Jerome

"Now the word of the LORD came unto Jonah the son of Amittai, saying, Arise, go to Nineveh, that great city, and cry against it; for their wickedness is come up before me." Apart from that which the Septuagint translates as, "the noise of their wickedness has risen up even to me", it has translated the rest similarly. Jonah is sent to the gentiles to condemn Israel, because Nineveh had to repent, but the Israelites still persisted in their sin. And when God says, "their wickedness has come up to me", or "the noise of their wickedness…" it is exactly the text of Genesis: "the noise of Sodom and of Gomorrah is very loud" [Gen. 18:20], and to Cain: "the blood of your brother cries to me from the earth" [Gen. 4:10]. According to tropology the Lord, our Jonah, that is to say 'dove' or 'suffering', (he is given both meaning, either because the Holy Spirit descends in the form of a dove and stays with him [Mark. 1:10; Luke 3:22; John 1:32-33], or because he has suffered for our wounds, wept for Jerusalem [Luke 19:41], and because we have been cured by his malice [Is. 53:5]) is truly the son of Truth, for God is Truth [John 14:6]. He is sent to Nineveh the beautiful, that is to the world, where there is nothing more beautiful to our eyes than flesh. In Greek the idea of adornment is in the word cosmos. And when everything had been completed, each one by one, it was said, "and God saw that it was good" [Gen. 1:10]. It is to Nineveh that he goes, the great city, so that although Israel has not wanted to listen, the whole world of peoples will hear God's word. And this is because their wickedness has gone up to God. For although God had made the most beautiful house for man who was devoted to serving his creator, man deprived himself of this by his own will; from childhood his heart fixed upon wickedness [Gen. 8:21; 6:5]. He turned his face to the heaven [Ps. 72:9] and constructed a tower of pride [Gen 11]. He deserves then God to come down to him so that he may be able to rise to heaven by the destruction of repentance, he that did not succeed by the swell of pride.

About three years have now passed since I first started writing the commentaries on the five Prophets, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, and Haggai. Detained by another work, I was not able to finish what I had undertaken. For I was writing a book on famous men and two volumes against Jovinian, an apology and an essay on 'the best way to translate', which was addressed to Pammachius, two books to or about Nepotian, and other works which it would be lengthy to recount. Therefore I retake up my commentaries with Jonah after such a long absence. Jonah, a type of Saviour, who prefiguring the resurrection of the Lord by spending "three days and three nights in the belly of a whale" [Mt. 12:40], was able to attain the first ardour so that we might deserve the arrival of the Holy Spirit to us. If indeed Jonah is to be translated as 'dove', and if the dove can be seen as the Holy Spirit, then we can also interpret the Dove as signifying the dove's entrance into us. I know that some classical authors, both Latin and Greek, have spoken much about this book, and through all of their Questions have less enlightened than obscured the ideas, so that in effect their interpretation needs to be interpreted and with the result that the reader comes away feeling less sure of the meaning than beforehand. I am not saying this to criticise these great minds, to abase others in order to extol myself, but rather because it is the place of the commentator to clarify in short and clearly what is obscure; they should be less concerned with displaying their eloquence than with explaining the meaning of the author. We ask therefore where else the prophet Jonah appears in the Holy Scriptures apart from this book and the allusion made to him by the Lord in the Gospels [Mt. 12:39, Luke 11:30]. And if I am not mistaken he is mentioned in the book of Kings in this way: "in the fifth year of Amasiah, the son of Joash, King of Judah, began to rule the son of Jeroboam son of Joash King of Israel in Samaria, for forty-one years. He did much wickedness before the Lord and did not distance himself from all the sins of Jeroboam, son of Nebat, who caused Israel to sin. He re-established the frontier of Israel in Samaria from the entrance of Emathia to the Sea of Solitude, according to the word of the Lord God of Israel, which was spoken by the mouth of his servant Jonah, son of Amittai the prophet, from Gath which is in Ofer." [4 Kings 14:23-25] The Hebrews recount that he was the son of the widow of Sarepta, incited by the prophet Elijah; his mother later said to him, "I know now that you are indeed a man of God, and that the word of God is truly in your mouth" [3 Kings 17:24]; on account of this the child was called Truth. For Amittai in Hebrew can be rendered 'truth' in our language, and because Elijah spoke true, he who was encouraged was called the son of Truth. And Gath is located two miles from Sepphoris, which is now called Diocaesarea, when you are travelling to Tiberia: there is a small castle where his tomb can be seen. Others, however, prefer to place his birth and tomb near Diospolis, which is in Lydia. They do not see that when he writes 'Ofer', this is to distinguish Gath from other towns of this name that can be seen now near to Eleutheropolis or Diospolis. The book of Tobit, though not in the canon, is all the same used by the men of the Church, and it mentions Jonah when Tobit says to his son, "my son, I am old and ready to leave this life. Take your sons and go to Media, my son. For I know what the prophet Jonah has said about Nineveh: she will be destroyed" [Tob. 14:3]. And, indeed, according to the Hebrew and Greek historians, Herodotus in particular, we read that Nineveh was destroyed in the time of King Josiah according to the Hebrews, and King Astyage of the Medians. From this we understand that in the past Jonah predicted that the Ninivites would repent and seek pardon; but afterwards, as they persisted in their sins,they brought the judgement of God upon themselves. The Hebrew tradition is that Hosea, Amos, Isaiah and Jonah prophesied at the same time. This is historical tradition. Not forgetting the others of course: the venerable Pope Chromatius, who took great pains to recount to the Saviour the story of the prophet: he flees, he sleeps, he is thrown into the sea, he is swallowed by a whale, thrown back onto the shore and prays for repentance. And saddened by the safety of this town of many people, he finds comfort in the shade of a fig tree. There he is reproached by God for having taken more care of a green vine which had dried up, than of such a great number of men, and the other details I will try to explain in this volume. But to grasp the complete meaning of the prophet in this short preface there is no better interpretation than that which inspired the prophets and which marked out the lines of the truth of the future for its servants. He therefore speaks to the Jews who do not believe his words and are ignorant of Christ, the son of God: "the men of Nineveh will rise up at the time of judgement with that generation and they will condemn it, for they repented as Jonah required, and here there is more than Jonah!" [Mt. 12:41]. The generation of the Jews is condemned, while the world has faith and Nineveh repents, Israel the disbeliever dies. The Jews have the books themselves, we have the Lord of books; they hold the prophets, we have an understanding of the prophets; "the letter kills them", "the spirit makes us live" [2 Cor. 3:6]; with them Barabbas the robber is released, for us Christ the Son of God is freed.

