Date: 1890-08-15T00:00:00+00:00
Keywords: Treatises & Other

The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus

Saint Hippolytus of Rome

Royal Archives

1890

Copyright

The source text and this English translation are in the public domain.

The cover design is © 2026 Royal Archives.

Published by Royal Archives

First published 1890

Source: The Ante-Nicene Fathers (ed. Roberts & Donaldson, 1885)

Edition identifier: urn:royalarchives:extant_works_and_fragments_of_hippolytus:en:1

Exegetical.

On the Hexaëmeron, Or Six Days’ Work

The Extant Works and Fragments
of

Hippolytus.

[Translated by the Rev. S. D. F. Salmond.]

————————————

Part I.—Exegetical.

Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture.

Now these things we are under the necessity of setting forth at length, in order to disprove the supposition of others. For some choose to maintain that paradise is in heaven, and forms no part of the system of creation. But since we see with our eyes the rivers that go forth from it which are open, indeed, even in our day, to the inspection of any who choose, let every one conclude from this that it did not belong to heaven, but was in reality planted in the created system. And, in truth, it is a locality in the east, and a place select.

On Genesis.

On Genesis

Gen. i. 5 And it was evening, and it was morning, one day.

Hippolytus. He did not say[1] “night and day,” but “one day,” with reference to the name of the light. He did not say the “first day;” for if he had said the “first” day, he would also have had to say that the “second” day was made. But it was right to speak not of the “first day,” but of “one day,” in order that by saying “one,” he might show that it returns on its orbit and, while it remains one, makes up the week.

Gen. i. 6 And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water.

Hipp. On the first day God made what He made out of nothing. But on the other days He did not make out of nothing, but out of what He had made on the first day, by moulding it according to His pleasure.

Gen. i. 6, 7. And let it divide between water and water: and it was so. And God made the firmament; and God divided between the water which was under the firmament, and the water above the firmament: and it was so.

Hipp. As the excessive volume of water bore along over the face of the earth, the earth was by reason thereof “invisible” and “formless.” When the Lord of all designed to make the invisible visible, He fixed then a third part of the waters in the midst; and another third part He set by itself on high, raising it together with the firmament by His own power; and the remaining third He left beneath, for the use and benefit of men. Now at[2] this point we have an asterisk. The words are found in the Hebrew, but do not occur in the Septuagint.

Gen. iii. 8 And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden at even.

Hipp. Rather they discerned the approach of the Lord by a certain breeze. As soon, therefore, as they had sinned, God appeared to them, producing consciousness of their sin, and calling them to repentance.

Gen. xlix. 3 Reuben, my first-born, thou art my strength, and the first of my children; hard to bear with, and hard and self-willed: thou hast waxed wanton as water; boil not over.[3]

Aquila. Reuben, my first-born, thou art my strength, and the sum of my sorrow: excelling in dignity and excelling in might: thou hast been insensate as water; excel not.[4]

Symmachus. Reuben, my first-born, and beginning of my[5] pain: above measure grasping, and above measure hot as water, thou shalt not more excel.[6]

Hipp. For there was a great display of strength made by God in behalf of His first-born people from Egypt. For in very many ways was the land of the Egyptians chastised. That first people of the circumcision is meant by “my strength, and the first of my children:” even as God gave the promise to Abraham and to his seed. But “hard to bear with,” because the people hardened itself against the obedience of God. And “hard, self-willed,” because it was not only hard against the obedience of God, but also self-willed so as to set upon the Lord. “Thou hast waxed wanton,” because in the instance of our Lord Jesus Christ the people waxed wanton against the Father. But “boil not over,” says the Spirit, by way of comfort, that it might not, by boiling utterly over, be spilt abroad,—giving it hope of salvation. For what has boiled over and been spilt is lost.

Gen. xlix. 4 For thou wentest up to thy father’s bed.

Hipp. First he mentions the event,—that in the last days the people will assault the bed of the Father, that is, the bride,[7] the Church, with intent to corrupt her; which thing, indeed, it does even at this present day, assaulting her by blasphemies.

Gen. xlix. 5. Simeon and Levi, brethren.

Hipp. Since from Simeon sprang the scribes, and from Levi the priests. For the scribes and priests fulfilled iniquity[8] of their own choice, and with one mind they slew the Lord.

Gen. xlix. 5 Simeon and Levi, brethren, fulfilled iniquity of their own choice. Into their counsel let not my soul enter, and in their assembly let not my heart contend; for in their anger they slew men, and in their passion they houghed a bull.

Hipp. This he says regarding the conspiracy into which they were to enter against the Lord. And that he means this conspiracy, is evident to us. For the blessed David sings, “Rulers have taken counsel together against the Lord,”[9] and so forth. And of this conspiracy the Spirit prophesied, saying, “Let not my soul contend,” desiring to draw them off, if possible, so that that future crime might not happen through them. “They slew men, and houghed the bull;” by the “strong bull” he means Christ. And “they houghed,” since, when He was suspended on the tree, they pierced through His sinews. Again, “in their anger they houghed a bull.” And mark the nicety of the expression: for “they slew men, and houghed a bull.” For they killed the saints, and they remain dead, awaiting the time of the resurrection. But as a young bull, so to speak, when houghed, sinks down to the ground, such was Christ in submitting voluntarily to the death of the flesh; but He was not overcome of death. But though as man He became one of the dead, He remained alive in the nature of divinity. For Christ is the bull,—an animal, above all, strong and neat and devoted to sacred use. And the Son is Lord of all power, who did no sin, but rather offered Himself for us, a savour of a sweet smell to His God and Father. Therefore let those hear who houghed this august bull: “Cursed be their anger, for it was stubborn; and their wrath, for it was hardened.”[10] But this people of the Jews dared to boast of houghing the bull: “Our hands shed this.”[11] For this is nothing different, I think, from the word of folly: “His blood” (be upon us), and so forth.[12] Moses recalls[13] the curse against Levi, or, rather converts it into a blessing, on account of the subsequent zeal of the tribe, and of Phinehas in particular, in behalf of God. But that against Simeon he did not recall. Wherefore it also was fulfilled in deed.[14] For Simeon did not obtain an inheritance like the other tribes, for he dwelt in the midst of Judah. Yet his tribe was preserved, although it was small in number.[15]

Gen. xlix. 11 Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass’s colt to the choice vine,—the tendril of the vine,—he will wash his garment in wine, and his clothes in the blood of the grape.

Hipp. By the “foal” he means the calling of the Gentiles; by the other, that of the circumcision: “one ass,” moreover, that is to signify that the two colts are of one faith; in other words, the two callings. And one colt is bound to the “vine,” and the other to the “vine tendril,” which means that the Church of the Gentiles is bound to the Lord, but he who is of the circumcision to the oldness of the law. “He will wash his garment in wine;” that is, by the Holy Spirit and the word of truth, he will cleanse the flesh, which is meant by the garment. And “in the blood of the grape,” trodden and giving forth blood, which means the flesh of the Lord, he cleanses the whole calling of the Gentiles.

Gen. xlix. 12–15 His eyes are gladsome with wine, and his teeth white as milk. Zabulun shall dwell by the sea, and he shall be by a haven of ships, and he shall extend to Sidon. Issachar desired the good part, resting in the midst of the lots. And seeing that rest was good, and that the land was fat, he set his shoulder to toil, and became a husbandman.

Hipp. That is, his eyes are brilliant as with the word of truth; for they regard all who believe upon him. And his teeth are white as milk;—that denotes the luminous power of his words: for this reason he calls them white, and compares them to milk, as that which nourishes the flesh and the soul. And Zabulun is, by interpretation, “fragrance” and “blessing.”

Then, after something from Cyril:—

Hipp. Again, I think, it mystically signifies the[16] sacraments of the New Testament of our Saviour; and the words, “his teeth are white as milk,” denote the excellency and purity of the sacramental food. And again, these words, “his teeth are white as milk,” we take in the sense that His words give light to those who believe on Him.

And in saying, moreover, that Zabulun will dwell by the sea, he speaks prophetically of his territory as bordering on the sea, and of Israel as mingling with the Gentiles, the two nations being brought as it were into one flock. And this is manifest in the Gospel. “The land of Zabulun, and the land of Nephthalim,” etc. And you will mark more fully the richness of his lot as having both inland territory and seaboard.

“And he is by a haven of ships;” that is, as in a safe anchorage, referring to Christ, the anchor of hope. And this denotes the calling of the Gentiles—that the grace of Christ shall go forth to the whole earth and sea. For he says, “And (he is) by a haven of ships, and shall extend as far as Sidon.” And that this is said prophetically of the Church of the Gentiles, is made apparent to us in the Gospel: “The land of Zabulun, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light.”[17] In saying, then, that he, namely Zabulun, would inhabit a territory bordering on the sea, he plainly confirmed that, just as if he had said that in the future Israel would mingle with the Gentiles, the two peoples being brought together into one fold and under the hand of one chief Shepherd, the good (Shepherd) by nature, that is, Christ. In blessing him Moses said, “Zabulun shall rejoice.”[18] And Moses prophesies, that in the allocation of the land he should have abundance ministered of the good things both of land and sea, under the hand of One. “By a haven of ships;” that is, as in an anchorage that proves safe, referring to Christ, the anchor of hope. For by His grace he shall come forth out of many a tempest, and shall be brought hereafter to land, like ships secure in harbours. Besides, he said that “he extends as far even as Sidon,” indicating, as it seems, that so complete a unity will be effected in the spirit’s course between the two peoples, that those of the blood of Israel shall occupy those very cities which once were exceeding guilty in the sight of God.[19]

After something from Cyril:—

Hipp. And “that the land was fat;” that is, the flesh of our Lord: “fat,” that is, “rich;” for it flows with honey and milk. The parts of the land are marked off for an inheritance and possession to him—that means the doctrine of the Lord. For this is a pleasant rest, as He says Himself: “Come unto me, all ye that labour and are heavy laden,”[20] etc. For they who keep the commandments, and do not disclaim the ordinances of the law, enjoy rest both in them and in the doctrine of our Lord; and that is the meaning of “in the midst of the lots.” As the Lord says, “I am not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them.”[21] For even our Lord, in the fact that He keeps the commandments, does not destroy the law and the prophets, but fulfils them, as He says in the Gospels. “He set his shoulder to toil, and became a husbandman.” This the apostles did. Having received power from God, and having set themselves to labour, they became husbandmen of the Lord, cultivating the earth—that is, the human race—with the preaching of our Lord.

Gen. xlix. 16–20 Dan shall judge his people, as himself also one tribe in Israel. And let Dan become a serpent by the way, lying on the path, stinging the horse’s heel; and the horseman shall fall backward, waiting for the salvation of the Lord. Gad—a robber’s troop shall rob him; and he shall spoil it[22] at the heels. Aser—his bread shall be fat, and he shall furnish dainties to princes.

After something from Cyril, Apollinaris, and Diodorus:—

Hipp. The Lord is represented to us as a horseman; and the “heel” points us to the “last times.” And His “falling” denotes His death; as it is written in the Gospel: “Behold, this (child) is set for the fall and rising again of many.”[23] We take the “robber” to be the traitor. Nor was there any other traitor to the Lord save the (Jewish) people. “Shall rob him,” i.e., shall plot against him. At the heels: that refers to the help of the Lord against those who lie in wait against Him. And again, the words “at the heels” denote that the Lord will take vengeance swiftly. He shall be well armed in the foot[24] (heel), and shall overtake and rob the robber’s troop.

Aquila. “Girded, he shall gird himself;” that means that as a man of arms and war he shall arm himself. “And he shall be armed in the heel:” he means this rather, that Gad shall follow behind his brethren in arms. For though his lot was beyond Jordan, yet they (the men of that tribe) were enjoined to follow their brethren in arms until they too got their lots. Or perhaps he meant this, that Gad’s tribesmen were to live in the manner of robbers, and that he was to take up a confederacy of freebooters, which is just a “robber’s troop,” and to follow them, practising piracy, which is robbery, along with them.

Whereas, on the abolition of the shadow in the law, and the introduction of the worship in spirit and truth, the world had need of greater light, at last, with this object, the inspired disciples were called, and put in possession of the lot of the teachers of the law. For thus did God speak with regard to the mother of the Jews—that is to say, Jerusalem—by the voice of the Psalmist: “Instead of thy fathers were thy sons;”[25] that is, to those called thy sons was given the position of fathers. And with regard to our Lord Jesus Christ in particular: “Thou wilt appoint them rulers over all the earth.” Yet presently their authority will not be by any means void of trouble to them. Nay rather, they were to experience unnumbered ills and they were to be in perplexity; and the course of their apostleship they were by no means to find free of peril, as he intimated indeed by way of an example, when he said, “Let (Dan) be,” meaning by that, that there shall be a multitude of persecutors in Dan like a “serpent lying by the way on the path, stinging the horse’s heel,” i.e., giving fierce and dangerous bites; for the bites of snakes are generally very dangerous. And they were “in the heel” in particular, for “he shall bruise thy head, and thou shalt bruise his heel.”[26] And some did persecute the holy apostles in this way even to the death of the flesh. And thus we may say that their position was something like that when a horse stumbles and flings out his heels. For in such a case the horseman will be thrown, and, falling to the ground, I suppose, he waits[27] thus for some one alive. And thus, too, the inspired apostles survive and wait for the time of their redemption, when they shall be called into a kingdom which cannot be moved, when Christ addresses them with the word, “Come, ye blessed of my Father,”[28] etc.

And again, if any one will take the words as meaning, not that there will be some lying in wait against Dan like serpents, but that this Dan himself lies in wait against others, we may say that those meant thereby are the scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites who, while in possession of the power of judgment and instruction among the people, fastened like snakes upon Christ, and strove impiously to compass His fall, vexing Him with their stings as He held on in His lofty and gentle course. But if that horseman did indeed fall, He fell at least of His own will, voluntarily enduring the death of the flesh. And, moreover, it was destined that He should come to life again, having the Father as His helper and conductor. For the Son, being the power of God the Father, endued the temple of His own body again with life. Thus is He said to have been saved by the Father, as He stood in peril as a man, though by nature He is God, and Himself maintains the whole creation, visible and invisible, in a state of wellbeing. In this sense, also, the inspired Paul says of Him: “Though He was crucified in weakness, yet He liveth by the power of God.”[29]

Aser obtained the parts about Ptolemais and Sidon. Wherefore he says, “His bread shall be fat, and he shall furnish dainties to princes.” This we take to be a figure of our calling; for “fat” means “rich.” And whose bread is rich, if not ours? For the Lord is our bread, as He says Himself: “I am the bread of life.”[30] And who else will furnish dainties to princes but our Lord Jesus Christ?—not only to the believing among the Gentiles, but also to those of the circumcision, who are first in the faith, to wit, to the fathers, and the patriarchs, and the prophets, and to all who believe in His name and passion.

Gen. xlix. 21–26 Nephthalim is a slender[31] thing, showing beauty in the shoot. Joseph is a goodly son; my goodly, envied son; my youngest son. Turn back to me. Against him the archers took counsel together, and reviled him, and pressed him sore. And their bows were broken with might, and the sinews of the arms of their hands were relaxed by the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob. Thence is he who strengthened Israel from the God of thy father. And my God helped thee, and blessed thee with the blessing of heaven above, and with the blessing of the earth which possesseth all things, with the blessing of the breasts and womb, with the blessing of thy father and thy mother. It prevailed above the blessings of abiding mountains, and above the blessings of everlasting hills; which (blessings) shall be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the temples of his brothers, whose chief he was.

Hipp. Who is the son goodly and envied, even to this day, but our Lord Jesus Christ? An object of envy is He indeed to those who choose to hate Him, yet He is not by any means to be overcome. For though He endured the cross, yet as God He returned to life, having trampled upon death, as His God and Father addresses Him, and says, “Sit Thou at my right hand.”[32] And that even those are brought to nought who strive with the utmost possible madness against Him, he has taught us, when he says, “Against Him the archers took counsel together, and reviled Him.” For the “archers”—that is, the leaders of the people—did convene their assemblies, and take bitter counsel. “But their bows were broken, and the sinews of their arms were relaxed, by the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob,” that is to say, by God the Father, who is the Lord of power, who also made His Son blessed in heaven and on earth. And he (Naphtali) is adopted as a figure of things pertaining to us, as the Gospel shows: “The land of Zabulun, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan,”[33] etc.; and, “To them that sat in darkness light has arisen.”[34] And what other light was this but the calling of the Gentiles, which is the trunk, i.e., the tree of the Lord, in whom engrafted it bears fruit? And the word, “giving increase of beauty in the case of the shoot,” expresses the excellency of our calling. And if the words, “giving increase of beauty in the case of the shoot,” are understood, as perhaps they may, with reference to us, the clause is still quite intelligible. For, by progressing in virtue, and attaining to better things, “reaching forth to those things which are before,”[35] according to the word of the blessed Paul, we rise ever to the higher beauty. I mean, however, of course, spiritual beauty, so that to us too it may be said hereafter, “The King greatly desired thy beauty.”[36]

After something from Apollinaris:—

Hipp. The word of prophecy passes again to Immanuel Himself. For, in my opinion, what is intended by it is just what has been already stated in the words, “giving increase of beauty in the case of the shoot.” For he means that He increased and grew up into that which He had been from the beginning, and indicates the return to the glory which He had by nature.[37] This, if we apprehend it correctly, is (we should say) just “restored” to Him. For[38] as the only begotten Word of God, being God of God,[39] emptied Himself, according to the Scriptures, humbling Himself of His own will to that which He was not before, and took unto Himself this vile flesh, and appeared[40] in the “form of a servant,” and “became obedient to God the Father, even unto death,” so hereafter He is said to be “highly exalted;” and as if well-nigh He had it not by reason of His humanity, and as if it were in the way of grace, He “receives the name which is above every name,”[41] according to the word of the blessed Paul. But the matter, in truth, was not a “giving,” as for the first time, of what He had not by nature; far otherwise. But rather we must understand a return and restoration to that which existed in Him at the beginning, essentially and inseparably. And it is for this reason that, when He had assumed, by divine arrangement,[42] the lowly estate of humanity, He said, “Father, glorify me with the glory which I had,”[43] etc. For He who was co-existent with His Father before all time. and before the foundation of the world, always had the glory proper to Godhead. “He” too may very well be understood as the “youngest (son).” For He appeared in the last times, after the glorious and honourable company of the holy prophets, and simply once, after all those who, previous to the time of His sojourn, were reckoned in the number of sons by reason of excellence. That Immanuel, however, was an” object of envy,”[44] is a somewhat doubtful phrase. Yet He is an “object of envy” or “emulation” to the saints, who aspire to follow His footsteps, and conform themselves to His divine beauty, and make Him the pattern of their conduct, and win thereby their highest glory. And again, He is an “object of envy” in another sense,—an “object of ill-will,” namely, to those who are declared not to love Him. I refer to the leading parties among the Jews,—the scribes, in sooth, and the Pharisees,—who travailed with bitter envy against Him, and made the glory of which He could not be spoiled the ground of their slander, and assailed Him in many ways. For Christ indeed raised the dead to life again, when they already stank and were corrupt; and He displayed other signs of divinity. And these should have filled them with wonder, and have made them ready to believe, and to doubt no longer. Yet this was not the case with them; but they were consumed with ill-will, and nursed its bitter pangs in their mind.

After something from Cyril:—

Hipp. Who else is this than as is shown us by the apostle, “the second man, the Lord from heaven?”[45] And in the Gospel,[46] He said that he who did the will of the Father was “the last.”[47] And by the words, “Turn back to me,” is meant His ascension to His Father in heaven after His passion. And in the phrase, “Against Him they took counsel together, and reviled Him,” who are intended but just the people in their opposition to our Lord? And as to the words, “they pressed Him sore,” who pressed Him, and to this day still press Him sore? Those—these “archers,” namely—who think to contend against the Lord. But though they prevailed to put Him to death, yet “their bows were broken with might.” This plainly means, that “after the resurrection” their bows were broken with might. And those intended are the leaders of the people, who set themselves in array against Him, and, as it were, sharpened the points of their weapons. But they failed to transfix Him, though they did what was unlawful, and dared to assail Him even in the manner of wild beasts.

“Thou didst prevail above the blessings of abiding mountains.” By “eternal and abiding mountains and everlasting hills,” he means the saints, because they are lifted above the earth, and make no account of the things that perish, but seek the things that are above, and aspire earnestly to rise to the highest virtues. After the glory of Christ, therefore, are those of the Fathers who were most illustrious, and reached the greatest elevation in virtue. These, however, were but servants; but the Lord, the Son, supplied them with the means by which they became illustrious. Wherefore also they acknowledge (the truth of this word), “Out of His fulness have all we received.”[48]

“And my God helped thee.” This indicates clearly that the aid and support of the Son came from no one else but our God and Father in heaven. And by the word “my God,” is meant that the Spirit speaks by Jacob.[49]

Euseb. “The sinews of the arms.” He could not say, of “the hands” or “shoulders;” but since the broad central parts of the bow are termed “arms,” he says appropriately “arms.”

Hipp. “Blessings of the breasts and womb.” By this is meant that the true blessing from heaven is the Spirit descending through the Word upon flesh. And by “breasts and womb” he means the blessings of the Virgin. And by that of “thy father and thy mother,”[50] he means also the blessing of the Father which we have received in the Church through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gen. xlix. 27 “Benjamin is a ravening wolf; in the morning he shall devour still, and till evening he apportions food.”

Hipp. This thoroughly suits Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin. For when he was young, he was a ravening wolf; but when he believed, he “apportioned” food. This also is shown us by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the tribe of Benjamin is among the first persecutors, which is the sense of “in the morning.” For Saul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, persecuted David, who was appointed to be a type of the Lord.

[1] i.e., νυχθήμερον.

[2] This must refer, I suppose, to the words, “And it was so.”

[3] μὴ ἐκζέσῃς.

[4] μὴ περισσευῃς.

[5] “My” (μου) is wanting in Origen’s Hexapla.

[6] οὐκ ἔσῇ περισσότερος.

[7] [He makes the curse of Reuben applicable to the Church’s truth and purity.]

[8] ἐξαιρέσεως αὐτῶν, “of set purpose.”

[9] Ps. 2:2.

[10] Gen. 49:7.

[11] After “this” (τοῦτο) the word “blood” (τὸ αἷμα) seems to have been dropped.

[12] Matt. 27:25.

[13] Deut. 33:8.

[14] [By the sin of Annas and Caiaphas, with others, the tribe of Levi became formally subject to this curse again, and with Simeon (absorbed into Judah) inherited it. But compare Acts 4:36 and 6:7.]

[15] [Luke 2:25.]

[16] τὰ μυστήρια.

[17] Matt. 4:15, 16.

[18] Deut. 33:18.

[19] [In thus spiritualizing, the Fathers do not deny a literal sense also, as in “Aser,” p. 166, infra; only they think that geography, history, etc., should pay tribute to a higher meaning.]

[20] Matt. 11:28.

[21] Matt. 5:17.

[22] κατὰ πόδας, “quickly,” “following close.”

[23] Luke 2:34.

[24] [An important hint that by “heel,” in Gen. 3:15, the “foot” is understood, by rhetorical figure.]

[25] Ps. 44:17 (English, 45:16).

[26] Gen. 3 15. [The rhetoric here puts the heel for the foot to emphasize the other part of the prophecy, i.e., the wounded heel coming down on the biter’s head.]

[27] περιμένει τὸν ζῶντα.

[28] Matt. 25:34.

[29] 2 Cor. 13:4.

[30] John 6:35.

[31] στέλεχος ἀνειμένον.

[32] Ps. 110:1.

[33] Matt. 4:15.

[34] Matt. 4:17.

[35] Phil. 3:15.

[36] Ps. 45:11.

[37] The text is τοῦτο πάντως κατάγεται ὀρθῶς ἔχειν ὑπειλημμένον.

[38] This passage, down to the word “inseparably,” was transcribed by Isaac Vossius at Rome, and first edited by Grabe in the Annotations to Bull’s Defens. fid. Nic., p. 103.

[39] “God of God,” Θεὸς ὑπάρχων ἐκ Θεοῦ. Hippolytus uses here the exact phrase of the Nicene Council. So, too, in his Contra Noetum, chap. x., he has the exact phrase, “light of light” (φῶς ἐκ φωτός). [See my concluding remarks (note 9) on the last chapters of the Philosophumena, p. 153, supra.]

[40] The words from “and appeared” down to “so hereafter” are given by Grebe, but omitted in Fabricius.

[41] Phil. 2:7–9.

[42] οἰκονομικῶς.

[43] John 17:5.

[44] ζηλωτός.

[45] 1 Cor. 15:47.

[46] Matt. 21:31.

[47] ὁ ἔσχατος. Several manuscripts and versions and Fathers read ἔσχατος with Hippolytus instead of πρῶτος. Jerome in loc. remarks on the fact, and observes that with that reading the interpretation would be quite intelligible; the sense then being, that “the Jews understand the truth indeed, but evade it, and refuse to acknowledge what they perceive.” Wetstein, in his New Test., i. p. 467, also cites this reading, and adds the conjecture, that “some, remembering what is said in Matt. 20:16, viz., ‘the last shall be first,’ thought that the ‘publican’ would be called more properly ‘the last,’ and that then some one carried out this emendation so far as to transpose the replies too.”

[48] John 1:16.

[49] Gen. 48:3, 4.

[50] Grabe adduces another fragment of the comments of Hippolytus on this passage, found in some leaves deciphered at Rome. It is to this effect: Plainly and evidently the generation of the Only-begotten, which is at once from God the Father, and through the holy Virgin, is signified, even as He is believed and manifested to be a man. For being by nature and in truth the Son of God the Father, on our account He submitted to birth by woman and the womb, and sucked the breast. For He did not, as some fancy, become man only in appearance, but He manifested Himself as in reality that which we are who follow the laws of nature, and supported Himself by food, though Himself giving life to the world.

From the Commentary of the Holy Hippolytus of Rome Upon Genesis

II.

Gen. ii. 7 “And God formed man of the dust of the ground.” And what does this import? Are we to say, according to the opinion of some, that there were three men made, one spiritual, one animal, and one earthy? Not such is the case, but the whole narrative is of one man. For the word, “Let us make,” is about the man that was to be; and then comes the word, “God made man of the dust of the ground,” so that the narrative is of one and the same man. For then He says, “Let him be made,” and now He “makes him,” and the narrative tells “how” He makes him.

Quoted in Jerome, Epist. 36, Ad Damasum, Num. Xviii. (From Galland)

III.

[1]Isaac conveys a figure of God the Father; Rebecca of the Holy Spirit; Esau of the first people and the devil; Jacob of the Church, or of Christ. That Isaac was old, points to the end of the world; that his eyes were dim, denotes that faith had perished from the world, and that the light of religion was neglected before him; that the elder son is called, expresses the Jews’ possession of the law; that the father loves his meat and venison, denotes the saving of men from error, whom every righteous man seeks to gain (lit. hunt for) by doctrine. The word of God here is the promise anew of the blessing and the hope of a kingdom to come, in which the saints shall reign with Christ, and keep the true Sabbath. Rebecca is full of the Holy Spirit, as understanding the word which she heard before she gave birth, “For the elder shall serve the younger.”[2] As a figure of the Holy Spirit, moreover, she cares for Jacob in preference. She says to her younger son, “Go to the flock and fetch me two kids,”[3] prefiguring the Saviour’s advent in the flesh to work a mighty deliverance for them who were held liable to the punishment of sin; for indeed in all the Scriptures kids are taken for emblems of sinners. His being charged to bring “two,” denotes the reception of two peoples: by the “tender and good,” are meant teachable and innocent souls. The robe or raiment of Esau denotes the faith and Scriptures of the Hebrews, with which the people of the Gentiles were endowed. The skins which were put upon his arms are the sins of both peoples, which Christ, when His hands were stretched forth on the cross, fastened to it along with Himself. In that Isaac asks of Jacob why he came so soon,[4] we take him as admiring the quick faith of them that believe. That savoury meats are offered, denotes an offering pleasing to God, the salvation of sinners. After the eating follows the blessing, and he delights in his smell. He announces with clear voice the perfection of the resurrection and the kingdom, and also how his brethren who believe in Israel adore him and serve him. Because iniquity is opposed to righteousness, Esau is excited to strife, and meditates death deceitfully, saying in his heart, “Let the days of the mourning for my father come on, and I will slay my brother Jacob.”[5] The devil, who previously exhibited the fratricidal Jews by anticipation in Cain, makes the most manifest disclosure of them now in Esau, showing also the time of the murder: “Let the days,” says he, “of the mourning for my father come on, that I may slay my brother.” Wherefore Rebecca—that is, patience—told her husband of the brother’s plot: who, summoning Jacob, bade him go to Mesopotamia and thence take a wife of the family of Laban the Syrian, his mother’s brother. As therefore Jacob, to escape his brother’s evil designs, proceeds to Mesopotamia, so Christ, too, constrained by the unbelief of the Jews, goes into Galilee, to take from thence to Himself a bride from the Gentiles, His Church.

[1] Jerome introduces this citation from the Commentary of Hippolytus on Genesis in these terms: “Since, then, we promised to add what that (concerning Isaac and Rebecca, Gen. 27.) signifies figuratively, we may adduce the words of the martyr Hippolytus, with whom our Victorinus very much agrees: not that he has made out everything quite fully, but that he may give the reader the means for a broader understanding of the passage.”

[2] Gen. 25:23.

[3] Gen. 27:9.

[4] Gen. 27:20.

[5] Gen. 27:41.

On Numbers

On Numbers. By the Holy Bishop and Martyr Hippolytus, from Balaam’s Blessings. In Leontius Byzant., book i. Against Nestorius and Eutyches (from Galland). The same fragment is found in Mai, Script. vet., vii. p. 134. [Galiand was a French Orientalist, a.d. 1646–1715.]

Now, in order that He might be shown to have together in Himself at once the nature of God and that of man,—as the apostle, too, says: “Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus.[1] Now a mediator is not of one man,[2] but two,”[3]—it was therefore necessary that Christ, in becoming the Mediator between God and men, should receive from both an earnest of some kind, that He might appear as the Mediator between two distinct persons.

[1] 1 Tim. 2:5.

[2] This word “man” agrees ill, not only with the text in Galatians, but even with the meaning of the writer here; for he is treating, not of a mediator between “two” men, but between “God and men.”—Migne.

[3] Gal. 3:20.

On Kings

The question is raised, whether Samuel rose by the hand of the sorceress or not. And if, indeed, we were to allow that he did rise, we should be propounding what is false. For how could a demon call back the soul, I say not of a righteous man merely, but of any one whatever, when it had gone, and was tarrying one knew not where? But he says, how then was the woman dismayed, and how did she see in an extraordinary way men ascending? For if her vision had not been of an extraordinary kind, she would not have said, “I see gods[1] ascending out of the earth.” She invoked one, and how did there ascend many? What then? Shall we say that the souls of all who appeared ascended, and those, too, not invoked by the woman;[2] or that what was seen was merely phantasms of them? Even this, however, will not suffice. How, he urges further, did Saul recognise (what appeared), and do obeisance? Well, Saul did not actually see, but only, on being told by the woman that the figure of one of those who ascended was the figure he desired, and taking it to be Samuel, he consulted it as such, and did it obeisance. And it could be no difficult matter for the demon to conjure up the form of Samuel, as it was known to him. How then, says he, did he foretell the calamities that were to befall Saul and Jonathan at the same time? He did foretell indeed the end of the war, and how Saul would be overcome, drawing that as an inference from the wrath of God against him. Just as a physician, who has no exact knowledge of the science, might yet, seeing a patient past cure, tell of his death, though he made an error as to the hour, so, too, the demon, knowing the wrath of God by Saul’s deeds, and by this very attempt to consult the sorceress, foretells his defeat and his death at the same time, though in error as to the day of his death.

[1] [Rather “god,” the plural of excellence, Elohim.]

[2] [This passage is the scandal of commentators. As I read it, the Lord interfered, surprising the woman and horrifying her. The soul of the prophet came back from Sheol, and prophesied by the power of God. Our author misunderstands the Hebrew plural.]

On the Psalms.

The Argument Prefixed by Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, to His Exposition of the Psalms

The book of Psalms contains new doctrine after the law of Moses. And after the writing of Moses, it is the second book of doctrine. Now, after the death of Moses and Joshua, and after the judges, arose David, who was deemed worthy of bearing the name of father of the Saviour himself; and he first gave to the Hebrews a new style of psalmody, by which he abrogates the ordinances established by Moses with respect to sacrifices, and introduces the new hymn and a new style of jubilant praise in the worship of God; and throughout his whole ministry he teaches very many other things that went beyond the law of Moses.[1]

[1] [i.e., Samuel prepares for the Christian era, introducing the “schools of the prophets,” and the synagogue service, which God raised up David to complete, by furnishing the Psalter. Compare Acts 3:24, where Samuel’s position in the “goodly fellowship” is marked. See Payne Smith’s Prophecy a Preparation for Christ.]

On Psalm 2. From the Exposition of the Second Psalm, by the Holy Bishop Hippolytus

When he came into the world, He was manifested as God and man. And it is easy to perceive the man in Him, when He hungers and shows exhaustion, and is weary and athirst, and withdraws in fear, and is in prayer and in grief, and sleeps on a boat’s pillow, and entreats the removal of the cup of suffering, and sweats in an agony, and is strengthened by an angel, and betrayed by a Judas, and mocked by Caiaphas, and set at nought by Herod, and scourged by Pilate, and derided by the soldiers, and nailed to the tree by the Jews, and with a cry commits His spirit to His Father, and drops His head and gives up the ghost, and has His side pierced with a spear, and is wrapped in linen and laid in a tomb, and is raised by the Father on the third day. And the divine in Him, on the other hand, is equally manifest, when He is worshipped by angels, and seen by shepherds, and waited for by Simeon, and testified of by Anna, and inquired after by wise men, and pointed out by a star, and at a marriage makes wine of water, and chides the sea when tossed by the violence of winds, and walks upon the deep, and makes one see who was blind from birth, and raises Lazarus when dead for four days, and works many wonders, and forgives sins, and grants power to His disciples.

On Psalm 22. Or XXIII. From the Commentary by the Holy Bishop and Martyr Hippolytus, on “The Lord is My Shepherd.”

And, moreover, the ark made of imperishable wood was the Saviour Himself. For by this was signified the imperishable and incorruptible tabernacle of (the Lord) Himself, which gendered no corruption of sin. For the sinner, indeed, makes this confession: “My wounds stank, and were corrupt, because of my foolishness.”[1] But the Lord was without sin, made of imperishable wood, as regards His humanity; that is, of the virgin and the Holy Ghost inwardly, and outwardly of the word of God, like an ark overlaid with purest gold.

[1] Ps. 38:6.

On Psalm 23. Or XXIV. From the Commentary by the Same, on Ps. Xxiii

He comes to the heavenly gates: angels accompany Him: and the gates of heaven were closed. For He has not yet ascended into heaven. Now first does He appear to the powers of heaven as flesh ascending. Therefore to these powers it is said by the angels, who are the couriers of the Saviour and Lord: “Lift up your gates, ye princes; and be lifted up, ye everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in.[1]

[1] Ps. 24:7.

On Psalm 109. Or CX. From the Commentary by the Same on the Great Song

1. He who delivered from the lowest hell the man first made of earth, when lost and bound by the chains of death; He who came down from above, and exalted earth-born man on high; He who is become the preacher of the Gospel to the dead, the redeemer of souls, and the resurrection of the buried;—He became the helper of man in his defeat, and appeared in his likeness, the first-born Word, and took upon Himself the first Adam in the Virgin; and though spiritual Himself, He made acquaintance with the earthy in the womb; though Himself the ever-living One, He made acquaintance with the dead in transgressions; Himself the heavenly One, He bore the terrestrial on high; Himself of lofty extraction, He chose, by His own subjection, to set the slave free; and making man, who turns to dust, and forms food for the serpent, unconquerable as adamant, and that, too, when hung upon the tree, He declared him lord over his victor, and is thus Himself proved conqueror by the tree.

2. Those, indeed, who do not acknowledge the incarnate Son of God now, shall have to acknowledge Him as Judge, when He who is now despised in His inglorious body, comes in His glory.

3. And when the apostles came to the sepulchre on the third day, they did not find the body of Jesus; just as the children of Israel went up the mount to seek the tomb of Moses, and did not find it.

On Psalm 77. Or LXXVIII

45. He sent the dog-fly among them, and consumed them; and the frog, and destroyed them.

46. He gave also their fruits to the mildew, and their labours to the locust.

47. He destroyed their vine with hail, and their sycamines with frost.

Now, just as, in consequence of an irregular mode of living, a deadly bilious humour may be formed in the inwards, which the physician by his art may bring on to be a sick-vomiting, without being himself chargeable with producing the sick humour in the man’s body; for excess in diet was what produced it, while the physician’s science only made it show itself; so, although it may be said that the painful retribution that falls upon those who are by choice wicked comes from God, it would be only in accordance with right reason, to think that ills of that kind find both their beginnings and their causes in ourselves. For to one who lives without sin there is no darkness, no worm, no hell (Gehenna), no fire, nor any other of these words or things of terror; just as the plagues of Egypt were not for the Hebrews,—those fine lice annoying with invisible bites, the dog-fly fastening on the body with its painful sting, the hurricanes from heaven falling upon them with hailstones, the husbandman’s labours devoured by the locusts, the darkened sky, and the rest. It is God’s counsel, indeed, to tend the true vine, and to destroy the Egyptian, while sparing those who are to “eat the grape of gall, and drink the deadly venom of asps.”[1] And the sycamine of Egypt is utterly destroyed; not, however, that one which Zaccheus climbed that he might be able to see my Lord. And the fruits of Egypt are wasted, that is, the works of the flesh, but not the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, and peace.[2]

48. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their substance to the fire.

Symmachus renders it: “Who gave up their cattle to the plague, and their possessions to birds.” For, having met an overwhelming overthrow, they became a prey for carnivorous birds. But, according to the Seventy, the sense is not that the hail destroyed their cattle, and the fire the rest of their substance, but that hail, falling in an extraordinary manner along with fire, destroyed utterly their vines and sycamines first of all, which were entirely unable to stand out against the first attack; then the cattle which grazed on the plains; and then every herb and tree, which the fire accompanying the hail consumed; and the affair was altogether portentous, as fire ran with the water, and was commingled with it. “For fire ran in the hail,” he says; and it was thus hail, and fire burning in the hail. David also calls the cattle and the fruit of the trees “substance,” or “riches.” And it should be observed that, though the hail is recorded to have destroyed every herb and every tree, yet there were left some which the locust, as it came upon them after the fiery hail, consumed; of which it is said, that it eats up every herb, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail left behind it. Now, in a spiritual sense, there are some sheep belonging to Christ, and others belonging to the Egyptians. Those, however, which once belonged to others may become His, as the sheep of Laban became Jacob’s; and contrariwise. Whichever of the sheep, moreover, Jacob rejected, he made over to Esau. Beware, then, lest, being found in the flock of Jesus, you be set apart when gifts are sent to Esau, and be given over to Esau as reprobate and unworthy of the spiritual Jacob. The single-minded are the sheep of Christ, and these God saves according to the word: “O Lord, Thou preservest man and beast.”[3] They who in their folly attach themselves to godless doctrine, are the sheep of the Egyptians, and these, too, are destroyed by the hail. And whatsoever the Egyptians possess is given over to the fire, but Abraham’s substance is given to Isaac.

49. He discharged upon them the wrath of His anger;—anger, and wrath, and tribulation, a visitation by evil angels.

Under anger, wrath, and tribulation, he intended bitter punishments; for God is without passion. And by anger you will understand the lesser penalties, and by wrath the greater, and by tribulation the greatest. [4]The angels also are called evil, not because they are so in their nature, or by their own will, but because they have this office, and are appointed to produce pains and sufferings,—being so called, therefore, with reference to the disposition of those who endure such things; just as the day of judgment is called the evil day, as being laden with miseries and pains for sinners. To the same effect is the word of Isaiah, “I, the Lord, make peace, and create evil;”[5] meaning by that, I maintain peace, and permit war.

[1] Deut. 32:33.

[2] Gal. 5:22.

[3] Ps. 36:6.

[4] Theodoret also, following Hippolytus, understood by “evil angels” here, not “demons,” but the ministers of temporal punishment. See on Ps. 78:54, and on Jer. 49:14. So, too, others, as may be seen in Poli Synops., ii. col. 1113.

[5] Isa. 45:7.

On Proverbs.

From the Commentary of St. Hippolytus on Proverbs

Proverbs, therefore, are words of exhortation serviceable for the whole path of life; for to those who seek their way to God, these serve as guides and signs to revive them when wearied with the length of the road. These, moreover, are the proverbs of “Solomon,” that is to say, the “peacemaker,” who, in truth, is Christ the Saviour. And since we understand the words of the Lord without offence, as being the words of the Lord, that no one may mislead us by likeness of name, he tells us who wrote these things, and of what people he was king, in order that the credit of the speaker may make the discourse acceptable and the hearers attentive; for they are the words of that Solomon to whom the Lord said: “I will give thee a wise and an understanding heart; so that there has been none like thee upon the earth, and after thee there shall not arise any like unto thee,”[1] and as follows in what is written of him. Now he was the wise son of a wise father; wherefore there is added the name of David, by whom Solomon was begotten. From a child he was instructed in the sacred Scriptures, and obtained his dominion not by lot, nor by force, but by the judgment of the Spirit and the decree of God.

“To know wisdom and instruction.” He who knows the wisdom of God, receives from Him also instruction, and learns by it the mysteries of the Word; and they who know the true heavenly wisdom will easily understand the words of these mysteries. Wherefore he says: “To understand the difficulties of words;”[2] for things spoken in strange language by the Holy Spirit become intelligible to those who have their hearts right with God.

[3]These things he understands of the people of the Jews, and their guilt in the blood of Christ; for they thought that He had His conversation (citizenship) on earth only.

[4]They will not simply obtain, but inherit. The wicked, again, even though they are exalted, are exalted only so as to have greater dishonour. For as one does not honour an ugly and misshapen fellow, if he exalts him, but only dishonours him the more, by making his shame manifest to a larger number; so also God exalts the wicked, in order that He may make their disgrace patent. For Pharaoh was exalted, but only to have the world as his accuser.

[5]It must be noted, that he names the law a good gift, on account of the man who takes gifts into his bosom unrighteously. And he forsakes the law who transgresses it; the law, namely, of which he speaks, or which he has kept.

[6]And what is meant by “exalt (fortify) her?” Surround her with holy thoughts; for you have need of large defence, since there are many things to imperil such a possession. But if it is in our power to fortify her, and if there are virtues in our power which exalt the knowledge of God, these will be her bulwarks,—as, for example, practice, study, and the whole chain of other virtues; and the man who observes these, honours wisdom; and the reward is, to be exalted to be with her, and to be embraced by her in the chamber of heaven.

[7]The heterodox are the “wicked,” and the transgressors of the law are “evil men,” whose “ways”—that is to say, their deeds—he bids us not enter.

[8]He “looks right on” who has thoughts free of passion; and he has true judgments, who is not in a state of excitement about external appearances. When he says, “Let thine eyes look right on,” he means the vision of the soul; and when he gives the exhortation, “Eat honey, my son, that it may be sweet to thy palate,” he uses “honey” figuratively, meaning divine doctrine, which restores the spiritual knowledge of the soul. But wisdom embraces the soul also; for, says he, “love her, that she may embrace thee.” And the soul, by her embrace being made one with wisdom, is filled with holiness and purity. Yea more, the fragrant ointments of Christ are laid hold of by the soul’s sense of smell.

[9]Virtue occupies the middle position; whence also he says, that manly courage is the mean between boldness and cowardice. And now he mentions the “right,” not meaning thereby things which are right by nature, such as the virtues, but things which seem to thee to be right on account of their pleasures. Now pleasures are not simply sensual enjoyments, but also riches and luxury. And the “left” indicates envy, robberies, and the like. For “Boreas,” says he, “is a bitter wind, and yet is called by name right.”[10] For, symbolically, under Boreas he designates the wicked devil by whom every flame of evil is kindled in the earth. And this has the name “right,” because an angel is called by a right (propitious) name. Do thou, says he, turn aside from evil, and God will take care of thine end; for He will go before thee, scattering thine enemies, that thou mayest go in peace.

