Jerome

"A time
to be born and a time to die. A time to plant and a time to uproot that which
has been planted." No one doubts that men are born and die, and
God knows that what he has planted will grow full and well; for to pull out
what has been planted is to die. But
since we read in Isaiah [Is. 26, 18.]
"we have conceived, laboured with and given birth out of a fear for
You", this must be said, because when a man is ready, that man in
particular, who was born from fear, will die as soon as he has begun to love
God. Since indeed "perfect love
sends fear outside" [I. John. 4, 18.]. The Hebrews understand all that he has
written about the contradiction of times, (until it says " a time for war
and a time for peace") as concerning Israel. Because it is not necessary to go through
each verse in turn here, commenting on how they are to be interpreted and what
they mean, I will list them briefly, leaving a more detailed study to the
reader's discretion. There was a time for growing and planting in Israel, a
time for dying and leading it into bondage. A time for killing them in Egypt,
and a time for freeing them from Egypt. A time for destroying the Temple under
Nebuchadnezer, and a time for rebuilding under Darius. A time for bewailing the plundering of the
city and a time for laughing and dancing under Zorobabel, Esdra, and
Nehemiah. A time for dissemination from
Israel and a time for gathering them together again. A time like a belt or harness put around the
Jews by God, and a time for leading them into bondage in Babylon and there for
them to rot across the Euphrates. Read "perizoma" of Jeremiah [Cfr Ier.. 13, I-II.]. A time for seeking them out and rescuing, a
time for losing and a time for forsaking.
A time for schism in Israel and a time for reunification. A time for hushing the prophets, now when in
Roman bondage and a time for proclaiming them aloud, when even in enemy lands
they weren't lacking in God's presence or comfort. A time for loving, in which He loved those
men before our fathers, a time for hating, since they threw their hands up
against Christ. A time for war, only not
for those who are doing repentance for themselves and a time for peace in the
future, when all the tribes return, and all Israel will be safe.

"A time
for dispersing stones and a time for collecting stones." I marvel how an learned man could have said this
ridiculous note about this passage: "this passage speaks about the
destruction and killing of Solomon's houses, because men first destroy, then
build". Some amass stones to
construct buildings, others destroy those buildings which have been erected,
according to Horace's lines "he demolished, he builds, exchanges squares with
wheels, he fluctuates and disagrees with the whole order of life itself." [Horat. Epist. I. I. 100, 99.] Whether he is correct in saying this or not I
leave up to the reader to decide.
Nonetheless we should follow the sequence of the prior explanation-they
say it is a time for scattering and collecting stones, similar to what is
written in the Gospel: "God is powerful enough to raise up the sons of
Abraham from these stones". [Matth. 3, 9.] For there was a time for dispersing the
nation and a time for gathering them again into the Church. I have read in a certain book, (like the
Septuagint however, which says "there was a time for throwing stones and a
time for collecting them") that the harshness of the ancient law of the
Gospel was tempered by grace. In fact
the stern law, unkind and unforgiving, murders the sinner, he pities with the
grace of the Gospel and provokes men to repentance. And there is a time for throwing stones, or
collecting them, because stones are thrown in law and are collected in the
Gospel. Whether this is true fact or not
is credited to the author. "A time for embracing and a time for being far from
embrace. "The meaning of this is seemingly the
simplest understanding- the apostle agrees with the same words: "do not
cheat each other, unless by chance it is agreed for a time that you give
yourselves to fasting and to prayer." [I Cor. 7, 5.] Attention must be given to children, and
again to self-control. Or perhaps it was
the time for embrace when the opinion was flourishing that we ought to
"grow and multiply, and fill up the Earth" [Gen. 1, 28.]. And the time became far from one of embracing
when it passed away: "the times are hard; it remains that both they that
have wives be as though they had none". [I Cor. 7, 29.] But if we wanted to climb to the higher
parts, we would see wisdom embracing its lovers: for he says "honour it
and it will embrace you" [Prov. 4, 8.],
and hold them in its arms and lap in a tighter embrace. More precisely, it is not always possible to
stretch the human mind to heaven and think about the divine and higher things,
or continually consider celestial matters, but meanwhile to indulge in the necessities
of the flesh. On account of this there
is a time for embracing wisdom, and holding it more tightly, and a time for
relaxing the mind from the study and embrace of wisdom, just as of the care of
the body, and we have those things that our life needs in the absence of
sin.

