Jerome
Patristic
c. A.D. 347–420
“(Vers. 17, 18.) Gather from the land your confusion, you who dwell in siege; for thus says the Lord: Behold, I will cast far away the inhabitants of the earth this time, and I will afflict them that they may be found. LXX: It has gathered from outside its substance, which dwells in the fortified place. For thus says the Lord: Behold, I will overthrow the inhabitants of this land, and I will afflict them, that they may be found. Jerusalem is commanded to gather whatever substance it has outside into the heavily fortified city, and to prepare provisions for a long siege. For never in the past has it been threatened about the future and long time, but now about the imminent captivity, which is soon to come. Gather, he says, both from outside and from the land, that is, from your fields, your possessions or confusion. For whatever you have, it is worthy of confusion: which, although you may prepare these things, learn the words of the Lord about them. Behold, in this case, at this time, I will cast, or rather throw far away the inhabitants of this land like a sling: for which the Seventy translated 'I will supplant' and 'I will make them fall.' For the Hebrew word Colea (), Aquila and Symmachus interpreted it as σφενδονήσω. And the meaning is: I will cast like a sling with all my might, and thus I will besiege them: and I will distress and constrain them, so that all may be found in the city, and they may not be able to escape the disaster.”