The Cambridge Gloss on the Apocalypse: Cambridge University Library Dd.x.16 (Corpus Christianorum in Translation / Corpus Christianorum Series Latina, CVIII G, 36) 9782503582405, 2503582400

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The Cambridge Gloss on the Apocalypse

CORPVS CHRISTIANORVM IN TRANSLATION

36

CORPVS CHRISTIANORVM Series Latina CVIII G

INCERTI AVCTORIS GLOSSA IN APOCALYPSIN E CODICE BIBLIOTHECAE VNIVERSITATIS CANTABRIGIENSIS DD.X.16

cura et studio Roger Gryson

TURNHOUT

FHG

THE CAMBRIDGE GLOSS ON THE APOCALYPSE Cambridge University Library Dd.X.16

Introduction, translation and notes by Colin MCALLISTER

H

F

Academic Supervision Thomas O’Loughlin

© 2020, Brepols Publishers n. v., Turnhout, Belgium. All rights reserved. No part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval system, or transmitted, in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying, recording, or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.

D/2020/0095/226 ISBN 978-2-503-58240-5 E-ISBN 978-2-503-58241-2 DOI 10.1484/M.CCT-EB.5.116382 ISSN 2034-6557 E-ISSN 2565-9421 Printed in the EU on acid-free paper.

TABLE OF CONTENTS

Acknowledgements

7

Introduction The Influence of Tyconius Our Author, a Constellation of Related Texts, and Cultural Milieu Unusual Features of the Commentary Sources, Dating, and the Status Quaestionis Notes to the Translation

9 11

Bibliography Abbreviations Primary Sources Secondary Sources

22 22 23 26

Prologue

31

Chapter One

33

Chapter Two

46

Chapter Three

55

Chapter Four

62

Chapter Five

68

Chapter Six

73

Chapter Seven

79

Chapter Eight

84

Chapter Nine

89

5

13 15 17 20

Chapter Ten

96

Chapter Eleven

99

Chapter Twelve

105

Chapter Thirteen

110

Chapter Fourteen

117

Chapter Fifteen

122

Chapter Sixteen

125

Chapter Seventeen

129

Chapter Eighteen

132

Chapter Nineteen

135

Chapter Twenty

139

Chapter Twenty One

142

Chapter Twenty Two

147

Indices Index of Scriptures Index of Non-Scriptural Sources Index of Names Subject Index

153 157 162 164

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

This translation has been several years in the making, and has been a slow but immensely rewarding process for me. Two colleagues of mine in the History Department at the University of Colorado, Colorado Springs—Roger Martínez-Dávila and Brian Duvick—were particularly encouraging in the early days of this project. I would like to thank my Latin teachers over the years: Santiago Rubio-Fernaz, Mary France and Francis X. Gumerlock. Frank Gumerlock has been a wonderful friend and colleague of mine for years, and no one has done more to bring the early mediaeval Latin commentary tradition to light in the English language. I am very grateful to Frank for his expertise, comraderie and advice. Lastly, I would like to thank Loes Diercken, my editor at Corpus Christianorum, for her guidance and patience.

7

INTRODUCTION

The Cambridge Gloss on the Apocalypse (Glossa in Apocalypsin e codice Bibliothecae Vniversitatis Cantabrigiensis) is an anonymous Hiberno-Latin (that is, authored by an Irish cleric writing in Latin) commentary on the Apocalypse of John preserved in one manuscript at Cambridge University Library (catalogue no. Dd.X.16, f. 58r–104v). The manuscript was discovered by Guy Lobrichon, and the scholarly community was first apprised of its existence in the mid-1990s via publications by Lobrichon1 and Yves Christe.2 In 2001, Martin McNamara authored the first study, comparing three extensive pericopae from the Cambridge Gloss with those found in On the Mysteries of the Apocalypse of John (De Enigmatibus ex Apocalypsi Iohannis), the commentary on the Apocalypse found in the eighth-century Reference Bible: the Preface (Rev 1:1– 2:5); the Seven Seals (Rev 5:1–6:6); and the Number of the Beast (Rev 13:13–14:1), as well as the biblical lemmata that are used in each.3 His study concludes with a description of the manuscript by David Ganz, who discusses the contents of the volume, the Guy Lobrichon, ‘Stalking the Signs: The Apocalyptic Commentaries’, in The Apocalyptic Year 1000: Religious Expectation and Social Change, ed. Richard Landes, Andrew Gow, and David C. Van Meter (New York: Oxford University Press, 2003), 67–79. This is the published version of a paper that was given at a conference at Boston University in November 1996. 2  Yves Christe, L’Apocalypse de Jean: Sens et développements de ses visions synthétiques, Bibliothèque de Cahiers archéologiques 15 (Paris: Picard, 1996), 51. 3  Martin McNamara, ‘The newly-identified Cambridge Apocalypse Commentary and the Reference Bible: A Preliminary Enquiry’, Peritia. Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland 15 (2001): 208–60. 1 

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Introduction

script, and the preponderance of Insular abbreviations, suggesting that ‘the volume was copied in the region west of Tours in the tenth century, though a ninth-century date is not impossible’.4 The editio princeps was published in 2013 by Msgr. Roger Gryson as CCSL 108G.5 Lest there be any ambiguity over the identity of the text translated here, it is n. 99 in the Clauis Litterarum Hibernensium.6 This gloss is written in a similar style as other Irish-authoured exegetical texts of the same period. That is, the author proceeds verse by verse through the entire Apocalypse, citing short phrases or even single words of the biblical passage, followed by brief explanations—a concise style of commentary known as commaticum interpretandi genus that appears to have had particular resonance with exegetes of Revelation.7 The comments serve to clarify meaning and are usually moral or allegorical in nature, as well as offering alternative interpretations of a given passage.8 The text has a marked dependence on the hermeneutical method of Tyconius as laid out in his Liber Regularum (Book of Rules),9 and applied in his Expositio Apocalypseos (Exposition of the Apocalypse).10 It promotes an ecclesiological and spiritual interpretation of the ApocaIbid., 256. Roger Gryson, ed., Incerti Auctoris Glossa in Apocalypsin, e Codice Bibliothecae Universitatis Cantabrigiensis Dd. X. 16. CC SL 108G (Turnhout: Brepols, 2013). 6  Donnchadh Ó Corráin, ed., Clavis Litterarum Hibernensium. Medieval Irish Books & Texts (c. 400 - c. 1600) Clavis Litterarum Hibernensium (Turnhout: Brepols, 2017), vol. i, 128–29. 7  Bede, Commentary on Revelation, trans. Faith Wallis, Translated Texts for Historians 58 (Liverpool: University of Liverpool Press, 2013), 23. 8  Readers will notice that the Biblical lemmata occasionally differ slightly from modern English translations. Normally this is when the Latin text diverges from the Vulgate. Gryson discusses the biblical lemma at length in his introduction to the editio princeps, concluding that ‘our author is in an environment where the old Latin versions have not yet completely given way to the Vulgate. The same type of text is found in the British Isles in the same era, notably in Bede and in insular manuscripts like the Book of Armagh’ (R. Gryson, Glossa, 27). 9  Tyconius, Liber Regularum (The Book of Rules), trans. W. S. Babcock, Society of Biblical Literature: Texts and Translations 31 (Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1989). 10  Tyconius, Expositio Apocalypseos, ed. Roger Gryson, CC  SL 107A (Turnhout: Brepols, 2011); in English Tyconius: Exposition of the Apocalypse, trans. Fran4  5 

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Introduction

lypse, muting speculation about an imminent endtime scenario. The gloss contains numerous references to heretics, emphasises the hierarchy and the privileged role of teachers within the church, and likely dates from the eighth century, the ‘Northumbrian Golden Age’, exemplified by the works of Bede the Venerable and Alcuin of York. This introduction discusses the milieu from which the Cambridge Gloss emerged, its authorship and dating, aspects of the text, unusual features, and the status quaestionis.

The Influence of Tyconius In the late fourth century, Christian scholars and exegetes held differing opinions as to how or even whether the Apocalypse should be presented to the community of the faithful. Its unusual structure and imagery were potentially confusing, there was a danger of an overly literal interpretation, and, in the post-Constantinian world in which the Church and Empire developed closer relations, its anti-Roman sentiments were now problematic. Tyconius, a North African Donatist who flourished ca. 370–90, proffered a method for making sense of difficult passages in Scripture, especially the Apocalypse. His Book of Rules is the first treatise of biblical hermeneutics in the Latin West.11 In it, he expounds on seven rules, or keys, for explaining Scripture. For Tyconius, the law— that is, the Old and New Testaments—is mediated through seven rules or mysticae. These are ‘compositional principles of Scripture, encoded in the text itself, which conceal or obscure its meaning’.12 The approach of Tyconius inclines towards a more spiritual and allegorical, as opposed to a literal, interpretation. The tribulation and destruction described in the Apocalypse reveal the present cis  X. Gumerlock, with introduction and notes by David  C. Robinson, FC 134 (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 2017). 11  Pamela Bright, The Book of Rules of Tyconius: Its Purpose and Inner Logic (Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1988), 2. 12  Paula Fredricksen, ‘Tyconius and Augustine on the Apocalypse’, in The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages, ed. Richard K. Emmerson and Bernard McGinn (Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992), 26.

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Introduction

spiritual reality of sin within the body of the Church rather than the shape of future eschatological events. So one ought to study Scripture not for signs of the end times, but rather for the signs of what makes one united or separated from Christ here and now. By name, Tyconius remained relatively unknown in later centuries, as his thought was assimilated by Augustine of Hippo, who summarised the seven rules in De Doctrina Cristiana (On Christian Teaching)13 and made use of them in De Civitate Dei (The City of God), especially in the twentieth book where he discusses eschatology. Through Tyconius (reinforced by Augustine, as well as Jerome) both chiliasm (the belief in a literal thousand-year reign of Christ and the resurrected saints on earth—one explanation of the events described in Rev 20:4–6) and a literal reading of the Apocalypse fell out of fashion for several centuries. Instead, the idea of recapitulation and a spiritual, moral interpretation prevailed. In addition to the Book of Rules, Tyconius wrote an influential commentary on the Apocalypse. Although lost, enough of it was passed down in the writings of later authors that scholars since the late nineteenth century have postulated that this commentary could be reconstructed.14 In 2011, Msgr. Roger Gryson accomplished this using the following sources: the Budapest and Turin fragments of Tyconius, Caesarius of Arles, Primasius of Hadrumentum, Cassiodorus, the Commemoratorium of Ps-Jerome, Bede, Beatus of Liébana, De Enigmatibus, Theodulf of Orléans and, especially, the Cambridge Gloss. As part of this lengthy process, Gryson created new critical editions of nearly all of these source texts, noting that the Cambridge Gloss was an essential element in his reconstruction of Tyconius.15 At 3.30.42–43.37.56. For a discussion of the question of a possible reconstruction and the history of publication behind it, see Gryson’s introduction to his critical edition: Tyconius, Expositio Apocalypseos, ed. Roger Gryson, CC SL 107A (Turnhout: Brepols, 2011) 13–102; and also Kenneth Steinhauser, The Apocalypse Commentary of Tyconius: A History of Its Reception and Influence (Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1987). 15  Gryson, Glossa, 5. Article-length overviews of the history of the Apocalypse commentary tradition in the Latin West include: Roger Gryson, ‘Les commentaires patristiques latins de l’Apocalypse’, Revue théologique de Louvain 28, no. 3 (1997): 13 

14 

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Introduction

Our Author, a Constellation of Related Texts, and Cultural Milieu In his introduction to the editio princeps, Gryson remarks that the Cambridge Gloss comes from the same intellectual milieu as the collection of writings analysed by the eminent paleographer Bernhard Bischoff in his pioneering article ‘Turning Points in the History of Latin Exegesis in the Early Middle Ages’.16 It abounds in Hiberno-Latin exegetical features.17 These include: questions directed to small details of expression and word sequence; a preoccupation with ‘first things’ (e.g., in the Prologue where the author attempts to reconcile diverging opinions on whether John wrote the Gospel or the Apocalypse first); distinguishing between the contemplative and active parts of the church; explaining the literal (historia) and the spiritual (sensus) senses of Scripture; a dis305–37; Francis X. Gumerlock, ‘Patristic Commentaries on Revelation’, Kerux 23, no. 2 (2008): 3–13; Kevin Poole, ‘The Western Apocalypse Commentary Tradition of the Early Middle Ages’, in A Companion to the Premodern Apocalypse, ed. Michael A. Ryan (Leiden: Brill, 2016), 103–43; E. Ann Matter, ‘Latin Reception of the Apocalypse in the Early Middle Ages’, in The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature, ed. Colin McAllister (New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020), 120–36; also see Part I ‘La Tradition Exégétique’ in Yves Christe’s L’Apocalypse de Jean. For an annotated bibliography of commentaries to 1700 (with manuscript locations, analytical descriptions and locations), see Richard Tresley, ‘Annotated Bibliography of Commentaries on the Book of Revelation to 1700’, in The Book of Revelation and Its Interpreters, ed. Ian Boxall and Richard Tresley (Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2016), 125–272. 16  Gryson, Glossa, 36. Bernhard Bischoff, ‘Wendepunkte in der Geschichte der lateinischen Exegese im Frühmittelalter’, Sacris Erudiri 6 (1964): 189–279, repr. in Bernhard Bischoff, Mittelalterliche Studien: ausgewählte Aufsätze zur Schriftkunde und zur Literaturgeschichte, 3 vols (Stuttgart, 1966–1981), i 206–73; Colm O’Grady (trans.), ‘Turning-points in the history of Latin exegesis in the Early Middle Ages’, in Martin McNamara, Biblical Studies: The Medieval Irish Contribution, ed. Martin McNamara. Proceedings of the Irish Biblical Assoc. 1 (Dublin, 1976), 74–160. 17  For an overview of these features, see Bischoff, ‘Turning Points’, 83–88; Martin McNamara, ‘Sources and Affiliations of the Catechesis Celtica (MS Vat. Reg. lat. 49)’, Sacris Erudiri 34.1 (1994): 187–91; Michael  W. Herrin, ‘Irish Biblical Commentaries Before 800’, in Roma magistra mundi: Itineraria culturae medievalis: Mélanges offerts au Père L. E. Boyle à l’occasion de son 75e anniversaire, ed. Jacqueline Hamesse (Louvain-la-Neuve: Fédération internationale des Instituts d’Études Médiévales, 1998), 391–407.

