Jerome

(Vers. 2.) Carry one another's burdens, and thus fulfill the law of Christ. For sin is a burden, and the Psalmist testifies, saying: My iniquities have risen above my head, like a heavy burden weighing me down (Psalm 38:5). And Zechariah, in a vision, saw a weighty lead covering of iniquity (Zechariah 5). The Savior took this burden upon Himself for us, teaching us by His example what we ought to do. For indeed he carries our iniquities, and he grieves for us, and he invites those who are burdened by the weight of sins and the Law to the light burden of virtue, saying: My yoke is easy, and my burden is light. Therefore, whoever does not despair of his brother's salvation, but extends a hand to the one who prays, and as much as he can, weeps with the one who weeps, is weak with the weak, and judges his own sins as those of others, such a person fulfills the law of Christ through charity. What is the law of Christ? This is my commandment, that you love one another (John 13:34). What is the law of the Son of God? Love one another, as I have loved you. How did the Son of God love us? Greater love has no one than this, that someone lay down his life for his friends (John 15:13). Whoever does not have compassion, nor is clothed with the bowels of mercy and tears, although he may be spiritual, will not fulfill the law of Christ. But let us also connect this place with the previous ones. For we follow a twofold understanding. If someone is weak in faith and is still nourished with the milk of infancy, they cannot so quickly transition from legal observance to the spiritual sacraments: you who are stronger, bear their burdens, lest your knowledge cause your brother to stumble, for whom Christ died. Also bear the need of your brother, who aids the burdened poor with the weight of destitution, and makes friends for himself with unjust money (Luke 16), whom Christ addresses after his resurrection: Come to me, blessed of my Father: possess the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world. For I was hungry, and you gave me something to eat; I was thirsty, and you gave me something to drink (Matthew 25:34, 35). According to this meaning, Paul, teaching Timothy in another Epistle, added: Command those who are rich in this present world not to be conceited or to put their hope in wealth, which is so uncertain, but to put their hope in God, who richly provides us with everything for our enjoyment. Command them to do good, to be rich in good deeds, and to be generous and willing to share. In this way they will lay up treasure for themselves as a firm foundation for the coming age, so that they may take hold of the life that is truly life (1 Timothy 6:17-19). He who grasps true life, surely the one who speaks: I am the life (John 14:6), fulfills the law of Christ, which aims at life.

(Verse 3) For if anyone thinks that they are something when they are nothing, they deceive themselves. If anyone does not want to bear the burdens of others, and is merciless, satisfied only with their own work and virtue, not seeking what is of others but what is their own, that is, a lover only of themselves and not of God, they deceive themselves. However, it can be read and distinguished in two ways: Either, if anyone thinks that they are something when they are nothing, or in this way: If anyone thinks that they are something, as we will explain later, when they are nothing, they deceive themselves. And this difference resonates more in Greek than in Latin. The first sense of this distinction is: Whoever considers themselves to be something, and is nothing, deceives themselves. The second sense is deeper, and is more pleasing to us: If someone considers themselves to be something, in that they think they are something, not out of kindness towards their neighbor, but out of their own work and effort, judging themselves only by their own virtue, this person, out of this very arrogance, becomes nothing, and deceives themselves: which is better expressed in Greek as φρεναπατᾷ, which means, they deceive their own mind: for which the Latin interpreter has used the phrase, they deceive themselves. But he deceives his own mind, who thinks himself wise, and according to Isaiah, he is wise in himself and understands in his own sight (Isa. V). The understanding of this passage is connected to circumcision and the Law: Whoever is spiritual and does not have mercy on his neighbor, despising the humble because he himself is higher, deceives himself, not knowing that this is the law of the spirit, that we should love one another.

(Verse 4) But let each one test his own work, and then his reason to boast will be in himself alone and not in his neighbor. The meaning is this: You, who consider yourself spiritual and stronger in the weakness of others, should not focus on the weakness of the one who is falling but on your own strength. For it is not because someone else cannot perfectly transition from Judaism to Christianity that you are a perfect Christian; rather, if your own conscience does not bother you, you have reason to boast in yourself and not in someone else. An athlete is not strong because they have defeated the weak and overpowered the feeble limbs of their opponent, but if they are strong in their own strength, not in the weakness of others. It can be understood another way: one who has a conscience of good work and considers themselves should not boast about it to others, pour out their own praise to the world, share it with everyone, and seek glory from the favor of others. Rather, they should have glory within themselves and say: But far be it from me to boast except in the cross of our Lord Jesus Christ, through whom the world has been crucified to me, and I to the world. He who seeks glory from another, is neither crucified with the world, nor is he himself crucified with Christ. He has indeed received his reward, that which he sought from men.

