Jerome

[Daniel 10:13] "But the prince of the kingdom of Persia withstood me for twenty-one days." In my opinion this was the angel to whose charge Persia was committed, in accordance with what we read in Deuteronomy: "When the Most High divided the nations and distributed the children of Adam abroad, then He established the bounds of the nations according to the number of the angels of God" (Deuteronomy 32:8). These are the princes of whom Paul also says: "We speak forth among the perfect a wisdom which none of the princes of this world knew. For if they had known it, they would never have crucified the Lord of Glory" (1 Corinthians 2:6-8). And so the prince or angel of the Persians offered resistance, acting on behalf of the province entrusted to him, in order that the entire captive nation might not be released. And it may well be that although the prophet was graciously heard by God from the day when he set his heart to understand, the angel was nevertheless not sent to proclaim to him God's gracious decision, for the reason that the prince of Persia opposed him for twenty-one days, enumerating the sins of the Jewish people as a ground for their justly being kept in captivity and as proof that they ought not to be released.

"And behold, Michael, one of the chief princes, came to my assistance." That is, while the angel of the Persians was resisting thy petitions and my representations on thy behalf as I presented thy prayers to God, then there came to my assistance the angel Michael, who has oversight of the people of Israel. By chief princes we are of course to understand archangels.

"And I remained there close by the king of the Persians." He designates the angel or prince by the term "king of the Persians," and shows that he had tarried with Michael for a little as he spoke in opposition to the prince of the Persians.

'And meditates on his law day and night.' [Psalm 1:2] The psalmist has already mentioned three things one must not do: follow the Counsel of the wicked; stand in the way of sinners; sit in the company of the insolent. These three things we must not do, but there are also two things that we must do, for it will not be sufficient for us to shun evil unless we seek good. 'But delights in the law of the Lord.' The psalm does not say fears the law, but delights in the law. There are many who observe the law through fear, but fear as a motive for action is far from meritorious. 'But delights in the law of the Lord' - wholeheartedly he obeys the Lord's command.

'And meditates on his law day and night.' Mere words cannot express adequately what the mind conceives. 'But delights in the law of the Lord.' Some one may say: 'Look, I want to obey the law of God, and so because I want to obey, I am happy.' But consider the words that follow. It is not enough to want the law of God, but one must meditate on His law day and night. 'Meditate day and night.' Someone else may object: 'This is too much for human nature to endure, for one must walk, and drink, and eat, and sleep, and perform all the other necessities of life. How, then, meditate on the law of God day and night, and especially since the Apostle says: "Pray without ceasing"? [1 Thess 5:17] How can I be praying during the time that I am sleeping?'

Meditation on the law does not consist in reading, but in doing, just as the Apostle says in another place: 'Whether you eat or drink, or do anything else, do all for the glory of God. [1 Cor. 10:31] Even if I merely stretch forth my hand in alms giving, I am meditating on the law of God; if I visit the sick, my feet are meditating on the law of God; if I do what is prescribed, I am praying with my whole body what others are praying with their lips. The Jews, indeed, prayed with their lips, but our prayer is works.

You ask in what sense it was said, and how it should be read in the first letter of the Apostle Paul to the Corinthians: "We shall all indeed rise again, but we shall not all be changed" (1 Corinthians 15:5). Or according to some examples: "We shall not all sleep, but we shall all indeed be changed," for both are found in Greek manuscripts. Concerning this, Theodore Heracleotes, who was from the city once called Perinthus, spoke in the Apostle's little commentaries: "We shall all indeed not sleep, but we shall all be changed." For Enoch and Elijah, having overcome the necessity of death, were translated from earthly conversation to heavenly kingdoms as they were in their bodies. Thus, also, the holy ones who are to be found in their bodies on the day of consummation and judgment, together with the other saints who are to rise again from the dead, shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ in the air, and shall not die; and they shall ever be with the Lord, the bitter necessity of death overcome. Hence the Apostle says: "In fact, we will not all sleep, but all will be changed, in a moment, in the twinkling of an eye, at the last trumpet." For there will be such a quick resurrection of the dead, that living people who are present at the time of the consummation in their own bodies, will not be able to anticipate the dead who rise again from the underworld. For Paul, plainly interpreting the matter, says: "For the trumpet will sound, and the dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. For this corruptible must put on incorruption, and this mortal must put on immortality" (1 Corinthians 15:52), that it may be able to remain permanently in either punishment or in the kingdom of heaven.

Bishop Diodorus of Tarsus, passing over this chapter, briefly noted in the following: in that which is written, 'And the dead shall rise incorruptible. And we shall be changed.' 'If,' he says, 'the dead shall rise incorruptible, it is beyond doubt that they too shall have been changed for the better: what was the need to say, 'And we shall be changed'? Did he wish to imply that incorruption is common to all, but change is peculiar to the just? since they follow not only incorruption and immortality, but also glory.

Apollinarius, though in different words, asserts the same as Theodore: that some will not die, but will be taken from this present life into the future, so that with changed and glorified bodies, they may be with Christ. This we now believe regarding Enoch and Elijah.

Didymus walks the opposite way, not in steps, but in words, departing from the opinion of Origen. Behold, I speak a mystery to you: We shall all indeed sleep, but we will not all be changed. He spoke thus: "If the resurrection needed no interpreter, nor were it obscure in concept, Paul would not have said after much he spoke of resurrection, 'Behold, I speak a mystery to you: We shall all indeed sleep,' that is, die, 'but we will not all be changed,' except the holy alone." I know that in some codices it is written: Not everyone will sleep, but everyone will be changed. But it must be considered whether that which is premised, everyone will be changed, can be reconciled with what follows: The dead will rise incorruptible, and we will be changed. For if everyone will be changed, and this is common to all, it was pointless to say, and we will be changed. Therefore, it should be read as follows: All indeed will sleep, but not all will be changed. For if in Adam all die, and in death there is sleep; therefore, we will all sleep or die. But sleep, according to the idiom of the Scriptures, refers to those who have died in the hope of future resurrection. Everyone who sleeps will certainly wake up, unless sudden death has overtaken him and death has been associated with sleep. And when all have slept according to the law of nature, only the saints will be changed for the better both in body and soul, so that the resurrection of all may be incorruptible; but the glory and transformation will belong exclusively to the saints. And what follows in Greek, 'in an atom, in a twinkling, or in a flicker of an eye' (for both are read) and our interpreters have translated it, 'in a moment and in a sudden,' or, in the movement of the eye: Didymus explained it in the same way: 'Together with the resurrection of everyone, they will be snatched up to meet Christ: but those whom death has dissolved, which the present speech indicates.' For when He speaks of the resurrection of all, at a certain moment in time, in the twinkling of an eye or in a moment, He excludes all the fables of the first and second resurrection, so that some will be believed to be resurrected first, and others last.