Jerome — Commentary on Scripture

Genesis 15:10-11

And he took unto him all these, and divided them in the midst, and laid each piece one against another: but the birds divided he not.

(Verses 10, 11.) And he placed them opposite each other: but he did not separate the birds. However, birds descended upon the carcasses and the divisions thereof, and Abram drove them away. It does not pertain to the present work to explain the sacrament. We only say this, because the Hebrew version has for these words: And birds descended upon the carcasses, and Abram drove them away. For he deservedly often delivered Israel from narrow straits.

Genesis 15:12

And when the sun was going down, a deep sleep fell upon Abram; and, lo, an horror of great darkness fell upon him.

(Verse 12) But when the sun was setting, a deep sleep fell upon Abram. The word for deep sleep in Hebrew is Thardema (), which means a descending, and we translated it as a deep sleep.

Genesis 15:16

But in the fourth generation they shall come hither again: for the iniquity of the Amorites is not yet full.

(Verse 16) But in the fourth generation they will return here. There is no doubt that these will be the ones who are descended from Abraham. It is asked how it is written in Exodus: In the fifth generation the children of Israel went forth from the land of Egypt (Exodus 15:18). On this chapter, we have published a small volume.

Genesis 16:2

And Sarai said unto Abram, Behold now, the LORD hath restrained me from bearing: I pray thee, go in unto my maid; it may be that I may obtain children by her. And Abram hearkened to the voice of Sarai.

(Chapter 16, Verse 2) Behold, the Lord has made me barren, so go in to my maidservant; perhaps I shall obtain children by her. Take careful note that the procreation of children is written in Hebrew as building. For it is read there: Go in to my maidservant, that I may perhaps build through her. And see, lest perhaps this is what is said in Exodus: God blessed the midwives, and they built houses for themselves (Exodus 1:20).

Genesis 16:7

And the angel of the LORD found her by a fountain of water in the wilderness, by the fountain in the way to Shur.

(Verse 7) And the angel of the Lord found her by a fountain of water in the desert, by the fountain on the way to Shur. Then the Egyptian woman hurriedly went on the way to Shur, which leads through the desert to Egypt.

Genesis 16:11

And the angel of the LORD said unto her, Behold, thou art with child, and shalt bear a son, and shalt call his name Ishmael; because the LORD hath heard thy affliction.

(Verse 11) And she called his name Ishmael; for God has heard my affliction. Ishmael means, God hears.

Genesis 16:12

And he will be a wild man; his hand will be against every man, and every man's hand against him; and he shall dwell in the presence of all his brethren.

(Verse 12) This will be a rustic man. His hand will be against everyone, and everyone's hand against him, and he will dwell against the face of all his brothers. In Hebrew, Phara () is written for rustic, which means onager. It signifies that his descendants will dwell in the wilderness, that is, the wandering Saracens, in uncertain lands, who attack and are attacked by all the nations to which the desert is adjacent.

Genesis 17:3-14

And Abram fell on his face: and God talked with him, saying,

(Chapter 17—Verse 3 and following) And the Lord spoke to him, saying: Behold, my covenant is with you, and you shall be the father of a multitude of nations, and your name shall no longer be called Abram, but your name shall be Abraham, for I have made you the father of many nations. It should be noted that wherever we read Testament in Greek, in the Hebrew language it is the word covenant or pact, that is, Berith (). The Hebrews say that God, from his name, which is the Tetragrammaton among them, added the letter He to Abraham and Sarah: for he was first called Abram (), which means lofty father, and later he was called Abraham (), which means father of many: for what follows nations is not part of the name, but is understood. It is not surprising, therefore, that when it seems that the letter Α has been added among the Greeks and us: we have called it the Hebrew letter He added; for the language of that tongue is to write with He (ה‎), but to read with A (א‎): just as, on the contrary, the letter A is often pronounced as He.

Genesis 17:5-15

Neither shall thy name any more be called Abram, but thy name shall be Abraham; for a father of many nations have I made thee.

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.

Genesis 17:15

And God said unto Abraham, As for Sarai thy wife, thou shalt not call her name Sarai, but Sarah shall her name be.

(Verse 15) And God said to Abraham: You shall not call your wife Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. Those who think that the first Sarah was written with one 'R' and then another 'R' was added to it are mistaken. And because 'R' is the hundredth number among the Greeks, they suspect many silly things about her name: when in fact, whatever way they want to understand the composite word, it should have a Hebrew, not Greek, origin, since the name itself is Hebrew. However, no one calling someone in another language takes the etymology of the word from the other language. Therefore, Sarai () was first called by Sin, Res, Iod: with Iod removed, that is, the I element, the letter He was added, which is read as A: and she was called Sara (). However, the reason for the change of name is that she was previously called 'my princess', the mother of the household of only one. For it follows: I will give you a son from her, and I will bless him, and he will be among the nations, and the kings of the peoples will come from him. And notably, not as we read in Greek: God said to Abraham. Your wife…

