jordan.” Who, then, except one who possessed the same fullness could fill him who fills all things?

For, if we may presume to speak of ourselves after His image and likeness, as Scripture says, in the same way as He is established in the fulness of His Majesty, and sees all things, heaven, air, earth and sea, embracing the universe and penetrating each part, so that nothing escapes Him, and there is nothing which does not consist in Him and depend on Him, and which is not full of Him, as He Himself says, "I fill heaven and earth, saith the Lord."

God says, “I will dwell in them.” Elsewhere also it stands that God said, “Come, let us go down and confound their language.” God, indeed, never descends from any place, for he says, “I fill heaven and earth.” He seems to descend when the Word of God enters our hearts, as the prophet has said: “Prepare the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.” We are to do this, so that, as he himself promised, he may come together with the Father and make his home with us. It is clear, then, how he comes.

Jeremiah 26:2-3

Thus saith the LORD; Stand in the court of the LORD'S house, and speak unto all the cities of Judah, which come to worship in the LORD'S house, all the words that I command thee to speak unto them; diminish not a word:

The Novatians bring up a question from the words of the apostle Peter. Because he said, “if perhaps,” they think that he did not imply that forgiveness would be granted on repentance. But let them consider concerning to whom the words were spoken—of Simon, who did not believe through faith but was contemplating trickery. So, too, the Lord, to him who said, “Lord, I will follow you wherever you go,” replied, “Foxes have holes.” For he knew that the man was not being fully sincere. If, then, the Lord refused to him who was not baptized permission to follow him, because he saw that he was not sincere, do you wonder that the apostle did not absolve him who after baptism was guilty of deceit and whom he declared to be still in the bond of iniquity? But let this be my answer to them. As to myself, I say that Peter did not doubt, and I do not think that so great a question can be so easily disposed of by the questionable interpretation of a single word. For if they think that Peter doubted, did God doubt, who said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and you sha…

The Novatians bring up a question from the words of the apostle Peter. Because he said, “if perhaps,” they think that he did not imply that forgiveness would be granted on repentance. But let them consider concerning to whom the words were spoken—of Simon, who did not believe through faith but was contemplating trickery. So, too, the Lord, to him who said, “Lord, I will follow you wherever you go,” replied, “Foxes have holes.” For he knew that the man was not being fully sincere. If, then, the Lord refused to him who was not baptized permission to follow him, because he saw that he was not sincere, do you wonder that the apostle did not absolve him who after baptism was guilty of deceit and whom he declared to be still in the bond of iniquity? But let this be my answer to them. As to myself, I say that Peter did not doubt, and I do not think that so great a question can be so easily disposed of by the questionable interpretation of a single word. For if they think that Peter doubted, did God doubt, who said to the prophet Jeremiah, “Stand in the court of the Lord’s house, and you shall give an answer to all Judah, to those who have come to worship in the Lord’s house, even all the words that I have appointed for you to answer to them. Do not omit a word, perhaps they will listen and be converted.” Let them say, then, that God also did not know what would happen. But ignorance is not implied in that word, but the common custom of Holy Scripture is observed to be taken in its simplest sense. Inasmuch as the Lord says also to Ezekiel, “Son of man, I will send you to the house of Israel, to those who have angered me, both themselves and their ancestors, this very day, and you shall say to them, Thus says the Lord, if perhaps they will hear and be afraid.” Did God not know that they could or could not be converted? So, then, that expression is not always a proof of doubt.

Jeremiah 31:15

Thus saith the LORD; A voice was heard in Ramah, lamentation, and bitter weeping; Rahel weeping for her children refused to be comforted for her children, because they were not.

Why then need I watch the rising and setting of the stars, at whose rising the fallows should be ploughed up and pierced by the hard plough-shares, and at whose setting the fruitful crop should be cut down by the sickle? One star suffices for me in the place of all others, the bright and morning Star, at Whose rising was sown the seed not of corn but of martyrs; when Rachel wept for her children, and offered in the stead of Christ her children washed in her own tears. The setting of this Star raised from the tomb not the senseless relics of the funeral pile, but the triumphant bands of the re-animated dead.

Jeremiah 31:18-20

I have surely heard Ephraim bemoaning himself thus; Thou hast chastised me, and I was chastised, as a bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: turn thou me, and I shall be turned; for thou art the LORD my God.