13

Introduction

cussion of the ten senses (five senses of the body / five senses of the soul) in the comments on Rev 2:10; and the interpretation of the seven seals in Rev 5:1 as seven events in the life of Christ.18 The author of the Cambridge Gloss is anonymous, which was typical for Hiberno-Latin exegetical works from this period.19 Numerous references to the church and its authorities, an ecclesiological interpretation, and other comments suggest that the author was very familiar with monastic life, and most likely a monk and a teacher. He has a strong hierarchical view of the church, and holds the contemplative part (ecclesia theorica) very much above the active part (ecclesia activa). There are countless passages from the Apocalypse that he interprets to refer to teachers (doctores) in the church. Christ figures prominently in his comments, and he frequently vilifies ‘Jews, heretics and heathens’ along with—occasionally—philosophers and astrologers. The comment on Massilia (Marseilles) as a city which ‘transacts much business’ (on Rev 18:19) likely indicates that our author was writing in France. Based on numerous parallels found in both the Cambridge Gloss and De Enigmatibus ex Apocalypsi Iohannis (On the Mysteries of the Apocalypse of John) contained in the ‘Irish Reference Bible’, an anonymous eighth-century commentary on almost the entire Bible, Martin McNamara posited the existence of a underlying commentary (now lost) which was a source for both.20 In the introduction to his edition of Tyconius, Gryson added a third text—the Expositio in Apocalypsin Iohannis (Exposition on the Apocalypse of John), contained in a two-volume miscellany of commentaries on nearly all of the books of the Bible, created under the supervision of Theodulf of Orléans at the monastery of St Mesmin (Micy) in ad 810—and concluded that although all three glosses contain similar passages, they were written independently of each other. The similar portions, he suggests, come from this underlying lost commentary, which he dates to the first 18  See Francis X. Gumerlock, The Seven Seals of the Apocalypse, TEAMS Commentary Series (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2009), 7–9. 19  Bischoff, ‘Turning Points’, 89. 20  McNamara, ‘Cambridge Apocalypse Commentary’.

14

Introduction

half of the eighth century.21 Another closely-related text is the Commemoratorium de Apocalypsin Iohannis apostoli (Handbook on the Apocalypse of the Apostle John), an abbreviated reader’s guide to the biblical text that dates to the late seventh century, and which is falsely attributed to Jerome in several of the manuscripts.22

Unusual Features of the Commentary Several aspects of the Cambridge Gloss are unusual, or especially pronounced in comparison with other early mediaeval commentaries. Our author frequently gives multiple interpretations for the same phrase. For example, in his explanation of the phrase ‘under the altar’ (Rev 6:9), he gives an astonishing seven possibilities for its meaning: ‘under the highest deed of the martyrs’, ‘under the confession of faith’, ‘under heaven’, ‘under the highest testament of Christ’, ‘under the high act of penitence’, ‘under the Church’, and ‘under the earth’. Other instances include: – On Rev 1:1—three reasons why the book is called the Apocalyse ‘of Jesus Christ’ – On Rev 1:8—three explanations of the ‘alpha and omega’ – On Rev 2:10—four interpretations of ‘for ten days’ – On Rev 3:15—three interpretations of ‘cold’ and ‘hot’ – On Rev 4:3—four interpretations of ‘there was a rainbow’ – On Rev 4:8—four interpretations of the eyes ‘all around and within’ – On Rev 5:1—five interpretations of the scroll written ‘within and on the back’ – On Rev 6:1—four interpretations of ‘come and see’ – On Rev 6:2—three interpretations of ‘he had a bow’ 21  Gryson, Expositio, 64–66. Francis X. Gumerlock is currently in the process of a critical reconstruction of this lost commentary. 22  Commemoratorium de Apocalypsin Iohannis Apostoli, ed. Roger Gryson, CC SL 107 (Turnhout: Brepols, 2003), 191–229. This appears as no. 37 in Bischoff’s list in ‘Turning Points’, 143.

15

Introduction

– On Rev 7:1—three interpretations of the ‘four angels and four winds’ – On Rev 8:1—four interpretations of the ‘silence in heaven’ In his lengthy discussion of the number of the Beast (in Rev 13:18), he gives his reasoning for the number 616, and also the number 666 as ‘found in other books’. The author often asks clarifying questions about the text, including grammatical constructions or word order. For instance, on Rev 5:2, he states ‘this sequence [of language], to open [the scroll] before its seals are broken is preposterous, but it is not so in respect to the quality of this statement; for, “to open” is to read the history of the whole book, and “to break” is to fulfil the seven seals that prophesied about Christ.’ Additional examples include: – On Rev 1:5—regarding the enumeration of the persons of the Trinity – On Rev 1:9—‘kingdom before patient endurance’ – On Rev 7:9—‘on the numbering of the “great multitude”’ The author often comments on pedagogy and emphasises the nature and importance of teachers. On Rev 2:6 he notes that ‘this applies to every teacher, that he should praise the one whom he teaches in the beginning of his message, and correct in the middle of it, and praise in the end of it’. On Rev 3:12, in a discussion of the lemma ‘I shall make him a pillar’, he states that ‘so is every Catholic [teacher] a pillar in the Church: he builds the Church in that he enlightens it through examples and teaching, and he sustains the Church so that it does not fall before the judgement of God.’ And on Rev 7:13 he reminds us that every teacher: Ought to ask his students and those under him what is necessary for them to know, and thus he ought to say to those under him and to his students ‘Lord, you know who they are and from where they have come’.23 Speak in the ways in which God

23 

cfr John 21:15–16.

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Introduction

speaks, that is, in three ways, that is, through the body as the body of the angel is, and through a voice expressed from the air, as this is my beloved Son, (Matt 3:17) and through a vision, that is, when he awakens the mind of each one by compunction of heart.

Additional noteworthy features include: – On Rev 1:11, the author writes that ‘he who wrote this book spoke the Hebrew language, and God showed him spiritual visions in his own language.’ – On Rev 2:5, the author seems to argue against the atonement of Christ when he states that when sinners repent, ‘the judgment of their evil work is inflicted upon sinners who remain in sin’. – On Rev 3:14, the author sees a correspondence between the seven angels of the church and the seven angels of the seven trumpets. He states that ‘the Church of Philadelphia is a figure of the sixth angel sounding a trumpet in the time of Antichrist’ (cfr Rev 9:13) and ‘the Church of Laodicea is a figure of the seventh angel, that is, of the last preaching before the judgement’ (cfr Rev 11:15).

Sources, Dating, and the Status Quaestionis The primary source for the Cambridge Gloss is the aforementioned lost commentary which drew heavily on Tyconius (and which also underlies De Enigmatibus and the commentary of Theodulf). In addition, the Gloss derives numerous etymologies from Jerome’s Interpretations of Hebrew Names, and also occasionally cites Jerome’s Letters, as well as Gregory the Great’s Homilies on the Book of Ezekiel, Gospel Homilies, Moral Reflections on the Book of Job, and The Book of Pastoral Rule, as well as Augustine’s On the Literal Meaning of Genesis. The prologue references

17

Introduction

Eusebius’s Ecclesiastical History, Isidore of Seville’s Chronicle, and Jerome’s On Illustrious Men. In the gloss on Rev 1:14, our author cites a phrase found in the anonymous Commentary on Catholic Epistles (1:14). According to Gryson, the similarities to Bede the Venerable’s commentary (written in ad  703) indicate that both drew from the same source, rather than a direct dependence. Al­ though he seems not to have known the influential sixth-century commentary of Primasius of Hadrumetum (unlike the author of De Enigmatibus, who quotes Primasius directly, and cites him by name on three occasions),24 our author had read the third-century commentary of Victorinus.25 The Cambridge Gloss—at about 23,500 words26—is much more verbose than either De Enigmatibus or Theodulf ’s Expositio.27 Where does this happen in the text? Primarily in two areas: ‘aliter’ clauses (which give an alternative interpretation, and which I normally translate as ‘in another way of interpretation’ or ‘may also be interpreted as’) and direct parallels from Tyconius. Although both De Enigmatibus and Theodulf ’s Expositio employ the ‘aliter’ clause occasionally, this is much more prevalent in the Cambridge Gloss, and in the vast majority of instances, is found in places where the passage is not duplicated in the other two texts. Out of the 131 ‘aliter’ clauses I have located in the text, only twenty-eight contain similarities to the gloss found in the other two texts (and these are normally just a few words or a phrase).28 Most of the ‘aliter’ clauses contain direct parallels with Tyconius.

See Francis  X. Gumerlock, Early Latin Commentaries on the Apocalypse, TEAMS Commentary Series (Kalamazoo, MI: Medieval Institute Publications, 2016), 13. 25  Gryson, Glossa, 28–29. 26  McNamara, ‘Cambridge Apocalypse Commentary’, 208. 27  The author certainly does run out of steam towards the end of the gloss. For example, the first four chapters (including the prologue) comprise 867 lines in the editio priceps; the last four chapters, only 301. 28  I have marked the longest three examples in the translation. They are found in the editio princeps at 1.252–99, 8.41–52, and 14.103–21. These three are not found in the other two texts. 24 

18

Introduction

Because of the prevalence of these ‘aliter’ clauses and other Tyconian parallels (which I have indicated in the footnotes to the translation), it seems a distinct possibility that, in addition to the lost commentary, the author of the Cambridge Gloss had Tyconius directly.29 Indeed, we know that early mediaeval Ireland, like other countries on the fringes of the Roman Empire such as Ethiopia, was friendly to more ‘questionable’ sources. As Bischoff observed, ‘in the early period of Irish Christianity…a refuge was offered for some of the heretical and apocryphal literature which on the Continent was destined to disappear’.30 The eighth century—when our author was active—is the last period when Tyconius was directly used (also by Beatus of Liébana in Spain around 780).31 According to a catalog compiled in 822, the library of St Gall still had a manuscript, but that is the last record we have of a surviving copy. By the ninth century, the Carolingian period of revival was in full swing, with its emphasis on reforming and standardizing the institutions, liturgy, and texts of the church. There was no longer a tolerance for the Donatist Tyconius, and so the process of ‘sanitizing’ his work, which had begun in the early fifth century with Augustine, finally resulted in his Apocalypse commentary being left behind. The ideas of Tyconius were still transmitted, but these were filtered through the more orthodox commentaries of Primasius, Bede, and Ambrose Autpert. This is clearly seen in the early ninth-century commentaries by Alcuin and Haimo of Auxerre.

29  My conclusion is further strengthed by study of the lost commentary, which Francis X. Gumerlock is in the process of reconstructing. 30  Bischoff, ‘Turning Points’, 78. 31  I agree with Gryson on the dating of the Cambridge Gloss, who notes that although the theoretical chronological range is between about ad 750 and 900, the exact date is likely closer to the beginning of this span (Gryson, Glossa, 36). The citations from Tyconius would seem to reinforce this conclusion, close to the composition of De Enigmatibus, which has been dated as early as ad 730 (see Gumerlock ‘Early Latin Commentaries’, 7).

