A letter from Jerome (408-410)

Translated letter:

Having finished not long ago twenty books of exposition on the twelve prophets and the commentaries on Daniel, you compel me, virgin of Christ Eustochium, to go on to Isaiah; and give you what I promised your holy mother Paula while she was alive. I remember that I also promised that very erudite man your brother [in-law] Pammachius; while you may be equal in affection, you conquer by your presence. So to you and to him I give what I owe, obeying the precepts of Christ who says "examine scriptures" [John 5:39] and "seek and you will find" [Matth.7:7]. Let me not hear with the Jews: "you are wrong because you do not know scriptures nor the power of God" [Matth.22:29]. For if, according to the apostle Paul, Christ is the power of God and the wisdom of God and who does not know scripture does not know the power or the wisdom of God, then ignorance of scripture is ignorance of Christ. Whence, supported by the help of your prayers who day and night meditate on the law of God and are the temple of the holy spirit, I imitated the master of the house who brings out new and old from his treasury [Matth.13:52]; and the bride saying in the Song of Songs: "new and old I have saved for you, my cousin/beloved" [Cant.7:13]. So I shall expound Isaiah and teach him not only as a prophet, but as an evangelist and apostle. For he says about himself and the other evangelists (announcers): "how beautiful are the feet of those who bring good news, who announce peace" [Isa.52:7]. And God spoke to him as if to an apostle: "whom shall I send and who will go to my people?" and he answered: "Here I am, send me" [Isa.6:8]. Let no one think that I wish to encompass the argument of this book in a brief discourse, since this scripture contains all the sacraments/mysteries of the Lord, proclaimed to be Emmanuel born from a virgin, the achiever of illustrious works and signs, dead, buried and resurrected from hell, and saviour of all peoples. What shall I say of its physics, ethics, and logic? Whatever there is in holy scriptures, whatever can be put forth by human tongue and received by mortal senses, is contained in this volume. He testified about its mysteries who wrote: "and the vision of all things will be for you like the words of a sealed [marked with a seal] book; when they give it to one who knows letters and they say `read this,' the answer will be `I cannot, for it is sealed.' And the book will be given to one who cannot read and he will be told `read,' and he will answer `I do not know letters" [Isa.29:11-12]. If you give this book to people of the nations who do not know letters, they will answer "I cannot read since I have not learned letters of scriptures." If you give it to the scribes and pharisees who are confident that they know the letters of the law, they will answer, "we cannot read because the book is sealed." Why is it sealed from them? Because they did not receive him whom the Father sealed, who has the key of David: "who opens and no one closes, who closes and no one opens" [Apoc.3:7]. It is not true, as Montanus dreams with his mad women, that prophets spoke in trances, that they did not know what they said and when they taught others they did not know what they said. About whom the apostle says: "they do not know what they say and what they make assertions about" [1Tim.1:7]. But according to Solomon who speaks in Proverbs: "the wise man understands what he brings from his mouth, and he will bear knowledge on his lips [Prov.16:23]; and they also knew what they said. For if the prophets were wise men, which we cannot deny, and Moses, learned in all wisdom, spoke to the Lord and the Lord answered him, and it was said about Daniel to the prince of Tyre: "are you wiser than Daniel? [Ezek.28:3] and David was wise, who gloried in the psalm, "you have shown me the uncertain and hidden things of your wisdom" [Ps.50:8], then how can the wise prophets be like brute animals who did not know what they were saying? We read the apostle in another place: "the spirts of prophets are subject to the prophets" [1Cor.14:32], as they have in their power when they are silent and when they speak. If this seems weak let them hear from the same apostle: "let two or three prophets speak and let the others judge; if however a revelation is made to someone else sitting [there], let the first be silent" [1Cor.14:29-30]. For what reason can they hold back or be silent or speak when it is the spirit who speaks with authority through the prophets? If they understood what they said, then all the things are full of wisdom and reason. The air was not struck by a voice which came to their ears, but God spoke in the soul of the prophets, according to what another prophet says, "the angel who spoke to me" [Zech.1:9] and "crying out in our hearts, `abba, father'" [Gal.4:6] and "let me hear what the Lord God speaks in me" [Ps.84:9]. Wherefore after the truth of history, all things are to be received spiritually; and thus Judea and Jerusalem, Babylon and Palestine, Moab and Damascus, Egypt and the desert sea, Idumea and Arabia, and the valley of Vision to the farthest Tyre, and the vision of the four-footed animals are to be understood, and all the things whose sense we look for; and in all these it is as if the wise architect Paul the apostle laid the foundation, which is no other than Jesus Christ. It is a work of great labor to wish to discuss the whole book of Isaiah, on which the minds of our greatest men sweated, I mean the Greeks. Among the Latins there is great silence, except for Victorinus the martyr of holy memory who could say with the apostle: "I may be untrained in speech but not in knowledge" [2Cor.11:6]. For he wrote close to four books on this prophet, up to the vision of the animals in the desert, Origen wrote 30 volumes of which the twenty-sixth book is lost. Others exist under his name about the vision of the “tetrapodon” [Grk animals], two books to Grata, which are thought to be falsely attributed; and 25 Homilies and “Semaioseis” [Grk], which we can call Excerpts. Eusebius also published 15 volumes according to the historical exposition of Pamphilus; and Didymus whose friendship we availed ourselves of recently, published 18 books from the place where it is written: "comfort, comfort my people, you priests, speak to the heart of Jerusalem" [Isa.40.1], to the end of the volume. Apollinaris, however, in his way, expounds everything and hastens through all, flying over great spaces with certain points and intervals, or rather summaries, so we think we have read not so much commentaries as a list of chapters. From which you may perceive what the difficulty is, that our Latins, whose ears are fastidious and squeamish about understanding holy scriptures and applaud only eloquence, will ignore me if I speak at too great length; but Isaiah is equal or greater in number of verses to the twelve prophets. So wherever I have disputed about the Hebrew with the Septuagint that I have not mentioned, because there are many of the same or similar things with others and with the proposed double edition, I have not wanted to extend the books of explanation, which even in simple exposition excede the measure of brevity. But let us now pursue our project. Book II: Having finished the first volume on Isaiah which, as I could not as I would, I dictated with swift speech, seeking the sense of the scripture rather than the words of a composed speech. Now I shall go on to the second, and I shall offer whatever strength is in me and my will inclined to God, who said through the prophet: "I have multiplied visions and I am represented in the hands of the prophets" [Hos.12:10]. Whence I beseech you, virgin of Christ, Eustochium, that you raise your hands to the Lord with Moses for us struggling in the explanation of scriptures. So that we who coming out of Egypt have crossed the Red Sea, may conquer Amalec, which is interpreted devouring and licking, and may say with you: "blessed is my Lord God who trains my hands for battle and my fingers for war" [Ps.143:1]. Book III: The magnitude of the volumes suffices to me, which is woven in explanation of the prophet Isaiah, where there is harm to the understanding in passing over anything. That is why in the individual books, which only signify number and order, I have put only brief prefaces. And I pray to you, virgin of Christ Eustochium, that you help me with your prayers in the exposition of the most difficult vision, in which God is perceived in his majesty, and the two Seraphim standing around him and calling: "holy, holy, holy, Lord of hosts, the whole earth is filled with his glory" [Isa.6:3]. And the threshold of the temple is shaken and struck and the Jewish house is filled with the darkness of error. And in contrast to the divine glory, the prophet says he has unclean lips and lives among a people of unclean lips who called out with one voice of impiety: "crucify him, crucify him" and "we have no king but Caesar" [John 19:6, 15]. And one of the seraphim was sent to Isaiah who taking a burning coal from the altar with tongs purged the prophet's lips and the people remained impure. And so the third book on Isaiah begins. Book IV: We dictate unequal books for the diversity of visions and meaning, one compressed, another extended. And so having finished the third volume, we go on to the fourth, which is smaller by a third than the previous number of verses, especially since the fifth, which follows this book, is of historical exposition, and has almost a double number. For since we do not want to divide what is joined and pass over what was interpreted long ago, we have guided our little ship as if between two “symplegadas” [Grk crashing rocks] of the Black Sea, which with the holy spirit blowing and the lord saviour directing our course will glide to shore, with you, virgin of Christ Eustochium, saying: "come from the four winds of heaven, o breath, and give life to the dead bones" [Ezek.37:9] so that what lay in the dust of earth may, with the Lord inspiring, be raised.

