# Commentary on Isaiah

- Author: [Jerome](https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/authors/jerome/)
- Latin title: *Commentariorum in Isaiam libri duodeviginti*
- Date: ca. 408-410 (approximate)
- Source: J.-P. Migne, ed., Patrologiae cursus completus, series Latina, vol. 24 (Paris) (Latin text: Migne, Patrologia Latina, digitized by Open Greek and Latin (patrologia_latina-dev, University of Leipzig), CC BY-SA 4.0)

- Translation: Claude, from the original text, unless a passage says otherwise; each passage below gives the translator
- Work page: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-isaiam/
- Passages: 2

## Commentary on Isaiah 50:1

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-isaiam/13-50-1/#p-13-50-1
- Source: PL 24:491b–493 d
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jerome explains Isa 50:1: God did not give Jerusalem a bill of divorce out of harshness, but she left him by her own sins, and he let the adulteress go.

### Latin text

Haec dicit Dominus : Quis est hic liber repudii matris vestrae, quo dimisi eam ? Aut quis est creditor meus, cui vendidi vos? Ecce in iniquitatibus vestris venditi estis, et in sceleribus vestris dimisi matrem vestram. Quia veni, et non erat vir : vocavi, et non erat qui audiret. > LXX : i Sic dicit Dominus : Qualis cst liber repudii matris vestræ quo dimisi cam ? Aut cui creditori et exactori mco vendidi vos ? Ecce peccatis vestris venundati estis, et it iniquitatibus vestris dimisi matrem vestram, quia veni, et non erat homo : vocavi, et non erat qui obediret.. > Post vocationem gentium, et reges ac principites nutricios et nutrices, et captivitatem fortis prius atque robusti, cujuspr:eda Apostolis distributa est, ct post dræmonum vesaniam, qui suis saturati carnibus, suoque inebriati sunt sanguine : quantlo Omnis cognovitcaro, quod Redemptor et furtis ipse esset Deus Jacob, loquitur ad populum Judæorum super Sion, qua: prius dixerat : Dereliquit me Dominus, et Dominus oblitus est mei. Putans Iura duritia matrem vestram terrenam Jerusalem esse projectam, et quod ego mentis rigidae dederim ci libellum repudii, et non potius, quod verum cst, intelligitis, illatu suo a nw vitio recessisse? Dicente enim me ad eam : Quiescite inique agere, dicite bonum facere, audire me noluit ; sed vertit contra IDe scapulam recedentem: Unde lOCULus surn filiis ejus : Væ illis, quoiam recesserunt a me. Manifesti sunt qui impie egeruut in me. Et ad ipsam : Erudiet te abscessio tua, et malitia tua corripiet te; et scies quoniam malum tibi sit quod reliqueris me. Sed forsitan libellum repudii ostendere non potestis, ct aliquis creditor meus exigens pecuniam, rae non habente quod redderem, vos in debiti compensationem suscipit? Non est ita : sed ego ostendam vobis, quamobrem matrem cum filiis dereliquerim. Scelera vestra aL- que peccata vos dæmonibus vendiderunt, ut præsentis saeculi voluptatibus irrelhl, et vos parentem, et iila conjugem derelinqueret. Unde adulteram matrem vestram ultra tenere non potui, sed volentem abire permisi. Quod autem peccatis suis ullusquisque venundatur, dum proprio arbitriu derelicti, nostra voluntate, vel ad bonum, vet ad nJalum ducimur, et Paulus apostolus docet : Ego autem carnalis sum, venundatus sub peccato (Rom. VII, 14). Qui enim facit peccalum, servus est peccati (Joan. VIII). Et quomodo avari atqie raptores servi sunt mammonæ; sic omne peccatum dominatur pec. atoribus Qunbus dicitur : Non rpatle, peccatum in mortati, vestro corpore (llOIlI. VI, 12). Ut autem sciatis, non a me repudiatam matrem vestram; sed voluntate propria recessisse, post multa beneficia humanum corpus assurupsi, et nequaquam per prophetas, sed præsens locutus sum. Veni, et non erat vir, sive homo. Omnes enim viri et bominis imaginem relinquentes, bestiarum et serpentium sumpsere illwgincs. Undc et ad lIerodem propter malitiam dicitur : Ite et dicite bulpi huic (Lus XIII, 32). Et ad Pharisæos : Genimina viperarum (Matth. XXIII, 53). Et ad libidinosos : Equi insanientes in feminas facti sunt (Jerem.v, 8). Et lie voluptuosis : Nolite mittere margaritas restras ante porcos. Et impudentibus:Neque saM- ctum detis canibus (Matth. VII, G). Et ill communi de omnibus : Visio quadrupedun quœ erant ill deserto (Isa. sxx) Venit itaque Dominus, et non invenit hominem. Homo enim cum in honore esset, non intellexit : comparatusparatus est jumentis insipientibus, et similis factus est eis (Psal. XLVIII, 13). Vocavi, inquil, eos quasi rationale animal, et dixi : Inclinate aurem vestram in verba oris mei (Psal. LXXVII, i), et non audivit populus mens vocem meam.Clamavi, et dixi : Qui silit, veniat, ad me, et bibat (Joan. VII, 37). Et aUo loco : Venite all me, omnes qUI laboratiset onerati estis(Matth. XI. 28). Et non erut qui audiret; unde eis in Evangeliosumlocutus : Neque speciem Dei vidistis, neque vocem illius audistis, quia non habetis sermonem ejus manentem in vobis (JOCHZ. v, 37, 38).

