St. Chromatius of Aquileia (c. 335–407) was Bishop of Aquileia from 388 until his death, a close friend of St. Jerome and St. Ambrose of Milan, and one of the foremost Latin exegetes of his age. His surviving corpus consists of a Tractatus Singularis de Octo Beatitudinibus and sixteen Tractatus in Evangelium S. Matthaei (on Matthew chapters 3–6), along with a collection of Sermones. His works are preserved in Patrologia Latina, Volume 20, edited by J.-P. Migne (Paris, 1845), cols. 327–568. The passages below are drawn from his Tractatus in Matthaeum. The Latin text is Migne’s edition; the English renderings are translated from that Latin.
Note on the text: PL 20 reproduces an eighteenth-century edition based on early printed editions (Basel 1528, 1569) and the Palatine Vatican codex. OCR artifacts in the digital scan (e.g., “iiifidelitate” for “infidelitate,” “Scribaruin” for “Scribarum”) have been silently corrected against the sense of the passage; no substantive readings have been altered.
I. Tractatus V — In Caput V Evangelii S. Matthaei (cols. 539–543)
On Matthew 5:14–15: “You are the light of the world. A city set on a hill cannot be hidden…”
On the Jews and Heretics Who Cover the Light of Divine Preaching with Perfidia
“…lumen ostendit, quod non aliquo circumfusa mentis velamine operiendum est vel obscurandum, ut Judaei vel haeretici faciunt, qui perspicuam lucem praedicationis divinae pravis interpretationibus obtegere et occultare nituntur, pro fide perfidiam praedicando, et lumen veritatis erroris tenebris obvelando.”
“…He shows the light, which is not to be covered or obscured by any veil surrounding the mind, as the Jews and heretics do, who strive to obstruct and conceal the clear light of divine preaching with perverse interpretations — preaching perfidia in place of faith, and shrouding the light of truth with the darkness of error.”
PL 20, col. 540 — Tractatus V in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §III
On the Mysteries of the Law Being Hidden from the Jews
“Cujus rei ratio Judaeis quidem occulta est, sicuti et omnia sacramenta legis, sed nobis jam manifesta.”
“The reason of this thing is indeed hidden from the Jews, as are all the sacraments of the Law; but to us it is now manifest.”
PL 20, col. 541 — Tractatus V in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §IV
II. Tractatus VI — In Caput V Evangelii S. Matthaei (cols. 543–545)
On Matthew 5:17: “Do not think that I have come to abolish the Law or the Prophets; I have not come to abolish them but to fulfil them.”
On the Supersession of the Mosaic Law by Christ
“Non ad dissolvendam Legem vel Prophetas Filius Dei venit, qui auctor est Legis et Prophetarum; quia ipse Moysen ad tradendam Legem populo dedit, et Prophetas ad praedicationem futurorum sancto Spiritu mundavit: Non ergo, inquit, veni solvere Legem aut Prophetas, sed adimplere. Implevit autem Legem et Prophetas hoc modo; dum ea quae scripta erant in Lege et Prophetis, ipse consuminavit.”
“The Son of God came not to dissolve the Law or the Prophets — He who is the author of the Law and the Prophets — because He Himself gave Moses to deliver the Law to the people, and purified the Prophets by the Holy Spirit for the preaching of things to come. He says therefore: I came not to dissolve the Law or the Prophets, but to fulfil them. He fulfilled the Law and the Prophets in this manner: that those things which were written in the Law and the Prophets, He Himself brought to completion.”
PL 20, col. 543 — Tractatus VI in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §I
On the Infidelity of the Scribes and Pharisees as a Vessel of Perfidia
“…nec infidelitate Scribarum ac Pharisaeorum velut quodam vase perfidiae operitur: sed in cruce, velut in candelabro, constituta, omnem Ecclesiae domum illuminat.”
“…nor is it covered by the infidelity of the Scribes and Pharisees as if by a vessel of perfidia; but, set upon the Cross as upon a lampstand, it illuminates the whole house of the Church.”
PL 20, col. 543 — Tractatus VI in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §II
On the Lord’s Condemnation of the Scribes and Pharisees as Hypocritical Teachers
“Vae, inquit, vobis, Scribae et Pharisaei hypocritae, quia oneratis homines oneribus, quae portari non possunt, ipsi autem non langitis digito vestro sarcinas ipsas.”
“Woe to you, He says, Scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites, because you load men with burdens that cannot be borne, yet you yourselves do not touch those burdens with so much as your finger.”
PL 20, col. 544 — Tractatus VI in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §II (citing Matthew 23:4)
III. Tractatus VII — In Caput V Evangelii S. Matthaei (cols. 545–547)
On Matthew 5:20: “Unless your justice abound more than that of the Scribes and Pharisees, you shall not enter the kingdom of heaven.”
