One book of the comments of Saint Jerome, the Priest of Stridon, on the prophet Nahum
Latin Text from public domain Migne Editors, Patrologiae Cursus Completus.
Translated into English using ChatGPT.
Table of Contents
Prologue
According to the Septuagint interpreters, in the order of the twelve prophets, after Jonah comes Nahum, because they seem to prophesy about the same city. For it is written in Jonah: The word of the Lord came to Jonah, son of Amathi, saying: Arise and go to Nineveh, the great city, and preach in it (Jonah 1:1). But in Nahum, this is the beginning: The oracle of Nineveh: The book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite. Therefore, both of them weave a prophecy about Nineveh, the capital of the Assyrians, which is now called Ninus. Furthermore, in Hebrew, after Jonah, Micah is placed, and Micah is followed by Nahum, which means consoler. For indeed, ten tribes had already been taken into captivity by the Assyrians under King Hezekiah of Judah, under whom they had also now migrated for the consolation of the people. This vision against Nineveh is seen by those who were already serving the Assyrians as well as by the rest who were being besieged by the same enemies under Hezekiah from the tribes of Judah and Benjamin. It was not a small consolation for them to hear that the Assyrians would also be captured by the Chaldeans, as will be shown in the following parts of this book. It should be known (since Ninive in our language, in Hebrew, means beautiful: but this world is called beautiful: hence also among the Greeks it has received the name κόσμος from its adornment) that whatever is said against Ninive now, is figuratively spoken against the world. For this reason, the assumption, which the Seventy interpreters translate as λῆμμα, and Aquila interpreted as ἄρμα, is placed among the Hebrews as Massa, that is, a heavy burden: because it presses down on that against which it seems, and does not allow it to raise its head. Moreover, what is added, some people think that Naum of Elcesa was Naum's father, and according to the Hebrew tradition, he was also a prophet himself: since Elcesa ((also called Elcesaei)) is a small village in Galilee to this day, showing only the traces of ancient buildings in ruins; but still known to the Jews, and also pointed out to me by those around. At the same time, it should be noted that this very assumption, or burden, or weight, is the vision of the prophet. For he does not speak in ecstasy, like Montanus and Prisca and Maximilla who rave; but he is a book of prophecy, understanding the visions of everything he speaks, and revealing the weight of the foes making a vision in his people. Therefore, concerning the end of the world according to the analogy, o Paula and Eustochium, the prophecy is woven for the consolation of the saints: so that they may despise whatever they see in the world as passing and transient, and prepare themselves for the day of judgement, when the avenger against the true Assyrians, the Lord, will come.
1:1
(Chapter I—Verse 1.) God, zealous and avenging Lord. The voice of the prophet praising God for avenging the injury done to his people by the Assyrians. Or, in a deeper understanding, that he hears the groaning of his saints and will make his adversaries feel punishment at the end of the world. And that zeal is to be taken in a good way, as the Apostle Paul shows, saying: Be zealous for the greater gifts (I Cor. XII). Also in another place: For I am jealous for you with a godly jealousy (II Cor. XI). And the Lord Himself says in the psalm: The zeal of your house has consumed me (Ps. 69). And Elias says: With zeal I have been zealous for the Lord God of hosts of Israel (3 Kings 19). We also read of the zeal of Phinees and of Mathathias (Numbers 25; 1 Maccabees 2). And Simon the apostle, called the Zealot by the evangelist Mark, whom Mark calls Simon the Canaanite (Acts 1; Mark 3). And the Lord is zealous for the salvation of those for whom He is zealous, so that He might save by His jealousy those whom His mercy could not save. And so, to Jerusalem, which, because of its excessive sins, did not deserve a visitation of zeal and fury, God spoke in Ezekiel: My zeal has turned away from you, and I will no longer be angry with you (Ezek. 16:42). Therefore, as long as the world was repenting, its consummation did not happen; but after the multiplication of iniquity, the love of many grew cold to the point that even the chosen ones of God are tested. Then the zealous Lord comes for vengeance; not because He is an enemy and avenger, as is said of the devil, but because His vengeance is hostile (or friendly) to them, and it consumes like fire, wood, hay, and straw, so that only pure gold and silver remain (Matt. 24).