### English translation (Claude)

“Thus says the Lord: What is this bill of divorce of your mother, by which I put her away? Or who is my creditor, to whom I sold you? See, for your iniquities you were sold, and for your crimes I put away your mother. For I came, and there was no man; I called, and there was no one to hear.” The Septuagint: “Thus says the Lord: What kind of bill of divorce of your mother is it by which I put her away? Or to which creditor and exactor of mine did I sell you? See, for your sins you were sold, and for your iniquities I put away your mother; for I came, and there was no human being; I called, and there was no one to obey.” After the calling of the Gentiles, and the kings and princes as foster fathers and nursing mothers, and the captivity of the one who was formerly strong and mighty, whose plunder was distributed to the apostles, and after the madness of the demons, who were glutted with their own flesh and drunk with their own blood, when all flesh knew that the Redeemer and the Mighty One was himself the God of Jacob, he speaks to the people of the Jews about Zion, which had said before, “The Lord has forsaken me, and the Lord has forgotten me.” Do you think that your mother, the earthly Jerusalem, was cast off by harshness, and that I, of rigid mind, gave her a bill of divorce, and do you not rather understand, what is true, that she withdrew from me by her own fault? For when I said to her, “Cease to do wickedly, learn to do good,” she would not hear me, but turned her shoulder against me as she withdrew. Hence I spoke to her sons: “Woe to them, for they have withdrawn from me.” Those who have acted wickedly against me are manifest. And to her: “Your withdrawal will instruct you, and your wickedness will rebuke you; and you will know that it is evil for you that you have forsaken me.” But perhaps you cannot show a bill of divorce, and some creditor of mine, demanding money when I had nothing to repay, took you in compensation for the debt? It is not so; but I will show you why I forsook the mother with her sons. Your crimes and sins sold you to the demons, so that, entangled in the pleasures of the present age, you forsook your parent and she her husband. Hence I could no longer keep your adulterous mother, but when she wished to go away, I let her. And that each one is sold by his own sins, when, left to our own choice, we are led by our own will either to good or to evil, the apostle Paul too teaches: “But I am carnal, sold under sin.” “For whoever commits sin is a slave of sin.” And as the greedy and robbers are slaves of mammon, so every sin rules over sinners, to whom it is said: “Do not let sin reign in your mortal body.” And that you may know that your mother was not repudiated by me but withdrew by her own will, after many benefits I took on a human body, and spoke no longer through the prophets but in person. “I came, and there was no man,” or human being. For all, leaving the image of man and of humanity, took on the images of beasts and serpents. Hence it is said to Herod because of his wickedness, “Go and tell that fox”; and to the Pharisees, “Brood of vipers”; and of the lustful, “They have become stallions mad for females”; and of the pleasure-loving, “Do not cast your pearls before swine”; and of the shameless, “Do not give what is holy to dogs”; and in common of all, “The vision of the four-footed beasts that were in the desert.” So the Lord came and did not find a man. For “man, when he was in honour, did not understand; he was compared to senseless beasts and became like them.” “I called them,” he says, as a rational animal, and said, “Incline your ear to the words of my mouth,” and my people did not hear my voice. “I cried out and said, If anyone thirsts, let him come to me and drink.” And in another place: “Come to me, all who labour and are burdened.” “And there was no one to hear”; hence I said to them in the Gospel: “You have neither seen the form of God nor heard his voice, because you do not have his word abiding in you.”

