{"slug":"tmp468.tmp468.opp-lat1","id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp468.tmp468.opp-lat1","title":"In Lamentationes Jeremiae","title_source":"In Lamentationes Jeremiae","author":"Hieronymus","genre":"other","date":"","tradition":"latin","coverage":"not-located","coverage_claim":{"status":"not-located","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},"publication":{"status":"machine-draft","reviewed_by":null,"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","generated":"2026-11-15T06:38:06Z","cost_usd":0.007753},"source":{"registry_id":"latin:ogl-pl:tmp468.tmp468.opp-lat1","work_id":"tmp468.tmp468.opp-lat1","edition":"ogl-pl","language":"","license":"Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp468/tmp468/tmp468.tmp468.opp-lat1.xml"},"stats":{"passages":17,"english_words":3813,"coptic_letters":0,"source_letters":15729,"commentary_units":96,"commentary_kinds":8,"derived_notes":0,"ambiguities":25,"work_notes":6,"external_links":0,"timeline":4},"summary":{"work":"tmp468.tmp468.opp-lat1","abstract":"The Lamentations of Jeremiah, attributed to Jerome, is a Latin verse paraphrase of the biblical Lamentations. It closely follows the Vulgate text but expands it with rhetorical and exegetical commentary. The work survives in numerous medieval manuscripts, often grouped with Jerome's other biblical paraphrases, and was used in medieval liturgy and exegesis, particularly during Holy Week, as a poetic meditation on the destruction of Jerusalem. The attribution to Jerome, while traditional, is not universally accepted by modern scholars, who note stylistic and theological differences from his known works. This edition (ogl-pl) lacks a critical apparatus and is based on a single manuscript source.","historical_context":"The work is traditionally dated to the late 4th or early 5th century, during Jerome's period of intense biblical translation and commentary in Bethlehem. It was composed in Latin, likely for a monastic or scholarly community familiar with the Vulgate. The text survives in numerous medieval manuscripts, often grouped with Jerome's other biblical paraphrases, indicating its use in liturgical and exegetical contexts, especially during Holy Week. The attribution to Jerome is consistent in the manuscript tradition, but modern scholars have questioned it due to stylistic and theological differences. The work reflects the patristic practice of versifying biblical books for meditation and instruction, and it engages with the Septuagint title 'Threnoi' and the acrostic structure of the Hebrew original.","significance":"This paraphrase is significant as a witness to late antique and medieval reception of the biblical Lamentations, blending translation, exegesis, and poetry. It influenced medieval liturgy and commentary, particularly through its threefold exegesis (historical, spiritual, moral) and its interpretation of the acrostic letters. The work also raises questions about Jerome's authorship and the transmission of biblical paraphrases in the Latin tradition.","timeline":[{"date":"late 4th–early 5th c.","event":"Traditional composition by Jerome in Bethlehem."},{"date":"5th–15th c.","event":"Transmission in numerous medieval manuscripts, often with other works by Jerome."},{"date":"Medieval period","event":"Use in Holy Week liturgy and exegesis as a poetic meditation."},{"date":"Modern era","event":"Scholarly debate over attribution to Jerome."}],"relations":[{"work":"Vulgate Lamentations","relation":"Source text for the paraphrase.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Jerome's other biblical paraphrases","relation":"Often grouped together in manuscripts.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Song of Songs","relation":"Compared in the prologue to explain the title 'Lamentations of Lamentations'.","key":"","label":null,"url":null},{"work":"Septuagint Lamentations (Threnoi)","relation":"Referenced for the Greek title.","key":"","label":null,"url":null}],"external_links":[],"cautions":["Attribution to Jerome is traditional but disputed by modern scholars due to stylistic and theological differences.","The edition (ogl-pl) lacks a critical apparatus and is based on a single manuscript, which may not represent the earliest or most accurate version.","The exact date of composition is uncertain; only a broad late 4th–early 5th century range is supported."],"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor","provider":"Relace","cost_usd":0.000378,"generated":"2026-11-15T06:38:06Z"},"links":[{"kind":"source","label":"Open Greek and Latin Patrologia Latina","url":"https://github.com/OpenGreekAndLatin/patrologia_latina-dev/blob/master/data/tmp468/tmp468/tmp468.tmp468.opp-lat1.xml"}],"checks":{"work":"tmp468.tmp468.opp-lat1","status":"pass","blocking":[],"warnings":[],"stats":{"passages":17,"translated":17,"commentary_passages":17,"commentary_units":96,"english_words":3813,"source_letters":15729,"commentary_kinds":8},"model":"deepseek/deepseek-v4-flash:floor"},"work_notes":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The work is a Latin verse paraphrase of the biblical Lamentations, attributed to Jerome. It follows the Vulgate text closely but expands with rhetorical and exegetical commentary.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"transmission","kind":"transmission","basis":"external","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The text survives in numerous medieval manuscripts, often grouped with Jerome's other biblical paraphrases. Its attribution to Jerome is consistent in the manuscript tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"external","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"This paraphrase was used in medieval liturgy and exegesis, particularly during Holy Week, as a poetic meditation on the destruction of Jerusalem.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"external","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"Jerome likely composed this work in the late 4th or early 5th century, during his period of intense biblical translation and commentary in Bethlehem.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"background","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"This edition (ogl-pl) does not provide a critical apparatus or variant readings. The text is based on a single manuscript source, which may not represent the earliest or most accurate version.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The attribution to Jerome, while traditional, is not universally accepted by modern scholars. Some argue the style and theology differ from his known works.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"derived_work_notes":[{"kind":"coverage","severity":"info","text":"No English translation could be identified: a language model asked twice could not name one, though it could not rule one out either. That is not proof that none exists — translations in dissertations, recent books and other modern languages are easily missed."},{"kind":"limit","severity":"caution","text":"The English is a machine draft produced passage by passage from the transcribed Coptic; no human has verified it. The commentary is model-written and cites only keys the pipeline could resolve."},{"kind":"register","severity":"info","text":"Register: other in Latin; the English keeps the liturgical formulae and the vocatives rather than normalising them."},{"kind":"structure","severity":"info","text":"Passages: 17 narrative."},{"kind":"source","severity":"info","text":"Source edition: ogl-pl — Available under a Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 International License"}],"derived_structure":{"narrative":17},"term_index":[],"citations":{},"segments":[{"i":1,"ref":"p1","source":"IN LAMENTATIONES JEREMIAE.\n\nEt factum est postquam in captivitatem ductus est Israel, et Jerusalem deserta est, sedit Jeremias fiens. et planxit lamentationem hanc in Jerusalem, et dixit: Aleph. Quomodo sedet sola civitas plena populo. Sicut inter omnia cantica veteris et novi Testamenti, primatum tenet Canticum quod Salomon cecinit in persona Christi et Ecclesiae, in tantum ut prae magnitudine sui Canticum Canticorum appelletur: ita inter omnia lamenta veleris et novi Testamenti Lamentationes Jeremiae primatum possident, in tantum ut recte possint Lamentationes Lamentationum appellari. Sciendum denique est has Lamentationes, quas Graeci Threnos vocant, ratione metri apud Hebraeos compositas esse: et in principio omnium sententiarum, alphabeti series distincta est per ordinem; sed interpres qui transtulit eas de Hebraeo in Latinum, noluit moras innectere, ut hoc observaret, sed tantummodo elementa litterarum in principio posuit, quia sensus sententiae ex interpretatione litterae pendet. Sed etiam hoc sciendum quia possunt haec lamenta historialiter referri ad plebem Israeliticam, spiritualiter vero, etiam ad litteram, et ad sanctam Ecclesiam quae est civitas, et plebs Dei, et moraliter ad unamquamque animam.","english":"On the Lamentations of Jeremiah.\n\nAnd it came to pass after Israel was led into captivity and Jerusalem was laid waste, that Jeremiah sat weeping and chanted this lamentation over Jerusalem, and said: Aleph. How does the city sit solitary, once full of people? Just as among all the songs of the Old and New Testaments, the Song which Solomon sang in the person of Christ and the Church holds the primacy, to such an extent that on account of its greatness it is called the Song of Songs, so among all the laments of the Old and New Testaments, the Lamentations of Jeremiah hold the primacy, to such an extent that they may rightly be called the Lamentations of Lamentations. Finally, it must be known that these Lamentations, which the Greeks call Threnoi, were composed among the Hebrews according to a metrical scheme: and at the beginning of every sentence, the series of the alphabet is set out in order; but the translator who rendered them from Hebrew into Latin did not wish to insert delays in order to observe this, but only placed the letters of the alphabet at the beginning, because the sense of the sentence depends on the interpretation of the letter. But this also must be known: that these laments can be referred historically to the people of Israel, but spiritually, and also literally, to the holy Church, which is the city and the people of God, and morally to each individual soul.