[11]He shows also, by the mention of the creature (the hind), the purity of that pleasure; and by the roe he intimates the quick responsive affection of the wife. And whereas he knows many things to excite, he secures them against these, and puts upon them the indissoluble bond of affection, setting constancy before them. And as for the rest, wisdom, figuratively speaking, like a stag, can repel and crush the snaky doctrines of the heterodox. Let her therefore, says he, be with thee, like a roe, to keep all virtue fresh. And whereas a wife and wisdom are not in this respect the same, let her rather lead thee; for thus thou shalt conceive good thoughts.

[12]That thou mayest not say, What harm is there in the eyes, when there is no necessity that he should be perverted who looks? he shows thee that desire is a fire, and the flesh is like a garment. The latter is an easy prey, and the former is a tyrant. And when anything harmful is not only taken within, but also held fast, it will not go forth again until it has made an exit for itself. For he who looks upon a woman, even though he escape the temptation, does not come away pure of all lust. And why should one have trouble, if he can be chaste and free of trouble? See what Job says: “I made a covenant with mine eyes, that I should not think of another’s wife.”[13] Thus well does he know the power of abuse. And Paul for this reason kept “under his body, and brought it into subjection.” And, figuratively speaking, he keeps a fire in his breast who permits an impure thought to dwell in his heart. And he walks upon coals who, by sinning in act, destroys his own soul.

The “cemphus”[14] is a kind of wild sea-bird, which has so immoderate an impulse to sexual enjoyment, that its eyes seem to fill with blood in coition; and it often blindly falls into snares, or into the hands of men.[15] To this, therefore, he compares the man who gives himself up to the harlot on account of his immoderate lust; or else on account of the insensate folly of the creature, for he, too, pursues his object like one senseless. And they say that this bird is so much pleased with foam, that if one should hold foam in his hand as he sails, it will sit upon his hand. And it also brings forth with pain.

[16]You have seen her mischief. Wait not to admit the rising of lust; for her death is everlasting. And for the rest, by her words, her arguments in sooth, she wounds, and by her sins she kills those who yield to her. For many are the forms of wickedness that lead the foolish down to hell. And the chambers[17] of death mean either its depths or its treasure. How, then, is escape possible?

[18]He intends the new Jerusalem, or the sanctified flesh. By the seven pillars he means the sevenfold unity of the Holy Spirit resting upon it; as Isaiah testifies, saying, “She has slain” her “victims.”

[19]Observe that the wise man must be useful to many; so that he who is useful only to himself cannot be wise. For great is the condemnation of wisdom if she reserves her power simply for the one possessing her. But as poison is not injurious to another body, but only to that one which takes it, so also the man who turns out wicked will injure himself, and not another. For no man of real virtue is injured by a wicked man.

[20]The fruit of righteousness and the tree of life is Christ. He alone, as man, fulfilled all righteousness. And with His own underived life[21] He has brought forth the fruits of knowledge and virtue like a tree, whereof they that eat shall receive eternal life, and shall enjoy the tree of life in paradise, with Adam and all the righteous. But the souls of the unrighteous meet an untimely expulsion from the presence of God, by whom they shall be left to remain in the flame of torment.

[22]Not from men, but with the Lord, will he obtain favour.

[23]He asks of wisdom, who seeks to know what is the will of God. And he will show himself prudent who is sparing of his words on that which he has come to learn. If one inquires about wisdom, desiring to learn something about wisdom, while another asks nothing of wisdom, as not only wishing to learn nothing about wisdom himself, but even keeping back his neighbours from so doing, the former certainly is deemed to be more prudent than the latter.

[24]As to the horse-leech. There were three daughters fondly loved by sin—fornication, murder,[25] and idolatry. These three did not satisfy her, for she is not to be satisfied. In destroying man by these actions, sin never varies, but only grows continually. For the fourth, he continues, is never content to say “enough,” meaning that it is universal lust. In naming the “fourth,” he intends lust in the universal. For as the body is one, and yet has many members; so also sin, being one, contains within it many various lusts by which it lays its snares for men. Wherefore, in order to teach us this, he uses the examples of Sheol (Hades), and the love of women, and hell[26] (Tartarus), and the earth that is not filled with water. And water and fire, indeed, will never say, “It is enough.” And the grave[27] (Hades) in no wise ceases to receive the souls of unrighteous men; nor does the love of sin, in the instance of the love of women, cease to be given to fornication, and it becomes the betrayer of the soul. And as Tartarus, which is situated in a doleful and dark locality, is not touched by a ray of light, so is every one who is the slave of sin in all the passions of the flesh. Like the earth not filled with water he is never able to come to confession, and to the laver of regeneration, and like water and fire, never says, “It is enough.”

[28]For as a serpent cannot mark its track upon a rock, so the devil could not find sin in the body of Christ. For the Lord says, “Behold, the prince of this world cometh, and will find nothing in me.”[29]—For as a ship, sailing in the sea, leaves no traces of her way behind her, so neither does the Church, which is situate in the world as in a sea, leave her hope upon the earth, because she has her life reserved in heaven; and as she holds her way here only for a short time, it is not possible to trace out her course.—As the Church does not leave her hope behind in the world, her hope in the incarnation of Christ which bears us all good, she did not leave the track of death in Hades.—Of whom but of Him who is born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin?—who, in renewing the perfect man in the world, works miracles, beginning from the baptism of John, as the Evangelist also testifies: And Jesus was then beginning to be about thirty years of age. This, then, was the youthful and blooming period of the age of Him who, in journeying among the cities and districts, healed the diseases and infirmities of men.

[30]“The eye that mocketh at his father, and dishonours the old age of his mother.” That is to say, one that blasphemes God and despises the mother of Christ, the wisdom of God,—his eyes may ravens from the caves tear out, i.e., him may unclean and wicked spirits deprive of the clear eye of gladness; and may the young eagles devour him: and such shall be trodden under the feet of the saints.

[31]“There be three things which I cannot understand, and the fourth I know not: the tracks of an eagle flying,” i.e., Christ’s ascension; “and the ways of a serpent upon a rock,” i.e., that the devil did not find a trace of sin in the body of Christ; “and the ways of a ship crossing the sea,” i.e., the ways of the Church, which is in this life as in a sea, and which is directed by her hope in Christ through the cross; “and the ways of a man in youth,”[32]—the ways of Him, namely, who is born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin. For behold, says the Scripture, a man whose name is the Rising.[33]

[34]“Such is the way of an adulterous woman, who, when she has done the deed of sin, wipeth herself, and will say that no wickedness has been done.” Such is the conduct of the Church that believes on Christ, when, after committing fornication with idols, she renounces these and the devil, and is cleansed of her sins and receives forgiveness, and then asserts that she has done no wickedness.

[35]“By three things the earth is moved,” viz., by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. “And the fourth it cannot bear,” viz., the last appearing of Christ. “When a servant reigneth:” Israel was a slave in Egypt, and in the land of promise became a ruler. “And a fool when he is filled with meat:” i.e., getting the land in possession readily, and eating its fruit, and being filled, it (the people) kicked. “And a handmaid when she casts out her mistress:” i.e., the synagogue which took the life of the Lord, and crucified the flesh of Christ.

[36]“There be four things which are least upon the earth, and these are wiser than the wise: The ants have no strength, yet they prepare their meat in the summer.” And in like manner, the Gentiles by faith in Christ prepare for themselves eternal life through good works. “And the conies,[37] a feeble folk, have made their houses in the rocks.” The Gentiles, that is to say, are built upon Christ, the spiritual rock, which is become the head of the corner. “The spider,[38] that supports itself upon its hands, and is easily caught, dwells in the strongholds of kings.” That is, the thief with his hands extended (on the cross), rests on the cross of Christ and dwells in Paradise, the stronghold of the three Kings—Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

“The locust has no king, and yet marches out in array as by one command.” The Gentiles had no king, for they were ruled by sin; but now, believing God, they engage in the heavenly warfare.

[39]“There be three things which go well,[39] and the fourth which is comely in going;” that is, the angels in heaven, the saints upon earth, and the souls of the righteous under the earth. And the fourth, viz. God, the Word Incarnate, passed in honour through the Virgin’s womb; and creating our Adam anew, he passed through the gates of heaven, and became the first-fruits of the resurrection and of the ascension for all.

“The whelp of the lion is stronger than the beasts:” i.e., Christ as prophesied of by Jacob in the person of Judah. “A cock walking with high spirit among his dames:” such was Paul, when preaching boldly among the churches the word of the Christ of God. “A goat heading the herd:” such is He who was offered for the sins of the world. “And a king speaking among the people:” so Christ reigns over the nations, and speaks by prophets and apostles the word of truth.

[40]That is one confirmed in wickedness.[40] The apostle, too, says, “Them that sin, rebuke before all;”[41] that is to say, all but reprobate. Who are meant by the “conies,”[42] but we ourselves, who once were like hogs, walking in all the filthiness of the world; but now, believing in Christ, we build our houses upon the holy flesh of Christ as upon a rock?

[43]The shaking (of the earth) signifies the change of things upon earth.—Sin, then, which in its own nature is a slave, has reigned in the mortal body of men: once, indeed, at the time of the flood; and again in the time of the Sodomites, who, not satisfied with what the land yielded, offered violence to strangers; and a third time in the case of hateful Egypt, which, though it obtained in Joseph a man who distributed food to all, that they might not perish of famine, yet did not take well with his prosperity, but persecuted the children of Israel. “The handmaid casting out her mistress:” i.e., the Church of the Gentiles, which, though itself a slave and a stranger to the promises, cast out the free-born and lordly synagogue, and became the wife and bride of Christ. By Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the whole earth is moved. The “fourth it cannot bear:” for He came first by lawgivers, and secondly by prophets, and thirdly by the Gospel, manifesting Himself openly; and in the fourth instance He shall come as the Judge of the living and the dead, whose glory the whole creation will not be able to endure.

[1] 1 Kings 3:12.

[2] Prov. 1:3.

[3] Ch. 1:11.

[4] Ch. 3:35.

[5] Prov. 4:2.

[6] Ch. 4:8.

[7] Ch. 4:14.

[8] Ch. 4:25.

[9] Ch. 4:27.

[10] This is the Septuagint translation of ch. 27:16.

[11] Prov. 5:19.

[12] Ch. 6:27.

[13] Job 31:1.

[14] Prov. 7:22. The Hebrew word, rendered “straightway” in our version, is translated κεπφωθείς in the Septuagint, i.e., “ensnared like a cepphus.” [Quasi agnus lasciviens, according to the Vulgate.]

[15] [If the “cemphus” of the text equals “cepphus” of note, then “cepphus” equals “cebus” or “cepus,” which equals κῆβος, a sort of monkey. The “Kophim” of 1 Kings 10:22 seems to supply the root of the word. The κέπφος, however, is said to be a sea-bird “driven about by every wind,” so that it is equal to a fool. So used by Aristophanes.]

[16] Prov. 7:26.

[17] ταμεῖα, “magazines.”

[18] Ch. 9:1.

[19] Ch. 9:12.

[20] Ch. 11:30.

[21] ὡς αὐτοζωή.

[22] Ch. 12:2.

[23] Ch. 17:27.

[24] Ch. 30:15.

[25] Other reading (φθόνος) =”envy.”

[26] [The place of torment (2 Pet. 2:4). Vol. iv. 140.]

[27] [Sheol, rather,—the receptacle of departed spirits. See vol. iii. pp. 59 and 595; also vol. iv. p. 194.]

[28] Prov. 30:19.

[29] John 14:30.

[30] Ch. 30:17.

[31] Prov. 30:18, 19.

[32] [The Authorized Version reads very differently; but our author follows the Sept., with which agrees the Vulgate.]

[33] The reference probably is to Zech. 6:12, where the word is rendered “Branch.” The word in the text is ἀνατολή.

[34] Ch. 30:20.

[35] Ch. 30:21–23.

[36] Ch. 30:24–28.

[37] χοιρογρύλλοι, i.e., “grunting hogs.”

[38] ἀσκαλαβώτης, i.e., a “lizard.”

[39] Prov. 30:29, etc. [As in Vulgate.]

[40] Cf. 27:22, the Septuagint rendering being: “Though thou shouldest disgrace and scourge a fool in the midst of the council, thou wilt not strip him of his folly.” [What version did our author use?]

[41] 1 Tim. 5:30.

[42] Literally, “grunting hogs.”

[43] Ch. 30:21, etc. [As to version, see Burgon, Lett. from Rome, p. 34.]

Another Fragment. St. Hippolytus on Prov. Ix. 1, “Wisdom Hath Builded Her House.”

Christ, he means, the wisdom and power of God the Father, hath builded His house, i.e., His nature in the flesh derived from the Virgin, even as he (John) hath said beforetime, “The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us.”[1] As likewise the wise prophet[2] testifies: Wisdom that was before the world, and is the source of life, the infinite “Wisdom of God, hath builded her house” by a mother who knew no man,—to wit, as He assumed the temple of the body. “And hath raised[3] her seven pillars;” that is, the fragrant grace of the all-holy Spirit, as Isaiah says: “And the seven spirits of God shall rest upon Him.”[4] But others say that the seven pillars are the seven divine orders which sustain the creation by His holy and inspired teaching; to wit, the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, the hierarchs, the hermits, the saints, and the righteous. And the phrase, “She hath killed her beasts,” denotes the prophets and martyrs who in every city and country are slain like sheep every day by the unbelieving, in behalf of the truth, and cry aloud, “For thy sake we are killed all the day long, we were counted as sheep for the slaughter.”[5] And again, “She hath mingled her wine” in the bowl, by which is meant, that the Saviour, uniting his Godhead, like pure wine, with the flesh in the Virgin, was born of her at once God and man without confusion of the one in the other. “And she hath furnished her table:” that denotes the promised knowledge of the Holy Trinity; it also refers to His honoured and undefiled body and blood, which day by day are administered and offered sacrificially at the spiritual divine table, as a memorial of that first and ever-memorable table of the spiritual divine supper. And again, “She hath sent forth her servants:” Wisdom, that is to say, has done so—Christ, to wit—summoning them with lofty announcement. “Whoso is simple, Let him turn to me,” she says, alluding manifestly to the holy apostles, who traversed the whole world, and called the nations to the knowledge of Him in truth, with their lofty and divine preaching. And again, “And to those that want understanding she said”—that is, to those who have not yet obtained the power of the Holy Ghost—“Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled for you;” by which is meant, that He gave His divine flesh and honoured blood to us, to eat and to drink it for the remission of sins.

[1] John 1:14.

[2] i.e., Solomon.

[3] Other reading, “hewn out.”

[4] Isa. 11:2.

[5] Ps. 44:2; Rom. 8:36.

On the Song of Songs

1. Arise, O north wind, and come, thou south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out (Canticles 4:16). As Joseph was delighted with these spices, he is designated the King’s son by God; as the Virgin Mary was anointed with them, she conceived the Word: then new secrets, and new truth, and a new kingdom, and also great and inexplicable mysteries, are made manifest.

2. And where is all this rich knowledge? and where are these mysteries? and where are the books? For the only ones extant are Proverbs, and Wisdom, and Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. What then? Does the Scripture speak falsely? God forbid. But the matter of his writings was various, as is shown in the phrase “Song of Songs;” for that indicates that in this one book he digested the contents of the 5,000 songs.[1] In the days moreover of Hezekiah, there were some of the books selected for use, and others set aside. Whence the Scripture says, “These are the mixed[2] Proverbs of Solomon, which the friends of Hezekiah the king copied out.”[3] And whence did they take them, but out of the books containing the 3,000 parables and the 5,000 songs? Out of these, then, the wise friends of Hezekiah took those portions which bore upon the edification of the Church. And the books of Solomon on the “Parables” and “Songs,” in which he wrote of the physiology of plants, and all kinds of animals belonging to the dry land, and the air, and the sea, and of the cures of disease, Hezekiah did away with, because the people looked to these for the remedies for their diseases, and neglected to seek their healing from God.[4]

[1] 1 Kings 4:32.

[2] ἀδιάκριτοι, “mixed,” or “dark.”

[3] Prov. 25:1.

[4] In Gallandi, from Anastasius Sinaita, quæst. 41, p. 320.

On Isaiah.

Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome on Hezekiah

On the Prophet Isaiah. In Gallandi, from a codex of the Coislin Library, Num. 193, fol. 36.

I.

When Hezekiah, king of Judah, was still sick and weeping, there came an angel, and said to him: “I have seen thy tears, and I have heard thy voice. Behold, I add unto thy time fifteen years. And this shall be a sign to thee from the Lord: Behold, I turn back the shadow of the degrees of the house of thy father, by which the sun has gone down, the ten degrees by which the shadow has gone down,”[1] so that day be a day of thirty-two hours. For when the sun had run its course to the tenth hour, it returned again. And again, when Joshua the son of Nun was fighting against the Amorites, when the sun was now inclining to its setting, and the battle was being pressed closely, Joshua, being anxious lest the heathen host should escape on the descent of night, cried out, saying, “Sun, stand thou still in Gibeon; and thou moon, in the valley of Ajalon,”[2] until I vanquish this people. And the sun stood still, and the moon, in their places, so that day was one of twenty-four hours. And in the time of Hezekiah the moon also turned back along with the sun, that there might be no collision between the two elemental bodies, by their bearing against each other in defiance of law. And Merodach the Chaldean, king of Babylon, being struck with amazement at that time—for he studied the science of astrology, and measured the courses of these bodies carefully—on learning the cause, sent a letter and gifts to Hezekiah, just as also the wise men from the east did to Christ.

[1] Isa. 38:5, 7, 8.

[2] Josh. 10:12.

From the Discourse of St. Hippolytus on the Beginning of Isaiah

II.

Under Egypt he meant the world, and under things made with hands its idolatry, and under the shaking its subversion and dissolution. [1]And the Lord, the Word, he represented as upon a light cloud, referring to that most pure tabernacle, in which setting up His throne, our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to shake error.

[1] The text is evidently corrupt: Κύριον δὲ τὸν Λόγον, νεφέλην δὲ κούφην τὸ καθαρώτατον σκῆνος, etc. The reference must be to ch. 19:1.

Section 3

III.

We find in the commentaries, written by our predecessors, that day had thirty-two hours. For when the sun had run its course, and reached the tenth hour, and the shadow had gone down by the ten degrees in the house of the temple, the sun turned back again by the ten degrees, according to the word of the Lord, and there were thus twenty hours. And again, the sun accomplished its own proper course, according to the common law, and reached its setting. And thus there were thirty-two hours.[1]

[1] Hippolytus wrote on Isaiah with the view of making the most of the favourable disposition entertained by the Emperor Alexander Severus towards the Christians, and particularly on that part where the retrogression of the sun is recorded as a sign of an extension of life to Hezekiah.

On Jeremiah and Ezekiel

What were the dimensions, then, of the temple of Solomon? Its length was sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty. And it was not turned to the east, that the worshippers might not worship the rising sun, but the Lord of the sun. And let no one marvel if, when the Scripture gives the length at forty cubits, I have said sixty. For a little after it mentions the other twenty, in describing the holy of holies, which it also names Dabir. Thus the holy place was forty cubits, and the holy of holies other twenty. And Josephus says that the temple had two storeys,[1] and that the whole height was one hundred and twenty cubits. For so also the book of Chronicles indicates, saying, “And Solomon began to build the house of God. In length its first measure was sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits, and its height one hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.”[2]

[1] διόροφον.

[2] 2 Chron. 3:1, 3, 4.

On Daniel.

Preface by the Most Holy Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome

On Daniel.

I.

As I wish to give an accurate account of the times of the captivity of the children of Israel in Babylon, and to discuss the prophecies contained in the visions of the blessed Daniel, (as well as) his manner of life from his boyhood in Babylon, I too shall proceed to bear my testimony to that holy and righteous man, a prophet and witness of Christ, who not only declared the visions of Nebuchadnezzar the king in those times, but also trained youths of like mind with himself, and raised up faithful witnesses in the world. He is born, then, in the time of the prophetic ministry of the blessed Jeremiah, and in the reign of Jehoiakim or Eliakim. Along with the other captives, he is carried off a prisoner to Babylon. Now there are born to the blessed Josiah these five sons—Jehoahaz, Eliakim, Johanan, Zedekiah, or Jeconiah, and Sadum.[1] And on his father’s death, Jehoahaz is anointed as king by the people at the age of twenty-three years. Against him comes up Pharaoh-Necho, in the third month of his reign; and he takes him (Jehoahaz) prisoner, and carries him into Egypt, and imposes tribute on the land to the extent of one hundred talents of silver and ten talents of gold. And in his stead he sets up his brother Eliakim as king over the land, whose name also he changed to Jehoiakim, and who was then eleven years old. Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon,[2] and carries him off prisoner to Babylon, taking with him also some of the vessels of the house in Jerusalem. Thrown into prison as a friend of Pharaoh, and as one set up by him over the kingdom,[3] he is released at length in the thirty-seventh year by Evil-Merodach king of Babylon; and he cut his hair short, and was counsellor to him, and ate at his table until the day that he died. On his removal, his son Jehoiakim[4] reigns three years.[5] And against him came up Nebuchadnezzar, and transports him and ten thousand of the men of his people to Babylon, and sets up in his stead his father’s brother, whose name he changed also to Zedekiah; and after making agreement with him by oath and treaty, he returns to Babylon. This (Zedekiah), after a reign of eleven years, revolted from him and went over to Pharaoh king of Egypt. And in the tenth year Nebuchadnezzar came against him from the land of the Chaldeans, and surrounded the city with a stockade, and environed it all round, and completely shut it up. In this way the larger number of them perished by famine, and others perished by the sword, and some were taken prisoners, and the city was burned with fire, and the temple and the wall were destroyed. And the army of the Chaldeans seized all the treasure that was found in the house of the Lord, and all the vessels of gold and silver; and all the brass, Nebuzaradan, chief of the slaughterers,[6] stripped off, and carried it to Babylon. And the army of the Chaldeans pursued Zedekiah himself as he fled by night along with seven hundred men, and surprised him in Jericho, and brought him to the king of Babylon at Reblatha. And the king pronounced judgment upon him in wrath, because he had violated the oath of the Lord, and the agreement he had made with him; and he slew his sons before his face, and put out Zedekiah’s eyes. And he cast him into chains of iron, and carried him to Babylon; and there he remained grinding at the mill until the day of his death. And when he died, they took his body and cast it behind the wall of Nineveh. In his case is fulfilled the prophecy of Jeremiah, saying, “(As) I live, saith the Lord, though Jeconiah son of Jehoiakim king of Judah should become the signet upon my right hand, yet will I pluck thee thence; and I will give thee into the hands of them that seek thy life, of them whose face thou fearest, even into the hands of the Chaldeans. And I will cast thee out, and thy mother that bare thee, into a country where thou wast not born; and there ye shall die. But to the land which they desire in their souls, I will not send thee back. Dishonoured is Jeconias, like an unserviceable vessel, of which there is no use, since he is cast out and expelled into a land which he knew not. O earth, hear the word of the Lord. Write this man, a man excommunicate; for no man of his seed shall prosper (grow up), sitting upon the throne of David, ruling any more in Judah.”[7] Thus the captivity in Babylon befell them after the exodus from Egypt. When the whole people, then, was transported, and the city made desolate. and the sanctuary destroyed, that the word of the Lord might be fulfilled which He spake by the mouth of the prophet Jeremiah, saying, “The sanctuary shall be desolate seventy years;”[8] then we find that the blessed Daniel prophesied in Babylon, and appeared as the vindicator of Susanna.

[1] Shallum. See 1 Chron. 3:15.

[2] 2 Kings 24:10.

[3] 2 Kings 25:27. Note the confusion between Jehoiakim and Jehoiachin in what follows.

[4] i.e., Jehoiachin.

[5] Others τριμήνιον = three months.

[6] ἀρχιμάγειρος, “chief cook.”

[7] Jer. 22:24, etc.

[8] Jer. 25:11.

The Interpretation by Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome, of the Visions of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, Taken in Conjunction

II.

1. In speaking of a “lioness from the sea,”[1] he meant the rising of the kingdom of Babylon, and that this was the “golden head of the image.” And in speaking of its “eagle wings,” he meant that king Nebuchadnezzar was exalted and that his glory was lifted up against God. Then he says “its wings were plucked off,” i.e., that his glory was destroyed; for he was driven out of his kingdom. And the words, “A man’s heart was given it, and it was made stand upon the feet of a man,” mean that he came to himself again, and recognised that he was but a man, and gave the glory to God. Then after the lioness he sees a second beast, “like a bear,” which signified the Persians. For after the Babylonians the Persians obtained the power. And in saying that “it had three ribs in its mouth,” he pointed to the three nations, Persians, Medes, and Babylonians, which were expressed in the image by the silver after the gold. Then comes the third beast, “a leopard,” which means the Greeks; for after the Persians, Alexander of Macedon had the power, when Darius was overthrown, which was also indicated by the brass in the image. And in saying that the beast “had four wings of a fowl, and four heads,” he showed most clearly how the kingdom of Alexander was parted into four divisions. For in speaking of four heads, he meant the four kings that arose out of it. For Alexander, when dying, divided his kingdom into four parts. Then he says, “The fourth beast (was) dreadful and terrible: it had iron teeth, and claws of brass.” Who, then, are meant by this but the Romans, whose kingdom, the kingdom that still stands, is expressed by the iron? “for,” says he, “its legs are of iron.”

2. After this, then, what remains, beloved, but the toes of the feet of the image, in which “part shall be of iron and part of clay mixed together?” By the toes of the feet he meant, mystically, the ten kings that rise out of that kingdom. As Daniel says, “I considered the beast; and, lo, (there were) ten horns behind, among which shall come up another little horn springing from them;” by which none other is meant than the antichrist that is to rise; and he shall set up the kingdom of Judah. And in saying that “three horns” were “plucked up by the roots” by this one, he indicates the three kings of Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia, whom this one will slay in the array of war. And when he has conquered all, he will prove himself a terrible and savage tyrant, and will cause tribulation and persecution to the saints, exalting himself against them. And after him, it remains that “the stone” shall come from heaven which “smote the image” and shivered it, and subverted all the kingdoms, and gave the kingdom to the saints of the Most High. This “became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”

3. As these things, then, are destined to come to pass, and as the toes of the image turn out to be democracies,[2] and the ten horns of the beast are distributed among ten kings, let us look at what is before us more carefully, and scan it, as it were, with open eye. The “golden head of the image” is identical with the “lioness,” by which the Babylonians were represented. “The golden shoulders and the arms of silver” are the same with the “bear,” by which the Persians and Medes are meant. “The belly and thighs of brass” are the “leopard,” by which the Greeks who ruled from Alexander onwards are intended. The “legs of iron” are the “dreadful and terrible beast,” by which the Romans who hold the empire now are meant. The “toes of clay and iron” are the “ten horns” which are to be. The “one other little horn springing up in their midst” is the “antichrist.” The stone that “smites the image and breaks it in pieces,” and that filled the whole earth, is Christ, who comes from heaven and brings judgment on the world.

4. But that we may not leave our subject at this point undemonstrated, we are obliged to discuss the matter of the times, of which a man should not speak hastily, because they are a light to him. For as the times are noted from the foundation of the world, and reckoned from Adam, they set clearly before us the matter with which our inquiry deals. For the first appearance of our Lord in the flesh took place in Bethlehem, under Augustus, in the year 5500; and He suffered in the thirty-third year. And 6,000 years must needs be accomplished, in order that the Sabbath may come, the rest, the holy day “on which God rested from all His works.”[3] For the Sabbath is the type and emblem of the future kingdom of the saints, when they “shall reign with Christ,” when He comes from heaven, as John says in his Apocalypse: for “a day with the Lord is as a thousand years.”[4] Since, then, in six days God made all things, it follows that 6,000 years must be fulfilled. And they are not yet fulfilled, as John says: “five are fallen; one is,” that is, the sixth; “the other is not yet come.”[5]

5. In mentioning the “other,” moreover, he specifies the seventh, in which there is rest. But some one may be ready to say, How will you prove to me that the Saviour was born in the year 5500? Learn that easily, O man; for the things that took place of old in the wilderness, under Moses, in the case of the tabernacle, were constituted types and emblems of spiritual mysteries, in order that, when the truth came in Christ in these last days, you might be able to perceive that these things were fulfilled. For He says to him, “And thou shalt make the ark of imperishable wood, and shalt overlay it with pure gold within and without; and thou shalt make the length of it two cubits and a half, and the breadth thereof one cubit and a half, and a cubit and a half the height;”[6] which measures, when summed up together, make five cubits and a half, so that the 5500 years might be signified thereby.

6. At that time, then, the Saviour appeared and showed His own body to the world, (born) of the Virgin, who was the “ark overlaid with pure gold,” with the Word within and the Holy Spirit without; so that the truth is demonstrated, and the “ark” made manifest. From the birth of Christ, then, we must reckon the 500 years that remain to make up the 6000, and thus the end shall be. And that the Saviour appeared in the world, bearing the imperishable ark, His own body, at a time which was the fifth and half, John declares: “Now it was the sixth hour,”[7] he says, intimating by that, one-half of the day. But a day with the Lord is 1000 years; and the half of that, therefore, is 500 years. For it was not meet that He should appear earlier, for the burden of the law still endured, nor yet when the sixth day was fulfilled (for the baptism is changed), but on the fifth and half, in order that in the remaining half time the gospel might be preached to the whole world, and that when the sixth day was completed He might end the present life.

7. Since, then, the Persians held the mastery for 330 years,[8] and after them the Greeks, who were yet more glorious, held it for 300 years, of necessity the fourth beast, as being strong and mightier than all that were before it, will reign 500 years. When the times are fulfilled, and the ten horns spring from the beast in the last (times), then Antichrist will appear among them. When he makes war against the saints, and persecutes them, then may we expect the manifestation of the Lord from heaven.

8. The prophet having thus instructed us with all exactness as to the certainty of the things that are to be, broke off from his present subject, and passed again to the kingdom of the Persians and Greeks, recounting to us another vision which took place, and was fulfilled in its proper time; in order that, by establishing our belief in this, he might be able to present us to God as readier believers in the things that are to be. Accordingly, what he had narrated in the first vision, he again recounts in detail for the edification of the faithful. For by the “ram pushing westward, and northward, and southward,” he means Darius, the king of the Persians, who overcame all the nations; “for,” says he, “these beasts shall not stand before him.” And by the “he-goat that came from the west,” he means Alexander the Macedonian, the king of the Greeks; and in that he “came against that very ram, and was moved with choler, and smote him upon the face, and shivered him, and cast him upon the ground, and stamped upon him,” this expresses just what has happened.

9. For Alexander waged war against Darius, and overcame him, and made himself master of the whole sovereignty, after routing and destroying his camp. Then, after the exaltation of the he-goat, his horn—the great one, namely—was broken; and there arose four horns under it, toward the four winds of heaven. For, when Alexander had made himself master of all the land of Persia, and had reduced its people into subjection, he thereupon died, after dividing his kingdom into four principalities, as has been shown above. And from that time “one horn was exalted, and waxed great, even to the power of heaven; and by him the sacrifice,” he says, “was disturbed, and righteousness cast down to the ground.”

10. For Antiochus arose, surnamed Epiphanes, who was of the line of Alexander. And after he had reigned in Syria, and brought under him all Egypt, he went up to Jerusalem, and entered the sanctuary, and seized all the treasures in the house of the Lord, and the golden candlestick, and the table, and the altar, and made a great slaughter in the land; even as it is written: “And the sanctuary shall be trodden under foot, unto evening and unto morning, a thousand and three hundred days.” For it happened that the sanctuary remained desolate during that period, three years and a half, that the thousand and three hundred days might be fulfilled; until Judas Maccabæus arose after the death of his father Matthias, and withstood him, and destroyed the encampment of Antiochus, and delivered the city, and recovered the sanctuary, and restored it in strict accordance with the law.

11. Since, then, the angel Gabriel also recounted these things to the prophet, as they have been understood by us, as they have also taken place, and as they have been all clearly described in the books of the Maccabees, let us see further what he says on the other weeks. For when he read the book of Jeremiah the prophet, in which it was written that the sanctuary would be desolate seventy years, he made confession with fastings and supplications, and prayed that the people might return sooner from their captivity to the city Jerusalem. Thus, then, he speaks in his account: “In the first year of Darius the son of Ahasuerus, of the seed of the Medes, who was king over the realm of the Chaldeans, I Daniel understood in the books the number of the years, as the word of the Lord had come to Jeremiah the prophet, for the accomplishment of the desolation of Jerusalem in seventy years,” etc.

12. After his confession and supplication, the angel says to him, “Thou art a man[9] greatly beloved:” for thou desirest to see things of which thou shalt be informed by me; and in their own time these things will be fulfilled; and he touched me, saying, “Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people, and upon the holy city, to seal up sins and to blot out transgressions, and to seal up vision and prophet, and to anoint the Most Holy; and thou shalt know and understand, that from the going forth of words for the answer, and for the building of Jerusalem, unto Christ the Prince, shall be seven weeks, and threescore and two weeks.”

13. Having mentioned therefore seventy weeks, and having divided them into two parts, in order that what was spoken by him to the prophet might be better understood, he proceeds thus, “Unto Christ the Prince shall be seven weeks,” which make forty-nine years. It was in the twenty-first year that Daniel saw these things in Babylon. Hence, the forty-nine years added to the twenty-one, make up the seventy years, of which the blessed Jeremiah spake: “The sanctuary shall be desolate seventy years from the captivity that befell them under Nebuchadnezzar; and after these things the people will return, and sacrifice and offering will be presented, when Christ is their Prince.”[10]

14. Now of what Christ does he speak, but of Jesus the son of Josedech, who returned at that time along with the people, and offered sacrifice according to the law, in the seventieth year, when the sanctuary was built? For all the kings and priests were styled Christs, because they were anointed with the holy oil, which Moses of old prepared. These, then, bore the name of the Lord in their own persons, showing aforetime the type, and presenting the image until the perfect King and Priest appeared from heaven, who alone did the will of the Father; as also it is written in Kings: “And I will raise me up a faithful priest, that shall do all things according to my heart.”[11]

15. In order, then, to show the time when He is to come whom the blessed Daniel desired to see, he says, “And after seven weeks there are other threescore and two weeks,” which period embraces the space of 434 years. For after the return of the people from Babylon under the leadership of Jesus the son of Josedech, and Ezra the scribe, and Zerubbabel the son of Salathiel, of the tribe of David, there were 434 years unto the coming of Christ, in order that the Priest of priests might be manifested in the world, and that He who taketh away the sins of the world might be evidently set forth, as John speaks concerning Him: “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!”[12] And in like manner Gabriel says: “To blot out transgressions, and make reconciliation for sins.” But who has blotted out our transgressions? Paul the apostle teaches us, saying, “He is our peace who made both one;”[13] and then, “Blotting out the handwriting of sins that was against us.”[14]

16. That transgressions, therefore, are blotted out, and that reconciliation is made for sins, is shown by this. But who are they who have reconciliation made for their sins, but they who believe on His name, and propitiate His countenance by good works? And that after the return of the people from Babylon there was a space of 434 years, until the time of the birth of Christ, may be easily understood. For, since the first covenant was given to the children of Israel after a period of 434 years, it follows that the second covenant also should be defined by the same space of time, in order that it might be expected by the people and easily recognised by the faithful.

17. And for this reason Gabriel says: “And to anoint the Most Holy.” And the Most Holy is none else but the Son of God alone, who, when He came and manifested Himself, said to them, “The Spirit of the Lord is upon me, because He has anointed me;”[15] and so forth. Whosoever, therefore, believed on the heavenly Priest, were cleansed by that same Priest, and their sins were blotted out. And whosoever believed not on Him, despising Him as a man, had their sins sealed, as those which could not be taken away; whence the angel, foreseeing that not all should believe on Him, said, “To finish sins, and to seal up sins.” For as many as continued to disbelieve Him, even to the end, had their sins not finished, but sealed to be kept for judgment. But as many as will believe on Him as One able to remit sins, have their sins blotted out. Wherefore he says: “And to seal up vision and prophet.”

18. For when He came who is the fulfilling of the law and of the prophets (for the law and the prophets were till John), it was necessary that the things spoken by them should be confirmed (sealed), in order that at the coming of the Lord all things loosed should be brought to light, and that things bound of old should now be loosed by Him, as the Lord said Himself to the rulers of the people, when they were indignant at the cure on the Sabbath-day: “Ye hypocrites, doth not each one of you loose his ox or his ass from the stall, and lead him away to watering? and ought not this woman, being a daughter of Abraham, whom Satan hath bound these eighteen years, be loosed on the Sabbath-day?”[16] Whomsoever, therefore, Satan bound in chains, these did the Lord on His coming loose from the bonds of death, having bound our strong adversary and delivered humanity. As also Isaiah says: “Then will He say to those in chains, Go forth; and to them that are in darkness, Show yourselves.”[17]

19. And that the things spoken of old by the law and the prophets were all sealed, and that they were unknown to men, Isaiah declares when he says: “And they will deliver the book that is sealed to one that is learned, and will say to him, Read this; and he will say, I cannot read it, for it is sealed.”[18] It was meet and necessary that the things spoken of old by the prophets should be sealed to the unbelieving Pharisees, who thought that they understood the letter of the law, and be opened to the believing. The things, therefore, which of old were sealed, are now by the grace of God the Lord all open to the saints.

20. For He was Himself the perfect Seal, and the Church is the key: “He who openeth, and no man shutteth; and shutteth, and no man openeth,”[19] as John says. And again, the same says: “And I saw, on the right hand of Him that sat on the throne, a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals; and I saw an angel proclaiming with a loud voice, Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof?” and so forth. “And I beheld in the midst of the throne, and of the four beasts, a Lamb standing slain, having seven horns, and seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God sent forth into all the earth. And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat upon the throne. And when He had taken the book, the four beasts and four-and-twenty elders fell down before the Lamb, having harps and golden vials full of incense, which is the prayers of the saints. And they sing a new song, saying, Thou art worthy to take the book, and to open the seals thereof: for Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God by Thy blood.”[20] He took the book, therefore, and loosed it, in order that the things spoken concerning Him of old in secret, might now be proclaimed with boldness upon the house-tops.[21]

21. For this reason, then, the angel says to Daniel, “Seal the words, for the vision is until the end of the time.” But to Christ it was not said “seal,” but “loose” the things bound of old; in order that, by His grace, we might know the will of the Father, and believe upon Him whom He has sent for the salvation of men, Jesus our Lord. He says, therefore, “They shall return, and the street shall be built, and the wall;” which in reality took place. For the people returned and built the city, and the temple, and the wall round about. Then he says: “After threescore and two weeks the times will be fulfilled, and one week will make a covenant with many; and in the midst (half) of the week sacrifice and oblation will be removed, and in the temple will be the abomination of desolations.”

22. For when the threescore and two weeks are fulfilled, and Christ is come, and the Gospel is preached in every place, the times being then accomplished, there will remain only one week, the last, in which Elias will appear, and Enoch, and in the midst of it the abomination of desolation will be manifested,[22] viz., Antichrist, announcing desolation to the world. And when he comes, the sacrifice and oblation will be removed, which now are offered to God in every place by the nations. These things being thus recounted, the prophet again describes another vision to us. For he had no other care save to be accurately instructed in all things that are to be, and to prove himself an instructor in such.

23. He says then: “In the third year of Cyrus king of Persia, a word was revealed unto Daniel, whose name was Belshazzar; and the word was true, and great power and understanding were given him in the vision. In those days I Daniel was mourning three weeks of days. I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine into my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three weeks of days were fulfilled. On the fourth day of the first month I humbled myself,” says he, “one and twenty days,” praying to the living God, and asking of Him the revelation of the mystery. And the Father in truth heard me, and sent His own Word, to show what should happen by Him. And that took place, indeed, by the great river. For it was meet that the Son should be manifested there, where also He was to remove sins.

24. “And I lifted up mine eyes,” he says, “and, behold, a man clothed in linen.”[23] In the first vision he says, “Behold, the angel Gabriel (was) sent.” Here, however, it is not so; but he sees the Lord, not yet indeed as perfect man, but with the appearance and form of man, as he says: “And, behold, a man clothed in linen.” For in being clothed in a various-coloured coat, he indicated mystically[24] the variety of the graces of our calling. For the priestly coat was made up of different colours, as various nations waited for Christ’s coming, in order that we might be made up (as one body) of many colours. “And his loins were girded with the gold of Ophaz.”

25. Now the word “Ophaz,” which is a word transferred from Hebrew to Greek, denotes pure gold. With a pure girdle, therefore, he was girded round the loins. For the Word was to bear us all, binding us like a girdle round His body, in His own love. The complete body was His,[25] but we are members in His body, united together, and sustained by the Word Himself. “And his body was like Tharses.”[26] Now “Tharses,” by interpretation, is “Ethiopians.” For that it would be difficult to recognise Him, the prophet had thus already announced beforehand, intimating that He would be manifested in the flesh in the world, but that many would find it difficult to recognise Him. “And his face as lightning, and his eyes as lamps of fire;” for it was meet that the fiery and judicial power of the Word should be signified aforetime, in the exercise of which He will cause the fire (of His judgment) to light with justice upon the impious, and consume them.

26. He added also these words: “And his arms and his feet like polished brass;” to denote the first calling of men, and the second calling like unto it, viz. of the Gentiles.[27] “For the last shall be as the first; for I will set thy rulers as at the beginning, and thy leaders as before. And His voice was as the voice of a great multitude.”[28] For all we who believe on Him in these days utter things oracular, as speaking by His mouth the things appointed by Him.

27. And after a little He says to him: “Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? And now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia. But I will show thee that which is noted in the Scripture of truth: and there is none that holdeth with me in these things but Michael your prince, and I left him there. For from the day that thou didst give thy countenance to be afflicted before the Lord thy God, thy prayer was heard, and I was sent to fight with the prince of Persia:” for a certain counsel was formed not to send the people away: “that therefore thy prayer might be speedily granted, I withstood him, and left Michael there.”

28. And who was he that spake, but the angel who was given to the people, as he says in the law of Moses: “I will not go with you, because the people is stiff-necked; but my angel shall go before along with you?”[29] This (angel) withstood Moses at the inn, when he was bringing the child uncircumcised into Egypt. For it was not allowed Moses, who was the elder (or legate) and mediator of the law, and who proclaimed the covenant of the fathers, to introduce a child uncircumcised, lest he should be deemed a false prophet and deceiver by the people. “And now,” says he, “will I show the truth to thee.” Could the Truth have shown anything else but the truth?

29. He says therefore to him: “Behold, there shall stand up three kings in Persia: and the fourth shall be far richer than they all; and when he has got possession of his riches, he shall stand up against all the realms of Grecia. And a mighty king shall stand up, and shall rule with great dominion, and do according to his will; and when his kingdom stands, it shall be broken, and shall be divided toward the four winds of heaven.” These things we have already discussed above, when we discoursed upon the four beasts. But since Scripture now again sets them forth explicitly, we must also discourse upon them a second time, that we may not leave Scripture unused and unexplained.

30. “There shall stand up yet three kings,” he says, “in Persia; and the fourth shall be far richer than they all.” This has been fulfilled. For after Cyrus arose Darius, and then Artaxerxes. These were the three kings; (and) the Scripture is fulfilled. “And the fourth shall be far richer than they all.” Who is that but Darius, who reigned and made himself glorious,—who was rich, and assailed all the realms of Greece? Against him rose Alexander of Macedon, who destroyed his kingdom; and after he had reduced the Persians, his own kingdom was divided toward the four winds of heaven. For Alexander at his death divided his kingdom into four principalities. “And a king shall stand up, and shall enter into the fortress of the king of Egypt.”

31. For Antiochus became king of Syria. He held the sovereignty in the 107th year of the kingdom of the Greeks. And in those same times indeed he made war against Ptolemy king of Egypt, and conquered him, and won the power. On returning from Egypt he went up to Jerusalem, in the 103d year, and carrying off with him all the treasures of the Lord’s house, he marched to Antioch. And after two years of days the king sent his raiser of taxes[30] into the cities of Judea, to compel the Jews to forsake the laws of their fathers, and submit to the decrees of the king. And he came, and tried to compel them, saying, “Come forth, and do the commandment of the king, and ye shall live.”