### Scripture references

- Isa 50:1–2: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 49:14: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 49:22–26: allusion, medium confidence
- Isa 1:16–17: quotation, high confidence
- Hos 7:13: quotation, medium confidence
- Jer 2:19: quotation, high confidence
- Deut 24:1–4: allusion, low confidence
- Rom 7:14: quotation, high confidence
- John 8:34: quotation, high confidence
- Rom 6:12: quotation, high confidence
- Luke 13:32: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 23:33: quotation, high confidence
- Jer 5:8: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 7:6: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 30:6: quotation, medium confidence
- Ps 49:12 (48:13 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence
- Ps 78:1 (77:1 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence
- John 7:37: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 11:28: quotation, high confidence
- John 5:37–38: quotation, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Divorce imagery: Jerome says God did not divorce Jerusalem by harshness; she departed by her own fault, and he “could no longer keep” the adulteress but let her go when she wished. Translated as written. Quotations and allusions: Isa 50:1–2; Isa 49:14, 22–26; Isa 1:16–17; Hos 7:13; Jer 2:19; Rom 7:14; John 8:34; Rom 6:12; Luke 13:32; Matt 23:33; Jer 5:8; Matt 7:6; Isa 30:6 (LXX); Ps 49:12 (LXX/Vulgate 48:13); Ps 78:1 (LXX/Vulgate 77:1); John 7:37; Matt 11:28; John 5:37–38. The digital text is very noisy; the clearest slips are corrected and the rest translated by sense; a stray page number (576) was removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Jerome, Isa. 13.50.1 (PL 24:491b–493 d; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-isaiam/13-50-1).

## Commentary on Isaiah 54:1-3

- URL: https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/jerome-commentarii-isaiam/13-50-1/#p-15-54-1
- Source: PL 24:533c–537 b
- Translation: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), 2026-09-27

Summary: Jerome interprets Isa 54:1–3 of the church of the Gentiles, the barren woman who outnumbers the Synagogue, the wife who received a bill of divorce, and rejects a millenarian reading.