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Introduction

Notes to the Translation I have generally retained the punctuation of the editio princeps except when this would have resulted in a poor or awkward construction in English. In the biblical lemma, because of the gaps in the scriptural passage and interpolated commentary, the literal rendering of the text does not read as it does when put together. And so normally I have opted for the latter, so that it reads closer to the English of the Revised Standard Version. I have translated differently when the Latin text differs from that of the Vulgate, or when the breaking up of the lemma would not make sense in the context of the commentary. The author frequently employs words like ideo, autem, aliter, id, id est to conjoin clauses, and I have sometimes eliminated these in the translation so that it is not too cumbersome. For example, near the beginning (on Rev 1:1), the Latin text is: Apocalipsis grecum est; ‘reuelatio’ autem interpretatur. Et ideo reuelatio dicitur, eo quod in forma in qua ostensa est reuelanda fuit; uel ideo reuelatio dicitur, eo quod pauca uerba de ea tractanda sunt. iesv christi, ideo autem Iesu Christi dicitur, quia omnia que ostensa sunt, de Christo sunt; uel ideo Iesu Christi dicitur, quia ad Iesu Christo a patre reuelatur; uel ideo Iesu Christi dicitur, quia ab Iesu Christo ad Iohannem reuelatur.

A literal translation would result in something like: ‘Apocalypse’ is Greek; moreover it is interpreted ‘revelation’. And it is called a revelation for this reason, because it was to be revealed in the form in which it was shown. Or, it is called a revelation for this reason, because few words are to be written about it. of jesus christ. Moreover it is said of Jesus Christ for this reason, because everything that is shown is about Jesus Christ. Or, it is said of Jesus Christ for this reason, because it is revealed to Jesus Christ by the Father. Or, it is said of Jesus Christ for this reason, because it is revealed by Jesus Christ to John.

I have rendered as: ‘Apocalypse’ is Greek; it is interpreted ‘Revelation’. And therefore it is called a revelation because it was to be revealed in the form in

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Introduction

which it was shown. Or, it is called a revelation because few words are to be written about it. of jesus christ. It is said ‘of Jesus Christ’ because everything that is shown is about Jesus Christ. Or, it is said ‘of Jesus Christ’ because it is revealed to Jesus Christ by the Father. Or, it is said ‘of Jesus Christ’ because it is revealed by Jesus Christ to John.

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BIBLIOGRAPHY

Abbreviations ACT

Ancient Christian Texts (Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity)

ANF

Anti-Nicene Fathers of the Church (Buffalo, NY: Christian Literature, 1885–1896)

CC CM

Corpus Christianorum, Continuatio Mediaevalis (Turnhout: Brepols, 1966–)

CC SL

Corpus Christianorum, Series Latina (Turnhout: Brepols, 1953–)

CSEL

Corpus Scriptorum Ecclesiasticorum Latinorum (Vienna: Vienna Academy, 1866–1957)

FC

Fathers of the Church (Washington, DC: Catholic University of America Press, 1947–)

GCS

Die Griechischen Christlichen Schriftstellen (Leipzig: J.  C. Hinrichsche Buchandlung)

MIP

TEAMS Commentary Series, Medieval Institute Publications (Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University)

NPNF

A Select Library of the Nicene and Post-Nicene Fathers of the Christian Church (New York: Christian Literature, 1887–1894)

PL

Patrologia Latina, ed. J. P. Migne (Paris, 1844–1855)

SC

Sources Chrétiennes (Paris: Éditions du Cerf)

22

Bibliography

Primary Sources Ambrose Autpert. Expositionis in Apocalypsim, libri VI-X. Edited by R. Weber. CC CM 27A. 1975. Anonymous. Commentarius in epistolas catholicas Scotti anonymi. Edited by R. E. McNally. CC SL 108B: 1–50. 1973. Anonymous. De Enigmatibus ex Apocalypsi Johannis. Edited by R. Gryson. CC SL 107: 243–95. 2003. English: Early Latin Commentaries on the Apocalypse. Edited by F. X. Gumerlock. MIP. 2016. Anonymous. Pauca De Monogramma Excerpta. Edited by R.  Gryson. CC SL 107: 149–57. 2003. Apringius of Beja. Tractatus in Apocalypsin fragmenta quae supersunt. Edited by R. Gryson. CC SL 107: 33–97. 2003. English: Explanation of the Apocalypse. Translated and edited by W. C. Weinrich. ACT. 2011. Augustine. De Genesi ad litteram. Edited by J.  Zycha. CSEL 28/1. 1894. English: The Literal Meaning of Genesis. Translated by E. Hill, O. P. The Works of Saint Augustine. Hyde Park, NY: New City Press, 2002. ——. Epistulae ad Galatas expositionis liber unus. Edited by J.  Divjak. CSEL 84: 53–141. 1971. English: Augustine’s Commentary on Galatians. Translated by E. Plumer. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. Beatus of Liébana. Tractatus de Apocalipsin. Edited by R. Gryson. CC SL 107B-107C. 2012. Bede. Explanatio Apocalypseos. Edited by R. Gryson. CC SL 121A. 2001. English: The Exposition on the Apocalypse. Translated by W. C. Weinrich. ACT. 2011; Commentary on Revelation. Translated by F. Wallis. Translated Texts for Historians 58. Liverpool: Liverpool University Press, 2013. Caesarius of Arles. Expositio de Apocalypsi Sancti Iohannisi. Edited by R. Gryson. CC SL 105. 2019. English: Exposition on the Apocalypse. Translated by W. C. Weinrich. ACT. 2011. Eusebius of Caesarea. Historia ecclesiastica trans. Rufinus. Edited by T. Mommsen. Eusebius Werke 2.1–2. GCS 9.1–2. 1903–1908. English: The History of the Church From Christ to Constantine. Translated by G. A. Williamson. New York: Penguin Books, 1989.

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Bibliography

Gregory the Great. Homiliae in evangelia. Edited by R. Étaix. CC SL 141. 1999. ——. Homiliae in Hiezechihelem prophetam. Edited by M. Adriaen. CC SL 142. 1971. English: The Homilies of St Gregory the Great on the Book of the Prophet Ezekiel. Translated by T. Grey. Etna, CA: Center for Traditionalist Orthodox Studies, 1990. ——. Liber regulae pastoralis. Edited by F. Rommel, translated by C. Morel, and introduced by B. Judic. SC 381–82. 1992. English: The Book of Pastoral Rule. Translated by G.  E. Demacopoulos. Crestwood, NY: St Vladimir’s Seminary Press, 2007. ——. Moralia in Iob, Libri I–X; XI-XXII; XXIII-XXXV. Edited by M. Adriaen. CC  SL 143-143B. 1979; 1985. English: Moral Reflections on the Book of Job, vol. 1. Translated by B. Kerns. Cistercian Studies Series 249. Collegeville, MN: Liturgical Press, 2014. Hilary of Poitiers. Tractatus super psalmos. Edited by A. Zingerle. CSEL 22. 1891. Hippolytus of Rome. L’Anticristo. De Antichristo. Edited by E. Norelli. Biblioteca Patristica 10. Firenze: Nardini, 1987. English: On Christ and Antichrist. Edited by A. Roberts and J. Donaldson. ANF 5. 1885. Irenaeus of Lyon. Adversus haereses. Edited by A. Rosseau and L. Doutreleau. SC 264. 1979. English: Against Heresies. Edited by A. Roberts and J. Donaldson. ANF 1. 1885. Isidore of Seville. Chronica. Edited by J. C. Martín. CC SL 112. 2003. ——. Etymologiarum siue originum libri XX. Edited by W.  M. Lindsay. Oxford Classical Texts. Oxford: Clarendon Press, 1911. English: Etymologies. Translated by S.  A. Barney, W.  J. Lewis, J.  A. Beach and O. Berghof. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2006. Jerome. Commentariorum in Danielem libri III. Edited by F.  Glorie. CC SL 75A. 1964. English: Jerome’s Commentary on Daniel. Translated by Gleason L. Archer, Jr. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Book House, 1958. ——. Commentarii in epistulam Pauli apostoli ad Galatas. Edited by G.  Raspanti. CC  SL 77A. 2006. English: St  Jerome’s Commentaries on Galatians, Titus, and Philemon. Translated by T. P. Scheck. Notre Dame, IN: University of Notre Dame Press, 2010.

24

Bibliography

——. Epistulae 1–70; 71–120; 121–154. Edited by I. Hilberg. CSEL, 54; 55; 56, 1. 1910-1918. ——. Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum. Edited by P. de Lagarde. CC SL 72: 57–161. 1959. ——. Gli uomini illustri, De viris illustribus. Edited by A. Ceresa-Gastaldo. Biblioteca Patristica 12. Firenze: Nardini, 1988. English: On Illustrious Men. Translated by T. P. Halton. FC 100. 1999. Origen, Homilien zum Hexateuch in Rufins Übersetzung, I: Die Homilien zu Genesis, Exodus und Leviticus. Edited by W.  A. Baehrens. Origenes Werke, 6; GCS, 29: 280-507. 1920. English: Homilies on Leviticus. Translated and edited by G. W. Barkley. FC 83. 1990. Primasius of Hadrumetum. Commentarius in Apocalypsin. Edited by A. W. Adams. CC SL 92. 1985. Ps-Alcuin. De septem sigillis. PL 101:1169–70. English: On the Seven Seals. Translated by F. X. Gumerlock. MIP. 2009. Ps-Jerome. Incerti Auctoris Commemoratorium de Apocalipsi Johannis Apostoli. Edited by R. Gryson. CC SL 107: 193–229. 2003. English: Early Latin Commentaries on the Apocalypse. Translated by F. X. Gumerlock. MIP. 2016. Theodulf of Orléans. Commemoratorium de Apocalypsi Johannis a Theodulpho auctum. Edited by R. Gryson. CC SL 107: 305–37. 2003. English: Exposition on the Apocalypse of John. Translated by F. X. Gumerlock. MIP. 2019. Tyconius. Expositio Apocalypseos. Edited by R. Gryson. CC SL 107A. 2011. English: Exposition of the Apocalypse. Translated by F. X. Gumerlock, with Introduction and Notes by D. C. Robinson. FC 134. 2017. Tyconius. [Liber Regularum]. Edited by F. C. Burkitt. The Rules of Tyconius. Texts and Studies 3.1. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 1894. English: The Book of Rules. Translated by W. S. Babcock, Society of Biblical Literature: Texts and Translations 31. Atlanta, GA: Scholars Press, 1989. Victorinus of Petovium. Explanatio in Apocalypsin una cum recensione Hieronymi. Edited by R. Gryson. CC SL 5: 108–265. 2017. English: Commentary on the Apocalypse. Translated by W. C. Weinrich. ACT. 2011.

25

Bibliography

Secondary Sources Bischoff, Bernhard. ‘Turning-Points in the History of Latin Exegesis in the Early Middle Ages’, translated by Fr. Colm O’Grady. In Biblical Studies: The Medieval Irish Contribution, ed. Martin McNamara. Dublin: Dominican Publications, 1976. [first published as ‘Wendepunkte in der Geschichte der lateinischen Exegese im Frühmittelalter’, in Sacris Erudiri 6  (1954), and later revised for publication in Mitteralterliche Studien. Aufsätze zur Schriftkunde und Literaturgeschichte Stuttgart: Hiersemann, 1966. Bright, Pamela. The Book of Rules of Tyconius: Its Purpose and Inner Logic. Christianity and Judaism in Antiquity 2. Notre Dame: University of Notre Dame Press, 1988. Christe, Yves. L’Apocalypse de Jean: Sens et développements de ses visions synthétiques. Bibliothèque de Cahiers archéologiques 15. Paris: Picard, 1996. Ferreres, Lambert. ‘Hostis  = Exercitus: Glossa in Apocalypsin Cantabrigiense 1.177. ¿Un Indicio Sobre el Origen del Autor?’. Anuari de Filologia. Antiqua et Mediaevalia 4 (2014): 67–69. Fredricksen, Paula. ‘Tyconius and Augustine on the Apocalypse’. In The Apocalypse in the Middle Ages. Edited by R. K. Emmerson and B. McGinn. Ithaca, NY: Cornell University Press, 1992. Gorman, Michael. ‘Theodulf of Orléans and the Exegetical Miscellany in Paris Lat. 15679’. Revue Bénédictine 109 (1999): 278–323. Gryson, Roger. ‘Les commentaires patristiques latins de l’Apocalypse’. Revue théologique de Louvain 28.3 (1997): 305–37. Gumerlock, Francis X. ‘The Reconstruction of an Anonymous Early Medieval Hiberno-Latin Apocalypse Commentary’. Paper delivered at Through a Glass Darkly: Third Annual UCCS Symposium on Apocalyptic, 21 March 2017. Gumerlock, Francis X. ‘Patristic Commentaries on Revelation’. Kerux 23.2 (Sept 2008): 3–13. Herren, Michael W. ‘Irish Biblical Commentaries Before 800’. In Roma magistra mundi: Itineraria culturae medievalis: Mélanges offerts au Père L. E. Boyle à l’occasion de son 75e anniversaire. Edited by J. Hamesse.