"A time
to acquire and a time to lose. A time to
keep and a time to throw away. "As is in many verses before the meaning is
the same here too, which is apparent before and following this verse, in that
he says: "A time to destroy and a time to build.
" And then "A
time to rend and a time to mend. "Just
as the Synagogue is destroyed so that the Church can be built and schism is
only brought about by the law so that the Gospels are unified, because each
preacher has carried it out one by one, unifying from the law and the prophets
the testimonies of the arrival of the Lord.
And thus there was a time for seeking and guarding Israel, a time for
losing and discarding it. Or perhaps in
fact a time for seeking a nation in the tribes and a time for losing the people
of the Jews. A time for guarding the
believers of the nations and a time for dismissing the faithless from
Israel. "A time for silence and a time for
speaking. "I think that the
Pythagoreans, whose discipline is to remain silent for five years and
afterwards to speak to learned men, took the origin of their decree from
this. Let us learn therefore and so
remain silent first, so that afterwards we open our mouths only to speak. Let us be silent for a set period and depend
on the utterances of our teacher.
Nothing seems right to us unless we learn that after much silence we are
made into teachers by our pupils. Now
though instead of the world slipping day by day into a far worse situation, we
teach in churches what we do not know.
And if by composing words or at the bidding of the devil, who is the
patron of madness, we have aroused the applause of the common people, then we
think we understand, (contrary to our conscience), what it is we were able to
dissuade others from. We do not learn all the arts without a teacher, only
those which are so common and easy that they don't require a tutor.

"A time
for loving and a time for hating." The time for loving God, children, wife, and
relatives is afterwards, and the time for hating those in martyrdom since
hostile piety attacks those steadfast men for the sake of the confession of
Christ. Or maybe there is a time for
loving the law, and those things that the law decrees- that is circumcision,
sacrifices, the Sabbath, Neumania [The Jewish feast of the New Moon.],
and a time for hating them when the grace of the Gospel has been lost. But we cannot say this, since now we look
through the mirror in mystery, the time for loving is the present, and in the
future there will come a time when we will see face to face and then, more
accomplished, we will begin to hate and despise what we love. [Cfr I Cor. 13, 12.] "A time for war and a time for peace. "Although we are in the present world,
it is the time for war: when we have left this world the time for peace will
come. For the place of God is in peace
and so too is our city of Jerusalem, for it is called 'chosen in peace'. Therefore no one now thinks he is safe: you
must prepare yourselves in the time of war and put on the apostles arms, so
that we may rest in peace at last victorious.

"What
gain, then, has the worker in exchange for all his toil? I have observed the task which God has given
the sons of man to be concerned with: He made everything beautiful in its time;
He has also put an enigma into their minds so that man cannot comprehend what
God has done from the beginning to end." The
opinion of many other scholars on this passage does not escape me, because in
this world God conceded to the teachers of perverse doctrines their true
occupation, lest man's idle mind should become slow and while thinking that
God's creations are good, yet nonetheless not be able to see them as the
natural knowledge of the world. But the
Hebrew who taught me the Scriptures explained it in this way: when all things
are placed in their own time and there is a time for destroying or building,
weeping and laughing, silence and speaking, and others things which are said
about time, why do we try to survive in vain and believe the labours of this
short life to be perpetual? And
according to the Gospel we are not even happy, and it is called wickedness
since we think nothing of tomorrow. [Cfr Matth. 6, 34.] For what more are we able to have in this
world than continual striving in that toil, which God has given to man, so that
one man may gain more by following others, in a situation where he is able to
learn and exercise himself? For all that
God does is good, but good in his world.
It is good to wake and to sleep, but it is not good to be always awake
or asleep, since in turn each and every thing can be considered good, when
there is need, according to God's plan.
Moreover God also created the world to be inhabited by men, so that they
should enjoy the variation of time, and not seek the causes nature, how all
things are made, why He made this or that grow or change from the beginning of
the world until now.

