TRV
Jerome
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 5,299 passages across 63 books
Commentary
Ecclesiastes 12:12
And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh.
"And further, by these, my son, be admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness of the flesh. "If you remove the words which are given by the one shepherd, related by the advice and agreement of the wise, do nothing and nothing will be reproved you; follow in the footsteps of the multitude and do not diverge from their command. Then too for him who seeks to know many things there is a great number of books that will lead him to wickedness and make the reader toil in vain. But he also teaches that you must have enthusiasm and follow meanings more than the words themselves, the opposite that philosophers and teachers of this world teach, who try to assert the falsities of their doctrines with flamboyant and unnecessary language. On the other hand divine scripture is restricted by the small quantity of what is written, and however much it is enlarged by people's opinions it is restricted by the text itself. This is because the Lord has made speech concise and brief all over the world, and His word is the same when it is spoken in our mouth and our hear…
"And further, by these, my son, be
admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness
of the flesh. "If you remove the words which are given by
the one shepherd, related by the advice and agreement of the wise, do nothing
and nothing will be reproved you; follow in the footsteps of the multitude and
do not diverge from their command. Then
too for him who seeks to know many things there is a great number of books that
will lead him to wickedness and make the reader toil in vain. But he also teaches that you must have
enthusiasm and follow meanings more than the words themselves, the opposite
that philosophers and teachers of this world teach, who try to assert the
falsities of their doctrines with flamboyant and unnecessary language. On the other hand divine scripture is
restricted by the small quantity of what is written, and however much it is
enlarged by people's opinions it is restricted by the text itself. This is because the Lord has made speech
concise and brief all over the world, and His word is the same when it is
spoken in our mouth and our heart. [Cfr. Deut. 30, 14; Rom. 10, 8.] Differently: read often, then consider what
you have read daily, there is usually more toil of the mind that that of the
body. For just as whatever you do with
your hand and body is filled with the toil of the hand and the body, so that
which pertains to reading is more the toil of the mind. It seems to me from this that the above points
from the several books must be considered differently to the way in which many
believe them to be. It is the custom of
the Scriptures that, no matter how many books there are, if they all follow the
same matter are have few differences, then we can say that they are one
book. In this way the Gospel and the
"immaculate law of the Lord, converting spirits" [Ps. 18, 8.]
are called one, although there are several books in the Gospel and there are
many laws. In this way too there is one
volume of Isaiah, and all of the divine Scripture has one title; Ezekiel [Cfr. Ez. 3, 1-3.]
and John [Cfr. Apoc. 10, 9.]
are also many books in one book. The Saviour too prophesied in the holy words,
saying, "in the title of the Book is written about me" [Ps. 39, 9.]. According to this meaning therefore I think
it is a teaching that there should not be too many books. For whatever you say, if it is told to him
who was with God in the beginning, the word then is God [Cfr. Ioh. 1, 2.],
as one volume, and the many books are the one law, which is called the
Gospel. But if you argue that they are
varied and differ too much to be in the same volume, and look at them with too
much curiosity, even within each book you will see that there are many
books. They say about this: "you
may not escape the sin of saying too much" [Prov. 10, 19.]. Therefore there is no end to such books, for
all is good and the ending locks in truth, but wickedness and lying have no
end. And the more they are sought, the
more they come about. Study and
consideration of this is toil of the body.
