Jerome

(Verse 10, 11) Therefore do not be afraid, my servant Jacob, says the Lord; and do not be terrified, Israel. For behold, I will save you from a distant land, and your descendants from the land of their captivity; and Jacob shall return and be at rest, and shall enjoy abundant blessings, and there will be no one to fear: for I am with you, says the Lord, to save you. For I will make a complete destruction among all the nations where I have scattered you. But I will not make a complete end of you; I will discipline (or instruct) you in judgment, so that you may not appear innocent to yourself (or I will cleanse you and not leave you unpunished). This passage is not found in the Septuagint, and in many codices of the Vulgate edition it is added under asterisks from Theodotion. However, the divine word promises, and familiarly calls his servant Jacob, and Israel, just as Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob are called servants of God (Moses also, and other prophets, and the apostle Paul glories in this title at the beginning of his Epistles); so that the twelve tribes may know that they are to be saved from a distant land, and their captivity will be freed, and peace will be restored, and they will be filled with every abundance, according to what is said in the psalm: Let there be peace within your walls, and abundance within your towers (Psalm 122:7). But this will happen when they enjoy the presence of the Lord, when the opposing nations that had captured them will perish, and they will be freed from the nations. And they will be taught not for punishment, but for instruction, so that they may be judged as if they were their own and not be lost as if they were strangers. For whoever does not believe has already been judged (John 3:18), that is, prejudged for destruction. And what he said: 'So that you may not appear innocent to yourself', according to Symmachus, 'and I will not cleanse you who are already clean', or according to Aquila, 'when I have instructed you through judgment, I will not make you innocent in any way', means that the entire world, even if it is impure, is in need of God's mercy, and no one, however holy, can approach the judge with confidence. This goes against the new heresy from the old belief, which believes that in this age and in this mortal flesh, before it puts on this corruptible state of incorruptibility and this mortal state of immortality, there can be perfection in anyone, and that all together can fulfill the virtues of righteousness.

(Verse 12 onwards) For thus says the Lord, your fracture is incurable, your wound is grievous. There is no one to judge your judgment for binding, there is no usefulness in your healing. All your lovers have forgotten you, they will not seek you. For the enemy has struck you with a cruel (or strong) punishment because of the multitude of your iniquities, your sins have become severe (or multiplied). Why do you cry out about your contrition? Your pain is incurable, because of the multitude of your wickedness, and because of your stubborn sins I have done this to you. As if speaking to a beautiful woman, to whom he had said before: I will chastise you in judgment, so that you may not appear innocent to yourself, whether male or female; and by metaphor ((Alexander adds speaking)) to Jerusalem, which has been most grievously wounded by the judgment of God, and can be healed by no one else but the one who struck her. There is no one, says the Lord, who can judge your judgment: nor can the Highest heal the wound with the skin of a scar. Wherever you turn, there is no profit for you, because you have offended him who is true, and the only physician. All your lovers have forgotten you, be they priests, or rulers, or surely the protectors of the Angels, by whom you were fortified before you offended the Lord. They will not seek you, acting against the Apostle, who sought believers, and not those things which belonged to the believers (2 Corinthians 12). For the enemy strikes you with a cruel punishment. The friend strikes differently than the enemy: the father strikes differently than the enemy. The former strikes to correct, the latter strikes to kill (Psal. VI). Therefore, the Prophet mournfully says: Lord, do not rebuke me in your anger, nor chastise me in your wrath (Psal. XXXVII, 1). And this has happened because due to the multitude of your wickedness, your sins have become hardened. And what follows: Why do you cry out over your contrition? Your pain is incurable because of the multitude of your iniquities, it is not found in the Septuagint; namely because it is said further on, because of the multitude of your iniquities, and your harsh sins; and those who were writing from the beginning, thought it necessary to add it. And the meaning is: So that I may strike you as an enemy, and beat you with cruel discipline, your multitude of iniquities and your harsh sins, which could not be healed, except by the most biting powder, and burning cauterization, and the sharpest iron, with which I may cut away the rotten flesh and the incurable parts. And yet, because of the multitude of your iniquities and your harsh sins, I have done these things to you, not by my will, but forced by the reasoning of medicine.

