THEOSISJerome of Stridon
And the Lord spoke to me, saying, Do not take a wife, nor have sons or daughters in this place; for thus says the Lord concerning the children that will be born in this land, their mothers who will bear them, and their fathers whose lineage they carry: They shall meet with painful deaths; they will neither be mourned nor buried, but shall lie like refuse upon the ground; they will perish by the sword and hunger, and their lifeless bodies will become sustenance for the birds of the air and the beasts of the earth.
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If the prophet is instructed not to marry during the impending captivity to avoid the sorrow of the flesh, and to spare himself additional grief from the sufferings of a wife and children, how much more significant is the Apostle's exhortation that, as the time is brief and the end approaches, those who have wives should act as if they do not (1 Cor. 7)! Thus, there is no need to challenge the new heretic Jovinian, regarding whom we have clarified that polygamy and multiple marriages arise not from divine law but from laxity. For it is one thing to engage in what is inherently good, and another to permit indulgence, lest we descend into worse behavior. The apostle himself provides justification for encouraging younger widows to remarry, stating, Behold, some have strayed after Satan (1 Tim. 5:15). However, the teacher of self-control and enduring purity, who arrogantly asserts equality with God, extols the practice of third and fourth marriages—not truly marriages, but rather a refuge in hardship, the last lifeline of the shipwrecked—celebrating them as if granting his warriors permission to face the tempests of desire into their old age. The reason the prophet is commanded not to wed is clear: during the impending siege, all will perish from plague, sword, and famine, and the sheer number of the deceased will make burial impossible, their bodies lying like refuse, serving as nourishment for birds and beasts. It is also to be noted that the gradual decline from long illness and weakness is indicative of divine wrath. This is illustrated by Joram, son of Jehoshaphat, who succumbs to a prolonged ailment (2 Chronicles 21), and the apostle teaches that those who profane the holy place become ill for a long time, weaken, and die (1 Corinthians 11:30).
Jeremiah states that understanding will not come to the woman (Jeremiah 16:1); those who are consecrated from the womb are prohibited from marrying as they approach captivity. Similarly, the Apostle reflects this sentiment: ‘I believe it is advisable for me to remain in this pressing situation, for it is beneficial for a man to be in this condition (1 Cor. 7:26).’ What is this pressing situation that removes the joys of marriage? The time has ended: those who have wives should live as though they do not (1 Cor. 7:29). Near Nebuchadnezzar, the lion has left his lair. How can marriage benefit me with the arrival of the arrogant king? And the children, for whom the prophet laments, saying, ‘The tongue of him that sucketh shall cleave to his throat in thirst: the children ask bread, and there is none to break it for them (Lamentations 4:4)’?