Part I.—Exegetical.
On the Hexaëmeron, Or Six Days' Work.
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.
Hippolytus. He did not say1 "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.
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.
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 at2 this point we have an asterisk. The words are found in the Hebrew, but do not occur in the Septuagint.
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.
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.
Hipp. First he mentions the event,—that in the last days the people will assault the bed of the Father, that is, the bride,3 the Church, with intent to corrupt her; which thing, indeed, it does even at this present day, assaulting her by blasphemies.
Hipp. Since from Simeon sprang the scribes, and from Levi the priests. For the scribes and priests fulfilled iniquity4 of their own choice, and with one mind they slew the Lord.
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,"5 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."6 But this people of the Jews dared to boast of houghing the bull: "Our hands shed this."7 For this is nothing different, I think, from the word of folly: "His blood" (be upon us), and so forth.8 Moses recalls9 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.10 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.11
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.
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."
Hipp. Again, I think, it mystically signifies the12 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."13 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."14 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.15
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,"16 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."17 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.
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."18 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 foot19 (heel), and shall overtake and rob the robber's troop.
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;"20 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."21 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 waits22 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,"23 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."24
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."25 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.
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."26 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,"27 etc.; and, "To them that sat in darkness light has arisen."28 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,"29 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."30
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.31 This, if we apprehend it correctly, is (we should say) just "restored" to Him. For32 as the only begotten Word of God, being God of God,33 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 appeared34 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,"35 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,36 the lowly estate of humanity, He said, "Father, glorify me with the glory which I had,"37 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,"38 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.
Hipp. Who else is this than as is shown us by the apostle, "the second man, the Lord from heaven?"39 And in the Gospel,40 He said that he who did the will of the Father was "the last."41 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."42
"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.43
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,"44 he means also the blessing of the Father which we have received in the Church through our Lord Jesus Christ.
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.
II.
From the Commentary of the Holy Hippolytus of Rome Upon Genesis.
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.
III.
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.45 Now a mediator is not of one man,46 but two,"47 —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.
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 gods48 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;49 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.
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.50
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.
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."51 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.
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.52
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 LXXVII. Or LXXVIII.
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."53 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.54
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."55 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.
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.56 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;"57 meaning by that, I maintain peace, and permit war.
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,"58 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;"59 for things spoken in strange language by the Holy Spirit become intelligible to those who have their hearts right with God.
The "cemphus"60 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.61 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.
"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.
"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.
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."62 As likewise the wise prophet63 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 raised64 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."65 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."66 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.
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 iv. 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.67 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 mixed68 Proverbs of Solomon, which the friends of Hezekiah the king copied out."69 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.70