Let us purify ourselves by tears, that the Lord our God may hear us when we lament, as he heard Ephraim when weeping, as it is written: “I have surely heard Ephraim weeping.” He expressly repeats the words of Ephraim: “You have chastised me, and I was chastised; like a calf I was not trained.” For a calf shows itself off and leaves its stall, and so Ephraim was untrained like a calf far away from the stall, because he had forsaken the stall of the Lord, followed Jeroboam and worshiped the calves, which future event was prophetically indicated through Aaron, namely, that the people of the Jews would fall after this manner. And so repenting, Ephraim says, “Turn me, and I shall be turned, for you are the Lord my God. Surely in the end of my captivity I repented, and after I learned I mourned over the days of confusion and subjected myself to you because I received reproach and made you known.”

Jeremiah 31:26 · 2 passages

Upon this I awaked, and beheld; and my sleep was sweet unto me.

For you should not be surprised if the Prophet says that his soul is disturbed, since the Lord Jesus himself said: "Now my soul is troubled." For he who took on our weaknesses also took on our emotions, in which he was sad even unto death, not because of death; for voluntary death could not have sorrow, in which the joy and refreshment of all was to come. Of this he also said elsewhere: "And I arose, and saw, and a sweet sleep came to me." Blessed sleep that made the hungry not hunger, the thirsty not thirst, for whom he prepared the sweetness of the sacraments. So how then was his soul troubled by fear, who made the souls of others not fear? Sorrowful even unto death, until grace was perfected: which is proven by his own testimony saying of his death: "With the baptism I am to be baptized, and how am I distressed until it is accomplished?"

Let us, then, submit ourselves to God and not be subject to sin, and when we ponder the remembrance of our offenses, let us blush as though at some disgrace and not speak of them as a glory to us, as some boast of overcoming modesty or putting down the feeling of justice. Let our conversion be such that we who did not know God may now ourselves declare him to others, that the Lord, moved by such a conversion on our part, may answer to us: “Ephraim is from youth a dear son, a pleasant child, for since my words are concerning him, I will truly remember him; therefore have I hastened to be over him. I will surely have mercy on him, says the Lord.” And what mercy he promises us, the Lord also shows, when he says further on: “I have satiated every thirsty soul and have satisfied every hungry soul. Therefore, I woke up and beheld, and my sleep was sweet to me.” We observe that the Lord promises his sacraments to those who sin. Let us, then, all be converted to the Lord.

Jeremiah 31:32

Not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day that I took them by the hand to bring them out of the land of Egypt; which my covenant they brake, although I was an husband unto them, saith the LORD:

The number seven is passed away, the octave is arrived. Yesterday is gone, to-day is come, that promised day wherein we are admonished to hear and follow the word of God. That day of the Old Testament is passed away, that new day is come, wherein the New Testament is perfected, whereof it is said, "Behold, the days come, saith the Lord, when I will make a new covenant with the house of Israel, and with the house of Judah; not according to the covenant that I made with their fathers in the day when I took them by the hand to lead them out of the land of Egypt." He adds too the reason why the Testament was changed, "Because they continued not in My covenant, and I regarded them not, saith the Lord."

Jeremiah 37:15

Wherefore the princes were wroth with Jeremiah, and smote him, and put him in prison in the house of Jonathan the scribe: for they had made that the prison.

Would anyone deny that Joseph was blessed in prison, where he interpreted dreams by the spirit of wisdom, revealing the truth and the sequence of future events? Would anyone deny that Isaiah was blessed when he was sawn in half? Jeremiah, when he was thrown into a pit? Daniel, when he stood unharmed among the lions, with the prophet's meal brought to him by an angel? Certainly, they were blessed not because they ate a meal that did not belong to them, but because they closed the mouths of the lions with their merits.

Joel 2:11

And the LORD shall utter his voice before his army: for his camp is very great: for he is strong that executeth his word: for the day of the LORD is great and very terrible; and who can abide it?

