Jerome

(Verse 6 and following) We have heard the pride of Moab: he is very proud. His pride, and his arrogance, and his indignation, are greater than his strength. Therefore Moab shall wail unto Moab, every one shall wail: to them that rejoice on the walls of the cooked brick, speak concerning his wounds: for the suburbs of Heshbon are desolate, the vine of Sibmah. LXX: We have heard the insolence of Moab: he is very contemptuous: his pride, and his insult, and his fury are not like your divine prophecy: Moab will not wail like this: indeed everyone in Moab will wail: concerning the inhabitants of Dibon you will meditate: and you will not be confounded: the fields of Heshbon will mourn for the vine of Sibmah. It is clear from the obscurities in this passage, as it can hardly be read, how involved it is according to the Septuagint interpreters. Let us therefore speak according to the Hebrew, which is the custom of the Scriptures, that after they have relieved the despair of the human mind with glad news, they may again warn and deter those who are negligent and unwilling to repent with the threat of punishment, lest the goodness of God harden our hearts. Let us present just one example of this matter. In the 144th Psalm we read: The Lord is sweet to all, and his mercy is upon all his works. And after a little while: The Lord sustains all who fall, and raises up all who are cast down. The eyes of all look to you, O Lord, and you give them food in due season. And when he had finished, the Lord kept all who loved him; lest he make the listener negligent, he added: And he will destroy all sinners. Therefore, after the Antichrist and his parent, the devil, who trampled upon the whole earth, have been consumed, it is prophesied that a throne is to be prepared in mercy, and he who will sit in the tabernacle of David, from the person of the saints who have been saved from Moab, and through their experience have learned his pride, the prophet speaks: You have heard the pride of Moab, or rather, the injury, as the Septuagint translated. For who among heretics is not arrogant? They despise the simplicity of the Church and treat its people like brute animals. They are so filled with pride and arrogance that they arm themselves against the Creator, attacking His prophets as if they were challenging the authority of the Gospel. In which the Savior says, 'All who came before me were thieves and robbers' (John 10:8). They even dare to call Moses, the servant of God, a murderer, and they slander Joshua, the son of Nun, as if he were a bloodthirsty man, despite his great holiness that caused the sun and moon to stand still at his command. They also call David, from whose lineage Christ was born (Matthew 1), a murderer and adulterer, without considering his repentance and gentleness which are compared to the mercy of God. But although he may be proud and arrogant, and although he may rejoice in his madness: nevertheless he dares more than his strength allows. Therefore Moab shall howl unto Moab, that is to say, one shall cry out against another: all the diversities, of heretics and of secular wisdom, shall roar against themselves, when they shall be in torments (III Kings VI). For this reason, those who have walls built not with squared stones, from which the Temple was built; and so polished, that the sound of hammer and axe has not been heard in the house of God, O masters of the Church, or you who have been saved from the error of Moab, announce your wounds, with which you have been wounded by the javelins of heretics. For all their thoughts, which Esebon signifies, do not pertain to the habitation of the Lord's city, of which it is written: The streams of the river make the city of God glad (Ps. 45:5); but they are suburban, so that they may be thought to pertain to the city of the Lord: these suburbs are deserted, without divine protection, or burned by divine fire, especially the vineyard of Sabama, which signifies raising up to a height, because it strives to rise up high and build its tower of pride up to heaven. However, what is stated in the Septuagint is not found in the Hebrew text of the inhabitants of Deseth; but instead it is read as Ares (), which means a tile or a fired brick.

