Open this page in a new tab

Commentariorum In Esaiam by Jerome

Background and Biography
Background and Biography

Excerpts
Engish from Scheck (2015)

The 5th Book

... 44. ... Now as for what he says, In the night Ar has been devasted, Moab is silent, this is a suitable beginning of the invective, that he who was conceived at night by an incestuous act of his father [cf. Gen 19:33–37] was devastated in the darkness; unless perhaps we understand night as the extent of his error, and that one should believe that because Moab was trusting in itself, in its walls, it was overcome by treachery and military mines. When I was young I heard of a certain Areopolis—but also every city is a witness to this: on the same night this city’s walls fell during an earthquake, when the seas transgressed the shore of the whole world.

English from Guidoboni et al (1994)

I heard from an inhabitant of Areopolis — but the whole city witnessed the event — that a great earthquake occurred when I was a child, and the sea swept in over the shores of the whole world, and the city walls collapsed that same night.

Latin from Guidoboni et al (1994)

Audivi quemdam Aerapolitem, sed et omnis civitas testis est, motu terrae magno in mea infantia, quando totius orbis litus transgressa sunt maria, eadem nocte muros urbis istius corruisse.

Latin from Migne (1850) - embedded



Chronology

In Commentariorum In Esaiam, Jerome mentions additional earthquake damage in Areopolis in Moab. It is possible that this passage also refers to a tsunami or, more properly a seiche, in the Dead Sea. Because Jerome conflated this possible report of a seiche from Areopolis with the tsunami associated with the Crete Earthquake of 365 CE, it is not known if Jerome was making a mistake based on an authentic report of a seiche in the Dead Sea in 363 CE or if Jerome was extrapolating reports from Areopolis to include his childhood recollection of the unrelated Crete Earthquake of 365 CE.

Seismic Effects
  • When I was young I heard of a certain Areopolis—but also every city is a witness to this: on the same night this city’s walls fell during an earthquake, when the seas transgressed the shore of the whole world
  • Jerome conflated the tsunami from the 365 CE Crete Earthquake (the seas transgressed the shore of the whole world with the 363 CE Cyril Quake
Locations Online Sources and Further Reading
References

Notes
Russell (1980)'s discussion

Russell (1980) examined this Commentariorum In Esaiam. His comments are below :

Jerome probably heard this story in his travels after arriving in Bethlehem in 385-86, or from pilgrims to Bethlehem actually living in the region of Moab (for an account of Jerome's early activities in Palestine, see Kelly 1975: 116-28). Unlike the other references to the 365 earthquake, this passage notes coastal inundation supposedly associated with an earthquake in which the region of biblical Moab, and specifically Areopolis, suffered direct earthquake damage. While earthquake destruction east of the Dead Sea along the edge of the Jordanian Plateau does not correlate with the other ancient accounts of the 365 earthquake, it does fit the 363 earthquake as described in Harvard Syriac 99. Confirmation of this is found in the agreement of Jerome's statement with Harvard Syriac 99 in placing the earthquake at night, while the 365 earthquake occurred shortly after daybreak (see Ammianus Marcellinus, XXVI, x, 16: Rolfe 1950: 648-49). Whether Jerome thought this story referred to the earthquake and tidal wave of his "youth" remains in question. It could well be the case that Jerome actually added the statement about coastal inundation because he assumed that the story did refer to this event. While it is possible that inundation of the Palestinian coast did occur in 363, there is no mention of such in Harvard Syriac 99.along the edge of the Jordanian Plateau does not correlate with the other ancient accounts of the 365 earthquake, it does fit the 363 earthquake as described in Harvard Syriac 99. Confirmation of this is found in the agreement of Jerome's statement with Harvard Syriac 99 in placing the earthquake at night, while the 365 earthquake occurred shortly after daybreak (see Ammianus Marcellinus, XXVI, x, 16: Rolfe 1950: 648-49). Whether Jerome thought this story referred to the earthquake and tidal wave of his "youth" remains in question. It could well be the case that Jerome actually added the statement about coastal inundation because he assumed that the story did refer to this event. While it is possible that inundation of the Palestinian coast did occur in 363, there is no mention of such in Harvard Syriac 99.