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Lamentationes Jeremiae","severity":"info","text":"The passage opens with a narrative frame (Et factum est...) that introduces the biblical book, then shifts to a prologue comparing the Lamentations to the Song of Songs and explaining the acrostic structure.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Threnos","severity":"info","text":"The Greek term Threnos (θρῆνος) means 'lament' or 'dirge'; the Latin text notes that the Lamentations are called Threnoi by the Greeks, reflecting the Septuagint title.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"alphabeti series","severity":"info","text":"The Lamentations are acrostic poems in Hebrew, each verse beginning with a successive letter of the alphabet. The Latin translator (Jerome) placed the letter names at the start of each verse but did not preserve the acrostic form in the translation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Lamentationes Lamentationum","severity":"info","text":"The text coins the phrase 'Lamentations of Lamentations' by analogy with the Song of Songs, asserting the primacy of Jeremiah's laments among all biblical laments, a claim that influenced medieval exegesis.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"historialiter ... spiritualiter ... moraliter","severity":"info","text":"The passage outlines a threefold exegesis: historical (referring to Israel), spiritual (to the Church), and moral (to the individual soul), a common hermeneutical scheme in patristic and medieval commentary.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text does not specify which translator is meant by 'interpres' (likely Jerome himself), nor does it clarify whether the 'litterae' placed at the beginning are Hebrew or Latin letters."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":2,"ref":"p2","source":"Aleph. Aleph interpretatur doctrina. Doctrina vera est cognitio sanctae. Trinitatis, et ut cognoscat homo crementum et incrementum sui, hoc est, in quibus rebus possit crescere, et in quibus decrescere. Sed quia Judici istam cognitionem licet haberent, non observaverunt: idcirco sedit tunc, et sedet modo ipsa plebs sola. Quomodo ergo sedebat sola civitas, si plena erat populo? Dupliciter potest solvi; sedebat tunc sola, quae quondam plena inerat populo temporibus David et Salomonis. Vel sedebat plena populo ipsa civitas, id est, illa plebs, quia maximus erat ibi numerus hominum, sed sola erat a Dei auxilio. Et est metonymico(??) intelligendum, ut per civitatem intelligatur populus in captivitate positus. Facta est quasi vidua domina gentium, id est, Jerusalem, quae multis gentibus quondam dominata fuerat, quando habebat vini in Dominum omnipotentem, ducta in captivitatem quasi vidua fuit. Sed non fuit vidua ex toto, sed quasi vidua: quia vir suus misertus est ejus, et post septuaginta annos conjunxit illam sibi princeps provinciarum, subauditur illarum, quas subjugaverant reges Israel, facta est sub tributo, Chaldaeorum. Similiter sancta Ecclesia, et anima qualibet plerumque propter vitia sua, sedet sola destituta auxilio Dei, et ducitur a diabolo in confusionem peccatorum, et edicitur desolata a viro suo, quae domina erat gentium plurimorum.","english":"Aleph. Aleph is interpreted as doctrine. True doctrine is the knowledge of the holy Trinity, and that man may know his growth and increase, that is, in which things he can grow and in which he can decrease. But because the Jews, although they had this knowledge, did not observe it, therefore the people themselves sat then, and now sit alone. How then did the city sit alone, if it was full of people? It can be resolved in two ways: it sat then alone, which was once full of people in the times of David and Solomon. Or the city itself, that is, that people, sat full of people, because there was a very great number of men there, but it was alone in being deprived of God's help. And this is to be understood metonymically, so that by \"city\" is understood the people placed in captivity. She was made like a widow, the mistress of nations, that is, Jerusalem, which had once ruled over many nations, when she had faith in the omnipotent Lord, led into captivity she was like a widow. But she was not wholly a widow, but like a widow, because her husband took pity on her, and after seventy years joined her to himself, the prince of the provinces, it is understood, of those which the kings of Israel had subjugated, she was made subject to the tribute of the Chaldeans. Similarly, holy Church, and any soul, often on account of its own vices, sits alone, deprived of God's help, and is led by the devil into the confusion of sins, and is said to be desolate by her husband, she who was the mistress of many nations.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Aleph","severity":"info","text":"The Hebrew letter Aleph is here interpreted as 'doctrina' (teaching), a common patristic etymological gloss derived from Jerome's Hebrew studies.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"metonymico","severity":"info","text":"The term 'metonymico' (metonymically) reflects a standard rhetorical device in patristic exegesis, where 'city' stands for its inhabitants, here the captive people.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"post septuaginta annos","severity":"info","text":"The reference to seventy years alludes to Jeremiah 25:11 and 2 Chronicles 36:21, which foretell the duration of the Babylonian captivity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"sancta Ecclesia","severity":"info","text":"The allegorical application to the Church and the individual soul is typical of medieval exegesis, extending the historical lament to a moral and ecclesiological lesson.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Dupliciter potest solvi","severity":"info","text":"The phrase introduces a two-fold interpretation, a common exegetical method in patristic and medieval commentaries, here offering historical and spiritual readings.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"metonymico(??)","severity":"caution","text":"The parenthetical question marks in the Latin suggest scribal uncertainty about the spelling or reading of 'metonymico', possibly a corruption or variant.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'metonymico(??)' is ambiguous: it may be a scribal error for 'metonymice' or a gloss on the rhetorical figure.","The identity of 'princeps provinciarum' is unclear; it may refer to a Persian or Babylonian governor after the exile."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":3,"ref":"p3","source":"Et quae fuit princeps multarum provinciarum in apostolis, de quibus Psalmista dicit: Constitues eos principes super omnem terram, redigitur sub tribulum diaboli, serviendo vitiis.\n\nBeth. Beth interpretatur domus. Significat illam domum, hoc est, plebem Israeliticam, quam alloquitur Isaias propheta, inquiens: Domus Jacob, venite, et ambulemus in lumine Domini. Ista domus Israelitici populi plorans ploravit in nocte, dum duceretur in captivitatem: et lacrymae ejus in maxillis ejus. Quantum ad litteram pertinet, Ideo in nocte plorabat, quia non audebat in die propter dominos suos, sed in nocte se consolabatur plorando. Quantum vero ad altiorem intelligentiam perimet, in nocte plorabat, id est, in captivitate et tribulatione. Et quod bis dixit: Plorans ploravit, augmentum praestat repetitio verbi. Lacrymae ejus in maxillis ejus, id est, in principibus ejus; licet enim omnes plorarent, tamen illi maxime qui scientiam habebant. Ideo autem principes et sapientiores per maxillas intelliguntur, quia sicuti a maxillis cibus in corpus deducitur: ita et ab illis doctrina descendere debuerat in populum. Non est qui condoletur eam ex omnibus charis ejus: ex prophetis videlicet, Regibus et sacerdotibus, post Domini ascensionem. Haec verba proprie ad ultimam vastationem pertinent, post quam non habuerunt ullum principem.","english":"And she who was the leader of many provinces among the apostles, concerning whom the Psalmist says: You will set them as princes over all the earth, is reduced under the threshing-sledge of the devil, serving vices.\n\nBeth. Beth is interpreted as house. It signifies that house, that is, the Israelite people, whom the prophet Isaiah addresses, saying: House of Jacob, come, and let us walk in the light of the Lord. That house of the Israelite people, weeping, wept in the night, while it was led into captivity: and her tears were on her cheeks. As far as the literal sense pertains, she wept in the night because she did not dare by day on account of her masters, but in the night she consoled herself by weeping. As for the higher understanding, she wept in the night, that is, in captivity and tribulation. And because it said twice: Weeping, wept, the repetition of the word provides an increase. Her tears were on her cheeks, that is, on her princes; for although all wept, yet those who had knowledge wept most. Princes and the wiser ones are understood by cheeks, because just as food is brought into the body from the cheeks, so doctrine ought to have descended from them into the people. There is no one who condoles with her from among all her dear ones: namely, from the prophets, kings, and priests, after the Lord's ascension. These words pertain properly to the final devastation, after which they had no prince.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"glossary","lemma":"Beth","severity":"info","text":"Beth is the second letter of the Hebrew alphabet, interpreted here as 'house' (domus), a standard patristic etymology for the Hebrew letter.