26

Bibliography

Louvain-la-Neuve: Fédération internationale des Instituts d’Études Médiévales, 1998. 391–407. Kelly, Joseph F.  T. ‘The Venerable Bede and Hiberno-Latin Exegesis’. In Sources of Anglo-Saxon Culture. Edited by P. E. Szarmach. Studies in Medieval Culture 20. MIP. Kalamazoo, MI: Western Michigan University, 1986. 65–75. Kovacs, Judith and Christopher Rowland. Revelation: The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ. Blackwell Bible Commentaries. Malden, MA: Blackwell, 2004. Lobrichon, Guy. ‘Stalking the Signs: The Apocalyptic Commentaries’. In The Apocalyptic Year 1000: Religious Expectation and Social Change. Edited by R. Landes, A. Gow, and D. C. Van Meter. New York: Oxford University Press, 2003. 67–79. Matter, E. Ann. ‘Latin Reception of the Apocalypse in the Early Middle Ages’. In The Cambridge Companion to Apocalyptic Literature. Edited by C.  McAllister. New York: Cambridge University Press, 2020. 120–36. McGinn, Bernard. ‘Turning Points in Early Christian Apocalypse Exegesis’. In Apocalyptic Thought in Early Christianity. Edited by R. J. Daly. SJ. Grand Rapids, MI: Baker Academic, 2009. 81–105. McNamara, Martin. ‘Sources and Affiliations of the Catechesis Celtica (MS Vat. Reg. lat. 49)’. Sacris erudiri 34.1 (1994): 185–237. ——. ‘The newly-identified Cambridge Apocalypse Commentary and the Reference Bible: A Preliminary Inquiry’. Peritia. Journal of the Medieval Academy of Ireland 15 (2001): 208–56. Ó Corráin, Donnchadh, ed., Clavis Litterarum Hibernensium. Medieval Irish Books & Texts (c. 400 - c. 1600) Clavis Litterarum Hibernensium (Turnhout: Brepols, 2017). Palmer, James  T. The Apocalypse in the Early Middle Ages. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2014. Poole, Kevin. ‘The Western Apocalypse Commentary Tradition of the Early Middle Ages’. In A Companion to the Premodern Apocalypse. Edited by M. A. Ryan. Leiden: Brill, 2016. 103–43. Sloan, Michael C., ed., The Harmonius Organ of Sedulius Scottus. Berlin: de Gruyter, 2012.

27

Bibliography

Steinhauser, Kenneth. The Apocalypse Commentary of Tyconius: A History of Its Reception and Influence. European University Studies ser. 23, 301. Frankfurt: Peter Lang, 1987. Tresley, Richard. ‘Annotated Bibliography of Commentaries on the Book of Revelation to 1700’. In The Book of Revelation and Its Interpreters. Edited by I. Boxall and R. Tresley. Lanham, MD: Rowman and Littlefield, 2016. 125–272. Weinrich, William C., ed., Ancient Christian Commentary on Scripture, New Testament XII: Revelation. Downers Grove, IL: InterVarsity, 2005.

28

GLOSSA IN APOCALYPSIN

Cambridge, Cambridge University Library, MS  Dd.X.16, fol.  93v. Reproduced by kind permission of the Syndics of Cambridge University Library

PROLOGUE

The apostle John, who reclined upon the Lord’s breast,a wrote this book. He wrote the Gospel and three epistles and the Apocalypse. Origen says that he wrote the Gospel first and then wrote the Apocalypse afterwards.b Gregory, however, says that after he wrote the Apocalypse on the island of Patmos, he wrote the Gospel in Asia.c Jerome says that he wrote the Gospel first, and second the three epistles, and lastly the Apocalypse.d Some think that Origen and Jerome said that John wrote the Gospel in his heart, and then after he wrote the Apocalypse, the Gospel was written down. But others say that after he had the Apocalypse in the memory of a vision, John wrote the Gospel. For what reason was this book written? The persecution under Domitian was going on when John was thrown into hot oil, and not only did it not harm his [bodily] members, but they became more lustrous. Then he was banished to the island of Patmos, and although he was farther away from people he was nearer to God, and accordingly he saw this vision and wrote it down.e cfr John 13:25. Eusebius of Caesaria, Historia ecclesiastica, 6.25, 9. c  cfr Isidore of Seville, Chronica maiora, 2.259–63. d  Jerome, De viris illustribus, 9. FC 100: 19–20. e  The account of John being banished after having miraculously escaped the ordeal of burning oil is also found in a prologue (judged inauthentic by the editor, Roger Gryson) appended to one ninth-century manuscript of the Commemoratorium de Apocalypsi Iohannis apostoli. The legend dates back to the second century, and a 

b 

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Prologue

40

How many mysteries are in this book? There are as many mysteries as there are words and I have said little because every praise worthy of this book is inferior. For two levels of meaning reside in these words.a What is not required [for proper interpretation] of this book, and what should be followed? [Sequential] order is not required, and understanding should be followed.

was transmitted by Tertullian (relayed by Jerome, and later, Bede) and through the apocryphal Acts of John. See R. Gryson, Commentaria minora (CC SL 107: 183, 193). a  Jerome, Epistulae 53, 9, 6. CSEL 54: 463.

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CHAPTER ONE

1. the revelation of jesus christ. What similarity does this beginning have? [It has] similarity with the entire canon of the New Testament, as ‘the book of the generation of Jesus Christ’ according to Matthew (Matt 1:1). Similarly ‘the beginning of the gospel of Jesus Christ’ according to Mark (Mark 1:1). Likewise ‘and they were servants of the word’ according to Luke (Luke 1:2). Or ‘in the beginning was the word’ according to John (John 1:1). Similarly ‘Paul, a servant of Jesus Christ’ according to the apostle (Rom 1:1), or ‘Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ’ according to the epistles (1 Pet 1:1). ‘The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ’ differs from the canon of the Old Testament, as ‘blessed is the man who walks not’, etc. (Ps 1:1). ‘Apocalypse’ is Greek; moreover it is interpreted ‘revelation’. And therefore it is called a revelation because it was to be revealed in the form in which it was shown. Or, it is called a revelation because few words are to be written about it. of jesus christ. It is said ‘of Jesus Christ’ because everything that is shown is about Jesus Christ. Or, it is said ‘of Jesus Christ’ because it is revealed to Jesus Christ by the Father. Or, it is said ‘of Jesus Christ’ because it is revealed by Jesus Christ to John. Moreover, a revelation pertains to allegory, through which those things that a literal narrative conceals are disclosed through spiritual understanding and expo-

33

Chapter One, 1–3

41

sition.a gave, that is, gave to Christ for the humility of his body.b Alternatively: gave to him, that is, to John. god, that is, Christ. This phrase is not easy [to interpret] when a pronoun is put in the place of a name, which in canonical truth is not required;c [sometimes] a pronoun is placed first before the name is mentioned, as in the Psalm: On the holy mount stands the city he founded; the Lord loves the gates of Zion (Ps 86:1–2). So also [here] ‘to him’ is placed first, before ‘to John’ is mentioned. to show, that is, to show simply without parables.d to his servants, that is, teachinge his servants through his perfection. what must, that is, what things are necessary. soon take place, that is, because all times are running together toward the consummation. and he made it known, that is, [he] revealed what was dark. by sending his angel, that is, God the Father through Christ, since he is the angel of good counsel,f showed these visions to John. Or, ‘by sending his angel’ may also mean that Christ through his angel, who spoke for Christ’s person, sent these visions to John. 2. who bore witness to the word of god, that is, his divinity, as it is [written]: In the beginning was the Word (John 1:1). and to the testimony of jesus christ, that is, his humanity, as it is [written]: And the Word became flesh (John 1:14). Alternatively, ‘word’ of God may be interpreted as the word of the first old law that God gave; ‘testimony of Jesus Christ’, that is, the New Testament, which was commanded by Jesus Christ. 3. blessed is the one who reads aloud and those who hear. In this [passage] he indicates the person of the teacher and the one learning. So that no one would think that only reading was sufficient, he added ‘those who hear’. and who

a  As is common in other examples of Hiberno-Latin exegesis, throughout the text the author endeavours to distinguish between the literal (historia) and spritual (sensus) senses of Scripture. b  That is, because of the humility of his Incarnation. c  That a person’s name be mentioned before the pronoun designating that name. d  cfr Mark 4:34. e  Lat. imontes. f  cfr Isa 9:6.

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Chapter One, 3–5

keep, that is, in this [passage] he speaks in the person of both.a for the time is near, that is, [the time] of retribution for the one reading and hearing and keeping it. 4. john to the seven churches, that is, to the united septiform Church, which is septiform because of the sevenfold Spirit,b who is in it, and because of the seven steps.c that are in asia, that is, that are in the world. For Asia is interpreted ‘elevation’.d It bears a figure of the world lifted up from the sin of Adam to God through Christ. grace to you, that is, by which the sins of men are freely forgiven through faith. peace, that is, by which we are reconciled to God after pardon through penitence. from god, that is, from God the Father. and from the seven spirits, that is, from the septiform Spirit, who is seven in gifts.e Moreover, septiformity is perfection and fullness. who are before his throne, that is, [who] are in the Church before the heavenly throne. ‘Before the throne’ may also be interpreted as before the Church, because the gift of another is evident to each one in the Church. Or, the Holy Spirit is said to be before the Church because the Holy Spirit led the Church to the abundance of virtues and the kingdom of heaven. 5. and from jesus christ. For after [he mentioned] the Spirit, he said ‘Jesus’, because he already named him in the Father through his divinity, and it was fitting that the listing of the Trinity should begin and end with him who is the first and the last.f Another way of interpreting ‘from Jesus Christ’: he puts Jesus after the Spirit so that he would not put unequal order in the equal Trinity. Or, he puts Jesus after the Spirit because of the nature of his flesh.g Or, because he wanted to relate more diligently [that i.e., both the one who reads and those who hear are blessed if they keep the words written within. b  cfr Isa 11:2–3. c  cfr Ezek 40:22.26. d  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 159. e  cfr Isa 11:2. f  cfr Rev 1:17. The discussion addresses why the usual order of the persons of the Trinity (Father, Son, Holy Spirit) was not followed. g  In other words, John uses the term ‘Jesus’ here with reference to the Son of God after his Incarnation. a 

35

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Chapter One, 5–7

43

the revelation] is about Jesus more than about the Father and the Spirit. who is the faithful witness, that is, who is the true witness, as he said under Pontius Pilate: Indeed, for this I was born, that I might give testimony to the truth (John 18:37). the firstborn of the dead, that is, because he rose from the dead first. Or he is called firstborn because he existed in divinity before he had taken on mortal elements. the ruler of the kings of the earth, that is, he is King of Kings and Lord of Lords.a ‘Of the kings of the earth’ may also be interpreted as of the saints who are in the Church. who loved us, that is, not uselessly since he has freed us from our sins by his blood, that is, not by our own blood. 6. and made us a kingdom, that is, in which we are ruled by God. and priests, that is, the whole Church of saints are priests, because Peter speaks about this: But you are a chosen race, a royal priesthood (1 Pet 2:9). And for this reason the whole Church is called priests because it offers itself to God, as Paul says: That you may present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy and acceptable to God (Rom 12:1). Or, the Church is called priests because it offers its spirit to God, as the prophet says: The sacrifice acceptable to God is a broken spirit (Ps 50:19). For there is no one among the saints who spiritually lacks the office of a priest, since he is a member of the great priest.b glory, that is, in heaven and on earth. for ever, that is, of eternity. and ever, that is, of brevity. amen, that is, ‘truly’ or ‘faithfully’;c this is a little phrase by which Jesus confirms his words in the gospel, and the apostles, by the example of Christ, confirm their statements. 7. behold, he is coming with the clouds. It is fitting that this was said about him: And a cloud took him out of their sight (Acts 1:9) and that he should descend with the clouds, when the angel says about him: As you have seen him going into heaven, so will he come (Acts 1:11), that is, in a cloud. ‘With the clouds’ may also be interpreted as with the heavenly powers, which are clouds cfr Rev 19:16. cfr Heb 10:21. c  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 159. a 

b 

36

Chapter One, 7–8

in comparison with the splendour of divinity, as the sun shines light among the clouds. and every eye will see him. How is this true, when it is said: The wicked man is taken away, that he may not see the glory of God (Isa 26:10)? That is, though he will be seen by every eye in his flesh by which he saved the world; nevertheless he will appear in the glory of his divinity only to the elect. ‘Will see’ may also be interpreted as in the judgement; ‘is taken away’, that is, from paradise. even those who pierced him, that is, as it is written: They will look on the one whom they have pierced (John 19:37). and will wail on his account, that is, through him, that is, on account of the one whom they have pierced, when he will bring vengeance upon them. Alternatively ‘will wail on his account’, that is, they will wail for themselves because they pierced him and did not imitatea the passion of Christ by affliction of their body. all the tribes of the earth, that is, those who fought for and served earthly things. 8. i  am the alpha and the omega. Why does he now convey this description, when this was not mentioned in the beginning of the vision?b Because [John now] has praised Jesus in a greater way; he indicates that he is the first and the last. ‘I am the alpha and omega’: here three tenses are contained. There is the present tense when he says ‘I am’, and the past tense when he says ‘alpha’, and the future tense when he says ‘omega’.c Moreover, ‘alpha’ is the beginning of the alphabet in the Greek language and ‘omega’ is that letter with which it is ended. Through ‘alpha’ is signified the beginning; through ‘omega’ is signified the end. Moreover, he says that he is ‘the beginning’ because he was God before the world. And for this reason he says that he is ‘the end’, because he took on humanity, which is subject to death. Or, he is called ‘the beginning’ because he began the world, and is called ‘the end’ because he will consume the world. ‘Alpha’ is a letter produced among the Greeks, through which is signified the eternity of divinity, and ‘omega’ is a long letter, through which is signified Lat. emetaverunt. In the descriptions of Christ in Rev 1:5. c  An example of the typical Hiberno-Latin concern with small details of expression. a 