32. But they said, “We will not come forth: neither will we do the king’s commandment; we will die in our innocency: and he slew of them a thousand souls.”[31] The things, therefore, which were spoken to the blessed Daniel are fulfilled: “And my servants shall be afflicted, and shall fall by famine, and by sword, and by captivity.”[32] Daniel, however, adds: “And they shall be holpen with a little help.” For at that time Matthias arose, and Judas Maccabæus, and helped them, and delivered them from the hand of the Greeks.

33. That therefore was fulfilled which was spoken in the Scripture. He proceeds then thus: “And the (king’s) daughter of the South shall come to the king of the North to make an agreement with him; and the arms of him that bringeth her shall not stand; and she, too, shall be smitten, and shall fall, and he that bringeth her.” For this was a certain Ptolemaïs,[33] queen of Egypt. At that time indeed she went forth with her two sons, Ptolemy and Philometor, to make an agreement with Antiochus king of Syria; and when she came to Scythopolis, she was slain there. For he who brought her betrayed her. At that same time, the two brothers made war against each other, and Philometor was slain, and Ptolemy gained the power.

34. War, then, was again made by Ptolemy against Antiochus, (and) Antiochus met him. For thus saith the Scripture: “And the king of the South shall stand up against the king of the North, and her seed shall stand up against him.” And what seed but Ptolemy, who made war with Antiochus? And Antiochus having gone forth against him, and having failed to overcome him, had to flee, and returned to Antioch, and collected a larger host. Ptolemy accordingly took his whole equipment, and carried it into Egypt. And the Scripture is fulfilled, as Daniel says: And he shall carry off into Egypt their gods, and their cast-works, and all their precious (vessels of) gold.

35. And after these things Antiochus went forth a second time to make war against him, and overcome Ptolemy. And after these events Antiochus commenced hostilities again against the children of Israel, and despatched one Nicanor with a large army to subdue the Jews, at the time when Judas, after the death of Matthias, ruled the people; and so forth, as is written in the Maccabees. These events having taken place, the Scripture says again: “And there shall stand up another king, and he shall prevail upon the earth; and the king of the South shall stand up, and he shall obtain his daughter to wife.”

36. For it happened that there arose a certain Alexander,[34] son of Philip. He withstood Antiochus[35] at that time, and made war upon him, and cut him off, and gained possession of the kingdom. Then he sent to Ptolemy king of Egypt, saying, Give me thy daughter Cleopatra to wife. And he gave her to Alexander to wife. And thus the Scripture is fulfilled, when it says: “And he shall obtain his daughter to wife.” And it says further: “And he shall corrupt her, and she shall not be his wife.” This also has been truly fulfilled. For after Ptolemy had given him his daughter, he returned, and saw the mighty and glorious kingdom of Alexander. And coveting its possession, he spoke falsely to Alexander, as the Scripture says: “And the two kings shall speak lies at (one) table.” And, in sooth, Ptolemy betook himself to Egypt, and collected a great army, and attacked the city at the time when Alexander had marched into Cilicia.

37. Ptolemy then invaded the country, and established garrisons throughout the cities; and on making himself master of Judea, set out for his daughter, and sent letters to Demetrius in the islands, saying, Come and meet me here, and I will give thee my daughter Cleopatra to wife, for Alexander has sought to kill me. Demetrius came accordingly, and Ptolemy received him, and gave him her who had been destined for Alexander. Thus is fulfilled that which is written: “And he shall corrupt her, and she shall not be his wife.” Alexander was slain. Then Ptolemy wore two crowns, that of Syria and that of Egypt, and died the third day after he had assumed them. Thus is fulfilled that which is written in Scripture: “And they shall not give him the glory of the kingdom.” For he died, and received not honour from all as king.

38. The prophet then, after thus recounting the things which have taken place already, and been fulfilled in their times, declares yet another mystery to us, while he points out the last times. For he says: “And there shall rise up another shameless king; and he shall exalt himself above every god, and shall magnify himself, and shall speak marvellous things, and shall prosper till the indignation be accomplished;” and so forth. “And these shall escape out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the chief (or principality) of the children of Ammon. And he shall stretch forth his hand upon the land; and the land of Egypt shall not escape. And he shall have power over the secret treasures of gold and silver, and over all the precious things of Egypt and of the Libyans, and the Ethiopians in their strongholds.”

39. Thus, then, does the prophet set forth these things concerning the Antichrist, who shall be shameless, a war-maker, and despot, who, exalting himself above all kings and above every god, shall build the city of Jerusalem, and restore the sanctuary. Him the impious will worship as God, and will bend to him the knee, thinking him to be the Christ. He shall cut off the two witnesses and forerunners of Christ, who proclaim His glorious kingdom from heaven, as it is said: “And I will give (power) unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”[36] As also it was announced to Daniel: “And one week shall confirm a covenant with many; and in the midst of the week it shall be that the sacrifice and oblation shall be removed”—that the one week might be shown to be divided into two. The two witnesses, then, shall preach three years and a half; and Antichrist shall make war upon the saints during the rest of the week, and desolate the world, that what is written may be fulfilled: “And they shall make the abomination of desolation for a thousand two hundred and ninety days.”

40. Daniel has spoken, therefore, of two abominations; the one of destruction, and the other of desolation. What is that of destruction, but that which Antiochus established there at the time? And what is that of desolation, but that which shall be universal when Antichrist comes? “And there shall escape out of his hand, Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.” For these are they who ally themselves with him on account of their kinship, and first address him as king. Those of Edom are the sons of Esau, who inhabit Mount Seir. And Moab and Ammon are they who are descended from his two daughters, as Isaiah also says: “And they shall fly (extend themselves) in the ships of strangers, and they shall also plunder the sea; and those from the east, and from the west, and the north, shall give them honour: and the children of Ammon shall first obey them.”[37] He shall be proclaimed king by them, and shall be magnified by all, and shall prove himself an abomination of desolation to the world, and shall reign for a thousand two hundred and ninety days. “Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days;” for when the abomination cometh and makes war upon the saints, whosoever shall survive his days, and reach the forty-five days, while the other period of fifty days advances, to him the kingdom of heaven comes. Antichrist, indeed, enters even into part of the fifty days, but the saints shall inherit the kingdom along with Christ.

41. These things being thus narrated, Daniel proceeds: “And, behold, there stood two men, the one on this side of the bank of the river, and the other on that side; and they made answer to the man that stood upon the bank of the river, and said to him, How long shall it be to the end of these wonderful words which thou hast spoken? And I heard the man clothed in linen, who was upon the water of the river; and he lifted up his right hand and his left hand unto heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever, that it shall be for a time, times, and an half; and they shall know all these things when the dispersion is accomplished.”

42. Who, then, were the two men who stood on the bank of the river, but the law and the prophets? And who was he who stood upon the water, but He concerning whom they prophesied of old, who in the last times was to be borne witness to by the Father at the Jordan, and to be declared to the people boldly by John, “who wore the casty[38] of the scribe about his loins, and was clothed with a linen coat of various colours?” These, therefore, interrogate Him, knowing that to Him were given all government and power, in order to learn accurately of Him when He will bring the judgment on the world, and when the things spoken by Him will be fulfilled. And He, desiring by all means to convince them, lifted His right hand and His left hand to heaven, and sware by Him that liveth for ever. Who is He that swore, and by whom sware He? Manifestly the Son by the Father, saying, The Father liveth for ever, but in a time, and times, and an half, when the dispersion is accomplished, they shall know all these things.

43. By the stretching forth of His two hands He signified His passion; and by mentioning “a time, and times, and an half, when the dispersion is accomplished,” He indicated the three years and a half of Antichrist. For by “a time” He means a year, and by “times” two years, and by an “half time” half a year. These are the thousand two hundred and ninety days of which Daniel prophesied for the finishing of the passion, and the accomplishment of the dispersion when Antichrist comes. In those days they shall know all these things. And from the time of the removal of the continuous sacrifice there are also reckoned one thousand two hundred and ninety days. (Then) iniquity shall abound, as the Lord also says: “Because iniquity shall abound, the love of many shall wax cold.”[39]

44. And that divisions will arise when the falling away takes place, is without doubt. And when divisions arise, love is chilled. The words, “Blessed is he that waiteth and cometh to the thousand three hundred and five and thirty days,” have also their value, as the Lord said: “But he that shall endure unto the end, the same shall be saved.” Wherefore let us by no means admit the falling away, lest iniquity abound, and the abomination of desolation—that is, the adversary—overtake us. And He said to him, “unto evening”—that is, unto the consummation—“and morning.” What is “morning?” The day of resurrection. For that is the beginning of another age, as the morning is the beginning of the day. And the thousand and four hundred days are the light of the world. For on the appearing of the light in the world (as He says, “I am the light of the world”), the sanctuary shall be purged, as he said,[40] (of) the adversary. For it cannot by any means be purged but by his destruction.

[1] Dan. 7.

[2] [True in a.d. 1885. A very pregnant testimony to our own times.]

[3] This is what Photius condemned in Hippolytus. Irenæus, however, held the same opinion (book v. c. 28 and 29). The same view is expressed yet earlier in the Epistle of Barnabas (sec. 15). It was an opinion adopted from the rabbis.

[4] Ps. 90:4.

[5] Apoc. 17:10.

[6] Ex. 25:10.

[7] John 19:14.

[8] Migne thinks we should read διακόσια τριάκοντα, i.e., 230, as it is also in Julius Africanus, who was contemporary with Hippolytus. As to the duration of the Greek empire, Hippolytus and Africanus make it both 300 years, if we follow Jerome’s version of the latter in his comment on Dan. 9:24. Eusebius makes it seventy years longer in his Demonstr. Evang., viii. 2.

[9] Literally, “a man of desires.” [Our author plays on this word, as if the desire of knowledge were referred to. Our Authorized Version is better, and the rendering might be “a man of loves.”]

[10] Jer. 25:11.

[11] 1 Sam. 2:35.

[12] John 1:29.

[13] Eph. 2:14.

[14] Col. 2:14.

[15] Isa. 61:1; Luke 4:18.

[16] Luke 13:15, 16.

[17] Isa. 49:9.

[18] Isa. 29:11.

[19] Apoc. 3:7.

[20] Apoc. 5.

[21] Cf. Matt. 10:27.

[22] In the text, the word ἕως, “until,” is introduced, which seems spurious.

[23] βαδδίν.

[24] In the text, μυστηρίων (of “mysteries”), for which μυστηριωδῶς or μυστικῶς, “mystically,” is proposed.

[25] The Latin translation renders: His body was perfect.

[26] “Thares” (Θαρσείς) in Hippolytus. The Septuagint gives Θαρσίς as the translation of the Hebrew תַּרְשִׁישׁ, rendered in our version as “beryl” (Dan. 10:6).

[27] Isa. 1:26.

[28] Apoc. 19:6.

[29] Ex. 32:4; 33:3.

[30] φορολόγον.

[31] 1 Macc. 2:33.

[32] Dan. 11:33.

[33] He seems to refer to Cleopatra, wife and niece of Physco. For Lathyrus was sometimes called Philometor in ridicule (ἐπὶ χλευασμᾷ), as Pausanias says in the Attica.

[34] He refers to Alexander I. king of Syria, of whom we read in 1 Macc. 10. He pretended to be the son of Antiochus Epiphanes, and even gained a decree of the senate of Rome in his favour as such. Yet he was a person of unknown origin, as indeed he acknowledged himself in his choice of the designation Theopator. Livy calls him “a man unknown, and of uncertain parentage” (homo ignotus et incertæ stirpis). So Hippolytus calls him here, “a certain Alexander” (τινα). He had also other surnames, e.g., Euergetes, Balas, etc.

[35] For “Antiochus” in the text, read “Demetrius.”

[36] Apoc. 11:3.

[37] Isa. 11:14.

[38] Girdle.

[39] Matt. 24:12.

[40] The text gives ὁ ἀντικείμενος, which is corrupt.

Scholia on Daniel

III.

Chap. 1:1 “In the third year of the reign of Jehoiakim.” The Scripture narrates these things, with the purpose of intimating the second captivity of the people, when Jehoiakim and the three youths with him, together with Daniel, were taken captive and carried off.

2. “And the Lord gave,” etc. These words, “and the Lord gave,” are written, that no one, in reading the introduction to the book, may attribute their capture to the strength of the captors and the slackness of their chief. And it is well said, “with part,” for the deportation was for the correction, not the ruin, of the whole nation, that there might be no misapplication of the cause.

8. “And Daniel purposed in his heart.” Oh, blessed are they who thus kept the covenant of the fathers, and transgressed not the law given by Moses, but feared the God proclaimed by him. These, though captives in a strange land, were not seduced by delicate meats, nor were they slaves to the pleasures of wine, nor were they caught by the bait of princely glory. But they kept their mouth holy and pure, that pure speech might proceed from pure mouths, and praise with such (mouths) the heavenly Father.

12. “Prove now thy servants.” They teach that it is not earthly meats that give to men their beauty and strength, but the grace of God bestowed by the Word. “And after a little.” Thou hast seen the incorruptible faith of the youths, and the unalterable fear of God. They asked an interval of ten days, to prove therein that man cannot otherwise find grace with God than by believing the word preached by the Lord.

19. “And among them all, was found none like Daniel.” These men, who were proved faithful witnesses in Babylon, were led by the Word in all wisdom, that by their means the idols of the Babylonians should be put to shame, and that Nebuchadnezzar should be overcome by three youths, and that by their faith the fire in the furnace should be kept at bay, and the desire of the wicked elders (or chiefs) proved vain.

Chap. 2:3 “I have dreamed a dream.” The dream, then, which was seen by the king was not an earthly dream, so that it might be interpreted by the wise of the world; but it was a heavenly dream, fulfilled in its proper times, according to the counsel and foreknowledge of God. And for this reason it was kept secret from men who think of earthly things, that to those who seek after heavenly things heavenly mysteries might be revealed. And, indeed, there was a similar case in Egypt in the time of Pharaoh and Joseph.

5. “The thing is gone from me.” For this purpose was the vision concealed from the king, that he who was chosen of God., viz., Daniel, might be shown to be a prophet. For when things concealed from some are revealed by another, he who tells them is of necessity shown to be a prophet.

10. “And they say, There is not a man.” Whereas, therefore, they declared it to be impossible that what was asked by the king should be told by man; God showed them, that what is impossible with man is possible with God.

14. “Arioch, the captain of the king’s guard” (literally, “the chief slaughterer or cook”). For as the cook slays all animals and cooks them, of a similar nature was his occupation. And the rulers of the world slay men, butchering them like brute beasts.

23. “Because Thou hast given me wisdom and might.” We ought therefore to mark the goodness of God, how He straightway reveals and shows (Himself) to the worthy, and to those that fear Him, fulfilling their prayers and supplications, as the prophet says: “Who is wise, and he shall understand these things? and prudent, and he shall know them?”[1]

27. “Cannot the wise men, the magicians.” He instructs the king not to seek an explanation of heavenly mysteries from earthly men, for they shall be accomplished in their due time by God.

29. “As for thee, O king, thy thoughts.” For the king, on making himself master of the land of Egypt, and getting hold of the country of Judea, and carrying off the people, thought upon his bed what should be after these things; and He who knows the secrets of all, and searcheth the thoughts of the hearts, revealed to him by means of the image the things that were to be. And He hid from him the vision, in order that the counsels of God might not be interpreted by the wise men of Babylon, but that by the blessed Daniel, as a prophet of God, things kept secret from all might be made manifest.

31. “Behold a great image.” How, then, should we not mark the things prophesied of old in Babylon by Daniel, and now yet in the course of fulfilment in the world? For the image shown at that time to Nebuchadnezzar furnished a type of the whole world. In these times the Babylonians were sovereign over all, and these were the golden head of the image. And then, after them, the Persians held the supremacy for 245 years, and they were represented by the silver. Then the Greeks had the supremacy, beginning with Alexander of Macedon, for 300 years, so that they were the brass. After them came the Romans, who were the iron legs of the image, for they were strong as iron. Then (we have) the toes of clay and iron, to signify the democracies that were subsequently to rise, partitioned among the ten toes of the image, in which shall be iron mixed with clay.

31. “Thou sawest,” etc. Apollinaris on this: He looked, and behold, as it were, an image. For it did not appear to him as an actual object, presented to the view of an onlooker, but as an image or semblance. And while it contains in it many things together, that is in such a way that it is not really one, but manifold. For it comprised a summary of all kingdoms; and its exceeding splendour was on account of the glory of the kings, and its terrible appearance on account of their power. Eusebius Pamphili, and Hippolytus the most holy bishop of Rome, compare the dream of Nebuchadnezzar now in question with the vision of the prophet Daniel. Since these have given a different interpretation of this vision now before us in their expositions, I deemed it necessary to transcribe what is said by Eusebius of Cæsarea, who bears the surname Pamphili, in the 15th book of his Gospel Demonstration;[2] for he expounds the whole vision in these terms: “I think that this (i.e., the vision of Nebuchadnezzar) differs in nothing from the vision of the prophet. For as the prophet saw a great sea, so the king saw a great image. And again, as the prophet saw four beasts, which he interpreted as four kingdoms, so the king was given to understand four kingdoms under the gold, and silver, and brass, and iron. And again, as the prophet saw the division of the ten horns of the last beast, and three horns broken by one; so the king, in like manner, saw in the extremities of the image one part iron and another clay. And besides this, as the prophet, after the vision of the four kingdoms, saw the Son of man receive dominion, and power, and a kingdom; so also the king thought he saw a stone smite the whole image, and become a great mountain and fill the sea. And rightly so. For it was quite consistent in the king, whose view of the spectacle of life was so false, and who admired the beauty of the mere sensible colours, so to speak, in the picture set up to view, to liken the life of all men to a great image; but (it became) the prophet to compare the great and mighty tumult of life to a mighty sea. And it was fitting that the king, who prized the substances deemed precious among men, gold, and silver, and brass, and iron, should liken to these substances the kingdoms that held the sovereignty at different times in the life of men; but that the prophet should describe these same kingdoms under the likeness of beasts, in accordance with the manner of their rule. And again, the king—who was puffed up, as it seems, in his own conceit, and plumed himself on the power of his ancestors—is shown the vicissitude to which affairs are subject, and the end destined for all the kingdoms of earth, with the view of teaching him to lay aside his pride in himself, and understand that there is nothing stable among men, but only that which is the appointed end of all things—the kingdom of God. For after the first kingdom of the Assyrians, which was denoted by the gold, there will be the second kingdom of the Persians, expressed by the silver; and then the third kingdom of the Macedonians, signified by the brass; and after it, the fourth kingdom of the Romans will succeed, more powerful than those that went before it; for which reason also it was likened to iron. For of it is said: “And the fourth kingdom shall be strong as iron; as iron breaketh and subdueth all things, so shall it break and subdue all things.” And after all these kingdoms which have been mentioned, the kingdom of God is represented by the stone that breaks the whole image. And the prophet, in conformity with this, does not see the kingdom which comes at the end of all these things, until he has in order described the four dominions mentioned under the four beasts. And I think that the visions shown, both to the king and to the prophet, were visions of these four kingdoms alone, and of none others, because by these the nation of the Jews was held in bondage from the times of the prophet.”

33. “His feet,” etc. Hippolytus: In the vision of the prophet, the ten horns are the things that are yet to be.

34. “Thou sawest till that a stone was cut.” Thou sawest, as it were, a stone cut without hands, and smiting the image upon its feet. For the human kingdom was decisively separated from the divine; with reference to which it is written, “as it were cut.” The stroke, however, smites the extremities, and in these it broke all dominion that is upon earth.

45. “And the dream is certain.” That no one, therefore, may have any doubt whether the things announced shall turn out so or not, the prophet has confirmed them with the words, “And the dream is certain, and the interpretation thereof sure;” I have not erred in the interpretation of the vision.

46. “Then king Nebuchadnezzar fell upon his face.” Nebuchadnezzar hearing these things, and being put in remembrance of his vision, knew that what was spoken by Daniel was true. How great is the power of the grace of God, beloved, that one who a little before was doomed to death with the other wise men of Babylon, should now be worshipped by the king, not as man, but as God! “He commanded that they should offer manaa”[3] (i.e., in Chaldee, “oblation”) “and sweet odours unto him.” Of old, too, the Lord made a similar announcement to Moses, saying, “See, I have made thee a god to Pharaoh;”[4] in order that, on account of the signs wrought by him in the land of Egypt, Moses might no longer be reckoned a man, but be worshipped as a god by the Egyptians.

48. “Then the king made Daniel a great man.” For as he had humbled himself, and presented himself as the least among all men, God made him great, and the king established him as ruler over the whole land of Babylon. Just as also Pharaoh did to Joseph, appointing him then to be ruler over the whole land of Egypt.

49. “And Daniel requested,” etc. For as they had united with Daniel in prayer to God that the vision might be revealed to him, so Daniel, when he obtained great honour from the king, made mention of them, explaining to the king what had been done by them, in order that they also should be deemed worthy of some honour as fellow-seers and worshippers of God. For when they asked heavenly things from the Lord, they received also earthly things from the king.

Chap. 3:1 “In the eighteenth year,” etc. (These words are wanting in the Vulgate, etc.) A considerable space of time having elapsed, therefore, and the eighteenth year being now in its course, the king, calling to mind his vision, “made an image of gold, whose height was threescore cubits, and the breadth thereof six cubits.” For as the blessed Daniel, in interpreting the vision, had answered the king, saying, “Thou art this head of gold in the image,” the king, being puffed up with this address, and elated in heart, made a copy of this image, in order that he might be worshipped by all as God.

7. “All the people fell.” Some (did so) because they feared the king himself; but all (or “most”), because they were idolaters, obeyed the word commanded by the king.

16. “Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego answered,” etc. These three youths are become an example to all faithful men, inasmuch as they did not fear the crowd of satraps, neither did they tremble when they heard the king’s words, nor did they shrink when they saw the flame of the blazing furnace, but deemed all men and the whole world as nought, and kept the fear of God alone before their eyes. Daniel, though he stood at a distance and kept silence, encouraged them to be of good cheer as he smiled to them. And he rejoiced also himself at the witness they bore, understanding, as he did, that the three youths would receive a crown in triumph over the devil.

19. “And commanded that they should heat the furnace one seven times more.” He bids the vast furnace be heated one seven times more, as if he were already overcome by them. In earthly things, then, the king was superior; but in faith toward God the three youths were superior. Tell me, Nebuchadnezzar, with what purpose you order them to be cast into the fire bound? Is it lest they might escape, if they should have their feet unbound, and thus be able to extinguish the fire? But thou doest not these things of thyself, but there is another who worketh these things by thy means.

47.[5] “And the flame streamed forth.” The fire, he means, was driven from within by the angel, and burst forth outwardly. See how even the fire appears intelligent, as if it recognised and punished the guilty. For it did not touch the servants of God, but it consumed the unbelieving and impious Chaldeans. Those who were within were besprinkled with a (cooling) dew by the angel, while those who thought they stood in safety outside the furnace were destroyed by the fire. The men who cast in the youths were burned by the flame, which caught them on all sides, as I suppose, when they went to bind the youths.

92 (i.e., 25). “And the form of the fourth is like the Son of God.” Tell me, Nebuchadnezzar, when didst thou see the Son of God, that thou shouldst confess that this is the Son of God? And who pricked thy heart, that thou shouldst utter such a word? And with what eyes wert thou able to look into this light? And why was this manifested to thee alone, and to none of the satraps about thee? But, as it is written, “The heart of a king is in the hand of God:” the hand of God is here, whereby the Word pricked his heart, so that he might recognise Him in the furnace, and glorify Him. And this idea of ours is not without good ground. For as the children of Israel were destined to see God in the world, and yet not to believe on Him, the Scripture showed beforehand that the Gentiles would recognise Him incarnate, whom, while not incarnate, Nebuchadnezzar saw and recognised of old in the furnace, and acknowledged to be the Son of God.

93 (i.e., 26). “And he said, Shadrach, Meshach, and Abednego.” The three youths he thus called by name. But he found no name by which to call the fourth. For He was not yet that Jesus born of the Virgin.

97 (i.e., 30). “Then the king promoted,” etc. For as they honoured God by giving themselves up to death, so, too, they were themselves honoured not only by God, but also by the king. And they taught strange and foreign nations also to worship God.

Chap. 7:1 “And he wrote the dream.” The things, therefore, which were revealed to the blessed prophet by the Spirit in visions, these he also recounted fully for others, that he might not appear to prophesy of the future to himself alone, but might be proved a prophet to others also, who wish to search the divine Scriptures.

2. “And behold the four winds.” He means created existence in its fourfold division.

3. “And four great beasts.” As various beasts then were shown to the blessed Daniel, and these different from each other, we should understand that the truth of the narrative deals not with certain beasts, but, under the type and image of different beasts, exhibits the kingdoms that have risen in this world in power over the race of man. For by the great sea he means the whole world.

4. “Till the wings thereof were plucked.” For this happened in reality in the time of Nebuchadnezzar, as has been shown in the preceding book. And he bears witness directly that this very thing was fulfilled in himself; for he was driven out of the kingdom, and stripped of his glory, and of the greatness which he formerly possessed. “And after a little:” the words, “It was made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it,” signify that Nebuchadnezzar, when he humbled himself, and acknowledged that he was but a man, in subjection under the power of God, and made supplication to the Lord, found mercy with Him, and was restored to his own kingdom and honour.

5. “A second beast like to a bear.” To represent the kingdom of the Persians. “And it had three ribs.” The three nations he calls three ribs. The meaning, therefore, is this: that beast had the dominion, and these others under it were the Medes, Assyrians, and Babylonians. “And they said thus to it, Arise, devour.” For the Persians arising in these times, devastated every land, and made many men subject to them, and slew them. For as this beast, the bear, is a foul animal, and carnivorous, tearing with claws and teeth, such also was the kingdom of the Persians, who held the supremacy for two hundred and thirty years.

6. “And, lo, another beast like a leopard.” In mentioning a leopard, he means the kingdom of the Greeks, over whom Alexander of Macedon was king. And he likened them to a leopard, because they were quick and inventive in thought, and bitter in heart, just as that animal is many-coloured in appearance, and quick in wounding and in drinking man’s blood.

“The beast had also four heads.” When the kingdom of Alexander was exalted, and grew, and acquired a name over the whole world, his kingdom was divided into four principalities. For Alexander, when near his end, partitioned his kingdom among his four comrades of the same race, viz., “Seleucus, Demetrius, Ptolemy, and Philip;” and all these assumed crowns, as Daniel prophesies, and as it is written in the first book of Maccabees.

7. “And behold a fourth beast.” Now, that there has arisen no other kingdom after that of the Greeks except that which stands sovereign at present, is manifest to all. This one has iron teeth, because it subdues and reduces all by its strength, just as iron does. And the rest it did tread with its feet, for there is no other kingdom remaining after this one, but from it will spring ten horns.

“And it had ten horns.” For as the prophet said already of the leopard, that the beast had four heads, and that was fulfilled, and Alexander’s kingdom was divided into four principalities, so also now we ought to look for the ten horns which are to spring from it, when the time of the beast shall be fulfilled, and the little horn, which is Antichrist, shall appear suddenly in their midst, and righteousness shall be banished from the earth, and the whole world shall reach its consummation. So that we ought not to anticipate the counsel of God, but exercise patience and prayer, that we fall not on such times. We should not, however, refuse to believe that these things will come to pass. For if the things which the prophets predicted in former times have not been realized, then we need not look for these things. But if those former things did happen in their proper seasons, as was foretold, these things also shall certainly be fulfilled.

8. “I considered the horns.” That is to say, I looked intently at the beast, and was astonished at everything about it, but especially at the number of the horns. For the appearance of this beast differed from that of the other beasts in kind.

13. “And came to the Ancient of days.” By the Ancient of days he means none other than the Lord and God and Ruler of all, and even of Christ Himself, who maketh the days old, and yet becometh not old Himself by times and days.

14. “His dominion is an everlasting dominion.” The Father, having put all things in subjection to His own Son, both things in heaven and things on earth, showed Him forth by all as the first-begotten of God, in order that, along with the Father, He might be approved the Son of God before angels, and be manifested as the Lord also of angels: (He showed Him forth also as) the first-begotten of a virgin, that He might be seen to be in Himself the Creator anew of the first-formed Adam, (and) as the first-begotten from the dead, that He might become Himself the first-fruits of our resurrection.

“Which shall not pass away.” He exhibited all the dominion given by the Father to His own Son, who is manifested as King of all in heaven and on earth, and under the earth, and as Judge of all: of all in heaven, because He was born the Word, of the heart of the Father before all; and of all in earth, because He was made man, and created Adam anew of Himself; and of all under the earth, because He was also numbered among the dead, and preached to the souls of the saints, (and) by death overcame death.

17. “Which shall arise.” For when the three beasts have finished their course, and been removed, and the one still stands in vigour,—if this one, too, is removed, then finally earthly things (shall) end, and heavenly things begin; that the indissoluble and everlasting kingdom of the saints may be brought to view, and the heavenly King manifested to all, no longer in figure, like one seen in vision, or revealed in a pillar of cloud upon the top of a mountain, but amid the powers and armies of angels, as God incarnate and man, Son of God and Son of man—coming from heaven as the world’s Judge.

19. “And I inquired about the fourth beast.” It is to the fourth kingdom, of which we have already spoken, that he here refers: that kingdom, than which no greater kingdom of like nature has arisen upon the earth; from which also ten horns are to spring, and to be apportioned among ten crowns. And amid these another little horn shall rise, which is that of Antichrist. And it shall pluck by the roots the three others before it; that is to say, he shall subvert the three kings of Egypt, Libya, and Ethiopia, with the view of acquiring for himself universal dominion. And after conquering the remaining seven horns, he will at last begin, inflated by a strange and wicked spirit, to stir up war against the saints, and to persecute all everywhere, with the aim of being glorified by all, and being worshipped as God.

22. “Until the Ancient of days come.” That is, when at length the Judge of judges and the King of kings comes from heaven, who shall subvert the whole dominion and power of the adversary, and shall consume all with the eternal fire of punishment. But to His servants, and prophets, and martyrs, and to all who fear Him, He will give an everlasting kingdom; that is, they shall possess the endless enjoyment of good.

25. “Until a time, and times, and the dividing of time.” This denotes three years and a half.

Chap. 9:21 “And, behold, the man Gabriel…flying.” You see how the prophet likens the speed of the angels to a winged bird, on account of the light and rapid motion with which these spirits fly so quickly in discharge of orders.

Chap. 10:6 “And the voice of His words.” For all we who now believe on Him declare the words of Christ, as if we spake by His mouth the things enjoined by Him.

7. “And I saw,” etc. For it is to His saints that fear Him, and to them alone, that He reveals Himself. For if any one seems to be living now in the Church, and yet has not the fear of God, his companionship with the saints will avail him nothing.

12. “Thy words were heard.” Behold how much the piety of a righteous man availeth, that to him alone, as to one worthy, things not yet to be manifested in the world should be revealed.

13. “And lo, Michael.” Who is Michael but the angel assigned to the people? As (God) says to Moses, “I will not go with you in the way, because the people are stiff-necked; but my angel shall go with you.”

16. “My inwards are turned” (A.V., “my sorrows are turned upon me”). For it was meet that, at the appearing of the Lord, what was above should be turned beneath, in order that also what was beneath might come above.—I require time, he says, to recover myself, and to be able to endure the words and to make reply to what is said.—But while I was in this position, he continues, I was strengthened beyond my hope. For one unseen touched me, and straightway my weakness was removed, and I was restored to my former strength. For whenever all the strength of our life and its glory pass from us, then are we strengthened by Christ, who stretches forth His hand and raises the living from among the dead, and as it were from Hades itself, to the resurrection of life.

18. “And he strengthened me.” For whenever the Word has made us of good hope with regard to the future, we are able also readily to hear His voice.

20. “To fight with the prince of Persia.” For from the day that thou didst humble thyself before the Lord thy God thy prayer was heard, and I was sent “to fight with the prince of Persia.” For there was a design not to let the people go. Therefore, that thy prayer might be speedily answered, “I stood up against him.”

Chap. 12:1 “There shall be a time of trouble.” For at that time there shall be great trouble, such as has not been from the foundation of the world, when some in one way, and others in another, shall be sent through every city and country to destroy the faithful; and the saints shall travel from the west to the east, and shall be driven in persecution from the east to the south, while others shall conceal themselves in the mountains and caves; and the abomination shall war against them everywhere, and shall cut them off by sea and by land by his decree, and shall endeavour by every means to destroy them out of the world; and they shall not be able any longer to sell their own property, nor to buy from strangers, unless one keeps and carries with him the name of the beast, or bears its mark upon his forehead. For then they shall all be driven out from every place, and dragged from their own homes and haled into prison, and punished with all manner of punishment, and cast out from the whole world.

2. “These shall awake to everlasting life.” That is, those who have believed in the true life, and who have their names written in the book of life. “And these to shame.” That is, those who are attached to Antichrist, and who are cast with him into everlasting punishment.

3. “And they that be wise shall shine.” And the Lord has said the same thing in the Gospel: “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun.”[6]

7. “For a time, times, and an half.” By this he indicated the three and a half years of Anti-christ. For by a time he means a year; and by times, two years; and by an half time, half a year. These are the “one thousand two hundred and ninety days” of which Daniel prophesied.

9. “The words are closed up and sealed.” For as a man cannot tell what God has prepared for the saints; for neither has eye seen nor ear heard, nor has it entered into the heart of man (to conceive) these things, into which even the saints, too, shall then eagerly desire to look; so He said to him, “For the words are sealed until the time of the end; until many shall be chosen and tried with fire.” And who are they who are chosen, but those who believe the word of truth, so as to be made white thereby, and to cast off the filth of sin, and put on the heavenly, pure, and glorious Holy Spirit, in order that, when the Bridegroom comes, they may go in straightway with Him?

11. “The abomination of desolation shall be given (set up).” Daniel speaks, therefore, of two abominations: the one of destruction, which Antiochus set up in its appointed time, and which bears a relation to that of desolation, and the other universal, when Antichrist shall come. For, as Daniel says, he too shall be set up for the destruction of many.[7]

[1] Hos. 14:9.

[2] This book is not now extant, the first ten alone having reached our time.

[3] [The minchah, that is.]

[4] Ex. 7:1.

[5] The verses are numbered according to the Greek translation, which incorporates the apocryphal “song of the three holy children.”

[6] Matt. 13:43.

[7] “By the most holy Hippolytus, (bishop) of Rome: The Exact Account of the Times,” etc. From Gallandi. This fragment seems to have belonged to the beginning or introduction to the commentary of Hippolytus on Daniel.

Other Fragments on Daniel

IV.

For when the iron legs that now hold the sovereignty have given place to the feet and the toes, in accordance with the representation of the terrible beast, as has also been signified in the former times, then from heaven will come the stone that smites the image, and breaks it; and it will subvert all the kingdoms, and give the kingdom to the saints of the Most High. This is the stone which becomes a great mountain, and fills the earth, and of which it is written: “I saw in the night-visions, and, behold, one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom; and all peoples, nations, and languages shall serve Him: His power is an everlasting power, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed.”[1]

[1] Dan. 7:13.

On the Song of the Three Children

V.

“O Ananias, Azarias, and Misael, bless ye the Lord; O ye apostles, prophets, and martyrs of the Lord, bless ye the Lord: praise Him, and exalt Him above all, for ever.”

We may well marvel at the words of the three youths in the furnace, how they enumerated all created things, so that not one of them might be reckoned free and independent in itself; but, summing up and naming them all together, both things in heaven, and things in earth, and things under the earth, they showed them to be all the servants of God, who created all things by the Word, that no one should boast that any of the creatures was without birth and beginning.

On Susannah

VI.

What is narrated here, happened at a later time, although it is placed before the first book (at the beginning of the book). For it was a custom with the writers to narrate many things in an inverted order in their writings. For we find also in the prophets some visions recorded among the first and fulfilled among the last; and again, on the other hand, some recorded among the last and fulfilled first. And this was done by the disposition of the Spirit, that the devil might not understand the things spoken in parables by the prophets, and might not a second time lay his snares and ruin man.

Ver. 1. “Called Joacim.” This Joacim, being a stranger in Babylon, obtains Susannah in marriage. And she was the daughter of Chelcias the priest,[1] who found the book of the law in the house of the Lord, when Josiah the king commanded him to purify the holy of holies. His brother was Jeremiah the prophet, who was carried, with the remnant that was left after the deportation of the people to Babylon, into Egypt, and dwelt in Taphnæ;[2] and, while prophesying there, he was stoned to death by the people.

“A very fair woman, and one that feared the Lord,” etc. For by the fruit produced, the tree also is easily known. For men who are pious and zealous for the law, bring into the world children worthy of God; such as he was who became a prophet and witness of Christ, and she who was found chaste and faithful in Babylon, whose honour and chastity were the occasion of the manifestation of the blessed Daniel as a prophet.

4. “Now Joacim was a great rich man,” etc. We must therefore seek the explanation of this. For how could those who were captives, and had been made subject to the Babylonians, meet together in the same place, as if they were their own masters? In this matter, therefore, we should observe that Nebuchadnezzar, after their deportation, treated them kindly, and permitted them to meet together, and do all things according to the law.

7. “And at noon Susannah went into (her husband’s garden).” Susannah prefigured the Church; and Joacim, her husband, Christ; and the garden, the calling of the saints, who are planted like fruitful trees in the Church. And Babylon is the world; and the two elders are set forth as a figure of the two peoples that plot against the Church—the one, namely, of the circumcision, and the other of the Gentiles. For the words, “were appointed rulers of the people and judges,” (mean) that in this world they exercise authority and rule, judging the righteous unrighteously.

8. “And the two elders saw her.” These things the rulers of the Jews wish now to expunge from the book, and assert that these things did not happen in Babylon, because they are ashamed of what was done then by the elders.

9. “And they perverted their own mind.” For how, indeed, can those who have been the enemies and corruptors of the Church judge righteously, or look up to heaven with pure heart, when they have become the slaves of the prince of this world?

10. “And they were both wounded with her (love).” This word is to be taken in truth; for always the two peoples, being wounded (instigated) by Satan working in them, strive to raise persecutions and afflictions against the Church, and seek how they may corrupt her, though they do not agree with each other.

12. “And they watched diligently.” And this, too, is to be noted. For up to the present time both the Gentiles and the Jews of the circumcision watch and busy themselves with the dealings of the Church, desiring to suborn false witnesses against us, as the apostle says: “And that because of false brethren unawares brought in, who came in privily to spy out our liberty which we have in Christ Jesus.”[3]

It is a kind of sin to be anxious to give the mind to women.

14. “And when they were gone out, they parted the one from the other.” As to their parting the one from the other at the hour of dinner (luncheon), this signifies that in the matter of earthly meats the Jews and the Gentiles are not at one; but in their views, and in all worldly matters, they are of one mind, and can meet each other.

14. “And asking one another, they acknowledged their lust.” Thus, in revealing themselves to each other, they foreshadow the time when they shall be proved by their thoughts, and shall have to give account to God for all the sin which they have done, as Solomon says: “And scrutiny shall destroy the ungodly.”[4] For these are convicted by the scrutiny.

15. “As they watched a fit time.” What fit time but that of the passover, at which the laver is prepared in the garden for those who burn, and Susannah washes herself, and is presented as a pure bride to God?

“With two maids only.” For when the Church desires to take the laver according to use, she must of necessity have two handmaids to accompany her. For it is by faith on Christ and love to God that the Church confesses and receives the laver.

18. “And she said to her maids, Bring me oil.” For faith and love prepare oil and unguents to those who are washed. But what were these unguents, but the commandments of the holy Word? And what was the oil, but the power of the Holy Spirit, with which believers are anointed as with ointment after the laver of washing? All these things were figuratively represented in the blessed Susannah, for our sakes, that we who now believe on God might not regard the things that are done now in the Church as strange, but believe them all to have been set forth in figure by the patriarchs of old, as the apostle also says: “Now these things happened unto them for ensamples: and they were written for our instruction, on whom the ends of the world are come.”[5]

18. “And they went out at privy doors;” showing thus by anticipation, that he who desires to partake of the water in the garden must renounce the broad gate, and enter by the strait and narrow.[6]

“And they saw not the elders.” For as of old the devil was concealed in the serpent in the garden, so now too, concealed in the elders, he fired them with his own lust, that he might again a second time corrupt Eve.

20. “Behold, the garden doors are shut.” O wicked rulers, and filled with the workings of the devil, did Moses deliver these things to you? And while ye read the law yourselves, do ye teach others thus? Thou that sayest, “Thou shalt not kill,” dost thou kill? Thou that sayest, “Thou shalt not covet,” dost thou desire to corrupt the wife of thy neighbour?

“And we are in love with thee.” Why, ye lawless, do ye strive to gain over a chaste and guileless soul by deceitful words, in order to satisfy your own lust?

21. “If thou wilt not, we will bear witness against thee.” This wicked audacity with which you begin, comes of the deceitfulness that lurks in you from the beginning. And there was in reality a young man with her, that one[7] of yours; one from heaven, not to have intercourse with her, but to bear witness to her truth.

22. “And Susannah sighed.” The blessed Susannah, then, when she heard these words, was troubled in her heart, and set a watch upon her mouth, not wishing to be defiled by the wicked elders. Now it is in our power also to apprehend the real meaning of all that befell Susannah. For you may find this also fulfilled in the present condition of the Church. For when the two peoples conspire to destroy any of the saints, they watch for a fit time, and enter the house of God while all there are praying and praising God, and seize some of them, and carry them off, and keep hold of them, saying, Come, consent with us, and worship our Gods; and if not, we will bear witness against you. And when they refuse, they drag them before the court and accuse them of acting contrary to the decrees of Cæsar, and condemn them to death.

“I am straitened on every side.” Behold the words of a chaste woman, and one dear to God: “I am straitened on every side.” For the Church is afflicted and straitened, not only by the Jews, but also by the Gentiles, and by those who are called Christians, but are not such in reality. For they, observing her chaste and happy life, strive to ruin her.

“For if I do this thing, it is death to me.” For to be disobedient to God, and obedient to men, works eternal death and punishment.

“And if I do it not, I cannot escape your hands.” And this indeed is said with truth. For they who are brought into judgment for the sake of God’s name, if they do what is commanded them by men, die to God, and shall live in the world. But if they refuse to do what is commanded them by men, they escape not the hands of their judges, but are condemned by them.

23. “It is better for me not to do it.” For it is better to die by the hand of wicked men and live with God, than, by consenting to them, to be delivered from them and fall into the hands of God.

24. “And Susannah cried with a loud voice.” And to whom did Susannah cry but to God? as Isaiah says: “Then shalt thou call, and the Lord shall answer thee; whilst thou art yet speaking, He shall say, Lo, here I am.”[8]

“And the two elders cried out against her.” For the wicked never cease to cry out against us, and to say: Away with such from off the earth, for it is not fit that they should live. In an evangelical sense, Susannah despised them who kill the body, in order that she might save her soul from death. Now sin is the death of the soul, and especially (the sin of) adultery. For when the soul that is united with Christ forsakes its faith, it is given over to perpetual death, viz., eternal punishment. And in confirmation of this, in the case of the transgression and violation of marriage unions in the flesh, the law has decreed the penalty of death.

25. “Then ran the one and opened the gates;” pointing to the broad and spacious way on which they who follow such persons perish.

31. “Now Susannah was a very delicate woman.” Not that she had meretricious adornments about her person, as Jezebel had, or eyes painted with divers colours; but that she had the adornment of faith, and chastity, and sanctity.

34. “And laid their hands upon her head;” that at least by touching her they might satisfy their lust.

35. “And she was weeping.” For by her tears she attracted the (regard of) the Word from heaven, who was with tears to raise the dead Lazarus.

41. “Then the assembly believed them.” It becomes us, then, to be stedfast in every duty, and to give no heed to lies, and to yield no obsequious obedience to the persons of rulers, knowing that we have to give account to God; but if we follow the truth, and aim at the exact rule of faith, we shall be well-pleasing to God.

44. “And the Lord heard her voice.” For those who call upon Him from a pure heart, God heareth. But from those who (call upon Him) in deceit and hypocrisy, God turneth away His face.

