Augustine of Hippo : Note that there are two kinds of zeal, one full of love, the other full of hatred. The former is indicated in the words, "The zeal of your house has devoured me"; the latter, in the words, "Zeal has taken hold of the senseless people, and now fire shall devour your opponents." — City of God 20.12 Cassiodorus : A fire went before the Lord's coming when the hearts of the unfaithful seethed at the preaching of the prophets so that they were fired with the heat of anger, and they debated the murder of those preachers. So this is the fire that shall go before him, but it devoured instead those who stirred it. As the prophet Isaiah said, "And now fire will devour your enemies." Next comes, "And shall burn his enemies round about." "Shall burn," as we have stated, refers to the indignation and sudden mental heat that the enemies of the holy church experienced at that time. "Round about" we must interpret as "on all sides," for as the preachers were few, a countless crowd of enemies hemmed them in. — EXPOSITION OF THE Psalms 96:3 Gregory of Nazianzus : I know the glittering sword, and the blade made drunk in heaven, bidden to slay, to bring to nothing, to make childless and to spare neither flesh nor marrow nor bones. I know him who, though free from passion, meets us like a bear robbed of her cubs, like a leopard in the way of the Assyrians, not only those of that day, but if anyone now is an Assyrian in wickedness. Nor is it possible to escape the might and speed of his wrath when he watches over our impieties, and his jealousy, which knows to devour his adversaries, pursues his enemies to the death. I know the emptying, the making void, the making waste, the melting of the heart and knocking of the knees together;7 such are the punishments of the ungodly. — ON HIS FATHER'S SILENCE, ORATION 16:7 Jerome : (Verse 11) Lord, let your hand be exalted, and let them not see: let them see, and let the jealousy of the people be confused, and let the fire devour your enemies. LXX: Lord, your arm is exalted, and they did not know, but those who know will be confounded: jealousy will seize the unlearned people, and now the fire will consume the adversaries. This which was said above, 'and he shall not see the glory of the Lord,' can be understood thus: You ask, O Prophet, that I have no mercy on the wicked, lest if I have mercy on them, they begin to not know righteousness, being the one who has acted unjustly in the land of the saints; I answer you, therefore, will he not see the glory of the Lord? Therefore, should not he see my triumphs, who owes it to me more to see me reigning, so that he may know how much good he lacks? And this must be read more urgently in the voice of one questioning. To which the Prophet responded: Lord, let your hand be exalted, and let it be stretched out to strike, so that the wicked may not see you, and may not even have the light of your glory to repent. To which the Lord responded: Let them see even more and be confounded, whether out of envy of the people or zeal for the people, and let the fire devour and consume your adversaries, that is, the enemies of your people, the saints. But the fire of repentance, which torments their hearts, because they have lost such a Lord. This can also be understood of the Jews, who did not know Christ, the arm of the Lord, and when they see him and recognize him, whom they had crucified, they will be confounded. Then the unlearned people and those ignorant of the law of God will be stirred up by the goads of zeal, when they see that the nations have taken their place, and they will be consumed by the fire of repentance, or the pain of punishment, when they hear that which is written: Go into eternal fire, which is prepared for the devil and his angels (Matt. XXV, 41). — Commentary on Isaiah