Commentary on the Apocalypse 1 part 1/14

Interpretation of the Apocalypse of the divinely-inspired evangelist and theologian John, composed by Oecumenius.

Book One. Of the theologian John, composed by Oecumenius.

Book One. "All Scripture is inspired by God and profitable," the sacred oracle says somewhere.

For in the Spirit were all made wise who proclaimed to us the saving word, both prophets and apostles and evangelists.

But the divinely-inspired John, holier than all preachers and more spiritual than every spiritual man, inasmuch as he reclined upon the breast of the Lord, and through his kisses drew forth a more abundant grace of the Spirit;

whence also he was called a son of thunder;

for he thundered throughout the whole world under heaven with his divine teachings.

But his present treatise, inasmuch as it concerns subtle and refined mysteries, is rightly held to be most mystical, as one might reckon.

For he discourses not only concerning things present to us, but also concerning things past and things to come.

For this is proper to a complete prophecy: to treat of the three seasons;

For indeed the pagans too bring forward their diviners as knowing things present, things to come, and things past — having arisen, as I suppose, in imitation of the prophets among us.

For the oracle-givers among them never possessed knowledge of all things, since not even the demons working in them could compel him who undertakes to interpret spiritual things also to be spiritual and wise in divine matters — since, according to the divine Apostle, spiritual things must also be compared with spiritual.

But I am as far removed from the operation of the Spirit as I am from the divine and highest wisdom;

wherefore I have made this undertaking rash rather than secure;

for into a soul that devises evil, wisdom will not enter, nor does it dwell in a body given over to sins, as seems true both to Solomon and in truth itself;

I have therefore chosen a certain exercise, thereby exposing my own heedlessness in it.

Nor is it unknown to me that some have attempted to say concerning the present writing, that it is spurious and out of accord with John's other writings;

But I, from the very words spoken — which are profitable to the soul and contain nothing that is not divine and worthy of the author — testify to its genuineness; and also from the fact that approved fathers received and confirmed it: the all-great Athanasius, in his exposition of the canonized books of the Old and New Testaments; the divinely-inspired Basil, in his brief inquiry Concerning the Son; Gregory the theologian, in his oration On the Arrival of the Bishops; Methodius the most wise, in his discourse On the Resurrection; and Cyril the great, in deed and word, in the sixth book of his treatise On Worship in Spirit and Truth;

In addition to these, also the divinely-inspired Hippolytus, in his Interpretation of Daniel.

For it would never have obtained mention among fathers so precise, if there were in it anything at all spurious and to be rejected.

It would be possible also to cite other saints who confirm this writing, were it not that I recognize moderation to be esteemed by those who think rightly.

For if the threefold cord is not quickly broken, according to Ecclesiastes, scarcely would the sixfold cord be broken.

What then does the holy disciple of Christ, glorying in the divine love, discourse to us through the Apocalypse? For we must now attend to the divinely-inspired words themselves, having called upon his intercessions for help;

The Revelation of Jesus Christ;

which God gave him, to show his servants the things that must shortly come to pass;

and he signified it, sending by his angel to his servant John, who bore witness to the word of God;

and to the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever he saw.

In all his other writings the divinely-inspired John dwelt at length upon the God-befitting words of our Savior Jesus Christ; but in the present writing he occupies himself rather with the things befitting his humanity, lest he should seem to acknowledge him from the more divine things only, and not also from the human.

For it is a mark of pure theology to believe that the divine Word was begotten of God the Father before every age and interval of time, co-eternal and consubstantial with the Father and the Spirit, and that together with them he originates the ages and all creation, both intelligible and sensible, according to what was said by the most wise Paul in the epistle to the Colossians, that in him were created all things in the heavens and on the earth, the invisible and the visible, whether thrones, or dominions, or principalities, or powers;

all things were created through him and unto him, and he is the head of the body, that is, of the church;

who is the beginning, the firstborn from the dead, that in all things he himself might have the preeminence;

so likewise to believe that in the last times, for us and for our salvation, he also became man — not by any departure from his divinity, but by the assumption of human flesh, rationally ensouled, so that Emmanuel is understood to be joined together from two natures, divinity and humanity, each possessing perfectly, according to its own principle, its natural property and difference in quality, the things that have run together into unity being neither confused nor, after the ineffable and unimaginable union, divided.

For both are equally abominable, Nestorius and Eutyches;

contrary and diametrically opposed evils.

So then, that the doctrine concerning our Savior might be precise and refined for him, having dwelt at length in the other writings upon the divine things of the Lord, as has been said, here he has made use rather of human words and thoughts;

yet neither in those writings did he set forth the divine things apart from the human, nor here has he set forth the human apart from the divine;

but he has made use of them in his writings in varying measure, more and less.

