The Presbyters Project

5.19.18. Porro qui in aduentu Christi et romano imperio prophetiam disserunt, quinque ciuitates uel legem domini, quae in Alexandria primum interpretata est, quinque ecclesiae ordines, episcopos, presbyteros, diaconos, fideles, catechumenos sentiunt; aut certe spiritalem legis intellegentiam, de qua et apostolus ait: uolo quinque uerbis loqui in ecclesiis in sensu meo, quam decem milibus uerborum in lingua.

(ed. Adriaen 1963)

5.19.18. I think that this prophecy regards the coming of Christ and the Roman Empire. Five cities are either the Lord's law, which

was translated for the first time in Alexandria, or five orders of the Church: bishops, presbyters, deacons, the faithful and catechumens, or the spiritual understanding of the Law, about which the Apostle said: "Yet in the church I had rather speak five words with my understanding, that by my voice I might teach others also, than ten thousand words in an unknown tongue." [1 Cor 14:19]

(trans. S. Adamiak)

Discussion:

The passage is a comment on Isaiah 19:18: "In that day shall five cities in the land of Egypt speak the language of Canaan, and swear to the Lord of hosts; one shall be called, The city of destruction." (KJV)

About the source:

Author: Jerome
Title: Commentary on Isaiah, Commentarii in Esaiam
Origin: Bethlehem (East)
Denomination: Catholic/Nicene/Chalcedonian

Jerome (ca. 347 - 419) wrote his "Commentary on Isaiah" in Bethlehem, between AD 404 and 410. It is his longest extant work.

Edition:

M. Adriaen ed., Hieronymus: Commentariorum in Esaiam libri I-XI, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 73, Turnhout 1963.

M. Adriaen ed., Hieronymus: Commentariorum in Esaiam libri XII-XVIII, Corpus Christianorum. Series Latina 73A, Turnhout 1963.

Categories:

Theoretical considerations - On church hierarchy

Please quote this record referring to its author, database name, number, and, if possible, stable URL: S. Adamiak, Presbyters in the Late Antique West, ER2352, http://www.presbytersproject.ihuw.pl/index.php?id=6&SourceID=2352