b 

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Chapter One, 8–10

45

the length of eternal life. who is, that is, in divinity. was, that is, among men from the Nativity up to his death, is to come, that is, for judgement. ‘Who is’ may also be interpreted as, ‘at the right hand of God’; ‘was’, that is, ‘before us’; ‘is to come’, that is, ‘after us’. the almighty: up to this point is the preface. 9. i, john, that is, I  am ‘the grace of God’,a listen to me. your brother, that is, ‘don’t fear me, since I am your brother’. brother, that is, with respect to our humanity or [brother] in the faith. who share with you the tribulation, that is, ‘know that I sustain tribulations as you do, and honour my words’. and the kingdom, that is, in the future. and the patient endurance that is in jesus, that is, by which we hope for heavenly rewards. Why did he say kingdom before he said patient endurance? So that he would not weigh them down if they heard tribulation and patient endurance together. For this reason he puts ‘kingdom’ first, before he says ‘patient endurance’. 10. i was in the spirit, that is, my spirit was snatched from me, so that I might see through the power of the Spirit what I was not able to see in the power of the flesh. ‘I was in the spirit’. Why does he not say: ‘The Spirit was in me’, but says ‘I was in the Spirit’? For the sake of humility, since he knew that he was small in comparison with the divine substance. Alternatively, ‘I was in the spirit’: Why was he in the Spirit? It was fitting that he who saw spiritual things was in the Spirit. For carnal things are not able to see spiritual things,b nor are spiritual things able to see carnal things. ‘I was in the spirit’. Moreover, how many kinds of visions are there? There are said to be three kinds—a bodily vision and a spiritual vision and an intellectual vision;c and we think that these visions were seen through spiritual vision, which often happens through a departure of the mind or through a dream. on the lord’s day, that is, it was fitting that on the day of the Resurrection of Christ he would see [the visions], which were shown about Christ and his Church, which was glorified on the Lord’s Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Matt. CC SL 72: 136. cfr 1 Cor 2:14. c  cfr Augustine, De Genesi ad litteram, 12, 6–7. CSEL 28: 386–88; Isidore of Seville, Etymologiae, 7.8.37–40. a 

b 

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Chapter One, 10–11

Day through the Holy Spirit sent into the apostles. and i heard behind me a loud voice. He mentions this because it is the custom of human nature to be converted by God only if God calls him.a The words of the prophets agree with this testimony, which says: Hear the voice of warning behind you (Isa 30:21), and Turn to me, etc. (Isa 45:22; Mal 3:7). Another way of interpreting ‘I heard behind me’: John here is a figure of the Church, which is understood as divided. For there is one part of it that does not have a wrinkle or spot,b and it is truly the Body of Christ. And there is another part that congregates in the name of Christ without full and perfect virtues, which leans toward the literal or heresy or human freedom,c which hears the voice of Catholic teaching behind it, that through that voice she may turn to the Lord. Or, ‘I heard behind me’: John here is a figure of Adam, who turned himself away from God through transgression, but heard the voice of the Lord saying: Where are you, Adam (Gen 3:9)? Or, John is a figure of everyone who, through his own will, turns himself away from God who hears the voice of the Lord behind him warning him.d 11. like a trumpet saying. It is the custom of a trumpet to sound for the calling of men to battle, and to sound after the flight of an enemy army, so that those pursing them may stop. So also Catholic teaching is a trumpet, which sounds for the calling of the saints to battle against the devil, and sounds so that the saints, after the overthrow of the demons, will be joyful and uplifted. Another way of interpreting ‘Like a trumpet saying’: it is the custom of a trumpet that it does not sound well when it is turned toward the ground, but only when it is lifted up toward the sky. So also is every preacher: if he adheres to earthly desires, he is not heard well when he preaches into the ears of others; [he is only heard well] if he adheres to spiritual works. write in a book. This is comThe Pelagian controversy still seems to be an issue for the author, that is, the idea that human beings can earn salvation through their own efforts, without divine assistance. b  cfr Eph 5:27. c  That is, human freedom to the exclusion of the grace of God, as the Pelagians were accused of holding. d  cfr Isa 30:21. a 

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Chapter One, 11–13

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manded to the imperfect part of the Church, so that upon hearing the voice of Catholic teaching she will write it on the tablet of her heart.a Or ‘write’, that is, so that it may profit others. send, that is, he indicates the perseverance and persistency of the teacher. to ephesus, etc. These Churches spoke the Greek language, but he who wrote this book spoke the Hebrew language, and God showed him spiritual visions in his own language. 12. then i turned to see the voice, that is [I turned] in mind. Moreover, this ought [to be understood] about the imperfect part of the Church needing to hear the voice of Catholic teaching, so that she might turn herself to the consideration of the voice that she heard, and afterward be able to fulfil the things that were commanded of her. that was speaking to me, that is, this voice was not hostileb to me, because [even] before, I wanted to preach to the Churches those things which the voice commanded me. and on turning i saw seven golden lampstands. This ought [to be understood] of the Church, that they who come to her through the preaching of the commandments may find her to be septiform in the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit,c or in the seven stepsd of the Church. And ‘golden’, that is, tried in faith and work through trials and persecutions, and shining in the light of righteousness and of Catholic teaching, as a lampstand shines. 13. like the son of man, etc., that is, Christ in the midst of the Church,e who is like the Son of Man because he was not born through intercourse with a man, and his mother was a virgin before birth and was a virgin after birth, which is not customary of the sons of men. clothed with a long robe. This robe is a priestly garment, a long tunic reaching the ankles. It was fitting that Christ was seen in a priestly garment, who offered himself cfr Prov 3:1. Lat. contraria. c  cfr Isa 11:2–3. d  cfr Ezek 40:22.26. e  Tyc. 1, 1, 1–5. I have marked the end of each passage that is derived from Tyconius as indicated in the apparatus to the editio princeps. For readers who are interested in where each passage begins, please consult that edition. a 

b 

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on the cross for the whole world, and who first offered his body and blood, and who offers holy and perfect souls to the Father. golden girdle, that is, [clothed] in flesh tried through the passion. across his breast, that is, to the height of divinity. 14. his head, that is, God the Father, as Paul says: The head of Christ [is] God (1 Cor 11:3). his hair, that is, angels. his eyes were like a flame of fire, that is, the divine inspectionsa through which the Lord sees, [as if] we are examined through a flame of fire.b 15. his feet, that is, the apostles. like burnished bronze, which is turned into gold through fire.c Thus the apostles are led through the fire of testing and persecution into their future forms [which they will receive] after the resurrection. refined as in a furnace, for it is customary for bronze and all metals to glow when they are placed in a fiery furnace. Thus all saints glow when they are placed in testing and persecutions. and his voice was like the sound of many waters, that is, the voice of the entire Scripture consisting of the Old and New Testaments, about which is said: Deep calls to deep (Ps 41:8). 16. in his right hand, that is, in his power. seven stars, that is, the septiform Church. For in him the Church will be in the future, and in the present time she is said to be in him.d Moreover, those who will not be in the right hand of God are regarded as with here in the right hand of God, that is, they who are regarded as the highest and most perfect [currently] are in the Church with those [of the other part].f a sharp two-edged sword, a  Lat. inspectiones. See infra on Rev 4:8; Anon., Commentarius in epistolas catholicas, on 1 Pet 3:12. CC SL 108B: 33. b  Lat. nos consideramus, but this verb could also be used impersonally, so I have rendered in the passive voice. See F. X. Gumerlock, Early Latin Commentaries, 86, n. 41. c  Tyc. 1, 5, 5–7. d  That is, in Christ; cfr Eph 1:4. e  The Church. f  The whole paragraph contains teachings about ecclesiology. The Church exists in the present time and in the future afterlife (cfr Heb 12:23): the Church of the first born who are enrolled in heaven. However, some of those who are currently said to be in Christ and are regarded as in the Church, will not be part of the heavenly assembly. But for now, as he said earlier on Rev 1:10 and 12, the Church is a

41

Chapter One, 16–17

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that is, the divine word, which will judge over body and soul.a Or, the divine word that is able to eradicate sinners from the Church in the present life and in the future life. and his face was like the sun, that is, Catholic rulers and teachers and those who live the contemplative life.b 17. when i saw him, i fell at his feet, that is, the imperfect part of the Church, when she saw the Church in this form and Christ in her, fell at his feet, that is, at [the feet of] the apostles and teachers, that she might repent. as though dead, that is, to the letterc or to heresy or to [evil] desire, but alive to God.d but he placed his right hand on me, that is, his aid. do not be afraid. This is said for his consolation, lest he be sad, as Christ said: Repent, for the kingdom of heaven is near (Matt 4:17). the first and the last, that is, ‘I am he who will make you to be last, granted that I have not made you to be first’. (12.)e ‘Seven golden lampstands’ may also be interpreted as the septiform Church that is golden because of the purity of its understanding, and it is called a lampstand because it is customary for a lampstand not to illuminate a place but to [be used to] light lamps from it. Moreover, the body of the Church is called a lampstand, because from the body itself the soul shines with its own gifts and senses. (13.) ‘And in the midst of the seven golden lampstands, one like the Son of Man’, that is, the Church is [in the midst] of herself, because the seven lampstands and the one like the Son of Man and the seven stars are the Church, although they are divided into many particulars.f ‘Like the Son of Man’, that is, the Church mixed assembly, made up of an imperfect part as well as those who diligently keep the commandments. a  cfr Heb 4:12. b  Lat. Qui theoriam exercent, i.e. cloistered monastics, as opposed to the active part of the Church (actualis). This distinction is a common aspect of HibernoLatin exegesis. See R. Gryson, Commentaria minora (CC SL 107, 238); F. X. Gumerlock, Early Latin Commentaries, 8. c  cfr Rom 7:4.6; 2 Cor 3:6; Eph 2:15–16. d  cfr Rom 6:11. e  This marks the beginning of a long ‘aliter’ clause excursus within the gloss on v. 17—no parallels are found in the related texts by Theodulf or De Enigmatibus. See the introduction supra. f  Tyc. 1, 1, 4–6.

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Chapter One, 17

like Christ, which learns from his example, as he said: Learn from me, for I am gentle and humble in heart (Matt 11:29). ‘Clothed with a long robe’. Moreover, this long robe is a priestly garment, as we said. It was fitting that the Church is seen in a priestly garment, which offers the body and blood of Christ, and which offers right and pure prayers, and which offers herself wholly to God as a holy, living sacrifice pleasing to God.a ‘Golden girdle’, that is, the order of teachers or the chorus of the saintsb or pure chastity. ‘Across his breast’, that is, around the two testaments.c (14.) ‘His head’, that is, the leaders.d ‘His hair’, that is, the subjects, who although they are dissimilar in magnitude to the head, that is, to the leaders, they nevertheless have the similar glory of their merits. Moreover, through the head and hair are understood all the saints. The [white] ‘hair’ may also be interpreted as the multitude of those who are shininge in faith. ‘As white wool’, that is, because of her similarity to sheep due to their weakness and innocence and humility, and because [a sheep] endures being sheared. All these things apply to the Church. ‘And as snow’, that is, because of the innumerable multitude of white flakes falling from the sky. For these are Jerusalem that comes down from heaven,f and they are characteristic of the coldness of chastity. ‘And his eyes like a flame of fire’, that is, the septiform Spirit or divine commandments. For the commandment of the Lord is a light, as it is written: Your word, Lord, is a lamp to my feet (Ps 118:105); and as it is written: The word of the Lord inflamed him (Ps 104:19); and as it is written: The commandment of the Lord [is] pure, enlightening the eyes (Ps 18:9).g (15.) ‘And his feet’, etc. Moreover, his fiery feet indicate the Church, inflamed by the excess of the pressures of the last time. For the feet are the last part of the body.h ‘And his cfr Rom 12:1. Tyc. 1, 2, 35–36. c  Tyc. 1, 2, 1–2. d  Lat. prepossiti, which Tyconius uses for ‘bishops’; see Gumerlock and Robinson, Tyconius: Exposition of the Apocalypse, 39, n. 93. e  Lat. alborum. f  cfr Rev 3:12; 21:2.10. g  Tyc. 1, 4, 1–7. h  Tyc. 1, 5, 2–4. a 