The Lord avenges and has wrath: The Lord avenges against his enemies, and he is angry with his adversaries. According to both understandings, because the Lord loves whom he corrects (Prov. III), and he chastises every son whom he receives, therefore he is angry, so that he may remove what is adverse and hostile to himself, and to the enemies, and with contrary thoughts shattered, and with words lifted up, they may return to their former state. Finally, in the following statements he says: The Lord is patient, and his longsuffering is enduring. But because we have also set out to explain the story, let us understand the Assyrians as the enemies and adversaries of God, against whom he will be patient for a long time, but later he will arise as an avenger with fury and wrath.
1:2
(Vers. 2.) The Lord is patient and of great strength, and cleansing, He will not make the innocent. The more significant translation in Greek is: καὶ ἀθωῶν οὐκ ἀθωώσει ((Al. καὶ ἀθοῶν οὐκ ἀθοώσει)). And the meaning is: Indeed, the Lord has been patient with the wickedness of the Assyrians and has endured their injustices with the strength of His magnanimity, calling them to repentance. But because they have despised the goodness of God and, according to their unrepentant heart, have stored up wrath for themselves on the day of wrath (Rom. II), the one who was patient before will by no means allow them to depart unpunished, as though pure and innocent. Certainly, it is patient to endure all who are falling, and to raise up those who have been knocked down (Psalm 144): to heal the brokenhearted, and to bind up their wounds; and His great virtue is to reconcile enmity in the flesh, and to not make the innocent guilty; even when someone who excessively praises themselves has been reproved, because they have been saved not by their own merit, but by the mercy of God. For it is permitted to say: Behold, I have served you for so many years, and I have never transgressed your command (Luke 15:29); yet because the Lord is good to all, and his mercy is over all his works (Psalm 145:9), and all have sinned, and lack the glory of God (Romans 3:23), those who are justified by him will hear it freely: Is your eye evil because I am good? (Matthew 20:15) And so it will happen that in the very act of accusing and forgiving, he will not allow any innocent to go unpunished.
1:3
(Verse 3) The Lord is in the storm and the whirlwind of his life, and the clouds are the dust of his feet. For the storm and the whirlwind, the Septuagint translated it as consummation and commotion: although in the place where we have positioned ourselves, it is written in Hebrew as Basupha (), which can also be understood as commotion. However, this signifies that at the end of the world everything will be moved, according to what is written in Haggai: 'Yet once more I will shake not only the earth but also the heavens.' (Haggai 2:7) And when all things are shaken (so that the ways of the Lord may be believed, as he says in the Gospel: 'I am the way, and the truth, and the life.' (John 14:6); and in Mark: 'When the Son of Man comes with the clouds, as it is commanded in Isaiah' (Chapter 5), so that the rain may not fall on the vineyard, and to which the truth of God has come, as the Psalmist says: 'Your truth reaches to the clouds.' (Psalm 36:6)), then even the clouds themselves, namely the prophets and the souls of the saints, who were previously burdened by the connection of the flesh, will be elevated to the heights, becoming of a more refined substance, and brought down as a footstool of God, and will minister to angelic duties in various places. Indeed, the previous and ancient things that pertain to the head cannot be known. On the other hand, another cloud will receive in the opposite direction, which always disturbs the clear and bright light of the sun and the stars with its darkness, and which afterwards reduces the subject to the power of the Lord to dust and nothingness, and dissolves the earth in those things which are rich.
