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RE: Venerable Bede: The Explanation of the Apocalyps - Stone - 01-19-2021
ON CHAPTER 13
v. 1. beast. The beast has different interpretations, according to its place. Here, accordingly, it denotes the body of the devil, which springs from the people of the ungodly; for this is the sea, which above is understood as the abyss. And, therefore, the dragon is said to be king of all that is in the waters, and whose “heads,” according to David, “are broken in pieces in the sea.
horns. He shews that the seven heads are the same as the ten horns. For he had said, that the dragon bore seven diadems upon ten heads. But now he says that the beast has ten diadems upon ten horns. For seven and ten are the same, as “he will receive sevenfold in this world,” when another evangelist has a “hundredfold.”
blasphemy. For they call their kings gods, as well those who are dead, and as it were translated to heaven, and among the gods, as those also who have the name of Augustus upon earth, which with them expresses deity. But in another place he says, that the whole beast itself is full of blasphemy.
2. leopard. He is represented as like a leopard, because of the diversity of the nations; a bear, because of his malice and fury; a Hon, because of his strength of body and pride of tongue. We read in Daniel of the kingdom of the Chaldæans being compared to a lioness, of the Persians to a bear, of the Macedonians to a leopard.
power. So the Apostle, speaking of the body of the devil, says, “Whose coming is after the working of Satan, in all power, and signs, and prodigies of falsehood, in those who perish.”
3. heads. Antichrist, who pertains to the heads of the earthly kingdom, by imitation of our true Head, dares to exhibit himself as one who has been slain, and has risen again, and who is to be accepted as Christ, Who truly accomplished this. And the falsehood of this pretence is said to have been anticipated in the instance of Simon Magus.
wondered. He puts the genus for the species, in saying that the beast was worshipped, seeing that earthly men were to worship the counterfeit head itself under the name of the Head, Who was truly slain, and alive.
4. worshipped. They say that they worship God, Who gave power to Christ.
like. They themselves say, Who is like Christ? Or who can overcome Him?
5. mouth. “Who is exalted,” he says, “above all that is called God.”
blasphemies towards. For he does not blaspheme with open mouth, until three years and a-half, but in the mystery of iniquity, which, when a difference is made, and the man of sin is revealed, will be disclosed. And then he will say, “I am Christ;” whereas now it is, “Lo, here is Christ,” or, “Lo there.” Again, “towards God” signifies “against God.”
6. tabernacle. The wicked one usurps the dignity of the name of God, and he will presume to call the Church also his own.
7. saints. By the whole, he denotes a part which can be overcome, when in the violence of the time, even the elect, if it be possible, will be shaken; that the Jews may be condemned, who did not believe the truth, but accepted a lie.
8. dwell. He said “all,” but “who dwell on the earth.” For, “They who depart from Thee,” he says, “shall be written in the earth.”
book. It is just, that they who serve the author of death should not be written in the book of life, and that they who are deluded by the fictitious death of the beast, should be without the fellowship of “the Lamb, Who has taken away the sins of the world.” “Of the Lamb,” he says, as in what follows.
beginning. “A lamb,” that is, as Peter says, “without spot, who verily was fore-ordained before the foundation of the world, but was manifested in these last times. Another version has translated it, “the lamb sealed from the beginning of the world.” It may also be understood by transposition, that the names of the saints were written from the beginning in the book of life.
9. have an ear. As often as the Scripture interposes this saying, it seeks an attentive hearer, because of the obscurity of the subject. For in order that the shortlived kingdom of the devil may not be highly esteemed, he anticipates the thoughts of man by saying, “He that shall lead into captivity will go into captivity;” that is, the devil with the beast who now appears to lead the nations captive in his toils, will himself speedily be in captivity with his own.
10. sword. He who now persecutes the Church with carnal or even spiritual death, him the Lord Jesus “will slay with the breath of His mouth, and will destroy with the brightness of His coming.”
patience. He had promised that the slayer of men should be killed. But because “no one is crowned but he who has striven lawfully,” he says now that there is need of courage, now of a firm breast. After the beast has been described generally, first in hypocrisy, then in the open mouth of blasphemies, he describes it also in the persons of the leaders alone, in like manner in hypocrisy, then as revealed.
11. another. He has called him another, from his office, otherwise he is the same. But that which is here the sea, is, as Daniel testifies, the earth; for as he saw four beasts come up out of the sea, it was said to him, “These four great beasts are four kingdoms, which shall arise out of the earth.”
horns. He shews the horns of a lamb, that he may secretly introduce the poison of the dragon. For by the false assumption of sanctity, which the Lord truly had in Himself, he pretends that a matchless life and wisdom are his. Of this beast the Lord says, “Beware of false prophets, which come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravening wolves.”
12. power. The wretched disciples follow their master in everything.
causeth. He shews the power of seduction, in that he made subject to himself both the body and the soul which dwells in it.
healed. That is, who pretended that by rising again he had overcome death. For the Scripture had spoken of him not as “slain,” but “as it were slain;” as was said of the Jews, “that they entered not into the Prætorium, lest they should be defiled.” For the Evangelist did not affirm that the most polluted could have been polluted if they had entered the Prætorium, nor did the Jews who were guilty of so great crimes really fear to be polluted. But he related what they had simulated, as if affirming it.
13. fire. He preferred the miracle of fire, as if the greatest, to all others, that, as the Lord Christ had given to His disciples the gift of divers miracles by the Holy Ghost, Who came in fire, so he with deceitful craft might delude his own, as it were, by a similar gift.
14. seduces. “His coming win be,” as is said, “after the working of Satan in all power, and signs, and prodigies of falsehood.” And there is wont to be a question, whether these are called “signs and prodigies of falsehood,” because he is to deceive the senses of men by phantasms, so as to seem to do what he does not; or because these very things, even if they shall be true prodigies, will lead to falsehood those who shall believe, that they could only have been wrought by divine influence, being ignorant of the power of the devil. For it was not by a phantastical, but a true fire and whirlwind that he destroyed so great a household as that of the holy Job, with so great flocks. But whether they are called “prodigies of falsehood” in this way or that, it is in this that the temptation will appear to be greater than all the rest, that when the pious martyr submits his body to torments he too at the same time performs so many miracles before his eyes.
image. That is, that they should be like him, and make an image for him, “as he has the wound from the sword and lives,” as another version expresses it. This is that they say so falsely, that they have been dead and have risen again with Antichrist, as to imply that he too makes God a mediator between himself and his own, whereas he has not like our Lord Jesus Christ another one, between whom and himself he may be a mediator.
15. breath. That is, by making himself an image of the beast, he pretended that he gave the spirit of truth to the very people in whom the falsehood was fulfilled.
speak. Not only will he delude the wretched multitude by counterfeiting the spirit with fire, but he will also make it of use for teaching others.
16. mark. The mark is the mystery of iniquity, which is received by those who are hypocrites in practice and profession.
17. buy. By this mention of buying and selling, he teaches, that as the Church has delivered the Creed for good, to be profitable to our salvation; so they for evil confine themselves within such a definition as this, that there be licence given neither of buying, nor of selling, even as merchants who sail in the same ship, are bound by an uniform signal.
name. That is, who participates in his deceit. For the mark, that is, the note and name of the beast and the number of his name are one. And it is the number of a man, that we may not suppose him, as the opinion of some is, to be either the devil, or a demon, but one from among men, in whom Satan is to dwell bodily. For he is “the man of sin, the son of perdition.”
18. number. This number among the Greeks, is said to be found in the name of Titan, that is, “a giant” in this manner,—Τ three hundred, Ε five, Ι ten, Τ three hundred, Α one, Ν fifty. And it is thought that Antichrist will usurp this name, as if he excelled all in power, boasting also that he is the one of whom it was written, “He rejoiced as a giant to run his course. His going forth is from the highest heaven.” And Primasius also mentions another name, which contains the same number,—Α one, Ν fifty, Τ three hundred, Ε five, Μ forty, Ο seventy, Σ two hundred, which signifies, “contrary to honour.” Besides there is the word,—Α one, Ρ one hundred, Ν fifty, Ο seventy, Υ four hundred, Μ forty, Ε five, that is, “I deny.” By these, both the character of the person and the asperity of the work of Antichrist are indicated. But how so great a coveter of praise should be willing to be denoted by such a mark, requires a lengthened exposition. Otherwise: who is ignorant, that the number six, in accordance with which the world was created, signifies the perfection of work? And this, whether simple, or multiplied by ten, or a hundred, demonstrates the fruit of the same perfection to be sixty-fold, or a hundred-fold. The weight of gold also which was brought to Solomon every year was six hundred and sixty-six thousand talents. The seducer, therefore, will presume to exact for himself the offering which is rightfully due and paid to the true king.
RE: Venerable Bede: The Explanation of the Apocalyps - Stone - 01-19-2021
ON CHAPTER 14
v. 1. Lamb. That is, when this Church was toiling under the burden of its conflicts, the Lord Jesus Christ preserved it by the example of His power, and the defence of His protection. For when the body had been shewn which was confounded by the power of the dragon, and marked by his brand, he shews the Church rejoicing in its wonted splendour and numbers, that thou shouldest not be afraid lest the body of the Lamb had succumbed to the fury of the beast. And observe, that the beast stands on the sand of the sea, the Lamb on Mount Zion.
thousand. This finite number ought to be understood as infinite, and, by the signification of the hidden mystery, as suited to the virgin band, which loves God from the whole heart, the whole soul, and the whole mind; and to the body also, which consists of four qualities, and is in its integrity consecrated to Him. For three times three are nine, and four times four sixteen, and sixteen times nine make one hundred and forty-four. So, then, when from among those who are established in the merit of carnal life, and appear on Mount Zion with the Lamb, there is perceived so perfect a multitude, no doubt can exist concerning the other members of the Church.
foreheads. He shews what is the imitation of the mark on the forehead of the body of the beast, while he says that God and Christ were written on the foreheads of the Church.
2. waters. The loud voice of the saints is the great devotion of love, which he states that he heard from heaven, in saying that they who uttered the voice “stood on Mount Zion.” For he intended to shew that by Mount Zion he meant no other than the Church, which, in order to overcome the grievances of its afflictions, is exalted by the sublime delight of contemplation, and celebrates at once by praise and by imitation the conflicts of her King. For this is in truth to sing unto the Lamb Who stands.
harpers. When all the saints are God’s harpers, for “by crucifying the flesh with its vices and lusts” they praise Him on the psaltery and harp; how much more are they who, by the privilege of evangelical chastity, make themselves altogether a perfect sacrifice to the Lord, and who, in a special manner, “deny themselves,” and “take up their cross,” and follow the Lamb whithersoever He goeth?
3. song. The old song was, “Blessed is He Who hath His dwelling in Zion, and His household in Jerusalem.” But the new song is, “Rejoice thou barren, that barest not;” and again He says, “I will give to my eunuchs in my house, and within my walls, a name better than of sons and daughters.”
able. In a special manner to sing a song unto the Lamb is to rejoice with Him for ever, even above all the faithful, because of the incorruption of the flesh. And yet the rest of the elect are able to hear this song, although they cannot utter it, because, through love, they still rejoice for their exaltation, if they do not rise up to their rewards.