Hence, by the very saying "Revelation", it is given by the Father to the Son;

and it is given by the Son to us, his servants.

And by calling the saints servants of Christ, he has preserved for him that which befits God.

For whose could men be, except the maker and creator of men? And who is the creator of men and of all creation? None other than the only-begotten Word and Son of God.

"For all things were made through him," says the present author in the Gospel.

But what does he mean by adding "the things which must shortly come to pass"? And yet the things that are to be have not yet been fulfilled, though a very great deal of time has already elapsed since these things were spoken — more than five hundred years.

It is because all the ages, in the eyes of the unending, eternal God, are reckoned as nothing;

"for a thousand years," says the prophet, "in your eyes, O Lord, are as yesterday, which has passed, and as a watch in the night."

For this reason, then, he added "shortly", not looking to the measure of the times for the fulfillment of the things that are to happen, but to the power and eternity of God;

for in truth every temporal extension, however great and however long it may be, is something small when compared to that which is unending.

"Jesus Christ," he says, "signified to me the things which must come to pass";

not that he himself appeared and spoke, but having initiated me into the mysteries through his angel.

You see the love of truth of this divinely-inspired man, who confesses that it was revealed to him through an angel, and that he did not hear it from the mouth of the Lord;

"who," says John, "testified to the word of God and the testimony of Jesus Christ, whatever he saw";

He has used this same manner also in the Gospel, thereby preserving for himself his credibility as a teacher.

he said, "This is the one who testifies concerning these things, and who wrote these things";

"and we know that his testimony is true."

And now, he says, he is a witness of the divine word that appeared to him;

He speaks of the present Apocalypse and of the testimony given by Christ; that is to say: "through this testimony I am both witness and writer."

of this prophecy — and those who keep the things written in it;

He did not call blessed only those who read;

for then many would be blessed in this way, since those who read are very many; but also those who hear and, as it were, become obedient to the exhortations in it, and those who keep and guard the things spoken as though they were divine laws.

"for the time is near," he says;

for to everyone who keeps the commandments of God, the time of blessedness is near;

Or thus: "the time," he says, "is near" for the outcome of the things spoken.

But the meaning of "near" has been explained in what precedes.

"John," he says, "to the seven churches which are in Asia":

Grace to you and peace from God, who is, and who was, and who is to come;

This is equivalent to saying, "Grace to you from the God of you all";

for the Father names himself as "the One who is", declaring at the bush to the most wise Moses, saying, "I am the One who is";

but concerning the Son, this present divinely-inspired evangelist speaks, having said, "In the beginning was the Word";

"and the Word was with God, and the Word was God";

and again, in the first of his catholic epistles.

That which was from the beginning, which we have heard, which we have seen with our eyes, which we looked upon, and our hands have touched, concerning the word of life

And by 'the one who is coming,' he meant the Holy Spirit.

For it has not only come on the day of Pentecost, according to what is recorded in the Acts, but it also always comes to the souls worthy to receive it.

'And from the seven spirits,' he says, 'which are before his throne.'

The seven spirits are seven angels;

not as equal in honor, or co-eternal, were they included together with the Holy Trinity — far from it! — but as genuine attendants and faithful servants.

For the prophet says to God, 'All things are your servants.'

And among 'all things' the angels also are included.

And again the same [prophet] says concerning them:

'Bless the Lord, all his hosts, his ministers who do his will.'

The apostle also used this same figure of speech when writing the first epistle to Timothy:

'I charge you,' he says, 'before God and Jesus Christ and the elect angels.'

Moreover, by saying 'which are before his throne,' he further attested to them a servile and ministerial rank;

'And from Jesus Christ,' he says, 'the faithful witness, the firstborn of the dead, and the ruler of the kings of the earth.'

Having previously written concerning God the Word without flesh, and having said of him, 'who was';

now he speaks of him as having become flesh, saying 'and from Jesus Christ,' not dividing him into two, but testifying both the one and the other concerning him: that he is the Word of the Father, and that he became flesh.

For according to the apostle, he testified the good confession before Pontius Pilate;

and as for 'who was' — that he is God and Lord of all, even though he has become flesh.

And such a testimony is indeed true;

for by 'faithful' he means the true one, and one worthy of belief;

Paul also bears additional testimony to this concerning him, saying, 'who is the firstfruits, the firstborn from the dead.'

They call him 'firstborn from the dead' as having first begun the common resurrection, and as having inaugurated for us a new and living way — the resurrection from the dead — through the veil, that is, through his flesh, according to what is written.

