I don’t post here terribly often, but I was presenting Universalism on another forum and I was about to use the quotation from Jerome that’s found all over the Internet, that’s supposed to have been written in a commentary on Zephaniah 3:8-10, in which he affirms that “all God’s enemies shall perish, not that they cease to exist, but cease to be enemies.” I’ve found it on a dozen Universalist sites, quoted in books, and so on. I cannot find a primary source for it, though. I can’t even find a citation for a primary source on it. So does anyone know where it came from? Is there a primary source or was it just made up?
I am wondering whether somebody confused Jerome with Origen. I’m sure Jerome wouldn’t have said this, since he argued for eternal conscious punishment of the lost. However, Origen wrote something similar to the quote you offered, but in reference to the devil, whom he calls “the last enemy”:
De Principiis III.vi.5
That’s very plausible, and the quote is uncannily similar to the one I keep seeing attributed to Jerome. I recall reading that in his earlier days, Jerome held Universalist tendencies that he later shed under pressure from (largely) Augustine. A friend of mine was able to run down a copy of his Zephaniah commentary (documentacatholicaomnia.eu/0 … s,_MLT.pdf) but I don’t read Latin and I can’t find an English translation of it anywhere.
Hi brother, the following excerpt may help you. It’s not the quote you had mentioned, but it carries the same meaning. This was taken from Thomas Allin’s Christ Triumphant, from which he describes Jerome’s endorsement of Origen and (arguably) his universalist tendencies.
If you request a bigger excerpt, I can do so. But I think we should remain skeptical of this particular quote, in order to be rigorous and honest — if we cannot locate its primary source. At present we have a quote from Allin, quoting an unknown author, quoting an unidentified early writer who might be Jerome. This is not convincing and I would recommend that universalists abandon this quote in the name of Truth and due scientific inquiry. Godspeed to you, I hope you find the source you’re after! Sorry I couldn’t be more helpful!
I certainly agree that if we can’t find a primary source, we shouldn’t use it. Most of the sources I’ve found online specify that it was Jerome writing about Zephaniah 3:8-10, though I also found one source that cited it as his commentary on Micah 5:8. The site I linked to has all of Jerome’s Old Testament commentaries in Latin. I haven’t been able to find an English translation of them anywhere (my copy of Schaff’s Nicene Fathers collection only has the prefaces), and I don’t read Latin and don’t know anyone that does.
If nothing else, the lesson I’m learning here quickly is, I really need to add Latin to my list of languages to learn. 
I should have said this in my previous post, but I suspect the quote you mentioned, “all God’s enemies shall perish, not that they cease to exist, but cease to be enemies” wasn’t written as a commentary on Zephaniah 3:8-10 (or Micah 5:8 for that matter). The language used seems much closer to something from the Psalmist (in 37:20 or 92:9). That’s why I suspect the quote I offered is the original one.
Zephaniah 3:8-10
“Therefore wait for Me,” declares the LORD, “For the day when I rise up as a witness. Indeed, My decision is to gather nations, to assemble kingdoms, to pour out on them My indignation, all My burning anger; for all the earth will be devoured by the fire of My zeal. For then I will give to the peoples purified lips, that all of them may call on the name of the LORD, to serve Him shoulder to shoulder. From beyond the rivers of Ethiopia My worshipers, My dispersed ones, will bring My offerings.”
Micah 5:8
The remnant of Jacob will be among the nations, among many peoples like a lion among the beasts of the forest, like a young lion among flocks of sheep, which, if he passes through, tramples down and tears, and there is none to rescue.
Psalm 37:20
But the wicked will perish; and the enemies of the LORD will be like the glory of the pastures, they vanish — like smoke they vanish away.
Psalm 92:9
For, behold, Your enemies, O LORD, for, behold, Your enemies will perish; all who do iniquity will be scattered.
I suspect you may be right, although given the language of Zephaniah 3:8-10, the full quote fits a little better than it would with just the snippet I quoted:
The nations are gathered to the Judgment, that on them may be poured out an the wrath of the fury of the Lord, and this in pity and with a design to heal… in order that every one may return to the confession of the Lord, that in Jesus’ Name every knee may bow, and every tongue may confess that He is Lord. All God’s enemies shall perish, not that they cease to exist, but cease to be enemies.
The problem is that the last sentence sounds like it was interpolated from somewhere else, and I’m guessing it was pulled from the bit you quoted, while the rest may have actually been his Zephaniah commentary.
Right, that makes sense. Well… I wish you good fortune in finding the source for the Zephanic part! Let us know if you turn up anything outside of this board.