4. virgins. The blessed Augustine has set forth this very beautifully in his exhortation to virgins, saying, “Go on, ye holy youths and maidens of God, ye men and women, celibate and unmarried, go on perseveringly unto the end. Praise the Lord more sweetly, Whom ye think of more frequently. Hope in Him more auspiciously, Whom ye serve more constantly. Love Him more ardently, Whom ye please more attentively. With loins girded, and lights burning, wait for the Lord, when He comes from the marriage. Ye will bring to the marriage of the Lamb a new song, which ye will sing upon your harps, such an one indeed as no one but ye will be able to utter. For so one saw you in the Apocalypse, who, above all others, was beloved of the Lamb, who was wont to lie upon His breast. He himself saw you, as twelve thousand holy harpers, of undefiled virginity of the body, of inviolate truth in the heart. Ye follow the Lamb, for virginal also is the flesh of the Lamb. Ye follow Him in virginity of heart and flesh, whithersoever He may go. For what is to follow, but to imitate? Because “Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that ye should follow His steps.” ”
firstfruits. They are chosen by the Holy Spirit for the merits of their will, as holier and purer victims, from the holy and immaculate flock of the Church. For the Apostle, having no commandment of the Lord concerning them, implores them that they “present their bodies a living sacrifice, holy, acceptable to God.”
5. guile. Virgins are not united to the divine company by the merit of chastity alone, if they have not also a life free from all contagion of sin. Tichonius does not interpret this vision of virgins specially, but of the whole Church generally, which the Apostle “betrothes to one husband, to present it a pure virgin to Christ;” and he concludes thus: “He said not, There was no lie in their mouth, but, ‘there was not found;’ as the Apostle says, ‘And this indeed ye were, but ye were washed, and, ‘The iniquity of the unjust will not hurt him, in the day when he shall turn from his iniquity,’ and he can be a virgin, and ‘deceit not be found in his mouth.’ For by virgins he means the chaste and modest.”
6. flying. As he had described the doubtful and varied fight of the Church with the dragon, as she is a sojourner in the age, it remains to assign a due recompence to both the combatants, and shew what punishments await the bad, or what rewards the good. So, then, the preacher who runs hither and thither through the midst of the Church, carries with him the Gospel of the eternal kingdom.
preach. It is fitting that they who are lifted up by a heavenly flight, should also, through preaching, raise up their earthly minds from the seat of their torpidness.
nation. “This Gospel,” He says, “shall be preached in all the world, and then shall the end come.”
7. Fear. Do ye look forward the more to your own salvation, he says, the more speedy is the retribution which awaits you, which is unchangeable for ever. For ye fear the Lord, the Maker of the world, and not the momentary tyranny of the beast.
8. Babylon. He says that the ruinous city of the devil has already fallen; and this may be after the manner of Scripture, which is wont to represent as past that which it knows is inevitably to be fulfilled; or perhaps the proud were cast down by the Lord, when they were puffed up by the devil, as the Psalmist says, “Thou castedst them down, while they were lifted up.”
nations. The ungodly city, which is gathered from all nations, itself makes the nations, that is, its own members, drunk with the wine of error. But the city of the Lord, which cultivates the vine of Sorek, does not desire to “be drunk with wine, wherein is excess,” lest it be deprived of the promised denarius of life.
9. worship. That is, who shall have worshipped the beast, and the head, which was, as it were, slain
mark. By saying, “on his forehead, or on his hand,” he shews that the devil marks some by an unholy profession, but others by practice alone.
10. drink. In that he says, “he also shall drink,” he shews that there is another also who has drunk, so as not to exclude him who, although he is not visibly mingled with the nations, yet worships the beast under the name of Christ. But they are justly laid low by the cup of the Lord, who give to drink the cup of the wrath of fornication, not, according to Jeremiah, that they may vomit forth the malice of a heart which is to be cleansed, but that they may be condemned, and perish by falling asleep in eternal death.
tormented. The saints who reign with the Lord are always able to see the punishment of the wicked, that they may for ever sing the mercies of the Lord, and so render to their deliverer the greater thanks. For the sight of the torments of the wicked does not grieve those who are of the same mind with the just Judge, as neither was the sight of the rest of Lazarus able to cool the rich man who was buried in flames.
11. night. They say that the lion spares a prostrate man. But this beast is fiercer than a lion, and the more he is worshipped, so much the greater punishment does he inflict.
receive. St. Augustine interprets the beast as the ungodly city, and the image of the beast as the likeness of a bird; of those, that is, who are Christians by a deceitful appearance; and the mark, as the note of guilt, which he says is worshipped, and is subject to him, and in agreement with him.
12. patience. Although the beast has vented his rage, yet the saints are not made sad by the temporal suffering which is to be rewarded by eternal bliss. For they see, on the other hand, that their persecutors, who for a time act proudly, suffer eternal punishments with the beast.
13. voice. Beautiful is now the agreement of those who speak. For behold, this one proclaims that the kingdom of the Lord is at hand, that one that the city of the devil is fallen, a third announces the flames of the ungodly, another the rest of the blessed; and he both utters his voice from heaven, and commands it as worthy of eternal memory, to be committed to writing. For “the righteous rejoice because their names are written in heaven,” but the ungodly “are blotted out of the book of the living.”
dead. I thank Thee, O Jesus, Who makest blessed in heaven those who die in Thee on earth, and how much more those who lay down their blissful lives both in and for Thy faith!
labours. As he had said that the ungodly have no rest for ever, so, on the contrary, he shews that the faithful, who are helped by their former works, from henceforth rest, that is, from the time of death. For, “when He has given His beloved sleep, this is the inheritance of the Lord.” But “the sluggard would not plough because of the cold, therefore shall he beg in harvest, and there shall not be given to him.”
14. cloud. Thus far has the voice of the harlot been premised, and it now remains to exhibit the person of the Judge Himself, Who, when He comes to judgment, overshadows the glory of His divinity by a cloud of flesh, that the ungodly “may see Him Whom they pierced.”
crown. He has described above what this cloud is, in the appearance of the woman, and the crown of twelve stars upon her head. But it may also signify the victory of Him Who reigns.
sickle. This is the judicial sentence of separation, which cannot by any means whatever be avoided. For we are within it, whithersoever we attempt to flee, for whatsoever is enclosed by the sickle falls within it.
15. angel. The angels, of whom we read in the Gospel as “the reapers of the earth,” are all sent forth to minister for those who have the inheritance of salvation,” and they take account of the several merits of the Church, and report them daily to the Lord.
reap. Behold, He says, “Through iniquity abounding, the love of many has waxed cold,” and through the burning heat of evils falling upon it, the harvest of the earth has now almost ceased to be green. So, then, for the elect’s sake, the days are shortened, in order that grains already ripe may not fall off. And do thou commit the tares and the chaff to the flames, but the heavenly fruit to the garners of bliss.
17. another. If Christ appeared on the white cloud as the reaper, is the grape-gatherer but the same, finely repeated because of the twofold fruit of the Church? For “He Who sowed seed in His field” also Himself “planted a vineyard in a fruitful place.” But the planting degenerated, because of the negligence of those who kept it.
18. fire. The office of the angels, as Jerome says, is twofold. For some assign rewards to the righteous, while others preside over the several torments; as it is said, “Who maketh His angels spirits, and His ministers a burning fire.” The two angels who proclaim that the harvest is dry, and the corn ripe, may be understood to be the prayers of the Church, which, with a great voice, that is, with a great desire, prays daily that the kingdom of the Lord may come, and with these words.
Thrust in. As the harvest, so also the vintage is partly earthly, partly heavenly. But the maturity of both indicates the end of the world.
ripe. That is, her sins are complete. But the perfection of the good may also be called ripeness. For, as the holy Gregory says, although the end of the world depends on its own course, yet by overtaking such as are more perverse, because they are deservedly overwhelmed in its ruin, it becomes known through them.
19. sickle. He who has the sickle of the reaper has also that of the grape-gatherer. For the judgment is one, and will take place at one time; but in the harvest and the vintage he shews the beginning and the end of the same affliction.
winepress. If this harvest also of the vintage pertain only to the bad, the winepress signifies punishment; but if to the good as well, the treading of the winepress, as the threshing of the floor, crushes what is useless, and proves what is of use. And so the Apostle says that the precious metals are preserved by fire, while the hay and the stubble are consumed, both which are done without the heavenly Jerusalem. But the winepress of wrath is so named in the same form of speech, as it is said, “The Lord delivered him in the evil day.”
20. blood. There went forth vengeance, even to the rulers of the people. For in the last contest there went forth vengeance even to the devil and his angels, because of the blood of the saints which was shed; as it is written, “In blood thou hast sinned, and blood pursueth thee.” Concerning the horses, it has been spoken above.
hundred. That is, through all the four parts of the world. For quaternity is multiplied by itself, as in the four faces with four sides, and the wheels. Tichonius interprets the reaper and the grape-gatherer of the Church, as it becomes glorious after the flames of persecution, and holds the power of binding and loosing. The angel from the temple, or the altar, proclaims the empire of the blood-red Lord, not with open voice, but by the suggestion of the Holy Spirit, Whose operation is in His body, and shews that it is now the time for the bad to be accursed; and he has power over the fire, namely, that which went forth from the mouth of the witnesses, and devoured their adversaries. Thus far concerning the conflict of the Church, and the perfect end of either contest.
RE: Venerable Bede: The Explanation of the Apocalyps - Stone - 01-19-2021
ON CHAPTER 15
v. 1. sign. Again the order is renewed. And as in he were about to relate the same plagues of the last persecution, he wished the hearer to be made attentive, in that he said, “a sign great and marvellous.”
seven. That is to say, the Church which is replete with sevenfold grace.
last. He calls them “the last,” because in them the wrath of God is consummated. For the wrath of God ever smites the rebellious people with seven plagues. He says repeatedly in Leviticus, “And I will smite you with seven plagues.” And these are to be the last, when the Church shall have come forth from the midst of it.
2. glass. That is, the pellucid fount of Baptism, which is consecrated by the fire of the Holy Ghost. Or else: because it pertains to the nature of fire, in that it is made red by martyrdom.
victory. They who overcome the wiles of the beast, appear in consequence to stand upon a baptism of fire. For they desire, as the Apostle says, “to contend earnestly for the faith once delivered unto the saints.”
harps. That is, they have the hearts of those who praise dedicated to God, and melodious with the truth of both Testaments; or, the flesh extended on the wood of passion. And here, not the sound of the voice alone is signified, but the operation of a good work.
3. Great and marvellous. I have found this song in both Testaments, where the Lord, both true and merciful, is celebrated as the Judge Who is to be worshipped by all ages.
5. temple. He repeats what he had set forth before, and the vision accords with the song. For, in order that the Lord may be worshipped by all nations, the temple of the mysteries of God, formerly inclosed within the walls of one city, now begins to be opened spiritually to the world.
6. came. This is the same with that which Mark says, “But they went forth, and preached everywhere.”
linen. “As many of you,” the Apostle says, “as have been baptized into Christ have put on Christ.” For “He is the chief corner-stone, elect.” Or, if the singular be understood to be put for the plural, it signifies various ornaments of virtues. Another translation has, “white linen,” which indicates mortification of the flesh in teachers, according to this, “I chastise my body, and subject it to servitude, lest perchance, while preaching to others, I myself be found reprobate.”
girdle. Let him who desires to preach strong things not only mortify the body, but also bind the breast with the gold of wisdom. Or, at least, to bind the breasts with golden girdles, is to restrain all the motions of changeful thoughts by the bands of the love of God alone.
7. seven vials. These are the bowls which are carried with their odours by the living creatures and the elders, who are the Church, and who are also the seven angels. The same bowls are said to contain both the sweetness of supplications, and the wrath of punishments. For they are poured forth by the saints before the advent of the kingdom of God, when the judgments of God, which are now no longer secret as the abyss, but open as the bowls, are announced as being salvation to the righteous, but destruction to the ungodly. As the Apostle says, “Because we are unto God a sweet savour of Christ in those who are saved, and in those who perish.”