"But Jonah rose up to flee unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD." The Septuagint here is similar. The prophet knows by an inspiration of the Holy Spirit, that the repentance of the people is the destruction of the Jews. In this situation it is not that he is trying to save Nineveh, but that moreover he does not want to see it destroyed. In another place Moses prays for his people: "if you can spare them this sin, spare them; if not, erase me from your book that you have written" [Ex. 32:31-32]; to this prayer, Israel was saved and Moses was not erased from the Book: even better the Lord indeed profited from his servant by sparing his other servants. For when God says, "release me", he shows that he can be held. This is similar to what the apostle says: "I wished to be anathema for my brothers who are Israelites according to their flesh" [Rom. 9:3]. Not that he desires to die however, for whom to live is Christ and to die is a profit [Phil. 1:21]; but he deserves life more when he wants to save others. Besides, seeing the other prophets sent to the lost flocks of the house of Israel [Mt. 10:6] to incite the people to repent, and Balaam [Num. 23.24] the divine author of a prophecy about the deliverance of the Israelite people, Jonah feels himself punished by being chosen alone to speak against the Assyrians, the enemies of Israel, in the foreign capital where idolatry and ignorance of God still ruled. And what is more he feared that in spite of his prophesying they would still not be converted to repent, and that Israel would not be completely abandoned. For he knew by this Spirit which had entrusted him with the role of hero among the gentiles, that once the nations had come together in belief, then Israel would surely perish. And he feared that whatever was to happen in the future would not happen in his time. Thus Jonah does as Cain does: he flees from the face of the Lord [Gen. 4:16] and wants to flee to Tarshish, which Josephus interprets as that Tarsus of Cilicia, but changes the first letter. This can also be seen in the book of the Paralipomenon [2 Chron. 20:36-37], which says that there is a place in India which is called the same. According to the Hebrews Tarshish means more generally 'sea', according to this passage: "by a fierce wind you will break the ships of Tarshish!" [Ps. 47:8], or the ships of the sea. And in Isaiah: "cry out, O ships of Tarshish!" [Is. 23:1,14]. I remember that I have already spoken about this several years ago in a letter to Marcella. The prophet did not intent to flee to such a place, but throwing himself into the sea, he just wants to go anywhere. And this is more pertinent when talking of a fugitive or one who is afraid, that he does not choose carefully where he wants to flee to, but just jumps at the first opportunity to take to the seas. We can also say this: he thought that God was "known" only "in Judea", "and in Israel his name is great" [Ps. 75:2]. After he had seen that God was also in the waves he confesses and declares: "I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord of heaven" [Jonah 1:9], who made the sea and the dry land. But if he had made the sea and the dry earth, why believe when you leave the land that you can escape the creator of the sea on the sea? At the same time when he sees the others sailors saved and converted, he learns that all the wickedness of Nineveh can be saved and converted by a similar confession. We can say too about our Lord and Saviour that he abandoned his home and country: at the incarnation he fled in some manner the heavens for Tarshish, the sea of that age, according to what is written in another place: "here is the sea, great and wide; there are numerous beings, animals great and small; there the boats come in and go out, and this dragon that you created to be crushed" [Ps. 103:25-6]. And he says too in his passion, "Father, if it is possible, let this cup pass me by!" [Mt. 26:39], lest at the unified complaints of the people, saying, "Crucify him, crucify him!" [Luke 23:21], and "we have no king except Caesar" [John 19:15], the crowd of people should enter all together; and lest the branches of the olive-tree should be broken, and in their place the shoots of the wild olive should grow [Rom. 11:17-25]. He had such honour and love of his country in light of the choice of the patriarchs and of the promise of Abraham, that he said on the cross, "Father, forgive them; they know not what they do" [Luke 23:34]. Or even since Tarshish can be translated as 'the contemplation of joy', the prophet, coming to Joppa, whose name means 'beautiful', hastens to hurry towards the joy and to rejoice in the pleasure of rest, to give himself completely over of contemplation. For he thinks that it is better to rejoice in beauty and in the variety of knowledge than to save the other people by letting that people die, from whom Christ would have been born.

