The Etymologies of Isidore of Seville - Pot-pourri

fleeting and brief, and for this reason are very little to
be desired. 20. Hedesignated the third book Sir hassirim,
which is translated in Latin as the song of songs;
there he sings mystically, in the form of a wedding song,
of the union of Christ and the Church. It is called the
song of songs because it is preferred before all other
songs contained in the Sacred Scriptures, just as certain
things in the Law are called ‘holy,’ whose superiors are
called the ‘holy of holies.’ 2 21. The poems in these three
books are said to be composed, in their own language,
in hexameters and pentameters, as Josephus and Jerome
write.
22. Isaiah, an evangelist more than a prophet, produced
his own book, whose whole text advances in an
elegant style. Its poetry runs along in hexameter and pentameter
verse. 23. Jeremiah likewise published his own
book together with its dirges (threnus), which we call
Lamentations (Lamenta), because they are employed in
times of sadness and funerals. Among them he composed
four ‘acrostic poems’ (alphabetum) in varied
meter. The first two of these were written in a quasi-
Sapphic meter, because the three short verses that are
joined to each other and begin with only one letter
conclude with a heroic period. 24. Thethird alphabetpoem
was written in trimeters, and each tercet’s verses
begin with a repeated triad of initial letters. The fourth
alphabet-poem is said to be like the first and second.
25. Ezekiel and Daniel are held to have been written by
certain wise men. Of these, Ezekiel has its opening and
close wrapped up in much obscurity, whereas with clear
speech Daniel proclaims the kingdoms of the world and
designates the time of Christ’s advent in a thoroughly
open pronouncement. 26. Thesearethe four prophets
who are called Major Prophets, because they produced
long scrolls.
Each book of the twelve prophets is entitled with
the name of its own author. They are called the
Minor Prophets because their discourses are short. 27.
Hence they are joined together and contained in one
scroll. Their names are Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah,
Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai,
Zechariah, and Malachi.
2 Isidore refers to the Hebrew use of the genitive plural to express
the superlative degree.
3 Alternatively this clause may mean, “They say that this book is
by Philo Judaeus.”
The Etymologies VI.ii.20–ii.36 137
28. Thebook of Ezra is entitled after its own author;
in its text are contained the words of Ezra himself and of
Nehemiah as well. Let it not disturb anyone that we speak
about a single book of Ezra, because the second, third,
and fourth are not accepted among the Hebrews, but
are counted among the apocrypha. 29. Ezraisthought
to have written the book of Esther, in which that queen
is described as having snatched her people, as a figure
of the Church of God, from slavery and death. Because
Aman, who signifies wickedness, was killed, the celebration
of that day (i.e. Purim) has been passed down to
posterity.
30. ThebookofWisdom (Sapientia) neverexistedin
Hebrew, whence even its title is more redolent of Greek
eloquence. The Jews say this book is by Philo, 3 and it is
appropriately named Wisdom because in it the advent
of Christ, who is the Wisdom of the Father, and his
passion are clearly expressed. 31. Jesus the son of Sirach,
of Jerusalem, grandson of the high priest Jesus, of
whom Zechariah makes mention (Zechariah 3:1, etc.),
most surely composed the book Ecclesiasticus. Among
Latin speakers this book is designated with the superscription
of Solomon, because of the similarity of its
style. 32. Itiscalled Ecclesiasticus because, with great
care and orderliness, it has been published about the
teaching of the religious way of life of the whole Church
(Ecclesia). This book is found among Hebrew speakers,
but is regarded as belonging to the apocrypha. 33. By
what authors the books of Judith, Tobit, or Maccabees
were written has not been established at all. They take
their titles from the names of those whose deeds they
inscribe.
34. Thefour Evangelists (Evangelista) wroteseverally
the four Gospels (Evangelium). 35. FirstMatthew wrote
his Gospel in Hebrew characters and words in Judea, taking
as his starting point for spreading the gospel (evangelizare)
the human birth of Christ, saying (1:1): “The
book of the generation of Jesus Christ, the son of David,
the son of Abraham” – meaning that Christ descended
bodily from the seed of the patriarchs, as was foretold in
the prophets through the Holy Spirit. 36.Second,Mark,
in Italy, filled with the Holy Spirit, wrote in Greek the
Gospel of Christ, having followed Peter as a disciple.
He began his Gospel with a prophetic spirit, saying (1:3,
quoting the prophet Isaiah 40:3): “A voice of one crying
in the desert: Prepare ye the way of theLord”–sothat
he might show that after his assumption of flesh Christ