8. smoke. The Church, when it is to preach to the nations, is first influenced itself with the fire of love, and sends forth the smoke of pious confession, while it “gives thanks to God for His unspeakable gift.”
enter. No one is able to be incorporated among the members of the Church, but he who hears the mysteries of faith from the preachers, and learns that Jesus is constituted by God the Judge both of the living and the dead. But if thou shalt interpret the smoke to be the secret judgment of God, these remain impenetrable, and closed to mortal men “until,” after the plagues of the present age are ended, “the Lord come, Who is both to bring to light even the hidden things of darkness, and make manifest” how much the coming of Antichrist confers which is either of utility in proving the faith of the Church, or of judgment in blinding the eyes of the Jews, “Who received not the love of the truth, that they might be saved.”
RE: Venerable Bede: The Explanation of the Apocalyps - Stone - 01-19-2021
ON CHAPTER 16
v. 1. pour out. Power was given to the Church to impose judgment upon those who are to be condemned, and to give absolution in mercy to those who are converted. And to all the angels indeed was the command given, to pour upon the earth. But the same men of earth, according to the difference of sins, have different appellations assigned, that the fulness of guilt also might be reckoned by the number seven, as well as that of preaching and vengeance.2. earth. Preachers pour out the wrath of God in a twofold manner, while they either impose the punishments of the ungodly upon the ungodly themselves by judging spiritually; as Peter said to Simon, “Thy money perish with thee;” or they manifest it to holy Church by preaching, as he also said, “For their judgment now of a long time lingereth not, and their perdition slumbereth not.” A third manner may also be understood, in that each sinner, as the preaching of the truth is heard, is destroyed by the severer wound of contradiction, of which the Lord said, “If I had not come and spoken unto them, they had not had sin.”
Lore. They who forsake the lord, and worship the devil, will spiritually perish from the most grievous wound of the same ungodliness.
3. sea. They who not only are stamped with the mark of Antichrist, but who also assail the stedfastness of the servants of Christ with the waves of bitter persecution, will be punished with a spiritual retribution which he calls blood; and they who boasted that they were alive, will be proved to have served the author of death.
4. waters. And they also who pretend that they give to drink sweet things, in order that they may pour out their poison upon the incautious, will be punished with the worthy retribution of a continual plague.
angel. In the angel of the waters he speaks of all the angels of the peoples, who in inner affection are united in singing the praises of God; for that inavenging the blood of His servants, He has made their murderers to drink of death.
7. judgments. That which the angels are, the same also is the altar giving thanks to God, that is, the inner affection of saints, or angels, or men, who bear rule over the peoples by teaching.
8. sun. The persecutors of the Church, who, like the fiery sun, strive to dry up the seed of the word of God, are to be burned in the future with the fire of hell. Or, if thou interpret the sun of the brightness of the wise, it is not given to the angel who pours out upon the waters to scorch men with heat and with fire, but to the same sun. For while the wise, overcome by torments, are infected by the error of evil doing, the weak, induced by their example, are inflamed with temporal desires. But the heat, as we said, may also be understood to be, that the body of the devil is incurably tormented and incited to blasphemy by the stedfastness of the saints, of which the prophet says, “Wrath takes hold of the people without understanding,” and “now fire devours the adversaries.” And that “now” forsooth, for indeed the fire of the last judgment is reserved.
9. men. At the present time indeed, so far as is permitted, the devil glorifies his own, which glory and joy the Holy Spirit has described to be plagues and sorrows. For we read also above, that the army of the devil killed men with fire, smoke, and brimstone; not that he killed them openly, but that he doomed those who are consentient with him to these flames.
10. seat of the beast. The seat of the beast, that is, his kingdom, as it were the judiciary power, is darkened by plagues of this kind, that is, by the false joy of earthly felicity, and is made to be without light; as the Psalm has, “Thou didst cast them down, while they were lifted up.” For he said not, after they were lifted up.
tongues. As the righteous “will eat the labours of his own hands,” so the ungodly also, exposed to the just punishments of his blasphemy, is satiated as it were with his own tongue. They hurt themselves therefore who blasphemed, because of the wrath of God, with which when they were pierced through, they thought it joy.
11. repented not. He referred it not to their own hardness, but to the just indignation of God, Who sent on them a plague of such a kind, that in it they should not remember themselves. For who, when afflicted in body, does not feel the hand of God, like Antiochus. “They blasphemed,” he said, that is, not openly, but by luxuriating in sins.
12. Euphrates. While the people perish, the affluence of Babylon, in which there is nothing living, nothing green, which is not fit for fire, will remain. This is the same that he said above, “The harvest of the earth is dried,” the saints of the king hasten to meet the Sun of Righteousness. Otherwise: as “while the ungodly is lifted up, the poor is consumed,” so when the pestilent is scourged, the wise will become more astute. And now, in his accustomed manner, he passes over the seventh angel, and recapitulates briefly from the beginning
13. frogs. The spirit of the devil, and of Antichrist, and of those who are set over his body, which is spoken of as threefold, according to the number of the parts of a body, is compared with frogs, to creatures, that is, which are horrible in their haunts, their appearance, and their vexatious croaking, which although they seem to be inhabitants of the waters, yet move about in filth and mud. For hypocrites indeed, while they promise their own the water of life, lie dead and hidden beneath the filth which believers deposit in the water. So Pharaoh, who to destroy the people at their Baptism went in after them, was therein slain.
14. demons. For as was done by the magicians of Pharaoh, so is it to be supposed that these will perform signs. And not without reason did he remember these, when he had made mention of frogs, but that he might announce that the ministers of Satan would then also perform similar signs. For the magicians were permitted to prevail by their enchantments as far as the sign of frogs.
kings. As there are holy kings to whom, when the Euphrates is dried, the way of the East is laid open; so also are there said to be evil kings of the earth, who, without being gathered together from the whole world into one place, but each nation in its place, are to fight against the saints. By “the great day of the Lord,” he means the whole time from the Lord’s Passion. “The day” may also be taken to be the day of judgment, when the army of the devil, which has been gathered together through the whole time of the present life, will meet the Lord, the King, that it may be overthrown.
15. I come. Another version has more suitably, “At the great day of God Almighty: behold He cometh as a thief.”
Blessed. Blessed are they whose sins are covered, who hide the baseness of a reprehensible life before the eyes of the just at the judgment, by the covering of subsequent good works. In the Gospel also, the Lord, under the example of the thief to be guarded against, commands His servants to watch.
16. Hermagedon. Elsewhere he explains this place, saying, “He gathered them together to battle, and they compassed the camp of the saints and the chosen city,” that is, the Church. On the contrary, the seat of the ungodly one, the devil, may also be understood, who in the man of perdition, inflated with the pride of usurped Deity, will rejoice to resume his former plotting, which was formerly interdicted by the Lord. For Hermagedon is interpreted, the “rising up together to former things,” or, “the round mountain.”
17. air. Above, the blood of vengeance went forth as far as the bridles of the horses, namely, the unclean spirits; and so here, when the same final vengeance was poured upon the same aërial powers, it is said that “it is done,” that is, that the end is come, when, as the Apostle says, “the last enemy, death, shall be destroyed.” Thus far, under the name of “plagues,” the last persecution is described; all which Tichonius will have to be understood in a contrary way. “It is, ‘the plague which cannot be healed,’ he says, and ‘the great wrath,’ to receive the power of sinning in an especial manner against the saints, and not as yet to be overtaken by the greater wrath of God. The accession of blessedness indeed, is the death of the wicked, as on the contrary, torments and humiliation are the glory of the Church. For at that very time all the ungodly will be unhurt by any plague of the body, as they who have received all power to rage. Nor in the completion of sins, and the consummation of wrath, will there then be need that any one of the wicked should be scourged and restrained from fury. He recapitulates from the same persecution, and describes the fall of the ungodly city.”
18. lightnings. At the end of the world, when there shall be such tribulation as has not been from the beginning, the greatest signs will in like manner be shewn, but whether on the side of the good, or on the side of the bad, or on both sides, as it was in the instance of Moses and the magicians of Pharaoh, is not here sufficiently apparent.
19. divided. The ungodly city wages a threefold war against the Church of Christ. For the heathen and Jews attack it in open conflict, heretics by treacherous defection, false brethren by evil examples. And this has been represented above in the three bad horses, red, black, and pale.
cities. That is to say, all the strength and confidence of the nations. For the mirth of the ungodly is their great fall, and the joy of the unjust their destruction.
wrath. Babylon then falls, or drinks the wrath of God, when it receives power against Jerusalem, especially at the last. Therefore he says that it has fallen by the earthquake, which He makes for the Church. But if thou shalt refer it to the day of judgment, the ungodly, who now says in his heart, “God hath forgotten,” will then come into remembrance with God.
20. island. The Church, which from the height of its stability is compared with islands and mountains, prudently hides itself from the waves of the persecutors.
21. hail. The hail of the wrath of God is likened to a talent; for it is both heavy in weight, and equal in judgment, and is inflicted upon all according to the diversity of their faults. And all the plagues of Egypt were figures of spiritual plagues.
blasphemed. That is, because some sins are the cause of sin, some the punishment of sin, some both; as Isaiah says, “Behold thou art wroth, and we have sinned.” In this place “to blaspheme God, because of the hail,” is acknowledged to be both sin, and the punishment of sin.
RE: Venerable Bede: The Explanation of the Apocalyps - Stone - 01-19-2021
ON CHAPTER 17
v. 1. Come. The multitude of the lost which left the Creator, and prostituted itself to commit adultery with demons, is spoken of as sitting upon the waves, that is, the discord of the peoples. But on the contrary, “of the multitude of the believers there was one heart and one soul,” whom the Apostle “espoused to one husband, to present them a pure virgin to Christm.”
2. kings. The whole is superior to its parts. For the king and inhabitants of the earth are all those who seek proudly for earthly things, whom through the lust of vices, the allurement of the world defiles, and madness of the mind makes drunk.
3. wilderness. By the wilderness, he represents the absence of Deity, Whose presence is paradise.
scarlet beast. The devil, through ungodliness, blood-stained, blasphemous, inflated with the arrogance of presumption, extols the corruption of the wicked.
seven. That is, which has both the kings and kingdoms of the world, whose glory he also shewed to the Lord upon the mountain. For as we said before, universality is often indicated both by the number seven, and the number ten.
4. purple. In purple is shewn the false appearance of simulated rule, in scarlet the blood-stained dress of ungodliness.
gilded. That is, with all the allurements of simulated truth. Lastly, he explains what is within this beauteousness, as follows.
cup. The golden cup full of abominations is hypocrisy, because hypocrites “outwardly appear righteous unto men, but within are full of all uncleanness.”
5. forehead. This corrupter at once on her very countenance is shewn to be the nurse of vices. But because she is only discerned by wisdom and prudence, especially under precious ornament, it is indicated that this is a mystical name.
6. saints. There is one body adverse within and without, and although it may seem separate in place, yet it acts in common by unity of spirit. So the ancestors of the wicked are in sense accused of stoning Zacharias, though they did it not themselves.
8. was, and is not. That is to say, the devil aforetime ruled in the world, and when the Lord was crucified, he was cast out. But at the end of the world he is loosed from the stronghold of his prison, and by the breath of the Lord’s mouth will perish for ever. Tichonius refers the beast to the whole body of the devil, which is made up by the course of generations, as they pass away and succeed each other; for this reason above others, that he shews the woman sitting upon the beast, whom he had promised to shew sitting upon the waters, that is, the peoples.