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Constitues eos principes super omnem terram","severity":"info","text":"This phrase is not a direct biblical quotation; it may be a loose paraphrase of Psalm 105:20 (LXX) or a conflation with other psalmic language about princes.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Domus Jacob, venite, et ambulemus in lumine Domini","severity":"info","text":"This is a paraphrase of Isaiah 2:5, where the prophet calls the 'house of Jacob' to walk in the light of the Lord.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"tribulum diaboli","severity":"info","text":"The 'threshing-sledge of the devil' (tribulum diaboli) is a metaphor for oppressive servitude to vices, drawing on agricultural imagery of threshing.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Plorans ploravit","severity":"info","text":"The repetition 'weeping, wept' (plorans ploravit) is a Hebraism that intensifies the action, as noted by Jerome in his commentary.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"post Domini ascensionem","severity":"info","text":"Jerome interprets the lament as referring to the period after Christ's ascension, when Israel had no prince, linking the text to Christian supersessionist theology.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of 'the city' in the previous passage is not specified; Jerome treats it as Jerusalem or the Jewish people.","The phrase 'in apostolis' is ambiguous: it may mean 'among the apostles' or 'in the apostles' (as a collective)."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":4,"ref":"p4","source":"Nam in Babyloniae captivitate habuerunt Danielem et socios ejus, Ezechielem et alios multos. Omnes amici ejus, id est, reges gentium, spreverunt eam, sive pro nihilo reputaverunt, et facit sunt ei inimici. Si vero ad Ecclesiam refecimus, omnes angeli sancti amici ejus, pro nihilo deputabant eam, videntes eam a Creatore suo esse dejectam: et videntur ei esse inimici, dum solitum auxilium ab ca subtrahunt. Gimel. Gimel interpretatur plenitudo. Ista est plenitudo peccatorum, de qua dixit Dominus Juseis: Implete mensuram patrum vestrorum, hoc est, quod illi minus fecerunt peccando, vos adimplete. Et in Genesi; Nondum enim, inquit, impleta sunt peccata Amorrhaeorum. Quia ergo Juda istam plenitudinem peccatorum habuit, migravit de terra sua propter afflictionem, qua affligebatur a Chaldaeis tunc temporis, et postea a Romanis: Et propter multitudinem servitutis, qua servivit diabolo, habituvit inter gentes, nec invenit requiem. Omnes persecutores ejus. Chaldaei scilicet et Romani, apprehenderunt eam inter angustias. Similiter potest referri ad sanctam Ecclesiam, quae saepe propter peccata affligitur a paganis, ab haereticis, et plerumque captivatur tam ab hostibus, quam daemonibus.","english":"In the Babylonian captivity they had Daniel and his companions, Ezekiel and many others. All her friends, that is, the kings of the nations, spurned her, or held her for nothing, and became her enemies. But if we refer this to the Church, all the holy angels, her friends, held her for nothing, seeing her cast down from her Creator; and they seem to be her enemies, while they withdraw their usual help from her. Gimel. Gimel is interpreted as fullness. This is the fullness of sins, of which the Lord said to the Jews: Fill up the measure of your fathers, that is, what they did less by sinning, you complete. And in Genesis: For not yet, it says, are the sins of the Amorites fulfilled. Because therefore Judah had this fullness of sins, she migrated from her land on account of the affliction with which she was afflicted by the Chaldeans at that time, and afterwards by the Romans: And on account of the multitude of servitude with which she served the devil, she dwelt among the nations, and found no rest. All her persecutors, namely the Chaldeans and the Romans, seized her in her straits. Similarly, this can be referred to the holy Church, which often on account of sins is afflicted by pagans, by heretics, and is frequently taken captive both by enemies and by demons.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Implete mensuram patrum vestrorum","severity":"info","text":"This phrase echoes a biblical concept of filling the measure of sins, possibly alluding to Jeremiah 16:18 or a similar prophetic warning, though not a direct quotation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Nondum enim impleta sunt peccata Amorrhaeorum","severity":"info","text":"This reference to Genesis is not found in the canonical Vulgate; it may derive from a Jewish tradition or a lost Latin source, possibly from Origen or Jerome's Hebraicae Quaestiones.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Gimel","severity":"info","text":"Gimel, the third letter of the Hebrew alphabet, is interpreted here as 'plenitudo' (fullness), a standard patristic allegorical reading linking the letter to the fullness of sins in Lamentations.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Ecclesiam","severity":"info","text":"Jerome applies the historical lament of Judah typologically to the Church, a common exegetical move in Latin patristic commentaries, showing the text's dual literal and spiritual interpretation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Gimel","severity":"info","text":"The passage follows the alphabetic acrostic structure of Lamentations, with each Hebrew letter introducing a new thematic unit; here Gimel marks a shift to the fullness of sins and its consequences.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Juseis","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin 'Juseis' is likely a scribal error or variant for 'Iudaeis' (to the Jews), as the context demands; the English draft correctly reads 'the Jews'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'Nondum enim impleta sunt peccata Amorrhaeorum' has no clear biblical source; it may be a paraphrase or apocryphal tradition.","The term 'Juseis' is ambiguous; it is emended to 'Iudaeis' based on context."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":5,"ref":"p5","source":"Deleth. Deleth sonat in Latina lingua tabulatum Et cujus rei tabulatum? Domus Domini; domus siquidem Domini tabulata habet ex lignis imputribilibus. Viae Sion lugent, eo quod non sit qui veniat ad solemnitatem. Quomodo possunt viae lugere? translative dictum est. Viae, inquit, Sion lugent, hoc est illi qui quondam soliti erant in praecipuis festivitatibus tendere gressus per vias Jerusalem ad domum Domini constructam ex tabulatis, positi in captivitate lugent, id est, transcuntes, illorum nullus erit qui veniat ad solemnitatem Domini. Vel aliter: Viae Sion lugent, id est, transeuntes per se provocant ad luctum. Spiritualiter vero per vias Sion debemus intelligere principes qui in subsequentibus designantur per portas et sacerdotes; principes enim et sacerdotes, qui debuerant populo ducatum praebere, et portas vitae suae praedicatione aperire, positi in captivitate lugebant, quia destructi et desolati erant. Virgines ejus squalidae, et ipsa Sion oppressa est amaritudine. Non virgines solummodo corpore squalidi, id est, sordidae effectae sunt, quae antea erant speciosissimae; sed virgines mente. quae integritatem fidei habebant, ut Daniel sociique ejus squalidi erant prae nimia captivitate. Vel qui debuerant esse virgines, integritatem fidei habendo, sordibus peccatorum squalidi effecti sunt.","english":"Daleth. Daleth in the Latin language means \"flooring.\" And the flooring of what? Of the house of the Lord; for the house of the Lord has flooring made of imperishable wood. The ways of Zion mourn, because there is no one who comes to the feast. How can ways mourn? It is said figuratively. \"The ways of Zion mourn,\" he says, that is, those who were once accustomed to direct their steps through the streets of Jerusalem to the house of the Lord, built with flooring, on the principal feast days, now placed in captivity, mourn, that is, as they pass by, none of them will be there who comes to the feast of the Lord. Or otherwise: \"The ways of Zion mourn,\" that is, they themselves, as they pass by, provoke to mourning. Spiritually, however, by the ways of Zion we should understand the princes, who are subsequently designated by the gates and the priests; for the princes and priests, who ought to have provided leadership to the people and to have opened the gates of their life by their preaching, placed in captivity, mourned because they were destroyed and desolate. Her virgins are squalid, and Zion herself is oppressed with bitterness. Not only virgins in body have become squalid, that is, filthy, who were previously most beautiful; but virgins in mind, who had integrity of faith, like Daniel and his companions, were squalid from excessive captivity. Or those who ought to have been virgins, having integrity of faith, have become squalid with the filth of sins.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Deleth","severity":"info","text":"Jerome transliterates the Hebrew letter daleth and glosses it as 'tabulatum' (flooring), linking it to the Temple's construction.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"Viae Sion lugent","severity":"info","text":"Jerome explains the figurative language: roads cannot literally mourn; the phrase refers to people who once walked to the Temple on feast days, now in captivity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"tabulatum ex lignis imputribilibus","severity":"info","text":"The 'imperishable wood' likely alludes to the cedar or cypress used in Solomon's Temple, known for durability and symbolic incorruptibility.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Daniel sociique ejus","severity":"info","text":"Jerome cites Daniel and his companions as exemplars of mental virginity (integrity of faith) amid physical squalor in captivity, a common patristic trope.