Book V: It is many years since, asked by bishop Amabilis, a man of holy memory, to write on the ten visions of Isaiah, I drew together what seemed [appropriate] to me separately in brief speech because of the strictures of time, explaining only the history which he asked for. Now to you, “philoponotate”(1)[Grk] Eustochium, I am compelled to write commentaries on the whole prophet and meanwhile I have with your prayers reached Babylon, which is the first ten visions about which I have spoken before. It seems to me superfluous either to repeat the same things again or to produce different meanings on one work. Whence the fifth book of Isaiah will be only the one published before, so having achieved that goal, we shall seize the beginning of the sixth volume according to tropology and, with you praying the lord in the same way, we shall pursue the heights of spiritual intelligence.

Book VI: What I promised in the preceding volume, that over the foundation of history [the literal sense] I would, with Christ granting my desire, erect the spiritual building and when the roof was on, reveal the ornaments of the finished church. I shall attempt this in the following two books, o virgin of Christ Eustochium, with your prayers and the mercy of the Lord, and with the same labor by which the fifth book comprises the history, the sixth and seventh may draw together the anagogy. I shall not discuss everything, lest there be [too] many volumes, but indicate briefly what churchmen thought before us.

Book VII: The seventh book is the second or last dealing with the anagogy. For in this the tropological explanation of the ten visions is finished which with your prayers, Eustochium, and Christ helping, I shall complete. Then I come to the eighth and I shall set forth both explanations equally pertaining to the prior books up to the fourth.

Book VIII: The previous sixth and seventh books contain the allegory for the fifth volume which I dictated some time ago on the historical/literal explanation. The present work, that is the eighth book, reverts to the interpretation begun earlier that discusses both history and tropology equally in each part. Which, if it seems long to you, o virgin of Christ Eustochium, do not blame me, but the difficulty of holy scripture, especially of the prophet Isaiah, who is wrapped in so many obscurities that what I think a brief explanation for the magnitude of the thing is long in itself. Certainly we write for those zealous/studious who want to know holy scripture, not for the fastidious who are squeamish about details. Who if they desire a river of eloquence and elegant declamation should read Tully [Cicero], Quintilian, Gallio, Gabinianus, and coming to our people, Tertullian, Cyprian, Minutius, Arnobius, Lactantius, Hilary. Our project is for Isaiah to be understood through us, not for our words to be praised on the pretext of Isaiah.

Book IX: Occupied with various troubles, we dictate the expositions of the prophet Isaiah at intervals. So, having finished the eighth volume, now after some space of time we come to the ninth, not without the biting and disparagement of the envious who, not knowing what they are hearing or saying, dare to judge about what they do not know and despise before they experience, thinking themselves learned and eloquent if they criticize all writers. Scorning their malice and garrulous muttering, let us ask God’s help and say with the prayer of the psalmist: “scatter the peoples who want war” [Ps.67:31]. For the place of the Lord is in peace which surpasses all sense. Which the prophet desires, calling: “Our lord God, give us peace; for you gave all things to us” [Isa.26:12]. But now let us put forth the chapter of Isaiah and with Moses approach the cloud and mist, so our face may be illumined and, according to the Hebrew, our forehead horned. Let the thunder and lighting roar and be heard, which the baser crowd could not see.

Book X: The tenth book, which we now have in hand, will be smaller than the ninth and eleventh in the number of verses, but not in magnitude of meaning. For Sennacherib and Rabsacis(2) and the history of king Hezekiah come next, which could neither be joined with the preceding because of the enormous magnitude of the volume, nor be divided because of the coherence of the actions. So, as you wished, virgin of Christ Eustochium, and as it pleased us both, just as I dictated the earlier ones before, I shall dictate this and the remaining books, if Christ grant it, connecting the prophecies, not tearing and mangling them, with the end in one, the beginning in another. Moreover I hear the scorpion [Rufinus], mute and poisonous animal, once muttering I know not what response to my little commentary on the prophet Daniel, attempting to strike fatally with impunity. His dirges and mourning songs have not yet been reported to me so my response is deferred, and it is more [important] to obey you and that holy and learned man your brother [in-law] Pammachius, who with insatiable zeal urges me in his letters that, when I finish Isaiah I go on to Ezekiel, while I, spent by the weakness of age and body, with a scarcity of scribes who could help me in my work, I am fixed in that same mud, and think I will scarcely finish half of Isaiah in this volume. If I do complete it, with you praying, the rest will be seized which begins with the fourteenth year of king Hezekiah.

Book XI: It is difficult or rather impossible to please all; there are not as many faces as there is diversity of meanings. In my exposition of the twelve prophets I seemed to some [to go] longer than was suitable; and because of that I strove for brevity in my little commentary on Daniel, except for the last and next-to-last vision, in which it was necessary for me to extend my speech because of the magnitude of the obscurity. Especially in the exposition of seven and of 62 and one of the seven days, discussing which I briefly summarized what Africanus, a writer of the times, what Origen and Eusebius of Caesarea, and Clement of Alexandria, priest of the church, and Apollinaris of Laodicea, and Hippolytus, and the Hebrews and Tertullian felt, leaving to the judgment of the reader which s/he might choose from many things. And what we with modesty left to be judged, to the honor of those who would read it, did not perhaps please some who wanted to know not the opinions of the ancients but our opinion. To which the answer is easy, that I did not wish by accepting one to seem to reject the others. And certainly if so many and such learned men displease fastidious readers, what will they do with me, who am open to the bites of the envious for the thinness of my little wit? If on the contrary I named said men, teachers of the church, let them understand that I do not approve the faith of all, who contradict each other. But I spoke of the difference between Josephus and Porphyry who disputed many things about this question. Because if in the exposition of the statue and the dissensions over its feet and digits, I interpreted iron and the head as the Roman kingdom, which scripture foretells first strong then weak, let them not impute it to me but to the prophet. For there cannot be such flattering of princes that the truth of holy scripture is neglected, nor should general dispute be to the harm of one person. What is carefully treated among my things with benign zeal, is quickly supported by the judgment of God, so the zeal of my friends for me and the ambushes of my rivals are shown. But this is for another occasion, now let us pursue what we have begun. The eleventh book on Isaiah, o virgin of Christ Eustochium, since it will discuss a great part of history, will be easier in the beginning and the rest is to be dictated in a similar manner through two parts; and there will be such zeal for brevity that there can be no damage to understanding.

Book XII: No one is so inexperienced a writer that he cannot find a reader similar to him, and there is a much greater number of those who return to Milesian fables than to the books of Plato. For there is play and delight in one, difficulty and labor mixed with sweat in the other. And there is Tully who interpreted Timaeus disputing about the harmony of the world, the course of the stars and numbers, and confessed he did not understand it. Troops of laughing boys in the schools repeat the testament of Grunnius, the little pig of Corocotta. Therefore our Luscius Lanuinus enjoys his witnesses, or rather his promoters; and let him conquer with a multitude since perhaps he conquers with his wit. For me the testimony of few is sufficient, and I am content with the praise of friends who in requesting my little works are moved by love for me and zeal for scripture. And there will be some, I think who will strive to lay open to disparagement this speech which I make to you, Eustochium, not considering Holda and Anna and Deborah who prophesied when men were silent. Nor that in the service of Christ diversity of sex never mattered, only of mind. Therefore the twelfth book of explanations on Isaiah will begin.

Book XIII: Many misfortunes trouble sailors. If the wind blows fiercely, there is fear of a storm. If a more moderate breeze stirs the back of the reclining element, they fear the ambushes of pirates. And so it is also with the fragile boat of trusted souls, either they fear danger or endure it, and both are equally serious, either to fear death constantly or to endure what you fear. I see this happening to me as I sail the sea of Isaiah; with the sails holding a steady course and the hands of the sailors sure, the keel glides plowing the fields of water, a sudden storm of weariness rises with such masses of waves and noise resounding from the crashing of waters against each other, it terrifies the trembling hearts of friends so they are compelled to say: “Master, save us, we are perishing” [Matth.8:25]. Therefore, Eustochium, unique model of nobility and virginity in all the lands of the world, do not let the pupil of your eye be silent, and call in your heart: “Abba father” [Rom.8:15]. And say with the psalmist: “Rise, Lord, why do you sleep?” [Ps.43:23 so that I may finish the work I am charged with on Isaiah, with you praying and Christ merciful. For the thirteenth book of expositions is already hammered out which has not yet reached its end. And meanwhile, until the merciful and pitying Lord, suffering many compassions, gives back my former health, I have dictated this little preface with hurried speech. What there is is written out on small leafs, and the full correction is left to the judgment of the reader.