"And went down to Joppa; and he found a ship going to Tarshish: so he paid the fare thereof, and went down into it, to go with them unto Tarshish from the presence of the LORD." LXX: "and he went up to Joppa, and he found a boat going to Tarshish; after paying his fare he went on board to sail with them to Tarshish, far from the face of the Lord." Joppa is a port of Judea [2 Chron. 2:16], and it has been seen in the book of Kingdoms [i.e. 'Kings'] and of the Paralipomenon. It was there that the King Hiram of Tyr transported wood from Liban by raft, then they were taken by chariot by road to Jerusalem. In this place even to this day rocks can be seen on the shore on which the chained Andromeda was saved by Perseus. The learned reader will know the story. And in light of the nature of the countryside, it is said quite rightly that the prophet came from a direction that is mountainous and precipitous, and went down to Joppa in the plain. He found there a ship that was moored and he went upon the sea. He paid his fare or the price of embarking, that is of his journey, according to the Hebrew, or the fare for himself, as the Septuagint has translated it. "and he went down into it" as the Hebrew itself says, (for iered in Hebrew is translated as 'went down'), for in his flight he took great care to find a hiding place. Or "he goes up", as it is written in the Vulgate edition, for going where the boat is going, thinking that he has escaped if he has left Judea. But our Lord is also at the edge of the shore of Judea, which is called 'very beautiful' because since he was in Judea, he did not want to take the bread of sons to give it to dogs. [Mt. 15:26] But because he had come for the lost flocks of the house of Israel [Mt. 10:6] he paid the price to those who transport him. Thus he who at first wants to heal his people, saves the inhabitants of the sea, and through great winds and storms, (that is his suffering and the reproof of the cross) he is plunged into Hell and saves those whom had not noticed by appearing to sleep on the boat [Mt. 8:24-5]. The wise reader will not want to try to make tropology and history concur. For the Apostle refers Agar and Sara [Gal. 4:22-31] to the two Testaments, and all the same we are not able to interpret everything that is recounted in this story in a tropological way. And when explaining about Adam and Eve to the Ephesians, he says, "this is why man leaves his mother and father to join with a wife, and both will become one flesh. [Gen. 2:24] There is a great mystery: I mean Christ and the Church." [Eph. 5:31-2] Are we then first to refer the beginning of Genesis, the creation of the world, the formation of mankind, to Christ and to the Church under the pretext that the Apostle has used regarding this text? Let us admit what is written here: "thus man will leave his father" [Gen. 2:24], we can apply this to Christ by saying that he left God his Father in heaven to unite the people of the world in the Church. But how can we interpret what follows, "his mother"? Unless perhaps we are to say that he left heavenly Jerusalem, that mother of saints, and other ideas that are more complicated? And this too is written by the same Apostle: "they were drinking from a spiritual rock which was accompanying them, and this rock was Christ" [I Cor. 10:4], but let us not try to relate the entire book of Exodus to Christ. For what can we say? That this stone was hit by Moses not just once, but twice [Ex. 17:6; Num. 20:11], that the waters flowed [Ps. 77:20] and that the floods were filled up. Are we to regard the entire story of this passage in this case as allegory? Is it nor rather that each passage ought to receive a spiritual meaning according to the diversity of history? Therefore just as these texts each in this way have their interpretations and do not entail the same allegory in their context, so the prophet will not be able to be taken completely to the Lord without difficulty for the interpreter. And if it is said in the Gospel, "O wicked and adulterous generation, that she asks for a sign? As a sign she will only have the sign of the prophet Jonah. For just as Jonah spent three days and three night in the belly of a fish, so the son of man will spend three days and three nights in the bosom of the earth" [Mt. 12:39-40]. The remainder of this account does not concern Christ to the same extent. Indeed wherever this reading can be said to apply without discrepancy, we also try to make it fit.