"Thus I
perceived that there is nothing good for each of them than to rejoice and do
what is good in his life. Indeed every
man who eats and drinks and finds satisfaction in all his labour- it is a gift
from God." Therefore the settler and the foreigner of the
world has been charged that he should enjoy the time of his short life, and
when the hope of a longer life has been removed, he sees everything that he has
as if he is about leave this life, and he sees also what he can do well in his
life. And his thoughts are not in vain
thus twisted, on account of his amassed wealth.
And he doesn't think that he is able to acquire more from his toil than
his food and drink and if he expends anything from his wealth into good work,
then only this is a gift of God. We are
not provoked, as some scholars think, by such words into luxury, pleasures, and
desperation as are animals, according to that phrase of Isaiah: "let us
gorge ourselves and drink, for tomorrow we will die." [Is. 22, 31.] But according to the apostle: "having
sustenance and clothing, we are content with these." [I Tim. 6, 8.] And whatever we have that is more than this,
we use in feeding the poor and our need for charity. More to the point, since the true food is the
flesh of the Lord, and his blood is the true drink, according to "anagoge [See footnote 60.]",
we only regard this as good in the present world, if we actually do feed from
his flesh and drink from his blood, not only in secret but even in reading the
Scriptures. For true food and drink,
which is taken from the word of God, is knowledge of the Scriptures. But no one believes the word of Balaam of the
prophets, who says "there will be no toil against Jacob, no suffering in Israel" [Num. 23, 23.]. It is in fact contrary to this, because it is
said to be a gift of God: "If anyone eats and drinks and shows he is good
in all of his work" [Cfr Eccl. 3, 13.]. In fact these are the many troubles of the
righteous. And the apostle complains
about these, saying he has sweated in toil and suffering. But the Lord freed us for our future in toil
and suffering also: "there will be
no toil against Jacob, no suffering in Israel". And we read how " the blessed weep,
since they will laugh" [Luc. 6, 21.],
and our laughter follows the words of Job the prophet: for the "mouth will
be filled with the joy of truths" [Cfr Iob. 8, 21.]. Thus now we enjoy our toil in good work, by
which we restrict and restrain ourselves so that afterwards we may cease from
working.

"I
realised that whatever God does will endure forever: nothing can be added to it
and nothing taken away, and God has acted so that man should fear Him. "There is nothing in the world that is
new. The course of the sun and moon in
turn and the dryness and verdure of the earth and trees are born and take shape
with the world itself. And therefore God
governed all things by a defined plan and commanded the elements to be at the
disposal of man, for his use, so that when men see these things they know that
there is providence and fear the appearance of God; while from the equality of
the world, the natural season, order, and constancy they understand their
creator. "For his invisible work in
the creation of the world are clearly seen, being understood by the things
which are made, even his eternal virtue and power" [Rom. 1, 20.]. If we want we can read this as if from the
beginning, with the meaning of the first part already understood: "and God
has acted so that man should fear Him" then this is the meaning: God made
all these things, so that men fear him, and reject for another what God once
created for man. But he governed
perfectly, saying: "so that they should fear his appearance". [Ps. 33, 17.] The image of the Lord, indeed, is powerful
over those who are wicked.