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Spiritualiter vero","severity":"info","text":"Jerome shifts from literal to spiritual interpretation, identifying 'ways of Zion' with princes and priests who failed to lead the people.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"Virgines ejus squalidae","severity":"caution","text":"Jerome offers two readings: virgins physically squalid from captivity, or those who should have been spiritually pure but became filthy with sins.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["Whether 'ways of Zion' refers to the actual roads or to the people (princes/priests) is left open; Jerome provides both literal and spiritual readings."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":6,"ref":"p6","source":"Haec omnia ad Ecclesiam similiter possunt referri, cujus via; et portae sunt praedicatores praelati.\n\nHe. He interpretatur ista; et est sensus: Ista qua; hic scribuntur, a Domino praedicta sunt in Deuteronomio, quando praecepit Moysi scribere maledictiones et benedictiones: Si, inquit, non custodieris mandata mea, tradam te hostibus tuis, erisque tu in cauda, et inimici tui in capite. Tamen non ideo haec venerunt, quia a Domino praedicta sunt: sed quia ventura erant, ab illo praedicta sunt: et quia illi peccaverunt, idcirco haec venerunt: Facti sunt hostes ejus in capite, inimici ejus locupletati sunt, id est, divites facti sunt divitiis illius: Quia Dominus locutus est super eam, sicut paulo supra diximus, quae antea erat in capite domina aliarum gentium, lacta est ancilla et tributaria. Caetera quae sequuntur pertinentia ad sensum hujus litterae, sufficienter patent.","english":"All these things can similarly be referred to the Church, whose ways and gates are the preachers and prelates.\n\nHe. He is interpreted \"that,\" and the sense is: Those things that are written here were foretold by the Lord in Deuteronomy, when he commanded Moses to write the curses and blessings: \"If,\" he says, \"you do not keep my commandments, I will deliver you to your enemies, and you will be in the tail, and your enemies in the head.\" Yet these things did not happen because they were foretold by the Lord, but because they were going to happen, they were foretold by him; and because they sinned, therefore these things happened. His enemies became the head, his enemies were enriched, that is, made rich with his riches. Because the Lord spoke against her, as we said a little above, she who was formerly the head, the mistress of other nations, became a servant and tributary. The remaining things that follow, pertaining to the sense of this letter, are sufficiently clear.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"He","severity":"info","text":"The Hebrew letter He (ה) is glossed as 'ista' (that), serving as a structural marker for the stanza in the alphabetic acrostic of Lamentations.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Deuteronomio","severity":"info","text":"The reference to Deuteronomy, where Moses writes curses and blessings, likely alludes to Deut 28, which details blessings for obedience and curses for disobedience.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"in cauda, et inimici tui in capite","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'you will be in the tail, and your enemies in the head' reflects a biblical idiom for reversal of fortune, possibly from Deut 28:13 or 28:44, where Israel is warned of subjugation.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Ecclesiam","severity":"info","text":"Jerome applies the lament of Zion to the Church, interpreting 'ways and gates' as preachers and prelates, a common patristic allegorization of Lamentations.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"He","severity":"info","text":"The passage marks the fifth stanza of the alphabetic acrostic (He), continuing the sequential commentary on Lamentations chapter 1.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin 'via; et portae' may be a scribal error for 'viae et portae' (ways and gates). The English draft reads 'ways and gates' as a single phrase."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":7,"ref":"p7","source":"Vau. Vau interpretatur et, quod est copulativa conjunctio conjungens praecedentia subsequentibus; ac si diceret aliis verbis: Et quia peccaverunt, egressus est a filia Sion omnis decor ejus. Quis erat decor ejus? Reges et principes ejus sacerdotes et prophetae, altare aureum, et templum magnificum, civitas et omnia ornamenta ejus. Ista omnia egressa sunt a filia Sion, quando Sedecias caecatus ductus est in Babylonem in cavea ut leones principes ejus interfectis, altare confractum, templum ejus incensum civitas destructa, vasa aurea et argentea in Babylonem ducta. Facti sunt principes ejus velut arietes non invenientes pascua, quando oppressi sunt obsidione a Chaldaeis per spatium unius anni et dimidii. Et abierunt absque fortitudine ante faciem subsequentis, scilicet hostis, quia nullus illorum potuit resistere Chaldaeis. Similiter possunt referri ad extremam captivitatem et ad Ecclesiam, tam historialiter quam spiritualiter, cujus principes saepe quaerunt pascua verbi Dei, sed non inveniunt, quia Dominus misit famem in terram.","english":"Vau. Vau is interpreted as \"and,\" which is a copulative conjunction joining what precedes to what follows; as if to say in other words: And because they sinned, all her beauty departed from the daughter of Zion. What was her beauty? Her kings and her princes, her priests and prophets, the golden altar, and the magnificent temple, the city and all its ornaments. All these things departed from the daughter of Zion when Zedekiah, blinded, was led into Babylon in a cage, her princes were killed like lions, the altar was broken, her temple was burned, the city was destroyed, the gold and silver vessels were taken to Babylon. Her princes became like rams finding no pasture, when they were oppressed by the siege of the Chaldeans for a space of a year and a half. And they went away without strength before the face of the pursuer, that is, the enemy, because none of them was able to resist the Chaldeans. Similarly, these things can be referred to the final captivity and to the Church, both historically and spiritually, whose princes often seek the pastures of the word of God, but do not find them, because the Lord has sent a famine upon the land.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Vau","severity":"info","text":"Vau is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, used here as a stanza marker in the acrostic structure of Lamentations. Jerome interprets it as the copulative conjunction 'and'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Sedecias","severity":"info","text":"Zedekiah, the last king of Judah, was captured by Nebuchadnezzar II in 587/586 BCE. The account of his being led to Babylon 'in a cage' is a detail from later Jewish and Christian tradition, not found in the biblical text.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Ecclesiam","severity":"info","text":"Jerome applies the historical destruction of Jerusalem allegorically to the Church, whose 'princes' (bishops or clergy) seek the 'pastures of the word of God' but find none due to a spiritual famine sent by God.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"principes ejus velut arietes non invenientes pascua","severity":"info","text":"The image of princes as rams without pasture echoes Lamentations 1:6 (Vulgate: 'et principes eius velut arietes non invenientes pascua'), which Jerome is glossing.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Vau","severity":"info","text":"This passage is the sixth stanza of the acrostic poem in Lamentations, each stanza beginning with a successive Hebrew letter. Jerome's commentary follows the Vulgate's verse order.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'in cavea' (in a cage) for Zedekiah's transport is not in the biblical account; Jerome may be drawing on a non-canonical tradition or rhetorical embellishment."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":8,"ref":"p8","source":"Zai. Zai interpretatur haec, et est sensus: Haec vindicta omnipotentis Dei super Jerusalem, ut caderet in manu hostili. Itaque hoc modo constructio est hujus sententiae: Dum caderet Jerusalem, et populus ejus in manu hostili, recordata est dierum afflictionis suae, qua affligebatur; et recordata est praevaricationis, scilicet mandatorum Dei, cognoscens quia propter peccata sua talia patiebatur. Et recordata est omnium desiderabilium suorum, id est, omnium bonorum, quae habuerat a diebus antiquis, ex quo de AEgypto egressa est. Viderunt eam hostes, Chaldaei, et deriserunt sabbata ejus. quae volebat observare in captivitate, sicuti modo deridentur Judaei a Christianis. Jerusalem quae interpretatur. visio pacis, sanctam Ecclesiam significat, quae dum traditur in manibus haereticorum et paganorum, recordatur praevaricationis mandatorum Dei; cujas Sabbata, id est, otium ab omnibus operibus, hostes ejus, maligni videlicet spiritus, derident; quia postquam sua suggestione nos decipiunt, et faciunt quiescere a bono opere, insultant nobis, et derident nos.","english":"Zai. Zai is interpreted as \"this,\" and the meaning is: This is the vengeance of almighty God upon Jerusalem, that she should fall into the hand of the enemy. Thus the construction of this sentence is as follows: While Jerusalem and her people were falling into the hand of the enemy, she remembered the days of her affliction, with which she was being afflicted; and she remembered the transgression, namely, of God's commandments, recognizing that she was suffering such things because of her sins. And she remembered all her desirable things, that is, all the goods which she had possessed from ancient days, from the time she came out of Egypt. The enemies, the Chaldeans, saw her and mocked her sabbaths, which she wished to observe in captivity, just as now the Jews are mocked by Christians. Jerusalem, which is interpreted as \"vision of peace,\" signifies the holy Church, which, when it is delivered into the hands of heretics and pagans, remembers the transgression of God's commandments; its sabbaths, that is, rest from all works, its enemies, namely the evil spirits, mock; because after they deceive us by their suggestion and make us cease from good work, they insult us and mock us.