(Verse 15) And God said to Abraham: You shall not call your wife Sarai, but her name shall be Sarah. Those who think that the first Sarah was written with one 'R' and then another 'R' was added to it are mistaken. And because 'R' is the hundredth number among the Greeks, they suspect many silly things about her name: when in fact, whatever way they want to understand the composite word, it should have a Hebrew, not Greek, origin, since the name itself is Hebrew. However, no one calling someone in another language takes the etymology of the word from the other language. Therefore, Sarai () was first called by Sin, Res, Iod: with Iod removed, that is, the I element, the letter He was added, which is read as A: and she was called Sara (). However, the reason for the change of name is that she was previously called 'my princess', the mother of the household of only one. For it follows: I will give you a son from her, and I will bless him, and he will be among the nations, and the kings of the peoples will come from him. And notably, not as we read in Greek: God said to Abraham. Your wife Sarai shall not be called by her name Sarai: in Hebrew it is said: you shall not call her name Sarai, that is, you shall not say to her, you are my princess: for she shall be the princess of all nations. Some suspect, mistakenly, that before she was called leprous, and afterwards princess: since leprosy is called Sarath in our language, which seems to have some similarity; but in Hebrew it is completely different. For it is written with Sade, and Res, and Ain, and Thau: which differs greatly from the previous three letters, that is, Sin, Res, and He, with which Sara is written, it is clear.

Genesis 17:17

Then Abraham fell upon his face, and laughed, and said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear?

(Verse 17.) And Abraham fell upon his face and laughed. And he said in his heart, Shall a child be born unto him that is an hundred years old? and shall Sarah, that is ninety years old, bear? And after a little while: And thou shalt call his name Isaac. Different opinions, but there is one etymology why he is called Isaac. For Isaac is interpreted as laughter. Others say that Sarah laughed, therefore he was called laughter, which is false. Others indeed say that Abraham laughed, which we also approve. After Ishmael was born, Isaac was born, and then we read about Abraham and Sarah laughing. However, it should be known that in the Old Testament, four people were called by their names before they were born, without any disguise: Ishmael, Isaac, Solomon, and Josiah. Read the Scriptures.

Genesis 18:1-2

And the LORD appeared unto him in the plains of Mamre: and he sat in the tent door in the heat of the day;

[Daniel 8:15] "And it came to pass that when I, Daniel, had seen the vision, I sought to understand it." He beheld the vision by way of a picture or likeness, and he failed to understand it. Consequently, not everyone who sees comprehends what he has seen; it is just as if we read the Holy Scripture with our eyes and do not understand it with our heart,

"...And behold, one stood before me who resembled the appearance of a man." Angels, after all, are not actually men by nature, but they resemble men in appearance. For example, three persons appeared as men to Abraham at the oak of Mamre (Genesis 18:1-2), and yet they certainly were not men, for one of them was worshipped as the Lord. And so the Savior also stated in the Gospel: "Abraham beheld My day; he beheld it and rejoiced" (John 8:56).

Genesis 18:6

And Abraham hastened into the tent unto Sarah, and said, Make ready quickly three measures of fine meal, knead it, and make cakes upon the hearth.

(Chapter 18, Verse 6) And he said to him: Hurry, mix three measures of wheat flour. Because three measures are explicitly mentioned here, and the measure is uncertain: therefore I added that in Hebrew it has three sata, that is, three amphoras: so that we may understand the same mystery here and in the Gospel, where a woman is said to have fermented three measures of wheat flour (Matthew 13:33).

Genesis 18:10

And he said, I will certainly return unto thee according to the time of life; and, lo, Sarah thy wife shall have a son. And Sarah heard it in the tent door, which was behind him.

(Verse 10) However, he said, 'Returning, I will come to you at this time and in this hour, and Sarah will have a son.' For 'hour,' we read 'life' in Hebrew, so that the order or sense is: I will return to you in the time of life, as if he were saying, if I live, if life accompanies me. This, however, is anthropopathically expressed, like other things.

Genesis 18:12

Therefore Sarah laughed within herself, saying, After I am waxed old shall I have pleasure, my lord being old also?

(Verse 12.) But Sarah laughed within herself, saying: After I am waxed old, shall I have pleasure? It is much differently read in Hebrew: And Sarah laughed within herself, saying: After I have withered, shall I have pleasure? Also note that where we have translated as pleasure, it is written as delight in Hebrew. Symmachus translated this passage as: After I have grown old, shall I have youth?