(Verses 9, 10.) The scourges of the Lord have fallen upon the nations: they have reached even to Jazer. They have wandered in the desert: their branches have been left behind: they have crossed the sea. Therefore, I will weep over the vineyard of Sabama with weeping: I will drench you with my tears, O Heshbon and Eleale: for on your harvest and on your crop the voice of the treaders has fallen. Joy and gladness will be taken away from Carmel: there will be no rejoicing or jubilation in the vineyards: the one who used to tread the wine in the winepress will not tread it anymore: I have taken away the sound of the treaders. The suburban areas of Esebon, which we mentioned earlier, are deserted, and the vineyard of Sabama, which can be interpreted not only as a lofty elevation but also as some kind of conversion, because it seems that in the region of Moab, it wants to be partially converted to the service of the Lord. Therefore, the Apostles and apostolic men, servants of the Lord of nations, completely cut off the scourges and offshoots of this vine of Sabama, so that no other heresies would arise from other heresies, and a boundless multitude of the erring would not be made. And not only did the branches of Sabama fall, but they reached as far as Jazer, which is interpreted as their strength: that is, to the most powerful teachings of the heretics, and constructed with dialectic art, in which the strength of their error seemed to reside; and to such an extent was their sword brandished, that in the end they wandered in the wilderness and had no one to kill. And although those lashes were cut off, nevertheless, due to the fault of the rotten root, some branches remained. But the lords of the nations have passed over the sea, that is to say, the temptations of this world, of which we read in the psalm: Come into the depths of the sea, and the tempest shall swallow me up (Ps. 68: 3); and in another place: They that go down to the sea in ships, doing business in the great waters: these have seen the works of the Lord, and his wonders in the deep (Ps. 106: 23). Therefore, these have passed over the sea, in order to behold the works of the Lord and his wonders in the depths of temptations, while they are delivered from them. Therefore, the prophetic discourse laments the strength of the heretics, that is, Jazer and the vineyard of Sabama, which exalts itself against the knowledge of God. And I will intoxicate you with my tears, Esebon, the thoughts of the wise, and Eleale, who ascend to lofty heights. But why does he lament Jazer and intoxicate Esebon and Eleale with his tears? So that while he himself weeps, he may teach them to weep. For, he says, the voice of those who trample upon your harvest and your crop resounds. The vineyard of the Moabites is such because of the proximity of the place, just like the vineyard of the Sodomites, of which it is said: 'For their vine is of the vine of Sodom, and of the fields of Gomorrah' (Deut. 32:31). And in the seventy-seventh psalm, we read about the Egyptian vineyard that God struck with hail. The Moabite harvests also grow in the valleys called Raphaim: but its vintage is false, of which it is said above: 'The rods of those who lifted it up have been broken' (Num. 24:8). For they crush the most bitter grapes and trample on them with their feet, so that the venom of the dragon may not be squeezed out of them and all who drink may be killed. Also, the joy and exultation of the heretics will be taken away, which they used to enjoy before, so that after they have repented they may deserve to hear this: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted (Matthew 5:5). And what he added about Carmel means this: not that the heretics truly have Carmel, that is, the knowledge of spiritual circumcision; but that they boast falsely of having it. And when the vines have been cut down and the joy and exuberance have been taken away because of false knowledge of their name, then there will be no more of the former grape treaders, who used to tread the grapes before, and their voice will be silenced in eternal silence.

(Verse 11 onward) Upon this, my belly will sound like a lyre to Moab: and my bowels will be like a wall of baked bricks. And when it becomes clear that Moab has labored in vain, he will enter his sanctuaries to pray, but he will not prevail. This is the word that the Lord spoke to Moab from that time on. The error of Moab has been destroyed; indeed, false joy has turned into mourning and tears. My belly, the prophet, who is composed like a lyre with musical skill, and who, conceived in the fear of God, has produced many children, so that there is no string that does not produce its sound, will resonate the lament of Moab, who is repenting: and all my bowels will be like a wall of baked bricks, as Theodotius interpreted it as a wall scattered. For all the defenses of opposites, in which they previously trusted, will be destroyed and will fall. These, however, are the bowels and inner parts of the prophet, about which David also said in the Psalm: Bless the Lord, O my soul, and let all my innards proclaim his holy name (Psalm 102, 1). For just as a lyre does not emit a vocal sound and harmonious, if at least one string is broken; similarly, the spiritual belly of the prophet, if one string of virtues is lacking in it, will not be able to resound sweet melody; nor proclaim with all its innards against the brick wall. It is also the opinion of the philosophers to cling to virtues; and the Apostle James says that if one is lacking one virtue, all virtues are lacking in that person. But when he realizes that he has labored in vain in the lofty doctrines which he once believed, he will enter into his own holy things, not those things which are inherently holy, but those things which he erroneously thought were holy, and he will not be able to find help. Perhaps, in the desert of error and falsehood, he will attempt to enter into the holy Church, to make it his own, and to pray and beseech, but he will not prevail. For we cannot immediately, as we wish, attain perfect virtue. And this is what it means: That word which the Lord spoke to Moab from that time, with the introductory statement in which he said, the word against Moab, or the burden, let us understand it as the conclusion, so that what he began there, he may complete here. From that time, however, we should understand from when he began to speak to him, that everything he said is one word of God, that is, one sentence. Moreover, according to the Septuagint version, we can explain the prophet's innermost thoughts being renewed by God, and him being ashamed, that is, Moab, and entering into the altars, and the things that are made by hand, so that we may say that the prophet's innermost thoughts are always renewed, and made stronger by God, so that their adversaries may be confounded, and they may understand that the things made by human hand are useless, and do not contribute to salvation.