I say of the body here and not of the spirit. But the spirit even has toil according to
what the apostle says: "the more I worked for all these, not I, but the
grace of God which was with me" [I Cor. 15, 10.],
and the Saviour says, "I worked shouting" [Ps. 68, 4.].
admonished: of making many books there is no end; and much study is a weariness
of the flesh. "If you remove the words which are given by
the one shepherd, related by the advice and agreement of the wise, do nothing
and nothing will be reproved you; follow in the footsteps of the multitude and
do not diverge from their command. Then
too for him who seeks to know many things there is a great number of books that
will lead him to wickedness and make the reader toil in vain. But he also teaches that you must have
enthusiasm and follow meanings more than the words themselves, the opposite
that philosophers and teachers of this world teach, who try to assert the
falsities of their doctrines with flamboyant and unnecessary language. On the other hand divine scripture is
restricted by the small quantity of what is written, and however much it is
enlarged by people's opinions it is restricted by the text itself. This is because the Lord has made speech
concise and brief all over the world, and His word is the same when it is
spoken in our mouth and our heart. [Cfr. Deut. 30, 14; Rom. 10, 8.] Differently: read often, then consider what
you have read daily, there is usually more toil of the mind that that of the
body. For just as whatever you do with
your hand and body is filled with the toil of the hand and the body, so that
which pertains to reading is more the toil of the mind. It seems to me from this that the above points
from the several books must be considered differently to the way in which many
believe them to be. It is the custom of
the Scriptures that, no matter how many books there are, if they all follow the
same matter are have few differences, then we can say that they are one
book. In this way the Gospel and the
"immaculate law of the Lord, converting spirits" [Ps. 18, 8.]
are called one, although there are several books in the Gospel and there are
many laws. In this way too there is one
volume of Isaiah, and all of the divine Scripture has one title; Ezekiel [Cfr. Ez. 3, 1-3.]
and John [Cfr. Apoc. 10, 9.]
are also many books in one book. The Saviour too prophesied in the holy words,
saying, "in the title of the Book is written about me" [Ps. 39, 9.]. According to this meaning therefore I think
it is a teaching that there should not be too many books. For whatever you say, if it is told to him
who was with God in the beginning, the word then is God [Cfr. Ioh. 1, 2.],
as one volume, and the many books are the one law, which is called the
Gospel. But if you argue that they are
varied and differ too much to be in the same volume, and look at them with too
much curiosity, even within each book you will see that there are many
books. They say about this: "you
may not escape the sin of saying too much" [Prov. 10, 19.]. Therefore there is no end to such books, for
all is good and the ending locks in truth, but wickedness and lying have no
end. And the more they are sought, the
more they come about. Study and
consideration of this is toil of the body.
I say of the body here and not of the spirit. But the spirit even has toil according to
what the apostle says: "the more I worked for all these, not I, but the
grace of God which was with me" [I Cor. 15, 10.],
and the Saviour says, "I worked shouting" [Ps. 68, 4.].
Ecclesiastes 12:13
· 2 passages
Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man.
Let us indeed “fear God and obey his commandments,” for each person was born for this purpose, that knowing his Creator, he might venerate him with fear, honor and observance of the commandments. When the time of judgment arrives, whatever we have done will stand under judgment and await the double sentence that each person will receive for his work, whether he has done evil or good. We will be held accountable on the day of judgment for what we were able to do, “for every hidden deed, whether good or evil,” as Symmachus and the Septuagint translated it, that is, for every contempt, or at least every negligence, but also for every idle word offered even unknowingly, not willfully. But because fear belongs to slaves and perfect love drives fear away, fear has a double meaning in divine Scripture, for beginners and for the perfect. The fear of him who has been perfected in virtue, I believe, is expressed here: “They who fear the Lord lack nothing.” Or at least because he is still a man and has not taken God’s name, he knows his own nature, that he might fear God while placed in the bod…
Let us indeed “fear God and obey his commandments,” for each person was born for this purpose, that knowing his Creator, he might venerate him with fear, honor and observance of the commandments. When the time of judgment arrives, whatever we have done will stand under judgment and await the double sentence that each person will receive for his work, whether he has done evil or good. We will be held accountable on the day of judgment for what we were able to do, “for every hidden deed, whether good or evil,” as Symmachus and the Septuagint translated it, that is, for every contempt, or at least every negligence, but also for every idle word offered even unknowingly, not willfully. But because fear belongs to slaves and perfect love drives fear away, fear has a double meaning in divine Scripture, for beginners and for the perfect. The fear of him who has been perfected in virtue, I believe, is expressed here: “They who fear the Lord lack nothing.” Or at least because he is still a man and has not taken God’s name, he knows his own nature, that he might fear God while placed in the body. For God will bring each creature, that is, each person, to judgment for every decision he or she made contrary to that which God has arranged and said. “Woe” indeed “to those who call evil good and good evil.”