b 

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Chapter One, 17–19

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voice like the sound of many waters’. In the voice also he indicates the Church, for the waters are many peoples,a that is, preachers of the Scriptures and confessors in martyrdom and the voice of the penitents in confession saying: I said, O Lord, have mercy on me (Ps 40:5). (16.) ‘In his right hand seven stars’, that is, the septiform Church in itself.b ‘His face was like the sun’. There is a wonderful arrangement of the [bodily] members [in this passage]. The face is described after the fiery feet, that is, he shows the manifest glory of the Church after the last flame of its struggle,c about which it is said: Then the righteous will shine like the sun, etc. (Matt 13:43).d (17.) ‘And when I saw him, I fell down’. For John, who saw these things, is a figure of the whole Church, which is humbled as one dead to sin.e 18. and the living one, that is, in the resurrection. i was dead, that is, on the cross. and behold i am alive, that is, after the resurrection. and i have the keys of life, that is, I restore in the present life, or unto a life of fulfiling the commandments of God in the Church, or in the future life. and of death, that is, in the present time, as it is [written] in the passage: And the Lord hardened Pharaoh’s heart (Exod 10:20). ‘Key of death’ may also be interpreted as it is [written] in the passage: Do not fear those who can kill [the body], but cannot kill the soul. But rather fear him who is able to kill the body and cast the soul into hell (Matt 10:28). 19. now write what you have seen, that is, the things which you have seen from the beginning of the vision up to now. what is, that is, the things which are in the present, before God. what is to take place hereafter, that is, the things which will be shown up to the end of the vision. ‘What you have seen’ may also be interpreted as what you have already seen in existing things. ‘That are’, that is, the things which are arriving soon in the near future. ‘What is to take place’, that is, in the future time, such cfr Rev 17:15; Tyc. 1, 6, 1–3. Lat. in semetipsa or ‘in its own [right hand]’. For the author, both the stars and the right hand seem to indicate the Church. Tyc. 1, 7, 1–2. c  Meaning, the last persecution. d  Tyc. 1, 8, 3–6. e  cfr Rom 6:11; Tyc. 1, 9, 2–4. a 

b 

44

Chapter One, 19–20

as the persecution of Antichrist and the judgement and reward for the saints. ‘Write’, lest you forget these things. 20. the seven stars are the angels of the seven churches, and the seven lampstands are the seven churches. He says that the stars are the angels of the Churches, and says that the lampstands are the Churches. There are not seven Churches, however, but one septiform Church, as it is written: My dove is the only one, my perfect one is unique (Song 6:8).a Moreover, it is the custom of Scripture to divide one thing, as we say ‘the men of the Church’ when the men themselves are the Church.b The angels are not seven, but are said for all the leaders of the Churches or for the souls of men, as it is [written]: Their angels behold the face of my Father (Matt 18:10), or the angels who assist us behold the face of the Father, or our souls through faith.c

Tyc. 1, 11, 5–8. Tyc. 1, 11, 72–74. c  Tyc. 1, 11, 14–15.65–67. a 

b 

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CHAPTER TWO

1. to the angel of the church of ephesus, write, that is, to the leader, or to the first angel guarding the Church, or to every soul; for everyone in the Church is an angel who says ‘I believe’ and ‘Our Father’. In another way of interpreting ‘angel of the Church’, that is, of the Church in which he shows there are two parts, when he praises her and rebukes her, as is shown in the following [letters to the Churches] where he does not rebuke the same part that he praises.a ‘Ephesus’ is called in Latin, ‘will’ or ‘my counsel’, as Jerome says.b Or, as Augustine says, it means ‘great fall’,c through which it signifies the fall of Adam into sin, which signifies the fall of the people of Israel in the crucifixion of Christ, and the fall of every person who falls into sin, and [the fall] of the Church that fell, as is written in these [letters]. who holds the seven stars. He shows here his power, since every Church is in his power.d Moreover, he says this so that they might give veneration to his word. Or, in his right hand, that is, in the prosperity of the faith. among the seven lampstands, although there is one lampstand.e He is said to be ‘among the lampstands’, Tyc. 1, 11, 126–38. Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum. Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. c  See Bede, Explanatio Apocalypseos 4.3 (CC SL 121A: 249). In the critical edition of the Cambridge Gloss, Gryson remarks that this is not found in Augustine of Hippo, and that perhaps the author is referring to Augustine of Canterbury (CC SL 108G: 51). d  Tyc. 1, 12, 1–3. e  Tyc. 1, 11, 6–7. a 

b 

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Chapter Two, 1–5

that is, in the understanding of everyone in the Church. He says this so that they may know that they were not able to conceal him. 2. i know, that is, I am near. your works, that is, your daily activities, that is, your works of faith, such as fasting and almsgiving and prayers. your toil, that is, endurance through the persecution. and patient endurance, that is, with all endurance. that you cannot tolerate evil men, that is, [not] without correction due to your spiritual zeal, as it is written: Because zeal for your house consumes me (Ps 68:10). you have tested them, that is, you have tried them. Moreover, they are not tested unless they are within [the true Church]. For those outside, who are without any testing, are shown to be outside. There is no need for them to be tested, who are known not by their faith but by their placea to be liars, who do not teach that the letter of the law is to be observed in the new [covenant].b 3. and you are tolerating them for the sake of my name, that is, because of righteousness, which is a name for Christ.c 4. but i have a few things against you. From this it is shown that in the one body there are two parts, one persevering and the other transgressing.d To the latter he says: you have abandoned your love, that is, Christ. But why is this said when it was written: Love never fails (1 Cor 13:8)? For he shows that one who fails does not rise through all the ranks. 5. remember then from what you have fallen, that is, what rank or what height, goodness, or religion you have left. repent, that is, repent to the degree of the height that you had. and do the works you did at first. This is spoken against heretics who say that a person is unable to regain his prior works.e a  They are in the bipartite Church, but do not bear the fruit of Christian living and by such living are shown to be outside the true, spiritual Church. Tyc. 1, 13, 5–8. b  Those in the Church who are antinomians, believing that Christians were not bound to traditional moral law. c  cfr Jer 23:6.33, 16; 1 Cor 1:30. d  Tyc. 1, 14, 6–7. e  Perhaps the heretics are the Novationists of early Christianity who believed that there was no penance and forgiveness in this life for those who committed adultery, murder or apostasy.

47

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Chapter Two, 5–7

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i will remove your lampstand, that is, I will remove from you the benefit of religion that you have, and it will be given to the good part. Or, [I will remove] your wisdom, or your part in eternal life for which you hope. from its place, that is, from you. Alternatively, ‘I will move your lampstand’: he does not say ‘I will take away’ because whatever part one loses is given to one who doesn’t have it;a the rewards of good work are not removed from the Church. And we understand similarly concerning sinners, that when they repent, the judgement of their evil work is inflicted upon sinners who remain in sin. 6. yet you have. This is said to the good part,b which he praises in the beginning of the messagec and [here] at the end. This applies to every teacher, that he should praise the one whom he teaches in the beginning of his message, and correct in the middle of it, and praise in the end of it. you hate the works of the nicolaitans, who are named from Nicolaus.d Nicolaus is everyone who speaks heresy, and the works of the Nicolaitans are idolatry and fornication.e Moreover, Nicolaus is interpreted ‘flowing out’ f or ‘weak’ or ‘foolishness of the languishing Church’.g 7. anyone who has an ear, that is, anyone who has the inner ear of the heart, let him hear the mystery of these words. Here he provokes them to understanding. what the spirit says to the churches: this shows that what he says to each Church in particular, at the same time is said to all seven Churches,h that is, to the septiform Church. to the one who conquers i shall give, that is, to the one overcoming the deeds of the Nicolaitans, or to the one overcoming everything that should be conquered. For this reason it is not given to a person of one work specifically, so that no one thinks that [only] one [specific] vice should be conTyc. 1, 15, 5–7. Tyc. 1, 16, 1. c  cfr Rev 2:2–3. d  cfr Acts 6:5. e  cfr Rev 2:14–15. f  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. g  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. h  Tyc. 1, 11, 110–11. a 

b 

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Chapter Two, 7–10

quered. to eat from the tree of life, etc., that is, he will partake of eternal life, which is in the kingdom of God.  More­ over, the tree of life was in the paradise of Adam, from which if anyone had eaten, he would not have seen death.a ‘To eat from the tree of life’ may also be interpreted as from the fruit of the cross. More­over, paradise is the Church, in which the body and blood of Christ and the spiritual sacraments of Scripture are eaten.b 8. to the angel of the church at smyrna write. Smyrna is interpreted ‘their song’c or ‘myrrh’.d This is written to the Church which died to its own pleasures and desires through the passion of Christ, but is alive to God.e For myrrh is put upon dead bodies. 9. your tribulation, that is, it is great. and your poverty, that is, poverty in spirit, as it is written: Blessed are the poor in spirit (Matt 5:3).f but you are rich, that is, in works of faith. and the slander of those,g that is, he shows that those Jews are outside, that is, outside the faith, since he does not say ‘you have tested’,h which is to show whether the imperfect ones are in the faith. who say that they are jews, that is, by the circumcision of their flesh, not [circumcision] of the spirit.i of the synagogue of satan, that is, of the assembly of the devil. 10. do not fear as is [written] in that passage: Do not fear those who kill the body (Matt 10:28). what you are about to suffer, that is, from the whole body of the devil, which besieges the Church in the whole world, both from inside and from outside.j the devil is about to throw [some] of you. Surely this is said not only to the Church of Smyrna. for ten days, that is, he used a finite [number] for the infinite, so that he might comcfr Gen 3:22. Tyc. 1, 17, 2–4.44–47. c  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. d  cfr Bede, Explanatio Apocalypseos 4, 32–33. CC SL 121A: 253. e  cfr Rom 6:11. f  Tyc. 1, 18, 3–4. g  Read Lat. habes as ab his. h  Tyc. 1, 19, 4–5. i  cfr Rom 2:28–29; Tyc. 1, 19, 11. j  Tyc. 1, 20, 1–3. a 

b 

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Chapter Two, 10–14

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fort them with [such a limited] number. Or, he says ‘for ten days’ because no numbers are able to exceed ten.a Or, ‘for ten days’ is for the fulfilment of the ten words of the law of the Lord. Or because they apply to the five senses of the body and the five senses of the soul for [doing] the good work of the will of God.b 11. the one who conquers, that is, [conquers] the aforementioned Jews. by the second death. This is the second death, that is, the lake of eternal fire,c in which the devil and those who belong to him will be punished.d 12. and to the angel of the church of pergamum write. Pergamum is interpreted ‘the dividing of their horns’e or ‘marriage’.f Therefore, this is said to the whole Church,g the appellation he assigned concerning the true marriage to her spouse, that is, to Christ.h 13. where satan’s throne is. Satan’s throne is evil people.i Moreover, this [Church] in seven localities is a figure of the whole septiform Church. Nevertheless he rebukes or praises the things that were happening in these [Churches] in particular.j you are holding fast to my name. This is said to the good part. ‘My name’, that is, ‘I am Christ, but you are a Christian’. antipas my witness, my faithful one, that is, a well-known martyr, who is a figure of every martyr who suffers up to the [last] judgement. 14. but i have a few things against you, that is, against some members, not against those to whom he says: You have not denied my faith (Rev 2:13). those who hold to the teaching of balaam, that is, he mentions them for their avarice. Baa  That is, because all higher numbers are derivatives of the numbers one through ten. b  cfr Origen, Homiliae in Leviticum 3.7.2 GCS 29: 312. The idea of the ‘ten senses’ is an Hiberno-Latin trademark in exegetical texts. See the introduction supra. c  cfr Rev 19:20; 20:14; 21:8. d  cfr Matt 25:41; Rev 19:20; 20:14; 21:8. e  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. f  The Greek word for marriage is ‘gamos’. g  Tyc. 1, 22, 3. h  cfr 2 Cor 11:2. i  Tyc. 1, 22, 4–5. j  Tyc. 1, 23, 1–3.