(Verse 14) And now the Lord has spoken, saying: In three years, like the years of a hired worker, the glory of Moab will be taken away from all its people, and only a few will be left, not many. The three years, in which the glory of Moab will be taken away from all its people, whether many in number or rich in wealth, as translated by the LXX, are to be understood mystically. For just as the mercy of the Lord is in weights and measures, so too do the torments and punishments have their measure. After these three years have passed, in which only a few will be left, not many, then the ingloriousness will cease. And this should be noted, that according to the prophecy of Ezekiel, when the days are counted for years for the Israelites (Ezek. IV), that is, the ten tribes which had sinned grievously, they are reckoned as three hundred and ninety years, as it is written in Hebrew, not one hundred and ninety years, as the Vulgate edition has it: and for the Jews, in which there was the Temple of God, forty years. For he who is small deserves mercy, but the powerful endure torment forcefully (Wis. VI). And the servant who knows his master's will and does not do it, will be beaten severely (Luke XII). Therefore Moab, because he was a foreigner, not of the people of God, but having turned away from error, will be left small and humble, and inglorious, not for many years, but only for three. These are the years that we read about elsewhere: Remember the days of old (Isaiah XLVI), and again: I have considered the days of old, and have kept the eternal years in mind (Psalm LXXVI, 6). For if he served the shadows and copies according to the flesh of Israel, and all their solemnity was a type of future things, why do not the present times of this year also foreshadow future times? Concerning which, we read in another place: What will you do in the days of the assembly, and in the days of the feast of the Lord? And what is joined, Like the days of a hireling (Hosea 9:5), shows that false teaching does everything for profit and gain. For every hireling, and he that is not a shepherd, whose own the sheep are not, sees the wolf coming, and leaves the sheep, and flees: and the wolf snatches them, and scatters the sheep: and the hireling flees, because he is a hireling: and has no care for the sheep (John 10). Therefore, I think that strangers and hirelings should not eat of the saints, nor be partakers of the servants of the saints. For they do all things not out of love for the Lord, but for reward, who devour the houses of widows, and bring their own flocks to be clothed in their wool, and milk them (Matthew 23). Let us apply what we have said about teaching for hire to other things. If I give alms in order to be praised by men, I have received my reward, and I am to be called a hireling. If I pretend to be chaste, but have something else in my conscience, I have not the glory of a hireling, but the punishments of a sinner. And in comparing two evils, it is a lesser evil to openly sin than to feign and pretend sanctity. Indeed, in this respect, Moab has made progress, so that one who previously had many companions in his error is reduced to few; or one who previously had much wealth in the sins, after repentance becomes small and poor in wickedness.