For all those who rose from the dead before the Lord were again delivered over to death;

for that was not the true resurrection, but only a temporary release from death.

Therefore none of them was called 'firstborn from the dead.'

But the Lord is called this, as having become both the beginning and the cause of the true resurrection,

and having become, as it were, a firstfruit-offering of the resurrection of mankind, being born, so to speak, and coming forth as though from a bridal chamber, from death into life.

For concerning the Lord alone the divinely-inspired Paul wrote, in his epistle to the Romans:

'Knowing,' he says, 'that Christ, having been raised from the dead, dies no more;'

'death no longer has dominion over him.'

'for the death he died, he died to sin once for all;'

'And the ruler,' he says, 'of the kings of the earth.'

This also Daniel said to the Babylonian [king]:

'you shall know that the Most High rules over the kingdom of the heavens;'

'and gives it to whomever he wills.'

Christ, then, reigns also over all things in the heavens,

but for now he speaks of those on earth;

and as he proceeds, he shows him to be reigning also over the holy orders in the heavens.

'To him who loved us,' he says, 'and washed us from our sins in his own blood;'

'and made us a kingdom, priests to God, and his prophets;'

'to him be glory and dominion forever and ever, amen.'

The construction of this saying returns from the last words to the first.

'To him,' he says, 'be glory and dominion' — to him who loved us;

For how did he not love us, who gave himself as a ransom for the life of the world? — and who washed us from our sins in his own blood.

For he himself took away the handwriting that was against us, which was contrary to us in its decrees;

and nailed it to the wood of his cross, stretching out our sins by his own death, and by his own blood leaving us free of transgressions, having healed our disobedience by his becoming obedient unto death, even death on a cross.

'and made us a kingdom;'

And what is the benefit, he says, in our becoming priests to God and his prophets? For men being deemed worthy of these things both confirms the kingdom to come for us, and in the present procures unspeakable glory.

For beyond washing away our sins with his own blood, this is greater and more marvelous still, and worthy of the divine gift:

namely, that we, who had contributed nothing beforehand, became priests of God and prophets, worthy of such a gift.

'Behold, he comes on the clouds of heaven, and every eye will see him, and those who pierced him;'

'and all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him;'

That he comes on the clouds of heaven, the Lord himself also said concerning himself in the Gospel according to Mark, speaking thus:

'and the powers that are in heaven will be shaken;'

'and then they will see the Son of Man coming in clouds with great power and glory;'

For just as, I think, when he ascended into the heavens on the day of the ascension, it is written in the Acts that a cloud received him out of their sight, so also he will come again with a cloud.

And I think that Holy Scripture figuratively calls the holy angels 'clouds,' because of their lightness, their loftiness, and their moving through the air — as though it were saying that the Lord will come borne upon divine angels and escorted by them.

For thus the prophet also introduces him, saying, 'And he rode upon the cherubim and flew;'

'He flew upon the wings of the winds.'

'And every eye will see him,' he says, 'and those who pierced him.'

For he will not come in obscurity at his second, glorious coming, nor secretly, as before, when he visited the world in the flesh;

and showing the veiled character of that coming, the prophet said:

'He will come down like rain upon the fleece, and like a drop that falls upon the earth.'

but with boldness and openly, so as to be seen by every eye, even by the most sinful and impious.

Among their number must be reckoned those who insulted him or pierced him.

'And all the tribes of the earth will mourn over him,' he says — clearly those who persisted in unbelief, and who did not choose to bend their neck to his saving yoke.

And 'over him' you should understand as referring to his manifestation and coming.

Then, to show that this will certainly happen, he added 'Yes, Amen' — as if saying nothing other than that these things will surely and indisputably come to pass. For just as among the Greeks 'yes' indicates assent to things that will be, so also does 'amen' among the Hebrews.

'I am the Alpha and the Omega,' says the Lord God;

'who is and who was and who is to come, the Almighty,' and Lord of creation.

The alpha signifies beginning, and the omega signifies end. "I am," he says, "the first and the last," showing through the first the beginninglessness of God, and through the last, the endlessness.

For since there is nothing among men that is without beginning and without end, he used our "beginning" and "end" in place of "beginningless" and "endless."

This also God said through Isaiah:

He calls God "Almighty" and "Lord of creation," not only of the sensible, but also of the intelligible.

I, John, your brother and fellow-partaker in the tribulations and in the kingdom, endurance

He was writing to the faithful, those who on account of the word and preaching of Christ had suffered much at the hands of those persecuting the pious. Therefore he calls himself, here, a fellow-partaker in Jesus with those who incur tribulations for the sake of the word — a partaker just as of the tribulations and the endurance, so also of the kingdom of God.

