Jerome

(Verse 12) The Lord of hosts commanded to destroy its strength from Canaan, and they will say: 'You shall not add to do harm and injustice to the virgin daughter of Sidon. Tyre and Sidon are in the land of Canaan, and as we have shown above, presenting the testimony of the Gospel in which it is read that a Canaanite woman or a Syrophoenician went out from the borders of Tyre and Sidon and met the Lord and Savior. But every soul that is placed in the waves of the world and is carried about by every wind of doctrine is to be called Canaan, which is interpreted as fluctuation or commotion.' Therefore, it is beneficial for Tyre and its distress for the Canaanite to perish, so that it may be said to its inhabitants that they are no longer able to do harm, and to oppress the virgin daughter of Sidon through wickedness. Whoever is captured by the devil in the various disturbances of vices and is handed over to the insults of ignominy, in order to pollute the body with pleasures and filth, that person is the son or daughter of Sidon. And it should be known that 'sabaoth' is not found in Hebrew, and, on the contrary, 'virgo' is added from Hebrew.

(Verse 13, 14.) Behold the land of the Chaldeans, such a people has never existed: Assyria laid it waste, they led away its strong men, they dug up its houses, they reduced it to ruins. Wail, O ships of the sea, for your strength is destroyed. For as it was said before: His feet will travel a great distance in exile; and again, Cross over your land like a river, and the people of Tyre will be doubly afflicted, those who fled and crossed over to Cyprus, and those who remained in the city. About those who had fled, he says above: Rising up, cross over to Cethim, there also there will be no rest for you. About those who remained and were led into captivity, he says: Behold, the inhabitants of the land of the Chaldeans, whose power no other people had before, and which was founded by the Assyrians, they have led mighty men of Tyre. They not only dug up the walls, but also all the dwellings of the city, and turned it into ruins. Therefore, because some have fled and others have been captured, howl, O ships, whether of the sea or of Carthage; for your trade and colony have been destroyed. At the same time, consider how he praised the Chaldeans. He did not say that such a people will no longer exist: for indeed, the kingdom of the Romans is more powerful and harsher; but, there was not one before. He who denied the previous things, has conceded the following things.

(Verse 13) If you go to the Citians, there will be no rest for you there; and if you go to the land of the Chaldeans, it has also been devastated by the Assyrians. Siim founded it, they established its fortifications, they raised its tower: its wall has fallen. And what follows in Theodotion's edition is added under asterisks: Siim founded it, they established its fortifications, they raised its tower, and without asterisks it is joined: its wall has fallen. The Cilicians are interpreted as a completed or perfect wound: the Chaldeans in this place, as if breasts: the Assyrians, accusing. We could not find the etymology ourselves, and the other interpreters translated it by the very name used in Hebrew. Therefore, it is said to Tyre that, although it seeks to go to the Cilicians and avoid the distress of its own wound, it cannot find perfect rest even there. And if it desires to go to the Chaldeans and enjoy their abundance and the abundance of all things, it will also find them deserted, with the Assyrians accusing their sterility, just as the Apostle handed over the sinners of Satan (1 Tim. 1), so that they may learn not to blaspheme: those who are handed over to the destruction of the flesh, so that the spirit may be saved. However, the Chaldeans laid the foundations of which I understand to be the most wicked demons, who raised up strongholds and the most proud towers of the city of Chaldea against the knowledge of the Lord. But all their building collapsed into ruins; for, its wall fell. For unless the Lord builds the house, in vain do those who build it labor. (Ps. CXXVI, 1). Often we see in the world certain individuals pass from one purpose to another. For example, those who have had a bad experience in the military can transition to business. And again, lawyers of warriors take up weapons. They change their profession in order to change their misfortune; and nevertheless, by the will of God, everything happens contrary to those who strive for everything to go well: so that through poverty and miseries they are forced to have confidence not in themselves, but in their Creator.

Furthermore, the Hebrews claim that Tarshish generally represents the sea, as in the psalms: “With a violent wind, you will destroy the ships of Tarshish,” that is, the sea, and in Isaiah: “Wail, ships of Tarshish.” I recall speaking about this several years ago in a letter to Marcella. The prophet, therefore, was not seeking to flee to a specific place, but he was hastening to continue toward wherever it was the sea would take him. Indeed, a terrified fugitive is rightly more interested in seizing the first opportunity to sail than he is in selecting a place of refuge. This also we are able to say: he who thought that “God is known in Judea” only and that “his name is great in Israel” only, once he felt him in the waves of the sea, confessed and said, “I am a Hebrew, and I fear the Lord of heaven who made the sea and the dry land.” But if he made the sea and the dry land, how can you who abandoned the dry land think it possible to avoid the Creator of the sea in the midst of the sea? At the same time, the salvation and conversion of the sailors taught him that the great multitude at Nineveh could also be saved by confessing like he did.We are able to say of our Lord and Savior that he left his native homeland, assumed flesh and, in a manner of speaking, fled from heaven and came to Tarshish. That is, [he came] to the sea of this world, about which it is said elsewhere: “This is the sea, great and vast, where there are creatures without number and animals both small and large. Ships navigate there with the dragon whom you formed to play in it.”

(Verse 15 and following) And it shall come to pass in that day, that Tyre shall be forgotten seventy years, according to the days of one king: after the end of seventy years, Tyre shall sing as a harlot. Take a harp, go about the city, O harlot that has been forgotten; make sweet melody, sing many songs, that you may be remembered. After seventy years, the LORD will visit Tyre, and she shall return to her hire, and shall commit fornication with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And his merchandise shall be holy unto the Lord: it shall not be gathered nor laid up; for his merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. This that is spoken of: a memorial before the Lord: and upon the face of the earth. And as the time of a man's life, which is not contained in the Hebrew, but is added in the Greek. And Tyre, after the seventy years of her captivity, shall return, and shall play the harlot with all the kingdoms of the world upon the face of the earth. And her merchandise and her hire shall be holiness to the Lord: it shall not be treasured nor laid up, for her merchandise shall be for them that dwell before the Lord, to eat sufficiently, and for durable clothing. The divine discourse exhorts Sidon and Tyre to repentance, and promises that his labors and rewards are to be sanctified by the Lord. Who does not have hope for salvation from sins, if indeed he has sung well, and all the strings of virtues, which were once slackened, are to be composed into praises of the Lord? We read in the forty-fourth psalm, which specifically pertains to the union of the bridegroom and the bride, that is, to God the Savior and the sacraments of the Church, it is said among other things: The daughters of Tyre will offer you gifts, the rich among the people will seek your favor (Ps. XLIV, 13). And the bridegroom himself speaks again to the Tyrian bride: Listen, daughter, and see, and incline your ear; and forget your people and your father's house, for the king desires your beauty. (Ibid. 11, 12). Hence, in the description of her beauty, it is said: The queen stands at your right hand, in a golden robe, adorned with various ornaments (Ibid., 10). And again: All the glory of the king's daughter is within (Ibid., 14). But if the king desires the beauty of penitent Tyre, and having the ornaments of various virtues, how much more will his reward and business be not in Tyre, where he does not dwell, but among those who live in the sight of the Lord! After they have repented, they will hear from the Lord and Savior: 'Eat, my friends, and drink, and be intoxicated, my beloved' (Song of Solomon 5:1). What it means to eat and drink, and be satisfied with the gathering of all virtues, the faithful reader understands. The temple was desolate for seventy years, as Jeremiah (Chapter 29), Daniel (Chapter 9), and Zechariah (Chapter 7) teach. And in Ezekiel (Chapter 16) we read about Sodom being restored to its former state, and about Egypt receiving its former abundance after the desolation and dryness of the land and the seven rivers. The number seventy signifies complete and perfect repentance, either in the span of seven days or in the completion of seven decades, so that just as Tyre, when the time of repentance is fulfilled, may return to its former state. Concerning this, I believe that the prostitute is referred to in the mystical language of Solomon's Proverbs: Do not look at the worst woman; for honey drips from the lips of the harlot, who fattens your throat for a short time, and afterwards you will find it bitter as gall (Prov. V, 2-4). For she peers through the window of her house onto the streets (Matth. VII): for the way that leads to death is wide and spacious, and she dares not tempt the wise, for she only lures the foolish, and she walks beside the corners, having lost the straight line: she talks to him in darkness and in gloom, and under the guise of pleasures she leads him like a victim to death. If she has been converted and has sung well, and has completed the time of perfect penance of years, she will eat and drink, and will be satisfied. Let Novatian hear, and let him be silent.

(Verse 18) And his business shall be holy to the Lord, and his wages shall be set apart for the Lord; they shall not be stored up or hoarded away. For those who dwell before the Lord, his business shall be to eat in plenty and be clothed until old age. These things, according to history, we have not yet discovered if they have been fulfilled, unless it is to be thought that after the rebuilding of Jerusalem and the restoration of Tyre, the two cities were friendly with each other and frequently sent gifts to the temple of God in Tyre. Just as we read in Ezra (Esdras 13:16) that he drove away the Tyrians who were selling fish on the Sabbath and did not allow them to enter the city, and it should be estimated from this example about other business dealings as well. The Jews delay their empty prayers for the future, stating that these will be fulfilled after the Antichrist in a thousand years. It is not surprising if they fabricate such things, as they have rejected the truth of Christ and are preparing to receive the Antichrist, the instrument of the devil. Even Christians who fall into Judaizing contend that these words refer to a thousand years of blessedness. However, I, in understanding the vision of Babylon as a type of its destruction, interpret it as the time of its fulfillment, and in Egypt, with its idols destroyed and the altar of the Lord erected, I refer it to the time of Christ. Likewise, in the vision of Moab, I recognize the throne of the Savior placed on his land, and in all the other visions of Damascus, I have no doubt that they are sacraments of our times. Thus, in the vision of Tyre, which is the most extreme, I interpret it as the time of Christian felicity: that after it is built and regains its former state, all merchants return to their ancient customs, entering its harbor, and their goods and labor are dedicated to the Lord. Let us consider the churches built in Tyre, let us think about the wealth of all, which is not stored up or hoarded, but given to those who live before the Lord, who, as altar servants, share with the altar (1 Corinthians 9). However, the Tyrians serve not for wealth, nor to accumulate the wealth of priests, but to provide for the necessary sustenance: so that, according to the Apostle, having food and clothing, we may be content with these (1 Timothy 6). And note that it did not say negotiations and goods of Tyre sanctified to be given to the Lord to those who dwell in Jerusalem as the Jews think, but to those who are before the Lord, who serve Him. For the Lord established it so that those who preach the Gospel should live from the Gospel (I Cor. IX). But to serve the Lord and to dwell before Him is not a matter of place, but of merit. Thus far we have discussed the visions of Isaiah, or the burdens that he imposed on certain nations, as you have commanded, and as we have been able to, following the historical interpretation, focusing only on the footsteps of Hebrew truth. The following things pertain to all nations, and generally to the completion of the whole world. About these things, neither did you ask me to write, nor was it a waste of time for me to dictate unasked and barely written about sought-after things.

(Chapter 24 - Verses 1 and following) Behold, the Lord will lay waste the earth, and make it desolate, and afflict its face, and scatter its inhabitants. And it shall be as with the people, so with the priest; as with the servant, so with his master; as with the maid, so with her mistress; as with the buyer, so with the seller; as with the lender, so with the borrower; as with the creditor, so with the debtor. The earth shall be utterly laid waste and utterly plundered, for the Lord has spoken this word. After the special punishment of certain nations, namely Judaea, Babylon, the Philistines, Moab, Damascus, Israel, Egypt, the desert of the sea, Idumaea, and Arabia, the valley of vision, and finally Tyre, of which we have said what we could in their explanation; now the prophetic discourse describes what the whole world will suffer in its consummation, and it prophesies not individually about each nation, but universally about all. And first, it describes the torments that the wicked will suffer, and how, according to the Gospel and the Apostle, heaven and earth will pass away, and the figure of this world (Matthew 24; 1 Corinthians 7), and sinners will be led into hell (Psalm 30), as it is written: They shall go to the ends of the earth, they shall be delivered into the hands of the sword, they shall be the parts for foxes (Psalm 62:10). Then, because of the diversity of merits, there are many mansions with the Father, it is said how the saints are caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and will always be with Him (John 14; 1 Thess. 4). For the wasted world, seventy corrupt orbs were interpreted; and for its afflicted face, that is, the earth, the same ones were moved, and He will reveal His face; so that the dead may come forth from their tombs: whether He exposes it, so that all His works may be brought forth publicly, and its inhabitants may be scattered in different places, designated for rewards or punishments. Then there will be no distinction between noble and commoner, priest and layperson, slave and master, maid and mistress, rich and poor, lender and borrower, buyer and seller. For all will stand equally before the judgment seat of Christ, and there will be no partiality with God. (Romans 14; Colossians 3). About this, Job speaks in almost the same words: There, the small and the great are together, and the slave is not afraid of his master. (Job 3, 19). And the Savior testifies in the Gospel, to whom all judgment is entrusted, in full discourse. Therefore, the earth will be dispersed, and all earthly works will be reduced to nothing, so that the image of the earthly may be abolished, and the image of the heavenly may remain. For the first man is from the earth, earthly, and the second is from heaven, heavenly. Just as we have borne the image of the earthly, let us also bear the image of the heavenly (I Cor. XV, 47-49). The same Apostle says: Flesh and blood will not inherit the kingdom of God. It is not that the nature of bodies perishes according to the heretics, but rather that corruptibility will put on incorruption, and mortality will put on immortality. And all these things will happen, because what is to come, the Lord has spoken through the prophets.