52. “O thou that art waxen old in wickedness.” Now, since at the outset, in the introduction, we explained that the two elders are to be taken as a type of the two peoples, that of the circumcision and that of the Gentiles, which are always enemies of the Church; let us mark the words of Daniel, and learn that the Scripture deals falsely with us in nothing. For, addressing the first elder, he censures him as one instructed in the law; while he addresses the other as a Gentile, calling him “the seed of Chanaan,” although he was then among the circumcision.

55. “For even now the angel of God.” He shows also, that when Susannah prayed to God, and was heard, the angel was sent then to help her, just as was the case in the instance of Tobias[9] and Sara. For when they prayed, the supplication of both of them was heard in the same day and the same hour, and the angel Raphael was sent to heal them both.

61. “And they arose against the two elders;” that the saying might be fulfilled, “Whoso diggeth a pit for his neighbour, shall fall therein.”[10]

To all these things, therefore, we ought to give heed, beloved, fearing lest any one be overtaken in any transgression, and risk the loss of his soul, knowing as we do that God is the Judge of all; and the Word[11] Himself is the Eye which nothing that is done in the world escapes. Therefore, always watchful in heart and pure in life, let us imitate Susannah.

[1] 2 Kings 22:8.

[2] Jer. 43:8.

[3] Gal. 2:4.

[4] Prov. 1:32; in our version given as, “The prosperity of fools shall destroy them.”

[5] 1 Cor. 10:11.

[6] Matt. 7:13, 14.

[7] That is, Daniel, present in the spirit of prophecy.—Combef.

[8] Isa. 58:9.

[9] Tobit 3:17.

[10] Prov. 26:27.

[11] Cotelerius reads ὅλος instead of ὁ λόγος, and so = and He is Himself the whole or universal eye.

On Matthew

Matt. vi. 11 . He is giving his opinion on the ἐπιούσιον, i.e., the “daily bread.”

For this reason we are enjoined to ask what is sufficient for the preservation of the substance of the body: not luxury, but food, which restores what the body loses, and prevents death by hunger; not tables to inflame and drive on to pleasures, nor such things as make the body wax wanton against the soul; but bread, and that, too, not for a great number of years, but what is sufficient for us to-day.

On Luke

Chap. 2:7 And if you please, we say that the Word was the first-born of God, who came down from heaven to the blessed Mary, and was made a first-born man in her womb, in order that the first-born of God might be manifested in union with a first-born man.

22. When they brought Him to the temple to present Him to the Lord, they offered the oblations of purification. For if the gifts of purification according to the law were offered for Him, in this indeed He was made under the law. But the Word was not subject to the law in such wise as the sycophants[1] fancy, since He is the law Himself; neither did God need sacrifices of purification, for He purifieth and sanctifieth all things at once in a moment. But though He took to Himself the frame of man as He received it from the Virgin, and was made under the law, and was thus purified after the manner of the first-born, it was not because He needed this ceremonial that He underwent its services, but only for the purpose of redeeming from the bondage of the law those who were sold under the judgment of the curse.

Chap. 23 For this reason the warders of Hades trembled when they saw Him; and the gates of brass and the bolts of iron were broken. For, lo, the Only-begotten entered, a soul among souls, God the Word with a (human) soul. For His body lay in the tomb, not emptied of divinity; but as, while in Hades, He was in essential being with His Father, so was He also in the body and in Hades.[2] For the Son is not contained in space, just as the Father; and He comprehends all things in Himself. But of His own will he dwelt in a body animated by a soul, in order that with His soul He might enter Hades, and not with His pure divinity.

[1] οἱ συκοφάνται.

[2] Pearson On the Creed, art. iv. p. 355.

Doubtful Fragments on the Pentateuch.

Preface

Doubtful Fragments on the Pentateuch. These are edited in Arabic and Latin by Fabricius, Opp. Hippol., ii. 33. That these are spurious is now generally agreed. The translation is from the Latin version, which alone is given by Migne.

In the name of the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one God. This is a transcript of the excellent law. But before beginning to give the transcript of the book of the law, it will be worth while to instruct you, O brother, as to its excellence, and the dignity of its disposition. Its first excellence is, that God delivered it by the hand of our most blessed ruler, the chief of the prophets, and first of the apostles, or those who were sent to the children of Israel, viz., Moses the son of Amram, the son of Kohath, of the sons of Levi. Now he was adorned with all manner of wisdom, and endowed with the best genius. Illustrious in dignity, remarkable for the integrity of his disposition, distinguished for power of reason, he talked with God. And He chose him as an instrument of value. By His leader and prophet, God Most High sent it down to us, and committed it to us (blessed be His name) in the Syriac tongue of the Targum, which the Seventy translated into the Hebrew tongue, to wit, into the tongue of the nation, and the idiom of the common people. Moses. therefore, received it from the eternal Lord, and was the first to whom it was entrusted, and who obeyed its rules and ordinances. Then he taught it to the children of Israel, who also embraced it. And he explained to them its profound mysteries and dark places. And he expounded to them those things which were less easy, as God permitted him, and concealed from them those secrets of the law, as God forbade him (to reveal them). Nor did there rise among them one who was better practised in His judgments and decrees, and who communicated more clearly the mysteries of His doctrine, until God translated him to Himself, after He had made him perfect by forty whole years in the wilderness.

And these following are the names of the teachers who handed down the law in continuous succession after Moses the prophet, until the advent of Messiah:—

Know, then, my brother, whom may God bless, that God delivered the most excellent law into the hands of Moses the prophet, the son of Amram.

And Moses delivered it to Joshua the son of Nun.

And Joshua the son of Nun delivered it Anathal.

And Anathal delivered it to Jehud.

And Jehud delivered it to Samgar.

And Samgar delivered it to Baruk.

And Baruk delivered it to Gideon.

And Gideon delivered it to Abimelech.

And Abimelech delivered it to Taleg.

And Taleg delivered it to Babin the Gileadite.

And Babin delivered it to Jiphtach.

And Jiphtach delivered it to Ephran.

And Ephran delivered it to Elul of the tribe Zebulon.

And Elul delivered it to Abdan.

And Abdan delivered it to Shimshon the brave.

And Shimshon delivered it to Helkanah, the son of Jerachmu, the son of Jehud. Moreover, he was the father of Samuel the prophet. Of this Helkanah mention is made in the beginning of the first book of Kings (Samuel).

And Helkanah delivered it to Eli the priest. And Eli delivered it to Samuel the prophet.

And Samuel delivered it to Nathan the prophet.

And Nathan delivered it to Gad the prophet.

And Gad the prophet delivered it to Shemaiah the teacher. And Shemaiah delivered it to Iddo the teacher. And Iddo delivered it to Achia.

And Achia delivered it to Abihu.

And Abihu delivered it to Elias the prophet.

And Elias delivered it to his disciple Elisæus.

And Elisæus delivered it to Malachia the prophet.

And Malachia delivered it to Abdiahu.

And Abdiahu delivered it to Jehuda.

And Jehuda delivered it to Zacharias the teacher. In those days came Bachthansar king of Babel, and laid waste the house of the sanctuary, and carried the children of Israel into captivity to Babel.

And after the captivity of Babel, Zacharia the teacher delivered it to Esaia the prophet, the son of Amos.

And Esaia delivered it to Jeremia the prophet.

And Jeremia the prophet delivered it to Chizkiel.

And Chizkiel the prophet delivered it to Hosea the prophet, the son of Bazi.

And Hosea delivered it to Joiel the prophet.

And Joiel delivered it to Amos the prophet.

And Amos delivered it to Obadia.

And Obadia delivered it to Jonan the prophet, the son of Mathi, the son of Armelah, who was the brother of Elias the prophet.

And Jonan delivered it to Micha the Morasthite, who delivered it to Nachum the Alcusite. And Nachum delivered it to Chabakuk the prophet.

And Chabakuk delivered it to Sophonia the prophet.

And Sophonia delivered it to Chaggæus the prophet.

And Chaggæus delivered it to Zecharia the prophet, the son of Bershia.

And Zecharia, when in captivity, delivered it to Malachia. And Malachia delivered it to Ezra the teacher.

[1]And Ezra delivered it to Shamai the chief priest, and Jadua to Samean, (and) Samean delivered it to Antigonus.

And Antigonus delivered it to Joseph the son of Johezer, (and) Joseph the son of Gjuchanan.

And Joseph delivered it to Jehosua, the son of Barachia.

And Jehosua delivered it to Nathan the Arbelite.

And Nathan delivered it to Shimeon, the elder son of Shebach. This is he who carried the Messias in his arms.

Simeon delivered it to Jehuda.

Jehuda delivered it to Zecharia the priest.

And Zecharia the priest, the father of John the Baptist, delivered it to Joseph, a teacher of his own tribe.

And Joseph delivered it to Hanan and Caiaphas. Moreover, from them were taken away the priestly, and kingly, and prophetic offices.

These were teachers at the advent of Messias; and they were both priests of the children of Israel. Therefore the whole number of venerable and honourable priests put in trust of this most excellent law was fifty-six, Hanan (i.e., Annas) and Caiaphas being excepted.

And those are they who delivered it in the last days to the state of the children of Israel; nor did there arise any priests after them.

This is the account of what took place with regard to the most excellent law.

Armius, author of the book of Times, has said: In the nineteenth year of the reign of King Ptolemy, He ordered the elders of the children of Israel to be assembled, in order that they might put into his hands a copy of the law, and that they might each be at hand to explain its meaning.

The elders accordingly came, bringing with them the most excellent law. Then he commanded that every one of them should interpret the book of the law to him.

But he dissented from the interpretation which the elders had given. And he ordered the elders to be thrust into prison and chains. And seizing the book of the law, he threw it into a deep ditch, and cast fire and hot ashes upon it for seven days. Then afterwards he ordered them to throw the filth of the city into that ditch in which was the book of the law. And the ditch was filled to the very top.

The law remained seventy years under the filth in that ditch, yet did not perish, nor was there even a single leaf of it spoilt.

In the twenty-first year of the reign of King Apianutus they took the book of the law out of the ditch, and not one leaf thereof was spoilt.

And after the ascension of Christ into heaven, came King Titus, son of Aspasianus king of Rome, to Jerusalem, and besieged and took it. And he destroyed the edifice of the second house, which the children of Israel had built. Titus the king destroyed the house of the sanctuary, and slew all the Jews who were in it, and built Tsion (sic) in their blood. And after that deportation the Jews were scattered abroad in slavery. Nor did they assemble any more in the city of Jerusalem, nor is there hope anywhere of their returning.

After Jerusalem was laid waste, therefore, Shemaia and Antalia (Abtalion) delivered the law,—kings of Baalbach,[2] a city which Soliman, son of King David, had built of old, and which was restored anew in the days of King Menasse, who sawed Esaia the prophet asunder.

King Adrian, of the children of Edom, besieged Baalbach, and took it, and slew all the Jews who were in it, (and) as many as were of the family of David he reduced to slavery. And the Jews were dispersed over the whole earth, as God Most High had foretold: “And I will scatter you among the Gentiles, and disperse you among the nations.”

And these are the things which have reached us as to the history of that most excellent book. The Preface is ended.

[1] See Tsemach David, and Maimon. Præfat. ad Seder Zeraim, in Pocockii Porta Moses, p. 36.

[2] Heliopolis of Syria.

The Law

In the name of God eternal, everlasting, most mighty, merciful, compassionate.

By the help of God we begin to describe the book of the law, and its interpretation, as the holy, learned, and most excellent fathers have interpreted it.

The following, therefore, is the interpretation of the first book, which indeed is the book of the creation (and) of created beings.

Of the Creation of Heaven and Earth. “In the Beginning God Created,” Etc

Section I.

An exposition of that which God said.

And the blessed prophet, indeed, the great Moses, wrote this book, and designated and marked it with the title, The Book of Being, i.e., “of created beings,” etc.

And the Lord Said: “And I Will Bring the Waters of the Flood Upon the Earth to Destroy All Flesh,” Etc

Sections II., III.

Hippolytus, the Targumist expositor, said: The names of the wives of the sons of Noah are these: the name of the wife of Sem, Nahalath Mahnuk; and the name of the wife of Cham, Zedkat Nabu; and the name of the wife of Japheth, Arathka. These, moreover, are their names in the Syriac Targum.[1] The name of the wife of Sem was Nahalath Mahnuk; the name of the wife of Cham, Zedkat Nabu; the name of the wife of Japheth, Arathka.

Therefore God gave intimation to Noah, and informed him of the coming of the flood, and of the destruction of the ruined (wicked).

And God Most High ordered him to descend from the holy mount, him and his sons, and the wives of his sons, and to build a ship of three storeys. The lower storey was for fierce, wild, and dangerous beasts. Between them there were stakes or wooden beams, to separate them from each other, and prevent them from having intercourse with each other. The middle storey was for birds, and their different genera. Then the upper storey was for Noah himself and his sons—for his own wife and his sons’ wives.

Noah also made a door in the ship, on the east side. He also constructed tanks of water, and store-rooms of provisions.

When he had made an end, accordingly, of building the ship, Noah, with his sons, Sem, Cham, and Japheth, entered the cave of deposits.[2]

And on their first approach, indeed, they happily found the bodies of the fathers, Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kainan, Mahaliel, Jared, Mathusalach, and Lamech. Those eight bodies were in the place of deposits, viz., those of Adam, Seth, Enosh, Kainan, Mahaliel, Jared, Mathusalach, and Lamech.

Noah, moreover, took the body of Adam. And his sons took with them offerings. Sem carried gold, Cham myrrh, and Japheth frankincense. Then, leaving the cave of deposits, they transferred the offerings and the body of Adam to the holy mount.[2]

And when they sat down by the body of Adam, over against paradise, they began to lament and weep for the loss of paradise.

Then, descending from the holy mount, and lifting up their eyes towards paradise, they renewed their weeping and wailing, (and) uttered an eternal farewell in these terms: Farewell! peace to thee, O paradise of God! Farewell, O habitation of religion and purity! Farewell, O seat of pleasure and delight!

Then they embraced the stones and trees of the holy mount, and wept, and said: Farewell, O habitation of the good! Farewell, O abode of holy bodies!

Then, after three days, Noah, with his sons and his sons’ wives, came down from the holy mount to the base of the holy mount, to the ship’s place. For the (ark) was under the projecting edge of the holy mount.

And Noah entered the ship, and deposited the body of Adam, and the offerings, in the middle of the ship, upon a bier of wood, which he had prepared for the reception of the body.

And God charged Noah, saying: Make for thyself rattles[3] of boxwood (or cypress). Now שמשאר is the wood called Sagh, i.e., Indian plane.

Make also the hammer (bell) thereof of the same wood. And the length of the rattle shall be three whole cubits, and its breadth one and a half cubit.

And God enjoined him to strike the rattles three times every day, to wit, for the first time at early dawn, for the second time at mid-day, and for the third time at sunset.

And it happened that, as soon as Noah had struck the rattles, the sons of Cain and the sons of Vahim ran up straightway to him, and he warned and alarmed them by telling of the immediate approach of the flood, and of the destruction already hasting on and impending.

Thus, moreover, was the pity of God toward them displayed, that they might be converted and come to themselves again. But the sons of Cain did not comply with what Noah proclaimed to them. And Noah brought together pairs, male and female, of all birds of every kind; and thus also of all beasts, tame and wild alike, pair and pair.

[1] What follows was thus expressed probably in Syriac in some Syriac version.

[2] Cavernam thesaurorum. [Cant. 4:6, i.e., Paradise.]

[3] Crepitacula.

On Gen. Vii. 6

Section IV.

Hippolytus, the Syrian expositor of the Targum, has said: We find in an ancient Hebrew copy that God commanded Noah to range the wild beasts in order in the lower floor or storey, and to separate the males from the females by putting wooden stakes between them.

And thus, too, he did with all the cattle, and also with the birds in the middle storey. And God ordered the males thus to be separated from the females for the sake of decency and purity, lest they should perchance get intermingled with each other.

Moreover, God said to Moses: Provide victuals for yourself and your children. And let them be of wheat, ground, pounded, kneaded with water, and dried. And Noah there and then bade his wife, and his sons’ wives, diligently attend to kneading dough and laying it in the oven. They kneaded dough accordingly, and prepared just about as much as might be sufficient for them, so that nothing should remain over but the very least.

And God charged Noah, saying to him: Whosoever shall first announce to you the approach of the deluge, him you shall destroy that very moment. In the meantime, moreover, the wife of Cham was standing by, about to put a large piece of bread into the oven. And suddenly, according to the word of the Lord, water rushed forth from the oven, and the flow of water penetrated and destroyed the bread. Therefore the wife of Cham exclaimed, addressing herself to Noah: Oh, sir, the word of God is come good: “that which God foretold is come to pass;” execute, therefore, that which the Lord commanded. And when Noah heard the words of the wife of Chain, he said to her: Is then the flood already come? The wife of Cham said to him: Thou hast said it. God, however, suddenly charged Noah, saying: Destroy not the wife of Cham; for from thy mouth is the beginning of destruction—“thou didst first say, The flood is come.” At the voice of Noah the flood came, and suddenly the water destroyed that bread. And the floodgates of heaven were opened, and the rains broke upon the earth. And that same voice, in sooth, which had said of old, “Let the waters be gathered together into one place, and let the dry land appear,”[1] gave permission to the fountain of waters and the floods of the seas to break forth of their own accord, and brought out the waters.

Consider what God said about the world: Let all its high places be brought low, and they were brought low; and let its low places be raised from its depths.

And the earth was made bare and empty of all existence, as it was at the beginning.

And the rain descended from above, and the earth burst open beneath. And the frame of the earth was destroyed, and its primitive order was broken. And the world became such as it was when desolated at the beginning by the waters which flowed over it. Nor was any one of the existences upon it left in its integrity.

Its former structure went to wreck, and the earth was disfigured by the flood of waters that burst upon it, and by the magnitude of its inundations, and the multitude of showers, and the eruption from its depths, as the waters continually broke forth. In fine, it was left such as it was formerly.[1]

[1] Gen. 1:9.

On Gen. Viii. 1

Section V.

On Gen. viii. I

Hippolytus, the expositor of the Targum, and my master, Jacobus Rohaviensis, have said: On the twenty-seventh day of the month Jiar, which is the second Hebrew month, the ark rose from the base of the holy mount; and already the waters bore it, and it was carried upon them round about towards the four cardinal points of the world. The ark accordingly held off from the holy mount towards the east, then returned towards the west, then turned to the south, and finally, bearing off eastwards, neared Mount Kardu on the first day of the tenth month. And that is the second month Kanun.

And Noah came out of the ark on the twenty-seventh day of the month Jiar, in the second year: for the ark continued sailing five whole months, and moved to and fro upon the waters, and in a period of fifty-one days neared the land. Nor thereafter did it float about any longer. But it only moved successively toward the four cardinal points of the earth, and again finally stood toward the east. We say, moreover, that that was a sign of the cross. And the ark was a symbol of the Christ who was expected. For that ark was the means of the salvation of Noah and his sons, and also of the cattle, the wild beasts, and the birds. And Christ, too, when He suffered on the cross, delivered us from accusations and sins, and washed us in His own blood most pure.

And just as the ark returned to the east, and neared Mount Kardu, so also Christ, when the work was accomplished and finished which He had proposed to Himself, returned to heaven to the bosom of His Father, and sat down upon the throne of His glory at the Father’s right hand.

As to Mount Kardu, it is in the east, in the land of the sons of Raban, and the Orientals call it Mount Godash;[1] the Arabians and Persians call it Ararat.[2]

And there is a town of the name Kardu, and that hill is called after it, which is indeed very lofty and inaccessible, whose summit no one has ever been able to reach, on account of the violence of the winds and the storms which always prevail there. And if any one attempts to ascend it, there are demons that rush upon him, and cast him down headlong from the ridge of the mountain into the plain, so that he dies. No one, moreover, knows what there is on the top of the mountain, except that certain relics of the wood of the ark still lie there on the surface of the top of the mountain.[3]

[1] Gordyæum.

[2] See Fuller, Misc. Sacr., i. 4; and Bochart, Phaleg., p. 22.

[3] [See p. 149, note 10, supra.]

On Deut. Xxxiii. 2

Section X.

On Deut. xxxiii. II

Hippolytus, the expositor of the Targum, has said that Moses, when he had finished this prophecy, also pronounced a blessing upon all the children of Israel, by their several tribes, and prayed for them. Then God charged Moses, saying to him, Go up to Mount Nebo, which indeed is known by the name of the mount of the Hebrews, which is in the land of Moab over against Jericho.

And He said to him: View the land of Chanaan, which I am to give to the children of Israel for an inheritance. Thou, however, shalt never enter it; wherefore view it well from afar off. When Moses therefore viewed it, he saw that land,—a land green, and abounding with all plenty and fertility, planted thickly with trees; and Moses was greatly moved, and wept.

And when Moses descended from Mount Nebo, he called for Joshua the son of Nun, and said to him before the children of Israel: Prevail, and be strong; for thou art to bring the children of Israel into the land which God promised to fathers that He would give their them for an inheritance. Fear not, therefore, the people, neither be afraid of the nations: for God will be with thee.

And Moses wrote that Senna[1] (Hebr. מנשה =”secondary law,” or “Deuteronomy”), and gave it to the priests the sons of Levi, and commanded them, saying: For seven years keep this Senna hid, and show it not within the entire course of seven years. (“And then”) in the feast of tabernacles, the priests the sons of Levi will read this law before the children of Israel, that the whole people, men and women alike, may observe the words of God: Command them to keep the word of God, which is in that law. And whosoever shall violate one of its precepts, let him be accursed.

Accordingly, when Moses had finished the writing of the law, he gave it to Joshua the son of Nun, and enjoined him to give it to the sons of Levi, the priests. Moses also enjoined and charged them to place the book of the law again within the ark of the covenant of the Lord, that it might remain there for a testimony for ever.

And when Moses had made an end of his injunctions, God bade him go up Mount Nebo, which is over against Jericho. The Lord showed him the whole land of promise in its four quarters, from the wilderness to the sea, and from sea to sea. And the Lord said to him, Thou hast seen it indeed with thine eyes, but thou shalt never enter it. There accordingly Moses died, the servant of God, by the command of God. And the angels buried him on Mount Nebo, which is over against Beth-Phegor. And no one knows of his sepulchre, even to this day. For God concealed his grave.

And Moses lived 120 years; nor was his eye dim, nor was the skin of his face wrinkled.

Moses died on a certain day, at the third hour of the day, on the seventh day of the second month, which is the month Jiar.

And the children of Israel wept for him in the plains of Moab three days.

And Joshua the sun of Nun was filled with the spirit of wisdom; for Moses had laid his hand upon him. And all the children of Israel obeyed him. And God charged Joshua the son of Nun on a certain day,—namely, the seventh day of the month Nisan.

And Joshua the son of Nun lived 110 years, and died on the fourth day, which was the first day of the month Elul. And they buried him in the city Thamnatserach, on Mount Ephraim.

Praise be to God for the completion of the work.

[1] That is the name the Mohammedans give to their Traditions.

On the Psalms.

The Argument of the Exposition of the Psalms by Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome

On the Psalms. Simon de Magistris, Acta Martyrum Ostiensium, Append., p. 439.

I.

1. The book of Psalms contains new doctrine after the law which was given by Moses; and thus it is the second book of doctrine after the Scripture of Moses. After the death, then of Moses and Joshua, and after the judges, David arose, one deemed worthy to be called the father of the Saviour, and he was the first to give the Hebrews a new style of psalmody, by which he did away with the ordinances established by Moses with respect to sacrifice, and introduced a new mode of the worship of God by hymns and acclamations; and many other things also beyond the law of Moses he taught through his whole ministry. And this is the sacredness of the book, and its utility. And the account to be given of its inscription is this: (for) as most of the brethren who believe in Christ think that this book is David’s, and inscribe it “Psalms of David,” we must state what has reached us with respect to it. The Hebrews give the book the title “Sephra Thelim,”[1] and in the “Acts of the Apostles” it is called the “Book of Psalms” (the words are these, “as it is written in the Book of Psalms”), but the name (of the author) in the inscription of the book is not found there. And the reason of that is, that the words written there are not the words of one man, but those of several together; Esdra, as tradition says, having collected in one volume, after the captivity, the psalms of several, or rather their words, as they are not all psalms. Thus the name of David is prefixed in the case of some, and that of Solomon in others, and that of Asaph in others. There are some also that belong to Idithum (Jeduthun); and besides these there are others that belong to the sons of Core (Korah), and even to Moses. As they are therefore the words of so many thus collected together, they could not be said by any one who understands the matter to be by David alone.

2. As regards those which have no inscription, we must also inquire to whom we ought to ascribe them. For why is it that even the simplest inscription is wanting in them—such as the one which runs thus, “A psalm of David,” or “Of David,” without any addition? Now, my idea is, that wherever this inscription occurs alone, what is written is neither a psalm nor a song, but some sort of utterance under guidance of the Holy Spirit, recorded for the behoof of him who is able to understand it. But the opinion of a certain Hebrew on these last matters has reached me, who held that, when there were many without any inscription, but preceded by one with the inscription “Of David,” all these should be reckoned also to be by David. And if this be the case, it follows that those without any inscription are by those (writers) who are rightly reckoned, according to the titles, to be the authors of the psalms preceding these. This book of Psalms before us has also been called by the prophet the “Psalter,” because, as they say, the psaltery alone among musical instruments gives back the sound from above when the brass is struck, and not from beneath, after the manner of others. In order, therefore, that those who understand it may be zealous to carry out the analogy of such an appellation, and may also look above, from which direction its melody comes—for this reason he has styled it the Psalter. For it is entirely the voice and utterance of the most Holy Spirit.

3. Let us inquire, further, why there are one hundred and fifty psalms. That the number fifty is sacred, is manifest from the days of the celebrated festival of Pentecost, which indicates release from labours, and (the possession of) joy. For which reason neither fasting nor bending the knee is decreed for those days.[2] For this is a symbol of the great assembly that is reserved for future times. Of which times there was a shadow in the land of Israel in the year called among the Hebrews “Jobel” (Jubilee), which is the fiftieth year in number, and brings with it liberty for the slave, and release from debt, and the like. And the holy Gospel knows also the remission of the number fifty, and of that number which is cognate with it, and stands by it, viz., five hundred;[3] for it is not without a purpose that we have given us there the remission of fifty pence and of five hundred. Thus, then, it was also meet that the hymns to God on account of the destruction of enemies, and in thanksgiving for the goodness of God, should contain not simply one set of fifty, but three such, for the name of Father, and Son, and Holy Spirit.

4. The number fifty, moreover, contains seven sevens, or a Sabbath of Sabbaths; and also over and above these full Sabbaths, a new beginning, in the eight, of a really new rest that remains above the Sabbaths. And let any one who is able, observe this (as it is carried out) in the Psalms with more, indeed, than human accuracy, so as to find out the reasons in each case, as we shall set them forth. Thus, for instance, it is not without a purpose that the eighth psalm has the inscription, “On the wine-presses,” as it comprehends the perfection of fruits in the eight; for the time for the enjoyment of the fruits of the true vine could not be before the eight. And again, the second psalm inscribed “On the wine-presses,” is the eightieth, containing another eighth number, viz., in the tenth multiple. The eighty-third, again, is made up by the union of two holy numbers, viz., the eight in the tenth multiple, and the three in the first multiple. And the fiftieth psalm is a prayer for the remission of sins, and a confession. For as, according to the Gospel, the fiftieth obtained remission, confirming thereby that understanding of the jubilee, so he who offers up such petitions in full confession hopes to gain remission in no other number than the fiftieth. And again, there are also certain others which are called “Songs of degrees,” in number fifteen, as was also the number of the steps of the temple, and which show thereby, perhaps, that the “steps” (or “degrees”) are comprehended within the number seven and the number eight. And these songs of degrees begin after the one hundred and twentieth psalm, which is called simply “a psalm,” as the more accurate copies give it. And this is the number[4] of the perfection of the life of man. And the hundredth[5] psalm, which begins thus, “I will sing of mercy and judgment, O Lord,” embraces the life of the saint in fellowship with God. And the one hundred and fiftieth ends with these words, “Let every thing that hath breath praise the Lord.”

5. But since, as we have already said, to do this in the case of each, and to find out the reasons, is very difficult, and too much for human nature to accomplish, we shall content ourselves with these things by way of an outline. Only let us add this, that the psalms which deal with historical matter are not found in regular historical order. And the only reason for this is to be found in the numbers according to which the psalms are arranged. For instance, the history in the fifty-first is antecedent to the history in the fiftieth. For everybody acknowledges that the matter of Doeg the Idumean calumniating David to Saul is antecedent to the sin with the wife of Urias; yet it is not without good reason that the history which should be second is placed first, since, as we have before said, the place regarding remission has an affinity with the number fifty. He, therefore, who is not worthy of remission, passes the number fifty, as Doeg the Idumean. For the fifty-first is the psalm that treats of him. And, moreover, the third is in the same position, since it was written when David fled from the face of Absalom his son; and thus, as all know who read the books of Kings, it should come properly after the fifty-first and the fiftieth.

And if any one desires to give further attention to these and such like matters, he will find more exact explanations of the history for himself, as well as of the inscriptions and the order of the psalms.

6. It is likely, also, that a similar account is to be given of the fact, that David alone of the prophets prophesied with an instrument, called by the Greeks the “psaltery,”[6] and by the Hebrews the “nabla,” which is the only musical instrument that is quite straight, and has no curve. And the sound does not come from the lower parts, as is the case with the lute and certain other instruments, but from the upper. For in the lute and the lyre the brass when struck gives back the sound from beneath. But this psaltery has the source of its musical numbers above, in order that we, too, may practise seeking things above, and not suffer ourselves to be borne down by the pleasure of melody to the passions of the flesh. And I think that this truth, too, was signified deeply and clearly to us in a prophetic way in the construction of the instrument, viz., that those who have souls well ordered and trained, have the way ready to things above. And again, an instrument having the source of its melodious sound in its upper parts, may be taken as like the body of Christ and His saints—the only instrument that maintains rectitude; “for He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.”[7] This is indeed an instrument, harmonious, melodious, well-ordered, that took in no human discord, and did nothing out of measure, but maintained in all things, as it were, harmony towards the Father; for, as He says: “He that is of the earth is earthly, and speaketh of the earth: He that cometh from heaven, testifies of what He has seen and heard.”[8]

7. As there are “psalms,” and “songs,” and “psalms of song,” and “songs of psalmody,”[9] it remains that we discuss the difference between these. We think, then, that the “psalms” are those which are simply played to an instrument, without the accompaniment of the voice, and (which are composed) for the musical melody of the instrument; and that those are called “songs” which are rendered by the voice in concert with the music; and that they are called “psalms of song” when the voice takes the lead, while the appropriate sound is also made to accompany it, rendered harmoniously by the instruments; and “songs of psalmody,” when the instrument takes the lead, while the voice has the second place, and accompanies the music of the strings. And thus much as to the letter of what is signified by these terms. But as to the mystical interpretation, it would be a “psalm” when, by smiting the instrument, viz., the body, with good deeds we succeed in good action though not wholly proficient in speculation; and a “song,” when, by revolving the mysteries of the truth, apart from the practical, and assenting fully to them, we have the noblest thoughts of God and His oracles, while knowledge enlightens us, and wisdom shines brightly in our souls; and a “song of psalmody,” when, while good action takes the lead, according to the word, “If thou desire wisdom, keep the commandments, and the Lord shall give her unto thee,”[10] we understand wisdom at the same time, and are deemed worthy by God to know the truth of things, till now kept hid from us; and a “psalm of song,” when, by revolving with the light of wisdom some of the more abstruse questions pertaining to morals, we first become prudent in action, and then also able to tell what, and when, and how action is to be taken. And perhaps this is the reason why the first inscriptions nowhere contain the word “songs,” but only “psalm” or “psalms;” for the saint does not begin with speculation; but when he has become in a simple way a believer, according to orthodoxy, he devotes himself to the actions that are to be done. For this reason, also, are there many “songs” at the end; and wherever there is the word “degrees,” there we do not find the word “psalm,” whether by itself alone or with any addition, but only “songs.” For in the “degrees” (or “ascents”), the saints will be engaged in nothing but in speculation alone. And let the account which we have offered, following the indications given in the interpretation of the Seventy, suffice for this subject in general.

8. But again, as we found in the Seventy, and in Theodotion, and in Symmachus, in some psalms, and these not a few, the word διάψαλμα inserted,[11] we endeavoured to make out whether those who placed it there meant to mark a change at those places in rhythm or melody, or any alteration in the mode of instruction, or in thought, or in force of language. It is found, however, neither in Aquila nor in the Hebrew; but there, instead of διάψαλμα (= an intervening musical symphony), we find the word ἀεί (= ever). And further, let not this fact escape thee, O man of learning, that the Hebrews also divided the Psalter into five books, so that it might be another Pentateuch. For from Ps. 1. to xl. they reckoned one book; and from xli. to lxxi. they reckoned a second; and from lxxii. to lxxxviii. they counted a third book; and from lxxxix. to cv. a fourth; and from cvi. to cl. they made up the fifth. For they judged that each psalm closing with the words, “Blessed be the Lord, Amen, amen,” formed the conclusion of a book. And in them we have “prayer,” viz., supplication offered to God for anything requisite; and the “vow,” i.e., engagement; and the “hymn,” which is the song of blessing to God for benefits enjoyed; and “praise” or “extolling,” which is the laudation of the wonders of God. For laudation is nothing else but just the superlative of praise.

9. However it may be with the “time when and the manner” in which this idea of the Psalms has hit upon by the inspired David, he at least seems to have been the first, and indeed the only one, concerned in it, and that, too, at the earliest period, when he taught his fingers to tune the psaltery. For if any other before him showed the use of the psaltery and lute, it was at any rate in a very different way that such an one did it, only putting together some rude and clumsy contrivance, or simply employing the instrument, without singing either to melody or to words, but only amusing himself with a rude sort of pleasure. But after such he was the first to reduce the affair to rhythm, and order, and art, and also to wed the singing of the song with the melody. And, what is of greater importance, this most inspired of men sang to God, or of God, beginning in this wise even at the period when he was among the shepherds and youths in a simpler and humbler style, and afterwards when he became a man and a king, attempting something loftier and of more public interest. And he is said to have made this advance, especially after he had brought back the ark into the city. At that time he often danced before the ark, and often sang songs of thanksgiving and songs to celebrate its recovery. And then by and by, allocating the whole tribe of the Levites to the duty, he appointed four leaders of the choirs, viz., Asaph, Aman (Heman), Ethan, and Idithum (Jeduthun), inasmuch as there are also in all things visible four primal principles. And he then formed choirs of men, selected from the rest. And he fixed their number at seventy-two, having respect, I think, to the number of the tongues that were confused, or rather divided, at the time of the building of the tower. And what was typified by this, but that hereafter all tongues shall again unite in one common confession, when the Word takes possession of the whole world?

[1] That is an attempt to express in Greek letters the Hebrew title, viz., סֵפֶר תְּהִלָּס = Book of Praises

[2] [See vol. iii. pp. 94, 103.]

[3] Luke 7:41. [Dan. 8:13, (Margin.) “Palmoni,” etc.]

[4] Gen. 6:3.

[5] i.e., in our version the 101st.

[6] [See learned remarks of Pusey, p. 27 of his Lectures on Daniel.]

[7] Isa. 53:9. [Vol. i. cap. iv. p. 50.]

[8] John 3:31.

[9] The Greek is: ὄντων ψαλμῶν, καὶ οὐσῶν ᾠδῶν, καὶ ψαλμῶν ᾠδῆς, καὶ ᾠδῶν ψαλμοῦ.

[10] Ecclus. 1:26.

[11] [Our author throws no great light on this vexed word, but the article Selah in Smith’s Dict. of the Bible is truly valuable.]

On Psalm 31. 22. Of the Triumph of the Christian Faith

Other Fragments on the Psalms. De Magistris, Acta Martyrum Ostien., p. 256.

II.

The mercy of God is not so “marvellous” when it is shown in humbler cities as when it is shown in “a strong city,”[1] and for this reason “God is to be blessed.”

[1] The allusion probably is to the seat of imperial power itself.

On Psalm 55. 15

III.

One of old used to say that those only descend alive into Hades who are instructed in the knowledge of things divine; for he who has not tasted of the words of life is dead.

On Psalm 58. 11

IV.

But since there is a time when the righteous shall rejoice, and sinners shall meet the end foretold for them, we must with all reason fully acknowledge and declare that God is inspector and overseer of all that is done among men, and judges all who dwell upon earth. It is proper further to inquire whether the prophecy in hand, which quite corresponds and fits in with those preceding it, may describe the end.

When Hippolytus dictated these words,[1]the grammarian asked him why he hesitated about that prophecy, as if he mistrusted the divine power in that calamity of exile.

The learned man calls attention to the question why the word διαγράφῃ (= may describe) was used by me in the subjunctive mood, as if silently indicating doubt.

Hippolytus accordingly replied:—

You know indeed quite well, that words of that form are used as conveying by implication a rebuke to those who study the prophecies about Christ, and talk righteousness with the mouth, while they do not admit His coming, nor listen to His voice when He calls to them, and says, “He that hath ears to hear let him hear;” who have made themselves like the serpent and have made their ears like those of a deaf viper, and so forth. God then does, in truth, take care of the righteous, and judges their cause when injured on the earth; and He punishes those who dare to injure them.

[1] He is addressing his amanuensis, a man not without learning, as it seems. Hippolytus dictates these words.

On Psalm 59. 11. Concerning the Jews

V.

For this reason, even up to our day, though they see the boundaries (of their country), and go round about them, they stand afar off. And therefore have they no longer king or high priest or prophet, nor even scribes and Pharisees and Sadducees among them. He does not, however, say that they are to be cut off; wherefore their race still subsists, and the succession of their children is continued. For they have not been cut off nor consumed from among men—but they are and exist still—yet only as those who have been rejected and cast down from the honour of which of old they were deemed worthy by God. But again, “Scatter them,” he says, “by Thy power;” which word has also come to pass. For they are scattered throughout the whole earth, in servitude everywhere, and engaging in the lowest and most servile occupations, and doing any unseemly work for hunger’s sake.

For if they were destroyed from among men, and remained nowhere among the living, they could not see my people, he means, nor know my Church in its prosperity. Therefore “scatter” them everywhere on earth, where my Church is to be established, in order that when they see the Church founded by me, they may be roused to emulate it in piety. And these things did the Saviour also ask on their behalf.

On Psalm 62. 6

VI.

Aliens (μετανάσται) properly so called are those who have been despoiled by some enemies or adversaries, and have then become wanderers; a thing which we indeed also endured formerly at the hand of the demons. But from the time that Christ took us up by faith in Him, we are no longer aliens from the true country—the Jerusalem which is above—nor have we to bear alienation in error from the truth.

On Psalm 68. 18. Of the Enlargement of the Church

VII.

And the unbelieving, too, He sometimes draws by means of sickness and outward circumstances; yea, many also by means of visions have come to make their abode with Jesus.

On Psalm 89. 4. Of the Gentiles

VIII.

And around us are the wise men of the Greeks mocking and jeering us, as those who believe without inquiry, and foolishly.

On the Words in Psalm 96. 11: “Let the Sea Roar (Be Moved), and the Fulness Thereof.”

IX.

By these words it is signified that the preaching of the Gospel will be spread abroad over the seas and the islands in the ocean, and among the people dwelling therein, who are here called “the fulness thereof.” And that word has been made good. For churches of Christ fill all the islands, and are being multiplied every day, and the teaching of the Word of salvation is gaining accessions.

On Psalm 119. 30-32

X.

He who loves truth, and never utters a false word with his mouth, may say, “I have chosen the way of truth.” Moreover, he who always sets the judgments of God before his eyes, and remembers them in every action, will say, “Thy judgments have I not forgotten.” And how is our heart enlarged by trials and afflictions! For these pluck out the thorns of anxious thoughts within us, and enlarge the heart for the reception of the divine laws. For, says he, “in affliction Thou hast enlarged me.” Then do we walk in the way of God’s commandments, well prepared for it by the endurance of trials.

On the Words in Psalm 127. 7: ”On the Wrath of Mine Enemies.” Etc

XI.

Hast thou[1] seen that the power (of God) is most mighty on every side? For (says he) Thou wilt be able to save me when in the midst of troubles, and to keep them in check when they rage, and rave, and breathe fire.

[1] To his amanuensis.

On the Words in Psalm 139. 15: “My Substance or (Bones) Was Not Hid From Thee, Which Thou Madest in Secret.”

XII.

It is said also by those who treat of the nature and generation of animals, that the change of the blood into bone is something invisible and intangible, although in the case of other parts, I mean the flesh and nerves, the mode of their formation may be seen. And the Scripture also, in Ecclesiastes, adduces this, saying, “As thou knowest not the bones in the womb of her that is with child, so thou shalt not know the works of God.”[1] But from Thee was not hid even my substance, as it was originally in the lowest parts of the earth.

[1] Eccles. 11:5.

Dogmatical and Historical.

Treatise on Christ and Antichrist

Part II.—Dogmatical and Historical.

1. As it was your desire, my beloved brother Theophilus,[1] to be thoroughly informed on those topics which I put summarily before you, I have thought it right to set these matters of inquiry clearly forth to your view, drawing largely from the Holy Scriptures themselves as from a holy fountain, in order that you may not only have the pleasure of hearing them on the testimony of men,[2] but may also be able, by surveying them in the light of (divine) authority, to glorify God in all. For this will be as a sure supply furnished you by us for your journey in this present life, so that by ready argument applying things ill understood and apprehended by most, you may sow them in the ground of your heart, as in a rich and clean soil.[3] By these, too, you will be able to silence those who oppose and gainsay the word of salvation. Only see that you do not give these things over to unbelieving and blasphemous tongues, for that is no common danger. But impart them to pious and faithful men, who desire to live holily and righteously with fear. For it is not to no purpose that the blessed apostle exhorts Timothy, and says, “O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called; which some professing have erred concerning the faith.”[4] And again, “Thou therefore, my son, be strong in the grace that is in Christ Jesus. And the things that thou hast heard of me in many exhortations, the same commit thou to faithful men,[5] who shall be able to teach others also.”[6] If, then, the blessed (apostle) delivered these things with a pious caution, which could be easily known by all, as he perceived in the spirit that “all men have not faith,”[7] how much greater will be our danger, if, rashly and without thought, we commit the revelations of God to profane and unworthy men?

2. For as the blessed prophets were made, so to speak, eyes for us, they foresaw through faith the mysteries of the word, and became ministers of these[8] things also to succeeding generations, not only reporting the past, but also announcing the present and the future, so that the prophet might not appear to be one only for the time being, but might also predict the future for all generations, and so be reckoned a (true) prophet. For these fathers were furnished with the Spirit, and largely honoured by the Word Himself; and just as it is with instruments of music, so had they the Word always, like the plectrum,[9] in union with them, and when moved by Him the prophets announced what God willed. For they spake not of their own power[10] (let there be no mistake as to that[11]), neither did they declare what pleased themselves. But first of all they were endowed with wisdom by the Word, and then again were rightly instructed in the future by means of visions. And then, when thus themselves fully convinced, they spake those things which[12] were revealed by God to them alone, and concealed from all others. For with what reason should the prophet be called a prophet, unless he in spirit foresaw the future? For if the prophet spake of any chance event, he would not be a prophet then in speaking of things which were under the eye of all. But one who sets forth in detail things yet to be, was rightly judged a prophet. Wherefore prophets were with good reason called from the very first “seers.”[13] And hence we, too, who are rightly instructed in what was declared aforetime by them, speak not of our own capacity. For we do not attempt to make any change one way or another among ourselves in the words that were spoken of old by them, but we make the Scriptures in which these are written public, and read them to those who can believe rightly; for that is a common benefit for both parties: for him who speaks, in holding in memory and setting forth correctly things uttered of old;[14] and for him who hears, in giving attention to the things spoken. Since, then, in this there is a work assigned to both parties together, viz., to him who speaks, that he speak forth faithfully without regard to risk,[15] and to him who hears, that he hear and receive in faith that which is spoken, I beseech you to strive together with me in prayer to God.