Book XIV: Lord, “who looks on earth and it trembles, who touches the mountains and they smoke” [Ps.103:32], who spoke in the song of Deuteronomy: “I kill and I make live; I wound and I heal” [Deut.32:39]. He made my earth tremble with frequent illness, to which it is said: “you are earth and you will return to earth” [Gen.3:19]. And it often admonishes me, forgetful of the human condition, that I recognize that I am a man and old and now I will die. About which it is written: “Why should dust and ashes be proud?” [Eccli.10:9]. Who strikes me with sudden weariness, heals me with incredible speed; he frightens more than he afflicts and corrects more than he scourges. So knowing who controls that I live and that my dormition may perhaps be deferred so that I can finish the work begun on the prophet, I give myself over completely to the study and as if I were in a watch-tower, I contemplate the storms and shipwrecks of this world, not without sighs and sorrow, thinking never of the present but of the future, not fearing the fame and gossip of men but the judgment of God. And you, virgin of Christ Eustochium, who helped me in my sickness with your prayers, pray the grace of God for me healed that with the same spirit by which the prophets sang the future, I may enter into their cloud and mist and know the speech of God, who is never heard by ears of the flesh, but of the heart. And say with the prophet, “the Lord gives me the tongue of a teacher that I may know when it is fitting for me to speak” [Isa.50:4] This testimony is the beginning of the fourteenth book on Isaiah, which I now wish to discuss.

Book XV: Often, Eustochium, I know I have said, wherever testimony from the old document describes apostles and evangelists, if there is no difference between the Hebrew and the Septuagint, I use the usual in their own or others’ words from the Septuagint translators. But if there is one meaning in Hebrew, another in the old edition, I prefer to follow the Hebrew rather than the Septuagint. Finally, as we show they put many things from Hebrew which are not in the Septuagint, so our rivals teach that some testimony is taken from the Septuagint which is not in the Hebrew books; and the battle is joined. We have said this since the present chapter which is one in meaning differs in words. The fifteenth book on Isaiah begins from this exposition.

Book XVI: It is a distinguished judgment of the most learned orator [Quintilian] that the arts would be happy if they were judged only by those who practice them. But lest I seem to take my example only from pagans, this is also without doubt what the prophet shows in other words: “Blessed is he who speaks to the ears of listeners” [Eccli.25:12]. How fortunate it is that you, daughter Eustochium, are my participant; for when you read the little preface of the previous book, in which I asserted that I put only that testimony on apostles and evangelists from the Septuagint in their own or others’ words which was consonant with the Hebrew, that I altogether neglect what was added by others, you put a not small question to me. Namely about the eight verses of the 13th psalm which are read in the churches and are not in Hebrew, which the apostle used writing to Romans: “Their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive. The venom of vipers is under their lips. Their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness. Their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery are in their paths and the way of peace they have not known. There is no fear of God before their eyes” [Rom.3:13-18]. When I heard that, I was struck as if by a powerful fist, I began silently to burn, and my face showed the stupor of my mind with its pallor. “A Hebrew,” I say, “born of Hebrews, according to the law a Pharisee” [Phil.3:5], and most learned at the feet of Gamaliel, either did not know this or took advantage of the ignorance of those who would read. But it is one thing to be untrained, another to be skilful with malice, not like the one who said: “and if I am untrained in speech, I am not in knowledge” [2Cor.11:6] and again: “with simplicity and sincerity I have announced the word to you” [2Cor.1:12]. At length, having come back to myself, I asked for one day so that my answer would not be an argument of human wit, but the fruit of careful reading. And examining the whole scripture with my mind, I observed that almost all the epistle to the Romans is constructed from the old document, so the witness from psalms and Isaiah is woven together. For the first two verses: “their throat is an open grave; they use their tongues to deceive” is from the fifth psalm. What follows, “the venom of vipers is under their lips,” is from the 139th. Again, “their mouths are full of cursing and bitterness,” is taken from the ninth psalm. The three following verses, “their feet are swift to shed blood. Ruin and misery are in their paths and the way of peace they have not known,” can be found in Isaiah, which I will expound in the sixteenth exposition of this book which I now desire to dictate. The last verse, however, the eighth, “there is no fear of God before their eyes,” is the beginning of the 35th psalm. It does not seem any different than that what is said singly with one number in its place is put together severally by the apostle who was writing to many and compressed many examples into one sense. I think your question is answered and our rule about translation of the old document is shaken rather than moved. And it was not so much that the apostle took from the 13th psalm what is not in Hebrew, as that those who did not know the apostle’s art of weaving scriptures together, sought an appropriate place to put the testimony taken from him, which they did not think could be without scriptural authority. Finally, all those Greeks who treated this, who left us commentaries on the psalms from their learning, annotate these verses truly and go on, confessing plainly that they are not in Hebrew nor in the Septuagint translation, but in the Vulgate edition which is called “koine” [common] in Greek, and is different in the whole world. But now it is time to press on with the work we have begun and pursue the rest.

Book XVII: How many mysteries the number seventeen, to which the book of explanations on Isaiah has come, contains in holy scripture, I would like, virgin of Christ Eustochium, to go through briefly. But since I cannot say all things in all places, I suggest that the psalm which has this number is of the Lord’s child David and he sang the words of the song on the day the Lord seized him from the hand of all his enemies and from the hand of Saul and he said: “I shall love you, Lord, my strength” [Ps.17:2] and the rest. The child of the Lord is the one to whom the father spoke in Isaiah: “it is a great thing for you to be called my child” [Isa.49:6, LXX] and elsewhere, “behold my child whom I have chosen, my beloved in whom my soul delights” [Isa.42:1]. This child who is translated strong of hand on the day in which the Lord freed him from the hand of Saul (which in our language means desired or the depths) and from all his enemies who cried out against him: “crucify him, crucify him” [Luke 23:21], when the victor ascended with golden vestments from Bosra, spoke these words among others of triumph: “seize me from strife of the people; you set me at the head of nations. The people I had not known served me; as they heard of me they obeyed me” [Ps.17:44-45]. Again from the people of the Jews: “my foreign sons have lied to me; my foreign sons have grown old and wavered from their paths: [Ps.17:46]. To which Elijah said: “how long will you limp with both feet?” [3Kgs.18:21]. Finally, what is difficult to find in others, this psalm is contained as much in Samuel as in Chronicles. Who proceeds from one number to the hebdomad by increments comes to the 28th psalm, in which that same David is inscribed, on the completion of the tabernacle, when he was ordered by the angels: “convey to the Lord, sons of God; convey sons of the rams to the Lord” [Ps.28:1]. And all aspects of salutary baptism and the mysteries of the church are sung: “the voice of the Lord is over the waters; the God of majesty thunders. The Lord is over many waters, the voice of the Lord is powerful” [Ps.28:3-4]. And after a little: “the voice of the Lord preparing servants relieved what was dense and in his temple all say glory” [Ps.28:9]. And to demonstrate to the multitude of believers, he continued: “the Lord made the flood dwell and the Lord will sit as king eternally” [Ps.28:10]. And again an octave later, he caused the 36th psalm to be marked with an added mystery, which begins: “do not compete with the evil nor be jealous of those who commit iniquity” [Ps.36:1]. The explanation of this is not for the preface, but the book itself. And rather than repeat many things now, increasing to the 15th number by augments in the degrees [“graduum”] of the psalms, the chosen vessel stayed with Peter in Jerusalem, the 120th, those who first believed in Christ and ascended with the apostles to the upper room of faith and the holy spirit descended over them. And after, moving in order to the 17th number and possessing evangelical rank, with the Lord ordering from the right side, he takes 153 large fish and places them in the church [cf.John 21:6, 11]. To which the prophet Isaiah now speaks. pr.s: CCSL73a 740-42