A type of these events previously occurred in Zerubbabel and Ezra, when the people returned and the city was begun to be built on its heights and religion observed in the temple, all of which are contained in Ezra’s own book. But this was more fully and more perfectly completed in the Lord and Savior and his apostles, when the city was built on its heights—about which it is written, “A city set on a hill cannot be hidden”—and the temple was founded in accordance with its order and ceremony, so that whatever was done carnally by the people in the past would be completed spiritually in the church. Then praise went forth—or thanksgiving, for this is what thoda means—so that all of the apostles would be able to say “grace and peace to you.” The “voice of celebration” was not the kind of celebration in which people eat, drink, sleep and then get up to do it again for its own sake, but the kind of celebration that David enjoyed before the ark of the Lord. They were also multiplied and not diminished so that the entire world would believe in God the Savior. And they were glorified so that what was written would be fulfilled: “Glorious things are said of you, O city of God!” They were his children, that is, the apostles, as were Abraham, Isaac and Jacob from the beginning, the rulers of the people of Israel. Then the Lord made a visit against all who opposed the people of God, clearly powerful adversaries. And “their leader came from them”—undoubtedly a reference to the Lord and Savior, who was from the Israelite race according to the flesh—and “their ruler was produced from their midst.” The Father united this ruler to himself and drew near to him, as the Son would say: “I in the Father and the Father in me,” for no one is able thus to unite his heart to the Lord or to be joined to the Father as the Son. That it also says, “You will be my people, and I will be your God,” we determine to have been completed partly in Israel and fully in the multitude of nations.

(Verse 18 and following) Thus says the Lord: Behold, I will turn the fortunes of the tents of Jacob, and have compassion on their dwellings (or captivity). And the city shall be rebuilt on its mound, and the temple shall be founded according to its order. And praise shall come forth from them, and the voice of those who play. And I will multiply them, and they shall not be few. (And what follows: And I will glorify them, and they shall not be made small, is not found in the Septuagint). And they shall be, says the Lord, His sons as from the beginning, and His congregation shall remain before me, and I will visit all those who trouble him. And his leader shall come forth from him, and the ruler shall be produced from among them. And I will bring him near, and he shall approach me. For who is this who has applied his heart to draw near to me, says the Lord? (And this also is not found in the Septuagint.) And you shall be my people, and I will be your God. Whose image prefigured this in Zerubabel and Ezra, when the people returned and the city began to be built in its exalted state, and the religion of the Temple was observed, and the other things contained in the book of Ezra himself. But it was more fully and completely fulfilled in the Lord Savior and the Apostles, when the city was built on its highest point, of which it is written: A city set on a hill cannot be hidden (Matthew 5:14); and the Temple was established according to its order and ceremonies, so that whatever was done in the former people carnally, would be spiritually fulfilled in the Church. Then praise and thanksgiving came forth. For this means Thoda, as all the Apostles said: Grace to you and peace (1 Corinthians 1:3). And the voice of those who play, not in that game where the people ate and drank and rose up to play (Exodus 32:6), but in that game where David played before the Ark of the Lord (2 Samuel 6). And they were multiplied and not diminished, so that the whole world would believe in the Lord and Savior: and they were glorified, so that what is written would be fulfilled: Glorious things are spoken of you, O city of God (Psalm 87:3). And his sons were, that is, the Apostles, just as they were from the beginning, Abraham, and Isaac, and Jacob, the leaders of the Israelite race. Then the Lord visited all those who troubled the people of God, namely, the opposing powers. And He was their leader from that time: without a doubt, the Lord and Savior according to the flesh came forth from the race of Israel, and the prince arose from their midst. The Father applied Him to Himself, and He approached Him, so that the Son might say: I am in the Father, and the Father in Me (John XIV, 11): for no one can so apply his heart to God, nor be joined to the Father as the Son is. And what he says according to the Septuagint: 'And you shall be my people, and I will be your God', we see fulfilled in part in Israel, and entirely in the multitude of the nations.