"But the LORD sent out a great wind into the sea, and there was a mighty tempest in the sea, so that the ship was like to be broken." LXX: "and the Lord induced a great wind over the sea and a great storm was over the sea, and the boat threatened to break up." The flight of the prophet can be related to man in general, who, forsaking the commands of God, flees from his face and goes out into the world. But in consequence a storm of wickedness and the shipwreck of the entire world are sent against him, and he is made to pay attention to God and to return to that which he had fled. From this we can understand that what appears to be advantageous to mankind, turns into their downfall by God's will. And not only is their aid no use to those whom it is offered, but even those who offer it are destroyed. Therefore we read that the Assyrians conquered Egypt because she helped Israel against the will of the Lord [Is. 20:3-6]. The boat is in danger because it has taken on board a dangerous passenger. The waves are aroused by the wind, a storm begins over a calm sea. When God is opposed nothing is safe.

"Then the mariners were afraid, and cried every man unto his god, and cast forth the wares that were in the ship into the sea, to lighten it of them." LXX: "and the sailors were afraid and each one cried out to his God and they threw the boat's cargo into the sea to lighten the boat". They believe that the ship with its normal cargo is too heavy, and do not understand that all the weight comes from the fleeing prophet. The sailors are afraid, each one cries out to his God. They do not know the truth, but they do not forget providence, and with a false religion they know that there is something to pray to. They cast their cargo into the sea so that the ship might cross the immensity of the waves more lightly. But for Israel, neither prosperity nor wickedness can lead her back to know God. Christ weeps for the people, but He has dry eyes.

"But Jonah was gone down into the sides of the ship; and he lay, and was fast asleep." LXX: "Now Jonah went down to the heart of the boat and slept and snored". According to the history of this passage it describes the peace of the spirit of the prophet. He is troubled by the storm, or by the dangers; he just keeps the same manner of spirit when the storm is imminent, as when the weather is calm. The others though cry out to their gods, and cast the cargo overboard: each man to his own. But Jonah is so peaceful, so calm, his spirit is so at rest that he goes down to the heart of the ship to enjoy a peaceful sleep. Indeed we can also say: he knows he is a fugitive and a sinner, because he has not obeyed the commands of the Lord. It is because all the other men do not know why there is a storm that Jonah knows that he alone is the cause of it. This is why he goes down to the interior of the ship and hides himself sadly, so that he does not see the waves, like the avengers of God, rise up against him. And if he sleeps, this is not necessarily a sign of his security, but of worry. For we read that the apostles gave in to sleep on account of great sadness at the sight of the Lord's suffering [Luke 22:45]. For if we interpret the sleep of the prophet as a sign, his terrible torture, they represent a man who has fallen asleep from the drug of his wickedness: not only has he fled from God but moreover he ignores the wrath of God as his spirit is clouded by a sort of madness. He sleeps therefore in a kind of false security and his deep sleep sounds out through his nostrils.

