詞源與文集 第 7 章 第 1/4 段

I. ON GOD. The most blessed Jerome, a most learned man and skilled in many languages, was the first to translate the interpretation of the Hebrew names into the Latin tongue. From these, having for the sake of brevity passed over many, I have taken care to insert certain ones into this work, with interpretations added. For the exposition of the words shows sufficiently what is meant to be understood; for certain names have their meaning from proper causes. At the outset we set down ten names by which God is called among the Hebrews. The first name of God among the Hebrews is called El; which some have interpreted as 'God,' and others, expressing its etymology, as ISCHYROS, that is, 'the Strong One,' because He is oppressed by no weakness, but is strong and sufficient to accomplish all things.

The second name is Eloi. The third is Eloe, both of which in Latin are rendered 'God.' Now this name has been carried over into Latin from a Greek appellation. For 'God' in Greek is called DEOS, from PHOBOS, that is, 'fear,' whence 'Deus' is derived, because there is fear in those who worship Him. But 'God' is properly the name of the Trinity, pertaining to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. To this Trinity also the remaining names placed under God below are referred. The fourth name of God is called Sabaoth, which is rendered into Latin as 'of hosts' or 'of powers,' concerning which it is said by the angels in the Psalm (23:10): 'Who is this King of glory?'

'The Lord of hosts.' For in the ordering of this world there are many powers, such as angels, archangels, principalities and powers, and all the ranks of the heavenly host, of all of which nevertheless He is the Lord. For all are under Him and are subject to His dominion. The fifth is Elion, which is interpreted in Latin as 'the Most High' (excelsus), because He is above the heavens, as it is written concerning Him (Ps. 113:4): 'The Lord is high above all nations; His glory is above the heavens.' And He is called 'excelsus' meaning 'exceedingly lofty' (valde celsus); for 'ex-' is put for 'exceedingly,' just as 'eximius,' as it were 'exceedingly eminent.' The sixth is Eie, that is, 'He who is.' For God alone, because He is eternal—that is, because He has no beginning—truly holds the name of essence. For this name was brought to holy Moses through an angel.

For when Moses asked what was the name of Him who commanded him to go to deliver the people out of Egypt, He answered (Exod. 3:14): 'I AM WHO I AM: and you shall say to the children of Israel: He who is has sent me to you'; as though, in comparison with Him who truly is—because He is unchangeable—those things which are changeable were made as if they were not. For what is said 'was' is not; and what is said 'shall be' is not yet. But God knows only to be; He does not know to have been or to be about to be. For the Father alone with the Son and the Holy Spirit truly is. Compared with His essence, our being is non-being. Hence also in ordinary speech we say, 'God lives,' because His essence lives by the life which death does not possess.

The seventh is Adonai, which is generally interpreted as 'Lord,' because He is Lord over every creature, or because every creature serves His dominion. Therefore He is 'Lord' and 'God,' either because He rules over all, or because He is feared by all. The eighth is Ia, which is placed in God alone, which also sounds in the final syllable of 'alleluia.' The ninth is Tetragrammaton, that is, 'of four letters,' which is properly applied to God among the Hebrews: iod, he, iod, he, that is, two 'ia,' which when doubled produce that ineffable and glorious name of God. And it is called ineffable, not because it cannot be spoken, but because it can in no way be bounded by human sense and understanding; and therefore, because nothing worthy can be said of Him, He is ineffable.

The tenth is Saddai, that is, 'Almighty.' And He is called Almighty because He can do all things, but from doing what He wills, not from suffering what He does not will. For if this were to happen to Him, He would in no way be almighty; for He does whatever He wills, and thence He is almighty. Likewise He is almighty because His are all things that are everywhere; for He alone holds the sovereignty of the whole world. Certain other names, too, are spoken of God substantially, such as immortal, incorruptible, unchangeable, eternal. Hence He is deservedly set before every creature. He is Immortal, as it is written of Him (1 Tim. 6:16): 'Who alone has immortality': because in His nature there is no change. For all mutability is not inappropriately called mortality;

according to which the soul too is said to die—not because it is changed and turned into a body or into some other substance, but because whatever now is or was in its own substance in a different manner, insofar as it has ceased to be what it was, is assuredly found to be mortal. And by this reasoning God alone is called immortal, because He alone is unchangeable. He is called Incorruptible because He cannot be corrupted and dissolved, nor divided. For whatever admits division also admits destruction. He can neither be divided nor perish; hence He is incorruptible. He is Unchangeable because He always remains and knows no change. He neither increases, because He is perfect, nor decreases, because He is eternal. He is Eternal, because He is without time.