9. heads. The heads of the beast, he says, are the kings of the world, who through the swelling of pride are said to be like exceeding high mountains, on whom there rests a wanton ungodliness, so that they both oppress by violence, and deceive by fraud.
10. five. Seeing that he had described in the number seven the fulness of worldly dominion, the last part of which, that is, the kingdom of Antichrist, had not yet come; he now accordingly testifies that five kings had passed away, that the sixth was present, that the seventh was to come.
short space. Because the Lord beholds us both proud and weak, he says, that the days which he has introduced as singularly evil, are mercifully shortened; in truth, that he may both alarm their pride by the adversity of the time, and refresh their weakness by the shortness of it.
11. eighth. Antichrist, who is to reign at the end of the age, because of the unity of the body of the ungodly of which he is the head, pertains to the number of the kingdoms of the world. But because of his singular power of wickedness, he is also retained in the order of his own proper place.
12. horns. The kingdoms of the world have not yet fully displayed their power in persecuting the Church. For although these even now have rule over the greatest part, yet there will be the stronger power of insane boasting when they have also deceived such by signs. Some understand it, that when the last persecution draws near, there will be ten kings who are to divide the world between, them; according to the prophecy of Daniel also, who said of the fourth beast, “And he had ten horns; and behold another little horn came up from the midst of them, and three of the first horns were plucked up before his face;” and that Antichrist who should arise from Babylon, should subdue the king of Egypt, and of Africa, and that after they were slain, seven other kings should also submit their necks to the conqueror. But others say that Antichrist is placed in the number eleven, to signify prevarication. For eleven indicates a departure from the perfection of the number ten.
as kings. He says, “as kings,” because they only reign as in a dream, who oppose the kingdom of Christ.
13. mind. That is, with like consent they make war for the devil with all their will. For this is to receive a kingdom after the beast, by imitating the devil to be adversaries of Christ.
14. overcome. That the weakness of man might not fear the cruelty of the old enemy, he describes the beast which has seven heads, and is armed with the horns of a secular kingdom, as vanquished by Christ triumphant: and then, to denote that He is triumphant in His own, he has added the following.
chosen. He has well premised chosen, for “many are called, but few chosen.”
16. hate. They will begin to hate with extreme abhorrence the glory of the world, which they now embrace with wanton love, when at the end they see, now that the Lamb is conqueror, that they themselves are to be condemned. It may also be otherwise understood, either that there are always contentions among the proud; or, that every one “who loves iniquity hates his own soul.”
desolate. For they make the world waste through the wrath of God, while they are given up to it, and use it unrighteously.
flesh. When she is deprived of her accustomed delights, they will burn her in the fires of hell.
17. hearts. God, the Judge, he says, just and mighty, and to Whom justice is always pleasing, for the punishment of their former sins suffered the ungodly to do such things, for whose sake He might with reason bring to an end the whole world; as the Gospels testify to have been done in the instance of Sodom, and of the flood.
give. That is, that they should obey the devil until the Scriptures should be fulfilled, in which God said, that in the time of the fourth kingdom He would bring the earth to its consummation; as we read in Daniel, “There shall be the fourth kingdom upon the earth, which shall be more powerful than all these kingdoms, and shall devour, and overthrow, and destroy the whole earthy.”
18. city. So also below, when he was bidden to behold the Lamb’s wife, he saw the holy city coming down from heaven; and when he described it, he said, “And the kings of the earth shall bring their glory into it.” For there are two cities in the world, the one proceeding from the abyss, the other from heaven. And therefore he now compares the same ungodliness, which he had described under the appearance of a harlot naked and burned up, with the ruins of a deserted city.
RE: Venerable Bede: The Explanation of the Apocalyps - Stone - 01-19-2021
ON CHAPTER 18
v. 1. another angel. This angel, who is mighty and lightens the earth, may be understood to be as well the Lord Himself incarnate, as the doctors of the Church, who are endued with heavenly light, and announce the end of the world, saying, “The kingdom of heaven is at hand.”
2. fallen. O Jerusalem, he says, fear thou not the power of the earthly city, which falls spiritually by the very thing in which it prevails over thee, through the hostility of unholy citizens. Isaiah also describes Babylon as “an habitation of unclean monsters.” For it is no other than the city of the devil which receives every unclean spirit, in which all the uncleanness throughout the world abides.
3. rich. He calls those rich in sins, who by an infelicitous traffic exchange their souls for temporal abundance. For excess of luxuries makes poor instead of rich.
4. Come out. So also Isaiah says, “Come out of the midst of them, and touch no unclean thing. Be ye clean who bear the vessels of the Lord.” When the fall of Babylon is foretold, he brings in the departure, which is the fall of Babylon. For when Lot has departed from Sodom, it will be utterly destroyed.
6. render. It is from the Church that plagues, both visible and invisible, go forth into the world.
double. In order that she who enjoyed temporal delights may be racked with eternal torments.
7. queen. Because, amid the delights of present luxuries she was unwilling to guard against future vengeance, therefore in a short time will she be punished with destruction, both of the spirit and of the flesh. But, on the contrary, the citizens of the heavenly country, who “set before them Jerusalem as the beginning of their joy, will not sing the Lord’s song in a strange land;” that is, they will not entertain at the present time the joy which belongs to the age to come.
9. bewail. This wailing of the kings, and merchants, and sailors of Babylon, may be understood in two ways. It may either be, when, at the day of judgment, all the glory of the world is perishing, and there remains to the ungodly only the presence of their past life, and they say, “What has pride profited us? or what has the vaunting of riches brought us? All these things are passed away as a shadow;” or, when, in the present time, as the abundance of things ceases, and the breaking in pieces of divers nations is at hand, the occasion of carnal delights, ever present for the fulfilment of the desires of the wicked, shall have been taken away.
smoke. This is the indication of perdition, because fire is preceded by smoke. For what else is the confusion and breaking in pieces of the world, than the smoke of a present hell.
10. afar. They stand afar off, not in body, but in mind, while each one fears for himself that which he sees another suffer, through calumny and power.
Babylon. The Spirit mentions the name of the city. But they lament for the world, for that it is overtaken with punishment in so short a time, and all its industry is ruined and made to cease.
11. merchants. They lament that all the pomps of the world, and whatsoever is either pleasant to the bodily senses, or suited to external uses, fails. For the different kinds of metals appertain to the sight, the odours to the smell, the unguents to the touch, the wine, wheat, and oil, to the taste. Moreover, under the name of “beasts and of slaves,” they complain that all other aids to humanity perish; and that in a twofold manner, as I said, either because they fail, on the death of the world, or, because the miserable survivors of those who have left the joys of the world through death, mourn, as it were, over the ruins of their city; and who therefore through fear of a similar punishment, are said “to stand afar off.”
15. made rich. Wherever the Spirit saith, “made rich by her,” He signifies the riches of transgressions. Below, where the voice of the unrighteous is of those who say, “Alas, alas, that great city, wherein all those who have ships in the sea were made rich,” material riches are understood. For they think that they were made rich by the craftiness of their own faction.
16. linen. Is the city clothed with fine linen, or with purple, and not with men? Well, it is they who lament for themselves, while they are spoiled of the things which are mentioned above.
17. sailors. Will all they who sail on the sea be able to be present to see the burning of the city? Rather he means, that all the husbandmen and artificers of the age fear for themselves, when they see the ruin of their hope.
18. like this. That is, that the world cannot be restored anew.
19. dust That is. As defaming the face of their leaders, through whom they were reduced and perished; or, as accusing the madness of their own heart, which is the chief part of man, with a too late repentance.
desolate. Observe that every single person of those who lament, weeps not only for the loss of riches, but for the sudden and unforeseen ruin of the deceitful world.
20. rejoice. So also the Lord in the Gospel, when predicting the ruin of the world, added, “When ye shall see these things come to pass, look up and lift up your heads;” that is, make your hearts glad.
avenged. This is the judgment which the souls of the saints sought with the great cry, “How long, O Lord God, holy and true, dost Thou not avenge our blood?”
21. sea. He said, “With this violence shall Babylon be cast;” or, as another version has it, “Thus with violence shall Babylon, the great city, be thrown down.” The city of the age, because of the weight and transgression of sins, is compared with an unstable mass. For “the ungodly walk round about.” And justly is it swallowed up by the waves of vengeance, because it overwhelmed the city of Jerusalem with the waves of unbelief, when, as they sat by the streams of Babylon, they bewailed their absence from the heavenly Sion. So the Lord says, “that they who cause offence,” shall be visited with a similar punishment. And the Church, indeed, is represented as like a stone, but one that is stable and firm, which despises the assaults of the tempests. The mass may also be understood of the breaking to pieces by punishments. For so the blessed Ignatius, when about to suffer, is reported to have said, “I am the corn of God, I shall be ground by the teeth of beasts, that I may be made a pure loaf.”
22. voice. Of the five senses he had deferred sound, which he now says is taken away from the world among other things. As if he said, that which is beautiful to see, melodious to hear, smooth to touch, sweet to smell, delicious to taste, is to pass away from the world.
craftsman. All things, he says, which appertain to the use or pleasure of human life, are taken from the ungodly; and he has added the reason in that which follows.
23. great men. That is, because “in life thou receivedst thy good things.”
24. prophets. Did the same city kill the Apostles, which also killed the prophets, or all the saints? Rather is this the city which Cain founded in the blood of his brother, and called by the name of his son Enoch, that is, of all his posterity, as seven generations of Cain are described. For the building or that city, then, is shed “all the righteous blood, from the blood of righteous Abel unto the blood of Zacharias,” that is, of people and priest.
RE: Venerable Bede: The Explanation of the Apocalyps - Stone - 01-19-2021
ON CHAPTER 19
v. 1. trumpets (multitudes). These things the Church now says in part, but will say perfectly when the separation has taken place, and when it has been more openly avenged.
2. corrupted. He relates two actions of the harlot, namely, that she corrupted herself with the bad, and persecuted the good; and in these two, I suppose, he comprehends all the crimes of the wicked.
3. Alleluia. The Church extols the Lord for His judgments with unceasing love. For Alleluia signifies, “Praise ye the Lord.” Lastly, the Psalms which have for the beginning, “Praise ye the Lord,” begin in the Hebrew with Alleluia.
rises up. “Rises up,” he says, not “will rise up.” But Babylon always goes into perdition, and is in part already burning, while Jerusalem passes into paradise, as the Lord manifests in the poor man and the rich.
4. worshipped. The Church worships God, not with the service of the lips alone, but with the sweetness of the highest devotion.
Amen; Alleluia. Although these words can be interpreted, for they are translated, as I said, “to the faith,” or “truth,” and “praise of the Lord,” yet in reverence for their sacredness the authority of the original language is preserved to them. For the Church also continually sings Alleluia on the Lord’s day, and the whole period of the fifty days, because of the hope of the resurrection, which is to be in praise of the Lord.
5. Praise ye. Seeing he commands this to be done, and mentions that it was done, he indicates, that the praise of the elect servants was approved. “Small,” he says, “and great,” for slightness of understanding does not harm, where heart and tongue are filled with the praise of the Lord.
6. trumpet. (multitude.) Great is the voice of those who sing, great the devotion of heart. For with a manifold repetition of praise it celebrates at once the fall of the ungodly, and the eternal glory of the Lord and His own.
7 marriage. It is the marriage of the Lamb, when the Church is to be united unto the Lord in the marriage-chamber of the heavenly kingdom.
ready. By always insisting on works of righteousness, she has shewn herself worthy of the spiritual feast and the everlasting kingdom. It may also be taken in accordance with the parable of the Gospel, which relates, that on the bridegroom’s coming, “the virgins arise and trim their lamps,” that is, reckon with themselves their works, for which they expect to receive eternal blessedness.
