Speak, Thus says the LORD,
Even the dead bodies of men shall fall as refuse upon the open field, and as the handful after the harvestman, and none shall gather them.
All Commentaries on Jeremiah 9:22 Go To Jeremiah 9
Jerome
AD 420
O Lord, keep watch over my mouth, for it is written, “Death and life are in the power of the tongue.” Again, you have declared, “I tell you, that of every idle word people speak, they shall give account on the day of judgment.” The prophet prays, therefore, that his words may not be vain but holy and pleasing to God. “Set a guard at the door of my lips.” He is asking for a guard around his lips like the rampart of a castle, that he may never capitulate to sin. It is Jeremiah who says, “Death has come up through our windows.” A person has five windows: sight, hearing, taste, smell and touch. If I look at a woman to lust after her, I have already committed adultery in my heart, and death has come through my window of sight. If the sound of the harp, organ or flute unnerves me, death has entered my soul through the sense of hearing. Again, if I touch something soft and supple, and wantonness breaks down the resistance of my flesh, death has entered through touch, and so down the line.