For He has neither beginning nor end. Hence too He is called everlasting (sempiternus), because He is always eternal (semper aeternus). By some, however, He is believed to be called 'eternal' from 'ether' (aether), since heaven is held to be His seat. Whence there is that verse (Ps. 114:16): 'The heaven of heavens is the Lord's.' And these four terms signify one thing, for it is one and the same reality that is spoken of, whether God is called eternal, or immortal, or incorruptible, or unchangeable. He is Invisible, because the Trinity has never appeared through its own substance to the eyes of mortals, except through the appearance of some subordinate and bodily creature. For no one can see the very manifestation of God's essence and live, as was also said to Moses; whence too the Lord says in the Gospel (John 1:18):

'No one has ever seen God.' For He is an invisible reality, and therefore He is to be sought not with the eye but with the heart. He is Impassible, because He is affected by none of the disturbances to which human frailty succumbs. For no passions reach Him—such as lust, anger, desire, fear, grief, envy, and the rest by which the human mind is disturbed. But when God is said to be angry, or jealous, or to grieve, this is said according to our usage. For with God there is no disturbance, in whom there is the highest tranquillity. He is called Simple either because He does not lose what He has, or because He is not one thing Himself and another thing that which is in Him, as in a human being, whose being is one thing and his wisdom another. For a man can exist and yet not be wise;

but God possesses essence, and He possesses wisdom too; yet what He possesses, this He also is, and being all things He is one; and therefore He is Simple, because in Him there is nothing accidental, but both what He is and what is in Him exist essentially—except for that which is relative to any given Person. He is Supremely Good, because He is unchangeable. A creature, indeed, is good, but not supremely, because it is changeable. And though it is indeed good, it cannot however be supreme as well. God is said to be Incorporeal or bodiless so that He may be believed or understood to be spirit, not body. For when He is called 'spirit,' His substance is signified. He is Immeasurable, because He encloses all things while He Himself is enclosed by none; but all things are confined within His omnipotence.

He is called Perfect because nothing can be added to Him. Yet 'perfection' is properly spoken of the completion of some made thing. But God, who was not made, how is He perfect? Human poverty of language, however, took this word from our own usage, as also the rest of the words, so that what is ineffable might in some fashion be expressed—since human speech says nothing worthy of God, as is the case with the others too. He is called Creator on account of all the things of the world created by Him. For there is nothing that has not drawn its origin from God. He Himself is also One, because He cannot be divided, or because there can be nothing else that can contain as much power.

These things, then, which have been said of God, pertain to the whole Trinity on account of the one and coeternal substance, whether in the Father, or in the Son His only-begotten in the form of God, or in the Holy Spirit, who is the one Spirit of God the Father and of His only-begotten Son. There are also certain terms taken for God from our own usage, from our members or from lower things; and because in His proper nature He is invisible and incorporeal, yet on account of the efficacy of causes the appearances of things are ascribed to Him, so that by the manner of our speech He may more easily make Himself known: as, because He sees all things, He is called an 'eye'; and because He hears all things, He is called an 'ear'; but because He turns away, He 'walks'; because He looks upon, He 'stands.'