8. arrayed. It was given to her to be arrayed in her own deeds. But on the contrary, they who according to Isaiah “weave a spider’s web,” will not be clothed with their own works. For their works are unprofitable works.
9. supper. He relates that they are called not to dinner, but to supper, because assuredly the banquet at the end of the day is a supper. Accordingly, they who come to the refection of heavenly contemplation, when the time of the present life is ended, are called to the marriage-supper of the Lamb.
true. That is, the things will assuredly come to pass which I have announced as future.
10. fellowservant. He had said above, “I am the first and the last.” He shews, therefore, that the angel was sent as a figure of the Lord and the Church. In the same manner he also says at the end, “I, Jesus, have sent my angel to testify these things to you in the churches.”
testimony. After that the Lord Jesus Christ raised the person of man, which He assumed, above the heavens, the angel feared to be worshipped by man, namely, as worshipping the God-man above himself. Yet we read of this having been done before the Incarnation of the Lord by men, and not in any wise forbidden by the angels.
prophecy. For whatever the Spirit of prophecy said, is the testimony of Jesus, Who receives testimony from the law and the prophets. Do not thou, then, worship me, he says, as God, seeing that I have come to bear testimony to His powers. Thus far concerning the fall of Babylon, henceforth concerning the future glory of Jerusalem.
11. White. The Lord, “Who is the way, the truth, and the life.,” and to Whom it is said by the prophet, “Because thou hast wrought wonderful things, the faithful counsels of old, Amen,” ascends upon a white, that is, an immaculate body, to vanquish the powers of the air.
judge. He judges, as the King of ages. He makes war, because in His members He Himself of His compassion always contends.
12 eyes. He sometimes calls the precepts, sometimes the Spirit, the eyes of the Lord. He says, “Thy word, O Lord, is a lantern unto my feet,” and of the Spirit, “I have come to send a fire upon the earth.”
diadems, (crowns). In Him, in Whom we shall do mighty things, the multitude of the saints is said to have the ornament of a crown.
name. “No one knows but He Himself,” he says, because all the Church is in Him. For the perfect knowledge of the Word of God is manifested to those who have obtained to be the body of Christ and His members. In the same manner the Lord says, “No one has ascended up to heaven, but He Who descended from heaven, the Son of Man, Who is in heaven.”
13. vesture. The vesture of Christ ought to be understood according to the place. Here, accordingly, it appears to indicate the very act of the Passion, so that in the white horse is designated the immaculate birth, in the vesture stained with blood, the innocent death.
The Word. Because the same Who appeared for a time as a man of suffering, “in the beginning was God with God.” He is called the Word, because nothing in His nature was visible, nor corporeal; or, because the Father made all things by Him, the perfect knowledge of Whose nature, as he says above, is known to Himself alone, and to the Father. For, “the peace of God passeth all understanding;” that is, the peace by which God Himself was reconciled unto Himself, exceeds the wisdom of any creature, whether human or angelic, for “Of his wisdom there is no number.” For when it is said, “And he, to whom the Son will reveal,” that is, the Father and the Son, “knows,” this has respect to the capacity of the creature.
14. armies. That is to say, the Church in white bodies imitated Him. For because of the intensity of its conflict, it rightly receives the name of an army.
linen. This he himself explained above to be “the righteousness of saints;” as it is said by the Psalmist, “Let thy priests be clothed with righteousness.”
15. sword. So also Isaiah says, “And he hath set my mouth as a sharp sword;” and the Apostle, “And the sword of the Spirit, which is the Word of God.”
winepress. It is even so. For now also He treads until He tread without the city.
16. Name. This is the Name, which no one of the proud knows. But it is written on the Church, “not with ink, but by the Spirit of the living God,” that is to say, “on the tables of the heart.” For by the thigh is designated the posterity of seed. Therefore Abraham also, in order that his posterity might not be mixed with aliens, made use of his thigh for a third testimony between himself and his servant. And of this also the Apostle, as it were raising up seed to a brother who has died, says, “In Christ Jesus I have begotten you through the Gospel.” It may also be understood, that the Church by serving reigns in Christ, and has lordship over lords. The same Name is also inscribed on the vesture, because by the mystery of the Nativity, and the act of the Passion, His majesty and kingdom are revealed to us. In that which follows, he explains what the appearance of the King and of the army signifies, namely, the glory of the last conflict, and of the kingdom which succeeds to it.
17. sun. That is, preaching in the Church, which shines the more brightly, and thunders forth the more freely, the more it is oppressed.
birds. He calls the saints birds, as passing their life in heaven. For “wheresoever the body is, there will the eagles be gathered together;” and as bringing them together into one body, he had said, “flying in the midst of heaven;”
Come. Come, he says, ye who hunger and thirst after righteousness, to the banquet of the kingdom to come, when, the fierceness of the proud repressed, ye shall be satisfied with the light of divine justice.
18. sit. I suppose that these are the horsemen whom, at the opening of the seals, he had described as having come against the white horse of the Lord.
19. beast. He explains in what manner the supper of the Lord was prepared, namely, in that the devil fought against the Church, and was vanquished.
20. both. He appears to signify, that the devil and Antichrist are to be visited with so much greater a punishment than the rest of men and demons, as it is more grievous to be burned alive with flames of brimstone, than to die quickly, and be slain with the stroke of a sword; unless, perhaps, he intends that the divine attention was directed to them first. For “he who does not believe is already judged;” whether thou understand Antichrist to be intended by the false prophet, or heretics, for not one of mortal men sins more obstinately than heretics, who after they have known Christ, deny Him.
21. filled. “If the righteous shall even now rejoice when he seeth the vengeance” upon the wicked, how much more then, when in the presence of the Judge Himself, he will be made one spirit with Him. The birds may also be understood to be evil spirits, who will be satiated from their destruction. Tichonius expounds this supper as follows: “In all time the Church devours the flesh of its enemies, while it is devoured by them. But in the resurrection it will be satiated, as avenged for their carnal work.
RE: Venerable Bede: The Explanation of the Apocalyps - Stone - 01-19-2021
ON CHAPTER 20
v. 1. abyss. He recapitulates from the beginning, and more fully, in what way he had said above, “The beast which thou sawest was, and is not; and is to ascend from the abyss, and will go into perdition.” The Lord, therefore, endued with His Father’s power, descends and is incarnate, to wage war with the prince of the world, and when he is bound to spoil his goods.
2. devil. “Diabolus,” is interpreted, “flowing downward.” But in Greek he is called “the accuser.” “Satan is “the adversary,” or “prevaricator.” So he is called “the dragon,” on account of his malice in hurting; “the serpent,” on account of cunning in deceiving; “the devil,” on account of the fall of his estate; “Satan,” on account of obstinacy in opposition against the Lord.
bound him. That is, he kept back and restrained his power from seducing men who were to be set free. For if he were permitted to exert the whole of this, either by force, or deceit, he would beguile most of the weak in so long a time. By the “thousand years,” he intended a part, namely, the remainder of the thousand years of the sixth day, in which the Lord was born and suffered.
3. cast. He cast him, that is, into the hearts of the persecuting people. Not that the devil was not there before; when he was sent forth from believers, he began to possess the ungodly, who are not only alienated from God, but who hate more grievously those who serve God. And this the Lord openly shewed, when He sent him forth from men into the swine.
seal. He interdicted him, and as by a royal seal prevented him from seducing the nations; namely those which were appointed unto life, which he seduced before, that they should not be reconciled to God.
loosed. “Then,” as St. Augustine says, “he will be loosed, when also the time will be short. For, as we read, he will rage three years and a-half with all his own powers, and the powers of his own, and they with whom he will make war will be such, that his violence and wiles, great as they are, will not be able to overcome them. But if he was never loosed, his malignant power would the less appear, the most faithful patience of the holy city the less be proved, the less finally would it be discerned, how well the Almighty God made use of his great evil.”
4. judgment. He indicates that which is done in the thousand years in which Satan is bound. For the Church, which in Christ will sit on twelve thrones to judge, now sits and judges, seeing that she has obtained to hear from her King, “whatsoever thou shalt bind on earth shall be bound in heaven.”
souls. That which he is to say afterwards is understood, “they reigned with Christ a thousand years.” The Church therefore reigns with Christ in the living and in the dead. For “to this end,” as the Apostle says, “Christ died, that He might be Lord both of the living and the dead;” and for this reason he has mentioned the souls of the martyrs alone, that they chiefly reign after death, who even unto death have contended for the truth.
worshipped. We ought to understand this both of the living and of the dead. For they who are still alive in this mortal flesh, as well as they who are departed, even now reign with Christ, through all the interval which is signified by the number of a thousand years, in a certain manner which is congruous with this present time.
5. the rest. Whosoever have not heard the voice of the Son of God, and passed to life from death, during all that time in which the first resurrection takes place, that is, the resurrection of souls, in the second resurrection, which is the resurrection of the flesh, will assuredly pass with the flesh itself into the second death, that is, into eternal torments.
first resurrection. That certainly is the first resurrection in which we rise again through baptism, as the Apostle says, “If ye have risen with Christ, seek the things which are above.” For as the first death in this life is through sins, since “the soul that sinneth, it shall die,” so also the first resurrection is in this life through remission of sins.
6. Blessed. That is, he who has kept the state of being born again.
saints. Another version has “priests of God and of Christ,” and it is not said of bishops only and of presbyters, who properly are called “priests” in the Church. But as we are all called Christs because of the mystical chrism, so are we all called priests, because we are members of the one Priest, of Whom the Apostle Peter says, “a holy people, a royal priesthood.”
reign. The Spirit when He wrote this, declared that the Church would reign a thousand years, that is, unto the end of the world; and a doubt might arise from this. For that it is concerning a perpetual kingdom is manifest.
7. finished. By “finished” he intended a part by the whole. For he will be loosed in such a manner that there will remain the three years and six months of the last conflict. But apart from this figure, the time is rightly said to be ended. For so small a remnant is not to be taken into account, when seven hundred years, and as many as God wills, are called by the Apostle “an hour.
8. seduce. He will then seduce them, to the end that he may gather them together to this battle. For even before he used to seduce them in whatever manner he was able, through many different evils. And “he will go out” means, he will burst forth into open persecution from the hiding-places of his hatred. Moreover, Gog and Magog either denote the whole by a part, or according to the interpretation of the names, which signify “a roof” and “from a roof,” “they indicate secret and open enemies. For they themselves are both “a roof,” because the enemy is now shut up in them, and ruled, and they will also be “from a roof,” when they shall burst forth into open hatred.
9. breadth. They certainly are not represented as having come, or as about to come, to one place, as if the beloved city, that is, the Church, were to be confined within some one place. For much rather wished he to intimate by “the breadth of the earth,” that it would be persecuted in all nations; and by the term “camp,” that not even then would it forsake its warfare.
fire. It must not be supposed that this is the final punishment But it is rather the fire of envy, with which the adversary will be tormented through the firmness of the saints. For “heaven” is the firmament. This is the fire which went forth from the mouth of the witnesses of God, and it will devour their enemies. For in the last day He will not rain fire upon them, but when they have been gathered together before Him and judged, He will send them into eternal fire, concerning which it is here added, as follows.
10. cast. That is, at the last judgment the devil will be cast into eternal fire, where also are all those whom he sent before him, that is, the greatest part of the ungodly city, inasmuch as the beast is to be taken according to the place, sometimes as the devil, sometimes as Antichrist, sometimes as the ungodly city itself. But under the name of “fire coming down from heaven,” may also be designated the sudden destruction of the ungodly, when the Lord at His coming will slay Antichrist with the breath of His mouth. He explains more fully how, when Christ is Judge, the devil with his own is cast into the fire.