### Latin text

« Lauda, sterilis, quae non paris : dccauta laudem et hinni, quae non parturiebas : quoniam plures filii desertæ, magis quam ejus quae habebat virum, dicit Dominus. » LXX : « Lætare, sterilis, quæ non paris ; erumpe et clama, quæ non parturis : qnia plures filii desertæ, magis quam cjus quae hahet virum. Dixit euim Dominus. » Symmachus hunc locum ita interpretatus est : Lætare, slerUis, quæ non peperisti. Gaude in exxultatione, et hinni, quæ nun parturisti. Plures enim filii dissipatæ, magis quam ejus quae erat sub tiro. A quo Theodotio et Aquila praeter pauca verba non discrepant. Post nativitatem Salvatoris, et ordinent vitæ atque virtutum, passioneu) cruris, et resurrectioins gloriam, quando ponens animam suam, vidit semen longævum, et in scientia sua ipse justus justificavit plurimos, et fortium divisit'spolia , et pro transgressoribus rogavit, dans locum pœnitentiæ, transit ad vocationem gentium, et qui in illu sint credituri, pleno sermone describit. Quem quidem locum ct apostolus Paulus sub nomine Saræ et Isaac, refert all Ecclesiam , quod prior populus de monte Sina et Agar serviat cum filiis suis; sequens autem liber sit, de quo dicit Isaias : Lætare, sterilis, quæ nou paris ; erumpe et clama, quæ nou parturis : quia plures filii desertæ, magia quam ejus quæ habet virum; et staLin. : Nos autem, inquil, fratres, secundum Isaac repromissionis filii sumus. Sed sicut tunc qui secundum earnem JUliUS est, persequebatur eum, quid secundum spiritum : ita et nunc. Sed quid dicit Scriptura ? Ejice ancillam et filium ejus. Non enim hæres erit filius ancillæ cum filio liberæ. Nos autem, fratres, non sumus filii aucillæ, sed liberæ : qua libertate donavit noa Christus (Galal. IV, 27 seqq.). Si igitur vas electionis, assumens de Isaia testiMonium, quod nunc habemus in manibus, ad repromissionis retulit lilios, et ad Ecclesiam de gentibus, seu ex utroque populo congregatam, quæ deserLa in Judaeis fuerat et relicta, quæ virum non habuerat Deum, nee Legem acccperat nee Prophetas, ipsa ratione compellimur sequi vestigia praecessoris, et desertam eam dicere, de qua supra (cap. XXXVI legitnus) : Lætare, deserta, et rcliqua his similia. De qua et in Jeremia scriptum est ex persona Dei : Vacua facta tal quæ pariebat septem, defecit et anima ejus. Occidit ei sol adhuc meridie (Jerenl. XV, 9). Et in Samuelis volumine Sterilis peperit septem, et quæ habebat filios pares, infirmata eat (I Reg. 11, 5). Et in Psalmis : Qui habitare facil sterilem in domo, matrem filiorum lætantem (Psal. cin, 9). Septem autem filios dicitur senuisse Synagoga, propter mysterium hebdomadis et Sabbati, cui prior populus fuerat obligaLuI. Sive pro septem, plures intelligendi sunt, juxta Hebraei sermonis ambiguitatem, quo et sabbatum significatur et plures. De quo in Hebraicarum Quæstionum libro, quem in Genesin scripsianus, plenius dictum est. Hæc ergo quae quandiu virGin habebat Deum, sermonem divinum, et Legi juncta erat, generabat Deo plurimos filios : quando autem accepit libellum repudii, et vocanti viro noluit re- , spondere, et audivit : Filia matris tuæ tu ea, quæ dereliquisti virum tuum (Ezech. XVI, 45). Et iterum : Non ut Dominum me vocasti : neque lit patrem et principem virginitatis tuae (Jerem. III, 4) : propterea in hoc eodem propheta plangitur : Quomodo facta eat meretrix civitas. fidelis, Sion plena judicii: in qua justitia dormivit in ea, nunc autem latrones (Isa. 1, 21). Sed et boc notandum quod quando dicit , Plures filii desertæ, magia quam ejus, quæ habet virum, non penitus Synagoga excludatur a partu; sed multitudo ei gentium præferatur. Et ipsa enim in apostolis, et per apostolos primum populUR) genuit de Judaeis. Unde duo apostolorum principes agmina sibi credentium in Christo, Circumcisionis et gentium diviserunt, ut ex utroque populo desertam prius atque pauperculam ædificarent Jerusalem. Quod autem Hebraicum pro laetitia, hinnitum posuit, gaudii significat magnitutJineln, in similitudinem hinnientis equi ad victoriam. De quo in Job plenius scribitur (Job XXXIX). Hunc locum et cætera, quae sequuntur, Judae! et nostri judaizanies ad Jerusalem referunt, quam dicunt in mille annorum regno instaurandam, et eamdem esse quae pr:us habuit virum, et postea habere desierit, multoque plures habitura sit filios post repudium, quam prius babuit suo viro. Cum perspicue duarum mulierum ponatur comparatio, ejus quae virum habuit et dimissa est, et ejus quae semper deserta et absque viro fuit. Nec mirandum de Judæis, quorum oculi auresque sant clausæ, si apertam non videant veritatem. De Christianis quid loquar, nescio, qui dicente Apostolo, quæsunt allegorica etad duo Testamenta, vetus et nOV'IITI, Saram Agarque referente, Judæis tradunt manvs, terrenarum in mille annis desiderio voluptatum. (VerI. 2, 3.) « Dilata