I was on the island called Patmos on account of the word of God and the testimony of Jesus.

"And on account of his word and the testimony which I bore," having preached his Gospel, "I was," he says, "exiled on Patmos."

Eusebius records in the Chronicon that he suffered this under the emperor Domitian.

Then he says, "while dwelling on the aforesaid island, I was in the Spirit on the Lord's day."

What he said, "I was in the Spirit," shows that the vision he saw was not sensible, nor seen with fleshly ears or eyes, but with prophetic [ears and eyes];

concerning which spiritual hearings Isaiah said:

"He added to me, morning by morning, to understand; morning by morning he added to me an ear to hear, and the discipline of the Lord opens my ears."

"And I heard a loud voice like a trumpet saying to me:"

"John, what you see, write in a book and send to the seven churches: to Ephesus, and to Smyrna, and to Pergamum, and to Thyatira, and to Sardis, and to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea."

There are more cities than this in Asia, but he is commanded to write to those which had been discipled by him and had already received the faith of Christ.

For to those who are unbelieving and falling away from the saving word, what could one even exhort? "And I turned to see the voice which spoke with me."

"And having turned, I saw seven golden lampstands;"

"and in the midst of the seven lampstands, one like a son of man, clothed with a garment reaching to the feet, and girded about the breasts with a golden girdle;"

"and his head and hairs were white as wool, as snow;"

"and his eyes were as a flame of fire;"

"and his feet were like chalkolibanon in a furnace made fiery, and his voice was as the voice of many waters;"

"and having in his right hand seven stars;"

"and out of his mouth went a sharp two-edged sword;"

"and his countenance was as the sun shines in its power."

The seven lampstands, as he himself interprets further on, are the seven churches to which he was commanded to write;

and he called them lampstands, as bearing in themselves the illumination of the glory of Christ;

for he did not call them lamps, but lampstands.

For the lampstand itself does not have the property of giving light;

but it bears in itself that which is able to give light.

And Christ illumines his churches intelligibly.

For just as the holy apostle exhorts those who have received the faith:

"Become as luminaries in the world, holding forth the word of life;"

Now the luminary itself, by itself, does not have light, but is receptive of imported light; so also here the evangelist saw the churches as lampstands, and not as lamps.

For it is said concerning Christ: "You shine forth wonderfully from the everlasting mountains" — the angelic [mountains], that is, powers. And again, to the Father:

"Send out your light and your truth;"

and again, "the light of your countenance, O Lord."

But those who partake of the divine light are described in one place as luminaries, in another as lampstands.

And he calls the lampstands golden, on account of the preciousness and surpassing excellence of those deemed worthy to receive the divine radiance;

"And in the midst," he says, "of the seven lampstands, one like a son of man;"

For if the Lord himself promises to dwell in and walk about in the souls of those who receive him, how would he not be seen in the midst of the lampstands? And he calls him "son of man" — Christ, who for our sake humbled himself even to the form of a servant, who became "the fruit of the womb" according to the divinely-inspired psalmist;

and of the womb of the unwedded and ever-virgin Mary;

For since Mary is a human being and our sister, fittingly he who was born of her without seed, God the Word according to the flesh, is also called "son of man."

But he has spoken carefully, not saying him to be "son of man," but "like a son of man" — for Emmanuel is both God and Lord of all things; and the vision shows his varied form, sketching out his shape from his activities and powers.

And first he clothes him with a priestly form;

for the robe reaching to the feet and the girdle are a priestly form;

for it was said to him by God the Father:

"You are a priest forever according to the order of Melchizedek;"

But the apostle also calls Christ "high priest and apostle of our confession," as one who performs priestly service and offers up our confession of faith to himself, and to the Father, and to the Spirit.

And he girds him with a golden girdle, whereas the priests according to the Law had their girdle woven with variegated fine linen;

for it was necessary that the difference be shown between servants and Master, and between the shadowy Law and the truth that is in the new [covenant].

"And his head," he says, "and his hairs, [were] as white wool and as snow."

For the mystery concerning Christ is new in its manifestation, but pre-eternal in its good pleasure.

For the divinely-inspired apostle wrote concerning him: "the mystery that has been hidden from the ages and from the generations, which now has been manifested to his saints, to whom he willed [to make it known]."

The antiquity of the mystery, then, insofar as it pertains to the divine good pleasure, is indicated by the greyness of the head, likened to wool and to snow.

"And his eyes," he says, "were as a flame."