(Version 2.) Thus says the Lord: The people who remained with the sword found favor in the wilderness, let Israel go to their rest. LXX: Thus says the Lord: I have found warmth in the desert with those who have perished by the sword. Go, and do not kill Israel. The Latin texts in this place are laughed at for their ambiguity in the interpretation of the Greek word. Instead of warmth, they are interpreted as lupine: for the Greek word θερμὸν has both meanings, which is not found in Hebrew. For it is written that Aquila, Symmachus, and Theodotion translated χάριν as 'grace'. Only the Seventy translated it as 'heat', thinking that the last letter Mem was intended. For if we read Hen as Nun, it means 'grace'; if as Mem, it means 'heat'. But the sense according to the Hebrew is: The people of the Jews, who had remained under the Roman sword, or surely could have escaped the wrath of the Lord in fury, found grace in the desert of the Gentiles, so that they might be saved among the multitude of nations in the Church, to which they will both go and find their rest, Israel which they have always hoped for, as the prophecies of the prophets had promised them. Furthermore, according to the translation of the Septuagint, the understanding is this: the Lord found the chosen ones and living Apostles, and their companions in the desert of the gentiles, among those who had been killed by their own unfaithfulness, they did not possess the warmth of life. Therefore, it is commanded to the Angels and those who are in the service of God, not to kill all, lest Israel be completely destroyed, and it is said to them: Go, and do not kill Israel; otherwise there should be some who live, some who are warmed by the fervor of faith, some who escape the coldness of unfaithfulness and death, whom the Lord finds in the desert.

(Versed 3 and following) Far off the Lord appeared to me (or to him): and in everlasting love I loved you: therefore I have drawn you with mercy. And again I will build you, and you shall be built, O virgin Israel: you shall again be adorned (or crowned) with your timbrels, and you shall go forth in the dance of them that make merry. You shall again plant vineyards upon the mountains of Samaria: plant, and you shall enjoy the fruits thereof: for there shall be a day, that the watchmen on mount Ephraim shall call to the shepherds: Arise, and let us go up to Sion to our Lord God. Because Israel had offended the Lord, and had said: We have no king but Caesar (John 19:15). And: Come, let us kill him, and the inheritance shall be ours (Mark 12:7); and had strayed far from God: therefore the Lord appeared to him after a long time, not in the time of Zerubbabel and Ezra, after they had been taken captive again, but in everlasting love He loved him, which will never be destroyed. And He drew him with His mercy. For he was saved not by merit, but by mercy. And he says again: I will build you up, and you will be built up, O virgin Israel. Let us understand this specifically in the Church. For those who long for golden and jeweled Jerusalem are mad, consecrating their greed for the mystery of the city of the Lord. You will still be adorned with your tambourines, to sing to the Lord in the Churches, with all the flesh of evil works consumed in you. And you will go out in the chorus of those who play, with the crowds of nations, you will plant vineyards on the mountains of Samaria. Not in valleys and low places, but in the mountains of Samaria, which were possessed by foreigners after the captivity of the people of Israel, to whom it is said: Plant vineyards and harvest. Then it was the day of the Lord, on which the custodians of the Apostolic faith, and apostolic men on the mountain of Samaria, and on the mountain of Ephraim, of which one signifies guardianship, the other abundance. But what do the custodians of Samaria say, or rather, what do they cry out on the mountain of Ephraim? Arise, you who lie low, abandon lowly things, despise the victims of sacrifice. Let the broken spirit be a sacrifice to the Lord (Psalm 50). Let us ascend to Zion, that is, to the Church, where there is the vision and sight of God. And when we are in Zion, or rather when we ascend to it, let us together ascend to our Lord God.

(Verse 8) Behold, I will bring them from the land of the North, and gather them from the ends of the earth. What follows: In the solemnity of the Passover, he shall beget many sons, which is not found in Hebrew, but is only read in the Septuagint, for which it is written among the Hebrews:

Among them will be the blind, and the lame, and the pregnant, and those giving birth together: the great Church of those returning here. The remaining people of Israel will be gathered by the Apostles and the apostolic men, of whom we read above: The custodians on the mountain will cry out, and to whom it is commanded: Resound, sing, and say, so that the remaining people of Israel may be saved. The Lord himself also promises to bring them back from the land of the North, which is a very harsh wind, but by the name of dexterous is called, from unbelief, from the coldness of the Lord's love; and to gather them from the ends of the earth, not at any other time, but on the solemnity of the Passover, that is, on the feast days of the Lord's passion: when the Lord was crucified, and that which he himself promised in the Gospel was fulfilled. When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to myself (John 12:23). Then he generated a great multitude, so that the prophecy of Isaiah might be fulfilled: For a nation has been born once (Isaiah 66:8). For on one day, three thousand believed, and on another day, five thousand men (Acts 2 and 4). And what is written in Hebrew: Among them will be the blind and the lame, and the pregnant and those giving birth together, a great church of those returning here; although it is also fulfilled according to the letter, that the blind will see, and the lame will walk: nevertheless, it can be better understood according to allegory, that those who were previously blind in faith, afterwards believed in the Savior; and those who were lame, to whom Elijah once spoke: How long will you limp on both feet (1 Kings 18:21)? Afterwards, they may have walked (Al. seen). And: The people who sat in darkness and the shadow of death have seen a great light. (Isaiah 9:2); the lame may have run, and the pregnant woman may have given birth to sons, the great Church of those who return to faith. The Jews imagine this to have been fulfilled when, under Ezra, they departed from Babylon after the Passover to return to Jerusalem, in which there was a figure, and not the reality. For in that time, not all the things that we read and are going to read could have been proven to be complete (Al. could have been approved).