So too in the rest of things similar to these, a likeness is drawn from human minds and applied to God, as He is 'forgetting' and 'remembering.' Hence it is that the Prophet also says (Jer. 51:14): 'The Lord of hosts has sworn by His own soul': not that God has a soul, but this He recounts according to our own affection. For the 'face' of God in the Holy Scriptures is understood not as flesh but as divine knowledge, by the same reasoning by which each person is recognized by the face that is beheld. For this is said to God in prayer (Ps. 80:4): 'Show us Your face': as if it were said:

'Give us knowledge of You.' So too the 'footsteps' of God are spoken of, because now God is recognized through a glass (mirror), but in perfection the Almighty is found out, when in the future He shall be presented face to face to His elect, that they may contemplate the very appearance whose footsteps they now strive to grasp—that is, Him who is now said to be seen through a glass. For 'position' and 'posture' and 'place' and 'time' are said of God not properly but by way of likeness, transferred; as when (Ps. 99:1) He is said 'to sit upon the Cherubim,' which pertains to position; and (Ps. 104:6): 'clothed with the deep as with a garment,' which pertains to posture; and (Ps. 102:28): 'Your years shall not fail,' which pertains to time; and (Ps. 139:8):

'If I ascend into heaven, You are there,' which pertains to place. For in the Prophet too (Amos 2:13) the likeness of 'a cart laden with hay' is applied to God. And all these things are said of God figuratively, because none of them belongs to the proper character of His substance. II. ON THE SON OF GOD. Christ is found to be called by many modes in the divine Scriptures. For He, the only-begotten Son of God the Father, though He was equal to the Father, took the form of a servant for the sake of our salvation. Accordingly certain names in Him are taken from the substance of His divinity, certain ones from the dispensation of the humanity He assumed. Christ, then, is named from 'chrism,' that is, 'anointed.'

For it had been commanded to the Jews to prepare a sacred ointment, with which those might be anointed who were called to the priesthood or to the kingship; and just as now the purple robe is the mark of royal dignity for kings, so for them the anointing with the sacred ointment conferred the royal name and power; and hence they were called 'christs' from 'chrism,' which is 'anointing.' For 'chrism' in Greek is called 'anointing' in Latin, which, when made spiritual, also lent its name to the Lord, because He was anointed with the Spirit by God the Father, as in the Acts (4:27): 'For they were gathered together in this city against Your holy Son, whom You have anointed': not indeed with visible oil, but with the gift of grace, which is signified by the visible ointment.

'Christ' is not, however, the proper name of the Savior, but a common appellation of power. For when it is said 'Christ,' it is a common name of dignity; when 'Jesus Christ,' it is the proper name of the Savior. The name of 'Christ' existed nowhere else at all, nor among any nation, except only in that kingdom where Christ was prophesied and whence He was to come. In Hebrew He is called Messiah, in Greek Christ, and in Latin speech 'the Anointed.' 'Jesus' in Hebrew, in Greek SOTER, and in Latin is interpreted 'the salutary one' or 'Savior,' because He came as bearer of salvation to all nations. The Evangelist too indicates the etymology of this name, saying (Matt. 1:21):

'You shall call His name Savior, for He shall save His people.' For just as 'Christ' signifies king, so 'Jesus' signifies savior. It is not, therefore, any king whatsoever who saves us, but a king who is Savior. This word the Latin tongue did not have before, but it could have it, as indeed it did, when it wished. 'Emmanuel' from Hebrew into Latin signifies 'God with us,' namely because God, born through a Virgin, appeared to men in mortal flesh, that He might open to earthly beings the way of salvation to heaven. Those which pertain to the substance of His divinity are these: God, Lord. He is called 'God' on account of the substance united with the Father; 'Lord' on account of the serving creation. He is both God and man, because He is the Word and flesh.

Hence too He is said to be 'twice begotten,' either because the Father begot Him without a mother in eternity, or because a mother bore Him without a father in time. He is called 'Only-begotten' according to the excellence of His divinity, because He is without brothers; 'Firstborn' according to the assumption of humanity, in which through the grace of adoption He deigned to have brothers, to whom He might be firstborn. He is called 'Homoousion' with the Father from the unity of substance. For substance or essence in Greek is called OUSIA, and OMO- 'one.' Both joined together, therefore, sound 'one substance.' For this is what is called Homoousion, which is (John 10:30): 'I and the Father are one,' that is, of the same substance with the Father.