Book XVIII: The eighteenth that is the last book of Isaiah, is dedicated to you, o daughter Eustochium, and to the name of your holy mother Paula, so those whom I esteemed with equal honor, I now recall with equal commemoration. Especially since while she lived, she asked frequently for this work, with you, and that most learned man your brother [in-law] Pammachius then and later did not stop urging me with frequent writings and to me the religion of present and absent friends, of men and women sleeping in Christ is the same, that is, love/charity of souls not bodies. Nor am I unaware how many differences of judgment there are between men. I do not speak of the mystery of the Trinity, whose right confession is ignorance of learning. But of other ecclesiastical dogma, of the resurrection and the state of souls and of human flesh, promises of the future and how they should be taken, and how the Apocalypse of John is to be understood, which if we take it literally must be Judaized. If spiritually, as we assert it is written, we will see it contradict the opinions of many of the old writers: among Latins, Tertullian, Victorinus, Lactantius; among Greeks, leaving out others, I mention Irenaeus bishop of Lyons, against whom that very eloquent man Dionysius, bishop of the church of Alexandria, wrote an elegant book, mocking the fable of a thousand years and the gold and bejeweled restauration of the temple in the lands of Jerusalem, the blood of hosts, the idleness of the sabbath, the injury of circumcision, nuptials, births, the education of children, delights of feasts, and the service of all people, and again wars, armies and triumphs and killing of the conquered, and the death of the hundredfold sinner. Which Appollinaris answered in two volumes, whom not only the men of his sect, but so far a great multitude of ours in this area follow, so that I already see with a prescient mind that the anger of so many will be roused against me. I do not grudge them if they so love the earth that they desire earthly things in the kingdom of Christ; and after the abundance of foods, the gluttony of the throat and the stomach, they seek those things which are under the stomach. About which the apostle Paul says: “Food [was meant] for the stomach and the stomach for food. God however destroys one and the other” {1Cor.6:13]. And: “The kingdom of God is not of food and drink” [Rom.14:17], and the Lord and Savior says: “You err, not knowing the scriptures nor the power of God. In the resurrection they do not marry nor are they married; but they will be like the angels” [Matth.22:29-30]. Saying these things, I do not remove the truth of the bodies which I avow/confess will be resurrected incorrupt and immortal, so they change [in] glory, not substance. The path must therefore be entered rightly, so we do not divert to left or right, that is not follow the error of the Jews nor the heretics. Of whom some are of the flesh and love only the flesh; others, ungrateful for the gifts of God, refuse to hold that Christ was born and risen. For when the apostles thought him a spirit, or according to the gospel which the Nazarenes of the Hebrews read eagerly, an incorporeal demon, he said to them: “Why are you disturbed, and why do thoughts rise in your hearts? You see my hands and feet, that I am myself: Touch and see, for the spirit does not have flesh and bones as you see I have. And when he said this, he showed them his hands and feet” [Luke24:38-39]. Again to the doubting Thomas he said: “Put your finger here and see my hands; and stretch your hand and put it in my side; and don’t be incredulous but a believer” {John20:27]. And then, to prove the truth of the body, it is written that he took food which he had ordered to be given to the daughter of the high priest whom he had raised from the dead. And it is told that Lazarus, so his resurrection would not be thought a phantasm, went in to [have] a meal with the Savior. Not that we shall eat and drink after the resurrection, as our Millenarians would have it, that immortal and incorrupt bodies be sustained with earthly nourishment. Moreover, where there is food, diseases follow; where dieases, a doctor is summoned; where doctors, frequently there is burial; and again resurrection, and a new cycle. But [only] so that the taking of food would prove the faith of the resurrection. These things we guard against especially and we speak very carefully, knowing that we must walk between serpents and scorpions, who bite and strike without being seen. About which Ecclesiastes says: “If a serpent should bite in silence, it is not worse than one who detracts secretly” [Eccles.10:11]. And his father David: “Sitting you spoke against your brother, and you put temptation in the way of your mother’s son. You did these things and I was silent; you thought, wickedly, that I would be similar to you. I shall reveal you and set it before your face” [Ps.49:20-21] so that what you accused others of, you are shown to have. If the length of the explanations on the prophets should displease someone, he should freely hear that I have said much less than the obscurity of the thing demands, and anyone from our latitude can make brief commentaries for himself which do not suffice to the full intellect. For the history told by the prophets and the order of events is not simple, but all of them are filled with enigmas; and they say one thing in words but another in the sense, so that what you might think runs clear and inoffensive is wrapped in the obscurities of what follows. Truly it is time that I put an end to the volume on the prophet in the exposition of which I shall have been more prolix than usual, reaching the last parts, which I did not wish to divide, so as not to increase the number of books.

Original letter:

Expletis longo vix tempore in duodecim prophetas viginti explanationum libris et in Danielem commentariis, cogis me, virgo Christi Eustochium, transire ad Esaiam; et quod sanctae matri tuae Paulae, dum viveret, pollicitus sum, tibi reddere. Quod quidem et eruditissimo viro fratri tuo Pammachio promisisse me memini; cumque in affectu par sis, vincis praesentia. Itaque et tibi et illi per te reddo quod debeo, oboediens Christi praeceptis, qui ait: Scrutamini scripturas; et: Quaerite et invenietis. Ne illud audiam cum Iudaeis: Erratis, nescientes scripturas neque virtutem Dei. Si enim iuxta apostolum Paulum Christus Dei virtus est Deique sapientia; et qui nescit scripturas, nescit Dei virtutem eiusque sapientiam, ignoratio scripturarum, ignoratio Christi est. Unde orationum tuarum fultus auxilio, quae diebus ac noctibus in Dei lege meditaris et templum es Spiritus sancti, imitabor patremfamilias, qui de thesauro suo profert nova et vetera; et sponsam dicentem in Cantico canticorum: Nova et vetera, fratruelis meus, servavi tibi; sicque exponam Esaiam, ut illum non solum prophetam, sed evangelistam et apostolum doceam. Ipse enim de se et de ceteris evangelistis ait: Quam speciosi pedes evangelizantium bona, evangelizantium pacem. Et ad ipsum quasi ad apostolum loquitur Deus: Quem mittam et quis ibit ad populum istum? Et ille respondit: Ecce ego, mitte me. Nullusque putet, me voluminis istius argumentum brevi cupere sermone comprehendere, cum universa Domini sacramenta praesens scriptura contineat et tam natus de virgine Emmanuel, quam illustrium patrator operum atque signorum, mortuus ac sepultus et resurgens ab inferis et Salvator universarum gentium praedicetur. Quid loquar de physica, ethica et logica? Quidquid sanctarum est scripturarum, quidquid potest humana lingua proferre, et mortalium sensus accipere, isto volumine continetur. De cuius mysteriis testatur ipse qui scripsit: Er erit vobis visio omnium, sicut verba libri signati, quem cum dederint scienti litteras, dicent: Lege istum. Et respondebit: Non possum, signatus est enim. Et dabitur liber nescienti litteras diceturque ei: Lege. Et respondebit. Nescio litteras. Sive igitur hunc librum dederis nescienti litteras populo nationum, respondebit; Non possum legere, quia non didici litteras scripturarum. Sive dederis scribis et pharisaeis, qui legis litteras nosse se iactant, respondebunt: Non possumus legere; quia signatus est liber. Quid idcirco eis signatus est? Quoniam non receperunt eum quem signavit Pater, qui habet clavem David: Qui aperit et nemo claudit; qui claudit et nemo aperit. Neque vero, ut Montanus cum insanis feminis somniat, prophetae in ecstasi sunt locuti, ut nescirent quid loquerentur et cum alios erudirent, ipsi ignorarent quid dicerent. De quibus apostolus ait: Nescientes quae loquantur, et de quibus affirment. Sed iuxta Salomonem qui loquitur in Proverbiis: Sapiens intellegit quae profert de ore suo; et in labiis suis portabit scientiam; etiam ipsi sciebant quid dicerent. Si enim sapientes erant prophetae, quod negare non possumus; et Moyses omni eruditus sapientia loquebatur ad Dominum et Dominus respondebat ei; et de Daniele ad principem Tyri dicitur: Numquid sapientior es Daniele? et David sapiens erat qui gloriabatur in psalmo: Incerta et occulta sapientiae tuae manifestasti mihi, quomodo sapientes prophetae instar brutorum animantium quid dicerent ignorabant? Legimus et in alio apostoli loco: Spiritus prophetarum prophetis subiecti sunt, ut in sua habeant potestate, quando taceant, quando loquantur. Quod si cui videtur infirmum, illud eiusdem apostoli audiant: Prophetae duo aut tres loquantur et alii diiudicent; si autem alii fuerit revelatum sedenti, prior taceat. Qua possunt ratione reticere, cum in ditione sit spiritus qui loquitur per prophetas, vel tacere vel dicere? Si ergo intellegebant quae dicebant, cuncta sapientiae rationisque sunt plena. Nec aer voce pulsatus ad aures eorum perveniebat; sed Deus loquebatur in animo prophetarum, iuxta illud quod alius propheta dicit: Angelus qui loquebatur in me; Et Clamantes in cordibus nostris: Abba, pater. Et: Audiam quid loquatur in me Dominus Deus. Unde post historiae veritate, spiritaliter accipienda sunt omnia; et sic Iudaea et Hierusalem, Babylon et Philistiim, Moab et Damascus, Aegyptus et desertum mare, Idumaea et Arabia, ac vallis Visionis et ad extremum Tyrus, et visio quadrupedum intellegenda sunt, ut cuncta quaeramus in sensu et in omnibus his quasi sapiens architectus Paulus apostolus iaciat fundamentum, quod non est aliud praeter Christum Iesum. Magnique laboris et operis est, omnem Esaiae librum velle disserere, in quo maiorum nostrorum ingenia sudaverunt, Graecorum dico. Ceterum apud Latinos grande silentium est, praeter sanctae memoriae martyrem Victorinum, qui cum apostolo dicere poterat: Etsi imperitus sermone, non tamen scientia. Scripsit enim in hunc prophetam iuxta editiones quattuor, usque ad visionem quadrupedum in deserto, Origenes triginta volumina, e quibus vicesimus sextus liber non invenitur. Feruntur et alii sub nomine eius de visione tetrapodon [Greek] duo ad Gratam libri, qui pseudographi putantur; et vigintiquinque Homiliae et Semeioseis [Greek], quas nos Excerpta possumus appellare. Eusebius quoque Pamphili iuxta historicam explanationem quindecim edidit volumina; et Didymus, cuius amicitiis nuper usi sumus, ab eo loco ubi scriptum est: Consolamini, consolamini populum meum, sacerdotes; loquimini ad cor Hierusalem, usque ad vinem voluminis, decem et octo edidit tomos. Apollinari autem more suo sic exponit omnia, ut universa transcurrat et punctis quibusdam atque intervallis, immo compendiis grandis viae spatia pretervolet; ut non tam commentarios quam indices capitulorum nos legere credamus. Ex quo animadvertis, quantae difficultatis sit, ut Latini nostri, quorum aures fastidiosae sunt et ad intellegendas scripturas sanctas nauseant, plausuque tantum eloquentiae delectantur, mihi ignoscant, si prolixius locutus fuero; cum Esaias duodecim prophetis iuxta numerum versuum aut aequalis aut maior sit. Sicubi autem praetermissis LXX de Hebraico disputavi, illud in causa est quod aut eadem, aut similia sunt pleraque cum ceteris et duplici editione proposita, nolui libros explanationis extendere, qui etiam in simplici expositione modum brevitatis excedunt. Sed iam propositum persequamur. LIBER SECUNDUS Finito in Esaiam primo volumine, quod ut potui, non ut volui, celeri sermone dictavi: sensum potius scripturarum, quam compositae orationis verba perquirens; nunc transcendam ad secundum; et quidquid in me virium est, pronaeque in Dominum voluntatis, offeram ei qui per prophetam locutus est: Ego visiones multiplicavi; et in manibus prophetarum assimilatus sum. Unde obsecro te, virgo Christi Eustochium, ut nobis in scripturarum explantione certantibus, tu cum Moyse ad Dominum eleves manus; ut qui exeuntes de Aegypto, mare transivimus Rubrum, vincamus Amalec, qui interpretatur devorans et lingens; et possimus tecum dicere: Benedictus Dominus Deus meus, qui docet manus meas ad proelium et digitos meos ad bellum. LIBER TERTIUS Sufficit mihi voluminum magnitudo, quae in explanatione Esaiae prophetae texitur, ubi aliquid praetermittere damnum est intellegentiae. Quamobrem in singulis libris, qui tantum numerum ordinemque significant, breves praefatiunculas posui. Teque, virgo Christi Eustochim, precor, ut in expositione difficillimae visionis orationibus me iuves, in qua Deus omnipotens in sua cernitur maiestate; et duo Seraphim stantia in circuitu eius atque clamantia: Sanctus, Sanctus, Sanctus Dominus sabaoth, plena est omnis terra gloria eius; et commotum liminare templi atque concussum et domus Iudaica tenebris erroris impleta. Et comparatione divinae gloriae propheta immunda labia habere se dicens et habitare in medio populi blasphemantis, qui consona impietatis voce clamabant: Crucifige, crucifige talem; et: Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem. Unumque de Seraphim missum ad Esaiam, qui forcipe de altari carbone comprehenso, prophetae purgare labia, et populos remaneret immundus. Tertius ergo in Esaiam liber hoc habet exordium. LIBER QUARTUS Inaequales dictamus libros, et pro diversitate visionum ac sensuum, alius contrahitur, alius extenditur. Itaque finito tertio volumine, transimus ad quartum, qui tertia mensura versuum priore minor est, praesertim cum quintus, quem huic libro subiecimus, historiae explanationis sit, et paene duplicem numerum habeat. Dum enim nolumus coniuncta dividere, et olim interpretata transire, quasi inter duas maris Pontici sumplegadas [Greek] naviculam nostram direximus, quae flante Spiritu sancto et Domino Salvatore cursum dirigente nostrum, elabitur in pelagus, dicente te, virgo Christi Eustochium: A quattuor ventis caeli veni, spiritus, et mortua ossa vivifica, ut quae iacebant in terrae pulvere, spirante Domino, suscitentur. LIBER QUINTUS Plures anni sunt quod a sanctae memoriae viro Amabili episcopo rogatus, ut in decem Esaiae scriberem visiones, pro angustia illius temporis quid mihi videretur in singulis brevi sermone perstrinxi; historiam tantum quod petebat, eddiserens. Nunc ad te, philotonotate [Greek] Eustochium, cogor in totum prophetam commentarios scribere, et interim orationibus tuis ad Babylonem usque perveni, quae prima decem visionum est, de quibus ante iam dixi. Superfluum autem mihi visum est, aut eadem rursus iterare, aut in uno opere diversas sententias promere. Unde quintus in Esaiam liber erit hic, qui quondam solus editus est, quo ad calcem usque perfecto, sexti voluminis iuxta tropologiam arripiemus exordium, et eadem te Dominum deprecante, spiritalis intellegentiae culmina persequemur. LIBER SEXTUS Quod in praecedenti volumine pollicitus sum, ut supra fundamentum historiae, si voluntati nostrae Christus annueret, spiritale struerem aedificium et imposito culmine perfectae ecclesiae ornamenta monstrarem, hoc in sequentibus duobus libris, o virgo Christi Eustochium, orationibus tuis et Domini misericordia facere conabor, ut eodem labore quo quintus liber historiam comprehendit, sextus et septimus perstringat anagogen; non omnia disserentes, ne multa fiant volumina, sed quid ecclesiastici viri ante nos senserint, breviter indicantes.

LIBER SEPTIMUS Septimus liber idem iuxta anagogen secundus est, immo extremus. In hoc enim decem visionum tropololgica explanatio terminatur, quem cum tuis, Eustochium, precibus, et Christo auxiliante complevero, veniam ad octavum, et utramque explanationem iuxta priores, usque ad quartum, libros, pariter explicabo.