locum tenlorii tui, et pelles tabernaculorum tuorum extende : ne parcas : longOB fac funiculos tuos, et clavos tnos consolida. Ad dexteram en:m et ad laevam penctrabis, et semen tuum gentes haereditabit, et civitates desertas inhabitabit. » LXX : « Dilata locum tabernaculi tui, et penes aulæorum tuorum fige, ne parcas. Protende runicalos, et clavos tuos conforta adhuc in dextris, et in sinistris dilata, et semen tuum possidebit gentes, et civitates desertas habitare facies. » Cui dixerat : Lauda, sterilis, quæ non paris; rumpe vincula, quibus prius tenebaris astricta, et clama in confessionem Domini, quae liberos non babcbas, nune eidem praecipitur in similitudinem tabernaculi Moysi, quod quondam habuit (Exod. XXXVI) in deserto, ut dilatet tentorium suum, pellesque distenlet; et funiculos faciat longiores, et clavos, quibus formatur omne tentorium, in altum defigat, et roboret, ne ventorum flatibus dissipetur. Ad dextramque penetret et sinistram, et nequaquam Judaici tabernaculi imitetur angustias, quod centum longitudinis cnbitorom, et quinquaginta latitudinis ambiebat, nec templi brevitati claudatur, quod seXaginta cubita habebat in longum, et viginti in latum. Sed ad dexteram et ad sinistram locum capere ne cesset (Exod. XXVII). Ac ne putemus hoc juxta frivolam Hebræorum contentionem dici de Sion, quæ in antiquum statum a Domino restituenda sit, ponit manifestius qnod latebat : Et semen tuum gentes hæreditabit. De quo et in Evangelio legimus : Egressus eat qui seminat seminare (Matth. XIII, 3); et iterum : Nonne bonum semen seminasti in agro tuo (Ibid. 27) ? Quod semen etiam civitates desertas faciet inhabitari, ut Eccleliæ gentium in toto orbe consurgant. Vet certe semen dicendum est apostolorum, et Judaici populi reliquiæ. De quo in hoe eodem propheta dicitur : Nisi Dominus Sabaoth reliquisset nobis semen, sicut Sodoma essemus, et similes Gomorrhæ fuissemus (Isa, I, 9). Et Apostolus : Reliquia, ait, salvæ factæ sunt (Rom. lit 5). Hoc de Ecclesiarum magoitndine, quae pro uno Judææ laco et ipso angustissimo, in toto orbe terrarum suos terminos dilatabunt. Veniamus ad intelligentiam spiritualem. Qui in tabernaculo est, firmam atque perpetnam non possidet mansionem ; sed semper mutat loca, et ad ulteriora festinat, dicens in Psalmo : Pertransibo in locum tabernaculi admirabilis (Psal. XLI, 5), præteritorum obliviscens, et in futurum se extendens, donec perveniat ad bravium supernae vocationis. De hoc tabernaculo et in alio loco legimus : Quam dilecta tabernacula tua, Domine virtutum ! concupiscit et dejicit anima mea in atria Domini (Psal. LXXIIII, 1). Postque infert : Beati gui habitant ill domo tua, in sæcula sæculorum laudabunt te (Ibid. 5). Finis enim tabernaculorum, æternæ domus possessio est, quæ fundamenta non mutat, nec transfertur de alio in alium locum. Qui enim plantati in domo sunt Domim, prius in atriis illius emoruerunt, ut de floribus ad frugem veniant, possintque dicere : Ego autem sicut oliva fructifera in domo Dei (Psal. Lit to). Denique vir sanctus tabernacula praeterire festinans, et domum Dei videre deshlerans, unum votum babere se dicit, ut numquam de domo Dei exeat : Unum petivi a Domino, hoc requiram : ut inhal item in dono Domini omnibus diebu, vin meæ (Psal. XXVI, 4). Dilatandum est ergo tabernaculum, et aulaea pe1- lesque tendendæ, et funiculi multiplicum variorumque sermonum longius. producendi, et clari ratione firmandi in dextris et sinistris, ut semen sermonis, id est, doctrinae Dei, gentes valeat possidere; et civitates habitabiles facere, quas accepit qui mnam duplicaverat. Dextera autem et sinistra in Scripturis sanctis tunc in bonam partem accipitur, quando eas et juxta spiritum intelligimus, et juxta litteram per arma justitiae a dextris et a sinistris (II Cor. VI), ut ct humilior intelligentia vitæ teneat institutionem exemplaque majorulu, et spiritualis atque sublimis de præsentibus nos transferat ad futura. Hoc est quod et Dominus Pharisæis interrogantibus loquebatur : Reddite quae sunt Cæsaris, Cæsari ; ct quæ sunt Dei, Deo (Matth. XXII, 21) : ut et potestatibus istius sæculi subjiciamur, quæ non injuste tenent gladium in vindictam eorum qui male egerunt, quæ sinistra intelligitur : et Deo reddamus quæ Dei sunt, ut nullum alium timeamus, nisi eum, qui et animæ habet et corporis potestatem, (Matth. x). quod in dextera accipitur Denique de sapientia Dei dicitur, cui nihil pretiosum comparari potest, quod in dextera sua vitæ habeat longitudinem, et annos plurimos; in sinistra autem divitas et gloriam, ut divitiæ illæ accipiantur, quæ in præsenti scientia sunt et bonis operibus, et gloria quam accipit is, per cujus opera Deus glorificatur in gentibus, longitudo autem vitæ et anni plurimi, æternam vitam significent, quæ præsentia negligens, ad futura festinat.

