Jerome — Commentary on Scripture

As it is written in the prophets, Behold, I send my messenger before thy face, which shall prepare thy way before thee.

(ad Pammach. Epist. 57) But this is not written in Isaiah, but in Malachi, the last of the twelve prophets.

By Malachi, therefore, the voice Πνεύμκτος Ἅγιου of the Holy Spirit resounds to the Father concerning the Son, who is the countenance of the Father by which He has been known.

Mark 1:3 · 2 passages

The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

Hierom. ad Pammach, Epist 57: But this is not written in Isaiah, but in Malachi, the last of the twelve prophets. The Evangelist therefore, taking parts of two prophecies, has put them down as spoken by Isaiah, and refers them here toone passage, without mentioning, however, by whom it is said, “Behold, I send mine angel.”. By Malachi, therefore, the voice of the Holy Spirit resounds to the Father concerning the Son, who is the countenance of the Father by which He has been known. Or, “the way of the Lord, "by which He comes into men, in penitence, by which God comes down to us, and we mount up to Him. And for this reason the beginning of John’s preaching was, "Repent ye.”. But it is called “the voice of one crying,” for we are wont to use a cry to deaf persons, and to those afar off, or when we are indignant, all which things we know applied to the Jews; for “salvation is far from the wicked,” and they “stopped their ears like deaf adders,” and deserved to hear “indignation, and wrath, and tribulation” fromChrist.The word of prophecy also shows, that besides the wilderness, which wa…

Hierom. ad Pammach, Epist 57: But this is not written in Isaiah, but in Malachi, the last of the twelve prophets. The Evangelist therefore, taking parts of two prophecies, has put them down as spoken by Isaiah, and refers them here toone passage, without mentioning, however, by whom it is said, “Behold, I send mine angel.”.
By Malachi, therefore, the voice of the Holy Spirit resounds to the Father concerning the Son, who is the countenance of the Father by which He has been known.
Or, “the way of the Lord, "by which He comes into men, in penitence, by which God comes down to us, and we mount up to Him. And for this reason the beginning of John’s preaching was, "Repent ye.”.
But it is called “the voice of one crying,” for we are wont to use a cry to deaf persons, and to those afar off, or when we are indignant, all which things we know applied to the Jews; for “salvation is far from the wicked,” and they “stopped their ears like deaf adders,” and deserved to hear “indignation, and wrath, and tribulation” fromChrist.The word of prophecy also shows, that besides the wilderness, which was pointed out by Moses, where he made paths, there was another wilderness, in which it proclaimed that the salvation of Christ was present.
Or else the voice and thecry is in the desert, because they were deserted by the Spirit of God, as ahouse empty, and swept out; deserted also by prophet, priest, and king.
Or else, “Prepare ye the way of the Lord,” that is, act out repentance and preach it; “make his paths straight,” that walking in the royal road, we may love our neighbours as ourselves, and ourselves as our neighbours. For he who loves himself, and loves not his neighbour, turns aside to the right; for many act well, and do not correct their neighbour well, as Eli. He, on the other hand, who, hating himself, loves his neighbour, turns aside to the left; for many, for instance, rebuke well, but act not well themselves, as did the Scribes and Pharisees. "Paths” are mentioned after the “way "because moral commands are laid open after penitence.

The quotation is made up from two prophets, Malachi and Isaiah. From the first part: “Behold I send my messenger to prepare the way before me,” occurs at the close of Malachi. But the second part: “The voice of one crying,” etc., we read in Isaiah. On what ground then has Mark in the very beginning of his book set the words: “As it is written in the prophet Isaiah, Behold I send my messenger,” when, as we have said, it is [in part] not written in Isaiah at all, but in Malachi, the last of the twelve prophets? Let ignorant presumption solve this nice question if it can. I will ask pardon for being in the wrong.… The apostle has not rendered his original word for word, but using a paraphrase, he has given the sense in different terms.

Mark 1:4-8

John did baptize in the wilderness, and preach the baptism of repentance for the remission of sins.

For what is the difference between water and the Holy Ghost, who was borne over the face of the waters? Water is the ministry of man; but the Spirit is ministered by God.

Mark 1:5

And there went out unto him all the land of Judaea, and they of Jerusalem, and were all baptized of him in the river of Jordan, confessing their sins.

The baptism of John did not so much consist in the forgiveness of sins as in being a baptism of repentance for the remission of sins, that is, for a future remission, which was to follow through the sanctification of Christ.