11. throne. He said that he “saw Him sitting on the throne, from Whose sight the heaven and the earth fled away.” For after the judgment is ended, the heaven and the earth cease to be, when there begin to be a new heaven and a new earth; that is, by the change of the things that are, and not by any means by their destruction. For “the fashion of this world passeth away.” He said not also the substance, in that we believe that the same is to be changed for the better.
12. stand. “When the Son of Man shall sit on the throne of His glory, then will be gathered before Him all nations.”
book of life. Another version has, “which is of the life of each one.” So then by “the opened books,” he means the Testaments of God, for the world will be judged according to both Testaments. By “the book of the life of each one,” he means the memory of our actions, and not that the discerner of hidden things has a memorial book.
written. That is to say, they were judged out of the Testaments, namely, according to that they did from them or did not. The hooks may also be understood to be the deeds of the righteous. For while the reprobate are condemned by comparison with these, in the spreading out of these they read, as it were, the good which they themselves were unwilling to do.
13. sea. This, without doubt, took place before that the dead were judged. Having, therefore, recapitulated that which he had passed over, he pursues the order of things.
14. death and Hades. So he signifies that the bodies are to be gathered from the earth, and the souls from their own places. For by the name of “death” he designates good souls, which have only suffered the dissolution of the flesh, and not punishment too; and by the term Hades, bad. And it may also be taken literally, that all the bodies, even those which the deep has swallowed, or the wild beast has devoured, will rise again. And Tichonius expounds it thus: “The people which he will here find alive are the dead of the sea, ‘And death and Hades gave up their dead.’ These are the people which are buried. But when he had said, that ‘they were judged, every one according to works,’ he briefly subjoined, that “both death and Hades were cast into the lake of fire.’ He means the devil and his own, whom Hades followed above, as he sat on the pale horse. So he repeats what he had already said more plainly by anticipation, ‘And the devil who seduced them, was cast into the lake of fire and brimstone.’ But that which he had added above more obscurely concerning the beast and the false prophet, he here more openly sets forth.
15. found written. That is, who was not judged by God to be alive. And so they appear to me to speak more correctly, who interpret the opened books above to be the consciences and works of each one; and the book of life the fore-knowledge of God, which cannot be deceived, concerning those to whom eternal life will be given, in which they are written, that is, foreknown. As the judgment is ended in which he saw the bad to be condemned, it remains that he also speak concerning the good.
RE: Venerable Bede: The Explanation of the Apocalyps - Stone - 01-19-2021
ON CHAPTER 21
v. 1. new. This is the order in which that will take place which he has already spoken of by anticipation, that he “saw one sitting on the throne, from whose face the heaven and the earth fled away;” namely, when the ungodly were judged. Then the fashion of this world will pass away by the conflagration of the supernal fires, that when the heaven and the earth are changed for the better, the incorruption and immortality of holy bodies may have a condition of existence corresponding with the twofold change.
sea. As to what he here says, whether it is dried up in that extreme heat, or whether it also is changed for the better, I could not easily say. For we read of “a new heaven and a new earth” as future, but not also of a new sea. But as it is not unusual in prophetical language to intermix metaphysical with proper terms, it may perhaps be, that he has represented the turbulent life of this age, which will then come to an end, under the name of the sea
2. new Jerusalem. This city is said to “come down from heaven,” for that God made it by heavenly grace.
adorned. For there is another Jerusalem which is not adorned for her husband, but for an adulterer.
3. people. God Himself will be to the elect the reward of eternal blessedness, which, as possessed by Him, they will possess for ever.
4. tears. So great and so exalted will the glory of that city appear from the gift of God, as that there remain in it no vestiges of old age, since both a heavenly incorruption will refine their bodies, and the sight of the eternal King will feed their mind.
death. For he had said that death was cast into the lake of fire. For the same sentence may also be understood thus, that when the holy city is glorified at the last judgment, pain, grief, and mortality only remain in hell.
6. write. These things it behoves to be believed, not explained, especially because he says, that “it is done” of the past, so as not to suffer any one to doubt of the future.
Omega. As He testified at the beginning of the book that He was this, so it had need to be repeated the third time, that “neither before Him,” as Isaiah says, “nor after Him,” should there be believed to be another. And because the discourse is of the end of the world, the finisher of the age Himself, Who is called the Creator, may be understood.
athirst. He now sprinkles believers in the way from the fountain, which, in their own country, He grants to those who overcome to be abundantly drawn forth. And both are a free gift. For “the gift of God is eternal life in Christ Jesus our Lord,” and “of His fulness have we all received, and grace for grace.”
8. fearful. To introduce a caution, he always mingles with the bland the austere. So also the hundred-and-forty-fourth Psalm, when making known abundantly the grace of the Lord’s mercies, suddenly brings in His severe judgment, saying, “The Lord preserveth all them that love Him, and all sinners will He destroy.” And he joins the fearful with the unbelieving, because he fears to incur the danger of the contest, who doubts of the reward of the conqueror.
liars. He shews that there are many kinds of lying, but that the most dangerous and most detestable is that in which there is sin against religion, concerning which he says above, “They say that they are Jews, and are not, but they lie, for they are the synagogue of Satan.”
9. seven. The same preachers who inflict the sevenfold, that is, the universal plague upon the ungodly, reveal also to the Church the joys that are to come.
bride. He calls the Church the “bride” and “wife,” in that it remains immaculate, and always brings forth spiritual sons to God. Or, this is because she is now betrothed to God, and is then to be brought to an immortal marriage.
10. mountain. After the fall of Babylon, the holy city, which is the bride of the Lamb, is seen placed on a mountain. For the stone “cut out from the mountain without hands,” broke in pieces the image of worldly glory, and became a great mountain, and filled the whole world.
11. glory. For she will then appear more beautiful, when through the Spirit by Whom her husband is believed to have been conceived and born, she has attained to bear fully the heavenly image.
precious. The precious stone is Christ, Who says, “The glory which Thou gavest Me, I have given them.”
jasper. It is compared with jasper from the whiteness of virtues; to crystal, from the inner purity of the mind, and faith unfeigned.
12. wall. That is, the impregnable firmness of faith, hope, and love. The Lord also Himself Who protects the Church on every side, may be understood to be the wall, of Whom also Isaiah says, “There shall be placed in her a wall and bulwark;” that is, the protection of the Lord, and the intercession of the saints, who make a way for Him by teaching to the heart of believers.
gates. These gates are the Apostles, who primarily, either by writing, or by work, laid open to all nations an entrance into the Church.
angels. These are doctors, who follow the footsteps of the Apostles in the mystery of the faith and word.
names. He signifies the memory of the ancient fathers implanted in the hearts of preachers. And so also the high-priest, when about to enter the tabernacle, was commanded to bear the memorial of the fathers upon the breastplate of judgment.
13. east. By this so elaborate description of the gates, he wished, I suppose, to indicate the mystery of the number twelve, by which, accordingly, either the sum of the Apostles, or the perfection of the Church, may be represented; for that the faith of the Holy Trinity was to be made known by it to the four-square world.
14. foundations. That which the gates are, the same are the foundations; that which the city is, the same are the walls. But the patriarchs may also be signified by the term “foundations,” in that they contained within themselves the names, that is, the figure of the Apostles. For by them, as foundations, although by the Apostles, as by gates, this city has been opened to the nations which shall believe. And it is to be noted, that “the foundations,” when they are spoken of in the plural, signify the doctors, or virtues, of the Church; but when in the singular, the Lord Himself, Who is the foundation of foundations.
15. measure. Christ, Who is the “wisdom of God,” “reaching from one end to another mightily, and ordering all things sweetly,” measures the holy city. For, “ordering all things in number and measure and weight,” He distributes to each one of the faithful the gifts of spiritual graces. The doctors of the Church may also be understood, in that with frail bodies, but heavenly minds, they carefully examine the deserts of every one.
16. foursquare. The city is therefore said to be set in a square, and to be placed of an equal dimension on every side, in that it is not suffered to be marked by any inequality. For “to be perfect,” as the Apostle says, that is, “to be wise, to have peace,” is truly to subsist in the solidity of a square.
furlongs. That is, He beheld the Church, or gave her to be, perfect in faith and deeds. For the perfection of the four principal virtues, exalted by the faith of the Holy Trinity, composes as by the number ten the dignity of the Church.
equal. This is the solidity of invincible truth, by which the Church is not suffered to be “carried about by every wind of doctrine,” as resting upon the length of faith, the breadth of love, the height of hope. And if it has but one the less of these, there will not be the perfect stability of the Church.
17. an hundred and forty-four. This sum contains the square of the number twelve, for twelve times twelve are an hundred and forty-four, and itself also signifies the perfection of the holy city.
a man. The Church exists, as chosen from among men, and as exalted by the promises of Christ it hopes for an equality with angels. But literally he signifies, that the angel appeared to him in the form of a man.
18. building. This is the same with the exhortation of the Apostle Peter, “and be ye, as spiritual stones, built upon spiritual houses.”
glass. The Church is represented by gold, since it is often described as adorned with golden candle-sticks and bowls, because of the attire of wisdom. But he refers the glass to a belief of the truth. For the same that appears without is also within, and there is nothing simulated, and which is not perspicuous, in the saints of the Church. It may also be referred to the time when the thoughts of all towards each other are perspicuous and declared.
19. precious stones. By the names of the several stones is shewn either the form, or the order, or the variety of the virtues, of which the whole heavenly Jerusalem is built up. For it is a difficult thing for each one singly to flourish in all virtues. Finally, Isaiah, in describing the adornment of the same city when he said, “Behold I will lay thy stones in order, and lay thy foundations in sapphires,” and the rest, immediately subjoined, as if in explanation, “All thy children taught of the Lord.”
jasper. here are many kinds of jaspers. For one appears of a green colour, and marked, as it were, with flowers. Another resembles an emerald, but is of an opaque colour, and it is supposed that all phantasms are put to flight by it. Another is glistering, as of a mixed colour, with snow and the foam of sea waves. By the jasper, therefore, is shewn the unfading verdure of faith, which is imbued with the sacrament of the Lord’s Passion by the water of Baptism, and is prepared by increasing deserts for all the flowers of spiritual graces. And he who has this puts to flight vain fears, as the blessed Peter admonishes, “Your adversary the devil goeth about as a roaring lion, seeking whom he may devour, whom resist stedfast in the faith;” and he is able to say with the spouse, “My beloved is white and ruddy.” Therefore with good reason in Isaiah also, the bulwarks of the same city are alike fortified and adorned by this stone and structure of the wall.
sapphire. Moses set forth alike the colour and the sacrament of this stone, when in describing the appearance of God he said, “Under His feet, as it were, a work of a sapphire stone, and as the heaven when it is clear.” Ezekiel also says, that the place in which the throne of God is, “has the likeness of a sapphire,” and that the glory of the Lord consists of this colour, which bears the image of the super-celestial; so that he who is such, is able to say with the Apostle, “But our conversation is in heaven;” and when struck by the rays of the sun, emits a radiant brightness from himself; because the mind of the saints, which is always intent on heavenly things, in that it is daily renewed by the rays of divine light, with more compunction in some sort, and more fervency, diligently seeks for the things eternal, and commends them to others for their seeking. For that it is said to be found in the Red Sea signifies, that by the Passion of the Lord, and the laver of holy Baptism, the minds of mortal men are raised on high, to anticipate the things of heaven.