(Chapter 17, Verse 1) The Burden of Damascus. Symmachus and Theodotion, The Assumption of Damascus: LXX, The Word against Damascus, adding their own account of what they did in Moab at the beginning. We first read the name of Damascus in Genesis, who was a native of Abraham before Isaac, and he was considered the heir, unless he was born to Sarah by promise (Genesis 15). However, it is interpreted either as a kiss of blood, or one who drinks blood, or the blood of the Cilician garment, all of which are customs of the Gentile people, who before the faith of Christ, were a friend of bloodshed and cruelty, and performed worthy acts of mourning and sackcloth. In the book of Chronicles (2 Chronicles 24), the story is told that at the end of the year, the army of Syria rose up against Joash, the king of Judah, and came to Jerusalem, and killed all the leaders of the people, and sent all the spoils to the king of Damascus, who had come with a few men. And God had delivered a very great multitude into their hands, because they had forsaken the Lord, the God of their fathers. This should be considered in light of the spiritual meaning and the future significance, to determine whether we can apply it to the time of the Lord's coming. At the end of the acceptable year, in which the Gospel was preached by the Savior, a multitude of Gentiles rose up from Damascus in a few men against Judah and Jerusalem, who had forsaken the Lord. And they took away all their wealth of the Law and the Prophets, and sent it to the king of Damascus, namely, the ecclesiastical men and the teachers of the Gospel, who were few in comparison to the whole world, which was still unbelieving at that time, and to the scattered Jews throughout the whole world. And yet the Lord delivered Jerusalem into their hands, because they had forsaken the Son of God, who had been predicted by the prophets before. Therefore, (perhaps it was I), for this reason, I believe that Saul, who later received the name Paul by virtue, because he was a persecutor of the Law, went to Damascus and wanted to fight against the believers from the Gentiles there, and after being defeated, he followed those who were already in Damascus, in order to go back to Jerusalem and conquer the Jews there. And it should not seem contradictory to anyone that in the Chronicles book, joyful things are said about Damascus, and now in Isaiah, sad things are prophesied, because both about Israel itself, which is certainly a part of God, both adverse and prosperous things are declared. And just as it is said that Israel according to the flesh, and the Gentiles are called uncircumcised by those who are called circumcised in the flesh, so it is the opposite for Israel according to the spirit, and the Gentiles are according to the spirit, and among the other Gentiles, Damascus is according to the spirit, so that we may not exclusively rely on Jewish fables.

(Chapter 17, Verse 1) The burden of Damascus: Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and it will become a heap of ruins. The cities of Aroer will be deserted for the flocks, and they will have rest with none to make them afraid. The help from Ephraim will cease, and the kingdom from Damascus; and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the Lord of hosts. After Babylon and the Philistines and Moab, the attention turns to Damascus, which was once a royal city and held dominion over all of Syria. Antioch, Laodicea, and Apamea had not yet flourished, cities that we know were expanded after the reign of Alexander and the Macedonians. Therefore, since he always provided assistance to the ten tribes against Judah, as the history of the Kings and Chronicles narrates: it also signifies that destruction was approaching from the Assyrians themselves, as the king of the Assyrians said: I have taken Arabia, and Damascus, and Samaria. For just as I have taken those, I will also take you and all the kingdoms. And in the book of Kings we read: The king of the Assyrians went up to Damascus, and captured it, and transferred it to Cyrene (2 Kings 16:9). He also killed Rezin, who was the king of Damascus. All these things were suffered by Jerusalem while Hezekiah was reigning. Look, he said, Damascus will cease to be a city; captivity is now near: the Assyrian has already moved his army. And it shall be like a heap of stones in ruin, only the traces of walls and former power will be shown in the magnitude of the ruins. The deserted cities of Aroer will become pastures. Aroer, which means myrtle, is a tree that grows specifically in solitude and salty soil, and through this the desolation is demonstrated. Let the flocks rest there, and there will be no one to frighten them. Such will be the solitude that even the feared ambushers will not exist. And help will cease from Ephraim; the ten tribes will not have assistance against Judah. And the kingdom from Damascus, from the common or popular edition, is understood to cease. Moreover, when it says that the kingdom ceases and rests, it does not mean perpetual desolation, but it takes away power in the present, through which it used to reign over all of Syria. And the remnant of Syria shall be like the glory of the children of Israel, saith the Lord of hosts: as when they struck the ten tribes of the Assyrians, and all their glory was brought into captivity: so shall a few that shall remain of the house of Jacob, be changed, because the Lord hath spoken it, who hath made his word of no effect. Some people think that this prophecy is the same as the one we read in Jeremiah: Damascus is ruined, it has turned to flight, trembling has seized it, anguish and sorrows have taken hold of it like a woman in labor (Jeremiah 49:24, 27). And again: I will set fire to the wall of Damascus, and it will devour the fortresses of Ben-Hadad. But it should be known that the captivity of Babylon describes the city of Damascus by Jeremiah, that is, the few whom the king of Assyria had left in it. But Isaiah announces the nearby captivity of the Assyrians. Others estimate that the Roman captivity is being predicted, because the people of Judah were also captured; and Damascus, which was ruled by Aretas, endured a similar servitude: so that everything that was written about her may be transferred to the time of Christ and the mysteries of the Apostles.