1:4
(Verse 4) Rebuking the sea, and drying it up, and leading all the rivers to the desert. It is described according to the power of God, who will avenge Israel's adversaries, showing that it is not difficult for Him to destroy the Assyrians, whose majesty even includes the ability to change the elements. Or certainly because we have already said that this is a prophecy about the end of the world, and you can simply understand this: When the consummation of the world comes and the heaven and earth pass away, the sea and rivers will also dry up. But to me, reading this in the Psalms: The great and wide sea, in which are creeping things innumerable, both small and great beasts. There the ships pass through. This dragon which You have formed to play there (Psalm 104:25-26), seems worthy of the goodness and mercy of God to destroy all the bitterness and saltiness of the sea by its threat, and to humble the dragon reigning in the waters, and to dry up the abyss of malice in which small creepy things swim, innumerable whose worth is not to be numbered, for they are united with the dragon. Also leading rivers into the desert, it is draining all false knowledge of name, which, rising against God, it waters with the river of eloquence and the flow of words, and twisting whirlpools, it is carried with the amazement of spectators into the abyss. Look at Plato, behold Demosthenes, also Cicero, both philosopher and orator, and consider the leaders of the heretics, about whom there were Valentinus, Marcion, Bardesanes, Tatian, and you will not doubt about the rivers. But all of these things the Lord Jesus will consume with the breath of his mouth and destroy with the brightness of his coming, and he will lead to the deserts. And at the same time, observe that according to the title, which is inscribed: The Assumption of Nineveh: the book of the vision of Nahum the Elkoshite, rightly and in a figurative sense, the world is understood to represent Nineveh, and the rivers of its eloquence will dry up in its culmination.
Basan and Carmel are sick, and the flower of Lebanon is withered. Metaphorically, by Basan and Carmel and Lebanon, a fertile region and mountains adorned, the devastation of Assyria is shown, because once powerful and flourishing and ruling over many nations, it will be laid waste by the wrath of the Lord. We can also understand this as referring to the end of the world, where the powerful and noble, who abound in great riches, will suddenly perish and it will be said to them: Fool, tonight is the time when your soul will be taken from you, and what you have prepared, whose will it be? (Luke 12:20). Furthermore, according to the interpretation of names, because Basan signifies confusion and ignominy, we affirm that at the consummation of the world, all things worthy of shame and disgrace will be weakened when the Lord comes. Not only will sins be brought to nothing, but even Carmel, which signifies the knowledge of circumcision, as well as those who seem rich and flourishing in good works, will tremble and be filled when Christ comes. And that which is said in the Gospel will be fulfilled: 'When the Son of man comes, will he find faith upon the earth?' (Luke 18:8). Indeed, as wickedness increases, the love of many will grow cold, and because of this, the wrath of God will come.
1:5
(Version 5.) The mountains were moved by him, and the hills were made desolate, and the earth trembled before him, and the world, and all that dwell therein. LXX: The mountains were moved by him, and the hills were shaken, and the earth was contracted before his face, the whole universe and all who dwell in it. It can also be understood simply that at the end of the world, when the Savior comes in his majesty, the mountains, hills, world, and earth will be moved. For if in His passion the sun fled, the rocks were split, and the earth trembled (Matt. XXVII, and Luke XXIII): much more in His glory will all things be troubled. But also, figuratively, the mountains and hills, the lofty and powerful ones, are understood to be those who will be cast down to the ground at the advent of the Lord, and removed from their throne will adhere to the pavement. For the face of the Lord is against those who do evil, in order to destroy their memory from the earth (Psalm XXXIII, 17). Then the earth will shake, and the world and universe will fear the face of the Lord: this is the greatest torment and punishment, that they will not dare to look upon his countenance.
1:6
(Verse 6) Who can stand before the face of His anger, and who can endure the fury of His wrath? LXX translation: Who can withstand the face of His anger, and who can resist in the fury of His wrath? Symmachus has interpreted it more clearly: Who can endure the wrath of His fury? Therefore, it is rare or nonexistent to find anyone who is not worthy of being seized by anger. And there will be no soul that does not tremble at the judgment of God, since even the stars are not clean in His sight (Job. XXV, 5). Moreover, the Hebrew word Jaccum, which both Aquila and the Septuagint translated, resists the transfer to that understanding which is mentioned in the second book of Kings and in the first book of Chronicles, concerning the wrath of God, in the masculine gender. There is no doubt that in that passage the wrath of God is understood as the devil and the wicked angels who are sent to punish those who are worthy of wrath. So it will be difficult to find at the end of the world someone who is blameless and pure who dares to say, 'Behold, the ruler of this world is coming, and he finds nothing in me' (John 14:30) and stands boldly against him. However, we must think this way against the Assyrians: when the Lord comes in storm and whirlwind, drying up the empire of Babylon, which is interpreted as the sea, and overthrowing all its kingdoms, which are understood as rivers, and reducing its power and abundance to nothing, which figuratively are called Bashan, Carmel, and the flower of Lebanon, and the mountains and hills, and shaking the breadth of the empire, which is called the entire world: then no power will be able to resist the angry God, punishing his people.