3. Do you wish then to know in what manner the Word of God, who was again the Son of God,[16] as He was of old the Word, communicated His revelations to the blessed prophets in former times? Well, as the Word shows His compassion and His denial of all respect of persons by all the saints, He enlightens them[17] and adapts them to that which is advantageous for us, like a skilful physician, understanding the weakness of men. And the ignorant He loves to teach, and the erring He turns again to His own true way. And by those who live by faith He is easily found; and to those of pure eye and holy heart, who desire to knock at the door, He opens immediately. For He casts away none of His servants as unworthy of the divine mysteries. He does not esteem the rich man more highly than the poor, nor does He despise the poor man for his poverty. He does not disdain the barbarian, nor does He set the eunuch aside as no man.[18] He does not hate the female on account of the woman’s act of disobedience in the beginning, nor does He reject the male on account of the man’s transgression. But He seeks all, and desires to save all, wishing to make all the children of God, and calling all the saints unto one perfect man. For there is also one Son (or Servant) of God, by whom we too, receiving the regeneration through the Holy Spirit, desire to come all unto one perfect and heavenly man.[19]

4. For whereas the Word of God was without flesh,[20] He took upon Himself the holy flesh by the holy Virgin, and prepared a robe which He wove for Himself, like a bridegroom, in the sufferings of the cross, in order that by uniting His own power with our mortal body, and by mixing[21] the incorruptible with the corruptible, and the strong with the weak, He might save perishing man. The web-beam, therefore, is the passion of the Lord upon the cross, and the warp on it is the power of the Holy Spirit, and the woof is the holy flesh wrought (woven) by the Spirit, and the thread is the grace which by the love of Christ binds and unites the two in one, and the combs or (rods) are the Word; and the workers are the patriarchs and prophets who weave the fair, long, perfect tunic for Christ; and the Word passing through these, like the combs or (rods), completes through them that which His Father willeth.[22]

5. But as time now presses for the consideration of the question immediately in hand, and as what has been already said in the introduction with regard to the glory of God, may suffice, it is proper that we take the Holy Scriptures themselves in hand, and find out from them what, and of what manner, the coming of Antichrist is; on what occasion and at what time that impious one shall be revealed; and whence and from what tribe (he shall come); and what his name is, which is indicated by the number in the Scripture; and how he shall work error among the people, gathering them from the ends of the earth; and (how) he shall stir up tribulation and persecution against the saints; and how he shall glorify himself as God; and what his end shall be; and how the sudden appearing of the Lord shall be revealed from heaven; and what the conflagration of the whole world shall be; and what the glorious and heavenly kingdom of the saints is to be, when they reign together with Christ; and what the punishment of the wicked by fire.

6. Now, as our Lord Jesus Christ, who is also God, was prophesied of under the figure of a lion,[23] on account of His royalty and glory, in the same way have the Scriptures also aforetime spoken of Antichrist as a lion, on account of his tyranny and violence. For the deceiver seeks to liken himself in all things to the Son of God. Christ is a lion, so Antichrist is also a lion; Christ is a king,[24] so Antichrist is also a king. The Saviour was manifested as a lamb;[25] so he too, in like manner, will appear as a lamb, though within he is a wolf. The Saviour came into the world in the circumcision, and he will come in the same manner. The Lord sent apostles among all the nations, and he in like manner will send false apostles. The Saviour gathered together the sheep that were scattered abroad,[26] and he in like manner will bring together a people that is scattered abroad. The Lord gave a seal to those who believed on Him, and he will give one in like manner. The Saviour appeared in the form of man, and he too will come in the form of a man. The Saviour raised up and showed His holy flesh like a temple,[27] and he will raise a temple of stone in Jerusalem. And his seductive arts we shall exhibit in what follows. But for the present let us turn to the question in hand.

7. Now the blessed Jacob speaks to the following effect in his benedictions, testifying prophetically of our Lord and Saviour: “Judah, let thy brethren praise thee: thy hand shall be on the neck of thine enemies; thy father’s children shall bow down before thee. Judah is a lion’s whelp: from the shoot, my son, thou art gone up: he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lion’s whelp; who shall rouse him up? A ruler shall not depart from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he come for whom it is reserved; and he shall be the expectation of the nations. Binding his ass to a vine, and his ass’s colt to the vine tendril; he shall wash his garment in wine, and his clothes in the blood of the grapes. His eyes shall be gladsome as with wine, and his teeth shall be whiter than milk.”[28]

8. Knowing, then, as I do, how to explain these things in detail, I deem it right at present to quote the words themselves. But since the expressions themselves urge us to speak of them. I shall not omit to do so. For these are truly divine and glorious things, and things well calculated to benefit the soul. The prophet, in using the expression, a lion’s whelp, means him who sprang from Judah and David according to the flesh, who was not made indeed of the seed of David, but was conceived by the (power of the) Holy Ghost, and came forth[29] from the holy shoot of earth. For Isaiah says, “There shall come forth a rod out of the root of Jesse, and a flower shall grow up out of it.”[30] That which is called by Isaiah a flower, Jacob calls a shoot. For first he shot forth, and then he flourished in the world. And the expression, “he stooped down, he couched as a lion, and as a lion’s whelp,” refers to the three days’ sleep (death, couching) of Christ; as also Isaiah says, “How is faithful Sion become an harlot! it was full of judgment; in which righteousness lodged (couched); but now murderers.”[31] And David says to the same effect, “I laid me down (couched) and slept; I awaked: for the Lord will sustain me;”[32] in which words he points to the fact of his sleep and rising again. And Jacob says, “Who shall rouse him up?” And that is just what David and Paul both refer to, as when Paul says, “and God the Father, who raised Him from the dead.”[33]

9. And in saying, “A ruler shall not depart from Judah, nor a leader from his thighs, until he come for whom it is reserved; and he shall be the expectation of the nations,” he referred the fulfilment (of that prophecy) to Christ. For He is our expectation. For we expect Him, (and) by faith we behold Him as He comes from heaven with power.

10. “Binding his ass to a vine:” that means that He unites His people of the circumcision with His own calling (vocation). For He was the vine.[34] “And his ass’s colt to the vine-tendril:” that denotes the people of the Gentiles, as He calls the circumcision and the uncircumcision unto one faith.

11. “He shall wash his garment in wine,” that is, according to that voice of His Father which came down by the Holy Ghost at the Jordan.[35] “And his clothes in the blood of the grape.” In the blood of what grape, then, but just His own flesh, which hung upon the tree like a cluster of grapes?—from whose side also flowed two streams, of blood and water, in which the nations are washed and purified, which (nations) He may be supposed to have as a robe about Him.[36]

12. “His eyes gladsome with wine.” And what are the eyes of Christ but the blessed prophets, who foresaw in the Spirit, and announced beforehand, the sufferings that were to befall Him, and rejoiced in seeing Him in power with spiritual eyes, being furnished (for their vocation) by the word Himself and His grace?

13. And in saying, “And his teeth (shall be) whiter than milk,” he referred to the commandments that proceed from the holy mouth of Christ, and which are pure (purify) as milk.

14. Thus did the Scriptures preach before-time of this lion and lion’s whelp. And in like manner also we find it written regarding Antichrist. For Moses speaks thus: “Dan is a lion’s whelp, and he shall leap from Bashan.”[37] But that no one may err by supposing that this is said of the Saviour, let him attend carefully to the matter. “Dan,” he says, “is a lion’s whelp;” and in naming the tribe of Dan, he declared clearly the tribe from which Antichrist is destined to spring. For as Christ springs from the tribe of Judah, so Antichrist is to spring from the tribe of Dan.[38] And that the case stands thus, we see also from the words of Jacob: “Let Dan be a serpent, lying upon the ground, biting the horse’s heel.”[39] What, then, is meant by the serpent but Antichrist, that deceiver who is mentioned in Genesis,[40] who deceived Eve and supplanted Adam (πτερνίσας, bruised Adam’s heel)? But since it is necessary to prove this assertion by sufficient testimony, we shall not shrink from the task.

15. That it is in reality out of the tribe of Dan, then, that that tyrant and king, that dread judge, that son of the devil, is destined to spring and arise, the prophet testifies when he says, “Dan shall judge his people, as (he is) also one tribe in Israel.”[41] But some one may say that this refers to Samson, who sprang from the tribe of Dan, and judged the people twenty years. Well, the prophecy had its partial fulfilment in Samson, but its complete fulfilment is reserved for Antichrist. For Jeremiah also speaks to this effect: “From Dan we are to hear the sound of the swiftness of his horses: the whole land trembled at the sound of the neighing, of the driving of his horses.”[42] And another prophet says: “He shall gather together all his strength, from the east even to the west. They whom he calls, and they whom he calls not, shall go with him. He shall make the sea white with the sails of his ships, and the plain black with the shields of his armaments. And whosoever shall oppose him in war shall fall by the sword.”[43] That these things, then, are said of no one else but that tyrant, and shameless one, and adversary of God, we shall show in what follows.

16. But Isaiah also speaks thus: “And it shall come to pass, that when the Lord hath performed His whole work upon Mount Zion and on Jerusalem, He will punish (visit) the stout mind, the king of Assyria, and the greatness (height) of the glory of his eyes. For he said, By my strength will I do it, and by the wisdom of my understanding I will remove the bounds of the peoples, and will rob them of their strength: and I will make the inhabited cities tremble, and will gather the whole world in my hand like a nest, and I will lift it up like eggs that are left. And there is no one that shall escape or gainsay me, and open the mouth and chatter. Shall the axe boast itself without him that heweth therewith? or shall the saw magnify itself without him that shaketh (draweth) it? As if one should raise a rod or a staff, and the staff should lift itself up: and not thus. But the Lord shall send dishonour unto thy honour; and into thy glory a burning fire shall burn. And the light of Israel shall be a fire, and shall sanctify him in flame, and shall consume the forest like grass.”[44]

17. And again he says in another place: “How hath the exactor ceased, and how hath the oppressor ceased![45] God hath broken the yoke of the rulers of sinners, He who smote the people in wrath, and with an incurable stroke: He that strikes the people with an incurable stroke, which He did not spare. He ceased (rested) confidently: the whole earth shouts with rejoicing. The trees of Lebanon rejoiced at thee, and the cedar of Lebanon, (saying), Since thou art laid down, no feller is come up against us. Hell from beneath is moved at meeting thee: all the mighty ones, the rulers of the earth, are gathered together—the lords from their thrones. All the kings of the nations, all they shall answer together, and shall say, And thou, too, art taken as we; and thou art reckoned among us. Thy pomp is brought down to earth, thy great rejoicing: they will spread decay under thee; and the worm shall be thy covering.[46] How art thou fallen from heaven, O Lucifer, son of the morning![47] He is cast down to the ground who sends off to all the nations. And thou didst say in thy mind, I will ascend into heaven, I will set my throne above the stars of heaven: I will sit down upon the lofty mountains towards the north: I will ascend above the clouds: I will be like the Most High. Yet now thou shalt be brought down to hell, and to the foundations of the earth! They that see thee shall wonder at thee, and shall say, This is the man that excited the earth, that did shake kings, that made the whole world a wilderness, and destroyed the cities, that released not those in prison.[48] All the kings of the earth did lie in honour, every one in his own house; but thou shalt be cast out on the mountains like a loathsome carcase, with many who fall, pierced through with the sword, and going down to hell. As a garment stained with blood is not pure, so neither shalt thou be comely (or clean); because thou hast destroyed my land, and slain my people. Thou shalt not abide, enduring for ever, a wicked seed. Prepare thy children for slaughter, for the sins of thy father, that they rise not, neither possess my land.”[49]

18. Ezekiel also speaks of him to the same effect, thus: “Thus saith the Lord God, Because thine heart is lifted up, and thou hast said, I am God, I sit in the seat of God, in the midst of the sea; yet art thou a man, and not God, (though) thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God. Art thou wiser than Daniel? Have the wise not instructed thee in their wisdom? With thy wisdom or with thine understanding hast thou gotten thee power, and gold and silver in thy treasures? By thy great wisdom and by thy traffic[50] hast thou increased thy power? Thy heart is lifted up in thy power. Therefore thus saith the Lord God: Because thou hast set thine heart as the heart of God: behold, therefore I will bring strangers[51] upon thee, plagues from the nations: and they shall draw their swords against thee, and against the beauty of thy wisdom; and they shall level thy beauty to destruction; and they shall bring thee down; and thou shalt die by the death of the wounded in the midst of the sea. Wilt thou yet say before them that slay thee, I am God? But thou art a man, and no God, in the hand of them that wound thee. Thou shalt die the deaths of the uncircumcised by the hand of strangers: for I have spoken it, saith the Lord.”[52]

19. These words then being thus presented, let us observe somewhat in detail what Daniel says in his visions. For in distinguishing the kingdoms that are to rise after these things, he showed also the coming of Antichrist in the last times, and the consummation of the whole world. In expounding the vision of Nebuchadnezzar, then, he speaks thus: “Thou, O king, sawest, and behold a great image standing before thy face: the head of which was of fine gold, its arms and shoulders of silver, its belly and its thighs of brass, and its legs of iron, (and) its feet part of iron and part of clay. Thou sawest, then, till that a stone was cut out without hands, and smote the image upon the feet that were of iron and clay, and brake them to an end. Then were the clay, the iron, the brass, the silver, (and) the gold broken, and became like the chaff from the summer threshing-floor; and the strength (fulness) of the wind carried them away, and there was no place found for them. And the stone that smote the image became a great mountain, and filled the whole earth.”[53]

20. Now if we set Daniel’s own visions also side by side with this, we shall have one exposition to give of the two together, and shall (be able to) show how concordant with each other they are, and how true. For he speaks thus: “I Daniel saw, and behold the four winds of the heaven strove upon the great sea. And four great beasts came up from the sea, diverse one from another. The first (was) like a lioness, and had wings as of an eagle. I beheld till the wings thereof were plucked, and it was lifted up from the earth, and made stand upon the feet as a man, and a man’s heart was given to it. And behold a second beast like to a bear, and it was made stand on one part, and it had three ribs in the mouth of it.[54] I beheld, and lo a beast like a leopard, and it had upon the back of it four wings of a fowl, and the beast had four heads. After this I saw, and behold a fourth beast, dreadful and terrible, and strong exceedingly; it had iron teeth and claws of brass,[55] which devoured and brake in pieces, and it stamped the residue with the feet of it; and it was diverse from all the beasts that were before it, and it had ten horns. I considered its horns, and behold there came up among them another little horn, and before it there were three of the first horns plucked up by the roots; and behold in this horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things.”[56]

21. “I beheld till the thrones were set, and the Ancient of days did sit: and His garment was white as snow, and the hair of His head like pure wool: His throne was a flame of fire, His wheels were a burning fire. A stream of fire flowed before Him. Thousand thousands ministered unto Him, and ten thousand times ten thousand stood around Him: the judgment was set, and the books were opened. I beheld then, because of the voice of the great words which the horn spake, till the beast was slain and perished, and his body given to the burning of fire. And the dominion of the other beasts was taken away.”[57]

22. “I saw in the night vision, and, behold, one like the Son of man was coming with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and was brought near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and honour, and the kingdom; and all peoples, tribes, and tongues shall serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed.”[58]

23. Now since these things, spoken as they are with a mystical meaning, may seem to some hard to understand, we shall keep back nothing fitted to impart an intelligent apprehension of them to those who are possessed of a sound mind. He said, then, that a “lioness came up from the sea,” and by that he meant the kingdom of the Babylonians in the world, which also was the head of gold on the image. In saying that “it had wings as of an eagle,” he meant that Nebuchadnezzar the king was lifted up and was exalted against God. Then he says, “the wings thereof were plucked,” that is to say, his glory was destroyed; for he was driven out of his kingdom. And the words, “a man’s heart was given to it, and it was made stand upon the feet as a man,” refer to the fact that he repented and recognised himself to be only a man, and gave the glory to God.

24. Then, after the lioness, he sees a “second beast like a bear,” and that denoted the Persians. For after the Babylonians, the Persians held the sovereign power. And in saying that there were “three ribs in the mouth of it,” he pointed to three nations, viz., the Persians, and the Medes, and the Babylonians; which were also represented on the image by the silver after the gold. Then (there was) “the third beast, a leopard,” which meant the Greeks. For after the Persians, Alexander of Macedon obtained the sovereign power on subverting Darius, as is also shown by the brass on the image. And in saying that it had “four wings of a fowl,” he taught us most clearly how the kingdom of Alexander was partitioned. For in speaking of “four heads,” he made mention of four kings, viz., those who arose out of that (kingdom).[59] For Alexander, when dying, partitioned out his kingdom into four divisions.

25. Then he says: “A fourth beast, dreadful and terrible; it had iron teeth and claws of brass.” And who are these but the Romans? which (kingdom) is meant by the iron—the kingdom which is now established; for the legs of that (image) were of iron. And after this, what remains, beloved, but the toes of the feet of the image, in which part is iron and part clay, mixed together? And mystically by the toes of the feet he meant the kings who are to arise from among them; as Daniel also says (in the words), “I considered the beast, and lo there were ten horns behind it, among which shall rise another (horn), an offshoot, and shall pluck up by the roots the three (that were) before it.” And under this was signified none other than Antichrist, who is also himself to raise the kingdom of the Jews. He says that three horns are plucked up by the root by him, viz., the three kings of Egypt, and Libya, and Ethiopia, whom he cuts off in the array of battle. And he, after gaining terrible power over all, being nevertheless a tyrant,[60] shall stir up tribulation and persecution against men, exalting himself against them. For Daniel says: “I considered the horn, and behold that horn made war with the saints, and prevailed against them, till the beast was slain and perished, and its body was given to the burning of fire.”[61]

26. After a little space the stone[62] will come from heaven which smites the image and breaks it in pieces, and subverts all the kingdoms, and gives the kingdom to the saints of the Most High. This is the stone which becomes a great mountain, and fills the whole earth, of which Daniel says: “I saw in the night visions, and behold one like the Son of man came with the clouds of heaven, and came to the Ancient of days, and was brought near before Him. And there was given Him dominion, and glory, and a kingdom; and all peoples, tribes, and languages shall serve Him: and His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away, and His kingdom shall not be destroyed.”[58] He showed all power given by the Father to the Son,[63] who is ordained Lord of things in heaven, and things on earth, and things under the earth, and Judge of all:[64] of things in heaven, because He was born, the Word of God, before all (ages); and of things on earth, because He became man in the midst of men, to re-create our Adam through Himself; and of things under the earth, because He was also reckoned among the dead, preaching the Gospel to the souls of the saints,[65] (and) by death overcoming death.

27. As these things, then, are in the future, and as the ten toes of the image are equivalent to (so many) democracies,[66] and the ten horns of the fourth beast are distributed over ten kingdoms, let us look at the subject a little more closely, and consider these matters as in the clear light of a personal survey.[67]

28. The golden head of the image and the lioness denoted the Babylonians; the shoulders and arms of silver, and the bear, represented the Persians and Medes; the belly and thighs of brass, and the leopard, meant the Greeks, who held the sovereignty from Alexander’s time; the legs of iron, and the beast dreadful and terrible, expressed the Romans, who hold the sovereignty at present; the toes of the feet which were part clay and part iron, and the ten horns, were emblems of the kingdoms that are yet to rise; the other little horn that grows up among them meant the Antichrist in their midst; the stone that smites the earth and brings judgment upon the world was Christ.

29. These things, beloved, we impart to you with fear, and yet readily, on account of the love of Christ, which surpasseth all. For if the blessed prophets who preceded us did not choose to proclaim these things, though they knew them, openly and boldly, lest they should disquiet the souls of men, but recounted them mystically in parables and dark sayings, speaking thus, “Here is the mind which hath wisdom,”[68] how much greater risk shall we run in venturing to declare openly things spoken by them in obscure terms! Let us look, therefore, at the things which are to befall this unclean harlot in the last days; and (let us consider) what and what manner of tribulation is destined to visit her in the wrath of God before the judgment as an earnest of her doom.

30. Come, then, O blessed Isaiah; arise, tell us clearly what thou didst prophesy with respect to the mighty Babylon. For thou didst speak also of Jerusalem, and thy word is accomplished. For thou didst speak boldly and openly: “Your country is desolate, your cities are burned with fire; your land, strangers devour it in your presence, and it is desolate as overthrown by many strangers.[69] The daughter of Sion shall be left as a cottage in a vineyard, and as a lodge in a garden of cucumbers, as a besieged city.”[70] What then? Are not these things come to pass? Are not the things announced by thee fulfilled? Is not their country, Judea, desolate? Is not the holy place burned with fire? Are not their walls cast down? Are not their cities destroyed? Their land, do not strangers devour it? Do not the Romans rule the country? And indeed these impious people hated thee, and did saw thee asunder, and they crucified Christ. Thou art dead in the world, but thou livest in Christ.

31. Which of you, then, shall I esteem more than thee? Yet Jeremiah, too, is stoned. But if I should esteem Jeremiah most, yet Daniel too has his testimony. Daniel, I commend thee above all; yet John too gives no false witness. With how many mouths and tongues would I praise you; or rather the Word who spake in you! Ye died with Christ; and ye will live with Christ. Hear ye, and rejoice; behold the things announced by you have been fulfilled in their time. For ye saw these things yourselves first, and then ye proclaimed them to all generations. Ye ministered the oracles of God to all generations. Ye prophets were called, that ye might be able to save all. For then is one a prophet indeed, when, having announced beforetime things about to be, he can afterwards show that they have actually happened. Ye were the disciples of a good Master. These words I address to you as if alive, and with propriety. For ye hold already the crown of life and immortality which is laid up for you in heaven.[71]

32. Speak with me, O blessed Daniel. Give me full assurance, I beseech thee. Thou dost prophesy concerning the lioness in Babylon;[72] for thou wast a captive there. Thou hast unfolded the future regarding the bear; for thou wast still in the world, and didst see the things come to pass. Then thou speakest to me of the leopard; and whence canst thou know this, for thou art already gone to thy rest? Who instructed thee to announce these things, but He who formed[73] thee in (from) thy mother’s womb?[74] That is God, thou sayest. Thou hast spoken indeed, and that not falsely. The leopard has arisen; the he-goat is come; he hath smitten the ram; he hath broken his horns in pieces; he hath stamped upon him with his feet. He has been exalted by his fall; (the) four horns have come up from under that one.[75] Rejoice, blessed Daniel! thou hast not been in error: all these things have come to pass.

33. After this again thou hast told me of the beast dreadful and terrible. “It had iron teeth and claws of brass: it devoured and brake in pieces, and stamped the residue with the feet of it.”[76] Already the iron rules; already it subdues and breaks all in pieces; already it brings all the unwilling into subjection; already we see these things ourselves. Now we glorify God, being instructed by thee.

34. But as the task before us was to speak of the harlot, be thou with us, O blessed Isaiah. Let us mark what thou sayest about Babylon. “Come down, sit upon the ground, O virgin daughter of Babylon; sit, O daughter of the Chaldeans; thou shalt no longer be called tender and delicate. Take the millstone, grind meal, draw aside thy veil,[77] shave the grey hairs, make bare the legs, pass over the rivers. Thy shame shall be uncovered, thy reproach shall be seen: I will take justice of thee, I will no more give thee over to men. As for thy Redeemer, (He is) the Lord of hosts, the Holy One of Israel is his name. Sit thou in compunction, get thee into darkness, O daughter of the Chaldeans: thou shalt no longer be called the strength of the kingdom.

35. “I was wroth with my people; I have polluted mine inheritance, I have given them into thine hand: and thou didst show them no mercy; but upon the ancient (the elders) thou hast very heavily laid thy yoke. And thou saidst, I shall be a princess for ever: thou didst not lay these things to thy heart, neither didst remember thy latter end. Therefore hear now this, thou that art delicate; that sittest, that art confident, that sayest in thine heart, I am, and there is none else; I shall not sit as a widow, neither shall I know the loss of children. But now these two things shall come upon thee in one day, widowhood and the loss of children: they shall come upon thee suddenly in thy sorcery, in the strength of thine enchantments mightily, in the hope of thy fornication. For thou hast said, I am, and there is none else. And thy fornication shall be thy shame, because thou hast said in thy heart, I am. And destruction shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not know it. (And there shall be) a pit, and thou shalt fall into it; and misery shall fall upon thee, and thou shalt not be able to be made clean; and destruction shall come upon thee, and thou shalt not know it. Stand now with thy enchantments, and with the multitude of thy sorceries, which thou hast learned from thy youth; if so be thou shalt be able to be profited. Thou art wearied in thy counsels. Let the astrologers of the heavens stand and save thee; let the star-gazers announce to thee what shall come upon thee. Behold, they shall all be as sticks for the fire; so shall they be burned, and they shall not deliver their soul from the flame. Because thou hast coals of fire, sit upon them; so shall it be for thy help. Thou art wearied with change from thy youth. Man has gone astray (each one) by himself; and there shall be no salvation for thee.”[78] These things does Isaiah prophesy for thee. Let us see now whether John has spoken to the same effect.

36. For he sees, when in the isle Patmos, a revelation of awful mysteries, which he recounts freely, and makes known to others. Tell me, blessed John, apostle and disciple of the Lord, what didst thou see and hear concerning Babylon? Arise, and speak; for it sent thee also into banishment.[79] “And there came one of the seven angels which had the seven vials, and talked with me, saying unto me, Come hither; I will show unto thee the judgment of the great whore that sitteth upon many waters; with whom the kings of the earth have committed fornication, and the inhabitants of the earth have been made drunk with the wine of her fornication. And he carried me away in the spirit into the wilderness: and I saw a woman sit upon a scarlet-coloured beast, full of names of blasphemy, having seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet colour, and decked with gold, and precious stone,[80] and pearls, having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations and filthiness[81] of the fornication of the earth. Upon her forehead was a name written, Mystery, Babylon the Great, the Mother of Harlots and Abominations of the Earth.

37. “And I saw the woman drunken with the blood of the saints, and with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus: and when I saw her, I wondered with great admiration. And the angel said unto me, Wherefore didst thou marvel? I will tell thee the mystery of the woman, and of the beast that carrieth her, which hath the seven heads and the ten horns. The beast that thou sawest was, and is not; and shall ascend out of the bottomless pit, and go into perdition: and they that dwell on the earth shall wonder (whose name was not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world) when they behold the beast that was, and is not, and yet shall be.[82]

38. “And here is the mind that has wisdom. The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sitteth. And there are seven kings: five are fallen, and one is, and the other is not yet come; and when he cometh, he must continue a short space. And the beast that was and is not, (even he is the eighth,) and is of the seven, and goeth into perdition. And the ten horns which thou sawest are ten kings, which have received no kingdom as yet; but receive power as kings one hour with the beast. These have one mind, and shall give their power and strength unto the beast. These shall make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb shall overcome them: for he is Lord of lords, and King of kings; and they that are with Him are called, and chosen, and faithful.

39. “And he saith to me, The waters which thou sawest, where the whore sitteth, are peoples, and multitudes, and nations, and tongues. And the ten horns which thou sawest, and[83] the beast, these shall hate the whore, and shall make her desolate and naked, and shall eat her flesh, and burn her with fire. For God hath put in their hearts to fulfil His will, and to agree, and give their kingdom unto the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled. And the woman which thou sawest is that great city, which reigneth over the kings of the earth.

40. “After these things I saw another angel come down from heaven, having great power; and the earth was lightened with his glory. And he cried mightily[84] with a strong voice, saying, Babylon the great is fallen, is fallen, and is become the habitation of devils, and the hold of every foul spirit, and a cage of every unclean and hateful bird. For all nations have drunk of the wine of the wrath of her fornication, and the kings of the earth have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth are waxed rich through the abundance of her delicacies. And I heard another voice from heaven, saying, Come out of her, my people, that ye be not partakers of her sins, and that ye receive not of her plagues: for her sins did cleave even unto heaven,[85] and God hath remembered her iniquities.

41. “Reward her even as she rewarded (you), and double unto her double, according to her works: in the cup which she hath filled, fill to her double. How much she hath glorified herself, and lived deliciously, so much torment and sorrow give her: for she saith in her heart, I sit a queen, and am no widow, and shall see no sorrow. Therefore shall her plagues come in one day, death, and mourning, and famine; and she shall be utterly burned with fire: for strong is the Lord God who judgeth her. And the kings of the earth, who have committed fornication, and lived deliciously with her, shall bewail her, and lament for her, when they shall see the smoke of her burning, standing afar off for the fear of her torment, saying, Alas, alas! that great city Babylon, that mighty city! for in one hour is thy judgment come. And the merchants of the earth shall weep and mourn over her; for no man shall buy their merchandise[86] any more. The merchandise of gold, and silver, and precious stones, and of pearls, and fine linen, and purple, and silk, and scarlet, and all thyine wood, and all manner vessels of ivory, and all manner vessels of most precious wood, and of brass, and iron, and marble, and cinnamon, and spices,[87] and odours, and ointments, and frankincense, and wine, and oil, and fine flour, and wheat, and beasts, and sheep, and goats,[88] and horses, and chariots, and slaves (bodies), and souls of men. And the fruits that thy soul lusted after are departed from thee, and all things which were dainty and goodly have perished[89] from thee, and thou shalt find them no more at all. The merchants of these things, which were made rich[90] by her, shall stand afar off for the fear of her torment, weeping and wailing, and saying, Alas, alas! that great city, that was clothed in fine linen, and purple, and scarlet, and decked with gold, and precious stones, and pearls! for in one hour so great riches is come to nought. And every shipmaster, and all the company in ships, and sailors, and as many as trade by sea, stood afar off, and cried, when they saw the smoke of her burning, saying, What city is like unto this great city? And they cast dust on their heads, and cried, weeping and wailing, saying, Alas, alas! that great city, wherein were made rich all that had ships in the sea by reason of her fatness![91] for in one hour is she made desolate.

42. “Rejoice over her, thou heaven, and ye angels,[92] and apostles, and prophets; for God hath avenged you on her. And a mighty angel took up a stone like a great millstone, and cast it into the sea, saying, Thus with violence shall that great city Babylon be thrown down, and shall be found no more at all. And the voice of harpers and musicians, and of pipers and trumpeters, shall be heard no more at all in thee; and no craftsman, of whatsoever craft he be, shall be found any more in thee; and the sound of a millstone shall be heard no more at all in thee; and the light of a candle shall shine no more at all in thee; and the voice of the bridegroom and of the bride shall be heard no more at all in thee: for thy merchants were the great men of the earth; for by thy sorceries were all nations deceived. And in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all that were slain upon the earth.”[93]

43. With respect, then, to the particular judgment in the torments that are to come upon it in the last times by the hand of the tyrants who shall arise then, the clearest statement has been given in these passages. But it becomes us further diligently to examine and set forth the period at which these things shall come to pass, and how the little horn shall spring up in their midst. For when the legs of iron have issued in the feet and toes, according to the similitude of the image and that of the terrible beast, as has been shown in the above, (then shall be the time) when the iron and the clay shall be mingled together. Now Daniel will set forth this subject to us. For he says, “And one week will make[94] a covenant with many, and it shall be that in the midst (half) of the week my sacrifice and oblation shall cease.”[95] By one week, therefore, he meant the last week which is to be at the end of the whole world of which week the two prophets Enoch and Elias will take up the half. For they will preach 1, 260 days clothed in sackcloth, proclaiming repentance to the people and to all the nations.

44. For as two advents of our Lord and Saviour are indicated in the Scriptures, the one being His first advent in the flesh, which took place without honour by reason of His being set at nought, as Isaiah spake of Him aforetime, saying, “We saw Him, and He had no form nor comeliness, but His form was despised (and) rejected (lit. = deficient) above all men; a man smitten and familiar with bearing infirmity, (for His face was turned away); He was despised, and esteemed not.”[96] But His second advent is announced as glorious, when He shall come from heaven with the host of angels, and the glory of His Father, as the prophet saith, “Ye shall see the King in glory;”[97] and, “I saw one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven; and he came to the Ancient of days, and he was brought to Him. And there were given Him dominion, and honour, and glory, and the kingdom; all tribes and languages shall serve Him: His dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away.”[58] Thus also two forerunners were indicated. The first was John the son of Zacharias, who appeared in all things a forerunner and herald of our Saviour, preaching of the heavenly light that had appeared in the world. He first fulfilled the course of forerunner, and that from his mother’s womb, being conceived by Elisabeth, in order that to those, too, who are children from their mother’s womb he might declare the new birth that was to take place for their sakes by the Holy Ghost and the Virgin.

45. He, on hearing the salutation addressed to Elisabeth, leaped with joy in his mother’s womb, recognising God the Word conceived in the womb of the Virgin. Thereafter he came forward preaching in the wilderness, proclaiming the baptism of repentance to the people, (and thus) announcing prophetically salvation to the nations living in the wilderness of the world. After this, at the Jordan, seeing the Saviour with his own eye, he points Him out, and says, “Behold the Lamb of God, that taketh away the sin of the world!”[25] He also first preached to those in Hades,[98] becoming a forerunner there when he was put to death by Herod, that there too he might intimate that the Saviour would descend to ransom the souls of the saints from the hand of death.

46. But since the Saviour was the beginning of the resurrection of all men, it was meet that the Lord alone should rise from the dead, by whom too the judgment is to enter for the whole world, that they who have wrestled worthily may be also crowned worthily by Him, by the illustrious Arbiter, to wit, who Himself first accomplished the course, and was received into the heavens, and was set down on the right hand of God the Father, and is to be manifested again at the end of the world as Judge. It is a matter of course that His forerunners must appear first, as He says by Malachi and the angel,[99] “I will send to you Elias the Tishbite before the day of the Lord, the great and notable day, comes; and he shall turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just, lest I come and smite the earth utterly.”[100] These, then, shall come and proclaim the manifestation of Christ that is to be from heaven; and they shall also perform signs and wonders, in order that men may be put to shame and turned to repentance for their surpassing wickedness and impiety.

47. For John says, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”[101] That is the half of the week whereof Daniel spake. “These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks standing before the Lord of the earth. And if any man will hurt them, fire will proceed out of their mouth, and devour their enemies; and if any man will hurt them, he must in this manner be killed. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy; and have power over waters, to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their course and their testimony,” what saith the prophet? “the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them,”[102] because they will not give glory to Antichrist. For this is meant by the little horn that grows up. He, being now elated in heart, begins to exalt himself, and to glorify himself as God, persecuting the saints and blaspheming Christ, even as Daniel says, “I considered the horn, and, behold, in the horn were eyes like the eyes of man, and a mouth speaking great things; and he opened his mouth to blaspheme God. And that born made war against the saints, and prevailed against them until the beast was slain, and perished, and his body was given to be burned.”[103]

48. But as it is incumbent on us to discuss this matter of the beast more exactly, and in particular the question how the Holy Spirit has also mystically indicated his name by means of a number, we shall proceed to state more clearly what bears upon him. John then speaks thus: “And I beheld another beast coming up out of the earth; and he had two horns, like a lamb, and he spake as a dragon. And he exercised all the power of the first beast before him; and he made the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed. And he did great wonders, so that he maketh fire come down from heaven on the earth in the sight of men, and deceiveth them that dwell on the earth by means of those miracles which he had power to do in the sight of the beast, saying to them that dwell on the earth, that they should make an image to the beast which had the wound by a sword and did live. And he had power to give life unto the image of the beast, that the image of the beast should both speak, and cause that as many as would not worship the image of the beast should be killed. And he caused all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead; and that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of his name. Here is wisdom. Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for if is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred threescore and six.”[104]

49. By the beast, then, coming up out of the earth, he means the kingdom of Antichrist; and by the two horns he means him and the false prophet after him.[105] And in speaking of “the horns being like a lamb,” he means that he will make himself like the Son of God, and set himself forward as king. And the terms, “he spake like a dragon,” mean that he is a deceiver, and not truthful. And the words, “he exercised all the power of the first beast before him, and caused the earth and them which dwell therein to worship the first beast, whose deadly wound was healed,” signify that, after the manner of the law of Augustus, by whom the empire of Rome was established, he too will rule and govern, sanctioning everything by it, and taking greater glory to himself. For this is the fourth beast, whose head was wounded and healed again, in its being broken up or even dishonoured, and partitioned into four crowns; and he then (Antichrist) shall with knavish skill heal it, as it were, and restore it. For this is what is meant by the prophet when he says, “He will give life unto the image, and the image of the beast will speak.” For he will act with vigour again, and prove strong by reason of the laws established by him; and he will cause all those who will not worship the image of the beast to be put to death. Here the faith and the patience of the saints will appear, for he says: “And he will cause all, both small and great, rich and poor, free and bond, to receive a mark in their right hand or in their forehead; that no man might buy or sell, save he that had the mark, the name of the beast, or the number of his name.” For, being full of guile, and exalting himself against the servants of God, with the wish to afflict them and persecute them out of the world, because they give not glory to him, he will order incense-pans[106] to be set up by all everywhere, that no man among the saints may be able to buy or sell without first sacrificing; for this is what is meant by the mark received upon the right hand. And the word—“in their forehead”—indicates that all are crowned, and put on a crown of fire, and not of life, but of death. For in this wise, too, did Antiochus Epiphanes the king of Syria, the descendant of Alexander of Macedon, devise measures against the Jews. He, too, in the exaltation of his heart, issued a decree in those times, that “all should set up shrines before their doors, and sacrifice, and that they should march in procession to the honour of Dionysus, waving chaplets of ivy;” and that those who refused obedience should be put to death by strangulation and torture. But he also met his due recompense at the hand of the Lord, the righteous Judge and all-searching God; for he died eaten up of worms. And if one desires to inquire into that more accurately, he will find it recorded in the books of the Maccabees.[107]

50. But now we shall speak of what is before us. For such measures will he, too, devise, seeking to afflict the saints in every way. For the prophet and apostle says: “Here is wisdom, Let him that hath understanding count the number of the beast; for it is the number of a man, and his number is six hundred threescore and six.” With respect to his name, it is not in our power to explain it exactly, as the blessed John understood it and was instructed about it, but only to give a conjectural account of it;[108] for when he appears, the blessed one will show us what we seek to know. Yet as far as our doubtful apprehension of the matter goes, we may speak. Many names indeed we find,[109] the letters of which are the equivalent of this number: such as, for instance, the word Titan,[110] an ancient and notable name; or Evanthas,[111] for it too makes up the same number; and many others which might be found. But, as we have already said,[112] the wound of the first beast was healed, and he (the second beast) was to make the image speak,[113] that is to say, he should be powerful; and it is manifest to all that those who at present still hold the power are Latins. If, then, we take the name as the name of a single man, it becomes Latinus. Wherefore we ought neither to give it out as if this were certainly his name, nor again ignore the fact that he may not be otherwise designated. But having the mystery of God in our heart, we ought in fear to keep faithfully what has been told us by the blessed prophets, in order that when those things come to pass, we may be prepared for them, and not deceived. For when the times advance, he too, of whom these thing are said, will be manifested.[114]

51. But not to confine ourselves to these words and arguments alone, for the purpose of convincing those who love to study the oracles of God, we shall demonstrate the matter by many other proofs. For Daniel says, “And these shall escape out of his hand, even Edom, and Moab, and the chief of the children of Ammon.”[115] Ammon and Moab[116] are the children born to Lot by his daughters, and their race survives even now. And Isaiah says: “And they shall fly in the boats of strangers, plundering the sea together, and (they shall spoil) them of the east: and they shall lay hands upon Moab first; and the children of Ammon shall first obey them.”[117]

52. In those times, then, he shall arise and meet them. And when he has overmastered three horns out of the ten in the array of war, and has rooted these out, viz., Egypt, and Libya, and Ethiopia, and has got their spoils and trappings, and has brought the remaining horns which suffer into subjection, he will begin to be lifted up in heart, and to exalt himself against God as master of the whole world. And his first expedition will be against Tyre and Berytus, and the circumjacent territory. For by storming these cities first he will strike terror into the others, as Isaiah says, “Be thou ashamed, O Sidon; the sea hath spoken, even the strength of the sea hath spoken, saying, I travailed not, nor brought forth children; neither did I nurse up young men, nor bring up virgins. But when the report comes to Egypt, pain shall seize them for Tyre.”[118]

53. These things, then, shall be in the future, beloved; and when the three horns are cut off, he will begin to show himself as God, as Ezekiel has said aforetime: “Because thy heart has been lifted up, and thou hast said, I am God.”[119] And to the like effect Isaiah says: “For thou hast said in thine heart, I will ascend into heaven, I will exalt my throne above the stars of heaven: I will be like the Most High. Yet now thou shalt be brought down to hell (Hades), to the foundations of the earth.”[120] In like manner also Ezekiel: “Wilt thou yet say to those who slay thee, I am God? But thou (shalt be) a man, and no God.”[121]

54. As his tribe, then, and his manifestation, and his destruction, have been set forth in these words, and as his name has also been indicated mystically, let us look also at his action. For he will call together all the people to himself, out of every country of the dispersion, making them his own, as though they were his own children, and promising to restore their country, and establish again their kingdom and nation, in order that he may be worshipped by them as God, as the prophet says: “He will collect his whole kingdom, from the rising of the sun even to its setting: they whom he summons and they whom he does not summon shall march with him.”[122] And Jeremiah speaks of him thus in a parable: “The partridge cried, (and) gathered what he did not hatch, making himself riches without judgment: in the midst of his days they shall leave him, and at his end he shall be a fool.”[123]

55. It will not be detrimental, therefore, to the course of our present argument, if we explain the art of that creature, and show that the prophet has not spoken[124] without a purpose in using the parable (or similitude) of the creature. For as the partridge is a vainglorious creature, when it sees near at hand the nest of another partridge with young in it, and with the parent-bird away on the wing in quest of food, it imitates the cry of the other bird, and calls the young to itself; and they, taking it to be their own parent, run to it. And it delights itself proudly in the alien pullets as in its own. But when the real parent-bird returns, and calls them with its own familiar cry, the young recognise it, and forsake the deceiver, and betake themselves to the real parent. This thing, then, the prophet has adopted as a simile, applying it in a similar manner to Antichrist. For he will allure mankind to himself, wishing to gain possession of those who are not his own, and promising deliverance to all, while he is unable to save himself.

56. He then, having gathered to himself the unbelieving everywhere throughout the world, comes at their call to persecute the saints, their enemies and antagonists, as the apostle and evangelist says: “There was in a city a judge, which feared not God, neither regarded man: and there was a widow in that city, who came unto him, saying, Avenge me of mine adversary. And he would not for a while: but afterward he said within himself, Though I fear not God, nor regard man; yet because this widow troubleth me, I will avenge her.”[125]

57. By the unrighteous judge, who fears not God, neither regards man, he means without doubt Antichrist, as he is a son of the devil and a vessel of Satan. For when he has the power, he will begin to exalt himself against God, neither in truth fearing God, nor regarding the Son of God, who is the Judge of all. And in saying that there was a widow in the city, he refers to Jerusalem itself, which is a widow indeed, forsaken of her perfect, heavenly spouse, God. She calls Him her adversary, and not her Saviour; for she does not understand that which was said by the prophet Jeremiah: “Because they obeyed not the truth, a spirit of error shall speak then to this people and to Jerusalem.”[126] And Isaiah also to the like effect: “Forasmuch as the people refuseth to drink the water of Siloam that goeth softly, but chooseth to have Rasin and Romeliah’s son as king over you: therefore, lo, the Lord bringeth up upon you the water of the river, strong and full, even the king of Assyria.”[127] By the king he means metaphorically Antichrist, as also another prophet saith: “And this man shall be the peace from me, when the Assyrian shall come up into your land, and when he shall tread in your mountains.”[128]

58. And in like manner Moses, knowing beforehand that the people would reject and disown the true Saviour of the world, and take part with error, and choose an earthly king, and set the heavenly King at nought, says: “Is not this laid up in store with me, and sealed up among my treasures? In the day of vengeance I will recompense (them), and in the time when their foot shall slide.”[129] They did slide, therefore, in all things, as they were found to be in harmony with the truth in nothing: neither as concerns the law, because they became transgressors; nor as concerns the prophets, because they cut off even the prophets themselves; nor as concerns the voice of the Gospels, because they crucified the Saviour Himself; nor in believing the apostles, because they persecuted them. At all times they showed themselves enemies and betrayers of the truth, and were found to be haters of God, and not lovers of Him; and such they shall be then when they find opportunity: for, rousing themselves against the servants of God, they will seek to obtain vengeance by the hand of a mortal man. And he, being puffed up with pride by their subserviency, will begin to despatch missives against the saints, commanding to cut them all off everywhere, on the ground of their refusal to reverence and worship him as God, according to the word of Esaias: “Woe to the wings of the vessels of the land,[130] beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: (woe to him) who sendeth sureties by the sea, and letters of papyrus (upon the water; for nimble messengers will go) to a nation[131] anxious and expectant, and a people strange and bitter against them; a nation hopeless and trodden down.”[132]

59. But we who hope for the Son of God are persecuted and trodden down by those unbelievers. For the wings of the vessels are the churches; and the sea is the world, in which the Church is set, like a ship tossed in the deep, but not destroyed; for she has with her the skilled Pilot, Christ. And she bears in her midst also the trophy (which is erected) over death; for she carries with her the cross of the Lord.[133] For her prow is the east, and her stern is the west, and her hold[134] is the south, and her tillers are the two Testaments; and the ropes that stretch around her are the love of Christ, which binds the Church; and the net[135] which she bears with her is the laver of the regeneration which renews the believing, whence too are these glories. As the wind the Spirit from heaven is present, by whom those who believe are sealed: she has also anchors of iron accompanying her, viz., the holy commandments of Christ Himself, which are strong as iron. She has also mariners on the right and on the left, assessors like the holy angels, by whom the Church is always governed and defended. The ladder in her leading up to the sailyard is an emblem of the passion of Christ, which brings the faithful to the ascent of heaven. And the top-sails[136] aloft[137] upon the yard are the company of prophets, martyrs, and apostles, who have entered into their rest in the kingdom of Christ.