This indicates that, since Christ is also light, he names himself thus, saying, "I am the light and the truth" — or it signifies the fearsomeness and threat against the seven churches to which the contents of the Revelation are sent, as not perfectly following his laws;

"And his feet," he says, "were like chalkolibanon."

They say that the bronze mined in Mount Lebanon is pure even of itself, and becomes purer still once the moderate impurity in it has been purified by the furnace;

through which is signified the steadfastness and unshakability, together with the brightness and conspicuousness, of the faith in Christ, standing firm in security.

For Christ is called "rock" by the apostle, and "a precious stone in the foundations of Zion" by Isaiah.

Or by "chalkolibanon" he means the bronze-colored frankincense, which the sons of physicians are accustomed to call "male [frankincense]."

and this, when burned as incense, is fragrant;

for the burning furnace is a token of its being offered as incense.

He shows that [Christ is] the foundation of the evangelical preaching;

for the feet are the foundation of the rest of the body, and this [foundation] is Christ;

for he is fragrant, and enchants with his intelligible sweet fragrance both the things in heaven and the things on earth.

And Paul also calls Christ "foundation," writing a certain letter to the Corinthians, saying, as a wise master-builder, "I have laid a foundation;"

"and let each one take heed how he builds upon it;"

"for no one is able to lay another foundation than the one that is laid, which is Jesus Christ."

That Christ is noetically fragrant, the bride in the Song, having received experience of his fragrance, testifies — saying at one point, 'the scent of your ointments is above all spices,' and at another, 'your name is an ointment poured out.' But the Lord himself also presents himself as fragrant in his words to the bride, saying, 'I am the flower of the field, the lily of the valleys.'

What then? Did not Paul also, having become fragrant through participation in Christ, say:

'and manifests through us the fragrance of the knowledge of him'

And his voice, it says, was like the sound of many waters:

For how could his sound have reached all the earth, and the proclamation concerning him the ends of the inhabited world, if it were not audible far and wide? Not by sensible loudness of voice, but by the power of the proclamation.

And, it says, having in his right hand seven stars

These stars he himself interprets further on, calling them the angels of the seven churches, concerning whom the divinely-inspired Gregory spoke, in the presence of the bishops, addressing the angels set over them:

For I am persuaded that one angel presides over one church, another over another:

as John teaches through the Apocalypse

I think he calls the holy angels 'stars' because of the abundant illumination of Christ within them:

they have been deemed worthy of a most honorable standing before God, and as it were rest upon the hand of God. And out of his mouth, it says, went a sharp two-edged sword.

Now the divinely-inspired David says, addressing the Lord: 'Gird your sword upon your thigh, O mighty one.'

For thus he then commanded us to keep the evangelical laws, the transgression of which was destructive:

therefore the location of the thigh signified a deferral of punishment:

for it was not most ready for slaughter

But now the sword goes forth from the mouth, the enigma signifying that those who are disobedient concerning the evangelical commands will have danger to the soul, being cut in two by the sword:

which the Lord indeed says in the Gospels, making this clear:

'For the word of God is living and active, and sharper than a two-edged sword' against those who disobey — clearly extending the threat.

Hence this sword is also written by John as 'sharp':

which is the same as 'sharpest' in Paul

'His countenance,' it says, 'shines like the sun in its power.'

For the Lord is the sun of righteousness, according to the prophet Malachi:

But so that you should not suppose the illumination of Christ's countenance — who enlightens every man coming into the world — to be a transparent body giving light in a sensible manner, he added 'in its power,' as if saying:

The light of Christ is noetic, operating by power, illuminating not bodily sight, but the eyes of the soul.

And when, it says, I saw him, I fell at his feet as one dead.

'And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, I am the first and the last, and the living one; and I became dead, and behold, I am living forever and ever, and I have the keys of death and of Hades.'

'Write therefore the things you have seen, and the things that are, and the things that are about to take place after these things.'

It is customary for the holy prophets, when seeing a vision, to be struck with astonishment and to show forth human weakness:

and by however much the divine surpasses the human and excels it by incomparable differences [is the measure of this astonishment]. This is what we know Joshua the son of Nun also to have experienced, when he saw the commander-in-chief of the army of the Lord, and Daniel, the man of desires, in the visions that appeared to him.

'I therefore fell at his feet as dead,' says the evangelist, struck with astonishment at the sight.

'And he laid his right hand upon me, saying, Do not be afraid.'

The sacred John would not have had the strength to live through the astonishment, had not the saving right hand of the Son of God touched him — the hand that by touch alone has worked so very many wonders:

and it says to me, I am the first and the last:

I am he who, for the salvation of you all, in the last times of the age, lived among you in the flesh, although being first and the firstborn of all creation.