"So the shipmaster came to him, and said unto him, What meanest you, O sleeper? arise, call upon thy God, if so be that God will think upon us, that we perish not." LXX: "and the helmsman come to him and he said to him, what are you doing sleeping? Get up, and call upon your God. If he can find a way to save us then we may not die. It is natural that each one has more confidence in someone else when they feel themselves to be in such danger. This is why the helmsman or captain, who should have been encouraging the frightened crewmembers, but saw the seriousness of the danger, woke and reprimanded the sleeper for his thoughtless security and asked him to pray to his God immediately. He shared everyone's danger, and therefore he had to pray along with everyone else. According to tropology there are many men sailing with Jonah, who each have their own God and hasten towards the 'contemplation of joy'. But when Jonah has been discovered by chance and his death has appeased the all-encompassing storm and made calm the waters, then the one God is revered and spiritual victims are sacrificed, which according to the text were not found when they were amongst the waves.

"And they said every one to his fellow, Come, and let us cast lots, that we may know for whose cause this evil is upon us. So they cast lots, and the lot fell upon Jonah." LXX: 'and they said to each other: come, let us draw lots to see who it is that has brought this wickedness upon us. And they drew lots, and the lot fell to Jonah.' They knew the ways of the sea and knew the causes of the storms and winds in such weather. Without a doubt they had seen the waves rise up as usual, and as they must have seen many times before, but they must never before have found the person to blame for the shipwreck, and through him tried to avoid certain danger. We should not be driven by this example to believe in fate, or to believe that this text should be connected to that of the Acts of the Apostles where Matthias is chosen by lot [Acts 1:26], because personal privileges do not make common law. For just as an old lady speaks up for the condemning of Balaam [Num. 22:28], as Pharaoh [Gen. 41] and Nebuchadnezzar [Dan. 2], in their own judgement, knew the future through dreams and yet do not see that there is a divine judgement in this, like Caiaphas prophesies unknowing, that it is better for one to die for all [John 11:50; 18:14]: just as this fugitive is betrayed by fate, not by the powers of the fates, above all the powers of the pagan fates, but by the will of hi who controlled uncertain fate. With regard to the meaning of the expression "to know by whom this wickedness had come upon us", we ought to take 'wickedness' as a synonym of affliction, of disaster, as in this passage: "every day his wickedness was enough" [Mt. 6:34], and in the prophet Amos: "is there wickedness in a town without God being the author?" [Amos 3:6]. And in Isaiah: "It is I the Lord, who make goodness and wickedness" [Isaiah 45:7]. But in other places too wickedness can be seen to be the opposite of virtue, as in the passage of our prophet that we have read above: "the cry of their wickedness went up to me" [Jonah 1:1].

"And he said unto them, I am an Hebrew; and I fear the LORD, the God of heaven, which hath made the sea and the dry land." LXX: 'and he replied: I am a worshipper of the Lord, and I revere God of the heavens who made the sea and the dry land'. He did not say, 'I am a Jew', the name given to the people after the schism between the ten and two tribes [3 Kings. 12:19; 14:21], but 'I am a Hebrew', that is to say perates [Grk. 'a pilgrim and traveller'] , passing by as Abraham who was able to say: "I am a guest and a traveller as all my fathers" [Ps. 38:13], and about whom it is written in another psalm: "they passed from one nation to another, from one realm to another people" [Ps. 104:13]. Moses says, "I will go so that I might see this great vision." [Ex. 3] I fear the Lord God of the heavens, not the gods that you have invoked and who cannot save us, but the God of heaven who made the sea and the dry land. The sea that I flee to, the earth that I flee from. And appropriately the land is not just called land, but rather dry land so that it contrasts with the sea. In short here he mentions the creator of the universe who is the Lord of heaven, earth, and sea. But one question begs to be asked: how do they know that he speaks the truth? 'I fear the Lord God of heaven', since he has not done what this God has actually commanded him to do. The reply would surely be that the sinners themselves would fear God, and that it is appropriate for servants of the Lord not to love, but to fear. Here however you can see fear in the cult according to the meaning of those who were listening and until now knew not God.