60. Now, concerning the tribulation of the persecution which is to fall upon the Church from the adversary, John also speaks thus: “And I saw a great and wondrous sign in heaven; a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars. And she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered. And the dragon stood before the woman which was ready to be delivered, for to devour her child as soon as it was born. And she brought forth a man-child, who is to rule all the nations: and the child was caught up unto God and to His throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she hath the place prepared of God, that they should feed her there a thousand two hundred and threescore days. And then when the dragon saw it, he persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent. And the serpent cast (out of his mouth water as a flood after the woman, that he might cause her to be carried away of the flood. And the earth helped the woman, and opened her mouth, and swallowed up the flood which the dragon cast) out of his mouth. And the dragon was wroth with the woman, and went to make war with the saints of her seed, which keep the commandments of God, and have the testimony of Jesus.”[138]

61. By the woman then clothed with the sun,” he meant most manifestly the Church, endued with the Father’s word,[139] whose brightness is above the sun. And by the “moon under her feet” he referred to her being adorned, like the moon, with heavenly glory. And the words, “upon her head a crown of twelve stars,” refer to the twelve apostles by whom the Church was founded. And those, “she, being with child, cries, travailing in birth, and pained to be delivered,” mean that the Church will not cease to bear from her heart[140] the Word that is persecuted by the unbelieving in the world. “And she brought forth,” he says, “a man-child, who is to rule all the nations;” by which is meant that the Church, always bringing forth Christ, the perfect man-child of God, who is declared to be God and man, becomes the instructor of all the nations. And the words, “her child was caught up unto God and to His throne,” signify that he who is always born of her is a heavenly king, and not an earthly; even as David also declared of old when he said, “The Lord said unto my Lord, Sit Thou at my right hand, until I make Thine enemies Thy footstool.”[141] “And the dragon,” he says, “saw and persecuted the woman which brought forth the man-child. And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”[101] That refers to the one thousand two hundred and threescore days (the half of the week) during which the tyrant is to reign and persecute the Church,[142] which flees from city to city, and seeks concealment in the wilderness among the mountains, possessed of no other defence than the two wings of the great eagle, that is to say, the faith of Jesus Christ, who, in stretching forth His holy hands on the holy tree, unfolded two wings, the right and the left, and called to Him all who believed upon Him, and covered them as a hen her chickens. For by the mouth of Malachi also He speaks thus: “And unto you that fear my name shall the Sun of righteousness arise with healing in His wings.”[143]

62. The Lord also says, “When ye shall see the abomination of desolation stand in the holy place (whoso readeth, let him understand), then let them which be in Judea flee into the mountains, and let him which is on the housetop not come down to take his clothes; neither let him which is in the field return back to take anything out of his house. And woe unto them that are with child, and to them that give suck, in those days! for then shall be great tribulation, such as was not since the beginning of the world. And except those days should be shortened, there should no flesh be saved.”[144] And Daniel says, “And they shall place the abomination of desolation a thousand two hundred and ninety days. Blessed is he that waiteth, and cometh to the thousand two hundred and ninety-five days.”[145]

63. And the blessed Apostle Paul, writing to the Thessalonians, says: “Now we beseech you, brethren, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, and our gathering together at it,[146] that ye be not soon shaken in mind, or be troubled, neither by spirit, nor by word, nor by letters as from us, as that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no man deceive you by any means; for (that day shall not come) except there come the falling away first, and that man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition, who opposeth and exalteth himself above all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he sitteth in the temple of God, showing himself that he is God. Remember ye not, that when I was yet with you, I told you these things? And now ye know what withholdeth, that he might be revealed in his time. For the mystery of iniquity doth already work; only he who now letteth (will let), until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that wicked be revealed, whom the Lord Jesus shall consume with the Spirit of His mouth, and shall destroy with the brightness of His coming: (even him) whose coming is after the working of Satan, with all power, and signs, and lying wonders, and with all deceivableness of unrighteousness in them that perish; because they received not the love of the truth. And for this cause God shall send them strong delusion, that they should believe a lie: that they all might be damned who believed not the truth, but had pleasure in unrighteousness.”[147] And Esaias says, “Let the wicked be cut off, that he behold not the glory of the Lord.”[148]

64. These things, then, being to come to pass, beloved, and the one week being divided into two parts, and the abomination of desolation being manifested then, and the two prophets and forerunners of the Lord having finished their course, and the whole world finally approaching the consummation, what remains but the coming of our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ from heaven, for whom we have looked in hope? who shall bring the conflagration and just judgment upon all who have refused to believe on Him. For the Lord says, “And when these things begin to come to pass, then look up, and lift up your heads; for your redemption draweth nigh.”[149] “And there shall not a hair of your head perish.”[150] “For as the lightning cometh out of the east, and shineth even unto the west, so shall also the coming of the Son of man be. For wheresoever the carcase is, there will the eagles be gathered together.”[151] Now the fall[152] took place in paradise; for Adam fell there. And He says again, “Then shall the Son of man send His angels, and they shall gather together His elect from the four winds of heaven.”[153] And David also, in announcing prophetically the judgment and coming of the Lord, says, “His going forth is from the end of the heaven, and His circuit unto the end of the heaven: and there is no one hid from the heat thereof.”[154] By the heat he means the conflagration. And Esaias speaks thus: “Come, my people, enter thou into thy chamber, (and) shut thy door: hide thyself as it were for a little moment, until the indignation of the Lord be overpast.”[155] And Paul in like manner: “For the wrath of God is revealed from heaven against all ungodliness and unrighteousness of men, who hold the truth of God in unrighteousness.”[156]

65. Moreover, concerning the resurrection and the kingdom of the saints, Daniel says, “And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall arise, some to everlasting life, (and some to shame and everlasting contempt).”[157] Esaias says, “The dead men shall arise, and they that are in their tombs shall awake; for the dew from thee is healing to them.”[158] The Lord says, “Many in that day shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live.”[159] And the prophet says, “Awake, thou that sleepest, and arise from the dead, and Christ shall give thee light.”[160] And John says, “Blessed and holy is he that hath part in the first resurrection: on such the second death hath no power.”[161] For the second death is the lake of fire that burneth. And again the Lord says, “Then shall the righteous shine forth as the sun shineth in his glory.”[162] And to the saints He will say, “Come, ye blessed of my Father, inherit the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world.”[163] But what saith He to the wicked? “Depart from me, ye cursed, into everlasting fire, prepared for the devil and his angels, which my Father hath prepared.” And John says, “Without are dogs, and sorcerers, and whoremongers, and murderers, and idolaters, and whosoever maketh and loveth a lie; for your part is in the hell of fire.”[164] And in like manner also Esaias: “And they shall go forth and look upon the carcases of the men that have transgressed against me. And their worm shall not die, neither shall their fire be quenched; and they shall be for a spectacle to all flesh.”[165]

66. Concerning the resurrection of the righteous, Paul also speaks thus in writing to the Thessalonians: “We would not have you to be ignorant concerning them which are asleep, that ye sorrow not even as others which have no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose again, even so them also which sleep in Jesus will God bring with Him. For this we say unto you by the word of the Lord, that we which are alive (and) remain unto the coming of the Lord, shall not prevent them which are asleep. For the Lord Himself shall descend from heaven with a shout, with the voice and trump of God, and the dead in Christ shall rise first. Then we which are alive (and) remain shall be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so shall we ever be with the Lord.”[166]

67. These things, then, I have set shortly before thee, O Theophilus, drawing them from Scripture itself,[167] in order that, maintaining in faith what is written, and anticipating the things that are to be, thou mayest keep thyself void of offence both toward God and toward men, “looking for that blessed hope and appearing of our God and Saviour,”[168] when, having raised the saints among us, He will rejoice with them, glorifying the Father. To Him be the glory unto the endless ages of the ages. Amen.

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[1] Perhaps the same Theophilus whom Methodius, a contemporary of Hippolytus, addresses as Epiphanius. [See vol. vi., this series.] From this introduction, too, it is clear that they are in error who take this book to be a homily. (Fabricius.)

[2] In the text the reading is τῶν ὄντων, for which τῶν ὤτων = of the ears, is proposed by some, and ἀνθρώπων = of men, by others. In the manuscripts the abbreviation ανων is often found for ἀνθρώπων.

[3] In the text we find ὡς πίων καθαρὰ γῆ, for which grammar requires ὡς πίονι καθαρᾷ γῇ. Combefisius proposes ὡσπερ οὖν καθαρᾷ γῆ = as in clean ground. Others would read ὡς πυρόν, etc., = like a grain in clean ground.

[4] 1 Tim. 6:20, 21.

[5] This reading, παρακλήσεων for μαρτύρων (= witnesses), which is peculiar to Hippolytus alone, is all the more remarkable as so thoroughly suiting Paul’s meaning in the passage.

[6] 2 Tim. 2:1, 2.

[7] 2 Thess. 3:2.

[8] The text reads ἅτινα = which. Gudius proposes τινά = some.

[9] The plectrum was the instrument with which the lyre was struck. The text is in confusion here. Combefisius corrects it, as we render it, ὀργάνων δίκην ἡνωμένον ἔχοντες ἐν ἑαυτοῖς.

[10] 2 Pet. 1:21.

[11] The text reads μὴ πλανῶ (= that I may not deceive). Some propose ὡς πλάνοι = as deceivers.

[12] This is according to the emendation of Combefisius. [And note this primitive theory of inspiration as illustrating the words, “who spake by the prophets,” in the Nicene Symbol.]

[13] 1 Sam. 9:9.

[14] In the text it is προκείμενα (= things before us or proposed to us), for which Combefisius proposes, as in our rendering, προειρημένα.

[15] The original is ἀκινδυνον.

[16] Isa. 42:1; Matt. 12:18. The text is αὐτὸς πάλιν ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς. See Macarius, Divinitas D. N. S. C., book iv. ch. xiii. p. 460, and Grabe on Bull’s Defens. Fid. Nic., p. 101.

[17] Reading αὐτούς for αὐτόν.

[18] [Isa. 56:3, 4.]

[19] Eph. 4:13.

[20] The text has ὤν = being, for which read ἦν = was.

[21] μίξας. Thomassin, De Incarnatione Verbi, iii. 5, cites the most distinguished of the Greek and Latin Fathers, who taught that a mingling (commistio), without confusion indeed, but yet most thorough, of the two natures, is the bond and nexus of the personal unity.

[22] [This analogy of weaving is powerfully employed by Gray (“Weave the warp, and weave the woof,” etc.). See his Pindaric ode, The Bard.]

[23] Rev. 5:5; [also Gen. 49:8. See below, 7, 8].

[24] John 18:37.

[25] John 1:29.

[26] John 11:52.

[27] John 2:19.

[28] Gen. 49:8–12.

[29] The text has τούτου—προερχομένου, for which we read, with Combefisius, προερχόμενον.

[30] Isa. 11:1.

[31] Isa. 1:21.

[32] Ps. 3:5.

[33] Gal. 1:1.

[34] John 15:1.

[35] The text gives simply, τὴν τοῦ ἁγίου, etc., = the paternal voice of the Holy Ghost, etc. As this would seem to represent the Holy Ghost as the Father of Christ, Combefisius proposes, as in our rendering, κατὰ τὴν διὰ τοῦ ἁγίου, etc. The wine, therefore, is taken as a figure of His deity, and the garment as a figure of His humanity; and the sense would be, that He has the latter imbued with the former in a way peculiar to Himself—even as the voice at the Jordan declared Him to be the Father’s Son, not His Son by adoption, but His own Son, anointed as man with divinity itself.

[36] The nations are compared to a robe about Christ, as something foreign to Himself, and deriving all their gifts from Him.

[37] Deut. 33:22.

[38] [See Irenæus, vol. i. p. 559. Dan’s name is excepted in Rev. 7., and this was always assigned as the reason. The learned Calmet (sub voce Dan) makes a prudent reflection on this idea. The history given in Judg. 18. is more to the purpose.]

[39] Gen. 49:17.

[40] Gen. 3:1.

[41] Gen. 49:16.

[42] Jer. 8:16.

[43] Perhaps from an apocryphal book, as also below in ch. liv.

[44] Isa. 10:12–17.

[45] ἐπισπουδαστής.

[46] κατακάλυμμα; other reading, κατάλειμμα = remains.

[47] Lit., that risest early.

[48] The text gives ἐπαγωγῇ. Combefisius prefers ἀπαγωγῇ = trial.

[49] Isa. 14:4–21.

[50] i.e., according to the reading, ἐμπορίᾳ. The text is ἐμπειρίᾳ = experience.

[51] There is another reading, λιμοὺς (= famines) τῶν ἐθνῶν.

[52] Ezek. 28:2–10.

[53] Dan. 2:31–35.

[54] Combefisius adds, “between the teeth of it; and they said thus to it, Arise, devour much flesh.”

[55] Combefisius inserted these words, because he thought that they must have been in the vision, as they occur subsequently in the explanation of the vision (v. 19).

[56] Dan. 7:2–8.

[57] Dan. 7:9–12.

[58] Dan. 7:13, 14.

[59] See Curtius, x. 10. That Alexander himself divided his kingdom is asserted by Josephus Gorionides (iii.) and Cyril of Jerusalem (Catech., 4, De Sacra Scriptura) and others.

[60] For ὅμως = nevertheless, Gudius suggests ὠμός = savage.

[61] Dan. 7:21, 11.

[62] Dan. 2:34, 45.

[63] Matt. 28:18.

[64] Phil. 2:10.

[65] 1 Pet. 3:19.

[66] [Deserving of especial note. Who could have foreseen the universal spirit of democracy in this century save by the light of this prophecy? Comp. 2 Tim. 3:1–3.]

[67] ὀφθαλμοφανῶς.

[68] Rev. 17:9.

[69] For ὑπὸ πολλῶν Combefisius has ὑπὸ λαῶν = by peoples.

[70] Isa. 1:7, 8.

[71] 2 Tim. 4:8.

[72] Dan. 7:4.

[73] For πλάσας Gudius proposes ἁγιάσας (sanctified) or καλέσας (called).

[74] Jer. 1:5.

[75] Dan. 8:2–8.

[76] Dan. 7:6.

[77] For ἀναξύρισον others read ἀνακάλυψαι = uncover.

[78] Isa. 47:1–15.

[79] [Note this token, that, with all his prudence, he identifies “Babylon” with Rome.]

[80] “Stones,” rather.

[81] τὰ ἀκάθαρτα, for the received ἀκαθαρτότητος.

[82] καὶ παρέσται, for the received καίπερ ἐστί.

[83] καί, for the received ἐπί.

[84] ἰσχυρᾷ for ἐν ἰσχύϊ.

[85] ἐκολλήθησαν, for the received ἠκολούθησαν.

[86] ἀγοράσει, for the received ἀγοράζει.

[87] ἄμωμον, omitted in the received text.

[88] καὶ τράγους, omitted in the received text.

[89] ἀπώλετο, for the received ἀπῆλθεν.

[90] πλουτίσαντες, for the received πλουτήσαντες.

[91] πιότητος, for the received τιμιότητος.

[92] καὶ οἱ ἄγγελοι, which the received omits.

[93] Rev. 17.; 18.

[94] διαθήσει = will make; others, δυναμώσει = will confirm.

[95] Dan. 9:27.

[96] Isa. 53:2–5.

[97] Isa. 33:17.

[98] It was a common opinion among the Greeks, that the Baptist was Christ’s forerunner also among the dead. See Leo Allatius, De libris Eccles. Græcorum, p. 303.

[99] Or it may be, “Malachi, even the messenger.” ᾽Αγγέλου is the reading restored by Combefisius instead of ᾽Αγγαίου. The words of the angel in Luke 1:17 (“and the disobedient to the wisdom of the just”) are thus inserted in the citation from Malachi; and to that Hippolytus may refer in the addition “and the angel.” Or perhaps, as Combefisius rather thinks, the addition simply refers to the meaning of the name Malachi, viz., messenger.

[100] Mal. 4:5, 6.

[101] Rev. 11:3.

[102] Rev. 11:4–6.

[103] Dan. 7:8, 9.

[104] Rev. 13:11–18.

[105] The text is simply καὶ τὸν μετ᾽ αὐτόν = the false prophet after him. Gudius and Combefisius propose as above, καὶ αὐτόν τε καὶ τὸν μετ᾽ αὐτόν, or μετ᾽ αὐτοῦ = him and the false prophet with him.

[106] πυρεῖα = censers, incense-pans, or sacrificial tripods. This offering of incense was a test very commonly proposed by the pagans to those whose religion they suspected.

[107] [Not referred to as Scripture, but as authentic history.]

[108] ὅσον μόνον ὑπονοῆσαι.

[109] ἰσόψηφα.

[110] Τειτάν. Hippolytus here follows his master Irenæus, who in his Contra Hæres., v. 30, § 3, has the words,“ Titan…et antiquum et fide dignum et regale…nomen” = Titan…both an ancient and good and royal…name. [See this series, vol. i. p. 559.]

[111] Εὐάνθας, mentioned also by Irenæus in the passage already referred to.

[112] προέφθημεν, the reading proposed by Fabricius instead of προέφημεν.

[113] ποιήσει, Combef. ἐποίησε.

[114] [Let us imitate the wisdom of our author, whose modest commentary upon his master Irenæus cannot be too much applauded. The mystery, however, does seem to turn upon something in the Latin race and its destiny.]

[115] Dan. 11:41.

[116] Gen. 19:37, 38.

[117] Isa. 11:14.

[118] Isa. 23:4, 5.

[119] Ezek. 28:2.

[120] Isa. 14:13–15.

[121] Ezek. 28:9.

[122] Quoted already in chap. xv. as from one of the prophets.

[123] Jer. 17:11.

[124] Reading ἀπεφήνατο for ἀπεκρίνατο.

[125] Luke 18:2–5.

[126] Jer. 4:11.

[127] Isa. 8:6, 7.

[128] Mic. 5:5. The Septuagint reads αὐτῇ = And (he) shall be the peace to it. Hippolytus follows the Hebrew, but makes the pronoun feminine, αὕτη referring to the peace. Again Hippolytus reads ὄρη = mountains, where the Septuagint has χώραν = land, and where the Hebrew word = fortresses or palaces. [He must mean that “the Assyrian” = Antichrist. “The peace” is attributable only to the “Prince of peace.” So the Fathers generally.]

[129] Deut. 32:34, 35.

[130] οὐαὶ γῆς πλοίων πτέρυγες.

[131] μετέωρον.

[132] Isa. 18:1, 2.

[133] Wordsworth, reading ὡς ἱστὸν for ὡς τὸν, would add, like a mast. See his Commentary on Acts 27:40.

[134] κύτος, a conjecture of Combefisius for κύκλον.

[135] λίνον, proposed by the same for πλοῖον, boat.

[136] ψηφαροι, a term of doubtful meaning. May it refer to the καρχήσια?

[137] The text reads here αἰνούμενοι, for which αἱρούμενοι is proposed, or better, ἠωρούμενοι.

[138] Rev. 12:1–6, etc.

[139] τὸν Λόγον τὸν Πατρῷον.

[140] γεννῶσα ἐκ καρδίας.

[141] Ps. 110:1.

[142] [Concerning Antichrist, two advents, etc., see vol. iv. p. 219, this series.]

[143] Mal. 4:2.

[144] Matt. 24:15–22; Mark 13:14–20; Luke 21:20–23.

[145] Dan. 11:31; 12:11, 12. The Hebrew has 1,335 as the number in the second verse.

[146] Hippolytus reads here ἐπ᾽ αὐτῆς instead of ἐπ᾽ αὐτόν, and makes the pronoun therefore refer to the coming.

[147] 2 Thess. 2:1–11.

[148] Isa. 26:10.

[149] Luke 21:28.

[150] Luke 21:18.

[151] Matt. 24:27, 28.

[152] The word πτῶμα, used in the Greek as = carcase, is thus interpreted by Hippolytus as = fall, which is its literal sense.

[153] Matt. 24:31.

[154] Ps. 19:6.

[155] Isa. 26:20.

[156] Rom. 1:17.

[157] Dan. 12:2.

[158] Isa. 26:19.

[159] John 5:25.

[160] Eph. 5:14. Epiphanius and others suppose that the words thus cited by Paul are taken from the apocryphal writings of Jeremiah: others that they are a free version of Isa. 60:1. [But their metrical form justifies the criticism that they are a quotation from a hymn of the Church, based, very likely, on the passage from Isaiah.]

[161] Rev. 20:6.

[162] Matt. 13:43.

[163] Matt. 25:34.

[164] Rev. 22:15.

[165] Isa. 66:24.

[166] 1 Thess. 4:12.

[167] [The immense value of these quotations, authenticating the Revelations and other Scriptures, must be apparent. Is not this treatise a voice to our own times of vast significance?]

[168] Tit. 2:13.

Expository Treatise Against the Jews

1. Now, then, incline thine ear to me, and hear my words, and give heed, thou Jew. Many a time dost thou boast thyself, in that thou didst condemn Jesus of Nazareth to death, and didst give Him vinegar and gall to drink; and thou dost vaunt thyself because of this. Come therefore, and let us consider together whether perchance thou dost not boast unrighteously, O Israel, (and) whether that small portion of vinegar and gall has not brought down this fearful threatening upon thee, (and) whether this is not the cause of thy present condition involved in these myriad troubles.

2. Let him then be introduced before us who speaketh by the Holy Spirit, and saith truth—David the son of Jesse. He, singing a certain strain with prophetic reference to the true Christ, celebrated our God by the Holy Spirit, (and) declared clearly all that befell Him by the hands of the Jews in His passion; in which (strain) the Christ who humbled Himself and took unto Himself the form of the servant Adam, calls upon God the Father in heaven as it were in our person, and speaks thus in the sixty-ninth Psalm: “Save me, O God; for the waters are come in unto my soul. I am sunk in the mire of the abyss,” that is to say, in the corruption of Hades, on account of the transgression in paradise; and “there is no substance,” that is, help. “My eyes failed while I hoped (or, from my hoping) upon my God; when will He come and save me?”[1]

3. Then, in what next follows, Christ speaks, as it were, in His own person: “Then I restored that,” says He, “which I took not away;” that is, on account of the sin of Adam I endured the death which was not mine by sinning. “For, O God, Thou knowest my foolishness; and my sins are not hid from Thee,” that is, “for I did not sin,” as He means it; and for this reason (it is added), “Let not them be ashamed who want to see” my resurrection on the third day, to wit, the apostles. “Because for Thy sake,” that is, for the sake of obeying Thee, “I have borne reproach,” namely the cross, when “they covered my face with shame,” that is to say, the Jews; when “I became a stranger unto my brethren after the flesh, and an alien unto my mother’s children,” meaning (by the mother) the synagogue. “For the zeal of Thine house, Father, hath eaten me up; and the reproaches of them that reproached Thee are fallen on me,” and of them that sacrificed to idols. Wherefore “they that sit in the gate spoke against me,” for they crucified me without the gate. “And they that drink sang against me,” that is, (they who drink wine) at the feast of the passover. “But as for me, in my prayer unto Thee, O Lord, I said, Father, forgive them,” namely the Gentiles, because it is the time for favour with Gentiles. “Let not then the hurricane (of temptations) overwhelm me, neither let the deep (that is, Hades) swallow me up: for Thou wilt not leave my soul in hell (Hades); neither let the pit shut her mouth upon me,”[2] that is, the sepulchre. “By reason of mine enemies, deliver me,” that the Jews may not boast, saying, Let us consume him.

4. Now Christ prayed all this economically[3] as man; being, however, true God. But, as I have already said, it was the “form of the servant”[4] that spake and suffered these things. Wherefore He added, “My soul looked for reproach and trouble,” that is, I suffered of my own will, (and) not by any compulsion. Yet “I waited for one to mourn with me, and there was none,” for all my disciples forsook me and fled; and for a “comforter, and I found none.”

5. Listen with understanding, O Jew, to what the Christ says: “They gave me gall for my meat; and in my thirst they gave me vinegar to drink.” And these things He did indeed endure from you. Hear the Holy Ghost tell you also what return He made to you for that little portion of vinegar. For the prophet says, as in the person of God, “Let their table become a snare and retribution.” Of what retribution does He speak? Manifestly, of the misery which has now got hold of thee.

6. And then hear what follows: “Let their eyes be darkened, that they see not.” And surely ye have been darkened in the eyes of your soul with a darkness utter and everlasting. For now that the true light has arisen, ye wander as in the night, and stumble on places with no roads, and fall headlong, as having forsaken the way that saith, “I am the way.”[5] Furthermore, hear this yet more serious word: “And their back do thou bend always;” that means, in order that they may be slaves to the nations, not four hundred and thirty years as in Egypt, nor seventy as in Babylon, but bend them to servitude, he says, “always.” In fine, then, how dost thou indulge vain hopes, expecting to be delivered from the misery which holdeth thee? For that is somewhat strange. And not unjustly has he imprecated this blindness of eyes upon thee. But because thou didst cover the eyes of Christ, (and[6]) thus thou didst beat Him, for this reason, too, bend thou thy back for servitude always. And whereas thou didst pour out His blood in indignation, hear what thy recompense shall be: “Pour out Thine indignation upon them, and let Thy wrathful anger take hold of them;” and, “Let their habitation be desolate,” to wit, their celebrated temple.

7. But why, O prophet, tell us, and for what reason, was the temple made desolate? Was it on account of that ancient fabrication of the calf? Was it on account of the idolatry of the people? Was it for the blood of the prophets? Was it for the adultery and fornication of Israel? By no means, he says; for in all these transgressions they always found pardon open to them, and benignity; but it was because they killed the Son of their Benefactor, for He is coeternal with the Father. Whence He saith, “Father, let their temple be made desolate;[7] for they have persecuted Him whom Thou didst of Thine own will smite for the salvation of the world;” that is, they have persecuted me with a violent and unjust death, “and they have added to the pain of my wounds.” In former time, as the Lover of man, I had pain on account of the straying of the Gentiles; but to this pain they have added another, by going also themselves astray. Wherefore “add iniquity to their iniquity, and tribulation to tribulation, and let them not enter into Thy righteousness,” that is, into Thy kingdom; but “let them be blotted out of the book of the living, and not be written with the righteous,” that is, with their holy fathers and patriarchs.

8. What sayest thou to this, O Jew? It is neither Matthew nor Paul that saith these things, but David, thine anointed, who awards and declares these terrible sentences on account of Christ. And like the great Job, addressing you who speak against the righteous and true, he says, “Thou didst barter the Christ like a slave, thou didst go to Him like a robber in the garden.”

9. I produce now the prophecy of Solomon, which speaketh of Christ, and announces clearly and perspicuously things concerning the Jews; and those which not only are befalling them at the present time, but those, too, which shall befall them in the future age, on account of the contumacy and audacity which they exhibited toward the Prince of Life; for the prophet says, “The ungodly said, reasoning with themselves, but not aright,” that is, about Christ, “Let us lie in wait for the righteous, because he is not for our turn, and he is clean contrary to our doings and words, and upbraideth us with our offending the law, and professeth to have knowledge of God; and he calleth himself the Child of God.”[8] And then he says, “He is grievous to us even to behold; for his life is not like other men’s, and his ways are of another fashion. We are esteemed of him as counterfeits, and he abstaineth from our ways as from filthiness, and pronounceth the end of the just to be blessed.”[9] And again, listen to this, O Jew! None of the righteous or prophets called himself the Son of God. And therefore, as in the person of the Jews, Solomon speaks again of this righteous one, who is Christ, thus: “He was made to reprove our thoughts, and he maketh his boast that God is his Father. Let us see, then, if his words be true, and let us prove what shall happen in the end of him; for if the just man be the Son of God, He will help him, and deliver him from the hand of his enemies. Let us condemn him with a shameful death, for by his own saying he shall be respected.”[10]

10. And again David, in the Psalms, says with respect to the future age, “Then shall He” (namely Christ) “speak unto them in His wrath, and vex them in His sore displeasure.”[11] And again Solomon says concerning Christ and the Jews, that “when the righteous shall stand in great boldness before the face of such as have afflicted Him, and made no account of His words, when they see it they shall be troubled with terrible fear, and shall be amazed at the strangeness of His salvation; and they, repenting and groaning for anguish of spirit, shall say within themselves, This is He whom we had sometimes in derision and a proverb of reproach; we fools accounted His life madness, and His end to be without honour. How is He numbered among the children of God, and His lot is among the saints? Therefore have we erred from the way of truth, and the light of righteousness hath not shined unto us, and the sun of righteousness rose not on us. We wearied ourselves in the way of wickedness and destruction; we have gone through deserts where there lay no way: but as for the way of the Lord, we have not known it. What hath our pride profited us? all those things are passed away like a shadow.”[12]

The conclusion is wanting.[13]

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[1] Ps. 69:1 ff.

[2] Ps. 16:10.

[3] οἰκονομικῶς. [The Fathers find Christ everywhere in Scripture, and often understand the expressions of David to be those of our Lord’s humanity, by economy.]

[4] Phil. 2:7.

[5] John 14:6.

[6] The text is οὕτως, for which read perhaps ὅτε = when.

[7] Cf. Matt. 23:38.

[8] Wisd. 2:1, 12, 13.

[9] Wisd. 2:15, 16.

[10] Wisd. 2:14, 16, 17, 20. [The argument is ad hominem. The Jews valued this book, but did not account it to be Scripture; yet this quotation is a very remarkable comment on what ancient Jews understood concerning the Just One. Comp. Acts 3:14; 7:52; and 22:14.]

[11] Ps. 2:5.

[12] Wisd. 5:1–9.

[13] (Compare Justin, vol. i. p. 194; Clement, vol. ii. pp 334–343; Tertullian, vol. iii. p. 151; Origen, vol. iv. p. 402, etc.; and Cyprian, vol. v., this series.]

Against Plato, on the Cause of the Universe

1. And this is the passage regarding demons.[1] But now we must speak of Hades, in which the souls both of the righteous and the unrighteous are detained. Hades is a place in the created system, rude,[2] a locality beneath the earth, in which the light of the world does not shine; and as the sun does not shine in this locality, there must necessarily be perpetual darkness there. This locality has been destined to be as it were a guard-house for souls, at which the angels are stationed as guards, distributing according to each one’s deeds the temporary[3] punishments for (different) characters. And in this locality there is a certain place[4] set apart by itself, a lake of unquenchable fire, into which we suppose no one has ever yet been cast; for it is prepared against the day determined by God, in which one sentence of righteous judgment shall be justly applied to all. And the unrighteous, and those who believed not God, who have honoured as God the vain works of the hands of men, idols fashioned (by themselves), shall be sentenced to this endless punishment. But the righteous shall obtain the incorruptible and unfading kingdom, who indeed are at present detained in Hades,[5] but not in the same place with the unrighteous. For to this locality there is one descent, at the gate whereof we believe an archangel is stationed with a host. And when those who are conducted by the angels[6] appointed unto the souls have passed through this gate, they do not proceed on one and the same way; but the righteous, being conducted in the light toward the right, and being hymned by the angels stationed at the place, are brought to a locality full of light. And there the righteous from the beginning[7] dwell, not ruled by necessity, but enjoying always the contemplation of the blessings which are in their view, and delighting themselves with the expectation of others ever new, and deeming those ever better than these. And that place brings no toils to them. There, there is neither fierce heat, nor cold, nor thorn;[8] but the face of the fathers and the righteous is seen to be always smiling, as they wait for the rest and eternal revival in heaven which succeed this location. And we call it by the name Abraham’s bosom. But the unrighteous are dragged toward the left by angels who are ministers of punishment, and they go of their own accord no longer, but are dragged by force as prisoners. And the angels appointed over them send them along,[9] reproaching them and threatening them with an eye of terror, forcing them down into the lower parts. And when they are brought there, those appointed to that service drag them on to the confines or hell.[10] And those who are so near hear incessantly the agitation, and feel the hot smoke. And when that vision is so near, as they see the terrible and excessively glowing[11] spectacle of the fire, they shudder in horror at the expectation of the future judgment, (as if they were) already feeling the power of their punishment. And again, where they see the place of the fathers and the righteous,[12] they are also punished there. For a deep and vast abyss is set there in the midst, so that neither can any of the righteous in sympathy think to pass it, nor any of the unrighteous dare to cross it.

2. Thus far, then, on the subject of Hades, in which the souls of all are detained until the time which God has determined; and then[13] He will accomplish a resurrection of all, not by transferring souls into other bodies,[14] but by raising the bodies themselves. And if, O Greeks, ye refuse credit to this because ye see these (bodies) in their dissolution, learn not to be incredulous. For if ye believe that the soul is originated and is made immortal by God, according to the opinion of Plato,[15] in time, ye ought not to refuse to believe that God is able also to raise the body, which is composed of the same elements, and make it immortal.[16] To be able in one thing, and to be unable in another, is a word which cannot be said of God. We therefore believe that the body also is raised. For if it become corrupt, it is not at least destroyed. For the earth receiving its remains preserves them, and they, becoming as it were seed, and being wrapped up with the richer part of earth, spring up and bloom. And that which is sown is sown indeed bare grain; but at the command of God the Artificer it buds, and is raised arrayed and glorious, but not until it has first died, and been dissolved, and mingled with earth. Not, therefore, without good reason do we believe in the resurrection of the body. Moreover, if it is dissolved in its season on account of the primeval transgression, and is committed to the earth as to a furnace, to be moulded again anew, it is not raised the same thing as it is now, but pure and no longer corruptible. And to every body its own proper soul will be given again; and the soul, being endued again with it, shall not be grieved, but shall rejoice together with it, abiding itself pure with it also pure. And as it now sojourns with it in the world righteously, and finds it in nothing now a traitor, it will receive it again (the body) with great joy. But the unrighteous will receive their bodies unchanged, and unransomed from suffering and disease, and unglorified, and still with all the ills in which they died. And whatever manner of persons they (were when they) lived without faith, as such they shall be faithfully judged.[17]

3.[18] For all, the righteous and the unrighteous alike, shall be brought before God the Word. For the Father hath committed all judgment to Him; and in fulfilment of the Father’s counsel, He cometh as Judge whom we call Christ. For it is not Minos and Rhadamanthys that are to judge (the world), as ye fancy, O Greeks, but He whom God the Father hath glorified, of whom we have spoken elsewhere more in particular, for the profit of those who seek the truth. He, in administering the righteous judgment of the Father to all, assigns to each what is righteous according to his works. And being present at His judicial decision, all, both men and angels and demons, shall utter one voice, saying, “Righteous is Thy judgment.”[19] Of which voice the justification will be seen in the awarding to each that which is just; since to those who have done well shall be assigned righteously eternal bliss, and to the lovers of iniquity shall be given eternal punishment. And the fire which is unquenchable and without end awaits these latter, and a certain fiery worm which dieth not, and which does not waste the body, but continues bursting forth from the body with unending pain. No sleep will give them rest; no night will soothe them; no death will deliver them from punishment; no voice of interceding friends will profit them.[20] For neither are the righteous seen by them any longer, nor are they worthy of remembrance. But the righteous will remember only the righteous deeds by which they reached the heavenly kingdom, in which there is neither sleep, nor pain, nor corruption, nor care,[21] nor night, nor day measured by time; nor sun traversing in necessary course the circle of heaven, which marks the limits of seasons, or the points measured out for the life of man so easily read; nor moon waning or waxing, or inducing the changes of seasons, or moistening the earth; no burning sun, no changeful Bear, no Orion coming forth, no numerous wandering of stars, no painfully-trodden earth, no abode of paradise hard to find; no furious roaring of the sea, forbidding one to touch or traverse it; but this too will be readily passable for the righteous, although it lacks no water. There will be no heaven inaccessible to men, nor will the way of its ascent be one impossible to find; and there will be no earth unwrought, or toilsome for men, but one producing fruit spontaneously in beauty and order; nor will there be generation of wild beasts again, nor the bursting[22] substance of other creatures. Neither with man will there be generation again, but the number of the righteous remains indefectible with the righteous angels and spirits. Ye who believe these words, O men, will be partakers with the righteous, and will have part in these future blessings, which “eye hath not seen nor ear heard, neither have entered into the heart of man the things which God hath prepared for them that love Him.”[23] To Him be the glory and the power, for ever and ever. Amen.

————————————

[1] The reading in the text is ὁπερὶ δαιμόνων τόπος; others read λόγος for τόπος = thus far the discussion on demons.

[2] ἀκατασκεύαστος.

[3] Or it may be “seasonable,” προσκαροίυς.

[4] τρόπων. There is another reading, τόπων = of the places.

[5] Hades, in the view of the ancients, was the general receptacle of souls after their separation from the body, where the good abode happily in a place of light (φωτεινῷ), and the evil all in a place of darkness (σκοτιωτέρῳ). See Colomesii Κειμήλια litteraria, 28, and Suicer on ᾅδης. Hence Abraham’s bosom and paradise were placed in Hades. See Olympiodorus on Eccles., iii. p. 264. The Macedonians, on the authority of Hugo Broughton, praying in the Lord’s words, “Our Father who art in Hades” (Πατὴρ ἡμῶν ὁ ἐν ᾆδῃ) (Fabricius). [Hippolytus is singular in assigning the ultimate receptacle of lost spirits to this Hades. But compare vol. iii. p. 428, and vol. iv. pp. 293, 495, 541, etc.]

[6] Cf. Constitut. Apostol., viii. 41.

[7] [They do not pass into an intermediate purgatory, nor require prayers for “the repose of their souls.”]

[8] τρίβολος. [Also the Pindaric citation in my note, vol. i. 74.]

[9] In the Parallela is inserted here the word ἐπιγελῶντες, deriding them.

[10] γέεννα.

[11] According to the reading in Parallela, which inserts ξανθὴν = red.

[12] The text reads καὶ οὗ, and where. But in Parallela it is καὶ οὗτοι = and these see, etc. In the same we find ὡς μήτε for καὶ τοὺς δικαίους.

[13] [It would be hard to frame a system of belief concerning the state of the dead more entirely exclusive of purgatory, i e., a place where the souls of the faithful are detained till (by Masses and the like) they are relieved and admitted to glory, before the resurrection. See vol. iii. p. 706.]

[14] μετενσωματῶν, in opposition to the dogma of metempsychosis.

[15] In the Timæus.

[16] The first of the two fragments in the Parallela ends here.

[17] [The text Eccles. 11:3 may be accommodated to this truth, but seems to have no force as proof.]

[18] The second fragment extant in the Parallela begins here.

[19] Ps. 119:137.

[20] [It is not the unrighteous, be it remembered, who go to “purgatory,” according to the Trent theology, but only true Christians, dying in full communion with the Church. Hippolytus is here speaking of the ultimate doom of the wicked, but bears in mind the imagery of Luke 16:24 and the appeal to Abraham.]

[21] The second fragment in the Parallela ends here.

[22] ἐκβρασσομένη.

[23] 1 Cor. 2:9.

Against the Heresy of One Noetus

1. Some others are secretly introducing another doctrine, who have become disciples of one Noetus, who was a native of Smyrna,[1] (and) lived not very long ago.[2] This person was greatly puffed up and inflated with pride, being inspired by the conceit of a strange spirit. He alleged that Christ was the Father Himself, and that the Father Himself was born, and suffered, and died. Ye see what pride of heart and what a strange inflated spirit had insinuated themselves into him. From his other actions, then, the proof is already given us that he spoke not with a pure spirit; for he who blasphemes against the Holy Ghost is cast out from the holy inheritance. He alleged that he was himself Moses, and that Aaron was his brother.[3] When the blessed presbyters heard this, they summoned him before the Church, and examined him. But he denied at first that he held such opinions. Afterwards, however, taking shelter among some, and having gathered round him some others[4] who had embraced the same error, he wished thereafter to uphold his dogma openly as correct. And the blessed presbyters called him again before them, and examined him. But he stood out against them, saying, “What evil, then, am I doing in glorifying Christ?” And the presbyters replied to him, “We too know in truth one God;[5] we know Christ; we know that the Son suffered even as He suffered, and died even as He died, and rose again on the third day, and is at the right hand of the Father, and cometh to judge the living and the dead. And these things which we have learned we allege.” Then, after examining him, they expelled him from the Church. And he was carried to such a pitch of pride, that he established a school.