chalcedony. The chalcedony shines with a pale light, as of the flame of a lamp, and has its brilliancy in the open air, and not in the house. And by it are described those who rest upon a heavenly desire, and yet escape the notice of men, and who practise as in a secret place their fasting, and alms, and prayers; but when they are bidden to go forth for teaching, or other necessities of the saints, shew presently how much brilliancy they have borne within. For that which is said to resist cutting, but to attract bits of chaff if it is struck by the rays of the sun, or is heated by the rubbing of the fingers, deservedly corresponds with those who do not allow their fortitude to be overcome by another; but rather themselves make the weak attain to the privileges of their own light and ardour. And of one of them it is said, “he was a burning and a shining lamp,” burning, that is, in love, shining in discourse. For they always rekindle the light of their virtues with the oil of internal charity, that it may not fail. And that it is produced among the Nasamones, who form a province of Ethiopia, indicates that these under the ardent fervour of love, yet with obscure fame, as with a black skin, are accounted vile.
emerald. The emerald is of so exceedingly deep a green as to surpass all the green herbs, leaves, and gems, and it colours green the air reflected round, and it deservedly increases in greenness although naturally imbued with it. And there are very many kinds of this stone, but the most famous are the Scythian; the Bactrian hold the second place, the Egyptian the third. Accordingly, it represents souls always flourishing in faith, which the more they are tried by the opposition of the world, which is denoted by the cold of Scythia, strive the more to conceive in their mind by hope “the unfading and eternal inheritance which is reserved in heaven,” and extend it to their neighbours by preaching. And these also by the cup of the Lord’s Passion, and the unction of internal charity which is given through the Holy Spirit, advance toward the contempt of the world. With these also the land which is the country of the same stone corresponds in a beautiful manner, a land which is rich but uninhabitable. For although it is plentiful in gold and gems, the whole of it is occupied by griffons, very fierce birds, or rather flying beasts, Since they are fourfooted, and in body indeed are like lions, but in head and wings like eagles. The Arimaspians, who are said to be remarkable for a Single eye in the middle of the forehead, fight with them, that they may obtain these stones, which these creatures seize with wonderful avidity, and the Arimaspians guard. It was to this land, abounding in treasures of virtues, that the Psalmist had gone, when he said, “Behold, I fled away far off, and remained in the wilderness;” that is, by fleeing far off, I withdrew my soul from the allurements of the world. Here he had met with the wild beasts which were opposed to him, when he said, under inspiration, “Let the deceitful lips he made dumb, which speak iniquity against the righteous, in pride and contempt.” Here also he shews that he found desirable riches, in that with gladsome admonition he proceeded to add this, “How great is the abundance of Thy sweetness, O Lord, which Thou hast laid up in secret for them that fear Thee,” and the rest to the end of the Psalm. Against birds of this kind, which desire greedily to snatch away from us the seed of the divine word, all the saints watch with a single intention through heavenly desire, as if to be admired for one eye; that they may be able to search out and dig up the gem of faith and of all other virtues. For indeed the higher any virtue is, the fewer admirers has it, and the heavier persecution does it endure from unclean spirits, who like horrible griffons, are of the earth in the baseness of their deserts, but of the air in the loftiness of their proud mind; and who strive with unwearied labour not to possess spiritual riches for their own use, but to take them away from men. And because such sublimity of faith has become known to the world through the Gospel, in that there are four books of the Gospel, the emerald is fitly put in the fourth place.
20. sardonyx. This derives its whiteness from the onyx, and redness from the sard, and it has received from the two the name sardonyx. But there are very many kinds of it: for one preserves a likeness to red earth; another appears to be of two colours, as the blood shines through the human nail; another consists of three colours, the lowest black, the middle white, the highest vermillion. And with this are compared men reddened through suffering of the body, white through purity of spirit, but lowly in their own eyes through humility of mind, protesting with the Apostle, “Though our outward man perish, yet our inward man is ‘renewed day by day;” and again, “I know nothing against myself, yet am I not hereby justified.” And so also the Psalmist says, “Although man walk in the image” of God, that is, from the power of the mind, “yet he will be disquieted in vain,” that is, from the weakness of the flesh. This suffering also is through the weakness of the body, for they “who kill the body are not able to kill the soul;” and humility descends from the frailness of the same body, when it is said, “O wretched man that I am! who shall deliver me from the body of this death?” The sardonyx is rightly placed in the fifth foundation, for it is certain that our body depends on five senses.
a sard. The sard, which is entirely of a blood-red colour, signifies the glory of martyrs, of which it is said, “precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints,” and is with reason put in the sixth place, seeing that our Lord was incarnate in the sixth period of the age, and was crucified on the sixth day of the week for the salvation of the whole world.
a chrysolite. The chrysolite shines as if it were gold, with burning sparks. And by the appearance of this stone are represented those who shine through their knowledge of the heavenly wisdom, and who impart to their neighbours the words of exhortation, or even the signs of powers, as sparks of fire. And of these, as Arator says,—
“Their minds with love instinct, their ardent zeal
In words breaks forth.”
And because this is accomplished through the gift of spiritual grace alone, the chrysolite is most becomingly in the seventh foundation. For the grace of the Holy Spirit is wont very commonly to be represented by the number seven, as it is said of Him above, “And from the seven spirits which are before the throne.” And it is consonant also with this sense, that a certain kind of the same stone is found of an azure green colour, whence also among the Hebrews, from the resemblance to the colour of the sea, it is called Tharsis. For greenness appertains to the integrity of faith, which is called “the beginning of wisdom,” but water in a figurative sense to the Holy Spirit, the Lord bearing witness, Who says, “He that believeth on Me, as the Scripture saith, out of his belly shall flow rivers of living water. But this spake He of the Spirit, which they that believe on Him should receive.”
beryl. The beryl is as if thou shouldest imagine water to be struck by the rays of the sun, and to give out a ruddy and beautiful colour. But it does not shine unless it is shaped by polishing to an hexangular form. For the reflected brightness of the angles is intensified. But it signifies men who are naturally sagacious in intellect, but who shine the more by the light of heavenly grace. For that water designates the depth of understanding, Solomon is witness, who says, “The words of a man’s mouth are as deep water.” But neither human, nor indeed divine wisdom is of perfect brilliancy, unless the consummation of works is superadded. For perfection of action is often designated by the number six, especially as in this number the work of the world was consummated. And in that it is said to burn the hand of one who holds it, this is beyond doubt apparent, that whosoever is united to a holy man is indeed refreshed by the fire of his good conversation.
topaz. As the opportunity is rare for the discovery of this stone, so also is the quantity of the commodity scanty. It is said to have two colours, one of the purest gold, the other shining with ethereal brightness. There is a rosy plumpness, and modest purity. It is close to the chrysoprase in size, or colour, as it is in an especial manner a lamp, when it is struck by the rays of the sun, and surpasses the most precious brilliancy of all gems, and attracts in a singular way the most eager desire of the eyes. And if thou wilt polish it, thou makest it dark; if thou wilt leave it in its own proper nature, it is radiant. This stone is said to be an object of admiration to kings themselves, so that they recognise no possession like it among their riches; and the most beautiful quality of its nature is with the best reason compared with the grace of the contemplative life. For holy kings, “whose heart is in the hand of God,” deservedly prefer this to all the riches of good works, and the gems of virtues; and they direct towards it most of all the glance of their pure thought, and their sight; and they embrace in their mind the more ardently the sweetness of the spiritual life, as they more frequently receive in themselves the reflected splendour of supernal grace. Holy men, therefore, have a golden colour from the flame of internal charity; and they have also an ethereal one from the contemplation of supernal sweetness; and this often deteriorates from the whirl of the present age, as from the rubbing of a file. For in one and the same moment the mind cannot easily be tormented by earthly labours, sorrows, cares, and pains, and behold with delight, in the condition of a tranquil mind, the joys of the heavenly life. Yea, rather it proclaims this by its groans; “Mine eye,” it says, “is confused, because of anger; I have grown old among all mine enemies.” But that it is said to be found in an island, of Thebes, which is named Topazion from whence it has also received its name, is to be understood in two ways; namely, that those regions, that is, of the Egyptians, abound most of all in companies of monks, and that whosoever dwells near the Sun of righteousness is indeed coloured by the brightness of ethereal light. And the gem of contemplative sweetness is beautifully put the ninth in order, as the perfection of active life is the eighth; or, because nine orders of angels, whose life it imitates, are found in holy Scripture; or, because it is removed from the denarius of perfect blessedness by the one step of death. It was for this that the prophet panted with the greatest desire, when he said, “Therefore I have loved Thy commandments above gold and the topaz,” that is, I was delighted with the most sweet love of Thy commandments, above all the glory of approved action, and above all the sublimity of contemplative joy, which can come to pass in this age; and “the first and greatest of these is, ‘Thou shalt love the Lord thy God, with all thy heart, all thy soul, all thy strength.’ ” But it is most certain that this can only be brought to perfection in the height of the heavenly kingdom.
chrysoprase. The chrysoprase has a mixture of green and gold, deriving from it a certain purple gleam, with specks of gold interspersed. It is found in India; and it signifies, that they who well deserve the verdure of the eternal country by the brightness of perfect love, make it manifest also to others by the purple light of their own martyrdom. For since they follow the example of the Lord manifest in the flesh, in that they despise the present life, and prefer eternal glory, they shew even now, as if in India, that is, near the rising of the sun, the brightness of their own deserts. And because they desire to “shine as the sun in the kingdom of the Father,” and there to reign with their King with Whom they now suffer, and wait for this, they are rightly put in the tenth place. For by the denarius, with which the dressers of the Lord’s vineyard are rewarded, is represented the image of the eternal King, which is to be received when, as it could not be in the ninth degree, through the perfect love of God and of our neighbour, the decalogue will in all points be fulfilled.
jacinth. The jacinth is found in Ethiopia, and has an azure colour. The best is that which is neither transparent nor dull from its opacity, but has a clearness from the two qualities, and resembles the sweetly purified flower. It is not always equally glistering, but changes with the face of the sky. For when this is serene, it is clear and pleasing; but when it is cloudy, it pales and becomes dull before the eyes. And it indicates souls which are always given up to heavenly contemplation, and which, in a certain way, and so far as is permitted to mortals, approach the angelical life. These are enjoined, “to preserve the heart with all keeping of observation,” lest on the one hand, with too much subtlety of thought, they dare to inquire into things higher and better than themselves. For, “It is the glory of the Lord to conceal a word.” And this is to philosophise with caution concerning God, and the Man Christ; or, lest on the other hand, through the torpor of sloth, they fall back on the weak beginnings of faith, and “the first principles of the words of God.” Yea, rather let them walk in the pathway of the King, and go on, protected by “the armour of righteousness on the right hand and on the left,” and by a fit observance of the time let them change their face with the sky, and say to the beholders, “For whether we be beside ourselves, it is to God; or whether we be sober, it is for you.” As a jacinth surrounded by a cloud, he speaks thus, “Ye are not straitened in us, but in your own bowels;” and again, “For I determined not to know anything among you, save Jesus Christ, and Him crucified.” And as one seen in a serene light, he says, “But we speak wisdom among those who are perfect.”
amethyst. The amethyst is purple, mixed with a violet colour, and as it were the bloom of the rose, and it emits gently certain small flames. But there appears also to be something in its purple, which is not altogether fiery, but like red wine. So, then, the beautiful tint of the purple designates the condition of the heavenly kingdom, but that of the rose and violet, the lowly modesty and precious death of the saints, namely, in that their mind indeed is chiefly raised on high, even when they are seen outwardly to endure what is vile. For in adversity they are ever mindful of the promise of the Lord,” Fear not, little flock, for it is your Father’s good pleasure to give you the kingdom.” And they not only extend the flame of love to one another, but also to their persecutors themselves. And on their knees they implore, “Lord, lay not this sin to their charge.” Moreover, while they drink the cup of passion, they are inebriated instead with the remembrance of the wine “which makes glad the heart of man,” of which the Lord promised, that He would drink it new with them in His Father’s kingdom.”