He also very cleverly called one day not the first; for the following second, and third day, and thereafter the rest, he could have called the first: and this seemed to be an order, but he established a law, that only twenty-four hours of daylight and darkness should be defined by name for one day, so that if he were to say: "The measure of twenty-four hours is the time of one day." Just as the generation of men is computed, and the generation of women is also understood, because they are connected with the second and superior; so also the days are counted, and the nights are assessed as attached. Just as there is one circle, so there is one day. For many also call one week one day; because it returns to itself as if it were one day, and as if it were recurring seven times within itself. And this circle begins from itself and returns to itself. Therefore, at times, the Scriptures call it one age. For although it uses the term age in other places, it seems to signify more the diversities of public states or affairs rather than define any successions of ages: "Because the day of the Lo…

He also very cleverly called one day not the first; for the following second, and third day, and thereafter the rest, he could have called the first: and this seemed to be an order, but he established a law, that only twenty-four hours of daylight and darkness should be defined by name for one day, so that if he were to say: "The measure of twenty-four hours is the time of one day." Just as the generation of men is computed, and the generation of women is also understood, because they are connected with the second and superior; so also the days are counted, and the nights are assessed as attached. Just as there is one circle, so there is one day. For many also call one week one day; because it returns to itself as if it were one day, and as if it were recurring seven times within itself. And this circle begins from itself and returns to itself. Therefore, at times, the Scriptures call it one age. For although it uses the term age in other places, it seems to signify more the diversities of public states or affairs rather than define any successions of ages: "Because the day of the Lord is great and very glorious." And elsewhere, "Why are you seeking the day of the Lord?" And here there is darkness and not light. For it is clear that for those with a guilty conscience and unworthy, that day will be dark, in which innocence will shine, and the guilty mind will be tormented. Moreover, without the interruption of nights and the succession of darkness, Scripture teaches us that that perpetual day will be the future of eternal retribution.

Joel 2:28-29 · 2 passages

And it shall come to pass afterward, that I will pour out my spirit upon all flesh; and your sons and your daughters shall prophesy, your old men shall dream dreams, your young men shall see visions:

But that the Spirit is the Arbiter of the Divine Counsel, you may know even from this. For when above we showed that the Holy Spirit was the Lord of baptism, and read that baptism is the counsel of God, as you read, "But the Pharisees despised the counsel of God, not being baptized of Him," it is quite clear that as there can be no baptism without the Spirit, so, too, the counsel of God is not without the Spirit. And that we may know more completely that the Spirit is Power, we ought to know that He was promised when the Lord said: "I will pour out of My Spirit upon all flesh." He, then, Who was promised to us is Himself Power, as in the Gospel the same Son of God declared when He said: "And I will send the promise of the Father upon you, but do you remain in the city until ye be endued with power from on high."

But of what creature can it be said that it fills all things, as is written of the Holy Spirit: "I will pour My Spirit upon all flesh." This cannot be said of an Angel. Lastly, Gabriel himself, when sent to Mary, said: "Hail, full of grace," plainly declaring the grace of the Spirit which was in her, because the Holy Spirit had come upon her, and she was about to have her womb full of grace with the heavenly Word.

Joel 2:32

And it shall come to pass, that whosoever shall call on the name of the LORD shall be delivered: for in mount Zion and in Jerusalem shall be deliverance, as the LORD hath said, and in the remnant whom the LORD shall call.

Return, then, to the Church, those of you who have wickedly separated yourselves. For He promises forgiveness to all who are converted, since it is written: "Whosoever shall call on the Name of the Lord shall be saved." And lastly, the Jewish people who said of the Lord Jesus, "He hath a devil," and "He casteth out devils through Beelzebub," and who crucified the Lord Jesus, are, by the preaching of Peter, called to baptism, that they may put away the guilt of so great a wickedness.

John 1:1 · 2 passages

In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.

That which was “in the beginning” is not comprehended in time, is not preceded by any beginning. Let Arius, therefore, hold his peace. Moreover, that which was “with God” is not confounded and mingled with him but is distinguished by the perfection unblemished that it has as the Word abiding with God; and so let Sabellius keep silence. And “the Word was God.” This Word, therefore, consists not in uttered speech but in the designation of celestial excellence, so that Photinus’s teaching is refuted. Furthermore, by the fact that in the beginning he was with God is proven the indivisible unity of eternal Godhead in Father and Son, to the shame and confusion of Eunomius.

Let the soul that wishes to approach God raise itself from the body and cling always to that highest Good that is divine and lasts forever and that was from the beginning and that was with God, that is, the Word of God. This is the divine Being “in which we live and are and move.” This was in the beginning, this is “The Son of God, Jesus Christ in you,” he says, “in whom there was not yes and no, but only yes was in him.” He himself told Moses to say, “He who is has sent me.”