On the Condemned Justice of the Scribes and Pharisees: Seeking Human Praise, Not God
“Reprehenditur justitia Scribarum et Pharisaeorum, quia non fidem promissionis divinae, sed humanam laudem et saeculi gloriam quaerebant, sicuti habemus exemplum de illo Pharisaeo superbo et elato; qui ut sibi videbatur, justitiae suae merita praeferens, impudenter se, elato animo ac superbis vocibus, in conspectu Dei jactabat.”
“The justice of the Scribes and Pharisees is reproved, because they sought not the faith of the divine promise, but human praise and the glory of the world; as we have the example of that proud and haughty Pharisee, who, as he fancied himself, setting forth the merits of his own justice, shamelessly boasted of himself before God with a puffed-up spirit and arrogant words.”
PL 20, col. 545 — Tractatus VII in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §III
On the Scribes and Pharisees Seeking Earthly Gain Under the Guise of Justice
“Scribae et Pharisaei, non ut Deo placerent, sed ut humanam gloriam quaererent, ut lucra terrena et temporaria commoda mercarentur.”
“The Scribes and Pharisees acted not to please God, but to seek human glory, to traffic in earthly gains and temporal advantages.”
PL 20, col. 546 — Tractatus VII in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §III
IV. Tractatus X — In Evangelium S. Matthaei (cols. 549–553)
On Matthew 5:31–37: The bill of repudiation and the prohibition of oaths.
On the Carnal Intemperance of the Jewish People as the Reason for the Mosaic Permission of Divorce
“Jamdudum quidem populo Judaico illicite viventi ac suis voluptatibus servienti, per Moysen repudii dandi quacumque de causa indulta videbatur licentia; non quod ita legis ratio postularet, sed quia populi carnalis effrenata voluptas secundum rigorem disciplinae justitiaeque legem tenere non posset.”
“Long since indeed to the Jewish people, living unlawfully and enslaved to their own pleasures, the license of giving a bill of repudiation for any cause whatsoever seemed to be granted through Moses; not because the reason of the Law so required, but because the unbridled lust of a carnal people could not hold to the law of justice according to the strict discipline.”
PL 20, col. 551 — Tractatus X in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §I
Chromatius immediately follows this with the Lord’s own words of condemnation, which he applies to the Jewish people’s hardness of heart:
“Ad duritiam cordis vestri scripsit hoc Moyses, dari libellum repudii; ab initio autem non fuit sic.”
“Moses wrote this for the hardness of your heart, that a bill of repudiation be given; but from the beginning it was not so.”
PL 20, col. 551 — Tractatus X in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §I (citing Matthew 19:8)
On God Swearing on Account of the Perfidia of Jewish Infidelity
“Invenimus quidem aliquoties Deum jurantem, sed propter Judaicae infidelitatis perfidiam, qui putant omne verum non nisi in fide juramenti consistere.”
“We find indeed that God sometimes swore, but on account of the perfidia of Jewish infidelity — those who think that nothing true consists except in the guarantee of an oath.”
PL 20, col. 552 — Tractatus X in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §II
On the Error of Jewish Infidelity: Worshipping the Creature Rather than the Creator
“…etiam errorem tam Judaicae infidelitatis, quam etiam generis humani condemnat, qui relicto creatore, creaturam sub divina veneratione habuerunt, secundum quod Apostolus retulit: Et coluerunt, et servierunt creaturae, potius quam creatori.”
“…He condemns also the error of both Jewish infidelity and of the human race, who, forsaking the Creator, held the creature in the place of divine veneration — according to what the Apostle records: And they worshipped and served the creature rather than the Creator.”
PL 20, col. 553 — Tractatus X in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §II (citing Romans 1:25)
V. Tractatus XI — In Caput V Evangelii S. Matthaei (cols. 553–555)
On Matthew 5:38–39: “You have heard that it was said: An eye for an eye, and a tooth for a tooth…”
On the Insolence of the Jewish People Requiring Restraint by the Lex Talionis, They Having No Fear of Future Judgment
“In quo praecepto, et justitia legis ostensa est, et insolentis populi hoc terrore temeritas refrenata est: ut quia metum futuri judicii non habebant, saltem vel praesentis vindiciae poena eos a scelere prohiberet.”
“In which precept, both the justice of the Law was shown, and the rashness of the insolent people was restrained by this terror: that since they had no fear of future judgment, at least the punishment of present retribution might restrain them from crime.”
PL 20, col. 554 — Tractatus XI in Evangelium S. Matthaei, §I
Sources
- Patrologia Latina, Tomus XX: S. Chromatius Episcopus Aquileiensis — Opera Omnia. Accurante J.-P. Migne. Parisiis: Apud Garnier Fratres, 1845. Cols. 275–568.
- Digitized from the Internet Archive copy of the print edition: https://archive.org/details/patrologiaecurs75unkngoog
All Latin text is as printed in Migne’s edition (PL 20), with silent correction of evident OCR transcription errors in the digital scan (no substantive variants). English renderings are translated from Migne’s Latin.