Although this name is not found written in the sacred letters, it is nevertheless defended in the affirmation of the whole Trinity, because a reason is given by which it is shown to be rightly spoken; just as the Father too is nowhere in those books read as 'Unbegotten,' yet it is not doubted that He must be so called and believed. 'Homoeousion,' 'of like substance,' because such as God is, such also is His image. God is invisible, and the image invisible. He is 'Beginning' (Principium), because all things are from Him, and because before Him is nothing. He is 'End' (Finis), either because He deigned at the end of the ages to be born humbly in the flesh and to die, and Himself to undergo the final judgment, or because whatever we do we refer to Him. And when we have come to Him, we have nothing beyond which to seek.

He is the 'Mouth' of God, because He is His Word. For just as, for the words that are made through the tongue, we often say 'this and that tongue,' so also for the Word of God the 'mouth' is put, because it is the custom that words be formed by the mouth. And He is called 'Word' (Verbum) because through Him the Father created or commanded all things. He is 'Truth,' because He does not deceive, but grants what He has promised. He is 'Life,' because He created. He is called 'Image' on account of the equal likeness of the Father. He is 'Figure,' because, taking the form of a servant, by the likeness of His works and virtues to the Father He designated in Himself the image and immeasurable greatness of the Father. He is the 'Hand' of God, because all things were made through Him. Hence also the 'Right Hand,' on account of the accomplishment of the work of the whole creation, which was formed through Him. He is the 'Arm,' because by Him all things are held together.

He is 'Power' (Virtus), because He has in Himself all the power of the Father, and governs, holds together, and rules every creature of heaven and earth. He is 'Wisdom,' because He Himself reveals the mysteries of knowledge and the secrets of wisdom. Yet, although the Father and the Holy Spirit are also wisdom and power and light and radiance, nevertheless the Son is properly called by these names. He is called 'Splendor' because He makes manifest. He is 'Light' (Lumen), because He illumines. He is 'Light' (Lux), because He unbars the eyes of the heart to contemplate the truth. He is the 'Sun,' because He is the illuminator. He is the 'Dayspring' (Oriens), because He is the fountain of light and the enlightener of things, and because He makes us rise to eternal life. He is the 'Fount,' because He is the origin of things, or because He satisfies those who thirst. He Himself is also Alpha and Omega.

For no letter precedes Alpha; for it is the first of the letters, just as the Son of God is; for He Himself answered the Jews who questioned Him that He was the Beginning. Hence also John in the Apocalypse, setting down that very letter properly, says (22:13): 'I am Alpha and Omega, the first and the last.' He is 'First,' because before Him is nothing. He is 'Last,' because He Himself has undertaken the final judgment. He is 'Mediator,' because He is set as the middle between God and man, that He might lead man to God; whence the Greeks call Him MESITES. He is 'Paraclete,' that is, 'Advocate,' because He intercedes for us with the Father, as John says of Him (1 Ep. 2:1):

'We have an Advocate with the Father, Jesus Christ the righteous.' 'Paraclete' is Greek, which in Latin is called 'Advocate.' This name is ascribed both to the Son and to the Holy Spirit, according to what the Lord says in the Gospel (John 14:16): 'I will ask the Father, and He will give you another Paraclete.' He is called 'Intercessor,' because He takes care to remove our guilt and expends care to wash away our crimes. He is the 'Bridegroom,' because, descending from heaven, He cleaved to the Church, so that by the peace of the New Testament the two might be one flesh. He is called 'Angel' on account of the announcement of the Father's will and His own. Hence too in the Prophet (Isa. 9:6) He is read as 'the Angel of great counsel,' although He is God and Lord of angels.

He is called 'Sent,' because the Word made flesh appeared to this world, whence He also says (John 16:28): 'I went forth from the Father, and I have come into this world.' He is called 'Man,' because He was born. 'Prophet,' because He revealed things to come. 'Priest,' because He offered Himself as a victim for us. 'Shepherd,' because He is the guardian. 'Master,' because He is the one who shows. 'Nazarene' indeed from the place, 'Nazarite' from merit, that is, 'holy' or 'pure,' because He did no sin. Indeed Christ draws to Himself the appearances of names also from other lower things, that He may be more easily understood. For He is called 'Bread,' because He is flesh. 'Vine,' because we are redeemed by His blood. 'Flower,' because He is chosen. 'Way,' because through Him we go to God. 'Door,' because through Him we enter to God. 'Mountain,' because He is strong.

