Jerome — Commentary on Scripture

Matthew 2:20

Saying, Arise, and take the young child and his mother, and go into the land of Israel: for they are dead which sought the young child's life.

(Verse 20) For those who sought the child's life are dead. From this we understand that not only Herod, but also the priests and scribes at the same time had planned the death of the Lord.

Matthew 2:21 · 2 passages

And he arose, and took the young child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel.

(Verse 21.) He rose and took the child and his mother, and came into the land of Israel. He did not say, 'I took my son and my wife,' but the child and his mother, as if a foster father, not a husband.

Had he meant to quote a particular text, he would not have written 'Prophets,' but 'the Prophet.' By thus using the plural he evidently does not take the words of any one passage in Scripture, but the sense of the whole. Nazarene is interpreted 'Holyd,' and that the Lord would be Holy, all Scripture testifies. Otherwise we may explain that it is found in Isaiah (c. 11:1.) rendered to the strict letter of the Hebrew. There shall come a Rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Nazarene shall grow out of His rootse.

Matthew 2:22

But when he heard that Archelaus did reign in Judaea in the room of his father Herod, he was afraid to go thither: notwithstanding, being warned of God in a dream, he turned aside into the parts of Galilee:

(Verse 22) But hearing that Archelaus was reigning in Judea, in place of his father Herod, he was afraid to go there. And being warned in a dream, he withdrew to the region of Galilee. Many fall into error due to ignorance of history, thinking that he is the same Herod who mocked the Lord in his passion, and who is reported to be dead now. Therefore, this Herod, who later became friends with Pilate, is the son of that Herod, the brother of Archelaus; and Tiberius Caesar himself, the city of Lugdunum, which is in Gaul, banished him, and made his brother Herod successor to the kingdom. Read the story of Joseph.

Matthew 2:23 · 3 passages

And he came and dwelt in a city called Nazareth: that it might be fulfilled which was spoken by the prophets, He shall be called a Nazarene.

(Verse 23) And coming, he lived in a city called Nazareth, so that what was spoken by the prophets might be fulfilled, that he would be called a Nazarene. If he had set a fixed example from the Scriptures, he would never have said, what was spoken by the prophets; but simply, what was spoken by the prophet: but now, calling them prophets in the plural, he shows that he did not take words from the Scriptures, but the meaning. Nazarene, interprets as holy. But all Scripture testifies that the Lord would be holy. We can also say in another way, that even in the same words, according to the Hebrew truth, it is written in Isaiah: There shall come forth a rod out of the stem of Jesse, and a Nazarene shall rise out of his roots (Isa. 11:1).

In this it is to be noted that wherever the Evangelist, whether on his own account or in the person of our Lord the Saviour quotes the testimony of the Old Testament he does not follow the authority of the translators of the Septuagint but the Hebrew. Wherefore these two forms exist "Out of Egypt have I called my son," and "for he shall be called a Nazarene."

If this could have been found in the Scriptures, he never would have said, “Because it has been spoken by the prophets,” but he would rather have spoken more plainly: “Because it has been spoken by a prophet.” As it is now, in speaking of prophets in general he has shown that he has not taken the specific words but rather the sense from the Scriptures. “Nazarene” is understood as “holy.” Every Scripture attests that the Lord was to be holy. We can also speak in another way of what was written … in Hebrew in Isaiah: “A branch will blossom from the root of Jesse, a Nazarene from his root.”

Matthew 3:1-17 · 3 passages

In those days came John the Baptist, preaching in the wilderness of Judaea,

[Daniel 10:4] "And in the twenty-fourth day of the first month, I was beside the great river which is the Tigris." Ezekiel also had seen a great vision beside a river, the Chebar (Ezekiel 1:1). And it was by the stream of the Jordan that the heavens were opened to the gaze of our Lord and Savior and also to John the Baptist (Matthew 3:1-17). Therefore those critics should leave off their foolish objections who raise questions about the presence of shadows and symbols in a matter of historical truth and attempt to destroy the truth itself by imagining that they should employ allegorical methods to destroy the historicity of rivers and trees and of Paradise.

(In. Is. 40:3.) Consider how the salvation of God, and the glory of the Lord, is preached not in Jerusalem, but in the solitude of the Church, in the wilderness to multitudes.

John Baptist is the first to preach the Kingdom of Heaven, that the forerunner of the Lord may have this honourable privilege.

(Chapter III - Verse 1) Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near. John the Baptist proclaims the kingdom of heaven, honoring the Lord as its precursor with this privilege.

Matthew 3:3 · 2 passages

For this is he that was spoken of by the prophet Esaias, saying, The voice of one crying in the wilderness, Prepare ye the way of the Lord, make his paths straight.

He prepared the souls of believers in whom the Lord would walk, so he might walk in purity along the purest of paths, saying, “I will live in them and move among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people.”

(Verse 3.) For this is he who is spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: 'The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.' He was preparing the souls of the believers, in whom the Lord was going to walk, to walk in the purest ways, saying: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people' (Leviticus 26:12). Porphyry compares this passage to the beginning of the Gospel of Mark, where it is written: 'The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophet Isaiah: Behold, I send my angel before your face, who will prepare your way.' The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. (Isa. XL, 3). For even though the testimony is from Malachi (Chap. III) and connected to Isaiah, it is asked how we can consider it as an example taken from one Isaiah. This question was answered fully by learned scholars. However, we think that the name of Isaiah was added by mistake of the scribes, which we can also prove in…

(Verse 3.) For this is he who is spoken of by the prophet Isaiah, saying: 'The voice of one crying out in the wilderness, prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths.' He was preparing the souls of the believers, in whom the Lord was going to walk, to walk in the purest ways, saying: 'I will dwell in them and walk among them, and I will be their God, and they shall be my people' (Leviticus 26:12). Porphyry compares this passage to the beginning of the Gospel of Mark, where it is written: 'The beginning of the Gospel of Jesus Christ, the Son of God, as it is written in the prophet Isaiah: Behold, I send my angel before your face, who will prepare your way.' The voice of one crying in the wilderness: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight his paths. (Isa. XL, 3). For even though the testimony is from Malachi (Chap. III) and connected to Isaiah, it is asked how we can consider it as an example taken from one Isaiah. This question was answered fully by learned scholars. However, we think that the name of Isaiah was added by mistake of the scribes, which we can also prove in other places, or certainly from the fact that different testimonies of the Scriptures have become one body. Read the thirteenth Psalm, and you will find the same.