(Verse 9) In their weeping they will come (or go); I will lead them in mercy, and bring them by the torrents of water in a straight path, and they will not stumble (or wander) in it. For I have become the father of Israel, and Ephraim is my firstborn. If we read according to the Hebrew, they will come in weeping: for this indicates Job (); we will say that sometimes, the weeping of excessive joy is a sign, according to that: I weep with joy. But according to the Seventy who said: 'He will go out in weeping, and I will lead them in mercy or consolation,' we understand that it is also said in the Psalms: 'They went forth weeping and cast their seeds, but they will come with joy, carrying their bundles' (Ps. 125:6-7). For they wept when they were led away captive, but they received great consolation when they were brought back by the mercy of the Lord. And the Lord brought them through the apostles and apostolic men, full of waters and of a most abundant river, on the straight path, namely the path of faith, not in the deceit of the Jews. And they will not stumble in it, he says, because the blind have ceased to be blind, to whom it was once said: If you were blind, you would not have sin. But now, because you say: we see, your sin remains. We can understand the straight path, and Christ, in which whoever walks will not stumble. I have become, he says, the father of Israel, who has been brought back, and Ephraim is my firstborn. For where sin once abounded, grace has superabounded. But Scripture testifies that Ephraim is a type of the people gathered from the nations. For he was the younger son of Joseph, and he took the birthright from Manasseh, who was by nature the firstborn (Gen. XLVIII); but in the mystery of the cross, with crossed hands, he stood at the left side of Jacob and received the blessing from his right hand. And he who had stood on the right, blessed with the left, was reduced to the second rank. And just as Jacob took the birthright from Esau, so Ephraim took the firstborn position from Manasseh. And the entire people of the ten tribes were called Ephraim, because Jeroboam the son of Nebat, from this tribe, was the first to obtain the kingdom in Samaria (Ibid., 27).