He is the 'Rock,' because He is the firmness of believers. He is the 'Cornerstone,' either because He joins two walls coming from opposite sides—that is, from the circumcision and the uncircumcision—into the one building of the Church, or because He makes peace in Himself for angels and men. He is the 'Stone of stumbling,' because, coming in humility, the unbelieving men stumbled at Him, and He became a rock of offense, as the Apostle says (1 Cor. 1:23): 'To the Jews indeed a stumbling block.' He is called 'Foundation' because faith in Him is most firm, or because upon Him the Catholic Church is built. For Christ is also the 'Lamb' for innocence; and the 'Sheep' on account of patience; and the 'Ram' on account of headship; and the 'Kid' on account of the likeness of sinful flesh;

and the 'Calf,' because He was immolated for us; and the 'Lion,' for His kingship and strength; and the 'Serpent,' for death and wisdom; likewise the 'Worm,' because He rose again; the 'Eagle,' because after the resurrection He returned to the stars. Nor is it any wonder if He is figured by lowly significations, He who is known to have descended even to the reproaches of our sufferings and of the flesh. For while He is the coeternal Son of God the Father before the ages, after the fullness of time came He took the form of a servant for the sake of our salvation, and the Son of God became the son of man. Hence some things are said of Him in the Scriptures according to the form of God, and some according to the form of a servant. Of these, by way of example, two are recalled, so that each may be referred to each.

For according to the form of God He said of Himself (John 10:30): 'I and the Father are one'; according to the form of a servant (John 14:28): 'For the Father is greater than I.' But men who understand less which is said for what, wish to transfer to the form of God those things which were said on account of the form of a servant; and again, those things which were said so that the Persons might be referred to one another, they wish to be names of nature and substance, and they make error in the faith. Now human nature was so joined to the Son of God that out of two substances there came to be one Person. Therefore man alone endured the cross, but on account of the unity of the Person God too is said to have endured. Hence it is that it is written (1 Cor. 2:8):

'For if they had known, they would never have crucified the Lord of glory.' We confess, therefore, that the Son of God was crucified, not from the power of His divinity, but from the weakness of His humanity: not from the abiding of His own nature, but from our being assumed by Him. III. ON THE HOLY SPIRIT. The Holy Spirit is proclaimed God for this reason, because He proceeds from the Father and the Son and has His substance. For nothing else could proceed from the Father than that which the Father Himself is. He is called 'Spirit' (Spiritus) according to that which is referred to something as 'breathed forth'; and He who breathes is surely one who breathes in by breathing, and from this He is called 'Spirit.' But in a certain proper manner He is called 'Holy Spirit' according to that which is referred to the Father and the Son, because He is their Spirit.

For this name too, that He is called 'Spirit,' is not according to that which is referred to something, but according to that which signifies some nature. For every incorporeal nature is called 'spirit' in the Sacred Scriptures, whence this word applies not only to the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit, but to every rational creature and soul. Therefore He is called the 'Holy Spirit of God' because He is the sanctity of the Father and the Son. For although the Father too is spirit and the Son is spirit, and the Father is holy and the Son is holy, nevertheless He Himself is properly called the 'Holy Spirit,' as it were the sanctity coessential and consubstantial of both. The Holy Spirit is for this reason not said to be 'begotten,' lest two Sons be supposed in the Trinity.