Mark 1:6 · 2 passages

And John was clothed with camel's hair, and with a girdle of a skin about his loins; and he did eat locusts and wild honey;

John the Baptist had a religious mother and his father was a priest. Yet neither his mother’s affection nor his father’s affluence could induce him to live in his parents’ house at the risk of the world’s temptations. So he lived in the desert. Seeking Christ with his eyes, he refused to look at anything else. His rough garb, his girdle made of skins, his diet of locusts and wild honey were all alike designed to encourage virtue and continence. Later the spiritual descendants of the prophets, who were the monks of the Old Testament, would build for themselves huts by the waters of Jordan and forsaking the crowded cities live in these on pottage and wild herbs. As long as you are at home, make your cell your paradise, gather there the varied fruits of Scripture, let them be your favorite companions, and take its precepts to your heart.

John, too, wears a leather girdle about his loins; and there was nothing soft or effeminate in Elijah, but every bit of him was hard and virile. He, too, certainly was a shaggy man.

Mark 1:7 · 2 passages

And preached, saying, There cometh one mightier than I after me, the latchet of whose shoes I am not worthy to stoop down and unloose.

As he himself bodily preceded Christ as his forerunner, so also his baptism was the prologue to the Lord’s baptism.

“One mightier than I is coming after me, the thong of whose sandals I am not worthy to stoop down and untie.” The meaning of the words: “He must increase, I must decrease,” is that the gospel must increase, but I, the law, must decrease. John, that is, the law in John, was clothed, therefore, in the hair of a camel, for he could not wear a tunic of the lamb of whom it is said: “Behold the lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world;” and again: “He is led like a lamb to the slaughter.” In the law, we cannot wear a tunic from that Lamb.

Mark 1:8 · 2 passages

I indeed have baptized you with water: but he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost.

He is drawing a comparison, therefore, between the law and the gospel. Farther, he says: “I have baptized you with water,” that is, the law; “but he will baptize you with the Holy Spirit,” that is the gospel.

No baptism can be called perfect except that which depends on the cross and resurrection of Christ.

Mark 1:11

And there came a voice from heaven, saying, Thou art my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.

Again, the Holy Spirit camedown in the shape of a dove, because in the Canticles it is sung of the Church: "My bride, my love, my beloved, my dove. ”Bride” in the Patriarchs, “love” in the Prophets, “near of kin” in Joseph and Mary, “beloved” in John the Baptist, "dove” in Christ and His Apostles: to whom it is said, “Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” . Morally also it may be interpreted; we also, drawn aside from the fleeting world by the smell and purity of flowers, run with the young maidens after the bridegroom, and are washed in the sacrament of baptism, from the two fountains of the love of God, and of our neighbour, by the grace of remission, and mounting up by hope gaze upon heavenly mysteries with the eyes of a clean heart. Then we receive in a contrite and lowly spirit, with simplicity of heart, the Holy Spirit, who comes down to the meek, and abides in us, by the never-failing charity. And the voice of the Lord from heaven is directed to us the beloved of God; “Blessed are the peacemakers, forthey shall be called the sons of God;” and then the Father, with th…

Again, the Holy Spirit camedown in the shape of a dove, because in the Canticles it is sung of the Church: "My bride, my love, my beloved, my dove. ”Bride” in the Patriarchs, “love” in the Prophets, “near of kin” in Joseph and Mary, “beloved” in John the Baptist, "dove” in Christ and His Apostles: to whom it is said, “Be ye wise as serpents, and harmless as doves.” .
Morally also it may be interpreted; we also, drawn aside from the fleeting world by the smell and purity of flowers, run with the young maidens after the bridegroom, and are washed in the sacrament of baptism, from the two fountains of the love of God, and of our neighbour, by the grace of remission, and mounting up by hope gaze upon heavenly mysteries with the eyes of a clean heart. Then we receive in a contrite and lowly spirit, with simplicity of heart, the Holy Spirit, who comes down to the meek, and abides in us, by the never-failing charity. And the voice of the Lord from heaven is directed to us the beloved of God; “Blessed are the peacemakers, forthey shall be called the sons of God;” and then the Father, with the Son and the Holy Spirit, is well-pleased with us, when we are made one spirit with God.

Mark 1:20

And straightway he called them: and they left their father Zebedee in the ship with the hired servants, and went after him.