2. Now they seek to exhibit the foundation for their dogma by citing the word in the law, “I am the God of your fathers: ye shall have no other gods beside me;”[6] and again in another passage, “I am the first,” He saith, “and the last; and beside me there is none other.”[7] Thus they say they prove that God is one. And then they answer in this manner: “If therefore I acknowledge Christ to be God, He is the Father Himself, if He is indeed God; and Christ suffered, being Himself God; and consequently the Father suffered, for He was the Father Himself.” But the case stands not thus; for the Scriptures do not set forth the matter in this manner. But they make use also of other testimonies, and say, Thus it is written: “This is our God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of Him. He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob His servant (son), and to Israel His beloved. Afterward did He show Himself upon earth, and conversed with men.”[8] You see, then, he says, that this is God, who is the only One, and who afterwards did show Himself, and conversed with men.” And in another place he says, “Egypt hath laboured; and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, (and they shall be slaves to thee); and they shall come after thee bound with manacles, and they shall fall down unto thee, because God is in thee; and they shall make supplication unto thee: and there is no God beside thee. For Thou art God, and we knew not; God of Israel, the Saviour.”[9] Do you see, he says, how the Scriptures proclaim one God? And as this is clearly exhibited, and these passages are testimonies to it, I am under necessity, he says, since one is acknowledged, to make this One the subject of suffering. For Christ was God, and suffered on account of us, being Himself the Father, that He might be able also to save us. And we cannot express ourselves otherwise, he says; for the apostle also acknowledges one God, when he says, “Whose are the fathers, (and) of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.”[10]

3. In this way, then, they choose to set forth these things, and they make use only of one class of passages;[11] just in the same one-sided manner that Theodotus employed when he sought to prove that Christ was a mere man. But neither has the one party nor the other understood the matter rightly, as the Scriptures themselves confute their senselessness, and attest the truth. See, brethren, what a rash and audacious dogma they have introduced, when they say without shame, the Father is Himself Christ, Himself the Son, Himself was born, Himself suffered, Himself raised Himself. But it is not so. The Scriptures speak what is right; but Noetus is of a different mind from them. Yet, though Noetus does not understand the truth, the Scriptures are not at once to be repudiated. For who will not say that there is one God? Yet he will not on that account deny the economy (i.e., the number and disposition of persons in the Trinity). The proper way, therefore, to deal with the question is first of all to refute the interpretation put upon these passages by these men, and then to explain their real meaning. For it is right, in the first place, to expound the truth that the Father is one God, “of whom is every family,”[12] “by whom are all things, of whom are all things, and we in Him.”[13]

4. Let us, as I said, see how he is confuted, and then let us set forth the truth. Now he quotes the words, “Egypt has laboured, and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabeans,” and so forth on to the words, “For Thou art the God of Israel, the Saviour.” And these words he cites without understanding what precedes them. For whenever they wish to attempt anything underhand, they mutilate the Scriptures. But let him quote the passage as a whole, and he will discover the reason kept in view in writing it. For we have the beginning of the section a little above; and we ought, of course, to commence there in showing to whom and about whom the passage speaks. For above, the beginning of the section stands thus: “Ask me concerning my sons and my daughters, and concerning the work of my hands command ye me. I have made the earth, and man upon it: I with my hand have stablished the heaven; I have commanded all the stars. I have raised him up, and all his ways are straight. He shall build my city, and he shall turn back the captivity; not for price nor reward, said the Lord of hosts. Thus said the Lord of hosts, Egypt hath laboured, and the merchandise of Ethiopia and the Sabeans, men of stature, shall come over unto thee, and they shall be slaves to thee: and they shall come after thee bound with manacles, and they shall fall down unto thee; and they shall make supplication unto thee, because God is in thee; and there is no God beside thee. For Thou art God, and we knew not; the God of Israel, the Saviour.”[14] “In thee, therefore,” says he, “God is.” But in whom is God except in Christ Jesus, the Father’s Word, and the mystery of the economy?[15] And again, exhibiting the truth regarding Him, he points to the fact of His being in the flesh when He says, “I have raised Him up in righteousness, and all His ways are straight.” For what is this? Of whom does the Father thus testify? It is of the Son that the Father says, “I have raised Him up in righteousness.” And that the Father did raise up His Son in righteousness, the Apostle Paul bears witness, saying, “But if the Spirit of Him that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead dwell in you, He that raised up Christ Jesus from the dead shall also quicken your mortal bodies by His Spirit that dwelleth in you.”[16] Behold, the word spoken by the prophet is thus made good, “I have raised Him up in righteousness.” And in saying, “God is in thee,” he referred to the mystery of the economy, because when the Word was made incarnate and became man, the Father was in the Son, and the Son in the Father, while the Son was living among men. This, therefore, was signified, brethren, that in reality the mystery of the economy by the Holy Ghost and the Virgin was this Word, constituting yet one Son to God.[17] And it is not simply that I say this, but He Himself attests it who came down from heaven; for He speaketh thus: “No man hath ascended up to heaven, but He that came down from heaven, even the Son of man which is in heaven.”[18] What then can he seek beside what is thus written? Will he say, forsooth, that flesh was in heaven? Yet there is the flesh which was presented by the Father’s Word as an offering,—the flesh that came by the Spirit and the Virgin, (and was) demonstrated to be the perfect Son of God. It is evident, therefore, that He offered Himself to the Father. And before this there was no flesh in heaven. Who, then, was in heaven[19] but the Word unincarnate, who was despatched to show that He was upon earth and was also in heaven? For He was Word, He was Spirit, He was Power. The same took to Himself the name common and current among men, and was called from the beginning the Son of man on account of what He was to be, although He was not yet man, as Daniel testifies when he says, “I saw, and behold one like the Son of man came on the clouds of heaven.”[20] Rightly, then, did he say that He who was in heaven was called from the beginning by this name, the Word of God, as being that from the beginning.

5. But what is meant, says he, in the other passage: “This is God, and there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of Him?”[21] That said he rightly. For in comparison of the Father who shall be accounted of? But he says: “This is our God; there shall none other be accounted of in comparison of Him. He hath found out all the way of knowledge, and hath given it unto Jacob His servant, and to Israel His beloved.” He saith well. For who is Jacob His servant, Israel His beloved, but He of whom He crieth, saying, “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased: hear ye Him?”[22] Having received, then, all knowledge from the Father, the perfect Israel, the true Jacob, afterward did show Himself upon earth, and conversed with men. And who, again, is meant by Israel[23] but a man who sees God? and there is no one who sees God except the Son alone, the perfect man who alone declares the will of the Father. For John also says, “No man hath seen God at any time; the only-begotten Son, which is in the bosom of the Father, He hath declared[24] Him.”[25] And again: “He who came down from heaven testifieth what He hath heard and seen.”[26] This, then, is He to whom the Father hath given all knowledge, who did show Himself upon earth, and conversed with men.

6. Let us look next at the apostle’s word: “Whose are the fathers, of whom as concerning the flesh Christ came, who is over all, God blessed for ever.”[10] This word declares the mystery of the truth rightly and clearly. He who is over all is God; for thus He speaks boldly, “All things are delivered unto me of my Father.”[27] He who is over all, God blessed, has been born; and having been made man, He is (yet) God for ever. For to this effect John also has said, “Which is, and which was, and which is to come, the Almighty.”[28] And well has he named Christ the Almighty. For in this he has said only what Christ testifies of Himself. For Christ gave this testimony, and said, “All things are delivered unto me of my Father;”[29] and Christ rules all things, and has been appointed[30] Almighty by the Father. And in like manner Paul also, in setting forth the truth that all things are delivered unto Him, said, “Christ the first-fruits; afterwards they that are Christ’s at His coming. Then cometh the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God, even the Father; when He shall have put down all rule, and all authority, and power. For He must reign, till He hath put all enemies under His feet. The last enemy that shall be destroyed is death. For all things are put under Him. But when He saith, All things are put under Him, it is manifest that He is excepted which did put all things under Him. Then shall He also Himself be subject to Him who put all things under Him, that God may be all in all.”[31] If, therefore, all things are put under Him with the exception of Him who put them under Him, He is Lord of all, and the Father is Lord of Him, that in all there might be manifested one God, to whom all things are made subject together with Christ, to whom the Father hath made all things subject, with the exception of Himself. And this, indeed, is said by Christ Himself, as when in the Gospel He confessed Him to be His Father and His God. For He speaks thus: “I go to my Father and your Father, and to my God and your God.”[32] If then, Noetus ventures to say that He is the Father Himself, to what father will he say Christ goes away according to the word of the Gospel? But if he will have us abandon the Gospel and give credence to his senselessness, he expends his labour in vain; for “we ought to obey God rather than men.”[33]

7. If, again, he allege His own word when He said, “I and the Father are one,”[34] let him attend to the fact, and understand that He did not say, “I and the Father am one, but are one.”[35] For the word are[36]is not said of one person, but it refers to two persons, and one power.[37] He has Himself made this clear, when He spake to His Father concerning the disciples, “The glory which Thou gavest me I have given them; that they may be one, even as we are one: I in them, and Thou in me, that they may be made perfect in one; that the world may know that Thou hast sent me.”[38] What have the Noetians to say to these things? Are all one body in respect of substance, or is it that we become one in the power and disposition of unity of mind?[39] In the same manner the Son, who was sent and was not known of those who are in the world, confessed that He was in the Father in power and disposition. For the Son is the one mind of the Father. We who have the Father’s mind believe so (in Him); but they who have it not have denied the Son. And if, again, they choose to allege the fact that Philip inquired about the Father, saying, “Show us the Father, and it sufficeth us,” to whom the Lord made answer in these terms: “Have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me, Philip? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father. Believest thou not that I am in the Father, and the Father in me?”[40] and if they choose to maintain that their dogma is ratified by this passage, as if He owned Himself to be the Father, let them know that it is decidedly against them, and that they are confuted by this very word. For though Christ had spoken of Himself, and showed Himself among all as the Son, they had not yet recognised Him to be such, neither had they been able to apprehend or contemplate His real power. And Philip, not having been able to receive this, as far as it was possible to see it, requested to behold the Father. To whom then the Lord said, “Philip, have I been so long time with you, and yet hast thou not known me? He that hath seen me hath seen the Father.” By which He means, If thou hast seen me, thou mayest know the Father through me. For through the image, which is like (the original), the Father is made readily known. But if thou hast not known the image, which is the Son, how dost thou seek to see the Father? And that this is the case is made clear by the rest of the chapter, which signifies that the Son who “has been set forth[41] was sent from the Father,[42] and goeth to the Father.”[43]

8. Many other passages, or rather all of them, attest the truth. A man, therefore, even though he will it not, is compelled to acknowledge God the Father Almighty, and Christ Jesus the Son of God, who, being God, became man, to whom also the Father made all things subject, Himself excepted, and the Holy Spirit; and that these, therefore, are three. But if he desires to learn how it is shown still that there is one God, let him know that His power[44] is one. As far as regards the power, therefore, God is one. But as far as regards the economy there is a threefold manifestation, as shall be proved afterwards when we give account of the true doctrine. In these things, however, which are thus set forth by us, we are at one. For there is one God in whom we must believe, but unoriginated, impassible, immortal, doing all things as He wills, in the way He wills, and when He wills. What, then, will this Noetus, who knows[45] nothing of the truth, dare to say to these things? And now, as Noetus has been confuted, let us turn to the exhibition of the truth itself, that we may establish the truth, against which all these mighty heresies[46] have arisen without being able to state anything to the purpose.

9. There is, brethren, one God, the knowledge of whom we gain from the Holy Scriptures, and from no other source. For just as a man, if he wishes to be skilled in the wisdom of this world, will find himself unable to get at it in any other way than by mastering the dogmas of philosophers, so all of us who wish to practise piety will be unable to learn its practice from any other quarter than the oracles of God.[47] Whatever things, then, the Holy Scriptures declare, at these let us look; and whatsoever things they teach, these let us learn; and as the Father wills our belief to be, let us believe; and as He wills the Son to be glorified, let us glorify Him; and as He wills the Holy Spirit to be bestowed, let us receive Him. Not according to our own will, nor according to our own mind, nor yet as using violently those things which are given by God, but even as He has chosen to teach them by the Holy Scriptures, so let us discern them.

10. God, subsisting alone, and having nothing contemporaneous with Himself, determined to create the world. And conceiving the world in mind, and willing and uttering the word, He made it; and straightway it appeared, formed as it had pleased Him. For us, then, it is sufficient simply to know that there was nothing contemporaneous with God. Beside Him there was nothing; but[48] He, while existing alone, yet existed in plurality.[49] For He was neither without reason, nor wisdom, nor power, nor counsel.[50] And all things were in Him, and He was the All. When He willed, and as He willed,[51] He manifested His word in the times determined by Him, and by Him He made all things. When He wills, He does; and when He thinks, He executes; and when He speaks, He manifests; when He fashions, He contrives in wisdom. For all things that are made He forms by reason and wisdom—creating them in reason, and arranging them in wisdom. He made them, then, as He pleased, for He was God. And as the Author, and fellow-Counsellor, and Framer[52] of the things that are in formation, He begat[53] the Word; and as He bears this Word in Himself, and that, too, as (yet) invisible to the world which is created, He makes Him visible; (and) uttering the voice first, and begetting Him as Light of Light,[54] He set Him forth to the world as its Lord, (and) His own mind;[55] and whereas He was visible formerly to Himself alone, and invisible to the world which is made, He makes Him visible in order that the world might see Him in His manifestation, and be capable of being saved.

11. And thus there appeared another beside Himself. But when I say another,[56] I do not mean that there are two Gods, but that it is only as light of light, or as water from a fountain, or as a ray from the sun. For there is but one power, which is from the All;[57] and the Father is the All, from whom cometh this Power, the Word. And this is the mind[58] which came forth into the world, and was manifested as the Son[59] of God. All things, then, are by Him, and He alone is of the Father. Who then adduces a multitude of gods brought in, time after time? For all are shut up, however unwillingly, to admit this fact, that the All runs up into one. If, then, all things run up into one, even according to Valentinus, and Marcion, and Cerinthus, and all their fooleries, they are also reduced, however unwillingly, to this position, that they must acknowledge that the One is the cause of all things. Thus, then, these too, though they wish it not, fall in with the truth, and admit that one God made all things according to His good pleasure. And He gave the law and the prophets; and in giving them, He made them speak by the Holy Ghost, in order that, being gifted with the inspiration of the Father’s power, they might declare the Father’s counsel and will.

12. Acting then in these (prophets), the Word spoke of Himself. For already He became His own herald, and showed that the Word would be manifested among men. And for this reason He cried thus: “I am made manifest to them that sought me not; I am found of them that asked not for me.”[60] And who is He that is made manifest but the Word of the Father?—whom the Father sent, and in whom He showed to men the power proceeding from Him. Thus, then, was the Word made manifest, even as the blessed John says. For he sums up the things that were said by the prophets, and shows that this is the Word, by whom all things were made. For he speaks to this effect: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. All things were made by Him, and without Him was not anything made.”[61] And beneath He says, “The world was made by Him, and the world knew Him not; He came unto His own, and His own received Him not.”[62] If, then, said he, the world was made by Him, according to the word of the prophet, “By the Word of the Lord were the heavens made,”[63] then this is the Word that was also made manifest. We accordingly see the Word incarnate, and we know the Father by Him, and we believe in the Son, (and) we worship the Holy Spirit. Let us then look at the testimony of Scripture, with respect to the announcement of the future manifestation of the Word.

13. Now Jeremiah says, “Who hath stood in the counsel[64] of the Lord, and hath perceived His Word?”[65] But the Word of God alone is visible, while the word of man is audible. When he speaks of seeing the Word, I must believe that this visible (Word) has been sent. And there was none other (sent) but the Word. And that He was sent Peter testifies, when he says to the centurion Cornelius: “God sent His Word unto the children of Israel by the preaching of Jesus Christ. This is the God who is Lord of all.”[66] If, then, the Word is sent by Jesus Christ, the will[67] of the Father is Jesus Christ.

14. These things then, brethren, are declared by the Scriptures. And the blessed John, in the testimony of his Gospel, gives us an account of this economy (disposition) and acknowledges this Word as God, when he says, “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God.” If, then, the Word was with God, and was also God, what follows? Would one say that he speaks of two Gods?[68] I shall not indeed speak of two Gods, but of one; of two Persons however, and of a third economy (disposition), viz., the grace of the Holy Ghost. For the Father indeed is One, but there are two Persons, because there is also the Son; and then there is the third, the Holy Spirit. The Father decrees, the Word executes, and the Son is manifested, through whom the Father is believed on. The economy[69] of harmony is led back to one God; for God is One. It is the Father who commands,[70] and the Son who obeys, and the Holy Spirit who gives understanding:[71] the Father who is above all,[72] and the Son who is through all, and the Holy Spirit who is in all. And we cannot otherwise think of one God,[73] but by believing in truth in Father and Son and Holy Spirit. For the Jews glorified (or gloried in) the Father, but gave Him not thanks, for they did not recognise the Son. The disciples recognised the Son, but not in the Holy Ghost; wherefore they also denied Him.[74] The Father’s Word, therefore, knowing the economy (disposition) and the will of the Father, to wit, that the Father seeks to be worshipped in none other way than this, gave this charge to the disciples after He rose from the dead: “Go ye and teach all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Ghost.”[75] And by this He showed, that whosoever omitted any one of these, failed in glorifying God perfectly. For it is through this Trinity[76] that the Father is glorified. For the Father willed, the Son did, the Spirit manifested. The whole Scriptures, then, proclaim this truth.

15. But some one will say to me, You adduce a thing strange to me, when you call the Son the Word. For John indeed speaks of the Word, but it is by a figure of speech. Nay, it is by no figure of speech.[77] For while thus presenting this Word that was from the beginning, and has now been sent forth, he said below in the Apocalypse, “And I saw heaven opened, and behold a white horse; and He that sat upon him (was) Faithful and True; and in righteousness He doth judge and make war. And His eyes (were) as flame of fire, and on His head were many crowns; and He had a name written that no man knew but He Himself. And He (was) clothed in a vesture dipped in blood: and His name is called the Word of God.”[78] See then, brethren, how the vesture sprinkled with blood denoted in symbol the flesh, through which the impassible Word of God came under suffering, as also the prophets testify to me. For thus speaks the blessed Micah: “The house of Jacob provoked the Spirit of the Lord to anger. These are their pursuits. Are not His words good with them, and do they walk rightly? And they have risen up in enmity against His countenance of peace, and they have stripped off His glory.”[79] That means His suffering in the flesh. And in like manner also the blessed Paul says, “For what the law could not do, in that it was weak, God, sending His own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, condemned sin in the flesh, that the righteousness of the law might be shown in us, who walk not after the flesh, but after the Spirit.”[80] What Son of His own, then, did God send through the flesh but the Word,[81] whom He addressed as Son because He was to become such (or be begotten) in the future? And He takes the common name for tender affection among men in being called the Son. For neither was the Word, prior to incarnation and when by Himself,[82] yet perfect Son, although He was perfect Word, only-begotten. Nor could the flesh subsist by itself apart from the Word, because it has its subsistence[83] in the Word.[84] Thus, then, one perfect Son of God was manifested.

16. And these indeed are testimonies bearing on the incarnation of the Word; and there are also very many others. But let us also look at the subject in hand,—namely, the question, brethren, that in reality the Father’s power, which is the Word, came down from heaven, and not the Father Himself. For thus He speaks: “I came forth from the Father, and am come.”[85] Now what subject is meant in this sentence, “I came forth from the Father,”[86] but just the Word? And what is it that is begotten of Him, but just the Spirit,[87] that is to say, the Word? But you will say to me, How is He begotten? In your own case you can give no explanation of the way in which you were begotten, although you see every day the cause according to man; neither can you tell with accuracy the economy in His case.[88] For you have it not in your power to acquaint yourself with the practised and indescribable art[89] (method) of the Maker, but only to see, and understand, and believe that man is God’s work. Moreover, you are asking an account of the generation of the Word, whom God the Father in His good pleasure begat as He willed. Is it not enough for you to learn that God made the world, but do you also venture to ask whence He made it? Is it not enough for you to learn that the Son of God has been manifested to you for salvation if you believe, but do you also inquire curiously how He was begotten after the Spirit? No more than two,[90] in sooth, have been put in trust to give the account of His generation after the flesh; and are you then so bold as to seek the account (of His generation) after the Spirit, which the Father keeps with Himself, intending to reveal it then to the holy ones and those worthy of seeing His face? Rest satisfied with the word spoken by Christ, viz., “That which is born of the Spirit is spirit,”[91] just as, speaking by the prophet of the generation of the Word, He shows the fact that He is begotten, but reserves the question of the manner and means, to reveal it only in the time determined by Himself. For He speaks thus: “From the womb, before the morning star, I have begotten Thee.”[92]

17. These testimonies are sufficient for the believing who study truth, and the unbelieving credit no testimony.[93] For the Holy Spirit, indeed, in the person of the apostles, has testified to this, saying, “And who has believed our report?”[94] Therefore let us not prove ourselves unbelieving, lest the word spoken be fulfilled in us. Let us believe then, dear[95] brethren, according to the tradition of the apostles, that God the Word came down from heaven, (and entered) into the holy Virgin Mary, in order that, taking the flesh from her, and assuming also a human, by which I mean a rational soul, and becoming thus all that man is with the exception of sin, He might save fallen man, and confer immortality on men who believe on His name. In all, therefore, the word of truth is demonstrated to us, to wit, that the Father is One, whose word is present (with Him), by whom He made all things; whom also, as we have said above, the Father sent forth in later times for the salvation of men. This (Word) was preached by the law and the prophets as destined to come into the world. And even as He was preached then, in the same manner also did He come and manifest Himself, being by the Virgin and the Holy Spirit made a new man; for in that He had the heavenly (nature) of the Father, as the Word and the earthly (nature), as taking to Himself the flesh from the old Adam by the medium of the Virgin, He now, coming forth into the world, was manifested as God in a body, coming forth too as a perfect man. For it was not in mere appearance or by conversion,[96] but in truth, that He became man.

18. [97]Thus then, too, though demonstrated as God, He does not refuse the conditions proper to Him as man,[98] since He hungers and toils and thirsts in weariness, and flees in fear, and prays in trouble. And He who as God has a sleepless nature, slumbers on a pillow. And He who for this end came into the world, begs off from the cup of suffering. And in an agony He sweats blood, and is strengthened by an angel, who Himself strengthens those who believe on Him, and taught men to despise death by His work.[99] And He who knew what manner of man Judas was, is betrayed by Judas. And He, who formerly was honoured by him as God, is contemned by Caiaphas.[100] And He is set at nought by Herod, who is Himself to judge the whole earth. And He is scourged by Pilate, who took upon Himself our infirmities. And by the soldiers He is mocked, at whose behest stand thousands of thousands and myriads of myriads of angels and archangels. And He who fixed the heavens like a vault is fastened to the cross by the Jews. And He who is inseparable from the Father cries to the Father, and commends to Him His spirit; and bowing His head, He gives up the ghost, who said, “I have power to lay down my life, and I have power to take it again;”[101] and because He was not overmastered by death, as being Himself Life, He said this: “I lay it down of myself.”[101] And He who gives life bountifully to all, has His side pierced with a spear. And He who raises the dead is wrapped in linen and laid in a sepulchre, and on the third day He is raised again by the Father, though Himself the Resurrection and the Life. For all these things has He finished for us, who for our sakes was made as we are. For “Himself hath borne our infirmities, and carried our diseases; and for our sakes He was afflicted,”[102] as Isaiah the prophet has said. This is He who was hymned by the angels, and seen by the shepherds, and waited for by Simeon, and witnessed to by Anna. This is He who was inquired after by the wise men, and indicated by the star; He who was engaged in His Father’s house, and pointed to by John, and witnessed to by the Father from above in the voice, “This is my beloved Son; hear ye Him.”[103] He is crowned victor against the devil.[104] This is Jesus of Nazareth, who was invited to the marriage-feast in Cana, and turned the water into wine, and rebuked the sea when agitated by the violence of the winds, and walked on the deep as on dry land, and caused the blind man from birth to see, and raised Lazarus to life after he had been dead four days, and did many mighty works, and forgave sins, and conferred power on the disciples, and had blood and water flowing from His sacred side when pierced with the spear. For His sake the sun is darkened, the day has no light, the rocks are shattered, the veil is rent, the foundations of the earth are shaken, the graves are opened, and the dead are raised, and the rulers are ashamed when they see the Director of the universe upon the cross closing His eye and giving up the ghost. Creation saw, and was troubled; and, unable to bear the sight of His exceeding glory, shrouded itself in darkness.[105] This (is He who) breathes upon the disciples, and gives them the Spirit, and comes in among them when the doors are shut, and is taken up by a cloud into the heavens while the disciples gaze at Him, and is set down on the right hand of the Father, and comes again as the Judge of the living and the dead. This is the God who for our sakes became man, to whom also the Father hath put all things in subjection. To Him be the glory and the power, with the Father and the Holy Spirit, in the holy Church both now and ever, and even for evermore. Amen.

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[1] That Noetus was a native of Smyrna is mentioned also by Theodoret, book iii. Hæret Fab., c. iii., and Damascenus, sec. lvii. (who is accustomed to follow Epiphanius); and yet in Epiphanius, Hæres., 57, we read that Noetus was an Asian of the city of Ephesus (᾽Ασιανον τῆς ᾽Εφέσου πόλεως). (Fabricius.)

[2] Epiphanius says that Noetus made his heresy public about 130 years before his time (οὐ πρὸ ἐτῶν πλειόνων ἀλλ᾽ ὡς πρὸ χρόνου τῶν τουτων ἑκατὸν τριάκοντα, πλείω ἢ ἐλάσσω); and as Epiphanius wrote in the year 375, that would make the date of Noetus about 245. He says also that Noetus died soon after (ἔναγχος), along with his brother. (Fabricius.)

[3] So also Epiphanius and Damascenus. But Philastrius, Heresy, 53, puts Elijah for Aaron: hic etiam dicebat se Moysem esse, et fratrem suum Eliam prophetam.

[4] Epiphanius remarks that they were but ten in number.

[5] The following words are the words of the Symbolum, as it is extant in Irenæus, i. 10, etc., and iii. 4; and in Tertullian, Contra Praxeam, ch. ii., and De Præscript., ch. xiii., and De virginibus velandis, ch. i. [See vol. iii., this series.]

[6] Ex. 3:6 and 20:3.

[7] Isa. 44:6.

[8] Baruch 3:35–38. [Based on Prov. 8., but so remarkable that Grotius presumptuously declared it an interpolation. It reflects canonical Scripture, but has no canonical value otherwise.]

[9] Isa. 45:14.

[10] Rom. 9:5.

[11] καὶ αὐτοις μονοκῶλα χρώμενοι, etc. The word μονοκῶλα appears to be used adverbially, instead of μονοκώλως and μονοτύπως, which are the terms employed by Epiphanius (p. 481). The meaning is, that the Noetians, in explaining the words of Scripture concerning Christ, looked only to one side of the question—namely, to the divine nature; just as Theodotus, on his part going to the opposite extreme, kept by the human nature exclusively, and held that Christ was a mere man. Besides others, the presbyter Timotheus, in Cotelerii Monument., vol. iii. p. 389, mentions Theodotus in these terms: “They say that this Theodotus was the leader and father of the heresy of the Samosatan, having first alleged that Christ was a mere man.” [See vol. iii, p. 654, this series.]

[12] Eph. 3:15.

[13] 1 Cor. 8:6.

[14] Isa. 45:11–15.

[15] [Bull, Opp., v. pp. 367, 734, 740–743, 753–756.]

[16] Rom. 8:11.

[17] Turrian has the following note: “The Word of God constituted (operatum est) one Son to God; i.e., the Word of God effected, that He who was the one Son of God was also one Son of man, because as His hypostasis He assumed the flesh. For thus was the Word made flesh.”

[18] John 3:13.

[19] [John 3:13.]

[20] Dan. 7:13.

[21] Baruch 3:36, etc.

[22] Matt. 17:5.

[23] The word Israel is explained by Philo, De præmiis et pœnis, p. 710, and elsewhere, as = a man seeing God, ὁρῶν Θεόν, i.e., אִִיש ואה אל. So also in the Constitutiones Apostol., vii. 37, viii. 15; Eusebius, Præparat., xi. 6, p. 519, and in many others. To the same class may be referred those who make Israel = ὁρατικὸς ανὴρ καὶ θεωρητικὸς, a man apt to see and speculate, as Eusebius, Præparat., p. 310, or = νοῦς ὁρῶν Θεόν, as Optatus in the end of the second book; Didymus in Jerome, and Jerome himself in various passages; Maximus, i. p. 284; Olympiodorus on Ecclesiastes, ch. i.; Leontius, De Sectis, p. 392; Theophanes, Ceram. homil., iv. p. 22, etc. Justin Martyr, Dialog. cum Tryph. [see vol. i. pp. 226, 262], adduces another etymology, ἄνθρωπος νικῶν δύναμιν.

[24] Hippolytus reads διηγήσατο for ἐξηγήσατο.

[25] John 1:18.

[26] John 3:11, 13.

[27] Matt. 11:27.

[28] Apoc. 1:8.

[29] Matt. 11:27. [Compare John 5:22.]

[30] [Strictly scriptural as to the humanity of Messiah, Heb. 1:9.]

[31] 1 Cor. 15:23–28.

[32] John 20:17.

[33] Acts 5:29; 4:19.

[34] John 10:30.

[35] ἐγὼ καὶ ὁ πατὴρ—ἕν ἐσμεν, not ἕν εἰμι.

[36] ἐσμὲν.

[37] δύναμιν.

[38] John 17:22, 23.

[39] ἢτῇ δυνάμει καὶ τῇ διαθέσει τῆς ὁμοφρονίας ἓν γινόμεθα.

[40] John 14:8, 9.

[41] Rom. 3:25.

[42] John 5:30; 6:29; 8:16, 18, etc.

[43] John 13:1; 14:12.

[44] δύναμις.

[45] There is perhaps a play on the words here—Νόητος μὴ νοῶν.

[46] i.e., the other thirty-one heresies, which Hippolytus had already attacked. From these words it is apparent also that this treatise was the closing portion of a book against the heresies (Fabricius).

[47] [This emphatic testimony of our author to the sufficiency of the Scriptures is entirely in keeping with the entire system of the Ante-Nicene Fathers. Note our teeming indexes of Scripture texts.]

[48] See, on this passage, Bull’s Defens. Fid. Nic., sec. iii. cap. viii. § 2, p. 219.

[49] πολὺς ἦν.

[50] ἄλογος, ἄσοφος, ἀδύνατος, ἀβούλευτος.

[51] On these words see Bossuet’s explanation and defence, Avertiss., vi. § 68, sur les lettres de M. Jurieu.

[52] ἀρχηγόν, καὶ σύμβουλον, καὶ ἐργάτην.

[53] The “begetting” of which Hippolytus speaks here is not the generation, properly so called, but that manifestation and bringing forth of the Word co-existing from eternity with the Father, which referred to the creation of the world. So at least Bull and Bossuet, as cited above; also Maranus, De Divinit. J. C., lib. iv. cap. xiii. § 3, p. 458.

[54] φως ἐκ φωτός. This phrase, adopted by the Nicene Fathers, occurs before their time not only here, but also in Justin Martyr, Tatian, and Athenagoras, as is noticed by Grabe, ad Irenæum, lib. ii. c. xxiii. Methodius also, in his Homily on Simeon and Anna, p. 152, has the expression, σὺ εἶ φῶς ἀληθινὸν ἐκ φωτὸς ἀληθινοῦ Θεὸς ἀληθινὸς ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀληθινοῦ. Athanasius himself also uses the phrase λύχνον ἐκ λύχνου, vol. i. p. 881, ed. Lips. [Illustrating my remarks (p. v. of this volume), in the preface, as to the study of Nicene theology in Ante-Nicene authors.]

[55] νοῦν.

[56] Justin Martyr also says that the Son is ἕτερόν τι, something other, from the Father; and Tertullian affirms, Filium et Patrem esse aluid ab alio, with the same intent as Hippolytus here, viz., to express the distinction of persons. [See vol. i. pp. 170, 216, 263, and vol. iii. p. 604.]

[57] ἐκ τοῦ παντός.

[58] Or reason.

[59] παῖς.

[60] Isa. 65:1.

[61] John 1:1–3. Hippolytus evidently puts the full stop at the οὐδὲ εν, attaching the ο γέγονεν to the following. So also Irenæus, Clemens Alex., Origen, Theophilus of Antioch, and Eusebius, in several places; so, too, of the Latin Fathers—Tertullian, Lactantius, Victorinus, Augustine; and long after these, Honorius Augustodunensis, in his De imagine Mundi. This punctuation was also adopted by the heretics Valentinus, Heracleon, Theodotus, and the Macedonians and Eunomians; and hence it is rejected by Epiphanius, ii. p. 80, and Chrysostom. (Fabricius.)

[62] John 1:10, 11.

[63] Ps. 33:6.

[64] ὑποστήματι, foundation. Victor reads ἐν τῇ ὑποστάσει, in the substance, nature; Symmachus has ἐν τῇ ὁμιλίᾳ, in the fellowship.

[65] Jer. 23:18.

[66] Acts 10:36.

[67] τὸ θέλημα. Many of the patristic theologians called the Son the Father’s βούλησις or θέλημα. See the passages in Petavius, De S. S. Trinitate, lib. vi. c. 8, § 21, and vii. 12, § 12. [Dubious.]

[68] From this passage it is clear that Hippolytus taught the doctrine of one God alone and three Persons. A little before, in the eighth chapter, he said that there is one God, according to substance or divine essence, which one substance is in three Persons; and that, according to disposition or economy, there are three Persons manifested. By the term economy, therefore, he understands, with Tertullian, adversus Praxeam. ch. iii., the number and disposition of the Trinity (numerum et dispositionem Trinitatis). Here he also calls the grace of the Holy Spirit the third economy, but in the same way as Tertullian, who calls the Holy Spirit the third grade (tertium gradum). For the terms gradus, forma, species, dispositio, andœconimia mean the same in Tertullian. (Maranus.) [Another proof that the Nicene Creed was a compilation from Ante-Nicene theologians.]

[69] οἰκονομία συμφωνίας συνάγεται εἰς ἕνα Θεόν, perhaps = “the” economy as being one of harmony, leads to one God.

[70] This mode of speaking of the Father’s commanding, and the Son’s obeying, was used without any offence, not only by Irenæus, Hippolytus, Origen, and others before the Council of Nicæa, but also after that council by the keenest opponents of the Arian heresy—Athanasius, Basil, Marius Victorinus, Hilary, Prosper, and others. See Petavius, De Trin., i. 7, § 7; and Bull, Defens Fid. Nic., pp. 138, 164, 167, 170. (Fabricius.)

[71] συνέτιζον.

[72] Referring probably to Eph. 4:6.

[73] The Christian doctrine, Maranus remarks, could not be set forth more accurately; for he contends not only that the number of Persons in no manner detracts from the unity of God, but that the unity of God itself can neither consist nor be adored without this number of Persons.

[74] This is said probably with reference to Peter’s denial.

[75] Matt. 28:19.

[76] Τριαδος. [See Theophilus, vol. ii. p. 101, note.]

[77] ἀλλ᾽ ἄλλως ἀλληγορεῖ. The words in Italics are given only in the Latin. They may have dropped from the Greek text. At any rate, some such addition seems necessary for the sense.

[78] Apoc. 19:11–13.

[79] Mic. 2:7, 8.δόξαν: In the present text of the Septuagint it is δοράν, skin.

[80] Hippolytus omits the words διὰ τῆς σαρκός and καὶ περὶ ἁμαρτίας, and reads φανερωθῇ for πληρωθῇ.

[81] ὅν Υἱὸν προσηγόρευε διὰ τὸ μέλλειν αὐτὸν γενέσθαι.

[82] Hippolytus thus gives more definite expression to this temporality of the Sonship, as Dorner remarks, than even Tertullian. See Dorner’s Doctrine of the Person of Christ (T. & T. Clark), div. i. vol. ii. p. 88, etc. [Pearson On the Creed, art. ii. p. 199 et seqq. The patristic citations are sufficient, and Hippolytus may be harmonized with them.]

[83] τὴν σύστασιν.

[84] “Σύστασις,” says Dorner, “be it observed, is not yet equivalent to personality. The sense is, it had its subsistence in the Logos; He was the connective and vehicular force. This is thoroughly unobjectionable. He does not thus necessarily pronounce the humanity of Christ impersonal; although in view of what has preceded, and what remains to be adduced, there can be no doubt [?] that Hippolytus would have defended the impersonality, had the question been agitated at the period at which he lived.” See Dorner, as above, i. 95. [But compare Burton, Testimonies of the Ante-Nicene Fathers, etc., pp. 60–87, where Tertullian and Hippolytus speak for themselves. Note also what he says of the latter, and his variations of expression, p. 87.]

[85] John 16:28.

[86] Reading ἐξῆλθον. The Latin interpreter seems to read ἐξελθόν = what is this that came forth.

[87] πνεῦμα. The divine in Christ is thus designated in the Ante-Nicene Fathers generally. See Grotius on Mark 2:8; and for a full history of the term in this use, Dorner’s Person of Christ, i. p. 390, etc. (Clark).

[88] την περὶ τοῦτον οἰκονομιαν.

[89] τὴν τοῦ δημιουργήσαντος ἔμπειρον καὶ ἀνεκδιήγητου τέχνην.

[90] i.e., Matthew and Luke in their Gospels.

[91] John 3:6.

[92] Ps. 110:3.

[93] [A noble aphorism. See Shedd, Hist. of Theol., i. pp. 300, 301, and tribute to Pearson, p. 319, note. The loving spirit of Auberlen, on the defeat of rationalism, may be noted with profit in his Divine Revelations, translation, Clark’s ed., 1867.]

[94] Isa. 53:1.

[95] μακάριοι.

[96] κατὰ φαντασίαν ἢ τροπήν.

[97] [The sublimity of this concluding chapter marks our author’s place among the most eloquent of Ante-Nicene Fathers.]

[98] The following passage agrees almost word for word with what is cited as from the Memoria hæresium of Hippolytus by Gelasius, in the De duabus naturis Christi, vol. viii. Bibl. Patr., edit. Lugd. p. 704. [Compare St. Ignatius, vol. i. cap. vii. p. 52, this series; and for the crucial point (γεννητὸς καὶ ἀγέννητος) see Jacobson, ii. p. 278.]

[99] Or, by deed, ἔργῳ.

[100] ἱερατευόμενος, referring to John 11:51, 52.

[101] John 10:18.

[102] Isa. 53:4.

[103] Matt. 17:5. [It may be convenient for some to turn to the Oxford translation of Bishop Bull’s Defensio, part i. pp. 193–216, where Tertullian and Hippolytus are nobly vindicated on Nicene grounds. The notes are also valuable.]

[104] Matt. 27:29. στεφανοῦται κατὰ διαβόλου, [i.e., with thorns].

[105] [Hippolytus confirms Tertullian’s testimony. Compare vol. iii. pp. 35 and 58.]

Against Beron and Helix.

Fragment 1

Against Beron and Helix.

Fragments of a discourse, alphabetically divided, κατὰ στοιχεῖον. The Latin title in the version of Anastasius renders it “ex sermone qui est per elementum.” on the Divine Nature περὶ θεολογίας. and the Incarnation, against the heretics Beron and Helix, For ῞Ηλικοςthe Codex Regius et Colbertinus of Nicephorus prefers “῝Ηλικίωνος. Fabricius conjectures that we should read ηλικιωτῶ αἱρετικῶν, so that the title would be, Against Beron and his fellow-heretics. [N.B. Beron = “Vero”.] the beginning of which was in these words, “Holy, holy, holy, Lord God of Sabaoth, with voice never silent the seraphim exclaim and glorify God.”

By the omnipotent will of God all things are made, and the things that are made are also preserved, being maintained according to their several principles in perfect harmony by Him who is in His nature the omnipotent God and maker of all things,[1] His divine will remaining unalterable by which He has made and moves all things, sustained as they severally are by their own natural laws.[2] For the infinite cannot in any manner or by any account be susceptible of movement, inasmuch as it has nothing towards which and nothing around which it shall be moved. For in the case of that which is in its nature infinite, and so incapable of being moved, movement would be conversion.[3] Wherefore also the Word of God being made truly man in our manner, yet without sin, and acting and enduring in man’s way such sinless things as are proper to our nature, and assuming the circumscription of the flesh of our nature on our behalf, sustained no conversion in that aspect in which He is one with the Father, being made in no respect one with the flesh through the exinanition.[4] But as He was without flesh,[5] He remained without any circumscription. And through the flesh He wrought divinely[6] those things which are proper to divinity, showing Himself to have both those natures in both of which He wrought, I mean the divine and the human, according to that veritable and real and natural subsistence,[7] (showing Himself thus) as both being in reality and as being understood to be at one and the same time infinite God and finite man, having the nature[8] of each in perfection, with the same activity,[9] that is to say, the same natural properties;[10] whence we know that their distinction abides always according to the nature of each, and without conversion. But it is not (i.e., the distinction between deity and humanity), as some say, a merely comparative (or relative) matter,[11] that we may not speak in an unwarrantable manner of a greater and a less in one who is ever the same in Himself.[12] For comparisons can be instituted only between objects of like nature, and not between objects of unlike nature. But between God the Maker of all things and that which is made, between the infinite and the finite, between infinitude and finitude, there can be no kind of comparison, since these differ from each other not in mere comparison (or relatively), but absolutely in essence. And yet at the same time there has been effected a certain inexpressible and irrefragable union of the two into one substance,[13] which entirely passes the understanding of anything that is made. For the divine is just the same after the incarnation that it was before the incarnation; in its essence infinite, illimitable, impassible, incomparable, unchangeable, inconvertable, self-potent,[14] and, in short, subsisting in essence alone the infinitely worthy good.

[1] αὐτῷ τῷ…Θεῷ.

[2] τοῖς ἕκαστα φυσικοις διεξαγόμενα νόμοις. Anastasius makes it naturalibus producta legibus; Capperonnier, suis quæque legibus temperata vel ordinata.

[3] τροπὴ γὰρ τοῦ κατὰ φύσιν ἀπείρου, κινεῖσθαι μὴ πεφυκότος, ἡ κίνησις; or may the sense be, “for a change in that which is in its nature infinite would just be the moving of that which is incapable of movement?”

[4] μηδ᾽ ἑνὶ παντελῶς ὃ ταυτόν ἐστι τῷ Πατρὶ γενόμενος ταυτὸν τῇ σαρκὶ διὰ τὴν κένωσιν. Thus in effect Combefisius, correcting the Latin version of Anastasius. Baunius adopts the reading in the Greek Codex Nicephori, viz., ἕνωσιν for κένωσιν, and renders it, “In nothing was the Word, who is the same with the Father, made the same with the flesh through the union:” nulla re Verbum quod idem est cum Patre factum est idem cum carne propter unionem.

[5] δίχα σαρκὸς, i.e., what He was before assuming the flesh, that He continued to be in Himself, viz., independent of limitation.

[6] θεϊκῶς.

[7] Or existence, ὕπαρξιν. Anastasius makes it substantia.

[8] οὐσίαν.

[9] ἐνεργείας.

[10] φυσικῆς ἰδιότητος.

[11] κατὰ σύγκρισιν. Migne follows Capperonnier in taking σύγκρισις in this passage to mean not “comparison” or “relation,” but “commixture,” the “concretion and commixture” of the divine and human, which was the error of Apollinaris and Eutyches in their doctrine of the incarnation, and which had been already refuted by Tertullian, Contra Praxeam, c. xxvii.

[12] Or, “for that would be to speak of the same being as greater and less than Himself.”

[13] υποστασιν.

[14] αὐτοσθενές.

Fragment 2

The God of all things therefore became truly, according to the Scriptures, without conversion, sinless man, and that in a manner known to Himself alone, as He is the natural Artificer of things which are above our comprehension. And by that same saving act of the incarnation[1] He introduced into the flesh the activity of His proper divinity, yet without having it (that activity) either circumscribed by the flesh through the exinanition, or growing naturally out of the flesh as it grew out of His divinity,[2] but manifested through it in the things which He wrought in a divine manner in His incarnate state. For the flesh did not become divinity in nature by a transmutation of nature, as though it became essentially flesh of divinity. But what it was before, that also it continued to be in nature and activity when united with divinity, even as the Saviour said, “The spirit indeed is willing, but the flesh is weak.”[3] And working and enduring in the flesh things which were proper to sinless flesh, He proved the evacuation of divinity (to be) for our sakes, confirmed as it was by wonders and by sufferings of the flesh naturally. For with this purpose did the God of all things become man, viz., in order that by suffering in the flesh, which is susceptible of suffering, He might redeem our whole race, which was sold to death; and that by working wondrous things by His divinity, which is unsusceptible of suffering, through the medium of the flesh He might restore it to that incorruptible and blessed life from which it fell away by yielding to the devil; and that He might establish the holy orders of intelligent existences in the heavens in immutability by the mystery of His incarnation,[4] the doing of which is the recapitulation of all things in himself.[5] He remained therefore, also, after His incarnation, according to nature, God infinite, and more,[6] having the activity proper and suitable to Himself,—an activity growing out of His divinity essentially, and manifested through His perfectly holy flesh by wondrous acts economically, to the intent that He might be believed in as God, while working out of Himself[7] by the flesh, which by nature is weak, the salvation of the universe.

[1] σωτήριον σάρκωσιν.

[2] οὐδ᾽ ὥσπερ τῆς αὐτοῦ θεότητος οὕτω καὶ αὐτῆς φυσικῶς ἐκφυομένην.

[3] Matt. 26:41.

[4] σωματώσεως.

[5] Referring probably to Eph. 1:10.

[6] ὑπεράπειρος.

[7] αὐτουργῶν.

Fragment 3

Now, with the view of explaining, by means of an illustration, what has been said concerning the Saviour, (I may say that) the power of thought[1] which I have by nature is proper and suitable to me, as being possessed of a rational and intelligent soul; and to this soul there pertains, according to nature, a self-moved energy and first power, ever-moving, to wit, the thought that streams from it naturally. This thought I utter, when there is occasion, by fitting it to words, and expressing it rightly in signs, using the tongue as an organ, or artificial characters, showing that it is heard, though it comes into actuality by means of objects foreign to itself, and yet is not changed itself by those foreign objects.[2] For my natural thought does not belong to the tongue or the letters, although I effect its utterance by means of these; but it belongs to me, who speak according to my nature, and by means of both these express it as my own, streaming as it does always from my intelligent soul according to its nature, and uttered by means of my bodily tongue organically, as I have said, when there is occasion. Now, to institute a comparison with that which is utterly beyond comparison, just as in us the power of thought that belongs by nature to the soul is brought to utterance by means of our bodily tongue without any change in itself, so, too, in the wondrous incarnation[3] of God is the omnipotent and all-creating energy of the entire deity[4] manifested without mutation in itself, by means of His perfectly holy flesh, and in the works which He wrought after a divine manner, (that energy of the deity) remaining in its essence free from all circumscription, although it shone through the flesh, which is itself essentially limited. For that which is in its nature unoriginated cannot be circumscribed by an originated nature, although this latter may have grown into one with it[5] by a conception which circumscribes all understanding:[6] nor can this be ever brought into the same nature and natural activity with that, so long as they remain each within its own proper and inconvertible nature.[7] For it is only in objects of the same nature that there is the motion that works the same works, showing that the being[8] whose power is natural is incapable in any manner of being or becoming the possession of a being of a different nature without mutation.[9]

[1] λόγος.