### English translation (Claude)

“Praise, O barren one, who do not bear; sing praise and neigh, you who were not in labour; for more are the children of the desolate than of her who had a husband, says the Lord.” The Septuagint: “Rejoice, O barren one, who do not bear; break forth and cry, you who are not in labour; for more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband. For the Lord has said.” Symmachus translated this place thus: “Rejoice, barren one, who did not give birth; be glad in exultation and neigh, you who were not in labour; for more are the children of the scattered one than of her who was under a husband.” From whom Theodotion and Aquila differ in only a few words. After the birth of the Saviour, and the order of his life and virtues, the suffering of the cross and the glory of the resurrection, when, laying down his soul, he saw a long-lived seed, and by his knowledge the righteous one himself justified many, and divided the spoils of the strong, and interceded for the transgressors, giving room for repentance, he passes on to the calling of the Gentiles, and describes in full discourse those who are to believe in him. This place the apostle Paul too refers to the church under the names of Sarah and Isaac: that the former people, from Mount Sinai and Hagar, is in slavery with her children, while the later is free, of whom Isaiah says: “Rejoice, barren one, who do not bear; break forth and cry, you who are not in labour; for more are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband”; and immediately: “But we, brothers,” he says, “like Isaac, are children of the promise. But as then he who was born according to the flesh persecuted him who was born according to the Spirit, so it is now too. But what does the Scripture say? ‘Cast out the slave woman and her son; for the son of the slave woman shall not be heir with the son of the free woman.’ So, brothers, we are not children of the slave woman but of the free, with the freedom with which Christ has freed us.” If, then, the vessel of election, taking from Isaiah the testimony we now have in hand, referred it to the children of the promise and to the church gathered from the Gentiles, or from both peoples, which had been desolate and forsaken in comparison with the Jews, which had not had God as husband, nor received the law nor the prophets, we are compelled by reason itself to follow the footsteps of our predecessor, and to call her the desolate one of whom we read above, “Rejoice, desolate one,” and the rest like it. Of her it is written in Jeremiah too, in the person of God: “She who bore seven has been made empty, her soul has fainted; her sun has gone down while it was yet noon.” And in the book of Samuel: “The barren has borne seven, and she who had many children has become weak.” And in the Psalms: “Who makes the barren woman dwell in a house, a joyful mother of children.” The Synagogue is said to have borne seven sons because of the mystery of the seven days and the Sabbath, to which the former people had been bound; or for “seven” we are to understand “many,” according to the ambiguity of the Hebrew word, by which both “Sabbath” and “many” are signified, as was said more fully in the book of Hebrew Questions which we wrote on Genesis. She, then, as long as she had God as husband, the divine word, and was joined to the law, bore many children to God; but when she received a bill of divorce, and would not answer the husband who called her, and heard, “You are your mother's daughter, who forsook your husband,” and again, “You did not call me Lord, nor father and guide of your virginity,” therefore in this same prophet she is lamented: “How has the faithful city, Zion, full of judgment, become a harlot? Righteousness slept in her, but now murderers.” But this too must be noted: when he says, “More are the children of the desolate than of her who has a husband,” the Synagogue is not wholly excluded from childbearing, but the multitude of the Gentiles is preferred to her. For she too, in the apostles and through the apostles, first bore a people from the Jews. Hence the two chief apostles divided between them the hosts of those believing in Christ, of the circumcision and of the Gentiles, so that from both peoples they might build Jerusalem, once desolate and poor. And that the Hebrew put “neighing” for joy signifies the greatness of the gladness, in the likeness of a horse neighing for victory, of which it is written more fully in Job. This place and what follows the Jews and our judaizers refer to Jerusalem, which they say is to be restored in the thousand-year kingdom, and to be the same who earlier had a husband and afterwards ceased to have him, and is to have many more children after the divorce than she had before with her husband; whereas a comparison of two women is plainly set down: of her who had a husband and was put away, and of her who was always desolate and without a husband. Nor is it to be wondered at of the Jews, whose eyes and ears are closed, if they do not see the open truth. Of Christians I do not know what to say, who, though the Apostle says these things are allegorical and refers Sarah and Hagar to the two Testaments, the old and the new, give their hands to the Jews out of