(Verse 1 onwards) Behold, Damascus will cease to be a city, and it will be like a heap of stones in ruin. The deserted cities will be for flocks, and they will rest there, and there will be no one to frighten them away. The help from Ephraim will cease, and the kingdom from Damascus, and the remnant of Syria will be like the glory of the children of Israel, declares the Lord of hosts. As indicated in the title, the calling of the nations is signified by Damascus, those who loved or drank blood, who, after believing in Christ, will cease to be cities of their former way of life, and will be like a heap of stones in ruin. For just as heaps of stones, which were scattered in the fields, are gathered into one mound, so a heap of believers from all nations was gathered together in the downfall of the Jewish people, as they fell, and we rose up. The deserted cities, Aroer, that is, Myrhae, will be for the Ecclesiastical flocks, so that we may inhabit those which the Jews deserted: whether the destroyed idolatry will be rebuilt as the Gospel. And we see that this has been fulfilled in our times: the Serapeum in Alexandria and the temple of Marnas in Gaza have arisen as churches of the Lord, and the cities of Aroer have been prepared for the Evangelical flocks. Aroer, that is, myrice, grows in desert places, according to what is written in the curse of the man who trusts in man and departs from the Lord: He shall be like a myrtle in the desert and shall not see when good comes; but he shall dwell in dryness, in the desert, in a land of saltness and uninhabitable. So those who were once in the desert of the Gentiles, and hated the name of Christians, will serve the flocks of Christ, who will find rest in them, and there will be no one to frighten them, for the Lord will dwell among them, and with the Shepherd present, they will not be able to fear the wolf. Then the help of God will cease from Ephraim, who in this place are understood as the Scribes and Pharisees, according to the prophecy of Hosea, who calls them adversaries of the people of God and names them Ephraim (Hosea 5 and 8). And the kingdom shall cease from Damascus, so that sin shall by no means reign, and the prince of sin, the devil, shall reign in Damascus, which once loved bloodshed; but the remnant of Syria, that is, those from the Gentiles who have believed, shall be as the sons of Israel were before, the kingdom of God being taken away from them and given to the Gentiles, who bear its fruit, as the Lord God of hosts has spoken through all His prophets.