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of man. For God shall bring every work into judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be evil. "The Hebrews say that although it used to be among other writings of Solomon in the past, they have not persisted in memory; and this book seems as if it ought to have been omitted, because it asserts that all God's creations are vain and that he thinks everything is done for nothing, and he prefers food and drink and transient pleasures to all things; thus he takes his authority from this one title, so it is now included in the number of divine books, because he argues well and lists many things like "anakephaiosei, "and he said that his speeches are the easiest to hear, and to understand; let us therefore fear God and carry out his commandments. For man is born for this purpose and, understanding his Creator, he reveres Him in fear and respect, and in the work of his commandments. And when the time of judgement comes whatever we have done will stand…
"Let us hear the conclusion of the whole
matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of
man. For God shall bring every work into
judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be
evil. "The Hebrews say that although it used to be among other
writings of Solomon in the past, they have not persisted in memory; and this
book seems as if it ought to have been omitted, because it asserts that all
God's creations are vain and that he thinks everything is done for nothing, and
he prefers food and drink and transient pleasures to all things; thus he takes
his authority from this one title, so it is now included in the number of
divine books, because he argues well and lists many things like "anakephaiosei, "and he said that his
speeches are the easiest to hear, and to understand; let us therefore fear God
and carry out his commandments. For man
is born for this purpose and, understanding his Creator, he reveres Him in fear
and respect, and in the work of his commandments. And when the time of judgement comes whatever
we have done will stand before the judge and for a long time we will await our
judgement which could go one way or the other, and we will receive our just
rewards, whether they be good or bad.
But where we read, "with every secret thing", Symmachus and the
Septuagint have interpreted, "from all contempt", or even "from
all unknown", which even brought by reluctant words, not by will, but by
ignorance, we will be returned to reason in the day of our judgement. Differently: since fear is more appropriate
to slaves, and perfect love involves no fear, and fear in the divine Scripture
is used to denote those embarking on and those completing education [Cfr. I. Ioh. 4, 18.]. Now I think he talks about the fear inherent
in virtues, according to the passage, which says, "nothing is lacking from
those who fear Him" [Ps. 33, 10.]. Or even, since until now he is a man and has
not yet taken the name of God, he has this reason of his wealth, so that he
fears God while he is still alive. Since
every single deed is judged, that is, God leads all men into judgement about
all things, either good or bad, which are done and said differently than by
Him. For indeed, "woe to those who
say wicked is good, and good is wicked" [Is. 5, 20.].
matter: Fear God, and keep his commandments: for this is the whole duty of
man. For God shall bring every work into
judgement, with every secret thing, whether it be good, or whether it be
evil. "The Hebrews say that although it used to be among other
writings of Solomon in the past, they have not persisted in memory; and this
book seems as if it ought to have been omitted, because it asserts that all
God's creations are vain and that he thinks everything is done for nothing, and
he prefers food and drink and transient pleasures to all things; thus he takes
his authority from this one title, so it is now included in the number of
divine books, because he argues well and lists many things like "anakephaiosei, "and he said that his
speeches are the easiest to hear, and to understand; let us therefore fear God
and carry out his commandments. For man
is born for this purpose and, understanding his Creator, he reveres Him in fear
and respect, and in the work of his commandments. And when the time of judgement comes whatever
we have done will stand before the judge and for a long time we will await our
judgement which could go one way or the other, and we will receive our just
rewards, whether they be good or bad.