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Chapter Two, 14–17

laam is interpreted ‘enticing’. It is a figure of heretics [because of] the enticing light of their teaching,a and for their hardness of heart and for their unfruitfulness. Balak is interpreted ‘vain people’.b It is a figure of those who agree with heretics. to eat food sacrificed to idols and practice fornication. These are the two chief things with which those abounding in hypocrisy are involved, to eat and to fornicate, as the Lord says: But inwardly you are full of rapine and unrestraint (Matt 23:25). But also every evil deed is idolatry and spiritual fornication.c 15. hold to the teaching of the nicolaitans, that is, he addresses all heretics. 16. similarly repent, that is, as he said to the first Church of Ephesus: Repent (Rev 2:5). Another way of interpreting ‘similarly repent’: as you committed this evil, which you committed in holding the teaching of Balaam, repent similarly. and i shall make war with them, that is, against them. with the sword of my mouth, that is, I shall command others to bring judgement upon them, so that the evil are cut off and that they should punish the bad people. ‘With the sword of my mouth’ may also be interpreted as: my word will be stronger than the word of their teaching. ‘With the sword of my mouth’ may also be interpreted as it is in that [pronouncement] that sinners will hear: Go, you accursed ones, into the eternal fire (Matt 25:41). 17. i shall give to the one who conquers, that is, to the one who conquers those holding to the teaching of Balaam. hidden manna, that is, he gives bread, the Body of Christ, a figure of which was the manna in the desert.d And it is called hidden because this manna was hiding itself in the first manna. Or, it is called hidden because the bread of life is not [such] for everyone; for the one who eats and drinks unworthily, eats and drinks judgeThe codex reads: arim lum mi doctrine ipsorum, which Gryson noted that he was unable to make sense of (CC SL 108G: 55). b  In Jerome it is actually the other way around—Balaam in interpreted as ‘vain people’ and Balak as ‘enticing’. Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 159. c  Tyc. 1, 23, 10–14. d  Tyc. 1, 25, 3–4. a 

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Chapter Two, 17–20

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ment upon himself (1 Cor 11:29).a ‘Manna’ may also be interpreted spiritually as ‘hidden’, that is, [hidden] under the literal [meaning]. white stone, that is, the body made white in baptism. and on the stone my new name, that is, the mystery of the Son of Man,b and by the name ‘stone’ is signified the divine word, since just as there is a kind of stone that is the hardest and round and very light in every part, so is the divine word, which cannot concede to the contradictions of heretics and of all adversaries.c ‘White stone’ may also be interpreted as the future life. that no one knows except the one who receives [it], that is, [receives it] in work and faith; for, with hypocrites, although they seem to have it, it has not been given to them to understand, as it is written: To you it has been given to know the mystery of the kingdom of heaven, but to them it has not been given (Matt 13:11). And again it is said: Whoever says that he is in the light and hates his brother, is in darkness (1 John 2:9).d 18. to the angel of the church of thyatira write. This name is interpreted ‘sacrifice’.e This is written to the Church that offers herself to God as a living, holy sacrifice.f who has eyes, that is, [has] holy people, like a flame of fire. It is for this reason that people fear the face of a holy person. feet, that is, holy people, because they are tried by various trials in the present. 19. your love, that is, [love] of God. and faith, that is, [your faith] is firm. and service, that is, each one in his own place.g Or, ‘ministry’, that is, of the priests. and patient endurance, that is, in all tribulation. 20. that you tolerate the woman jezebel, that is, he is speaking to the person of the bishop, who has the power of judging and restraining, and the Lord judged him guilty since he Tyc. 1, 25, 10–11. Tyc. 1, 26, 1–3. c  cfr Jerome, Epistulae 18B, 2, 3. d  Tyc. 1, 26, 4–9. e  Bede, Explanatio Apocalypseos, 4, 98–99. CC SL 121A: 259. See also F. Wallis, Bede: Commentary on Revelation, 121, n. 86, where she notes that ‘the interpretation is a play on the Greek word theutos (“something offered as a sacrifice”)’. f  cfr Rom 12:1. g  Lat. ordine meaning his rank or position in the Church. a 

b 

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Chapter Two, 20–25

was a participant [in Jezebel’s sin] by allowing [her to continue unrestrained].a Jezebel is interpreted ‘flow of blood’ or ‘flowing with blood’, but even better is ‘where the dunghill is’.b In particular that woman was in Israel, who is a figure of the whole Church which speaks such aforementioned things throughout the world.c prophetess, that is, Christian.d my servants, that is, they who would serve me if she had not seduced them. to fornicate. Fornication is to turn away from the Lord, for fornication is a turning away from marriage.e and to eat food sacrificed to idols, that is, according to a literal understanding. Or to have cupidity, which is the service of idols. 21. i gave her time, that is, length of life. 22. i  am throwing her on a sickbed, that is, into pestilence, that is, her good shall not increase any more. Or, ‘on a sickbed’, that is, into great tribulation. who commit adultery with her, that is, who consent to her.f 23. i shall strike her children dead. He did not say ‘I am striking’ but ‘I shall strike’ because he has hope for their repentance. i am the one who searches hearts and minds, that is, I am the eternal one who knows your thoughts and words and deeds. 24. but i say to you, that is, to you who rule. and the rest, that is, to those under him. who have not learned the heightg of satan, that is, who did not know how high Satan had been. other burden, that is, beyond that which you are able to endure (1 Cor 10:13).h 25. until i come, that is, to help you or until the judgement.

Tyc. 1, 27, 27–29. Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. c  Tyc. 1, 27, 14–16. d  Tyc. 1, 27, 63. e  cfr Sedulius Scottus, In Epistolam ad Galatas 5, 19. M. C. Sloan, The Harmonius Organ of Sedulius Scottus, 180–81. f  Tyc. 1, 27, 35. g  Lat. altitudinem, normally rendered as ‘deep things’, but from the comment the author seems to understand it as height. h  Tyc. 1, 31, 1–2. a 

b 

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Chapter Two, 26–28

26. the one who conquers, that is, [who conquers] the teaching of the woman Jezebel. over the nations, that is, according to a literal understandinga or over vices. 27. with a rod of iron, that is, with harsh power. as when clay pots are shattered, that is, judged. Or, their sin will be shattered in them, that from them new men are made, as new jarsb are made from the smashed pieces of clay jars. 28. even as i also received [authority] from my father, that is, [a whole] is put for a part of flesh,c as in the Psalm it is said to the person of the Son: You will rule them with an iron rod and shatter them like a jar of clay (Ps 2:9). morning star, that is, the clear teaching presently shining in him. Or Christ,d for his help, who rose again in the morning. Or he himself [the one who conquers] will be a morning star,e because soon he will rise again and will shine.f

Meaning, literally, authority over the nations. cfr 2 Tim 2:20. c  The author sees ‘the nations’ in v. 26 as a synecdochic figure for a part of the nations. d  Tyc. 1, 33, 1–2. e  Tyc. 1, 33, 2–3. f  cfr Dan 12:3; Matt 13:43. a 

b 

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1. to the angel of the church of sardis write. This name is interpreted as ‘of the beginning of beauty’a or ‘the stone is precious’.b This stone has a similarity to fire and is set in a gold ring that signifies the Church, which has consciences inflamed by the Holy Spirit. of him who has the seven spirits of god and the seven stars, that is, he indicates the greatness of the power of God. you have a name, that is, ‘Christian’ or ‘faithful’, for being alive, that is, in part of the saints. and you are dead, that is, in part of the sinners. ‘For being alive’ may also be interpreted as [alive] in body, ‘and you are dead’, as [dead] in spirit. For one is not dead unless he commits mortal sin.c ‘For being alive’ may also be interpreted as [being alive] superficially; ‘and you are dead’, that is, deservedly. 2. strengthen what remains and is at the point of death, that is, it is said to the part of the Church that is perfect to strengthen the works of the other imperfect part, which are about to die. Or, ‘strengthen what remains and is at the point of death’, that is, strengthen your good works, which are about to die if you continue your evil works. [i have not found] your works perfect, that is, as they were before.

a  Apringius of Beja, Tractatus in Apocalypsin, 1, 276. CC SL 107: 41; Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. b  Bede, Explanatio Apocalypseos 4, 166. CC SL 121A: 265. c  Tyc. 1, 34, 10–11.

55

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3. what you received, that is, in baptism, and heard, in the teaching for the reception of baptism.a if you will not awake, that is, as you have been awake earlier, you will not know at what hour i shall come to you, that is, as it is [written]: You fool, this night your soul is required of you (Luke 12:20). 4. yet you have a few names that is, a few holy men, who have not soiled their garments, that is, their holy bodies. and they walk with me, that is, they grow more and more in righteousness. in white, that is, in pure bodies without sin. 5. the one who conquers, that is, [who conquers] the aforementioned death.b will be clothed thus, that is, as he conquers. ‘Will be clothed thus’ may also be interpreted: just as they were clothed through baptism, who have not soiled their garments (Rev 3:4), so also they will be clothed through penance. ‘Thus he will be clothed in white garments’: great is the praise of a few,c when others are compared to them. i shall not blot his name, that is, I shall not remove it if he removes his evil work. out of the book of life, that is, from the memory of life, that is, from life itself. and i shall confess his name before my father, as it is [written]: He who acknowledges me before men I also shall acknowledge before my Father who is in heaven (Matt 10:32). 7. to the angel of the church of philadelphia write. Philadelphia is interpreted ‘saving one who cleaves to the Lord’d or ‘brotherly love’.e These things are said to a Church that has love for one another. holy, that is, in forgiveness; true, that is, in retribution. ‘True’ may also be interpreted as the true Son of God and man. who has the key of david, that is, regal power.f ‘Key of David’ may also be interpreted as the mysteries referring to the catechetical instruction of baptismal candidates. cfr Rev 3:1. c  Tyc. 1, 35, 3–4. d  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. e  Bede, Explanatio Apocalypseos, 4, 182–83. CC SL 121A:  67. This interpretation is simply a direct translation from the Greek. f  Tyc. 1, 37, 5. a 

b 

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Chapter Three, 7–9

of David that were under a seal and that he [i.e. Jesus] opened.a who opens, that is, [who opens] divine mysteries and faith; and no one shuts, that is, Arius and Eunomius and Sabellius.b In another way of interpreting ‘who opens, etc.’—it is obvious that to those knocking, Christ opens the door of life and the mysteries of the Scriptures; but to hypocrites knocking and saying, ‘open to us, Lord’,c he shuts both.d Moreover what he opens, none of the Jews nor heretics nor philosophers nor heathens nor persecuting world shuts. Another way of interpreting ‘who opens’ is the heavenly kingdom; ‘no one shuts’, that is, none of the Jews nor heretics nor heathense nor demons. ‘And shuts’, that is, the gate of hell against the saints. 8. i know your works, that they are good, that I am the one who searches hearts and minds (Rev 2:23). an open door, that is, Christ, who said: I am the door; if anyone enters by me, he will be saved (John 10:9). Another way of interpreting ‘an open door’ is baptism, through which the kingdom of God is entered;f or, the door of the gospel is open. that you have but little power, that is, the beginning of faith, or humility, which is moderate with men, but there is great power in the presence of God. my word, that is, my commandment. 9. behold, i shall make those of the synagogue of satan. This is said to the whole Church, not only to [the Church] at Philadelphia.g ‘Of the synagogue of Satan’, that is, of the congregation of the devil. who say that they are jews, that is, those who profess that they, adhering to the letter, profess that their law is the best; and those who worship idols and profess that there is divinity in idols; and those who regard nature [alone] and say that the conscience alone is sufficient for them. Indeed, cfr Rev 5:1; 6:1–17; 8:1. Arius (ad 250 or 256–336), Eunomius († 215), and Sabellius (fl. ca. 215) all held heterodox views of the Trinity. c  cfr Matt 25:11. d  Tyc. 1, 37, 6–9. e  Lat. gentilium. Throughout the gloss, I have translated this word as ‘heathen’, as opposed to ‘gentiles’. f  cfr John 3:5. g  Tyc. 1, 40, 4–5. a 

b 

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Chapter Three, 9–12

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all these are the synagogue of Satan. before your feet—this is said against [evil] teachers and bishops. ‘Before your feet’ may also be interpreted as before the most common people of the Church. that i have loved you, that is, when they come to you, those whom I have dragged away from Satan. 10. i shall keep you. He says this because of the successors of the Church,a as is [written] in that passage: Behold, I am with you always, even to the end of the age (Matt 28:20). from the hour of trial, that is, [the hour] of the persecution of Antichristb or [the hour] of judgement. 11. behold, i  am coming soon, that is, [coming] to your aid, as is spoken in the prophet: And he will slay the wicked by the breath of his mouth (Isa 11:4; 2 Thess 2:8). 12. the one who conquers, that is, [who conquers] the aforementioned Jews, or the future testing, that is, the testing of Antichrist in the whole world. i  shall make him a pillar. Indeed, it is customary for a pillar to be beautiful and straight and strong. So every holy person is beautiful in good virtues, straight in judgement, and strong in patient endurance of others. Another way of interpreting ‘I shall make him a pillar’: a pillar is placed in a house for two reasons, for building the house and for sustaining the house. So is every Catholic [teacher] a pillar in the Church: he builds the Church in that he enlightens it through examples and teaching, and he sustains the Church so that it does not fall before the judgement of God. in the temple of god, that is, in the Church. he will never go out. This pertains to those who come into the faith from the synagogue of Satan.c the name of my god will be ‘Christian’d because Christ is the name for God. the name of the city of my god will be ‘Ecclesiasticus’, for the Church is the name of the city of God. new, that is,