[2] The text is, διὰ τῶν ἀνομοίων μὲν ύπάρχοντα. Anastasius reads μὴ for μέν.

[3] σωματώσεως.

[4] τῆς ὅλης θεότητος.

[5] συνέφυ.

[6] Κατὰ σύλληψιν πάντα περιγράφουσαν νοῦν.

[7] οὔτε μὴν εἰς τ᾽ αὐτὸν αὐτῷ φέρεσθαι φύσεώς ποτε καὶ φυσικῆς ἐνεργείας, ἕως ἂν ἑκάτερον τῆς ἰδίας ἐντὸς μένει φυσικῆς ἀτρεψίας. Το φέρεσθαι we supply again πέφυκε.

[8] οὐσίαν.

[9] The sense is extremely doubtful here. The text runs thus: ὁμοφυῶν γὰρ μόνων ἡ ταυτουργός ἐστι κίνησις σημαίνουσα τὴν οὐσίαν, ἧς φυσικὴ καθέστηκε δύναμις, ἑτεροφυοῦς ἰδιότητος οὐσίας εἶναι κατ᾽ οὐδένα λόγον, ἢ γενέσθαι δίχα τροπῆς δυναμένην. Anastasius renders it: Connaturalium enim tantum per se operans est motus, manifestans substantiam, cujus naturalem constat esse virtutem: diversæ naturæ proprietatis substantia nulla naturæ esse vel fieri sine convertibilitate valente.

Fragment 4

For, in the view of apostles and prophets and teachers, the mystery of the divine incarnation has been distinguished as having two points of contemplation natural to it,[1] distinct in all things, inasmuch as on the one hand it is the subsistence of perfect deity, and on the other is demonstrative of full humanity. As long, therefore,[2] as the Word is acknowledged to be in substance one, of one energy, there shall never in any way be known a movement[3] in the two. For while God, who is essentially ever-existent, became by His infinite power, according to His will, sinless man, He is what He was, in all wherein God is known; and what He became, He is in all wherein man is known and can be recognised. In both aspects of Himself He never falls out of Himself,[4] in His divine activities and in His human alike, preserving in both relations His own essentially unchangeable perfection.

[1] διττὴν καὶ διαφορὰν ἔχον διέγνωσται τὴν ἐν πᾶσι φυσικὴν θεωρίαν.

[2] The text goes, ἕως ἂν οὐχ, which is adopted by Combefisius. But Capperonnier and Migne read οὖν for οὐχ, as we have rendered it.

[3] Change, κίνησις.

[4] μένει ἀνέκπτωτος.

Fragment 5

For lately a certain person, Beron, along with some others, forsook the delusion of Valentinus, only to involve themselves in deeper error, affirming that the flesh assumed to Himself by the Word became capable of working like works with the deity[1] by virtue of its assumption, and that the deity became susceptible of suffering in the same way with the flesh[2] by virtue of the exinanition;[3] and thus they assert the doctrine that there was at the same time a conversion and a mixing and a fusing[4] of the two aspects one with the other. For if the flesh that was assumed became capable of working like works with the deity, it is evident that it also became God in essence in all wherein God is essentially known. And if the deity by the exinanition became susceptible of the same sufferings with the flesh, it is evident that it also became in essence flesh in all wherein flesh essentially can be known. For objects that act in like manner,[5] and work like works, and are altogether of like kind, and are susceptible of like suffering with each other, admit of no difference of nature; and if the natures are fused together,[6] Christ will be a duality;[7] and if the persons[8] are separated, there will be a quaternity,[9]—a thing which is altogether to be avoided. And how will they conceive of the one and the same Christ, who is at once God and man by nature? And what manner of existence will He have according to them, if He has become man by a conversion of the deity, and if he has become God by a change of the flesh? For the mutation[10] of these, the one into the other, is a complete subversion of both. Let the discussion, then, be considered by us again in a different way.

[1] γενέσθαι ταυτουργὸν τῇ θεότητι.

[2] ταυτοπαθῆ τῇ σαρκί.

[3] κένωσιν.

[4] σύγχυσιν.

[5] ὁμοεργῆ.

[6] συγκεχυμένων. [Vol. iii. p. 623].

[7] δυάς.

[8] προσώπων.

[9] τετράς, i.e., instead of Trinity [the Τριὰς].

[10] μετάπτωσις. [Compare the Athanasian Confession].

Fragment 6

Among Christians it is settled as the doctrine of piety, that, according to nature itself, and to the activity and to whatever else pertains thereunto, God is equal and the same with Himself,[1] having nothing that is His unequal to Himself at all and heterogeneous.[2] If, then, according to Beron, the flesh that He assumed to Himself became possessed of the like natural energy with them, it is evident that it also became possessed of the like nature with Him in all wherein that nature consists,—to wit, non-origination, non-generation, infinitude, eternity, incomprehensibility, and whatever else in the way of the transcendent the theological mind discerns in deity; and thus they both underwent conversion, neither the one nor the other preserving any more the substantial relation of its own proper nature.[3] For he who recognises an identical operation[4] in things of unlike nature, introduces at the same time a fusion of natures and a separation of persons,[5] their natural existence[6] being made entirely undistinguishable by the transference of properties.[7]

[1] ἵσον ἑαυτῷ καὶ ταυτόν.

[2] ἀκατάλληλον.

[3] τῆς ἰδίας φύσεως οὐσιώδη λόγον.

[4] ταυτουργίαν.

[5] διαίρεσιν προσωπικήν.

[6] ὑπάρξεως.

[7] ἱδιωμάτων.

Fragment 7

But if it (the flesh) did not become of like nature with that (the deity), neither shall it ever become of like natural energy with that; that He may not be shown to have His energy unequal with His nature, and heterogeneous, and, through all that pertains to Himself, to have entered on an existence outside of His natural equality and identity,[1] which is an impious supposition.

[1] φυσικῆς ἔξω γεγονὼς ἰσότητος καὶ ταυτόητος.

Fragment 8

Into this error, then, have they been carried, by believing, unhappily, that that divine energy was made the property of the flesh which was only manifested through the flesh in His miraculous actions; by which energy Christ, in so far as He is apprehended as God, gave existence to the universe, and now maintains and governs it. For they did not perceive that it is impossible for the energy of the divine nature to become the property[1] of a being of a different nature[2] apart from conversion; nor did they understand that that is not by any means the property of the flesh which is only manifested through it, and does not spring out of it according to nature; and yet the proof thereof was clear and evident to them. For I, by speaking with the tongue and writing with the hand, reveal through both these one and the same thought of my intelligent soul, its energy (or operation) being natural; in no way showing it as springing naturally out of tongue or hand; nor yet (showing) even the spoken thought as made to belong to them in virtue of its revelation by their means. For no intelligent person ever recognised tongue or hand as capable of thought, just as also no one ever recognised the perfectly holy flesh of God, in virtue of its assumption, and in virtue of the revelation of the divine energy through its medium, as becoming in nature creative.[3] But the pious confession of the believer is that, with a view to our salvation, and in order to connect the universe with unchangeableness, the Creator of all things incorporated with Himself[4] a rational soul and a sensible[5] body from the all-holy Mary, ever-virgin, by an undefiled conception, without conversion, and was made man in nature, but separate from wickedness: the same was perfect God, and the same was perfect man; the same was in nature at once perfect God and man. In His deity He wrought divine things through His all-holy flesh,—such things, namely, as did not pertain to the flesh by nature; and in His humanity He suffered human things,—such things, namely, as did not pertain to deity by nature, by the upbearing of the deity.[6] He wrought nothing divine without the body;[7] nor did the same do anything human without the participation of deity.[8] Thus He preserved for Himself a new and fitting method[9] by which He wrought (according to the manner of) both, while that which was natural to both remained unchanged;[10] to the accrediting[11] of His perfect incarnation,[12] which is really genuine, and has nothing lacking in it.[13] Beron, therefore, since the case stands with him as I have already stated, confounding together in nature the deity and the humanity of Christ in a single energy,[14] and again separating them in person, subverts the life, not knowing that identical operation[15] is indicative of the connatural identity only of connatural persons.[16]

————————————

[1] ἰδίωμα.

[2] ἑτεροφανοῦς οὐσίας.

[3] δημιουργόν.

[4] ἐνουσιώσας.

[5] Or sensitive, αἰσθητικοῦ.

[6] ἀνοχῇ πάσχων θεότητος.

[7] γυμνὸν σώματος.

[8] ἄμοιρον δράσας θεότητος.

[9] καινοπρεπῆ τρόπον.

[10] τὸ κατ᾽ ἄμφω φυσικῶς ἀναλλοίωτον.

[11] εἰς πίστωσιν.

[12] ἐνανθρωπήσεως. [See Athanasian Creed, in Dutch Hymnal.]

[13] μηδὲν ἐχούσης φαυλότητος.

[14] ἐνεργείας μονάδι.

[15] ταυτουργίαν.

[16] μόνης τῆς τῶν ὁμοφυῶν προσώπων ὁμοφυοῦς ταυτότητος.

The Discourse on the Holy Theophany

1. Good, yea, very good, are all the works of our God and Saviour—all of them that eye seeth and mind perceiveth, all that reason interprets and hand handles, all that intellect comprehends and human nature understands. For what richer beauty can there be than that of the circle[1] of heaven? And what form of more blooming fairness than that of earth’s surface? And what is there swifter in the course than the chariot of the sun? And what more graceful car than the lunar orb?[2] And what work more wonderful than the compact mosaic of the stars?[3] And what more productive of supplies than the seasonable winds? And what more spotless mirror than the light of day? And what creature more excellent than man? Very good, then, are all the works of our God and Saviour. And what more requisite gift, again, is there than the element[4] of water? For with water all things are washed and nourished, and cleansed and bedewed. Water bears the earth, water produces the dew, water exhilarates the vine; water matures the corn in the ear, water ripens the grapecluster, water softens the olive, water sweetens the palm-date, water reddens the rose and decks the violet, water makes the lily bloom with its brilliant cups. And why should I speak at length? Without the element of water, none of the present order of things can subsist. So necessary is the element of water; for the other elements[5] took their places beneath the highest vault of the heavens, but the nature of water obtained a seat also above the heavens. And to this the prophet himself is a witness, when he exclaims, “Praise the Lord, ye heavens of heavens, and the water that is above the heavens.”[6]

2. Nor is this the only thing that proves the dignity[7] of the water. But there is also that which is more honourable than all—the fact that Christ, the Maker of all, came down as the rain,[8] and was known as a spring,[9] and diffused Himself as a river,[10] and was baptized in the Jordan.[11] For you have just heard how Jesus came to John, and was baptized by him in the Jordan. Oh things strange beyond compare! How should the boundless River[12] that makes glad the city of God have been dipped in a little water! The illimitable Spring that bears life to all men, and has no end, was covered by poor and temporary waters! He who is present everywhere, and absent nowhere—who is incomprehensible to angels and invisible to men—comes to the baptism according to His own good pleasure. When you hear these things, beloved, take them not as if spoken literally, but accept them as presented in a figure.[13] Whence also the Lord was not unnoticed by the watery element in what He did in secret, in the kindness of His condescension to man. “For the waters saw Him, and were afraid.”[14] They well-nigh broke from their place, and burst away from their boundary. Hence the prophet, having this in his view many generations ago, puts the question, “What aileth thee, O sea, that thou fleddest; and thou, Jordan, that thou wast driven back?”[15] And they in reply said, We have seen the Creator of all things in the “form of a servant,”[16] and being ignorant of the mystery of the economy, we were lashed with fear.

3. But we, who know the economy, adore His mercy, because He hath come to save and not to judge the world. Wherefore John, the forerunner of the Lord, who before knew not this mystery, on learning that He is Lord in truth, cried out, and spake to those who came to be baptized of him, “O generation of vipers,”[17] why look ye so earnestly at me? “I am not the Christ;”[18] I am the servant, and not the lord; I am the subject, and not the king; I am the sheep, and not the shepherd; I am a man, and not God. By my birth I loosed the barrenness of my mother; I did not make virginity barren.[19] I was brought up from beneath; I did not come down from above. I bound the tongue of my father;[20] I did not unfold divine grace. I was known by my mother, and I was not announced by a star.[21] I am worthless, and the least; but “after me there comes One who is before me”[22]—after me, indeed, in time, but before me by reason of the inaccessible and unutterable light of divinity. “There comes One mightier than I, whose shoes I am not worthy to bear: He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.”[23] I am subject to authority, but He has authority in Himself. I am bound by sins, but He is the Remover of sins. I apply[24] the law, but He bringeth grace to light. I teach as a slave, but He judgeth as the Master. I have the earth as my couch, but He possesses heaven. I baptize with the baptism of repentance, but He confers the gift of adoption: “He shall baptize you with the Holy Ghost, and with fire.” Why give ye attention to me? I am not the Christ.

4. As John says these things to the multitude, and as the people watch in eager expectation of seeing some strange spectacle with their bodily eyes, and the devil[25] is struck with amazement at such a testimony from John, lo, the Lord appears, plain, solitary, uncovered,[26] without escort,[27] having on Him the body of man like a garment, and hiding the dignity of the Divinity, that He may elude the snares of the dragon. And not only did He approach John as Lord without royal retinue; but even like a mere man, and one involved in sin, He bent His head to be baptized by John. Wherefore John, on seeing so great a humbling of Himself, was struck with astonishment at the affair, and began to prevent Him, saying, as ye have just heard, “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”[28] What doest Thou, O Lord? Thou teachest things not according to rule.[29] I have preached one thing (regarding Thee), and Thou performest another; the devil has heard one thing, and perceives another. Baptize me with the fire of Divinity; why waitest Thou for water? Enlighten me with the Spirit; why dost Thou attend upon a creature? Baptize me, the Baptist, that Thy pre-eminence may be known. I, O Lord, baptize with the baptism of repentance, and I cannot baptize those who come to me unless they first confess fully their sins. Be it so then that I baptize Thee, what hast Thou to confess? Thou art the Remover of sins, and wilt Thou be baptized with the baptism of repentance? Though I should venture to baptize Thee, the Jordan dares not to come near Thee. “I have need to be baptized of Thee, and comest Thou to me?”

5. And what saith the Lord to him? “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.”[30] “Suffer it to be so now,” John; thou art not wiser than I. Thou seest as man; I foreknow as God. It becomes me to do this first, and thus to teach. I engage in nothing unbecoming, for I am invested with honour. Dost thou marvel, O John, that I am not come in my dignity? The purple robe of kings suits not one in private station, but military splendour suits a king: am I come to a prince, and not to a friend? “Suffer it to be so now for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness:” I am the Fulfiller of the law; I seek to leave nothing wanting to its whole fulfilment, that so after me Paul may exclaim, “Christ is the fulfilling of the law for righteousness to every one that believeth.”[31] “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Baptize me, John, in order that no one may despise baptism. I am baptized by thee, the servant, that no one among kings or dignitaries may scorn to be baptized by the hand of a poor priest. Suffer me to go down into the Jordan, in order that they may hear my Father’s testimony, and recognise the power of the Son. “Suffer it to be so now, for thus it becometh us to fulfil all righteousness.” Then at length John suffers Him. “And Jesus, when He was baptized, went up straightway out of the water: and the heavens were opened unto Him; and, lo, the Spirit of God descended like a dove, and rested upon Him. And a voice (came) from heaven, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”[32]

6. Do you see, beloved, how many and how great blessings we would have lost, if the Lord had yielded to the exhortation of John, and declined baptism? For the heavens were shut before this; the region above was inaccessible. We would in that case descend to the lower parts, but we would not ascend to the upper. But was it only that the Lord was baptized? He also renewed the old man, and committed to him again the sceptre of adoption. For straightway “the heavens were opened to Him.” A reconciliation took place of the visible with the invisible; the celestial orders were filled with joy; the diseases of earth were healed; secret things were made known; those at enmity were restored to amity. For you have heard the word of the evangelist, saying, “The heavens were opened to Him,” on account of three wonders. For when Christ the Bridegroom was baptized, it was meet that the bridal-chamber of heaven should open its brilliant gates. And in like manner also, when the Holy Spirit descended in the form of a dove, and the Father’s voice spread everywhere, it was meet that “the gates of heaven should be lifted up.”[33] “And, lo, the heavens were opened to Him; and a voice was heard, saying, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.”

7. The beloved generates love, and the light immaterial the light inaccessible.[34] “This is my beloved Son,” He who, being manifested on earth and yet unseparated from the Father’s bosom, was manifested, and yet did not appear.[35] For the appearing is a different thing, since in appearance the baptizer here is superior to the baptized. For this reason did the Father send down the Holy Spirit from heaven upon Him who was baptized. For as in the ark of Noah the love of God toward man is signified by the dove, so also now the Spirit, descending in the form of a dove, bearing as it were the fruit of the olive, rested on Him to whom the witness was borne. For what reason? That the faithfulness of the Father’s voice might be made known, and that the prophetic utterance of a long time past might be ratified. And what utterance is this? “The voice of the Lord (is) on the waters, the God of glory thundered; the Lord (is) upon many waters.”[36] And what voice? “This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased.” This is He who is named the son of Joseph, and (who is) according to the divine essence my Only-begotten. “This is my beloved Son”—He who is hungry, and yet maintains myriads; who is weary, and yet gives rest to the weary; who has not where to lay His head,[37] and yet bears up all things in His hand; who suffers, and yet heals sufferings; who is smitten,[38] and yet confers liberty on the world;[39] who is pierced in the side,[40] and yet repairs the side of Adam.[41]

8. But give me now your best attention, I pray you, for I wish to go back to the fountain of life, and to view the fountain that gushes with healing. The Father of immortality sent the immortal Son and Word into the world, who came to man in order to wash him with water and the Spirit; and He, begetting us again to incorruption of soul and body, breathed into us the breath (spirit) of life, and endued us with an incorruptible panoply. If, therefore, man has become immortal, he will also be God.[42] And if he is made God by water and the Holy Spirit after the regeneration of the laver[43] he is found to be also joint-heir with Christ[44] after the resurrection from the dead. Wherefore I preach to this effect: Come, all ye kindreds of the nations, to the immortality of the baptism. I bring good tidings of life to you who tarry in the darkness of ignorance. Come into liberty from slavery, into a kingdom from tyranny, into incorruption from corruption. And how, saith one, shall we come? How? By water and the Holy Ghost. This is the water in conjunction with the Spirit, by which paradise is watered, by which the earth is enriched, by which plants grow, by which animals multiply, and (to sum up the whole in a single word) by which man is begotten again and endued with life, in which also Christ was baptized, and in which the Spirit descended in the form of a dove.

9. This is the Spirit that at the beginning “moved upon the face of the waters;”[45] by whom the world moves; by whom creation consists, and all things have life; who also wrought mightily in the prophets,[46] and descended in flight upon Christ.[47] This is the Spirit that was given to the apostles in the form of fiery tongues.[48] This is the Spirit that David sought when he said, “Create in me a clean heart, O God, and renew a right spirit within me.”[49] Of this Spirit Gabriel also spoke to the Virgin, “The Holy Ghost shall come upon thee, and the power of the Highest shall overshadow thee.”[50] By this Spirit Peter spake that blessed word, “Thou art the Christ, the Son of the living God.”[51] By this Spirit the rock of the Church was stablished.[52] This is the Spirit, the Comforter, that is sent because of thee,[53] that He may show thee to be the Son[54] of God.

10. Come then, be begotten again, O man, into the adoption of God. And how? says one. If thou practisest adultery no more, and committest not murder, and servest not idols; if thou art not overmastered by pleasure; if thou dost not suffer the feeling of pride to rule thee; if thou cleanest off the filthiness of impurity, and puttest off the burden of sin; if thou castest off the armour of the devil, and puttest on the breastplate of faith, even as Isaiah saith, “Wash you, and seek judgment, relieve the oppressed, judge the fatherless, and plead for the widow. And come and let us reason together, saith the Lord. Though your sins be as scarlet, I shall make them white as snow; and though they be like crimson, I shall make them white as wool. And if ye be willing, and hear my voice, ye shall eat the good of the land.”[55] Do you see, beloved, how the prophet spake beforetime of the purifying power of baptism? For he who comes down in faith to the laver of regeneration, and renounces the devil, and joins himself to Christ; who denies the enemy, and makes the confession that Christ is God; who puts off the bondage, and puts on the adoption,—he comes up from the baptism brilliant as the sun,[56] flashing forth the beams of righteousness, and, which is indeed the chief thing, he returns a son of God and joint-heir with Christ. To Him be the glory and the power, together with His most holy, and good, and quickening Spirit, now and ever, and to all the ages of the ages. Amen.

————————————

[1] δίσκου.

[2] σεληνιακοῦ στοιχείου.

[3] πολυπηγήτου τῶν ἄστρων μουσίου.

[4] φύσεως.

[5] στοιχεῖα.

[6] Ps. 148:4. [Pindar (῞Αριστον μὲν ὕδωρ, Olymp., i. 1), is expounded and then transcended.]

[7] ἀξιοπιστίαν.

[8] Hos. 6:3.

[9] John 4:14.

[10] John 7:38.

[11] Matt. 3:13.

[12] Ps. 46:4.

[13] Economically.

[14] Ps. 77:16.

[15] Ps. 114:5.

[16] Phil. 2:7.

[17] Matt. 3:7.

[18] John 1:20.

[19] οὐ παρθενίαν ἐστείρωσα. So Gregory Thaumaturgus, Sancta Theophania, p. 106, edit. Vossii: “Thou, when born of the Virgin Mary,…didst not loose her virginity; but didst preserve it, and gifted her with the name of mother.”

[20] Luke 1:20.

[21] Matt. 2:9.

[22] John 1:27.

[23] Matt. 3:11.

[24] παράπτω.

[25] It was a common opinion among the ancient theologians that the devil was ignorant of the mystery of the economy, founding on such passages as Matt. 4:3, 1 Cor. 2:8. (Fabricius.) [See Ignatius, vol. i. p. 57, this series.]

[26] γυμνός.

[27] ἀπροστάτευτος.

[28] Matt. 3:14.

[29] ἀκανόνιστα δογματίζεις.

[30] Matt. 3:15.

[31] Rom. 10:4.

[32] Matt. 3:16, 17.

[33] Ps. 24:7.

[34] φῶς ἄϋλον γεννᾷ φῶς ἀπρόσιτον. The Son is called “Light of Light” in the Discourse against Noetus, ch. x. [See p. 227 supra.] In φῶς ἀπρόσιτον the reference is to 1 Tim. 6:16.

[35] ἐπεφάνη οὐκ ἐφάνη. See Dorner’s Doctrine of the Person of Christ, div. i. vol. ii. p. 97 (Clark).

[36] Ps. 29:3.

[37] Luke 9:5. [Compare the Paradoxes, attributed to Bacon, in his Works, vol. xiv. p. 143; also the Appendix, pp. 139–142.]

[38] ῥαπιζόμενος, referring to the slap in the process of manumitting slaves.

[39] Heb. 1:3.

[40] Matt. 26:67. [From which proceeds His Church.]

[41] That is, the sin introduced by Eve, who was formed by God out of Adam’s side. (Fabricius.)

[42] ἔσται καὶ Θεός, referring probably to 2 Pet. 1:4, ἵνα διὰ τούτων γένησθε θείας κοινωνοὶ φύσεως, “that by these ye might be partakers of the divine nature.” [See vol. iii. p. 317, note 11. Tertullian anticipates the language of the “Athanasian Confession,”—“taking the manhood into God;” applicable, through Christ, to our redeemed humanity. Eph. 2:6; Rev. 3:21.]

[43] κολυμβήθρας.

[44] Rom. 8:17.

[45] Gen. 1:2.

[46] Acts 28:25.

[47] Matt. 3:16.

[48] Acts 2:3.

[49] Ps. 51:10.

[50] Luke 1:35.

[51] Matt. 16:16.

[52] Matt. 16:18.

[53] John 16:26.

[54] τέκνον.

[55] Isa. 1:16–19.

[56] This seems to refer to what the poets sing as to the sun rising out of the waves of ocean. (Fabricius.) [Note, this is not said of such as Simon Magus, but of one who puts off the bondage, i.e., of corruption. Our author’s perorations are habitually sublime.]

Fragments of Discourses or Homilies.

From the Discourse of Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, on the Resurrection and Incorruption

Fragments of Discourses or Homilies.

I. From a Discourse on the Resurrection, in Anastasius Sinaita, Hodegus, p. 350. This treatise is mentioned in the list of his works given on the statue, and also by Jerome, Sophronius, Nicephorus, Honorius, etc.

Men, he says, “in the resurrection will be like the angels of God,”[1] to wit, in incorruption, and immortality, and incapacity of loss.[2] For the incorruptible nature is not the subject of generation;[3] it grows not, sleeps not, hungers not, thirsts not, is not wearied, suffers not, dies not, is not pierced by nails and spear, sweats not, drops not with blood. Of such kind are the natures of the angels and of souls released from the body. For both these are of another kind, and different from these creatures of our world, which are visible and perishing.

[1] Matt. 22:30.

[2] ἀρευσίᾳ.

[3] γεννᾶται.

From the Discourse of St. Hippolytus, Bishop and Martyr, on the Divine Nature

II. From the Discourse on the Theology or the Doctrine of Christ’s Divine Nature, extant in the Acts of the Lateran Council, under Martinus 1., ann. 649, secret. v. p. 287, vol. vii. edit. Veneto-Labb.

God is capable of willing, but not of not willing[1] for that pertains only to one that changes and makes choice;[2] for things that are being made follow the eternal will of God, by which also things that are made abide sustained.

[1] οὐ τὸ μὴ θέλειν.

[2] τρεπτοῦ καὶ προαιρετοῦ.

St. Hippolytus, Bishop and Martyr, in His Homily on the Paschal Supper

III. From a Homily on the Lord’s Paschal Supper, ibid., p. 293.

He was altogether[1] in all, and everywhere; and though He filleth the universe up to all the principalities of the air, He stripped Himself again. And for a brief space He cries that the cup might pass from Him, with a view to show truly that He was also man.[2] But remembering, too, the purpose for which He was sent, He fulfils the dispensation (economy) for which He was sent, and exclaims, “Father, not my will,”[3] and, “The spirit is willing, but the flesh is weak.”[4]

[1] ὅλος.

[2] καὶ ἄνθρωπος, also man. See Grabe, Bull’s Defens. Fid. Nic., p. 103.

[3] Luke 22:42.

[4] Matt. 26:41.

Section 4

IV. From a Discourse on Elkanah and Hannah. In Theodoret, Dial. I., bearing the title “Unchangeable” (ἄτρεπτος); Works, vol. iv. p. 36.

1. Take me, O Samuel, the heifer brought to Bethlehem, in order to show the king begotten of David, and him who is anointed to be king and priest by the Father.

2. Tell me, O blessed Mary, what that was that was conceived by thee in the womb, and what that was that was born by thee in thy virgin matrix. For it was the first-born Word of God that descended to thee from heaven, and was formed as a first-born man in the womb, in order that the first-born Word of God might be shown to be united with a first-born man.

3. And in the second (form),—to wit, by the prophets, as by Samuel, calling back and delivering the people from the slavery of the aliens. And in the third (form), that in which He was incarnate, taking to Himself humanity from the Virgin, in which character also He saw the city, and wept over it.

Section 5

V. From the same Discourse. From Theodoret’s Second Dialogue, bearing the title “Unmixed,” ἀσύγχυτος; Works, vol. iv. p. 88.

And for this reason three seasons of the year prefigured the Saviour Himself, so that He should fulfil the mysteries prophesied of Him. In the Passover season, so as to exhibit Himself as one destined to be sacrificed like a sheep, and to prove Himself the true Paschal-lamb, even as the apostle says, “Even Christ,” who is God, “our passover was sacrificed for us.”[1] And at Pentecost so as to presignify the kingdom of heaven as He Himself first ascended to heaven and brought man as a gift to God.[2]

[1] 1 Cor. 5:7.

[2] [Man’s nature was never before in heaven. John 3:13; Acts 2:34.]

Section 6

VI. From an Oration on “The Lord is my Shepherd.” In Theodoret, Dial. I. p. 36.

And an ark of imperishable wood was the Saviour Himself. For by this was signified the imperishable and incorruptible tabernacle (of His body), which engendered no corruption of sin. For the man who has sinned also has this confession to make: “My wounds stank, and were corrupt, because of my foolishness.”[1] But the Lord was without sin, being of imperishable wood in respect of His humanity,—that is to say, being of the Virgin and the Holy Spirit, covered, as it were, within and without with the purest gold of the Word of God.

[1] Ps. 38:5.

Section 7

VII. From a Discourse on the “Great Song” [i.e., Ps. xc. See Bunsen, i. p. 285. Some suppose it Ps. cxix.] In Theodoret, Dial. II. pp. 88, 89.

1. He who rescued from the lowest hell the first-formed man of earth when he was lost and bound with the chains of death; He who came down from above, and raised the earthy on high;[1] He who became the evangelist of the dead, and the redeemer of the souls, and the resurrection of the buried,—He was constituted the helper of vanquished man, being made like him Himself, (so that) the first-born Word acquainted Himself with the first-formed Adam in the Virgin; He who is spiritual sought out the earthy in the womb; He who is the ever-living One sought out him who, through disobedience, is subject to death; He who is heavenly called the terrene to the things that are above; He who is the nobly-born sought, by means of His own subjection, to declare the slave free; He transformed the man into adamant who was dissolved into dust and made the food of the serpent, and declared Him who hung on the tree to be Lord over the conqueror, and thus through the tree He is found victor.

2. For they who know not now the Son of God incarnate, shall know in Him who comes as Judge in glory, Him who is now despised in the body of His humiliation.

3. And the apostles, when they came to the sepulchre on the third day, did not find the body of Jesus; just as the children of Israel went up the mount and sought for the tomb of Moses, but did not find it.

[1] τὸν κάτω εἰς τὰ ἄνω. [See p. 238, note 17, supra.]

Section 8

VIII. From a Discourse on the beginning of Isaiah. In Theodoret, Dial. I. p. 36.

Under the figure of Egypt he described the world; and under things made with hands, idolatry; and under the earthquake, the subversion, and dissolution of the earth itself. And he represented the Lord the Word as a light cloud, the purest tabernacle, enthroned on which our Lord Jesus Christ entered into this life in order to subvert error.

Section 9

IX. From a second Oration on Daniel. In the tractate of Eustratius, a presbyter of the Church of Constantinople, “Against those who allege that souls, as soon as they are released from the body, cease to act,” ch. xix., as edited by Allatius in his work on the Continuous Harmony of the Western and the Eastern Church on the Dogma of Purgatory, p. 492. [Conf. Macaire, Theol. Orthod., ii. p. 725.]

Now Hippolytus, the martyr and bishop of [the Province of] Rome, in his second discourse on Daniel, speaks thus:—

Then indeed Azarias, standing along with the others, made their acknowledgments to God with song and prayer in the midst of the furnace. Beginning thus with His holy and glorious and honourable name, they came to the works of the Lord themselves, and named first of all those of heaven, and glorified Him, saying, “Bless the Lord, all ye works of the Lord.” Then they passed to the sons of men, and taking up their hymn in order, they then named the spirits [that people Tartarus[1] beneath the earth,] and the souls of the righteous, in order that they might praise God together with them.

[1] [Nothing of this in the hymn: hence my brackets.]

Section 10

X. From an Oration on the Distribution of Talents. In Theodoret, Dial. II. p. 88.

Now a person might say that these men, and those who hold a different opinion, are yet near neighbours, being involved in like error. For those men, indeed, either profess that Christ came into our life a mere man, and deny the talent of His divinity, or else, acknowledging Him to be God, they deny, on the other hand, His humanity, and teach that His appearances to those who saw Him as man were illusory, inasmuch as He did not bear with Him true manhood, but was rather a kind of phantom manifestation. Of this class are, for example, Marcion and Valentinus, and the Gnostics, who sunder the Word from the flesh, and thus set aside the one talent, viz., the incarnation.

Section 11

XI. From a Discourse on “The two Robbers.” In Theodoret’s Third Dialogue, bearing the title “Impassible” (ἀπαθὴς), p. 156.

1. The body of the Lord presented both these to the world, the sacred blood and the holy water.

2. And His body, though dead after the manner of man, possesses in it great power of life. For streams which flow not from dead bodies flowed forth from Him, viz., blood and water; in order that we might know what power for life is held by the virtue that dwelt in His body, so as that it appears not to be dead like others, and is able to shed forth for us the springs of life.

3. And not a bone of the Holy Lamb is broken, this figure showing us that suffering toucheth not His strength. For the bones are the strength of the body.

Fragments from Other Writings of Hippolytus.

Section 1

Fragments from Other Writings of Hippolytus. Preserved by the author of the Chronicon Paschale, ex ed. Cangii, p. 6.

I.

Now Hippolytus, a martyr for piety, who was bishop of the place called Portus, near Rome, in his book Against all Heresies, wrote in these terms:—

I perceive, then, that the matter is one of contention. For he[1] speaks thus: Christ kept the supper, then, on that day, and then suffered; whence it is needful that I, too, should keep it in the same manner as the Lord did. But he has fallen into error by not perceiving that at the time when Christ suffered He did not eat the passover of the law.[2] For He was the passover that had been of old proclaimed, and that was fulfilled on that determinate day.

[1] i.e., the opponent of Hippolytus, one of the forerunners of the Quartodecimans.

[2] [For pro & con see Speaker’s Com., note to Matt. 26.]

From the Same

II.

And again the same (authority), in the first book of his treatise on the Holy Supper, speaks thus:—

Now that neither in the first nor in the last there was anything false is evident; for he who said of old, “I will not any more eat the passover,”[1] probably partook of supper before the passover. But the passover He did not eat, but He suffered; for it was not the time for Him to eat.

[1] Luke 22:16.

Hippolytus, Bishop and Martyr, in a Letter to a Certain Queen

III. From a Letter of Hippolytus to a certain queen. In Theodoret’s Dial. II., bearing the title “Unmixed” (ἀσύγχυτος), and Dial. III., entitled “Impassible” (ἀπαθης) [pp. 238–239 supra].

1. He calls Him, then, “the first-fruits of them that sleep,”[1] as the “first-begotten of the dead.”[2] For He, having risen, and being desirous to show that that same (body) had been raised which had also died, when His disciples were in doubt, called Thomas to Him, and said, “Reach hither; handle me, and see: for a spirit hath not bone and flesh, as ye see me have.”[3]

2. In calling Him the first-fruits, he testified to that which we have said, viz., that the Saviour, taking to Himself the flesh out of the same lump, raised this same flesh, and made it the first-fruits of the flesh of the righteous, in order that all we who have believed in the hope of the Risen One may have the resurrection in expectation.

[1] 1 Cor. 15:20.

[2] Col. 1:18.

[3] John 20:27; Luke 24:39.

The Story of a Maiden of Corinth, and a Certain Magistrianus

The account given by Hippolytus, the friend of the apostles.[1]

In another little book bearing the name of Hippolytus, the friend of the apostles, I found a story of the following nature:—

There lived a certain most noble and beautiful maiden[2] in the city of Corinth, in the careful exercise of a virtuous life. At that time some persons falsely charged her before the judge there, who was a Greek, with cursing the times, and the princes, and the images. Now those who trafficked in such things, brought her beauty under the notice of the impious judge, who lusted after women. And he gladly received the accusation with his equine ears and lascivious thoughts. And when she was brought before the bloodstained (judge), he was driven still more frantic with profligate passion. But when, after bringing every device to bear upon her, the profane than could not gain over this woman of God, he subjected the noble maiden to various outrages. And when he failed in these too, and was unable to seduce her from her confession of Christ, the cruel judge became furious against her, and gave her over to a punishment of the following nature: Placing the chaste maiden in a brothel, he charged the manager, saying, Take this woman, and bring me three nummi by her every day. And the man, exacting the money from her by her dishonour, gave her up to any who sought her in the brothel. And when the women-hunters knew that, they came to the brothel, and, paying the price put upon their iniquity, sought to seduce her. But this most honourable maiden, taking counsel with herself to deceive them, called them to her, and earnestly besought them, saying: I have a certain ulceration of the pudenda, which has an extremely hateful stench; and I am afraid that ye might come to hate me on account of the abominable sore. Grant me therefore a few days, and then ye may have me even for nothing. With these words the blessed maiden gained over the profligates, and dismissed them for a time.[3] And with most fitting prayers she importuned God, and with contrite supplications she sought to turn Him to compassion. God, therefore, who knew her thoughts, and understood how the chaste maiden was distressed in heart for her purity, gave ear to her; and the Guardian of the safety of all men in those days interposed with His arrangements in the following manner:—

Of a certain person Magistrianus.[4]

There was a certain young man, Magistrianus,[5] comely in his personal appearance, and of a pious mind, whom God had inspired with such a burning spiritual zeal, that he despised even death itself. He, coming under the guise of profligacy, goes in, when the evening was far gone, to the fellow who kept the women, and pays him five nummi, and says to him, Permit me to spend this night with this damsel. Entering then with her into the private apartment, he says to her, Rise, save thyself. And taking off her garments, and dressing her in his own attire, his night-gown, his cloak, and all the habiliments of a man, he says to her, Wrap yourself up with the top of your cloak, and go out; and doing so, and signing herself entirely with the mystery of the cross, she went forth uncorrupted from that place, and was preserved perfectly stainless by the grace of Christ, and by the instrumentality of the young man, who by his own blood delivered her from dishonour. And on the following day the matter became known, and Magistrianus was brought before the infuriated judge. And when the cruel tyrant had examined the noble champion of Christ, and had learned all, he ordered him to be thrown to the wild beasts,—that in this, too, the honour-hating demon might be put to shame. For, whereas he thought to involve the noble youth in an unhallowed punishment, he exhibited him as a double martyr for Christ, inasmuch as he had both striven nobly for his own immortal soul, and persevered manfully in labours also in behalf of that noble and blessed maiden. Wherefore also he was deemed worthy of double honour with Christ, and of the illustrious and blessed crowns by His goodness.

[1] Extract in Palladius, Historia Lausiaca, chap. cxlviii.; Gallandi, Biblioth., ii. 513.

[2] Nicephorus also mentions her in his Hist. Eccl., vii. 13.

[3] [On the morality of this, see vol. ii. pp. 538, 556.]

[4] From the same, chap. cxlix.

[5] Nicephorus gives this story also, Hist. Eccl., vii. 13.

Elucidation

The conduct of Father Abraham, although not approved of by Inspiration, but simply recorded (Gen. 26:7), gave early Christians an opinion that the wicked may be justly foiled, by equivocation and deception, for the preservation of innocence or the life of the innocent. In such case the person deceived, they might argue, is not injured, but benefited (Gen. 26:10), being saved from committing violence and murder. The Corinthian maiden was accustomed to be veiled (as Tertullian intimates), and was taught alike to cherish her own purity and to have no share in affording occasion of sin to others. See vol. iv. pp. 32, 33. Let us call this narrative “The Story of Corinthia and Magistrianus.”

Scripture Index

Every Scripture reference identified in this book, sorted in canonical Bible order. Tap a reference to jump to the verse where it appears.

Genesis
Genesis 26:7Elucidation
Genesis 26:10Elucidation
Psalms

Psalms 1The Argument of the Exposition of the Psalms by Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome

Song of Songs
Song of Songs 4:16On the Song of Songs
Daniel
Daniel 1:1Scholia on Daniel
Daniel 2:3Scholia on Daniel
Daniel 3:1Scholia on Daniel
Daniel 7:1Scholia on Daniel
Daniel 9:21Scholia on Daniel
Daniel 10:6Scholia on Daniel
Daniel 12:1Scholia on Daniel
Luke
Luke 2:7On Luke
Luke 23On Luke

Colophon

The Extant Works and Fragments of Hippolytus
by Saint Hippolytus of Rome.

This edition was produced by
Royal Archives.

The text is set in Palatino and Georgia. Polytonic Greek is set in SIL Gentium.

The first edition of this ebook was released on
August 16, 2026.

Table of Contents

Title Page

Copyright

Exegetical.

- On the Hexaëmeron, Or Six Days' Work

On Genesis.

- On Genesis

- From the Commentary of the Holy Hippolytus of Rome Upon Genesis

- Quoted in Jerome, Epist. 36, Ad Damasum, Num. Xviii. (From Galland)

- On Numbers

- On Kings

On the Psalms.

- The Argument Prefixed by Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, to His Exposition of the Psalms

- On Psalm 2. From the Exposition of the Second Psalm, by the Holy Bishop Hippolytus

- On Psalm 22. Or XXIII. From the Commentary by the Holy Bishop and Martyr Hippolytus, on “The Lord is My Shepherd.”

- On Psalm 23. Or XXIV. From the Commentary by the Same, on Ps. Xxiii

- On Psalm 109. Or CX. From the Commentary by the Same on the Great Song

- On Psalm 77. Or LXXVIII

On Proverbs.

- From the Commentary of St. Hippolytus on Proverbs

- Another Fragment. St. Hippolytus on Prov. Ix. 1, “Wisdom Hath Builded Her House.”

- On the Song of Songs

On Isaiah.

- Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome on Hezekiah

- From the Discourse of St. Hippolytus on the Beginning of Isaiah

- Section 3

- On Jeremiah and Ezekiel

On Daniel.

- Preface by the Most Holy Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome

- The Interpretation by Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome, of the Visions of Daniel and Nebuchadnezzar, Taken in Conjunction

- Scholia on Daniel
- Other Fragments on Daniel
- On the Song of the Three Children
- On Susannah
- On Matthew
- On Luke

Doubtful Fragments on the Pentateuch.

- Preface

- The Law

- Of the Creation of Heaven and Earth. “In the Beginning God Created,” Etc

- And the Lord Said: “And I Will Bring the Waters of the Flood Upon the Earth to Destroy All Flesh,” Etc

- On Gen. Vii. 6
- On Gen. Viii. 1
- On Deut. Xxxiii. 2

On the Psalms.

- The Argument of the Exposition of the Psalms by Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome

- On Psalm 31. 22. Of the Triumph of the Christian Faith

- On Psalm 55. 15
- On Psalm 58. 11
- On Psalm 59. 11. Concerning the Jews
- On Psalm 62. 6

- On Psalm 68. 18. Of the Enlargement of the Church

- On Psalm 89. 4. Of the Gentiles

- On the Words in Psalm 96. 11: “Let the Sea Roar (Be Moved), and the Fulness Thereof.”

- On Psalm 119. 30-32

- On the Words in Psalm 127. 7: ”On the Wrath of Mine Enemies.” Etc

- On the Words in Psalm 139. 15: “My Substance or (Bones) Was Not Hid From Thee, Which Thou Madest in Secret.”

Dogmatical and Historical.

- Treatise on Christ and Antichrist
- Expository Treatise Against the Jews
- Against Plato, on the Cause of the Universe
- Against the Heresy of One Noetus

Against Beron and Helix.

- Fragment 1
- Fragment 2
- Fragment 3
- Fragment 4
- Fragment 5
- Fragment 6
- Fragment 7
- Fragment 8
- The Discourse on the Holy Theophany

Fragments of Discourses or Homilies.

- From the Discourse of Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, on the Resurrection and Incorruption

- From the Discourse of St. Hippolytus, Bishop and Martyr, on the Divine Nature

- St. Hippolytus, Bishop and Martyr, in His Homily on the Paschal Supper

- Section 4
- Section 5
- Section 6
- Section 7
- Section 8
- Section 9
- Section 10
- Section 11

Fragments from Other Writings of Hippolytus.

- Section 1

- From the Same

- Hippolytus, Bishop and Martyr, in a Letter to a Certain Queen

- The Story of a Maiden of Corinth, and a Certain Magistrianus

- Elucidation

Scripture Index

Colophon