His indignation was poured out like fire, and the rocks were dissolved by Him. LXX: His wrath consumes the principalities, and the rocks are crushed by Him. For because we have poured out, Aquila translated it as συνεχωνεύθη, which means it was mixed together: Symmachus and Theodotion translated it as ἔσταξεν, which means it dripped. Therefore, whether the indignation of God was mixed together like fire, or His wrath dripped in the likeness of a fire, in order to break and dissolve the hard hearts of men, which are called rocks, the indignation of God is useful. It sustains our sins for a long time through our patience, and only rarely does it mix together fully, and yet it does not burst forth completely for punishment, but it drips lightly upon us with a small flame. But if the drop of His indignation consumes the principalities against whom our fight is, what would happen if the whole wrath of God were poured out upon us? May Jesus grant that the stony heart be taken away, and that in us the fleshly heart be changed, with hardness softened, so that it may be able to receive the commandments of the Lord which are written: For a sacrifice to God is a contrite spirit, a heart that is broken and humbled God will not despise. (Psalm 50:19) And so that you may know that the words spoken indicate the mercy of God, not severity, learn from what follows.
1:7
(Verse 7) The Lord is good and strengthening in the day of tribulation, and He knows those who hope in Him. Septuagint: The Lord is sweet to those who wait for Him in the day of tribulation, and He knows those who fear Him. When He begins to be angry with the nations, and to destroy once powerful kingdoms, He will know those who are His, and He will not overwhelm those who sail with one storm. But the day of tribulation, according to interpretation (ἀναγωγὴν), let us understand as the day of judgment, about which Isaiah wrote: "Behold, the day of the Lord comes, inexorable, full of fury and rage, to make the world a desert, and to destroy sinners from it" (Isaiah 13:9). Let us hope in the Lord, and through his patience let us await his coming, so that when he comes, we may perceive him as good, not as a judge, and let him recognize those who hope in him or fear him (2 Timothy 2). For the Lord knows those who are his.
1:8
(Verse 8.) And in the passing flood, he will bring about its destruction, and darkness will pursue his enemies. LXX: And in the passing flood, he will bring about its destruction: those who rise up against him and his enemies will be pursued by darkness. The Lord is patient and full of mercy, and he will not be angry forever, nor will he be indignant for eternity; but when wickedness increases upon the earth, and all flesh has corrupted its way, he will bring a flood that will pass over, not one that will remain forever. But the consummation, or end, will be made by its place, that is, the flood, just as it is said of the wicked: 'And I passed by, and his place was not found' (Psalm 37:36); and: 'The way of the wicked shall perish' (Psalm 1:6); so let the way of the flood perish after the wrath of the Lord, with only His mercy appearing. This can indeed be understood according to history, because when it has devastated Israel, and has flooded the land of promise like a flood, it will bring an end to captivity by restoring them to their former dwellings. On the contrary, the Assyrians, who led the people into captivity, will be pursued by darkness. What we have said about Israel and the Assyrians can be understood in relation to the end of the world, and concerning the saints and the persecutors, or contrary virtues, it is possible that God will have mercy on the saints after his wrath; but the persecutors and their enemies, who have chosen darkness and not light, the very darkness they have chosen will overtake them. For they will be cast into outer darkness, where there will be weeping and gnashing of teeth (Matthew 8 and 22). The word 'Macoma', which we have interpreted, its parts of speech they divided into two parts, so that 'Ma' was translated as a preposition, that is, 'from'; 'Coma' was interpreted as 'rising'. Finally, Aquila said 'from those who rise'; Septuagint said 'rising'; Theodotus said 'rising to him'; the fifth edition said 'from those who rise to him'. Only Symmachus, agreeing with our interpretation, said: 'And when the flood passes, he will bring about the completion of his place.' Some of our people, rising up and enemies, interpret Marcion and all the ancient heretics, who argue against the Creator.