desire for earthly pleasures in the thousand years. (Verses 2, 3.) “Enlarge the place of your tent, and stretch out the skins of your tabernacles; do not spare; lengthen your cords, and strengthen your pegs. For you will spread out to the right and to the left, and your seed will inherit the nations and will inhabit the desolate cities.” The Septuagint: “Enlarge the place of your tabernacle, and fix the curtains of your courts; do not spare. Lengthen your cords and strengthen your pegs; spread out yet to the right and to the left, and your seed will possess the nations, and you will make the desolate cities to be inhabited.” To her to whom he had said, “Praise, barren one, who do not bear; break the bonds by which you were formerly bound, and cry out in confession of the Lord, you who had no children,” it is now commanded, in the likeness of the tabernacle of Moses which she once had in the desert, to enlarge her tent and stretch out its skins, to make her cords longer, and to fix deep and strengthen the pegs by which the whole tent is formed, lest it be scattered by the blasts of the winds; and to spread out to the right and to the left, and by no means imitate the narrowness of the Jewish tabernacle, which enclosed a hundred cubits in length and fifty in breadth, nor be shut in by the smallness of the temple, which had sixty cubits in length and twenty in breadth; but not cease to take in room to the right and to the left. And lest we think this is said, according to the frivolous contention of the Hebrews, of Zion, which is to be restored by the Lord to its ancient state, he sets down more plainly what was hidden: “And your seed will inherit the nations.” Of this seed we read in the Gospel too: “The sower went out to sow”; and again: “Did you not sow good seed in your field?” This seed will also make the desolate cities to be inhabited, so that churches of the Gentiles may rise up in the whole world. Or certainly the seed is to be said to be that of the apostles and the remnant of the Jewish people, of which it is said in this same prophet: “Unless the Lord of hosts had left us a seed, we would have been like Sodom and become like Gomorrah”; and the Apostle says, “A remnant has been saved.” This is said of the greatness of the churches, which, in place of the one place of Judaea, and that very narrow, will spread their bounds in the whole world. Let us come to the spiritual understanding. One who is in a tent does not possess a firm and lasting dwelling, but always changes places and hastens to what lies further, saying in the Psalm, “I will pass over into the place of the wonderful tabernacle,” forgetting what lies behind and straining toward what is ahead, until he reaches the prize of the upward calling. Of this tabernacle we read in another place too: “How lovely are your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord.” And then he adds: “Blessed are those who dwell in your house; for ever and ever they will praise you.” For the end of tabernacles is the possession of the eternal house, which does not change its foundations nor is moved from one place to another. For those who are planted in the house of the Lord first … in his courts, so that from flowers they may come to fruit and may say: “But I am like a fruitful olive in the house of God.” Finally, the holy man, hastening to pass by the tabernacles and longing to see the house of God, says that he has one wish, never to go out of the house of God: “One thing I have asked of the Lord, this I will seek: that I may dwell in the house of the Lord all the days of my life.” So the tabernacle must be enlarged, and the curtains and skins stretched, and the cords of many and varied discourses drawn out further, and the pegs fixed by reason on the right and on the left, so that the seed of the word, that is, of the teaching of God, may possess the nations, and make habitable the cities which he received who had doubled the mina. And right and left in the holy Scriptures are taken in a good sense when we understand them both according to the spirit and according to the letter, through the weapons of righteousness on the right and on the left, so that the humbler understanding may keep the ordering of life and the examples of the elders, and the spiritual and sublime one may carry us from present things to future ones. This is what the Lord too said to the Pharisees who questioned him: “Render to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's”: so that we may both be subject to the powers of this age, which not unjustly hold the sword for the punishment of those who have done evil, which is understood as the left; and render to God the things that are God's, so that we fear no other but him who has power over both soul and body, which is taken as the right. Finally, it is said of the wisdom of God, to which nothing precious can be compared, that in her right hand she has length of life and many years, and in her left riches and glory: so that those riches may be understood which consist in present knowledge and good works, and the glory which he receives through whose works God is glorified among the Gentiles; and length of life and many years signify eternal life, which, neglecting present things, hastens to the future.