But where we read, "with every secret thing", Symmachus and the
Septuagint have interpreted, "from all contempt", or even "from
all unknown", which even brought by reluctant words, not by will, but by
ignorance, we will be returned to reason in the day of our judgement. Differently: since fear is more appropriate
to slaves, and perfect love involves no fear, and fear in the divine Scripture
is used to denote those embarking on and those completing education [Cfr. I. Ioh. 4, 18.]. Now I think he talks about the fear inherent
in virtues, according to the passage, which says, "nothing is lacking from
those who fear Him" [Ps. 33, 10.]. Or even, since until now he is a man and has
not yet taken the name of God, he has this reason of his wealth, so that he
fears God while he is still alive. Since
every single deed is judged, that is, God leads all men into judgement about
all things, either good or bad, which are done and said differently than by
Him. For indeed, "woe to those who
say wicked is good, and good is wicked" [Is. 5, 20.].
Ephesians 1:1
Paul, an apostle of Jesus Christ by the will of God, to the saints which are at Ephesus, and to the faithful in Christ Jesus:
Those whom he has called saintly he also calls faithful, because faith derives from the choice of our own minds, but sanctification we receive meanwhile from the abundance of the Sanctifier, not from our own will. As for his saying “faithful in Jesus Christ,” this is aimed at drawing a distinction that should be carefully noted. For there are those who have genuine faith but not faith in Jesus Christ. Someone who returns a deposit and does not deny another’s trust shows himself a faithful friend.… This person is indeed faithful but not “in Christ.”
Ephesians 1:2
Grace be to you, and peace, from God our Father, and from the Lord Jesus Christ.
It could be argued that both should be referred to both, that is, both grace and peace apply no less to God the Father than to our Lord Jesus Christ. Or it could be argued that each should be referred to each, so that grace is referred to God the Father and peace to Christ. It is more likely the latter, since the words immediately following are to the praise of the glory of God’s grace. Thus the “grace” of the Father lies in his willingness to send the Son for our salvation, while the “peace” of the Son lies in the fact that we are reconciled to the Father through him.
Ephesians 1:3
· 2 passages
Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, who hath blessed us with all spiritual blessings in heavenly places in Christ:
Now God has blessed us not with this or that blessing but with every blessing. It is not as though we all obtain them all at once, but singly we obtain particular ones in due time or some of the whole number. Thereby we possess their fullness through these singular blessings. He speaks not only of earthly blessings but of spiritual—there are indeed earthly blessings, as when someone has children, affluence in riches, the pleasure of honor and health.… But spiritual blessings are in the heavens because the earth is too small to circumscribe a spiritual blessing.
Now the phrase “blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ” is to be read in a double sense. It first means that God is blessed as the maker of all things, this being the main clause. To this is then added “who is also the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ.” It means that both God and Father are to be referred in common to our Lord. Blessed is the God of the man who has been assumed and the father of him who was the Word of God with God in the beginning! Not that the assumed one is other than the Word who assumed him, but that he who is one and the same is spoken of now by sublime and now by humble titles, according to what circumstances demand.
Ephesians 1:4
· 3 passages
According as he hath chosen us in him before the foundation of the world, that we should be holy and without blame before him in love:
It is asked how anyone can be saintly and unblemished in God’s sight.… We must reply [that] Paul does not say he chose us before the foundation of the world on account of our being saintly and unblemished. He chose us that we might become saintly and unblemished, that is, that we who were not formerly saintly and unblemished should subsequently be so.… So understood it provides a counterargument to one who says that souls were elected before the world came to be because of their sanctity and freedom from any sinful vice.
Between saintly and unblemished there is this difference, that one who is saintly is ipso facto understood also to be unblemished, but one who is at some point unblemished is not by that fact itself saintly. Infants, after all, are spotless because their bodies are pure and they have committed no sin; and yet they are not saintly, because sanctity is not acquired without will and effort. Moreover, he who has done no sin can be called unblemished, but the saintly person is the one who is full of virtues.