"Then were the men exceedingly afraid, and said unto him, Why have you done this? For the men knew that he fled from the presence of the LORD, because he had told them." LXX: 'Then the men were very afraid and said to him, "why have you done this?" for the men knew that he had fled from the face of the Lord, since he had told them.' The chronological order is reversed here, for you could have said there was no reason to fear because of his declaration: "I am a Hebrew and I fear the Lord God of heaven, who made the sea and the dry land". Immediately we are told why they were afraid: because he had told them that he was fleeing the presence of the Lord without having carried out his commands. Then they make excuses and say, "why did you do this?", and this means, "if you fear God, why did you do this? If this God that you revere is so powerful according to you, then how can you believe that you will be able to escape him?". They are seized by a great fear, for they realise that he is holy, and from a holy nation (having set out from Joppa they must have known the privilege of the Hebrew people), yet nonetheless they are not able to hide the fugitive. For he who flees may be powerful, but he who seeks is all the more powerful. They do not dare to hand him over to the Lord, yet they cannot hide him. They reprehend blame, and avow their fear. They pray to Jonah to give himself up for the sin he has committed. Or indeed, when they say, "why have you done this?", they are not inciting him, but questioning, wanting to know the cause of his flight, the flight of a servant from his master, of a son from his father, of a man from his God. They ask, therefore, what is this great mystery that makes you flee from the land and seek the seas, leave your country and set out for foreign lands?

"Then said they unto him, What shall we do unto you, that the sea may be calm unto us? for the sea wrought, and was tempestuous." LXX: 'then they said to him, what should we do with you, so that the sea is calm for us? For the sea was surging its waves more and more'. It is because of you, you say, that the winds, the waves, the sea and swells have been unleashed. You have revealed the cause of this wickedness, now tell us how to stop it. The sea swells against us, and we know that a God is angry because we took you on board. If we have sinned by taking you in, then what can we do so that the Lord does not become angrier? "What should we do with you?" that is to say: "shall we kill you?" but you are faithful to the Lord. Are we to protect you? But you flee from Him. All we have to do is carry out whatever you command, all you have to do is give the command that the sea be calm, for now its wildness attests the wrath of the creator. The narrator also adds the reason for this question. The sea, he says, was continually increasing in wildness. It was swelling, in the known way; it was swelling for the revenge of its Lord; it was swelling, following the fleeing prophet. And at every moment it was becoming more and more wild, and to the delaying sailors' eyes it rose in greater waves to show that it would not put off for long the creator's revenge.

"And he said unto them, Take me up, and cast me forth into the sea; so shall the sea be calm unto you: for I know that for my sake this great tempest is upon you." LXX: 'and he said to them, take me and throw me into the sea, and the sea will become calm for you. For I know well that it is on account of me that these great waves are against you.' It is against me that the thunder sounds, it seeks me, it threatens to shipwreck you in order to reach me. It will seize me so that my death might let you live. For I know this, he says. This great storm is on my account. And I am not unaware that this is my punishment, this confusion of the elements, this trouble of the world. This wrath is for me, but you are going to be the victims of a shipwreck. The waves themselves command you to throw me into the sea. And since I will have felt the full effect of the storm you will be in calm seas again. We must note here the greatness of spirit of our fugitive: he is not evasive, he does not hide or deny his guilt, but having confessed his flight he accepts his punishment willingly. He would rather die so that the other sailors do not perish on account of him, and so that he does not add murder to desertion. That's it for the story. But we are also not unaware of the wild winds, which the Lord orders in the Gospel to quiet, that the ship in danger in which Jonah was sleeping, and that the raised sea which is reprimanded: "silence, and calm down" [Mk. 4:39], refer to the Lord the Saviour and to the Church in peril, or even to Christ awaking the apostles, and they themselves leaving their sufferings behind throw him somehow headlong into the waves. Our Jonah says, "for I know that it is on account of me that this great storm is upon you", for the winds are watching me journey to Tarshish with you, that is travel to the contemplation of joy to lead you with me to goodness so that wherever I am, so is the Father and you will be there too [John 14:3; 17:27]. This is why this anger rumbles, why the world which is in wickedness [1 John 5:19] groans. It is in this way that the elements are disturbed. Death wants to devour me so that you may be killed as well: she does not see that as she took food in a net, my death will cause her death. Take me and throw me into the sea. For we do not have to run away from death, but receive it with open arms when it takes us from others. Thus, in the persecutions it is not allowed to kill oneself, unless chastity is in danger, but one must put ones neck to the executioner. Go, he says, calm the winds, pour libations on the sea: the storm which savages against you on account of me will be calmed by my death.