"What
has been, already exists, and what is still to be, has already been, and God
seeks him that suffers persecution." All things we perceive in the past, present
or future, they themselves have been, are, and will be. That same sun which now rises, existed before
we were in this world, and after we die, it will rise again. But we have mentioned the sun, so that we
understand other things to be the same as they have been before. Because if they are seen to die by what we
call death, they do not really die, but grow again given a second life, and
nothing dies forever but is reborn and relives as if with a certain new
seed. For this is what he says:
"and God seeks him that suffers persecution", which is said better in
Greek "kai ho theos zetesei to diokomenon "that
is what dies, what has perished, and has ceased to be. But if that speaks about all that are in the
world there is no doubt about man, that having died he will be reborn. But if anyone likes to choose a beginning as
if his own, "and God seeks him that suffers persecution", he uses
this evidence in the persecution of certain people: to comfort him, who had
persevered in martyrdom. And since all
in this world, who want to live religiously, follow the apostle, they suffer
persecution and take consolation in the fact that God seeks him that suffers
persecution, just as he seeks out the blood of a man who has been murdered, and
comes to seek what has perished, and carry the wandering sheep back to the
flock on his shoulders. [Cfr Luc. 19, 10 ; 15, 4-7.]

"Furthermore,
I have observed beneath the sun: in the place of justice there is wickedness,
and in the place of righteousness there is wickedness. I mused: God will judge the righteous and the
wicked, for there is a time for everything and for every deed, there." The
meaning of this is clear but is cloaked by the cloud of interpretation. He says: I sought truth and righteousness
under the sun and I saw that even among the benches of judges truth is not
valued, but gifts. Or differently: I
thought some kind of justice present in this world and either took the pious
man on his own merit, or punished the impious for his crimes; and I found the
opposite to that which I had been thinking.
For I saw a righteous man here suffer much injustice and an impious man
made to rule instead of being punished for his crime. But thinking to myself afterwards and
considering it carefully I understood that they judge not in respect of God and
treating each case one by one, but rather reserve judgement for the future, so
that all are judged equally and receive there according to their will and
effort. For this is what he says:
"and there is a time for everything and for every deed, there", that
is, in judgement when God will have begun to judge, then there will be truth,
now injustice prevails in the world.
Such as when we read in Wisdom, Sirach wrote: "lest you say, what
is this or what is that? For all things are sought in their own time" [Eccli. ?].