He is for this reason not proclaimed 'unbegotten,' lest two Fathers be believed in that same Trinity. He is called 'proceeding' by the testimony of the Lord, who says (John 16:12): 'I have yet many things to say to you, but you cannot bear them now. But the Spirit of truth will come, who proceeds from the Father, and He will receive of mine: He will declare to you all things.' Now He proceeds not only by nature, but always proceeds unceasingly for the accomplishment of the works of the Trinity. This, moreover, is the difference between the Son who is born and the Holy Spirit who proceeds: that the Son is born from one, while the Holy Spirit proceeds from both; and therefore the Apostle says (Rom. 8:9):

'But he who does not have the Spirit of Christ, this one is not His.' The Holy Spirit is also understood, from His work, as an 'angel.' For it was said of Him (John 16:13): 'And He will announce to you the things that are to come'; and 'angel' in Greek is interpreted 'messenger' in Latin. Hence too the two angels appeared to Lot, among whom the Lord is singularly named, whom we understand to be the Son and the Holy Spirit—for the Father is never read as being sent. The Holy Spirit, in that He is called 'Paraclete,' is so named from 'consolation'; for PARAKLESIS in Latin is called 'consolation.' For Christ sent Him to the Apostles who were mourning, after He Himself had ascended into heaven from their eyes.

For the Consoler is sent to those who mourn, according to that saying of the same Lord (Matt. 5:4): 'Blessed are those who mourn, for they shall be comforted.' He Himself also said (Matt. 9:15): 'Then shall the children of the bridegroom mourn, when the bridegroom shall be taken away from them.' Likewise He is called 'Paraclete' because He furnishes consolation to the souls that lose temporal joy. Others interpret 'Paraclete' in Latin as 'orator' or 'advocate.' For the Holy Spirit Himself speaks; He Himself teaches; through Him is given the word of wisdom; by Him the Holy Scripture was inspired. The Holy Spirit is for this reason called 'sevenfold,' on account of the gifts which, from the fullness of His unity, each one, as they are worthy, deserves to obtain in part.

For He is the Spirit of wisdom and understanding: the Spirit of counsel and might: the Spirit of knowledge and piety: the Spirit of the fear of the Lord. But the 'principal Spirit' (spiritus principalis) is read in the fiftieth Psalm, where, because 'spirit' is repeated a third time, some have understood the Trinity, for this reason: because it is written (John 4:24): 'God is Spirit.' For that which is not a body, and yet is, seems to remain that it be spirit. For some understand the Trinity to be signified there: in the 'principal Spirit,' the Father; in the 'upright Spirit,' the Son; in the 'Holy Spirit,' the Holy Spirit. The Holy Spirit is for this reason called 'Gift' (donum), because He is given. For 'gift' is named from 'giving' (a dando).

For it is very well known that the Lord Jesus Christ, when after His resurrection from the dead He had ascended into heaven, gave the Holy Spirit, filled with whom the believers spoke in the tongues of all nations. Now He is the Gift of God insofar as He is given to those who through Him love God. In Himself He is God; to us He is a Gift; but the Holy Spirit is eternally a Gift, distributing to each as He wills the gifts of graces. For He imparts prophecies to whom He wills, and forgives sins to whom He wills. For sins are not forgiven apart from the Holy Spirit.

The Holy Spirit is thence properly called 'Charity' (Love), either because He naturally joins together those from whom He proceeds and shows Himself to be one with them, or because He works in us that we may abide in God, and He in us. Hence also, among the gifts of God there is nothing greater than charity, and there is no greater gift of God than the Holy Spirit. He Himself is also 'Grace,' which, because it is given freely (gratis), not by our merits but by the divine will, is thence called 'grace.' But just as we properly call the only Word of God by the name of Wisdom, though the Holy Spirit too and the Father Himself are universally wisdom, so the Holy Spirit is properly called by the name of Charity, though the Father and the Son too are universally charity.

That the Holy Spirit is the 'Finger of God' is most plainly declared in the books of the Gospel. For when one Evangelist had said (Luke 11:20): 'By the finger of God I cast out demons,' another said this same thing thus (Matt. 12:28): 'By the Spirit of God I cast out demons.' Hence too the Law was written by the finger of God, given on the fiftieth day from the slaying of the lamb, and on the fiftieth day the Holy Spirit came from the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ. And He is called the 'Finger of God' for this reason, that His operative power together with the Father and the Son might be signified. Hence too Paul says (1 Cor. 12:11):