In the jasper, therefore, is, represented the verdure of faith; in the sapphire the light of heavenly hope; in the chalcedony the flame of internal charity. Again, in the emerald is expressed the bold confession of the same faith in the midst of opposition; in the sardonyx, the humility of the saints amid their virtues; in the sard, the revered blood of martyrs. So in the chrysolyte is shewn spiritual preaching in the midst of miracles; in the beryl, the perfect work of preachers; in the topaz, their fervent contemplation. Moreover, in the chrysoprase are designated at once the work and the reward of the blessed martyrs; in the jacinth, the heavenly exaltation of doctors to things on high, and their humble descent for the sake of the weak to human things; in the amethyst, the continual memory of the heavenly kingdom in the mind of the humble. And each of the precious stones is assigned to a separate foundation. For although all the perfect, by whom the city of our God in His holy mountain is adorned and established, are refulgent with the light of spiritual grace, yet, “To one is given by the Spirit the word of wisdom; to another the word of knowledge by the same Spirit; to another faith in the same Spirit; to another the gifts of healing in the same Spirit; to another the working of miracles; to another prophecy; to another discerning of spirits; to another divers kinds of tongues; to another the interpretation of tongues.” And God. “the builder and maker” of this city, Who is the foundation of foundations, and Who vouchsafed also to be made a High-Priest for us, that He might both cleanse and dedicate the walls of the same city by the offering of His blood, possesses all things as His own, “whatsoever the Father hath.” Therefore, also, the same stones, inscribed too with the names of the twelve patriarchs, were commanded to be placed upon the breast of the high-priest, that in a most beautiful mystery it might be shewn that all the spiritual gifts which each of the saints individually and partially received, were equally and perfectly complete in “the mediator between God and man, the Man Jesus Christ.”
This exposition of the precious stones I seem, perhaps, to have made more fully than the method of interpretation by clauses expressed. For it was necessary to explain carefully their qualities and their country, then to inquire into their sacramental meaning, and further to treat of their order and number. But as regards the profoundness of the subject itself, I seem to myself to have said very few things, and those briefly and summarily. And I suppliantly beseech the reader, if he shall perceive that I have trod in the right path, to give thanks to God; and if he shall discover that it has happened otherwise than as I desired, then to pray for pardon unto my error from the Lord. But these things so far: let us see also those which remain.
21. pearls. All the glory of the Head is imputed to the body. And as “the true light which lighteth every man,” gave to the saints to be “the light of the world;” so also, although He Himself is the matchless pearl which the wise merchant sells all that he has to buy, He nevertheless compares His own with the brightness of pearls.
gold. He forms the streets of the same metals with which he had already said that the city was adorned For there are many, even of a commoner and lower life, who are surrounded with the highest virtues in the Church, and who shine with a purity of mind and an effulgence of work.
22. no temple. Although, he says, I have spoken of the city as built up of stones, I have shewn that the rest of the saints is not in a material building. For God Himself is their only home, and light, and rest.
23. no need. That is, because the Church is not guided by the light, nor the elements of the world, but is conducted by Christ, the eternal Sun, through the darkness of the world.
lighten. This is, we shall enjoy in that country the very light itself, by which we are now guided while we walk in the way; and being made blessed, we shall then perceive only that which is good, through the same by which we are now taught to discern between good and evil.
24. walk. He signifies that the same Lamb Himself is now to travellers the way, Who will then be to citizens the life.
kings. He here means spiritual kings, who bestow all the riches of their virtues upon the praises of the Church.
25. night. He relates that there will be the perpetual light of the Lamb; yea, rather that He Himself will be for an everlasting light in that city when the time of night is taken away. But that the gates will not be shut is a proof of the fullest security. For there it is no longer said, “Watch and pray, lest ye enter into temptation,” but rather, “Be still then, and know that I am God.”
26. bring. It is for this reason that it is to be gathered together from all nations.
27. enter. He describes the Church of that time, When, the bad having already been separated from the midst of it, the good alone will reign with Christ. But even now, too, every one who is unclean and false, is not in the Church, nor sees the light of the city of God, Who hateth him, “because the darkness has blinded his eyes.”
RE: Venerable Bede: The Explanation of the Apocalyps - Stone - 01-19-2021
ON CHAPTER 22
v. 1. river. In the river of life which flows in the midst of the city, there is no longer indicated the celebration of Baptism, but the fruit of that sacrament is now revealed. For in the present time the Church “sows in the Spirit, that it may then reap eternal life.”
2. life. The tree of life is seen by the fountain of life; and whether thou interpret this to be the glory of the holy cross, or the Lord Christ, Who even before baptism was revealed already in the Old Testament, as He is now by the mystery of baptism becoming manifest, it alike endues the saints with heavenly fruit. For “Neither is there any other name under heaven given to men in which we must be saved;” seeing that the same tree which John described as flourishing in the golden Jerusalem and Moses in Paradise, Solomon pronounced to be “a tree of life to those who laid hold upon it.” This I think to have been prefigured by the Jordan, on the other side of which Moses made known to the people the precepts of salvation, as Jesus on this side of it the land of promise.
month. In the twelve months he intimates all the time of life; the life, namely, in which it is said, “And thy years shall not fail;” and again, “It shall be month after month, and Sabbath after Sabbath;” where the face of the Lord is present, and is the eternal health, the eternal food of life. It may also be understood simply that the cross of Christ bears fruit through the doctrine of the twelve Apostles.
leaves. If the fruit is taken to be the reward of a blessed immortality, the leaves are rightly understood to be a perpetual song, in that it is for health to those who sing in their now blissful lot For there is the true healing of the nations, full redemption, everlasting bliss.
4. see. The vision of God is reserved to us as the reward of faith, and Philip understood this to be the chief good, when he said, “Lord, shew us the Father, and it sufficeth us.” For it was diligently to be inculcated, that the saints would see and possess in reality that which they believe while living from faith.
name. The confession of the holy Name, which is now maintained in the midst of enemies, then in their own country makes glorious the conquerors.
5. night. There no frailness of the body needs either the repose of night or the light of fire, at the time in which God, Who is the true light, and the eternal rest of the saints, will be all in all. But if thou refer the words to an allegory, there no exhortation of the prophets, no preaching of the law, are necessary, which are now said to be “a lamp shining in a dark place;” seeing that in the contemplation of God all things are fulfilled, and the promise is possessed in its completeness.
6. faithful. He doubted not as to a want of faith in John. But he commended the truth of the vision to all the Church, in which he knew that there would also be little ones.
prophets. Doubt not, he says, of the person of him who shews. For God Himself, Who is wont to imbue the spirits of the prophets with heavenly vision, sent me to shew to thee beforehand that these things will be.
servants. He taught that the profit of all men generally has by him been foreseen.
7. book. “I am blessed,” is understood. So the blessed Dionysius, Bishop of Alexandria, connects these clauses. For upon certain heresies arising on occasion of this book, he both refuted the error, and at the same time transferred to the eternal and heavenly promises the sense of the same prophecy, which he had purified from every cloud of carnal interpretation.
fell. He either did a second time that which had once been done, and which, when forbidden, he did not dare to repeat; or he is overwhelmed with amazement at the vision, and confesses that he again desires to worship.
9. fellowservant. Observe how often he both names John a prophet, and this book a prophecy. For he has many things in accordance with the prophets, and that not in sense alone, but also in words; for how many verses of Isaiah, how many of Zechariah, and of other prophets, wilt thou find here?
10. Seal. When the judgment which is to come draws near, it behoves the divine precepts, judgments, and promises to be manifested, by toe observation of which the meek are to obtain a reward, and through neglect of them the obstinate to incur punishment.
11. still. He here demonstrates the secret but just judgments of God, by which bad men are permitted to advance to something worse, that is, to arrive at the highest wickedness, that it may find a just judgment. Like to this is that, “Either make the tree good, and its fruit good, or make the tree bad, and its fruit bad.”
13. Omega. In Α he designates the divinity of the Word, and in Ω the humanity assumed, the beginning without end; which is confirmed by frequent repetition this book, either to intimate the divinity and humanity of the one Christ from time to time; or that the whole Trinity may be declared to be of one nature, Which saith by the prophet, “Before Me was there no God formed, neither shall there be after Me.”
14. right. He promises a fit reward to “white robes,” that is, an immaculate life, namely, that it may enjoy the sight of God, Who is eternal life. For, “Blessed are the pure in heart, for they shall see God.”
enter. They who keep the commandments of the Lord, Who says, “I am the door; by Me if any man enter in he shall be saved, and shall go in and out, and find pasture,” that assuredly which is here also promised of the tree of life; these without doubt enter in through the gates into the Church, the gates, namely, of righteousness, which the Psalmist desires to be opened unto himself. But he who endeavours “to climb up some other way, the same is a thief and a robber;” and of such also is added that which follows.
15. without. For all the madness of the wicked even now attack the Church from within. But when the “Master of the house shall have entered in, and as he saints enter with him unto the marriage,” shall have closed the door, “then will they begin to stand without, and knock at the door.”
16. David. Here he expressed the twofold nature of His person, namely, that the same was David’s Maker, according to His divinity, Who “was made of the seed of David, according to the flesh.” And this question the Lord proposes to the Jews in the Gospel, namely, how “Christ is the Son of David,” when “David in the Spirit called Him Lord?”
star. For by appearing after the night of a single Passion, He shewed to the ages the light of resurrection and of life, by word and example. And of Him it is said to the blessed Job, “Dost thou bring forth Lucifer in his season?”
17. bride. The Head and the body of the Church exhort each one of the members to faith.
Come. Whosoever has received in his mind the inner light of faith, or of love, let him invite others also to this.
will. So far forth is free-will allowed by saying, “He who will, let him take;” that grace is set forth immediately in that which follows, “The water of life,” with no merits assuredly preceding. For even to will is the gift of God.
18. add. These things he said on account of falsifiers, not on account of those who simply say what they think, without mutilating the prophecy in any respect.
20. testimony. The same Christ gives testimony, Who announces to the Church that He will come, to Whom after the manner of the Song of Songs the Church devoutly answers, “Amen; come, Lord Jesus Christ.” And this she cries continually, saying, “Thy kingdom come;” and in the Psalm, “I will sing, and have understanding in the perfect way, when Thou shalt come unto me.”
21. grace. Let the Pelagians, if they will, be confident in their own virtue, and deprive themselves of the grace of the Lord. But when the Apostle Paul seeks for help, and says, “Who shall deliver me from the body of this death,” let John make answer, mindful of his own name, and say, “The grace of God, by Jesus Christ our Lord.” And that the Donatists may not flatter themselves as having a singular gift of God, let them hear that when he imparted the grace of God, as a last farewell he added, “With you all. Amen.”
And now that at length so great and hazardous a labour has been completed, I suppliantly and earnestly entreat, that if any shall think this little work of mine worth reading or transcribing, they will also remember to commend unto the Lord the author of the work, inasmuch as “I have not laboured for myself alone, but for them also.” May I in return be rewarded by the vows and prayers of those who have the benefit of my toil; and may they, by their good offices, cause me to gain the right to and fruition of the tree of life, the odour and good report of which I have in some measure communicated to them.