"Then I
said to myself concerning men: God has chosen them out, but only to see that
they themselves are as beasts. For the
fate of men and the fate of beast - they have one and the same fate: as one
dies so the other dies, and they all have the same spirit. Man has no superiority over beast, for all is
futile. All go to the same place; all
originate from dust and return to dust.
Who perceives that the spirit of man is the one that ascends on high
while the spirit of the beast is the one that descends down into the
earth?" It is not surprising that there is no distinction in
this life between righteous and wicked, nor that none values virtues, but all
things occur with uncertain outcome, where nothing seems to differ according to
the worthlessness of the body between sheep and men: there is the same birth,
common end in death; we proceed similarly towards the light and are equally
dissolved into the dust. But there seems
to be this difference, that the spirit of man ascends to the heavens, and the
spirit of animals goes down into the earth, but from where do we know this for
certain? Who can know whether what is
hoped is true or false? But he says
this, not because he thinks the spirit dies with the body, or that there's one
place set aside for beasts and for man, but because before the arrival of
Christ all were led equally to the nether regions. Jacob said that he was about to go down to
those regions. [cfr Gen. 37, 35 ; 42, 38 ; 44, 31.] And Job complains that the pious and impious
are held back in the lower world. [cfr Iob. 7, 9 ; 17, 13.16.] And the Gospel says that with an abyss
blocking the way even Abraham and Lazarus were rich in prayers in the underworld. [cfr Luc. 16, 26.] And in fact before Christ accompanied by a
robber opened the wheel of flames, and the fiery rumpias [A long missile weapon of barbarian nations.]
and the gates of paradise, the heavens were closed and the equal unworthiness
of the spirits of sheep and of men was abridged. One also seems to be dispersed and the other
saved; but there is not much of a difference between dying with the body or
being held in the darkness of the underworld.
Let us look over these things one by one in paragraphs, and discuss them
briefly. I considered the eloquence of
the sons of man, whom God chose. Only
this eloquence, he says, God wanted to be between men and beasts, since we
speak, they are mute; we possess the will for conversation, they are stupefied
with silence. And though we only differ
from beasts in language, though it is shown to us, how we are like the beasts -
weak in body. Just as a beast dies, thus
man dies, and one breath is for all, and that is the air that we breathe. For he says this: "and one spirit is for
both, and there is nothing more for man than for beast." Since lest we think the text refers to the
soul he adds: "all are made from earth and return to the earth." But nothing else except the body is made from
earth, and quite relevant, regarding the body he continues: "you are earth
and to the earth you will return." [Gen. 3.19.] But this seems to be blasphemy: for who knows
if the spirit of the sons of man ascends upwards, or if the spirit of beasts
goes downwards into the earth? He does
not contend that there is no difference between animals and men in reference to
the dignity of the soul, but in adding "who?" he wants to show the
difficulty of the matter. For the
pronoun "who" is used in the Holy Scriptures not on account of impossibility,
but a difficulty. So here it is said in
that passage, "who will describe that man's generation?" [Is. 53, 8.],
and in the psalm: "Lord, who ascends in your tabernacle, and onto your
sacred mountain?" [Ps. 14, 1.],
and other examples that follow this pattern.
And in Jeremiah it can be said differently in Hebrew: "And he is a
man, and who knows him?" [Ier. 17, 9.]. This then, is the only difference between
beast and men, that the spirit of man ascends to the heaven, and the spirit of
the beast descends into the earth and is dispersed with the flesh; but let any
man, who is of the Church and learned in the religious disciplines, be the real
champion of the matter, which is rather doubtful. Then he adds just how much it refers to a
spiritual understanding: "since the Lord will keep both men and beasts
safe" [Ps. 35, 17.],
and in another place he says, "beasts, I am among you" [Ps. 72, 23.],
and all the prophets say that both men and beasts will be saved in Jerusalem,
and that the promised land will be filled with sheep and cattle. Who knows whether the saintly man, who is
worthy of the name of man, will ascend to heaven, and whether the sinner, who
is called beast, will go down into the earth?
For it is possible in light of the uncertain and dangerous condition of
his life, that the righteous man falls and the sinner rises, and it sometimes
happens that man, having more reason and learned in the Scriptures, does not
look about himself, and although worthy of his knowledge lives out his life and
is led down to the nether world; and the simpler and unlearned man, who is said
to be compared to the beasts of men, lives better and is crowned in martyrdom,
and he is then to live in paradise.

"I
therefore observed that there is nothing better for man than to be happy in
what he is doing, for that is his lot.
For who can enable him to see what will be after him? " Instead of that
which we have as "to see what will be after him", Symmachus
interprets it more clearly saying, "so that he sees those things which
will be after these ones".
Therefore nothing is good in life, unless a man is happy in his work,
doing acts of sympathy<u>, and obtaining his future reward in the realm of
heaven. We have this one lot, which nor
neither thief nor robber values, nor any tyrant has the power to take away, and
which follows us after our death. And we
will not be able to enjoy our toil again when this life will be over, or know
what things will be afterwards in the world.
Another explanation of this is: I am disturbed by the wickedness of what
I have said above, that I think there is no difference between men and beasts,
and I have been led into this opinion by wrong conclusions, so that I said
nothing else was good, except grasping ones present desire. Nor when death has destroyed us is it
possible to enjoy these things, which we, ungrateful, leave behind. Some have referred to that understanding
because it says, "for who leads him, so that he sees those things, which
will be after him", so that they say, "it is better for a man to
enjoy his work" because it is only this that he is able to take away with
him from his possessions. For when death
comes he will not know what kind of heir he will die with, whether worthy or
unworthy, who will enjoy his wealth.