LIBRUS OCTAVUS Sextus et septimus superiores libri allegoriam quinti voluminis continent, quod olim historica explanatione dictavi. Praesens opus, id est octavus liber, ad coeptam interpretationem revertitur, ut et historiam et tropologia iuxta utramque editionem pariter disserat. Quae si longa tibi videbitur, o virgo Christi Eustochium, non mihi imputes, sed scripturae sanctae difficultati, praecipueque Esaiae prophetae, qui tantis obscuritatibus involutus est, ut prae magnitudine rei, brevem explanationem putem, quae per se longa est. Certe nos studiosis scribimus, et sanctam scripturam scire cupientibus, non fastidiosis et ad singula nauseantibus. Qui si flumen eloquentiae et concinna declamationes desiderant, legant Tullium, Quintilianum, Gallionem, Gabinianum, et ut ad nostros veniam, Tertullianum, Cyprianum, Minutium, Arnobium, Lactantium, Hilarium. Nobis propositum est Esaiam per nos intellegi, et nequaquam sub Esaiae occasione nostra verba laudari.

LIBER NONUS Variis molestiis occupati, explantiones in Esaiam prophetam per intervalla dictamus. Unde expleto octavo volumine, nunc post aliquantum temporis spatium transimus ad nonum, non absque morsu et obtrectationibus invidorum, qui ignorantes quid audiant, quid loquantur, de eo audent iudicare quod nesciunt, et ante despiciunt quam probent, eruditosque se aestimant et disertos, si de cunctis scriptoribus detrahant. Quorum livorem et mussitationem garrulam contemnentes, Dei poscamus auxilium, et psalmistae imprecatione dicamus: Dissipa gentes que bella volunt. Domini enim locus in pace est, quae exsuperat omnem sensum. Quam et propheta desiderat clamitans; Domine Deus noster, pacem da nobis; omnia enim reddidisti nobis. Sed iam proponamus Esaiae capitulum, et cum Moyse ingrediamur nubem et caliginem, ut clarificetur vultus noster, et, iuxta Hebraicum, cornuta sit facies. Audianturque et rutilent tonitrua et fulgura, quae plebs vilior videre non potuit.

LIBER DECIMUS Decimus liber, quem nunc habemus in manibus, nono et undecimo minor erit numero versuum, non sensuum magnitudine. Sequitur enim eum Sennacherib atque Rabsacis, et Ezechiae regis historia, quae nec iungi cum praecedentibus poterit, propter enormem voluminis magnitudinem, nec dividi propter gestorum continentiam. Itaque ut voluisti, virgo Christi Eustochium, et ut in commune placuit, sicut et superiores ante dictavi, et hunc et reliquos, si Christus annuerit, dictabo libros, ut prophetias sibi copulem, nec eas inter se lacerem atque discerpam, in alterius finem, et alterius principium. Audio praeterea scorpium, mutum animal et venenatum, super responsione quondam commentarioli mei in Danielem prophetam, nescio quid mussitare, immo ferire conari in suo pure moriturum. Cuius naeniae et lugubres cantilenae necdum mihi proditae sunt, et idcirco dilata responsio; magisque oboediendum tibi est, et sancto atque eruditissimo viro fratri tuo Pammachio, qui insatiabili studio me per litteras cogit, expleto Esaia, transire ad Hiezechiel, cum ego et aetatis et corporis imbecillitate confectus, notariorumque penuria, qui me possent suis ministeriis adiuvare, in eodem adhuc luto haesitem, et vix partem Esaiae mediam in hoc volumine finiturum esse me credam. Quod si, te orante, complevero, arripienda erunt et reliqua, quae a quartodecimo Ezechiae regis anno habebunt initium.

LIBER UNDECIMUS Difficile, immo impossibile est placere omnibus; nec tanta vultuum, quanta sententiarum diversitas est. In explanatione duodecim prophetarum longior quibusdam visus sum, quam oportuit; et ob hanc causam in commentariolis Danielis brevitati studui, praeter ultimam e penultimam visionem, in quibus me necesse fuit ob obscuritatis magnitudinem sermonem tendere; praecipueque in expositione septem et sexaginta duarum et uinius hebdomadarum, in quibus disserendis quid Africanus temporum scriptor, quid Origines, et Caesariensis Eusebius, Clemens quoque Alexandrinae ecclesiae presbyter, et Apollinaris Laodicenus Hippolytusque, et Hebraei, et Tertullianus senserint, breviter comprehendi, lectoris arbitrio derelinqens quid de pluribus eligeret. Itaque quod nos verecundia fecimus iudicandi, et eorum honore qui lecturi erant, quibusdam forte non placeat, qui non antiquorum opiniones, sed nostram sententiam scire desiderant. Quibus facilis responsio est, noluisse me sic unum recipere, ut viderer alios condemnare. Et certe si tanti et tam eruditi viri fastidiosis lectoribus displicent, quid de me facturi erant, qui pro tenuitate ingenioli invidorum morsibus pateo? Sin autem supradictos viros magistros Ecclesiae nominavi, illud intellegant, me non omnium probare fidem, qui certe inter se contrarii sunt. Se ad distinctionem Iosephi Porphyriique dixisse, qui de hac quaestione plurima disputarunt. Quod si in expositione statuae pedumque eius et digitorum discrepantia, ferrum et testam super Romano regno interpretatus sum, quod primum forte, dein imbecillum scriptura portendit, non mihi imputent, sed prophetae. Neque enim sic adulandum est principibus, ut sanctarum scripturarum veritas neglegatur, nec generalis disputatio unius personae iniuria est. Quae cum benigno meorum studio caveretur, Dei iudicio repente sublata est, ut amicorum in me studia, et aemulorum insidiae monstrarentur. Sed haec alias, nunc quod coepimus exequamur. Undecimus in Esaiam liber, o virgo Christi Eustochium, quia magnam partem historiae disserturus est, facilior erit in principiis, et usque ad duas sui partes, reliqua simili more dictanda sunt; et sic studendum brevitati, ut nullum damnum fiat intellegentiae.

LIBER DUODECIMUS Nullus tam imperitus scriptor est, qui lectorem non inveniat similem sui; multoque pars maior est Milesias fabellas revolventium, quam platonis libros. In altero enim ludus et oblectatio est, in altero difficultas et sudori mixtus labor. Denique Timaeum de mundi harmonia, astrorum cursu et numeris disputantem, ipse qui interpretatus est Tullius, se non intellegere confitetur. Testamentum autem Grunnii Corocottae Porcelli decantant in scholis puerorum agmina cachinnantium. Igitur et noster Luscius Lanuinus fruatur testibus, immo fautoribus suis; vincatque multitudine, quia forsitan vincit ingenio. Mihi sufficit paucorum testimonium, et amicorum laude contentus sum, qui in expetendis opusculis meis, amore nostri labuntur, et studio scripturarum; ac nonnulls fore arbitror qui hoc ipsum quod ad te, Eustochium, sermonem facio, obtrectationi patere contendant, non considerantes, Holdam et Annam ac Debboram, viris tacentibus, prophetasse. Et in servitute Christi nequaquam differentiam sexuum valere, sed mentium. Duodecimus ergo in Esaiam explanationum liber hoc habebit exordium.

LIBER DECIMUS TERTIUS Multi casus opprimunt navigantes. Si vehementior flaverit ventus, tempestas formidini est. Si aura moderatior summa iacentis elementi terga crispaverit, piratarum insidias pertimescunt. Atque ita fit, ut fragili animae ligno creditae, aut metuant periculum, aut sustineant, quorum utrumque altero gravius est, vel mortem timere perpetuo, vel quam timueris sustinere. Hoc mihi in Esaiae pelago naviganti accidere video; dum enim inoffenso cursu vela tenduntur, et securis nautarum manibus, sulcans aequoris campos carina delabitur, subitus languoris turbo consurgens, tantis undarum molibus et collisorum inter se fluctuum fragore resonante, pavida amicorum corda perterruit, ut dicere cogerentur: Magister, salvos nos fac, perimus. Quamobrem, Eustochium, in toto orbe terrarum unicum nobilitatis et virginitatis exemplum, non sileat pupilla oculi tui; clamaque in corde: Abba pater. Et cum psalmista loquere: Exsurge, ut quid dormis, Domine? ut iniunctum in Esaiam opus, te orante, et Christo miserante perficiam. Iam enim tertius decimus explanationum liber cuditur, qui necdum pervenit ad calcem. Et interim donec misericors e miserator Dominus, patiens et multarum miserationum, reddat pristinam sanitatem, hanc praefatiunculam tumultuario sermone dictavi; ut quae habentur, in schedulis describantur; et plena emendatio lectoris iudicio reservetur.

