Clement of Rome : The apostles received the gospel for us from the Lord Jesus Christ; Jesus the Christ was sent forth from God. So then Christ is from God and the apostles are from Christ. Both, therefore, came of the will of God in good order. Having therefore received their orders and being fully assured by the resurrection of our Lord Jesus Christ and full of faith in the Word of God, they went forth with the firm assurance that the Holy Spirit gives, preaching the good news that the kingdom of God was about to come. So, preaching in the country and in the towns, they appointed their firstfruits, when they had tested them by the Spirit, to be bishops and deacons for the future believers. And this was no new thing they did, for indeed something had been written about bishops and deacons many years ago; for somewhere thus says the Scripture, "I will appoint their bishops in righteousness and their deacons in faith." — 1 CLEMENT 42:1-5 Jerome : (Vers. 17 seqq.) I will bring gold instead of bronze, and silver instead of iron, and bronze instead of wood, and iron instead of stones; and I will appoint peace as your overseer, and justice as your ruler. No more shall iniquity be heard in your land, devastation and destruction within your borders; but your walls shall be called Salvation, and your gates Praise. LXX: I will bring gold instead of bronze for you, and silver instead of iron, and bronze instead of wood, and iron instead of stones. And I will give your princes peace, and your bishops justice, and in your land no more iniquity will be heard, nor affliction and misery in your borders; but your walls shall be called Salvation, and your gates Praise. The same thing applies to places, some being foreign, others native. And lest I should seem to say anything about the arts of rhetoric and dialectic, I will give common examples that can instruct the average reader. My son, who resembles me and has my nature, has a son of his own. Let me also say something else: one is greater, the other is lesser. The centurion is greater than the common soldier, but lesser than the tribune. There are few compared to ten: more compared to one. Therefore, in the spiritual restoration of Jerusalem, wood will turn into bronze, and stones will be transformed into iron. That is, once brutish and insensitive men will be transformed into those materials that provide some utility to the city. And brass and iron will be changed into gold and silver through the growth of virtues, so that they may not only have the appearance of usefulness, but also value and beauty. We have often spoken about what gold and silver signify in the Holy Scriptures. 'I will set your rulers in peace, and your bishops in justice,' says the Lord. Concerning this, it is written in Hebrew: 'I will appoint your visitation as peace, and your overseers as justice.' In the Holy Scriptures, the marvelous majesty is evident, as it named the future rulers of the Church as bishops, whose entire visitation is in peace, and the title of their dignity is in justice. So that no partiality is shown in judgment, nor anything wicked is heard in the land of the Church, nor affliction and misfortune in its territories. Wherever there is iniquity and justice is not observed, and peace is lost, all these things will follow. But for these reasons, he says, salvation will occupy all your walls, whether the savior, who is called Jesus in Hebrew, which properly means the name of the Lord. For he is the strength of the walls of the Church, which has gates in praise of the Lord: so that those who enter it may first learn to praise the Lord, and confess his name. And what the Seventy have interpreted for praise as γλύμμα, that is, sculpture, we can say that the gates of the Church should be engraved with virtues, through which we enter it. — Commentary on Isaiah