Matthew 3:4 · 2 passages

And the same John had his raiment of camel's hair, and a leathern girdle about his loins; and his meat was locusts and wild honey.

(Verse 4.) Now John himself had a garment made of camel's hair and a leather belt around his waist. He said, 'It is made of hair, not wool.' The type of clothing indicates austerity, not luxury. The leather belt that he wore, just like Elijah, is a symbol of mortification (IV Kings 1). Furthermore, what follows is...

But his food was locusts and wild honey. It is fitting for a dweller of solitude to fulfill not the delights of food, but the necessity of human flesh.

His raiment of camel's hair, not of wool—the one the mark of austerity in dress, the other of a delicate luxury.

Food moreover suited to a dweller in the desert, no choice viands, but such as satisfied the necessities of the body.

His girdle of skin, which Elias also bare, is the mark of mortification.

Matthew 3:7-10

But when he saw many of the Pharisees and Sadducees come to his baptism, he said unto them, O generation of vipers, who hath warned you to flee from the wrath to come?

He intimates God's great power, who, as he made all things out of nothing, can make men out of the hardest stone.

These stones signify the Gentiles because of their hardness of heart. See Ezekiel, I will take away from you the heart of stone, and give you the heart of flesh. Stone is emblematic of hardness, flesh of softness.

Or, the preaching of the Gospel is meant, as the Prophet Jeremiah also compares the Word of the Lord to an axe cleaving the rock. (Jer. 23:29.)

Matthew 3:9 · 2 passages

And think not to say within yourselves, We have Abraham to our father: for I say unto you, that God is able of these stones to raise up children unto Abraham.

“God is able from these stones to raise up children to Abraham.” He calls the Gentiles stones because of their hard heart. We read in Ezekiel: “I will revive their stony heart and give them a heart of flesh.” He shows the hardness in a stone and the softness of flesh. In other words, this passage indicates the power of God, who made everything out of nothing and can produce a people out of the hardest stones.

(Verse. 9.) God is able to raise up children of Abraham from these stones. He calls them ethnic stones because of the hardness of the heart. Read Ezekiel: I will take away the heart of stone from you and give you a heart of flesh (Ezek. XXXVI, 26). In the stone, hardness is shown, in the flesh, softness is shown. Or it simply indicates the power of God, that he who created everything out of nothing can also create a people from the hardest stones.

Matthew 3:10-11

And now also the axe is laid unto the root of the trees: therefore every tree which bringeth not forth good fruit is hewn down, and cast into the fire.

(Verse 10, 11.) For now the axe is laid to the root of the trees. Every tree therefore that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. I indeed baptize you with water for repentance, but he who is coming after me is mightier than I. The preaching of the Gospel word, which is sharp on both sides, is called an axe, according to the prophet Jeremiah, who compares the word of the Lord to an axe cutting through a rock (Jeremiah 46).

Whose shoes I am not worthy to bear. In another Gospel: Whose, he said, I am not worthy to untie the strap of his shoe: here humility is shown, there mystery is demonstrated, that Christ is the bridegroom, and John does not deserve to untie the bridegroom's shoe, lest his house be called according to the law of Moses, and the example of Ruth, the house of the barefoot (Deut. XXV, and Ruth. IV).

Matthew 3:11-12

I indeed baptize you with water unto repentance: but he that cometh after me is mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: he shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire:

In the other Gospels it is, whose shoe latchet I am not worthy to loose. Here his humility, there his ministry is intended; Christ is the Bridegroom, and John is not worthy to loose the Bridegroom's shoe, that his house be not called according to the Law of Moses and the example of Ruth, The house of him that hath his shoe loosed. (Deut. 25:10.)

Either the Holy Ghost Himself is a fire, as we learn from the Acts, when there sat as it were fire on the tongues of the believers; and thus the word of the Lord was fulfilled who said, I am come to send fire on the earth, I will that it burn. (Luke 12:49.) Or, we are baptized now with the Spirit, hereafter with fire; as the Apostle speaks, Fire shall try every man's work, of what sort it ise. (1 Cor. 3:13.)

Matthew 3:12

Whose fan is in his hand, and he will throughly purge his floor, and gather his wheat into the garner; but he will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire.

(Verse 12.) He will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and fire. His winnowing fork is in His hand, and He will thoroughly clean out His threshing floor, and gather His wheat into the barn; but He will burn up the chaff with unquenchable fire. This is because the Holy Spirit is like a fire, as the Acts of the Apostles teach, which, when it descended, sat upon each of them like tongues of fire (Acts 2); and the word of the Lord was fulfilled when He said, 'I came to send fire upon the earth, and how I wish it were already kindled' (Luke 12:49). Whether it be because in the present we are baptized by the Spirit, and in the future by fire. The Apostle also concurs with this meaning: The work of each one shall be made manifest: for the day of the Lord shall declare it, because it shall be revealed in fire. (1 Corinthians 3:13).