Jerome
Patristic
c. A.D. 347–420
“(Verse 5, 6.) For even the deer (or deer) in the field give birth (or gave birth) and abandon (or abandoned) because there is no grass. And the wild donkeys stood on the cliffs, they drew in the wind like dragons, their eyes failed, because there is no grass (or hay). Great sterility, when even the deer in the field give birth and abandon their offspring, because there is no grass or hay; just as serpents draw out venomous animals from caves with the smell of their nostrils and kill them, they do not use food as a means of gratitude. And also about the wild donkeys it is written in Job: Who has let the wild donkey go free into the wilderness? (Job 39:5) They wander about for food, seeking sustenance in the desert. They live among the rocks and make their home in the cliffs. They cannot run but drag themselves along like serpents. Their eyesight fails, and they cannot see. They survive on sparse vegetation. This drought often happens in the churches, when deer and wild donkeys are found among the people, and there is a scarcity of teachers: there are those who can learn, but there are not those who can teach. If our iniquities answer (or resist) against us, O Lord, do it for your name's sake, because our turnings away (or sins) are many. We have sinned against you, O expectation of Israel: the Savior thereof in time of trouble. If we doubt why the rains do not descend upon the earth, why all things wither with dryness, let us hear. Our iniquities have resisted against us; therefore, O Lord, not according to our works, but according to your holy name, overcome our many turnings away (or sins). For we have sinned against you, whom the secrets of the heart do not deceive, and we wait for you, who are the true hope and expectation of Israel: and you save them in the time of tribulation, according to what is written: I cried to the Lord in my trouble, and he heard me (Psalm 119:1). Let us also say in the time of drought and shortage of water: We have sinned against you, and we have done evil before you (Psalm 50:5), we await your coming, who save Israel, not by their own merit, but by your mercy.”