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Zai","severity":"info","text":"Zai is the sixth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, here used as a stanza heading. The interpretation 'haec' (this) is a traditional etymological gloss linking the letter to the demonstrative pronoun.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The passage follows the acrostic pattern of Lamentations, with each stanza beginning with a Hebrew letter. Jerome's commentary explains the letter's meaning and then expounds the verse.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The comparison of Jewish sabbath observance in captivity to mockery by Christians reflects a common anti-Jewish polemic in patristic exegesis, here applied to the allegorical interpretation of Jerusalem as the Church.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Jerusalem","severity":"info","text":"The etymology 'visio pacis' (vision of peace) for Jerusalem is a standard patristic interpretation, derived from Hebrew 'yir'eh' (see) and 'shalom' (peace), though not philologically accurate.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Sabbata","severity":"info","text":"Sabbata here is glossed as 'otium ab omnibus operibus' (rest from all works), reflecting a spiritualized interpretation of the Sabbath as cessation from worldly labor, common in monastic and allegorical readings.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The Latin text contains a probable scribal error: 'cujas' for 'cuius' (whose). The English draft corrects this to 'its'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'dum caderet Jerusalem' could be read as temporal ('while Jerusalem fell') or concessive ('although Jerusalem fell'); the commentary takes it as temporal.","The identity of 'hostes' shifts from literal Chaldeans to allegorical evil spirits, a deliberate polysemy in the exegesis."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":9,"ref":"p9","source":"Heth. Heth interpretatur vita: et pertinet interpretatio hujus clementi ad aliud quod in fine hujus sententiae dicitur, Ipsa autem gemens, et conversa retrorsum. Conversa autem retrorsum in hoc loco in boam partem accipio; idcirco etenim Deus inducit afflictionem super quemlibet hominem, ut convertatur ab errore, el vivat; et qui corruit in mortem propter peccatum, convertatur do vitiis ad virtutes, et per lamentum ac gemitus redeat ad vitam aeternam.\n\nTeth. Teth interpretatur bonum. Cujus verbi interpretatio ad finem similiter sententiae spiritualiter refertur, ubi dicitur; Vide, Domine, afflictionem meam; bonum est enim si quando, vel generaliter Ecclesia, sancta, vel spiritualiter unaquaeque anima cognoscens reatum suum, convertatur ad Dei clementiam et dicat: Vide, Domine, afflictionem meam, et miserere mei, quoniam erectus est inimicus meus, diabolus, in superbiam contra me. Sordes Jerusalem in pedibus ejus, id est, in illis a quibus debuerat portari. Nec recordata est finis sui, id est, malorum illorum quae poterant ei evenire instante fine mortis, vel etiam Christo adveniente in mundum: non est recordata Christi qui est initium et finis. Deposita est vehementer, de solio regni et sacerdotii; non habens consolatorem. Spiritum sanctum qui dicitur Paraclitus, id est consolator.","english":"Heth. Heth is interpreted as \"life\": and the interpretation of this letter pertains to that which is said at the end of this sentence, \"But she herself groaning, and turned backwards.\" I take \"turned backwards\" in this place in a good sense; for God brings affliction upon any man precisely so that he may be turned from error and live; and he who has fallen into death because of sin may be turned from vices to virtues, and through lament and groaning return to eternal life.\n\nTeth. Teth is interpreted as \"good.\" The interpretation of this word is similarly referred spiritually to the end of the sentence, where it is said: \"See, Lord, my affliction\"; for it is good if at any time either the holy Church in general, or spiritually each individual soul, recognizing its own guilt, turns to the mercy of God and says: \"See, Lord, my affliction, and have mercy on me, because my enemy, the devil, has risen up in pride against me. The filth of Jerusalem is on her feet,\" that is, on those by whom she ought to have been carried. \"Nor did she remember her end,\" that is, the evils that could befall her with the imminent end of death, or also with Christ coming into the world: she did not remember Christ, who is the beginning and the end. \"She was cast down vehemently,\" from the throne of kingdom and priesthood; having no comforter. The Holy Spirit, who is called Paraclete, that is, comforter.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Heth","severity":"info","text":"Heth is the eighth letter of the Hebrew alphabet, here interpreted as 'vita' (life). Jerome's etymological gloss is part of a standard patristic exegetical practice linking Hebrew letter names to moral or spiritual meanings.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Teth","severity":"info","text":"Teth is the ninth Hebrew letter, glossed as 'bonum' (good). Jerome consistently assigns such interpretations to each alphabetic stanza in Lamentations, creating a structured moral commentary.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Vide, Domine, afflictionem meam","severity":"info","text":"This phrase echoes the psalmist's cry in Psalm 9:14 (Vulgate) and similar petitions in the Psalter, though it is not a direct quotation. Jerome adapts it to the context of Jerusalem's lament.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Paraclitus","severity":"info","text":"Paraclete (Greek παράκλητος) is a Johannine term for the Holy Spirit as comforter (John 14:16). Jerome here equates it with the Spirit, reinforcing a Trinitarian reading of the lament.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"conversa retrorsum","severity":"info","text":"Jerome's 'good' interpretation of 'turned backwards' as repentance is a distinctive moral reading, contrasting with a literal sense of defeat. This reflects patristic allegorical method.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"in boam partem","severity":"caution","text":"The phrase 'in boam partem' is likely a scribal error for 'in bonam partem' (in a good sense). The text as transmitted in the OGL edition preserves this corruption.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'in boam partem' is ambiguous: it may be a scribal error for 'bonam' or a rare variant; the reading taken is 'bonam'."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":10,"ref":"p10","source":"Toth. Toth sonat principium in Latina lingua. Quae hinc sequuntur principia sunt malorum vel Jerusalem, vel Ecclesiae, vel unicuique animae. Principium ergo ruinae Jerusalem istud fuit, quia misit hostis, Nabuchodonosor, vel Romanorum exercitus, manum suam, et tulit omnia desiderabilia ejus, hoc est, regnum, sacerdotium, templum et civitatem. Spiritualiter hostis noster diabolus est, qui quando mittit manum suam, hoc est, operationem et suggestionem malignam, aufert virtutes, bonaque opera, quae designantur per desiderabilia Jerusalem, et insuper in Babylonem, id est, in confusionem ducit nos; quod tunc pertulit Israel, vel quotidie patitur Ecclesia, vel unaquaeque anima.\n\nCaph. Caph interpretatur manus. Manus, id est, operatio Dei, reddens illi qualia merentur. Omnis populus ejus gemens et quaerens panem. Quia ergo manus Domini percussit populum, ideo gemebat et lugebat, dum duceretur in captivitatem.","english":"Toth. Toth sounds like \"beginning\" in the Latin language. What follows from here are the beginnings of evils either of Jerusalem, or of the Church, or of each individual soul. Therefore, that was the beginning of the ruin of Jerusalem, because the enemy, Nebuchadnezzar, or the Roman army, put forth his hand and took away all her desirable things, that is, the kingdom, the priesthood, the temple, and the city. Spiritually, our enemy is the devil, who, when he puts forth his hand, that is, his evil operation and suggestion, takes away the virtues and good works, which are signified by the desirable things of Jerusalem, and moreover leads us into Babylon, that is, into confusion; which Israel then suffered, or the Church daily endures, or each individual soul.\n\nCaph. Caph is interpreted as \"hand.\" Hand, that is, the operation of God, rendering to each what they deserve. All his people groaning and seeking bread. Therefore, because the hand of the Lord struck the people, they groaned and mourned while being led into captivity.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Toth","severity":"info","text":"Jerome interprets the Hebrew letter Teth as 'beginning' (principium), though its usual meaning is 'serpent' or 'to turn'. This allegorical reading aligns with the theme of ruin's onset.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Caph","severity":"info","text":"Caph is glossed as 'hand' (manus), a standard Hebrew meaning. Jerome extends this to 'the operation of God', linking divine action to punishment and reward.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Nabuchodonosor","severity":"info","text":"Nebuchadnezzar II, king of Babylon, destroyed Jerusalem in 586 BCE. Jerome here conflates him with the Roman army, reflecting a typological reading of Lamentations as applicable to the Roman destruction of 70 CE.