Genesis 18:27

And Abraham answered and said, Behold now, I have taken upon me to speak unto the Lord, which am but dust and ashes:

[Daniel 8:27] "And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days. And when I rose from my bed, I performed the king's tasks." This is the same thing as we read in Genesis about Abraham, for after he had heard the Lord speaking to him, he averred that he was but dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27). And so Daniel states that he languished as a reaction to the horror of the vision, and suffered illness. And after he had risen from his sick-bed, he says he performed the tasks assigned to him by the king, rendering to all men all that was due them and bearing in mind the gospel principle: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Luke 20:25). "And I was amazed at the vision, and there was no one who could interpret it." If there was no one who could interpret it, how was it that the angel interpreted it in the previous passage? What he means is that he had heard mention of kings and did not know what their names were; he learned of things to come, but he was tossed about with uncertainty as to what time they would come to pass. And so he did t…

[Daniel 8:27] "And I, Daniel, languished and was sick for some days. And when I rose from my bed, I performed the king's tasks." This is the same thing as we read in Genesis about Abraham, for after he had heard the Lord speaking to him, he averred that he was but dust and ashes (Genesis 18:27). And so Daniel states that he languished as a reaction to the horror of the vision, and suffered illness. And after he had risen from his sick-bed, he says he performed the tasks assigned to him by the king, rendering to all men all that was due them and bearing in mind the gospel principle: "Render unto Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's" (Luke 20:25).

"And I was amazed at the vision, and there was no one who could interpret it." If there was no one who could interpret it, how was it that the angel interpreted it in the previous passage? What he means is that he had heard mention of kings and did not know what their names were; he learned of things to come, but he was tossed about with uncertainty as to what time they would come to pass. And so he did the only thing he could do: he marveled at the vision, and resigned everything to God's omniscience.

Genesis 18:32

And he said, Oh let not the Lord be angry, and I will speak yet but this once: Peradventure ten shall be found there. And he said, I will not destroy it for ten's sake.

(Verse 32) And he said, 'Is it, Lord, if I speak?' Which is written in Greek, μήτι, Κύριε, ἐὰν λαλήσω. Secondly, Abraham spoke to the Lord, which does not seem to clearly indicate what he is saying. Therefore, in Hebrew it is written more explicitly: 'Please do not be angry, Lord, if I have spoken.' For since he seemed to be questioning, he qualifies what he seeks by beginning with a plea.

Genesis 19:14

And Lot went out, and spake unto his sons in law, which married his daughters, and said, Up, get you out of this place; for the LORD will destroy this city. But he seemed as one that mocked unto his sons in law.

(Chapter 19, Verse 14) And he spoke to his sons-in-law, who had married his daughters. For afterward, it is said that the two daughters of Lot were virgins (about whom he himself had said long ago to the Sodomites: Behold, my two daughters, who have not known man), and now the Scripture mentions that he had sons-in-law; some think that those who had husbands remained in Sodom, and the ones who were virgins left with their father. And since the Scripture does not say, the Hebrew truth must be explained, in which it is written: Lot went out and spoke to the fiancés who were to receive his daughters. Therefore, the virgin daughters had not yet been joined in marriage.

(Verse 21) And he said to him: Behold, I am amazed by your face. In Hebrew it is: Behold, I have received your face: that is, I accept your prayers. Symmachus, interpreting according to the sense, says, 'I was displeased with the sight of your face.'

Genesis 19:28

And he looked toward Sodom and Gomorrah, and toward all the land of the plain, and beheld, and, lo, the smoke of the country went up as the smoke of a furnace.

(Verse 28.) And behold, a flame was rising from the earth like the vapor of a furnace. Regarding this, we read in Hebrew: Behold, a rising (ἀναθυμίασις) of the furnace, which we can call vapor, smoke, or ashes.

Genesis 19:30

And Lot went up out of Zoar, and dwelt in the mountain, and his two daughters with him; for he feared to dwell in Zoar: and he dwelt in a cave, he and his two daughters.

(Verse 30.) And Lot went up from Segor and settled in the mountain, and his two daughters with him. For he was afraid to stay in Segor. It is asked why, when he first preferred the mountain of Segor for his escape, and wanted to be saved in it as his dwelling, he now flees from Segor back to the mountain? We will answer that the Hebrew conjecture about Segor is true, that it was frequently destroyed by earthquakes, first known as Bale, and later Salisa: and Lot feared, saying, If this place is often destroyed while the other cities still stand, how much more now, in a general destruction, will it not be able to be saved? And because of this occasion of unfaithfulness, they also gave rise to sexual relations with their daughters. For he who had seen other cities being destroyed and this one remaining, and himself being saved by the help of God, should not have doubted what he had heard granted to him. Therefore, the excuse that is given for the daughters, that they believed the human race had perished and therefore slept with their father, does not excuse the father. In fact, the Hebr…

(Verse 30.) And Lot went up from Segor and settled in the mountain, and his two daughters with him. For he was afraid to stay in Segor. It is asked why, when he first preferred the mountain of Segor for his escape, and wanted to be saved in it as his dwelling, he now flees from Segor back to the mountain? We will answer that the Hebrew conjecture about Segor is true, that it was frequently destroyed by earthquakes, first known as Bale, and later Salisa: and Lot feared, saying, If this place is often destroyed while the other cities still stand, how much more now, in a general destruction, will it not be able to be saved? And because of this occasion of unfaithfulness, they also gave rise to sexual relations with their daughters. For he who had seen other cities being destroyed and this one remaining, and himself being saved by the help of God, should not have doubted what he had heard granted to him. Therefore, the excuse that is given for the daughters, that they believed the human race had perished and therefore slept with their father, does not excuse the father. In fact, the Hebrews, as it follows: