THEOSISJerome of Stridon
Therefore, O Holla, the Lord God declares, behold, I will summon all your lovers, those from whom you have found satisfaction, to gather against you from every direction: the children of Babylon, all the Chaldeans, the noblemen, the tyrants, and the princes, alongside all the offspring of the Assyrians, the young and handsome youths, the leaders and the dignitaries, all the main rulers and notable horsemen. A multitude of nations will approach you with chariots and wheels, armed with armor, shields, and helmets, prepared for battle on every side. I will bring judgment upon them, and they will use their own judgments against you; my jealousy will rise against you, executed by them with fierce wrath. They will sever your nose and ears, and the remnants will fall by the sword.
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Your sons and daughters will be taken, and the rest of you will be consumed by fire; they will strip you of your garments and seize the vessels of your splendor. They will eradicate your iniquity and your fornication from the land of Egypt, and you will no longer lift your eyes towards them nor remember Egypt anymore.
For you have recalled the flesh of the Egyptians and imitated the abominations of a corrupt people who worship idols of all beasts; therefore, I will bring upon you your lovers, from whom you have turned away, having indulged in their company, which has led you from strong affection to bitter hatred. The sons of Babylon and all the Chaldeans, alongside nobles, tyrants, and princes, will come against you; their identities, reflected in the Hebrew, include those who are regarded as eastern nations, though such names do not appear in the accounts of Kings, Chronicles, or even in Jeremiah’s descriptions of Jerusalem’s captivity, nor elsewhere in sacred Scripture. It is no surprise that the LXX offers these names as Jewish, similar to the usages by Simmachus and Theodotion. All the Assyrians, the riders and beautiful youths, the leaders and dignitaries, which we call chief leaders, are noted; in Exodus, it states the chosen horsemen are chief leaders. This term indicates a higher level of authority, related to ranking military officers responsible for cavalry and infantry operations.
They will come upon you with their chariots and horses, fully equipped with armor, shields, and helmets, surrounding you completely, and I will entrust to them the judgment that you may experience justice from those you've forsaken and whose covenant you have broken; they will evaluate you as an unfaithful partner. I will turn my jealousy against you, as they will act with fierce fury. Your nose and ears, like those of a woman found guilty of adultery, will be severed, marking your dishonor. Just as the beauty of the face depends on the aesthetic of the nose and ears adorned with pearls, so too will the dignity of kings and leaders—represented by the face—be annihilated by the sword. Your offspring will be taken, emphasizing they were born from unfaithfulness, and the rest of you shall be consumed by flames. They will remove your cherished garments and the vessels of your glory, silver and gold, which I granted you for temple sacrifices, of which it is written, ‘I gave them gold and silver, and they made Baal of them.’
These actions are aimed at ensuring that when you have lost your beauty and disfigured your appealing visage, your transgressions and unfaithfulness, which you adopted in Egypt, might finally cease; that upon losing your nose and ears, you will not dare lift your eyes to the Chaldeans nor reveal your ugliness to former lovers, nor reminisce about your attraction to the Egyptians’ flesh. All this is articulated through the imagery of an unfaithful woman, who, having become disfigured by her transgressions, no longer boasts in her beauty but feels the shame of her indecency. This allegorical depiction can also be related to the soul that, through virtues, was united with God, but later, through vices, became adulterous and turned away from Him. After all her iniquities were exposed, she was shown to all, disfigured, prompting her to forsake her sins, and abandoning the pride attached to her name, where the memory of her transgressions confines her, rendering her unable to raise her eyes to heaven.
Thus, her nose and ears are severed as she has turned fragrant offerings into foul odors and subjected herself to bloodshed, a reference that encompasses not just sight, but also hearing and smell, akin to the fates of Samson and Samuel, who lost their faculties due to their misdeeds. This act ensures a thorough purification by fire to obliterate any trace of Egyptian immorality, with the aim that she may no longer turn her eyes towards evil.