(Verse 10 and following) Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and proclaim it in distant islands, and say: He who scattered Israel will gather him and will watch over him as a shepherd does his flock. For the Lord has redeemed Jacob and delivered him from the hand of the stronger (or the hand of the more powerful). And they will come and praise on Mount Zion, and they will gather to the good things of the Lord, abundant with grain, wine, oil, and the offspring of cattle and sheep. And their soul shall be like a well-watered garden (or like a fruitful tree), and they shall never hunger again. Then the virgin shall rejoice in the dance (or the virgins) and the young men and the old men together, and I will turn their mourning into joy, and I will comfort them and make them rejoice from their sorrow. And I will make the souls of the priests drunk with fatness (or the sons of Levi), and my people shall be satisfied with my goodness, says the Lord. Clearly the calling of the nations is shown, with the Scripture saying: Hear the word of the Lord, O nations, and declare it on the islands far away, and say. What do the islands that are far away announce? It is the Lord, who dispersed Israel, who will gather them together. Therefore, it was not by the power of their enemies that they were scattered, but by the will of the Lord. And He will guard them as a shepherd guards his flock. For a good shepherd lays down his life for his sheep (John 10). Because the Lord has redeemed Jacob with the price of His own blood and has liberated him from the hand of the more powerful or stronger one. By these things are shown the stronger opposing powers of the nature of human frailty. And as far as strength is concerned, they are stronger by nature, but we are stronger by faith, if indeed we deserve to be freed from him who can bind the strong and plunder his house. And they will come, he says, without a doubt, that when freed from the hand of the powerful, they will praise their liberator on Mount Zion, that is, in the Church, and they will gather to the good things of the Lord, the abundance of all things, which is felt not in the fruits and food of this flesh, but in the variety of virtues. He said, 'With wheat, and wine, and oil, from which the bread of the Lord is made, and the type of His blood is filled, and the blessing of sanctification is shown, as the Scripture says: 'God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness above your companions' (Psalm 45:8). And with the offspring of livestock, which are simple in the Church, and with cattle, which are horned, they drive away adversaries. But so that we may know that these blessings pertain not to the body, but to the soul, it follows: 'Their soul will be like a well-watered garden, or like a fruitful tree, which is planted by the flowing waters, and the Lord's paradise in delights' (Psalm 1). And furthermore, he says, you shall not hunger. In no way will you be hungry, of which it is written: Blessed are those who hunger and thirst for righteousness (Matthew 5:6); but that which is changed by satiety, and excludes the scarcity of all things. Then the virgin will rejoice in the choir, of whom the Apostle writes: For I have betrothed you to one husband to present a chaste virgin to Christ (2 Corinthians 11:2). And to the young men, to whom John speaks: I write to you, young men, because you have overcome the evil one; and to the elders, to whom he testifies in mystical language: I write to you, fathers, because you have known him who is from the beginning (1 John 2:14). And, he says, I will turn their mourning into joy, so that the cross that had terrified them may bring joy through the resurrection. And I will console them and make them glad from their sorrow, according to what the Lord says: Blessed are those who mourn, for they will be comforted. And I will gladden the souls of the Priests, who have knowledge of God, from whose mouths they seek the law of the Lord, those who believe in Him, of whom the Prophet sings: You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek (Psalm 110:4). But what follows according to the Septuagint: Of the sons of Levi, it is not found in Hebrew. And it is clear that it is not said of those priests who are sons of Levi, but of those in whose type Melchizedek preceded. And the drunkenness of the priests is also proven in the Apostles, when they were fervent in faith and were said to be full of must (Acts 2). Hence, the place in which the Lord was apprehended is called Gethsemane (Matthew 26:36), which in our language means the valley of fatness. And when the priests, who are rich with the teachings of the Lord, have been intoxicated at the feast, they will say to Joseph: How splendid is your intoxicating cup (Gen. 43 and 44)! Then this promise of the Lord will also be fulfilled: And my people will be filled with my blessings (Ps. 22:5). All these things are now given in part, but then they will be given in full, when we see face to face, and our humble bodies will be transformed into the glory of resurrection.

(Verse 15.) Thus says the Lord: A voice is heard in the heights, lamentation, weeping, and mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted over her children, because they are no more. LXX: Thus says the Lord: A voice is heard in Rama, lamentation, weeping, and mourning, Rachel weeping for her children, and she refused to be comforted, because they are no more. Neither according to the Hebrew, nor according to the Seventy, did Matthew take testimony. For we read in it: Then was fulfilled that which was spoken by Jeremiah the prophet, saying: A voice in Rama was heard, lamentation and great mourning; Rachel bewailing her children, and would not be comforted, because they are not (Matthew 2:17-18). From which it is clear that the Evangelists and Apostles did not follow the interpretation of any Hebrew, but rather expressed in their own words, as if Hebrews, what they read in Hebrew. Rachel, the mother of Joseph, when she was coming to Bethlehem, suddenly seized with the pain of childbirth, gave birth to a son, whom the midwife, because she was dying in childbirth, called Benoni, that is, the son of my sorrow. But Jacob the father changed the name and called him Benjamin, that is, the son of his right hand (Gen. XXXV, 18). Therefore, it is questioned how the evangelist Matthew transferred the testimony of the Prophet to the killing of the infants: when it is clearly written about the ten tribes, of which Ephratha was not the leader, and it is by no means in the tribe of Ephraim, but in the tribe of Judah: for it is itself, and Bethlehem with two names. And the names of both correspond. Bethlehem is called the house of bread. Ephrata, which we can call fertility. Therefore, since Rachel was buried in Ephrata, that is, in Bethlehem, as both the Holy Scripture and her tombstone testify to this day, it is said that she weeps for the children who were killed nearby and in their own regions. Some Jews interpret this place as meaning that when Jerusalem was captured under Vespasian, countless thousands of captives were sent to Rome through this road, Gaza, and Alexandria. But others, because in the final captivity under Hadrian, when the city of Jerusalem was also destroyed, an innumerable people of various ages and both sexes were sold in the market of Terebinth. And therefore it is detestable for the Jews to visit that renowned market. Let them say whatever they want, we will rightly say that the Evangelist Matthew took testimony for the place where Rachel was buried, so that she mourned the sons of neighboring villages as if they were her own.