### Scripture references

- Isa 54:1–3: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 53:10–12: allusion, high confidence
- Gal 4:22–31: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 35:1: allusion, medium confidence
- Jer 15:9: quotation, high confidence
- 1 Sam 2:5: quotation, high confidence
- Ps 113:9 (112:9 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence
- Isa 50:1: allusion, high confidence
- Ezek 16:45: quotation, high confidence
- Jer 3:4: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 1:21: quotation, high confidence
- Gal 2:7–9: allusion, high confidence
- Job 39:19–25: allusion, medium confidence
- Exod 27:18: allusion, medium confidence
- 1 Kgs 6:2: allusion, medium confidence
- Matt 13:3: quotation, high confidence
- Matt 13:27: quotation, high confidence
- Isa 1:9: quotation, high confidence
- Rom 11:5: quotation, high confidence
- Ps 42:4 (41:5 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence
- Phil 3:13–14: allusion, high confidence
- Ps 84:1–4 (83:2-Ps Vulg.): quotation, high confidence
- Ps 52:8 (51:10 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence
- Ps 27:4 (26:4 Vulg.): quotation, high confidence
- Luke 19:16–17: allusion, medium confidence
- 2 Cor 6:7: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 22:21: quotation, high confidence
- Rom 13:4: allusion, high confidence
- Matt 10:28: allusion, high confidence
- Prov 3:15–16: allusion, high confidence

### Translation notes

- Divorce imagery: the Synagogue is the wife who had God as husband and “received a bill of divorce” (Isa 50:1); Jerome rejects the Jewish and millenarian reading that the same divorced Jerusalem will have more children after the divorce. Translated as written. Quotations: Isa 54:1–3; Isa 53:10–12; Gal 4:22–31; Isa 35:1 (“Rejoice, desolate one”); Jer 15:9; 1 Sam 2:5; Ps 113:9 (LXX/Vulgate 112:9; Migne prints “cxiii”); Ezek 16:45; Jer 3:4; Isa 1:21; Gal 2:7–9; Job 39:19–25; Exod 26–27; 1 Kgs 6:2; Matt 13:3, 27; Isa 1:9; Rom 9:27 (11:5); Ps 42:4 (LXX/Vulgate 41:5); Phil 3:13–14; Ps 84:1–2, 4 (LXX/Vulgate 83); Ps 92:13 (LXX/Vulgate 91:14); Ps 52:8 (LXX/Vulgate 51:10); Ps 27:4 (LXX/Vulgate 26:4); Luke 19:16–17; 2 Cor 6:7; Matt 22:21; Rom 13:4; Matt 10:28; Prov 3:15–16. Jerome refers to his Hebrew Questions on Genesis. The digital text is very noisy; the clearest slips are corrected and the rest translated by sense; a line is lost at “first … in his courts” (marked …); stray page numbers were removed.

### Citation (SBL)

Jerome, Isa. 15.54.1 (PL 24:533c–537 b; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/p/jerome-commentarii-isaiam/15-54-1).