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Babylonem","severity":"info","text":"Babylon is allegorized as 'confusion' (confusio), a common patristic etymology from the Hebrew root bll (to mix). This spiritualizes the historical captivity into a moral state.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Toth... Caph","severity":"info","text":"This passage continues the acrostic structure of Lamentations, with each Hebrew letter introducing a stanza. Jerome's commentary follows the Vulgate's alphabetic sequence, here treating Teth and Kaph.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"hostis noster diabolus","severity":"info","text":"Jerome's spiritual interpretation of the enemy as the devil reflects a standard patristic hermeneutic, making the historical text a moral allegory for the soul's struggle.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Coptic cues are not present in this Latin passage; the structural classification 'narrative' is derived from the Coptic source, but the Latin text is a commentary, not a narrative."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":11,"ref":"p11","source":"Lamed. Lamed interpretatur disciplina cordis. Disciplina cordis est, quando homo intelligit malum suum, et de malo ad bonum convertitur, et justum omnipotentis Dei judicium aliis praedicat, sicut Jerusalem quae dicebat: O vos omnes qui transitis per viam, attendite et videte, si est dolor sicut dolor meus; quoniam vindemiavit me per Chaldaeos et per Romanos ducendo in captivitatem, qui quondam plantaverat in terra repromissionis. Et hoc fecit sicut locutus est, per servos suos prophetas, in die furoris sui, hoc est, in die vindictae.\n\nMem. Mem interpretatur ex ipsis. Quid ex ipsis? ex ipsis Judaeis, qui perferant per infidelitatem, fuerunt apostoli, quos modo appellat Ecclesia ossa, quia fuerunt fortissimi ad toleranda adversa; et sicut corpus sustentatur ab ossibus, ita Ecclesia illorum exemplis, et fide, et doctrina. Super illos ergo misit ignem de coelo, quando die Pentecostes Spiritus sanctus in linguis igneis super eos descendit. Expandit rete, mandatorum suorum, pedibus meis; convertit me retrorsum, hoc est, de vitiis ad virtutes, ne pergerem secundum opera carnis. Posuit me desolatam, a bonis temporalibus, vel a suo auxilio, et a sua praesentia, tota die, id est, toto tempore, moerore confectam. Ecce diximus secundum spiritualem intelligentiam, primum propter interpretationem litterae, quae proprie ad cumdem sensum pertinet: videamus et ad litteram.","english":"Lamed. Lamed is interpreted as \"discipline of the heart.\" Discipline of the heart is when a man understands his own evil, and is converted from evil to good, and proclaims the just judgment of almighty God to others, just as Jerusalem said: \"O all you who pass by on the road, pay attention and see if there is any grief like my grief; because he has harvested me through the Chaldeans and through the Romans, leading me into captivity, he who once planted me in the land of promise.\" And this he did as he spoke, through his servants the prophets, on the day of his fury, that is, on the day of vengeance.\n\nMem. Mem is interpreted as \"from them.\" From whom? From the Jews themselves, who, through their faithlessness, bore it; they were the apostles, whom the Church now calls \"bones,\" because they were very strong in enduring adversities; and just as the body is supported by bones, so the Church is supported by their examples, and faith, and teaching. Therefore, upon them he sent fire from heaven, when on the day of Pentecost the Holy Spirit descended upon them in tongues of fire. He spread a net, of his commandments, under my feet; he turned me backwards, that is, from vices to virtues, so that I would not proceed according to the works of the flesh. He placed me desolate, deprived of temporal goods, or of his help, and of his presence, the whole day, that is, for the whole time, consumed by grief. Behold, we have spoken according to the spiritual understanding, first on account of the interpretation of the letter, which properly pertains to the same sense: let us also see it according to the letter.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Lamed","severity":"info","text":"Lamed is the twelfth letter of the Hebrew alphabet. Jerome interprets it as 'disciplina cordis' (discipline of the heart), a moral allegory applied to Jerusalem's lament.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Mem","severity":"info","text":"Mem is the thirteenth Hebrew letter. Jerome interprets it as 'ex ipsis' (from them), referring to the Jews who became apostles, allegorized as the Church's 'bones'.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"O vos omnes qui transitis per viam","severity":"info","text":"This phrase echoes Lamentations 1:12, where Jerusalem calls to passersby to witness her grief. Jerome adapts it to his allegorical reading of the Chaldean and Roman captivities.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"ignem de coelo","severity":"info","text":"The 'fire from heaven' refers to the descent of the Holy Spirit at Pentecost (Acts 2:3). Jerome interprets the apostles' fiery tongues as a divine net turning the soul from vice to virtue.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Ecce diximus secundum spiritualem intelligentiam... videamus et ad litteram","severity":"info","text":"Jerome signals a transition from allegorical to literal interpretation, a common exegetical move in his commentaries, distinguishing spiritual from historical senses.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"per Chaldaeos et per Romanos","severity":"info","text":"Jerome pairs the Chaldean (Babylonian) destruction of Jerusalem in 586 BCE with the Roman destruction in 70 CE, typologically linking both as divine punishments.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'ex ipsis Judaeis, qui perferant per infidelitatem' is ambiguous: 'perferant' may mean 'they bore it' (i.e., endured) or 'they carried through' (i.e., transmitted). The translation adopts 'bore it' as enduring faithlessness."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":12,"ref":"p12","source":"Dicit ergo Jerusalem: De excelso solio suo misit ignem, tribulationis et captivitatis, in ossibus meis: et erudivit me, per tribulationem, quae nolui erudiri per pacem et suavitatem. Caetera patent in sensu.\n\nNun. Nun interpretatur sempiternum. Notandum quia ista, quae in hac sententia dicuntur, proprie ad tempus ultimae captivitatis pertinent. Id est, ad diem judicii, quando tradentur omnes reprobi poenis saempiterms. Vigilavit jugum, vel damnatio, iniquitatum mearum, hoc est, tempus vindictae advenit. In manu ejus, in potestate omnipotentis Dei coadunatae sunt omnes iniquitates meae, et impositae collo meo. Quis unquam vidit vigilare jugum? Per jugum, ut diximus, intelligitur vindicta et damnatio, quae tunc vigilare dicitur, quando punit reos, dormire vero quando a flagello cessat.\n\nSamech. Samech interpretatur adjutorium. Et quia adjutorium omnipotentis Dei recessit ab Jerusalem, abstulit ipse Dominus omnes magnificus ejus de medio ejus.","english":"Therefore Jerusalem says: From his lofty throne he sent fire, of tribulation and captivity, into my bones; and he taught me, through tribulation, whom I refused to be taught through peace and gentleness. The rest is clear in the sense.\n\nNun. Nun is interpreted as \"eternal.\" It should be noted that those things which are said in this sentence pertain properly to the time of the final captivity. That is, to the day of judgment, when all the reprobate will be handed over to eternal punishments. The yoke, or damnation, of my iniquities has kept watch, that is, the time of vengeance has come. In his hand, in the power of almighty God, all my iniquities have been gathered together and placed upon my neck. Who has ever seen a yoke keep watch? By \"yoke,\" as we have said, is understood vengeance and damnation, which is said to keep watch when it punishes the guilty, but to sleep when it ceases from the scourge.\n\nSamech. Samech is interpreted as \"help.\" And because the help of almighty God has withdrawn from Jerusalem, the Lord himself has removed all his magnificent ones from her midst.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Nun","severity":"info","text":"The passage follows the alphabetic acrostic of Lamentations, with each Hebrew letter introducing a stanza. Here the commentator treats Nun, Samech, and the preceding Lamed.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Nun","severity":"info","text":"Nun is interpreted as 'sempiternum' (eternal), linking the letter to the eschatological theme of final judgment and eternal punishment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Samech","severity":"info","text":"Samech is interpreted as 'adjutorium' (help), and the commentator explains that Jerusalem's loss of divine help leads to the removal of its 'magnifici' (magnificent ones).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"vigilavit jugum","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'vigilavit jugum' (the yoke kept watch) is a paradoxical image explained as vengeance that is active when punishing and sleeping when ceasing from the scourge.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Caetera patent in sensu","severity":"info","text":"The remark 'Caetera patent in sensu' (the rest is clear in the sense) suggests the commentator assumes the reader can infer the allegorical meaning without further explication.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"poenis saempiterms","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin 'poenis saempiterms' appears to be a scribal error for 'poenis sempiternis' (eternal punishments), reflecting a common misspelling in medieval manuscripts.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'Caetera patent in sensu' may indicate a lacuna or abbreviation in the source, but the commentator treats it as self-explanatory."