Paul, wishing to show that God made all things out of nothing, ascribed to him not the “composition,” the “creation” or the “making” but the katabolē, that is, the inception of the foundation.
Ephesians 1:5
· 2 passages
Having predestinated us unto the adoption of children by Jesus Christ to himself, according to the good pleasure of his will,
The former [verse] refers to those saints who did not previously exist and who before they came into being were thought of and subsequently acquired existence. This [verse] speaks of God, who was preceded by no thought or willing but always existed and never had a beginning for his existence. Therefore he rightly used the term destined for those who, having once not existed, subsequently acquired existence. But of the Son, that is, of our Lord Jesus Christ, he wrote ordained in another place also.
Christ, as we have often said already, is wisdom, justice, peace, joy, temperance and the rest. Note that the names of all these virtues are loved even by those who do not pursue them! No one is such a brazen criminal that he does not claim to love wisdom and justice.
Ephesians 1:7
In whom we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, according to the riches of his grace;
The one who is yet to be redeemed is a captive. He has ceased to be free by coming under the power of the enemy. So we are captives in this world and bound by the yoke of slavery to the principalities and powers, unable to release our hands from our chains. So we raise our eyes upward until the Redeemer arrives.
Ephesians 1:9
· 2 passages
Having made known unto us the mystery of his will, according to his good pleasure which he hath purposed in himself:
The Stoics also hold that there is a distinction between wisdom and insight. They say, “Wisdom is the knowledge of things divine and human, insight only of that which is mortal.” According to this distinction we might apply Paul’s term wisdom to the invisible and visible and insight only to the visible.
Some attentive reader might object: “If Paul knows in part and prophesies in part and now sees as through a glass darkly, how is the mystery of God revealed either to him or to the Ephesians “in all wisdom and insight?” … It is not that they by themselves have learned this mystery “in all wisdom and insight,” but God “in all wisdom and insight” has revealed the mystery to us, so far as we are able to grasp it.
Ephesians 1:13
In whom ye also trusted, after that ye heard the word of truth, the gospel of your salvation: in whom also after that ye believed, ye were sealed with that holy Spirit of promise,
It is no small praise for the Ephesians that they have heard not preaching as such but “the word of truth.” Remember that we read in another letter that there is a great distance between preaching and the word of truth.
Ephesians 1:14
Which is the earnest of our inheritance until the redemption of the purchased possession, unto the praise of his glory.
A guarantee (arrabōn, “earnest”) is not the same as a token or pledge. For a guarantee is given as an affidavit and bond for a future purchase. But a pledge … is an expression of a present reciprocal transaction. Thus when the money is returned the pledge is restored by the creditor to the one who has repaid the debt.… So from the guarantee the majestic scope of the future inheritance may be grasped.
Ephesians 1:17
That the God of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of glory, may give unto you the spirit of wisdom and revelation in the knowledge of him:
It is this God of the incarnate man who is the Father of glory, wisdom and truth, who gives the Spirit of wisdom and revelation to those who believe in his Son so that they may become wise and contemplate the glory of the Lord with unveiled face. When this wisdom and revelation have made them wise and opened to them the mysteries that were hidden, it follows at once that they have “the eyes of their heart enlightened.”
Ephesians 1:18
· 2 passages
The eyes of your understanding being enlightened; that ye may know what is the hope of his calling, and what the riches of the glory of his inheritance in the saints,
It is not without effort that we come to “know the hope of our calling and the riches of God’s inheritance in the saints.” This effort in fact comes in response to that renewing gift which God himself gives in the glorious resurrection of his own Son. This gift he gives not once but continually.… Every day Christ rises from the dead. Every day he is raised in the penitent.
His phrase “eyes of the heart” clearly refers to those things we cannot understand without sense and intelligence.… Faith sees beyond what the physical eyes see. Physical eyes are in the heads of not only the wise but the unwise.