LIBER DECIMUS QUARTUS Dominus qui respicit terram, et facit eam tremere, qui tangit montes, et fumigabunt, qui loquitur in Deuteronomii cantico: Ego occidam, et ego vivificabo; percutiam et ego sanabo. Frequentibus morbis meam quoque terram fecit contremiscere, cui dictum est; Terra es, et in terram ibis. Et oblitum conditionis humanae, crebro admonet, ut hominem et senem, et iamiamque moriturum esse me noverim. De quo scribitur: Quid gloriatur terra et cinis? Unde qui me subito languore percusserat, incredibili velocitate sanavit, ut terreret potius, quam affligeret, et emendaret magis quam verberaret. Itaque sciens cuius sit omne quod vivo, et quod idcirco forsitan mea dormitio differatur, ut coeptum in prophetas opus expleam, totum me huic trado studio, et quasi in quadam specula constitutus, mundi huius turbines atque naufragia, non absque gemitu et dolore contemplor; nequaquam praesentia cogitans, sed futura; nec hominum famam atque rumusculos, sed Dei iudicium pertremiscens. Tuque virgo Christi Eustochium, quae aegrotantem tuis orationibus adiuvisti, sanato quoque imprecare gratiam Christi, ut eodem spiritu, quo prophetae futura cecinerunt, possim in nubem eorum ingredi et caliginem, et Dei nosse sermonem, qui nequaquam carnis auribus, sed cordis auditur. Et dicere cum propheta: Dominus dat mihi linguam disciplinae, ut sciam quando oporteat me loqui. Quod testimonium quarti et decimi in Esaiam libri, quem nunc disserere cupio, principium est.

LIBER DECIMUS QUINTUS Crebro, Eustochium, dixisse me novi, apostolos et evangelistas ubicumque de veteri instrumento ponunt testimonia, si inter Hebraicum et Septuaginta nulla diversitas sit, vel suis vel Septuaginta interpretum verbis uti solitos. Sin autem aliter in Hebraico, aliter in veteri editione sensus est, Hebraicum magis, ostendimus posuisse eos ex Hebraeo, quae in Septuaginta non habentur, sic aemuli nostri doceant assumpta aliqua de Septuaginta testimonia, quae non sunt in Hebraeorum libris; et finita contentio est. Hoc diximus, quia praesens capitulum cum in sensu unum sit, in verbis discrepat. A cuius explanatione quintus post decimum in Esaiam liber incipit.

LIBER DECIMUS SEXTUS Egregia disertissimi oratoris sententia est, felices essent artes, si de illis soli artifices iudicarent. Ac ne a profanis tantum sumere videar exemplum, nimirum hoc illud est quod aliis verbis propheta demonstrat: Beatus qui in aures loquitur audientium. Qua felicitate tu, filia Eustochium, me compotem esse fecisti; nam cum anterioris libri praefatiunculam legeres, in qua asserui apostolos et evangelistas ea tantum de septuaginta interpretibus, vel suis vel eorum verbis ponere testimonia, quae cum Hebraico consonarent, si qua autem ab aliis addita sunt, omnino neglegere, illico mihi non parvam quaestiunculam detulisti, quod scilicet octo versus, qui leguntur in ecclesiis, et in Hebraico non habentur, tertii et decimi psalmi apostolus usurparit, scribens ad Romanos: Sepulcrum patens est guttur eorum; linguis suis dolose agebant. Venenum aspidum sub labiis eorum. Quorum os maledictione et amaritudine plenum est. Veloces pedes eorum ad efflundendum sanguinem. Contritio et infelicitas in viis eorum et viam pacis non cognoverunt. Non est timor Dei ante oculos eorum. Quod cum audissem, quasi a fortissimo pugile percussus essem, coepi tacitus aestuare, et stuporem mentis vultus pallore signare. Hebraeus, inquam, ex Hebraeis, secundum legem Parisaeus, eruditusque ad pedes Gamalihel, aut ignoravit haec, aut eorum, qui lecturi erant, abusus est ignorantia. Quorum alterum ineruditi, alterum callidi est ad malitiam, nec eius qui dixerit: Et si imperitus sermone, non tamen scientia. Et iterum: In simplicitate et sinceritate annuntiavi vobis verbum. Tandem in memet reversus, unius diei spatium postulavi, ut responsio mea nequaquam argumentum humani esset ingenii, sed fructus assiduae lectionis. Itaque omnem scripturam mente perlustrans, animadverti, sicut omnis paene ad Romanos epistola de veteri structa est instrumento, sic et hoc testimonium de psalmis et Esaia esse contextum. Nam duo primi versus: Sepulcrum patens est guttur eorum; linguis suis dolose agebant, quinti psalmi sunt. Illud autem quod sequitur: Venenum aspidum sub labiis eorum, centesimi tricesimi noni psalmi est. Rursumque quod dicitur: Quorum os maledictione et amaritudine plenum est, de nono psalmo sumptum est. Tres autem versiculi qui sequuntur: Veloces pedes eorum ad effundendum sanguinem. Contritio et infelicitas in viis eorum et viam pacis ignoraverunt, in Esaia propheta reperi, quos in decimo sexto explanationis eius libro, quem nunc dictare cupio, expositurus sum. Ultimus autem versus, id est octavus: Non est timor Dei ante oculos eorum, in tricesimi quinti psalmi principio est. Nec in hoc cuiquam videatur esse diversum, si quod in suis locis numero dicitur singulari, ab apostolo pluraliter ponitur, qui scribebat ad plurimos, et in unum sensum multa cogebat exampla. Arbitror solutam quaestionem tuam, et nostram regulam super translatione veteris instrumenti concussam magis esse quam motam. Et non tam apostolum de psalmo tertio decimo sumpsisse, quod in Hebraico non habetur, quam eos qui artem contexendarum inter se scripturarum apostoli nesciebant, quaesisse aptum locum, ubi assumptum ab eo ponerent testimonium, quod absque auctoritate in scriptura positum non putabant. Denique omnes Graeciae tractatores, qui nobis eruditionis suae in psalmos commentarios reliquerunt, hos versiculos veru annotant atque praetereunt, liquido confitentes in Hebraico non haberi, nec esse in septuaginta interpretibus, sed in editione Vulgata, quae Graece koine [Greek] dicitur, et in toto orbe diversa est. Sed iam tempus est, ut coepto incumbamus operi, et reliqua persequamur.

LIBER DECIMUS SEPTIMUS Quanta mysteria septimus post decimum numerus, ad quem nunc Explanationum in Esaiam pervenit liber, in scripturis sanctis contineat, vellem, virgo Christi Eustochium, brevi sermone percurrere. Sed quia non possum omnia in omnibus locis dicere, hoc strictim admoneo, quod psalmus, qui huius numeri titulo praenotatur, sit pueri Domini David, et cecinerit verba cantici, in die qua eripuit eum Dominus de manu omnium inimicorum suorum et de manu Saul, et dixerit: Diligam te, Domine, fortitudo mea, et reliqua. Puer autem Domini ille est, cui Pater loquitur in Esaia: Magnum tibi est vocari: puer meus. Et in alio loco: Ecce puer meus quem elegi, dilectus meus in quo complacuit sibi anima mea. Iste puer qui interpretatur fortis manu, in die qua liberavit eum Dominus de manu Saul (qui in lingua nostra expetitum vel infernum sonat) et ab omnibus inimicis suis, qui clamaverunt contra eum: Crucifige, crucifige talem, quando ad Patrem victor ascendit fulvis vestibus de Bosra, inter cetera triumphantis locutus est verba: Eripe me de contradictionibus populi; constitues me in caput gentium. Populus quem non cognovi, servivit mihi; in auditu auris oboedivit mihi. Rursumque de populo Iudaeorum: Filii alieni mentiti sunt mihi; filii alieni inveteraverunt, et claudicaverunt a semitis suis. Quibus et Elias dixerat: Usquequo claudicatis utroque pede? Denique quod difficile in aliis reperitur, hic psalmus tam in Samuelis quam in Dierum historia continetur. Qui de uno numero ad hebdomadem per incrementa proficiens, venit ad vicesimum octavum psalmum, qui et ipse inscribitur David, in consummationem tabernaculi, quando angelis imperatur: Afferte Domino filii Dei; afferte Domino filios arietum. Et omnia baptismi salutaris et Ecclesiae mysteria concinuntur: Vox Domini super aquas; Deus maiestatis intonuit. Dominus super aquas multas, vox Domini in virtute. Et post paululum: Vox Domino praeparantis servos, et revelavit condensa, et in templo eius omnes dicent gloriam. Atque ut multitudinem credentium demonstraret, intulit: Dominus diluvium inhabitare fecit; et sedebit Dominus rex in aeternum. Rursumque octavae addito sacramento, tricesimum sextum psalmum efficit litteratum, cuius principium est: Noli aemulari in malignantibus, neque zelaveris facientes iniquitatem. Cuius expositio non praefationis, sed proprii voluminis est. Et ne multa nunc replicemus, usque ad quintum decimum numerum per augmenta succrescens, in quo psalmi graduum sunt, et vas electionis apud Petrum Hierosolymis commoratur, centesimum vicesimum efficit numerum, qui primi in Christum fuere credentes et cum apostolis coenaculum fidei conscenderunt, descenditque super eos Spiritus sanctus. Postque usque ad septimum decimum numerum ordine gradiens, et evangelicam possidens dignitatem, praecipiente Domino de dextris partibus, centum quinquaginta tres pisces magnos capit, et in Ecclesia collocat. Cui et nunc Esaias propheta loquitur.