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":13,"ref":"p13","source":"Ain. Ain interpretatur fons, vel oculus, Fons ergo lacrymarum est oculus: et quia Dominus torcular tribulationis filia: S. on, idcirco propheta plorabat, et oculus ejus deducebat aquam lacrymatum.\n\nFe. Fe interpretatur oris, subauditur demonstratio. Expandit Sion munus suas. Per extensionem manuum debemus intelligere tribulationem maximam, quae plerumque extensione manuum ostenditur; solent enim mulieres parturientes in nimia tribulatione et anxietate positae, extendere manus, suspectam habentes mortem, quia volunt parere, et non possunt, et prae nimio dolore quod ure non valent exprimere, extensione manuum ostendunt. Sic et Jerusalem posita in maxima angustia, expandit manus suas, sed non fuit qui consolaretur eam.\n\nSade. Sade sonat justitiam: et justum, vel justitia est, ut homo in tribulatione constitutus, confiteatur vel justo judicio Dei talia se pati, et majoribus suppliciis dignum esse; quia praevaricator exstitit mandatorum Dei, dicens cum Jerusalem:· Justus est Dominus, quia os ejus ad iracundiam provocavi.","english":"Ain. Ain means \"spring\" or \"eye.\" Therefore, the spring of tears is the eye; and because the Lord is the winepress of tribulation for the daughter of Sion, for that reason the prophet was weeping, and his eye was drawing forth the water of tears.\n\nFe. Fe means \"mouth,\" understanding \"demonstration.\" Sion has spread out her hands. By the extension of the hands we must understand the greatest tribulation, which is for the most part shown by the extension of the hands; for women in childbirth, placed in excessive tribulation and anxiety, are accustomed to extend their hands, having death in suspicion, because they wish to give birth and cannot, and because of excessive pain, what they are unable to express by voice, they show by the extension of their hands. So too Jerusalem, placed in the greatest distress, spread out her hands, but there was no one to console her.\n\nSade. Sade sounds like \"justice\"; and it is just, or justice, that a man placed in tribulation should confess that he suffers such things by the just judgment of God, and that he is worthy of greater punishments, because he has been a transgressor of God's commandments, saying with Jerusalem: \"The Lord is just, because I have provoked his mouth to wrath.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Ain","severity":"info","text":"The Hebrew letter name ʿAyin is glossed as 'spring' (fons) or 'eye' (oculus), a standard etymological trope in Jerome's philological tradition.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Fe","severity":"info","text":"The Hebrew letter name Pe is glossed as 'mouth' (oris), with 'demonstration' (demonstratio) supplied as a contextual sense, reflecting Jerome's allegorical reading.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Sade","severity":"info","text":"The Hebrew letter name Ṣade is glossed as 'justice' (justitiam), linking the letter's sound to a moral interpretation of suffering as divine judgment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"torcular tribulationis","severity":"info","text":"The metaphor 'winepress of tribulation' (torcular tribulationis) echoes biblical imagery of divine punishment as pressing or crushing, e.g., in Isaiah 63:3.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"extensione manuum","severity":"info","text":"The gesture of extending hands in childbirth as a sign of extreme distress is a commonplace in ancient medical and rhetorical texts, here applied allegorically to Jerusalem.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Sade","severity":"info","text":"The moralizing interpretation of Ṣade as 'justice' aligns with the penitential reading of Lamentations in medieval exegesis, emphasizing confession of sin.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Latin text does not specify whether the glosses on Hebrew letters derive from Jerome's own philology or from earlier patristic sources.","The phrase 'S. on' in the Latin is unclear; it may be a scribal corruption or abbreviation for 'Sion'."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":14,"ref":"p14","source":"Coph. Coph interpretatur vocatio. Allusit ergo propheta ad interpretationem litterae, et dixit: Vocavi amicos meos, et ipsi deceperunt me, promittentes mihi pacem.\n\nRes. Res interpretatur capitis, subauditur, intellectus. Per caput ergo debemus intelligere principalitatem mentis ubi est intellectus; quia sicut a capite reguntur membra, ita a mente disponuntur voluntates et cogitationes. Vide, Domine, quoniam tribulor, venter meus conturbatus est. Quid per ventrem debeamus intelligere, idem propheta alibi ostendit dicens: Ventrem meum doleo, ventrem meum doleo, hoc est, sensus cordis mei conturbati sunt.\n\nSen. Sen interpretatur dentium. Quid per dentes intelligere debemus? Dentes qui frangunt cibum et molunt, et a quibus in corpus traducitur, debemus intelligere doctores et praedicatores qui mandata Dei ruminant, et qui plangunt suos et aliorum reatus et casus. Ex quorum persona loquitur propheta dicens: Audierunt inimici mei quia ingemisco: et laetati sunt, quoniam tu fecisti, id est, tu permisisti, ut ego ingemiscerem, et illi exsultarent. Quod vero subjungit, Adduxisti diem consolationis, et fient similes mei, qui me afflixerunt ad tempus extremum referendum est, et est praeteritum pro futuro positum. Adduces, inquit, diem consolationis meae, et caetera quae sequuntur. Fient similes mei, non in gloria, sed qualia mihi fecerunt, talia recipient.","english":"Coph. Coph is interpreted as \"calling.\" Therefore the prophet played on the interpretation of the letter and said: I called my friends, and they deceived me, promising me peace.\n\nRes. Res is interpreted as \"head,\" that is, understanding, it is implied. By \"head,\" therefore, we must understand the primacy of the mind, where understanding resides; because just as the limbs are ruled by the head, so are the wills and thoughts arranged by the mind. See, Lord, that I am afflicted, my belly is disturbed. What we should understand by \"belly,\" the same prophet shows elsewhere, saying: I grieve my belly, I grieve my belly, that is, the feelings of my heart are disturbed.\n\nSen. Sen is interpreted as \"of the teeth.\" What should we understand by \"teeth\"? The teeth, which break and grind food and by which it is conveyed into the body, we should understand as the teachers and preachers who ruminate on the commands of God, and who lament their own and others' guilt and falls. Speaking in their person, the prophet says: My enemies heard that I am groaning, and they rejoiced, because you made, that is, you permitted, that I should groan and they should exult. As for what follows, \"You brought a day of consolation, and those who afflicted me will become like me,\" this is to be referred to the final time, and the past tense is used for the future. \"You will bring,\" he says, \"the day of my consolation,\" and the rest that follows. \"They will become like me,\" not in glory, but they will receive such things as they did to me.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Coph","severity":"info","text":"Coph is the Hebrew letter Qof; Jerome interprets it as 'vocatio' (calling), linking the letter's name to the prophet's act of calling his friends.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Res","severity":"info","text":"Res is the Hebrew letter Resh; Jerome interprets it as 'capitis' (head), symbolizing the primacy of the mind and understanding.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Sen","severity":"info","text":"Sen is the Hebrew letter Shin; Jerome interprets it as 'dentium' (of the teeth), allegorically representing teachers and preachers who 'ruminate' on God's commands.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"scripture","kind":"scripture","basis":"text","lemma":"Sen","severity":"info","text":"The phrase 'Ventrem meum doleo' echoes Lamentations 2:11, where the prophet laments his disturbed belly as a metaphor for inner turmoil.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"Sen","severity":"info","text":"Jerome notes a shift in tense: 'Adduxisti' (past) is used for the future 'Adduces,' a prophetic device indicating that the day of consolation is certain.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"Coph","severity":"info","text":"Jerome's commentary follows the acrostic structure of Lamentations, where each Hebrew letter begins a verse; he provides allegorical interpretations for each letter.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The Coptic cues for structural classification are not present in the Latin text; the classification 'narrative' is assumed from the source metadata."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":15,"ref":"p15","source":"In hoc ergo fient mei similes, quia sicut ego fui moerens et dolens, dum affligerer ab eis; ita et illi erunt dolentes et gementes positi in poenis.\n\nTau. Tau interpretatur signa plurali numero. Judaei sicut habent viginti duas litteras, in quarum ordine ultima est tau: ita et viginti duos libros iu quibus plena est cognitio sanctae Trinitatis, quae in viginti duobus libris consistit. Et quia mandata omnipotentis Dei, quae in illis narrantur, observabant, loquitur propheta dicens: Ingrediatur omne malum eorum coram te, el vindemia illos, sicut vindemiasti me propter iniquitates meus. Possumus et aliter dicere de interpretatione hujus littera. Volo noveritis, quia huc usque apud Samaritanos, tau littera similitudinem crucis nabet, quamquam apud Hebraeos corrupta sit; ideoque per tau, quod interpretatur signa, intelliguntur illi qui signacalum crucis Christi in fronte et in corde ferunt, et per fidem passionis Christi, credunt se salvari posse. Expositio unius alphabeti ordine, reliqui tres qui sequuntur, eodem sensu sunt intelligendi: ideoque dignum duximus non esse necessarium idipsum per singulos repetere.","english":"Therefore, in this, my companions will be like me, because just as I was grieving and sorrowful while I was afflicted by them, so too will they be sorrowful and groaning, placed in punishments.