(V. 6.) But let the one who is being catechized communicate the word to the one who catechizes in all good things. Marcion interpreted this passage in such a way that he thought believers and catechumens should pray together and the teacher should communicate with the disciples in prayer; he was especially delighted that it follows in all good things. Certainly, if the discussion had been about prayer, it should not have been instructed to the one who is being catechized, but to the one who catechizes, that is, not to the disciple, but to the teacher. Then, also, the other things that follow, do not agree with his explanation: Whatever a man sows, that he will also reap. And: But let us not tire of doing good: for in due season we will reap, not slacking off. Therefore, this is the sense: Because previously he had instructed them in spiritual matters, to instruct those who were preoccupied with some offense in the spirit of gentleness, and to bear one another's burdens, fulfilling the law of Christ: now, on the contrary, he instructs those who are still weaker, and disciples, and carnal, that just as they themselves harvest spiritual things from their teachers, they should also provide carnal things to their teachers: those who devote themselves entirely to the study of divine knowledge should be supported by the necessities of this life; and let what is written about the manna come to pass: He who gathered much had nothing left over, and he who gathered little had no lack (2 Corinthians 8:15). But in the present place, according to the custom of the common people, he called food and clothing, and other things that people count among goods, good. For we are content with having food and clothing (1 Timothy 6:8). And it is not surprising that Paul referred to those things that are necessary for the body as goods: since even our Savior said to those who had not yet reached the summit of virtue, but were still walking humbly and were asking for faith to be added to them: If therefore you, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your heavenly Father give good things to those who ask him (Matthew 7:11)! I think that Job, when he spoke to his wife, as if he were speaking to one of the foolish women, with regard to her, who thought in this way, spoke about material wealth: 'If we have received good things from the hand of the Lord (Job 2:10): and again about hardships and pressures, and temptations that bring victory: Why do we not endure evil? For surely, good and evil are not placed in wealth and pressures, but in virtues and vices, as the righteous man says in the psalm: 'Who is the man who desires life, who desires to see good days?' Restrain your tongue from evil, and your lips from speaking deceit. Turn away from evil and do good (Psalm 34:13-14 and 37:27). Properly, evil is said to be that which should be avoided, and good is said to be that which we should do. Also, in the Gospel, the rich man who did not have knowledge of good and evil rightly considered the abundance of his fields as good, saying: 'Soul, you have many goods laid up for many years; take your ease, eat, drink, and be merry' (Luke 12:19). And the one who was lying in purple and indulging in luxury heard in the underworld from Abraham: You received good things in your life (Luke 16:25). Also, we must pay attention to the fact that this could possibly be understood as the disciples being given the command to communicate the word to those who instruct them, to be obedient, docile, and accommodating. However, this applies only to those things that are good, spiritual, and not corrupted by heretical or Judaic perversity.

(Verse 7.) Do not be deceived, God is not mocked. Whatever a person sows, that will he also reap. By foreseeing with the Spirit, those who are being taught are able to provide for the needs and expenses of their teachers and to claim poverty, saying, 'My field has withered this year due to drought, my vineyard has been destroyed by hail, the taxes that could have been paid have been seized.' I do not have what is required to give. Therefore, do not be deceived, God is not mocked. He knows, he says, your hearts, he is not ignorant of your abilities. A plausible excuse can appease a person, but it cannot deceive God. And at the same time, he encourages them to do what is commanded, mentioning seed, so that they do not think it is lost, as they will receive it back with interest. He also teaches the Corinthians the principle of giving and receiving, using a similar example: Whoever sows sparingly will also reap sparingly, and whoever sows in blessings will also reap blessings. Each person should give as he has decided in his heart, not reluctantly or under compulsion, for God loves a cheerful giver (I Corinthians 9:6-7).

