Complete Works of Saint Jerome, Vol. VII

(Verses 27, 28.) "But which of you by thinking can add one cubit to his stature? And why are you anxious about clothing?" Just as He demonstrated by the comparison of birds that the soul is more than food, so He shows from the following things that the body is more than clothing, saying:

(Verses 28-30.) "Consider the lilies of the field how they grow: they do not labor, neither do they spin. But I say to you, that not even Solomon in all his glory was arrayed as one of these. And if the grass of the field, which is here today and tomorrow is cast into the oven, God clothes in this way: how much more you, O you of little faith!" And indeed, what silk, what royal purple, what weaving artistry can be compared to flowers? What is so red as a rose? What is so white as a lily? That the purple of violets is surpassed by no Tyrian dye Latin: murex (the shellfish used for dye), is a judgment of the eyes rather than of speech.

(Verses 31-34.) "Do not be anxious1, saying: What shall we eat, or what shall we drink, or wherewith shall we be clothed? For the Gentiles seek all these things. For your Father knows that you need all these things. Seek therefore first the kingdom of God and his justice, and all these things shall be added to you. Do not therefore be anxious for tomorrow. For the day of tomorrow will be anxious for itself." He allows us to be anxious about present things, while forbidding us to think of future ones. Whence the Apostle also says: Working night and day with our hands, that we might not be a burden to any of you (I Thessalonians ii, 9). "Tomorrow" in the Scriptures is understood as the future time, as Jacob says, And my justice will answer for me tomorrow (Genesis xxx, 34). And in the phantom of Samuel, the pythoness speaks to Saul: Tomorrow you will be with me (I Kings xxviii, 19). "Sufficient for the day is its own malice." Here, he does not mean "malice" as the opposite of virtue, but labor, affliction, and the straits of the world: just as Sarah afflicted Latin: ἐκάκωσεν αὐτήν Hagar her handmaid (Genesis xvi, 6). Therefore, the thought of the present time is sufficient for us: let us leave the care of future things, which is uncertain.

(Chapter VII. — Verses 1, 2.) "Do not judge, that you may not be judged. For with what judgment you judge, you shall be judged: and with what measure you mete, it shall be measured to you again." If He forbids judging, by what logic does Paul in Corinth judge the fornicator (I Corinthians v, 3, 4), and Peter convict Ananias and Sapphira of their lie (Acts v, 1-10)? But from what follows, He shows what He forbade, saying: for just as you have judged, so it will be judged concerning you. Therefore, He did not forbid judging, but taught how to do it.

(Verses 3-5.) "But why do you see the mote that is in your brother's eye, and do not see the beam that is in your own eye? Or how do you say to your brother: Brother, let me cast the mote out of your eye; and behold, a beam is in your own eye? Hypocrite, cast first the beam out of your own eye, and then you shall see to cast the mote out of your brother's eye." He speaks of those who, while they themselves are held liable for a mortal crime, do not grant smaller sins to their brothers: straining out a gnat and swallowing a camel (Matthew xxiii, 24). Rightly, therefore, are these also called hypocrites due to the simulation of justice, as we said above, who see the mote in their brother's eye through the beam in their own eye.

(Verse 6.) "Do not give that which is holy to the dogs." That which is holy is the bread of the children. We ought not, therefore, to take the bread of the children and give it to dogs. "Neither cast your pearls before swine, lest perhaps they trample them under their feet, and turning upon you, tear you apart." The pig does not receive adornment, as it wallows in the mire. And according to the Proverbs of Solomon: If it has a golden ring, it is found all the fouler (Proverbs xi, 22). Some wish the dogs to be understood as those who, after the faith of Christ, return to the vomit of their sins: and the swine as those who have not yet believed the Gospel, and who wallow in the mud of infidelity and vices. It is not fitting, therefore, for such men to quickly believe the evangelical pearl, lest they trample it, and having turned, begin to tear us apart.

(Verses 7-10.) "Ask, and it shall be given to you; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. For everyone that asks, receives; and he that seeks, finds; and to him that knocks, it shall be opened. Or what man is there among you, who, if his son asks him for bread, will he reach him a stone? Or if he asks for a fish, will he reach him a serpent?" Having previously forbidden asking for carnal things, He shows what we ought to seek. If to him who asks it is given, and he who seeks finds, and to him who knocks it is opened: then for him to whom it is not given, and who does not find, and to whom it is not opened, it appears that he did not ask, seek, and knock rightly. Let us knock, therefore, at the door of Christ, of which it is said: This is the gate of the Lord; the just shall enter through it (Psalm cxvii, 20); so that when we have entered, there may be opened to us the treasures hidden and dark in Christ Jesus, in whom is all knowledge (Colossians ii, 3).

(Verses 11, 12.) "If you then, being evil, know how to give good gifts to your children, how much more will your Father who is in the heavens give good things to them that ask him! All things therefore whatsoever you would that men should do to you, do you also to them. For this is the Law and the Prophets." It should be noted that He called the apostles evil, unless perhaps under the person of the apostles, the whole race of men is condemned, whose heart is inclined to evil from infancy in comparison to divine mercy.

whose soul is mortal, and when they have ceased to be, they will not be forever. This appears to be added to the Hieronymian context, which is complete without this sentence. We have therefore followed the manuscript of our monastery of St. Peter-sur-Dives. Mart. — A gloss, which even the books before Martianaeus presented, of the sort "whose soul is mortal, and when they have ceased to be, they will not be forever," is retained here by two of our manuscripts, the Cistercian and the Palatine, and several others inspected by Martianaeus.

Glossary 1: In the Palatine manuscripts, "be anxious about tomorrow," with the rest of the scriptural text omitted.
Glossary 2: For the adverb "therefore" which our manuscripts substitute, previously "here" was read.