(Verse 4-6) And in that day, the glory of Jacob shall fade, and the fat of his flesh shall waste away. And it shall be like the gleaning of a harvest, what remains, and his arm shall gather the ears of grain, and it shall be like one seeking grain in the valley of Rephaim. And he shall be left like a cluster of grapes, like the shaking of an olive tree, with two or three berries on the top of the branch, or four or five on its fruitful branches, says the Lord God of Israel. After the remnants of Syria had been, just as once had been the glory of the sons of Israel, and their salvation had been given to the nations by their transgression, then all the glory of the Jews will be diminished, with which they were glorious in the entire world, and their plump flesh will waste away, lacking prophets, signs and wonders, the present help of God, and the dignity of the priesthood: but the whole body of their nation will wither away and be reduced to nothing. And when it is said of the calling of the Gentiles, 'The harvest is great, but the laborers are few' (Matthew 9), those poor people will gather the remnants of the harvest, which have been saved through the Apostles, and will gather the very rare grains, not from mountains and high places, but in the valley of Raphaim, that is, in the lowliness of letters. And consider that Raphaim, which is interpreted as giants, means the Pharisees and Scribes, just as Ephraim means above. Finally, the Seventy translated the valley of Raphaim as the hard valley, in order to express the hardness of the Jewish heart. Those who are chosen because of their humility are like grain on the threshing floor and grapes in the vineyard, that are saved: and like the shaking of the olive tree, whether two, three, four or five olives. For when the stroke of the Jewish people came, that olive tree of the people of Israel, which under Moses had six hundred thousand armed men (Num. 26), and under David, counted by Joab, an innumerable people (2 Sam. 24), could hardly offer a few fruits to the Lord and Savior: Paul and Barnabas two olives, and Peter and James, and John (Acts 13), who also saw the transfigured Lord on the mountain and deserved to go with the Lord to the house of the synagogue official's daughter (Matt. 17). But four and five olives make up the remaining nine Apostles, in whom Matthias took the place of the treacherous Judas, who, for some unknown reason, was separated into four and five olives, in order to demonstrate the number of the Gospels and the volumes of the Law within themselves, as if they were proclaimers of both Instruments (Acts 1).

(Verse 5, 6.) And it shall be like one gathering in the harvest what remains, and his arm shall gather the ears: and it shall be like one seeking the ears in the Valley of Raphaim. And there shall be left in it like a cluster of grapes, and like the beating of olives of two or three olive trees at the top of the branch, or four or five on its fruitful heights, says the Lord God of Israel. Those who understand the present devastation of Damascus under the Roman kingdom, contend that these things are signified about the Apostles, that just as few ears of wheat and olives usually remain in the field or on the trees, so the remnant of Israel shall be saved; especially because it follows: On that day, man shall turn to his maker, and his eyes shall look to the Holy One of Israel, that is, to Christ. Two olives, and three, and four, and five, are interpreted as the fourteen Apostles, that is, the twelve who were chosen, and the thirteenth James, who is called the brother of the Lord; Paul also, the Apostle, the vessel of election (Acts 7). However, those who think that what was said is accomplished during the time of the Assyrians, want this to be understood, that under the Assyrian captivity Damascus was not completely destroyed, but some were transferred to Cyrene, and the other part of the worshipers of the land was left behind, which was also destroyed later by the Babylonian ravages: until it was restored again under the Macedonians and the Ptolemies, and in the coming of Christ it was indeed a city, but not of such power as it had been before. And there will be so few senses left in Damascus as there usually remain few ears of grain in the broad and mighty valley of Raphaim that the poor gather, or few olives left in the olive tree that have escaped the scrutiny of the harvester.

(Verses 9, 10.) On that day your fortified cities will be deserted like plowed fields and cornfields that have been deserted by the children of Israel. And it will be desolate, because you have forgotten your God, your Savior, and have not remembered your strong helper. LXX: On that day your cities will be deserted like the cities abandoned by the Amorites and the Hivites before the children of Israel. And they will be deserted because you have abandoned your God, your Savior, and have not remembered the Lord, your helper. Just as under Moses and Joshua the son of Nun, the Amorites and the Eves and the other nations dwelling in the promised land abandoned their plows and crops and heaps in the fields and fled, lest they be seized by enemies, so too the land of Judea and all its mighty cities, with the Romans ravaging Judea and besieging Jerusalem, were deserted by their inhabitants. And there is an apostrophe to the very land of Judea, that is, to those who dwelt in it. But all these things you have suffered, because you have forgotten your God and Savior, who is called Jesus, whom the Law and the Prophets constantly proclaimed would come to you; and you have not remembered your strong helper, who has always come to your aid. Therefore, the reason for the desolation of the cities of Judea is the forgetfulness of the Savior, who, at the beginning of this prophecy, said: Israel did not know me, and my people did not understand me.