(Verse 8) For he who sows in his flesh will reap corruption from the flesh. But he who sows in the Spirit will reap eternal life from the Spirit. Everything we speak, do, and think is sown in two fields, the flesh and the Spirit. If the things that are spoken, done, and thought are good, sown in the Spirit, they will abound with the fruits of eternal life. But if they are evil, taken from the field of the flesh, they will produce for us a harvest of corruption. Another interpretation: Whoever understands the law carnally also expects carnal rewards, which are corrupted in the present age. But whoever is a spiritual listener, sows in the spirit, and will reap eternal life from the spirit. Let us also note the consistency of the discourse and connect it with the previous statements: the person who is called a seed sower in the spirit, when they begin to reap eternal life, they may cease to be a human. Cassianus, who introduces the supposed flesh of Christ, considers every sexual union between a male and a female to be unclean, and is the most fervent heresiarch of the Encratites. He uses the following argument against us under the pretext of the present testimony: 'If anyone sows in the flesh, they will reap corruption from the flesh; but they sow in the flesh who are joined to a woman; therefore, those who use a wife and sow in her flesh will reap corruption from the flesh.' He will be answered, first, that he did not say that Paul, who sows in the flesh, but in his own flesh. However, no one lies with himself, and sows in his own flesh. Then, in order to observe this which we have noted, in his own flesh, let it be granted to him additionally, that those who eat and drink, and sleep and do something for the refreshment of the body, sow in the flesh according to that, and reap corruption from it. But if he resorts to this, to say that those who, whether they drink, or eat, or sleep, in the name of the Lord nonetheless do everything with reason, do not sow in the flesh but in the spirit; and we will respond similarly to him, that those who also follow God’s first commandment, doing things with reason: Increase and multiply, and fill the earth (Gen. I, 22), sow not in the flesh but in the spirit. Therefore, this syllogism is futile and fallacious, first deceiving the listener with a sophism. However, upon careful examination, it is easily dissolved: For we cannot say that Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, and other holy men who were born from the promise, as well as the precursor of the Lord himself, sprouted from the corrupt seed, because he was born in the flesh. It is also worth noting that the one who sows in the flesh is identified with his own flesh, but the one who sows in the spirit is called simply in the spirit. For whoever sows good things, does not sow something of his own, but sows in the spirit of God, from which eternal life will be reaped.

(V. 10) Therefore, while we have time, let us do good to all, especially to those who belong to the family of faith. It is the time of sowing, as we have said, the present time, and the lifespan we are running. In this life, we are allowed to sow what we desire; when this life passes, the time for action is taken away. Thus, the Savior says: Work while it is day; night is coming when no one can work (John 9:4). The word of God has risen for us, the true sun, and the beasts have returned to their dens. Let us proceed as humans to our task, and let us labor until evening, as it is mystically sung in the psalm: You have set darkness, and it is night. The wild animals themselves will pass by, roaring lion cubs, to snatch and seek food from God. The sun rises, and they are gathered, and they sleep in their dens. Man goes out to his work, and to his labor until evening. (Ps. 103, 20-23). Whether we are sick or healthy, humble or powerful, poor or rich, unknown or honored, hungry or satisfied, let us do everything in the name of the Lord with patience and equanimity, and that which is written will be fulfilled in us: For those who love the Lord, all things work together for good. Anger itself and desire, and the harm that desires vengeance, if I restrain myself; if for the sake of God I hold my tongue; if, at every prick of disturbance and the incentives of vice, I recall the sight of God watching over me, they become opportunities for triumph. Let us not say in giving alms: 'This person is a friend, that person I do not know; this one deserves to receive, that one should be despised.' Let us imitate our Father, who makes His sun rise upon the good and the evil, and causes rain to fall upon the just and unjust (Matt. V). The fountain of goodness is open to all. The servant and the free, the commoner and the king, the rich and the poor all likewise drink from it. When a lamp is lit in a house, it shines equally for everyone. But if the reins of generosity are loosened for all indiscriminately, how much more so for members of the household of faith and for Christians, who have the same Father and are called by his name as their master! Moreover, it seems to me that this passage can be connected to the previous ones, in which he calls the members of the household of faith 'masters,' to whom he had ordered all good things to be ministered by their listeners. The course of this life is short. This very thing that I speak, that I say, that I write, that I correct, that I reread, from my time either grows or diminishes for me. Titus, son of Vespasian, who, after the revenge for the blood of Domitian, having overthrown Jerusalem, entered Rome as conqueror, is said to have been of such goodness, that one evening, late, while he was remembering, at dinner, that he had done nothing good that day, he said to his friends: Today, I have lost the day. We think that we do not lose for ourselves the hour, the day, the moments, the time, the ages, when we speak idle words, for which we will have to give an account on the day of judgment (Matt. XII)? But if he said and did this naturally without Law, without the Gospel, without the Savior, and the doctrine of the apostles: what should we do, in whose condemnation Juno holds all, and Vesta holds the virgins, and other idols? Blessed John the evangelist, while he was staying in Ephesus until his extreme old age, and was barely brought to the church among the hands of the disciples, and could not join words into more sentences, he used to say nothing else in each collection but this: Little children, love one another. Finally, the disciples and brothers who were present, tired of hearing the same things always, said: Master, why do you always speak like this? He responded with a worthy sentence from John: Because it is the commandment of the Lord, and if it is done alone, it is enough. This is why the present commandment of the Apostles is: Let us do good to all, especially to the household of faith.

