ii. THE LORD AND INDIVIDUAL DISCIPLES
25. / suppose] The word (oijuai) is rare intheN.T. (comp. Phil. i. 17; James i. 7). From the form of the sentence (tav •ypd^rat... Xo>pij<r(iv) it appears that the recollection of the other deeds was still fresh, so that the record of them was possible.
could not contain] The bold expression answers to a deep truth. A complete account (every one) of the perfect human (Jesus) life of the Lord would be practically infinite.
11. The precise statement of the number has naturally attracted the attention of commentators from early times, and the interpretations which have been assigned to it do more than form a sample of ingenious combinations. They illustrate a method of viewing Scripture which, however different from our own, was at one time nearly universal. It will then be not without use and interest to notice one or two of the prominent explanations of the number which have been offered.
There is, as far as I have noted, no explanation of the number preserved in the great ante-Nicene fathers, Clement, Irenseus, and Origen, Tertullian and Cyprian. But Cyril of Alexandria (f444) and Augustine (f43o) have probably preserved earlier interpretations in their own comments.
AMMONIUS the PRESBYTER (Cramer ' Cat.' in /oc.), Euthymius (doubtfully) andTheophylact (ad loc.), regards the number as being significant in its three simple elements: 100 -i- 50 + 3. The TOO, he says, represents the fulness of the Gentiles, for 100 (= 10 x 10) is " the fullest number," and as such it is used to describe the Lord's full flock (Matt, xviii. 12) and full fertility (Matt. xiii. 8). The 50 represents " the remnant of Israel according to election," which falls short of completeness
( 50 = —). The 3 indicates the Holy Trinity, to whose glory all alike are gathered.
AUGUSTINE ('in Joh. Tr.' cxxn.) adopts a more complicated interpretation. Ten, he says, is the number of the Law. But the Law without grace kills. To the number of the Law therefore we add seven, the number of the Spirit, in order to obtain the fulness of the divine revelation as a power of life. But, he then adds, the sum of the numbers from one to seventeen inclusive is one hundred and fiftythree (1+2+3 &c- +I7 = I53)« So that the number 153 signifies all those who are included in the saving operation of divine grace, which makes reconciliation with the Law. Nor is this all. The three is the symbol of the Trinity; and the triple fifty brings out the idea of unity in the Spirit, who is revealed in a sevenfold operation (50 = 7 x 7 + 1).
GREGORY THE GREAT adopts in part the symbolism of Augustine, but employs it even more ingeniously. The Evangelist, he writes, would not have given the exact number unless he had deemed that it contained a mystery. All action under the Old Testament is ruled by the Decalogue; and under the New Testament by the seven gifts of the Spirit (Isai. xi. a). Our action, therefore, under both aspects can be represented by 10 + 7. But it is by faith in the Holy Trinity that action is made effectual. We therefore multiply 1 7 by 3 and obtain the number 51, which expresses the idea of true rest, being unity added to the number of the year of jubilee. This symbol of rest (51) is again multiplied by three and we gain the result 153, the symbol of the elect citizens of the heavenly country, the final heirs of rest ('Horn.' xxiv. 4).
RUPERT of DEUTZ ('In Joh.' xiv.) regards the three numbers as representing the proportions of three different classes united in onefaith. The " hundred" are the married, who are the most numerous, the "fifty" the widowed or continent who are less numerous, the " three," the least in number, are the virgins. " But," he adds, "there is much that has been profitably written on this 153 by learned divines, which the careful reader will easily find."
BRUNO ASTENSIS (xith — xiith cent.; the homilies were wrongly published under the name of Eusebius of Emesa) adopts a simpler
It may be worth while to add, if such interpretations seem alien from our way of thinking, that Volkmar has recently surpassed them in extravagance. He gravely argues ('Mose Prophetic' 61 f.) that the number represents Simeon Bar Jona Kepha. To obtain this result he is obliged to leave out one letter in Kepha, and to give the Hebrew letters values inconsistent with ancient usage.
15. Bocn« TO. dpvia pov. So NABLX and almost all: Vulg. agnos. But C*D read npo- /3ara, and old Lat. oves. In this case however the reading cannot be doubtful. The substitution of 7rp6/3ara shews the tendency of scribes.
The reading here may be fairly considered doubtful. The force of the diminutive is seen below.
In this case there can be little doubt that TTpojSdrm is the true reading. The diminutive, which is a form of tender endearment, goes naturally with /3o'o-«€. In the second charge there is no special fitness in the diminutive, though the use of the diminutive throughout has an appropriateness to the circumstances.