<h2>CHAPTER 4</h2>

"So I
consider more fortunate the dead, who have already died, than the living, who
are still alive. But better than either
of them is he who has not yet been, and has never witnessed the evil that is
committed under the sun." In comparison with the difficulties, which
trouble mortal men in this world, I had judged the dead to be happier than the
living according to that which Job says in his argument regarding the dead:
" there they rested with tired bodies, with those who had been in chains,
now without cares, not hearing the voice of the expeller." [Iob. 3, 17, 18.] But it is better for these two, for the
living it seems and for the deceased, who has not yet been born. For one man will suffer ill, another
unclothed will escape it as if from a shipwreck. Moreover he who has not yet been born is
happier in that, becausehe has not
yet experienced the ill of the world.
But he says this, not because he who has not yet been born, exists
before he has been born, and he is happier in this, since he has not yet been
weighed down by his body; but better to be sure is not existing, or not having
a sense of wealth, than either being unhappy or living unhappily. Just as the Lord speaks to Judas, referring
to his coming anguish: "it was better for that man never to have been
born" [Matth. 26, 24.],
since it would have been better for sure for him not to have existed, than to
suffer eternal torture. Some people in
fact understand this passage in this way: they say they are better, who have
died, than those who are living, it is permitted to them before they were
sinners [Cfr. Origines peri Archon I. 5,5 ; Hier. Epist 124, 3. sqq]. For until now the living were in battle and
were held back as if closed in by the prison of the body; but those who have
opposed death are already without cares and have stopped sinning. Just like John, in which he was not greater
in respect to the sons of women, he is less than him, who is the lowest in the
realm of heaven and is freed from the burden of the body. He does not know how to say like the apostle:
"I am a wretched man, who will free me from the body of this death?" [Rom. 7, 14.]. But he says he is better than those two, who
has not yet been born, nor does not see the wickedness, by which men are
oppressed in the world. For our souls mingle among the gods, before descending
to these bodies and are blessed so long as the heavenly ones are held in
Jerusalem and in the choir of angels.

"The fool
folds his hands and eats his own flesh." This is the man that is described as slow to
comprehend in Proverbs [Cfr Prov. 19, 24.],
holding his chest in his hands. For
poverty, although he is a fast runner, catches up with him and he eats his own
flesh because of the extent of his hunger, but this is said in
exaggeration. He is the sort of man who
thinks that having one fist of corn and living idly and in a stupor is better
than filling each hand by working. But
he sows everything so that he can show that he that both works and acquires
possessions leaves himself open in the world to envy. Conversely he that desires to live a simple
life is oppressed by poverty and because of this both of these two is poor:
while the one runs a risk on account of his wealth, the other is consumed by
want because of his poverty. Or indeed
perhaps it is to be understood in this way: he who envies the happiness of
another man is seized as if by the fury of the spirit, and takes envy into his
lap, and nourishes it in his heart: thus it is he eats his soul and his
flesh. For as much as he sees that man
whom he envies as happier, he himself more so wastes away and perishes, and
little by little becomes more full of envy and jealousy. Another way of reading this is: his hands are
taken on many occasions to lead him to work, just as the passage which states,
"the act of the Lord which is done in the hand of Haggai" [Hagg. 1, 1.],
or of Ecclesiastes, or of his prophet, because he has done such work, that he
appears to be worthy, in whose work is the speech of the Lord. And the man, who corresponds to this man is
David, "who leads my hands in battle" [Ps. 143, 1.]. Therefore the fool embraces his hands, that
is he draws them together and doesn't want to open them, and so does not eat
the toil of his hands, which he does not have, but his flesh, living by the
wisdom of his flesh and eating the toil of his flesh.