(Verse 11) See with what letters I have written to you with my own hand. Those who wanted the Galatians to be circumcised had spread the rumor that Paul was doing one thing and preaching something else, and by his own actions, he was destroying the message. They claimed that anyone who asserted that the Law was abolished would themselves be found to be within the Law. Paul was unable to personally refute this belief with everyone present because he was restrained by the chains he bore for the sake of Christ's martyrdom. Therefore, he represents himself through letters. And so that no suspicion of forged letters should arise, he himself wrote by his own hand from this place to the end, showing that the previous [letters] were written by someone else. And he also demonstrates that letters were sent in his name by false teachers, writing to the Thessalonians: But we ask you, brothers, through the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ and our gathering together with him, not to be quickly shaken from your senses, nor be alarmed, either by spirit, or by word, or by letter supposedly from us, as if the day of the Lord is imminent, so that no one deceives you in any way (2 Thessalonians 2, 1 seqq.). And in order to dispel any suspicion of falsehood about the entire letter that he was sending, he subscribed with his own hand at the end, saying: My greeting in the hand of Paul, which is the sign in every letter; this is how I write. The grace of our Lord Jesus Christ be with all of you (2 Thess. 3:17-18). He also marked with his own hand the letters he dictated to the Colossians, saying: My greeting in the hand of Paul; remember my chains. And wherever he knew that false teachers were present, who could spread new doctrines through the authority of the Apostles, he subscribed the letter with his own hand. Finally, writing to the Corinthians, among whom there were schisms and heresies, with each one saying, 'I am of Paul,' and 'I am of Apollos,' and 'I am of Cephas' (I Cor. 1:12), he signed his letter with this annotation: My greeting [is] in the hand of Paul: If anyone does not love the Lord Jesus Christ, let him be anathema. Maranatha, and so on. Therefore, desiring to remove any occasion for false teachers who had corrupted the Galatians from the truth of the Gospel, he completed the end of the letter with the annotation of his hand, saying: See with what letters I have written to you; not that the letters were large (for this indeed signifies 'great' in Greek), but that his hand was known to them by distinct traces, so that while they recognize the tops of the letters, they might suppose that they were seeing the very person who had written [the letter]. In this place, a man most learned in our times, I wonder how he spoke such a ridiculous thing. Paul, he says, was a Hebrew and did not know Greek letters. And because necessity demanded it, that he himself would subscribe the letter by his own hand, contrary to the usual curving paths of the letters, he barely expressed with large points: also showing in this his signs of love towards the Galatians, that for their sake he would even attempt that which he could not. Paul, the great writer, wrote a letter, because there was great meaning in his words, and it was written with the Holy Spirit, not with ink or pen. But what he added, with my hand, let us understand in his works. For this reason, it is often written in the prophets: The word of God that was made in the hand of Jeremiah, or Haggai, so that we also know through this similarity that the word of God was made in the hand of Paul. Paul writes great letters not only to the Galatians back then, but also to everyone today, and although the tips with which his letters are written are small, the letters themselves are great, because there is great meaning in them.

(Verse 12) Whoever wants to please in the flesh, these compel you to be circumcised, only so that they may not suffer persecution for the cross of Christ. He shows above where he has subscribed with his own hand: now he repeats what he has written. Gaius Caesar, and Octavian Augustus, and Tiberius, successor of Augustus, had promulgated laws that the Jews who were scattered throughout the entire Roman Empire should live according to their own customs and perform their ancestral ceremonies. Therefore, whoever was circumcised, even if they believed in Christ, was considered a Jew by the Gentiles. But those who claimed that they were not Jews because they were uncircumcised, were subject to persecution by both the Gentiles and the Jews. Now, those who had deceived the Galatians wanted to avoid these persecutions, so they were persuading the disciples to be circumcised for their own protection. The Apostle calls this confidence in the flesh, because they were proposing circumcision in persecution to both the Gentiles whom they feared and the Jews whom they wanted to please. Neither the Jews could persecute them, nor the Gentiles, whom they ((wanted)) to see and circumcise, and to keep the precepts of the Law themselves.

For neither those who are circumcised keep the Law, but they wish to have you circumcised so that they may boast in your flesh. For the law cannot be fulfilled, he says, because of the weakness of the flesh. Therefore, the Jews keep the precepts and teachings of men more than the commandments of God, neither fulfilling the bodily Law, for it is indeed impossible, nor the spiritual Law, which they do not understand. Therefore, this is all that they strive for, that they do, that they exert themselves, so that they may boast among the Jews of the injury to your flesh, and boast of their Gentiles circumcised by their teaching. But they do all of this in order to please the Jews, and the envy of the conquered Law may subside.