\n\nTau. Tau is interpreted as \"signs\" in the plural number. The Jews, just as they have twenty-two letters, in whose order tau is the last, so too do they have twenty-two books in which the full knowledge of the Holy Trinity, which consists in twenty-two books, is contained. And because they observed the commandments of almighty God, which are narrated in those books, the prophet speaks, saying: Let all their evil enter before you, and harvest them, just as you harvested me because of my iniquities. We can also speak otherwise concerning the interpretation of this letter. I want you to know that up to the present day among the Samaritans, the letter tau has the likeness of a cross, although among the Hebrews it has been corrupted; and therefore through tau, which is interpreted as \"signs,\" are understood those who bear the sign of the cross of Christ on their forehead and in their heart, and who believe they can be saved through faith in the passion of Christ. The exposition of one alphabet in order: the remaining three that follow are to be understood in the same sense; and therefore we have deemed it worthy that it is not necessary to repeat the same thing through each individual one.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"sense","kind":"sense","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The first paragraph concludes the previous alphabetic stanza (Res) by describing the prophet's companions as sharing his sorrow and punishment.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"Tau","severity":"info","text":"Tau is interpreted as 'signs' (plural), linking the letter to the plural noun signa in Latin, though the Hebrew letter name means 'mark' or 'sign.'","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The reference to twenty-two Hebrew letters and twenty-two books of the Old Testament reflects a common patristic topos, found also in Jerome's prologues, linking the alphabet to the canon.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The Samaritan tau resembling a cross is a Christian typological reading; Jerome elsewhere notes the cross-like shape of the letter in Samaritan script (Epist. 30).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The final sentence states that the exposition of the first alphabet suffices for the remaining three alphabets of Lamentations, indicating a structural note on the acrostic form.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The Latin text contains a possible scribal error: 'meus' for 'meas' (iniquitates meas), and 'nabet' for 'habet' (habet similitudinem).","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The phrase 'Ingrediatur omne malum eorum coram te' is not a direct biblical quotation; its source is unclear, possibly a paraphrase or lost variant.","The reference to 'twenty-two books' as containing knowledge of the Trinity is anachronistic for the Hebrew Bible; the author Christianizes the Jewish canon."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]},{"i":16,"ref":"p16","source":"Sed admoneo te, o lector, ut quamvis aliam interpretationem istarum litteratum ia aliis locis repertas, non ideo ista abjicias, quia suis in locis propriam expositionem et sensum requirunt, ut conjungi possint sequentibus: sicut in Psalmis invenitur a diversis auctoribus esse expositum. Quadruplici ergo alphabeto composuit Jeremias Lamentationes suas, quia illos deplorabat qui ex quatuor elementis constantes, iram omnipotentis Dei contra se excitaverant, transgrediendo praecepta illius, et sequendo voluptatem carnis.\n\nscriptionum indiciis satis manifesto constituimus, ut videre est ex epistolarum a prima ad duodecimam usque chronologicis argumentis. His porro trecentis septuaginta tribus annis si alios triginta addideris, ab eo, ut ipse ait, puerilis ingenii praeludio, ad hoc maturae senectutis opus intercesserunt, ipsum jam teneas quadringentesimum tertium, cui anno librum ascripsimus. Atque huic quidem rationi tantum tribuimus, ut hac una salva res sit; si alias inire velis, et Hieronymi vitae vestigia, et plurium ex ejus scriptis ordinem atque aetatem susdeque vertas.","english":"But I warn you, O reader, that even if you find another interpretation of these letters in other places, you should not for that reason reject this one, because they require their own exposition and meaning in their own contexts, so that they may be joined with what follows: just as in the Psalms it is found to have been expounded by various authors. Therefore, Jeremiah composed his Lamentations with a fourfold alphabet, because he was lamenting those who, consisting of four elements, had aroused the wrath of Almighty God against themselves by transgressing His commandments and following the lust of the flesh.\n\nWe have established this sufficiently clearly from the indications of the superscriptions, as can be seen from the chronological arguments of the letters from the first to the twelfth. Moreover, if you add another thirty years to these three hundred and seventy-three years, from that prelude of his youthful genius, as he himself says, to this work of mature old age, you will then have the four hundred and third year, to which year we have assigned the book. And we attribute so much to this reasoning that, with this one preserved, the matter stands; if you wish to enter upon other paths, you will turn both the traces of Jerome’s life and the order and age of many of his writings upside down.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"structure","kind":"structure","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The passage explains that Jeremiah's Lamentations uses a fourfold alphabet (quadruplici alphabeto) because the lamented are composed of four elements, linking the alphabetic acrostic structure to the four elements of the body.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The four elements (earth, air, fire, water) were a standard philosophical concept in late antiquity, used here to allegorize human composition and sin.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The text claims 373 years from Jerome's youthful prelude to this mature work, plus 30 more to reach year 403, when the book was assigned. This is a chronological note on Jerome's career.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"info","text":"The author warns readers not to reject this interpretation of the letters if they find others elsewhere, citing the Psalms as precedent for multiple expositions by different authors.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"caution","kind":"caution","basis":"text","lemma":"","severity":"caution","text":"The reference to 'letters from the first to the twelfth' and the chronological calculation (373 + 30 = 403) is obscure; the superscriptions and their arguments are not identified in the passage.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of the 'letters from the first to the twelfth' and the 'chronological arguments' is unclear; the passage assumes knowledge of Jerome's correspondence.","The phrase 'quadruplici alphabeto' may refer to the four acrostic poems in Lamentations, but the text's explanation (four elements) is allegorical."],"confidence":"medium","notes":[]},{"i":17,"ref":"p17","source":"De reliquis in Zachariam et Malachiam, tribusque aliis in Oseam, Joelem, et Amosum Commentariis expedita res est ex toties laudato S. Patris testimonio, quod criticis observationibus nihil reliqui fecit; satisque luculenter uno omnes illigavit anno, qui sexti consulatus Arcadii Augustii, et Anitii Probi fastis nomen imposuit. Hic est annus quadringentesimus sextus (non octavus, ut post Victorium falso Martianaeus colligit) consentientibus in hanc epocham monimentis Veterum universis.","english":"As for the remaining Commentaries on Zechariah and Malachi, and the three others on Hosea, Joel, and Amos, the matter is settled by the oft-cited testimony of the holy Father, which left nothing for critical observations to add; and it links them all clearly enough to a single year, which gave its name to the fasti of the sixth consulship of Arcadius Augustus and Anitius Probus. This is the year four hundred and six (not the eighth, as Martianaeus falsely concludes after Victorius), with all the ancient monuments agreeing on this epoch.","structure":"narrative","commentary":[{"unit":"dating","kind":"chronology","basis":"text","lemma":"quadringentesimus sextus","severity":"info","text":"The year 406 CE is identified by the consulship of Arcadius (sixth term) and Anitius Probus, a standard consular dating in late antiquity.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"reception","kind":"reception","basis":"text","lemma":"Martianaeus","severity":"caution","text":"Martianaeus (Jean Martianay) erroneously assigned the year 408 CE, following Victorius; the correct year is 406, as supported by ancient monuments.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"background","kind":"background","basis":"text","lemma":"fastis","severity":"info","text":"The fasti are official consular lists used to date events; the consulship of Arcadius VI and Anitius Probus is securely dated to 406 CE.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]},{"unit":"term","kind":"term","basis":"text","lemma":"S. Patris testimonio","severity":"info","text":"The 'holy Father' likely refers to Jerome, whose testimony on the dating of his commentaries is considered authoritative by the editor.","cites":[],"named_sources":[],"dropped_cites":[]}],"ambiguities":["The identity of the 'holy Father' is not explicitly named in the passage, but context suggests Jerome.","The phrase 'non octavus, ut post Victorium falso Martianaeus colligit' indicates a textual dispute over the year, but the correct year (406) is affirmed."],"confidence":"high","notes":[]}]}