There must have been something divinely compelling in the face of the Savior. Otherwise they would not have acted so irrationally as to follow a man whom they had never seen before. Does one leave a father to follow a man in whom he sees nothing more than he sees in his father? They left their father of the flesh to follow the Father of the spirit. They did not leave a father; they found a Father. What is the point of this digression? To show that there was something divine in the Savior’s very countenance that men, seeing, could not resist.

Mark 1:30

But Simon's wife's mother lay sick of a fever, and anon they tell him of her.

Can you imagine Jesus standing before your bed and you continue sleeping? It is absurd that you would remain in bed in his presence. Where is Jesus? He is already here offering himself to us. “In the middle,” he says, “among you he stands, whom you do not recognize.” “The kingdom of God is in your midst.” Faith beholds Jesus among us. If we are unable to seize his hand, let us prostrate ourselves at his feet. If we are unable to reach his head, let us wash his feet with our tears. Our repentance is the perfume of the Savior. See how costly is the compassion of the Savior. Our sins give off a terrible odor; they are rottenness. Nevertheless, if we repent of our sins, they will be transformed into perfume by the Lord. Therefore, let us ask the Lord to grasp our hand. “And at once,” he says, “the fever left her.” Immediately as her hand is grasped, the fever flees.

Mark 2:17

When Jesus heard it, he saith unto them, They that are whole have no need of the physician, but they that are sick: I came not to call the righteous, but sinners to repentance.

There are two ways of interpreting the saying “I came not to call the righteous, but sinners.” The first is by analogy with the accompanying phrase: “Those who are well have no need of a physician, but those who are sick.” The other way is to put a more literal construction on the statement, like this: Since no one is perfectly righteous, Christ has not come to call those who are not there, but the multitudes of sinners who are there, with whom the world is filled, remembering the Psalm which says “Help, O Lord, for there is no longer any one who is godly.”

Mark 3:16-17

And Simon he surnamed Peter;

Verse 7. "And the overseer of the eunuchs imposed names upon them, calling Daniel Belteshazzar (Balthasar), and Hananiah Shadrach, and Mishael Meshach, and Azariah Abednego." It was not only the overseer or master of the eunuchs (as others have rendered it, the "chief-eunuch") who changed the names of saints, but also Pharaoh called Joseph in Egypt Somtonphanec (Genesis 41:45), for neither of them wished them to have Jewish names in the land of captivity. Wherefore the prophet says in the Psalm: "How shall we sing the Lord's song in a strange land?" (Psalm 137:4). Furthermore the Lord Himself changes names benignly, and on the basis of events imposes names of special significance, so as to call Abram Abraham (Genesis 17:5), and Sarai Sarah (Genesis 17:15). Also in the Gospel, the former Simon received the name of Peter (Mark 3:16), and the sons of Zebedee are called "sons of thunder" (Mark 3:17) - which is not boanerges, as most people suppose, but is more correctly read benereem.

Mark 3:21

And when his friends heard of it, they went out to lay hold on him: for they said, He is beside himself.

In the gospel we read that even his kinsfolk desired to bind him as one of weak mind. His opponents also reviled him saying, “You are a Samaritan and have a devil.”

Mark 5:13 · 2 passages

And forthwith Jesus gave them leave. And the unclean spirits went out, and entered into the swine: and the herd ran violently down a steep place into the sea, (they were about two thousand;) and were choked in the sea.

It need not disturb anyone that by the Lord’s command two thousand swine were slain by the agency of demons, since those who witnessed the miracle would not have believed that so great a multitude of demons had gone out of the man unless an equally vast number of swine had rushed to ruin, showing that it was a legion that impelled them. THE LIFE OF ST.

Was it just that two thousand swine perished so one soul might be saved? One seeking purity of heart had best not become preoccupied with the natural prerogative of the demonic legion or animals. It is better that each single reader reflect upon his own soul, his own way of life, and the rarity of true excellence. Remember when the whole of Judea was led into captivity when Nebuchadneser came, and thousands were displaced into Babylonia as prisoners—Jeremiah alone was left praising God. And they threw him into a muddy cistern. Nevertheless, the soul of this one man was more decisive for the destiny of Israel than all the rest.

Mark 5:27

When she had heard of Jesus, came in the press behind, and touched his garment.

The woman with the hemorrhage had spent all that she had on doctors. Hungering and thirsting, her spirit had died within her. Having lost everything she possessed, because her life was wasting away within her, she cried out to the Lord in anguish. Her touch on the hem of his garment was the cry of a believing heart. In this she is the figure of the assembly of God gathered from all nations.