(Verse 6.) Because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinance, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse devours the earth, and those who dwell in it are held guilty. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth are burned, and few men are left. LXX: Because they have transgressed the law, changed the ordinances, broken the everlasting covenant. Therefore the curse devours the earth, because its inhabitants have sinned. Therefore the inhabitants of the earth shall be poor, and few men shall be left. Let the Jews listen, who boast that they alone have received the law of the Lord, that the whole world and all nations first received the natural law, and therefore the law was later given through Moses, because the first law was dispersed. Concerning this, the Apostle says: For when the Gentiles, who do not have the law, by nature do what the law requires, they, not having the law, are a law to themselves; who show the work of the law written on their hearts (Rom. II, 14). Therefore, those who observe these laws will receive rewards: but those who neglect them will suffer the punishments that the prophetic word now pronounces. And just as at the beginning God blessed all the creatures He had made (Genesis 1): so at the end of the world He will curse those who are earthly and have not been pilgrims, but residents of the earth, and have sinned in it; those who have forgotten their condition and have raged against each other in mutual fury. And only a few will remain who have the image of the heavenly: or, according to the Septuagint, the poor will be the inhabitants of the earth, because they have lost the spiritual riches.

(Verse 7 and following) The grape harvest has failed, the vine is weakened, all those who rejoiced in their hearts have sighed. The joy of the tambourines has ceased, the sound of the rejoicers has quieted, the sweetness of the lyre has been silenced, as those who do not drink wine with singing, bitter will be the drink for those who drink it. The city of vanity is worn away, every house is closed with no one entering. There will be a cry over wine in the streets, all joy is deserted, the pleasure of the land has been moved elsewhere. And the solitude was left in the city, and calamity will oppress the gates: for these will be in the midst of the earth, in the midst of the people. In the end of the world, the remembrance of past delights will be the material of torments. Wherefore even that rich man, clothed in purple at a banquet, who had received his good things in his life, lifting up his eyes from hell, sees Lazarus in rest (Luke XVI). And the Lord, reproving the rich and luxurious and laughing, speaks in the Gospel: Woe to you who are rich, because you have received your consolation. Woe to you who are now satisfied, for you will hunger. Woe to you who are now laughing, for you will mourn and weep (Luke 6:25). Therefore, when the resurrection of the dead will have occurred, and the day of judgment will have come, then the wine and the harvest will mourn, of which Moses speaks: Their vine is from Sodom, their vineyard is from Gomorrah. Their grapes are grapes of gall, their clusters are bitter. The fury of dragons is their wine, and the incurable fury of asps (Deuteronomy 32:33). Then every drink, or as it is said in Hebrew, 'sycerah', that is, drunkenness, which overturns the state of the mind and does not allow people to stay awake, will be changed into bitterness, which deceives those who use it with its sweetness for a time, and in the end is found to be more bitter than gall. Then all the sweetness of those who rejoice and the sounds of tambourines and lyres will be turned into mourning and groaning. Let us present this testimony to those who in banquets not only indulge in gluttony and drunkenness but also in the luxuries of the ears, so that strength of the soul may soften through all the senses. The city of vanity is destroyed, that is, every city, or spiritual Babylon, which sits on seven purple mountains, whose punishments we read about in the Apocalypse of John (Apoc. XVIII). It is well said, the city of vanity. For if it is said of heaven and earth, and of all things that are earthly: Vanity of vanities and all is vanity (Eccl. I, 2); how much more should this be said of one city, which is a small part of the whole world! Then the houses, whose ceilings are now gilded, and the poor without shelter and dying in hovels, will be adorned with marble veneers and shining ivory panels, but they will remain empty. There will be clamor in the streets over wine, not on the narrow and cramped road that leads to life, but on the wide and spacious road that leads to death (Matthew 7). Their error is over wine and drunkenness, those who have fallen asleep in their slumber, and all the wealthy men found nothing in their hands (Psalm 75). For indeed the joy of the earth has been translated to the heavens, and the once famous solitude is left in the abandoned city, and calamity will oppress the inhabitants of the crowded gateways through which the streams of peoples used to flow. And in order that we may know clearly the news of the destruction of the whole world, it added, These things shall happen in the midst of the earth: in the midst of nations or peoples.