LIBER DECIMUS OCTAVUS Duodevicesimus in Esaiam, immo extremus liber, tuo, o filia Eustochium, et sanctae matris tuae Paulae nomini dedicatur, ut quas pari honore suspexi, aequa commemoratione nunc recolam. Praesertim cum et illa dum viveret, hoc opus tecum crebrius postularit, et vir eruditissimus frater tuus Pammachius et tunc et postea frequentibus scriptis cogerer non destiterit, mihique et praesentium amicorum et absentium, virorumque ac feminarum in Christo dormientium eadem religio sit, id est, animorum caritas, non corporum. Nec ignoro quanta inter homines sententiarum diversitas sit. Non dico de mysterio Trinitatis, cuius recta confessio est ignoratio scientiae. Sed de aliis ecclesiasticis dogmatibus, de resurrectione scilicet, et de animarum et humanae carnis statu, de repromissionibus futurorum, quomodo debeant accipi, et qua ratione intellegenda sit Apocalypsis Ioannis, quam si iuxta litteram accipimus, iudaizandum est. Si spiritaliter, ut scripta est, disserimus, multorum veterum videbimur opinionibus contraire: Latinorum, Tertulliani, Victorini, Lactantii; Graecorum, ut ceteros praetermittam, Irenaei tantum Lugdunensis episcopi faciam mentionem, adversum quem vir eloquentissimus Dionysius Alexandrinae ecclesiae pontifex elegantem scribit librum, irridens mille annorum fabulam, et auream atque gemmatam in terris Hierusalem, instaurationem templi, hostiarum sanguinem, otium sabbati, circumcisionis iniuriam, nuptias, partus, liberorum educationem, epularum delicias, et cunctarum gentium servitutem, rursusque bella, exercitus ac triumphos et superatorum neces, mortemque centenarii peccatoris. Cui duobus voluminibus respondit Apollinaris, quem non solum suae sectae homines, sed et nostrorum in hac parte dumtaxat plurima sequitur multitudo, ut praesaga mente iam cernam quantorum in me rabies concitanda sit. Quibus non invideo, si tantum amant terram, ut in regno Christi terrena desiderent; et post ciborum abundantia, gulaeque ac ventris ingluviem, ea quae sub ventre sunt quaerant. De quibus apostolus Paulus: Esca, inquit, ventri, et venter escis. Deus autem et hunc et illas destruet. Et: Non est regnum Dei cibus et potus. Et Dominus atque Salvator: Erratis, inquit, nescientes scripturas neque virtutem Dei. In resurrectione enim neque nubent, neque nubentur; sed erunt similes angelorum. Nec haec dicens aufero corporum veritatem, quae incorrupta et immortalia resurrectura confiteor, ut mutent gloriam, non substantiam. Sicque recto incedendum est tramite, ut nec ad sinistram nec ad dexteram declinemus, ed est, nec Iudaicum nec haereticum sequamur errorem. Quorum alii qui carnis sunt, solas diligunt carnes; alii ingrati beneficiorum Dei, habere detrectant, quod Christus et natus habuit et resurgens. Cum enim apostoli eum putarent spiritum, vel iuxta evangelium, quod Hebraeorum lectitant Nazaraei, incorporale daemonium, dixit eis: Quid turbati estis, et cogitationes ascendunt in corda vestra? Videte manus meas et pedes, quia ipse ego sum: Palpate et cernite, quia spiritus carnem et ossa non habet, sicut me videtis habere. Et cum hoc dixisset, ostendit eis manus et pedes. Rursumque Thomae locutus est ambigenti: Infer digitum tuum huc, et vide manus meas; et extende manum tuam et mitte in latus meum; et noli esse incredulus, sed fidelis. Denique ad probandum corporis veritatem, sumpsisse scribitur cibos, quos et archisynagogi filiae iusserat tribui, quam a mortuis suscitavit. Et Lazarus, ne resurrectione eius phantasma putaretur, cum Salvatore narratur iniisse convivium. Non quo post resurrectionem manducemus et bibamus, ut milliarii nostri volunt, et immortalia atque incorrupta corpora alimoniis sustentanda terrenis sint. Alioquin ubi cibus, sequuntur et morbi; ubi morbi, adhibendus est et medicus; ubi medici, frequenter interitus; rursumque resurrectio, et nova ex integro conversatio. Sed ut resurrectionis fidem ciborum assumptio comprobaret. Haec magnopere praecavemus, et pressius loquimur, scientes inter serpentes nobis et scorpiones ambulandum, qui mordent et feriunt in abscondito. De quibus et Ecclesiastes: Si momorderit, inquit, serpens in silentio, nihil eo minus habet qui occulte detrahit. Et huius pater David: Sedens adversus fratrem tuum loquebaris, et adversus filium matris tuae ponebas scandalum. Haec fecisti, et tacui; existimasti, inique, quod ero tui similis. Arguam te, et ponam contra faciem tuam, ut quae in aliis criminaris, ipse habere docearis. Si cui autem explanationum in prophetas displicet longitudo, audiat libere, multo me pauciora dixisse, quam rei obscuritas flagitat, et posse unumquemque de nostra latitudine breves sibi commentariolos facere, qui tamen pleno intellectui non sufficient. Neque enim simplex a prophetis historia et gestorum ordo narratur, sed aenigmatum plena sunt omnia; aliudque in verbis sonant, aliud tenetur in sensibus, ut quae aestimaveris plana et inoffensa currere lectione, sequentium rursum obscuritatibus involuantur. Verum tempus est, ut finem imponam volumini prophetali, in cuius expositione si prolixior solito fuero, extremis partibus concedendum est, quas dividere nolui, ne librorum numerus augeretur.

Historical context:

Jerome writes the long (18 books) commentary on Isaiah which he had originally promised Paula and which Eustochium has pressed him to do. He continues to address Eustochium directly throughout the work, in prologues to the individual books, where he talks about the historical or literal and allegorical (anagogic and tropological) senses, excuses the necessary length and detail of his exposition, which he knows will not appeal to Roman tastes, and lashes out at his detractors. He also defends himself for writing to women, and makes a discovery about the text in answer to a difficult question from Eustochium. In the later books, he is painfully aware of his mortality. (Where Jerome’s citations differ from the Latin bible, I have translated them literally.)

Scholarly notes:

(1) The word is the equivalent of our "workaholic," and Jerome had said the same of Eustochium's mother, Paula, in ep.30. (2) The word "rabsaris"[Heb] meant a high dignitary, but was treated as a personal name in the Christian bible.

Printed source:

Prologus, Commentarius in Esaiam, CCSL73, 1-4, and prologues to individual books, CCSL73, 1-4, 41, 83, 128, 159, 223, 266, 315, 354, 336-37, 427-28; CCSL73a 465-66, 506-07, 552, 598-99, 641-43, 691-92, 740-42

Date:

408-410