(Verses 13-15) Just as when a few olives, which remain, are shaken from the olive tree, and the grape harvest is finished, these will lift up their voice and praise when the Lord is glorified, they will neigh from the sea: therefore, glorify the Lord in your teachings, in the islands of the sea proclaim the name of the Lord God of Israel. The following words will show how much the LXX translation differs from the Hebrew truth in this place: LXX: Just as if someone shakes an olive, they will shake them: and if the grape harvest rests, these will shout with a loud voice. But those who are left on the earth will rejoice together with the glory of the Lord, the water of the sea will be troubled, therefore the glory of the Lord will be in the islands of the sea, the name of the glorious Lord will be, the Lord God of Israel. With few men left, when the curse devours the earth, and there is solitude in the city, and all these things happen in the midst of the earth, in the midst of peoples and nations, the number of the saints will be so few, of whom the Lord speaks in the Gospel: Many are called, but few are chosen (Matt. 20:16); and the pressure on the righteous will be so great that, if possible, even the chosen of God will be tempted; and their number will be compared to the rarest berries of olives, which, when shaken and harvested, very few remain on the top of the branches; and just as after the harvest, the poor, forced by poverty, go around empty vines and gather a few grapes. Therefore, those who remain, and after the harvest of the world and the pressure, their hands trembling, will flee from the persecuting Antichrist or the impending flames of punishment, and they will raise their voices on high and praise God. When the Lord comes in the glory of his Father, with the holy Angels, and they see him reigning in majesty, then they will neigh like horses, rejoicing with great joy, and they will neigh from the sea of this age. Therefore, you who are now learned in the holy Scriptures and know that great joy and rewards are reserved for you, glorify the Lord in your teachings, hearing what is written: 'Whoever boasts, let him boast in the Lord' (2 Corinthians 10:17). Not in the land of Judea, but in the islands, that is, in the Churches of this sea and age, where the name of the Lord, the God of Israel, is blessed and praised, or, the name of the man who sees God. According to the Septuagint, everything that we understand about the saints can be referred to as the wicked, because when the vintage is finished, then those who are established in punishment will cry out. But those who have escaped the number of the wicked shall rejoice in the glory of the Lord, and the waters of this people in this age shall be troubled.

(Verse 16) From the ends of the earth we have heard praises, the glory of the Just One. And I said: My secret to me, my secret to me. Alas for me! LXX: From others we have heard wonders of the earth: the hope of the just, and they say + my mystery to me **. This which is said my mystery to me is not found in the LXX, but it has been added from Theodotion's translation in Greek. Again, instead of what they placed as woe, so that it is joined to the following verse, in Hebrew it is said Oi LI (), which properly means woe to me. Furthermore, for the ends that we have set forth more clearly for the sake of explanation, it is found in Hebrew 'Mecchenaph' (which means 'wing', not 'end'). Therefore, concerning those about whom it was said above, 'They shall lift up their voice and praise, when they neigh from the sea, and glorify the Lord in their teachings, and see the name of the Lord God of Israel praised in the islands of the sea', then they shall sing with united voice and say: 'From the ends of the earth, that is, from the prophets and the saints of the Lord, who, with wings assumed like a dove, hasten to the kingdom of the heavens, we have heard His praises proclaimed; and may it be fulfilled that the glory and hope of the Just may not be in vain, but that all things may be fulfilled.' And while they were saying these things, and the saints were neighing from the sea, and lifting up their voice and praising, the Prophet speaks to himself: When, he says, I heard these things, and perceived that the prophecy of the prophets was to be fulfilled in the overthrow of the world, I spoke to myself with an internal affection of the heart: I cannot narrate all that I see. My tongue sticks to my throat, my voice is cut off by pain. Woe is me, how great a order of torments is passing before my eyes! I perceive things that are present and things that are to come. However, those who think that this should be understood as the person of God are mistaken, not following the order of things. And I wonder in what sense the Psalms and praises, which are read in Hebrew as Zemroth, were interpreted as portents by the LXX, unless perhaps it is a sign and portent that, with the Jewish people excluded, the unbelieving multitude of gentiles might be saved first.