In other words, the Lord is not only addressing the Church at Philadelphia living in the time of John, but the Church from the time of the apostles to the end of the world. b  cfr Tyc. 1, 41, 8–11. c  Tyc. 1, 43, 6–8. d  Tyc. 1, 44, 1–2. a 

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in the newness of baptism. jerusalem, that is, the holy Church,a that comes down out of heaven, that is, because her head, that is, Christ, through divinity came down out of heaven. my own new name, this is ‘Son of Man’ or ‘Christian’, not because the Son of God was new but the Son of Man, who died, is new.b 14. and to the angel of the church of laodicea write. Laodicea is interpreted ‘tribe beloved to the Lord’c or ‘righteous people’.d That is, it is written to the Church, which is righteous in that she follows the righteous law saying: But seek first the kingdom of God and his righteousness (Matt 6:33). The Church of Philadelphia is a figure of the sixth angel sounding a trumpet in the time of Antichrist.e But the Church of Laodicea is a figure of the seventh angel, that is, of the last preaching before the judgement.f the beginning of god’s creation, that is, of every creature or of the Church. 15. you are neither cold, that is, heathen, nor hot, that is, with fervency of faith. ‘Cold’ may also be interpreted as a sinner; ‘hot’ as a righteous person. ‘Cold’ may also be interpreted as poor; ‘hot’, that is, with the fervency of charity as you had shown compassion to your neighbours. i  wish that you were either cold or hot, that is, I wish that you were a heathen or a sinner, or I wish that you were poor! Why does he want this? Because it is customary of cold water, that when it is changed from cold it turns into hot water, but lukewarm water, when it is not turned into hot water, turns back into cold water and becomes putrid. So are heathens and sinners—when they change their state, they come into the heat of faith and into the heat of righteousness. But the lukewarm, when they do not add faith and righteousness,

Tyc. 1, 44, 3–4. Tyc. 1, 44, 6–10. c  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. d  cfr Bede, Explanatio Apocalypseos 4, 241. CC SL 121A: 271. As with the interpretation of Philadelphia above (p. 56, note e), this is also a direct translation from the Greek. See F. Wallis, Bede: Commentary on Revelation, 129, n. 138. e  cfr Rev 9:13. f  cfr Rev 11:15. a 

b 

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are turned back to their first state of unbelief or of sin and there is putridness in it. 16. i am about to spew you out of my mouth. He says: ‘I am about to’ because he wants them to repent. It is as though he had openly said, ‘If you will not repent, you will be thrown out by my word’, that is, into hell. 17. i am rich, that is, in almsgiving and in good worksa and in spiritual mysteries. for you say, you do not act.b wretched, that is in almsgiving. poor, that is, because you do not have true riches. and naked, because you have not put on Christ.c blind because you have not anointed your eyes with eyesalve, that is, with the word of God.d 18. i counsel you, lest freedom of the will seems to have been lost,e to buy from me gold, that is, the word of God. He says ‘to buy’, that is, [to fulfil the word] with good work. [refined] by fire, that is, by the fire of the Holy Spirit. refined, that is, because it does not have any stain. and white robes to clothe you, that is, with pure bodies [engaged] in good work. Or, with puref works. anoint your eyes with eyesalve. Indeed we anoint eyes with eyesalve when for the acknowledgement of the true lightg we help the sharpness and clarity of our understanding with the medicine of good work.h Another way of interpreting ‘anoint your eyes with eyesalve’ is to anoint the spiritual senses of your soul with the word of God, that they may be opened. 19. those whom i love, i reprove, that is, he reproves the Church when he says: You are neither cold nor hot (Rev 3:15). and i discipline, that is, for you to do good. 20. behold i stand, that is, through compunction. at the door, that is, [at the door] of the heart. and knock, that is, Tyc. 1, 45, 14. cfr Matt 23:3. c  cfr Gal 3:27. d  cfr Tyc. 1, 46, 2–3. e  The author is making a theological point in reaction to the Pelagian accusation that their opponents negate the freedom of the will. f  Lat. albis. g  cfr John 1:9. h  cfr Gregory the Great, Liber regulae pastoralis, 1, 11. a 

b 

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Chapter Three, 20–21

by preaching. if anyone hears, that is, if anyone believes. my voice, that is, my preaching. and opens the door, that is, the door of his heart.a i shall come in, that is, he will be my temple, as is [written] in that passage: You are a temple of the living God (2 Cor 6:16). and eat with him, that is, in good virtues, and he with me, that is, in future rewards. 21. on my throne, that is, in the future Church, as [in the passage]: Where I am, there will my servant be also. (John 12:26).b he who conquers, that is, he who has not been lukewarm, i shall grant him to sit with me on my throne, that is, in the kingdom of heaven. But now he is rendering retribution to the saints. And now he interprets [the next section] as a recapitulation fromc the nativity of Christ, and he will say the same things in another way.

Tyc. 1, 48, 2. This passage is shown as part of v. 20 in the editio princeps. CC SL 108G: 64. c  Lat. ad, but this must be incorrect, as ‘to the nativity’ makes little sense. Tyconius has praedixit et recapitulate a Christ nativitate eadem aliter dicturus (Tyc. 1, 50, 3). CC SL 107A: 129. a 

b 

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1. after this i looked. This is not [reflective of] temporal order but the order of the vision.a behold, an open door, that is, Christ who was born and suffered, who is the door,b since he said: I am the door, etc. (John 10:9). ‘Open door’ may also be interpreted as the door of faith, which is open to everyone who chooses to enter into it. in heaven, that is, in the Church which is heaven, since the Lord sits in it.c For heaven is the throne of the Lord, as he said: Heaven is my throne (Is 66:1; Acts 7:49). ‘In heaven’ may also be interpreted as ‘in the Church that is heaven’, in that the mysteries in her are concealed from sinners.d Or, it is heaven for this reason, because heavenly deeds are done in her.e come up here, that is, the Church that is higher in perfection calls the lower Church to itself to perfection. ‘Come up here’ may also be interpreted as the voice of the Lord calling the entire human race to himself. and i shall show you what must take place after this, that is, I shall show you what will be yours for obeying my words, that is, what rewards in heaven will be yours. 2. a throne stood in heaven, that is, the Church in itself.f

Tyc. 2, 1, 2–3. Tyc. 2, 2, 1–3. c  Tyc. 2, 2, 3–4. d  cfr Matt 13:11–17. e  Tyc. 2, 2, 5. f  The author follows Tyconius in saying that both the throne and heaven represent the Church. a 

b 

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Chapter Four, 3–4

3. the one seated there, that is, Christ, appeared like jasper. For this stone has the colour of water through which is signified the brightness of divinity. and carnelian, for this stone has a red colour similar to fire; through which stone is signified the humanity of Christ, red through the fire of the passion. ‘He who was sitting’, etc. may also be interpreted as the Church who sits over herself, in the order of teachers sitting over the subordinate Church. She is similar to jasper and carnelian in that she has baptism in her, which is established through water and the fire of the Holy Spirit.a and around the throne was a rainbow, that is baptism in the Church, through which one enters into the Church. For a rainbow has two colours, that is, the colour of hyacinth and red, through which is signified the water of baptism and the Holy Spirit, who descended in the form of fire.b Another way of interpreting ‘there was a rainbow’: through the colour of hyacinth is signified the taintc of repentance, but through the red colour is signified martyrdom, which is in the circuit of the Church. ‘There was a rainbow’ may also be interpreted as a sign of perseverance, that is, it indicates the promised perseverance of the Church after the resurrection. For the bow in the sky was a sign to Noah that a flood would not come into the world until the end, as the Lord says: I have set my bow in the clouds, and it will be a sign of the covenant between me and the earth (Gen 9:13). Another way of interpreting ‘there was a rainbow’: a rainbow has a twofold colour, that is, of water and of fire; moreover, one is a reminder of the flood, and the other is a reminder of the judgement. like an emerald. This stone is bright, to which the Church is similar because of the glory of its faith and work. 4. twenty four thrones and twenty four elders. This is the Church of both the Old and New Testaments, that was built upon the twelve sons of Jacob and upon the twelve apostles. But, as some say, through the elders is shown the order of bishops,d and through the thrones are shown those under them. in white cfr John 3:5. cfr Acts 2:3. c  Lat. livor. d  Lat. prepossitorum; Tyc. 2, 5, 7–8. a 

b 

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Chapter Four, 4–6

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garments, that is, in pure merits or in holy bodies. on their heads, that is, in their rulers. golden crowns, that is, integrity of life or immortality. ‘On [their] heads’ may also be interpreted as in the forefront of the mind; ‘golden crowns’, that is, spiritually wise thoughts. 5. flashes of lightning, that is, the revealed meaning of obscure parables. and voices, that is, open assertion of preaching, as it is written: If you want to be perfect,  etc. (Matt 19:21). peals of thunder, that is, threats of punishment and hell. ‘Flashes of lightning’ and ‘peals of thunder’ may also be interpreted as the lightning of preaching, which proceeds from the Church, as is written: Your lightnings brought light to the world (Ps 76:19). which are the seven spirits of god. Moreover, this shows that the Holy Spirit is in the place in which also the font of baptism is received,a when he joins ‘as a sea of glass’, (Rev 4:6) which pertains to baptism. 6. and before the throne there is, as it were, a sea of glass, that is, baptism in the sight of the Church, which is called glassy for its purity and because it has no hypocrisy in believing, since what is in one’s mouth, is in his heart.b Or baptism is called a ‘sea of glass’ and like crystal because these things are easily broken and not easily restored, as baptism is easily severed and not easily repeated. ‘Before the throne there is, as it were, a sea of glass’ may also be interpreted as the Church in the sight of itself, which is glass in that it is bright outside and inside. Moreover, outside it is bright, that is, in examples, and inside it is bright, that is, in merit. ‘Like crystal’, which is made strong through water, and through the heat of fire or of the sun is returned to its power. Moreover, the Church is similar to crystal, that is, to Christ, in whom exists the strength of divinity, who through the heat of the passion returned to his first power of divinity. four living creatures. They sometimes represent the gospels, sometimes the whole Church, and unless they are understood for places,

a  b 

Tyc. 2, 6, 4–5. cfr Matt 12:34.

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those [who understand them differently] err.a full of eyes in front and behind; for the gospels are said to have eyes behind because they have in them parables that tell about the beginning of the world; and they are said to have eyes in front because they tell of the judgement and of the kingdom of heaven. Another way of interpreting ‘full of eyes in front and behind’: the Church has eyes behind because she knows the things that have come before from the power of God from the beginning of the world; and she has eyes in front because she foreknows things to come through the power of God, when the Holy Spirit reveals them to her. 7. the first living creature like a lion, that is, Mark, who wrote: The voice of one crying in the wilderness (Mark 1:3), since it is the custom of a lion to live in the wilderness. the second living creature like an ox, that is, Luke, who wrote: There was a certain priest (Luke 1:5); for it is customary for a priest to offer an ox. the third living creature with a face like a man, that is, Matthew, who wrote: The book of the genealogy of Jesus Christ, etc. (Matt 1:1). and the fourth living creature like a flying eagle, that is, John, who wrote: In the beginning was the Word (John 1:1). ‘Like a lion’ may also be interpreted as the strength of the Church, which is shown in the lion. And in this way strength is shown in the ox, because when she offers herself in martyrdom, at that time she is strong. Moreover, this is how the lion and ox are shown in the man, because in man she [i.e. the Church] shows her power, and in man she offers herself to God. ‘A face like a man’—in this [symbol] he shows the humility of the Church. ‘Like a flying eagle’. This also is the Church, which by the wings of the two laws,b is lifted up to heaven, freed from all earthly things.c Moreover, Christ is the lion in that he powerfully resurrected from the grave. And he is the ox in that he was offered on

Tyc. 2, 7, 2–3. Either the OT and NT as he seems to indicate in 11:3, or the laws of love of God and neighbour, cfr Mark 12:30–31. c  Tyc. 2, 9, 3–19. a 

b 

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the cross. And he the true man in that he was born from a carnal mother, and he is the eagle in that he ascended into heaven.a 8. they had six wings, which show the twenty four elders,b for six wings on each living creature are twenty-four,c through which is shown the Church.d are full of eyes all around and within, that is, because these living creatures were seen with their faces turned, if a literal interpretation should be sought concerning them. Moreover, the four gospels have eyes ‘all around and within’, that is, the literal and spiritual meaning.e And the Church has eyes ‘all around and within’, that is, carnal eyes on the outside and spiritual vision within. And Christ has eyes ‘all around and within’, that is, carnal eyes and divine sightf are in him. and they never cease. This demonstrates the persistency of the prayer of the Church, as Paul says: Pray without ceasing (1 Thess 5:17). Or, it shows that Christ always prayed to the Father diligently. Or, it shows that the holy Church always prays to the Lord. day and night, that is, in prosperity and adversity.g holy, holy, holy. This word is said three times because of the three divine persons, and the same word is repeated because of the divine unity. 9. whenever the four living creatures give, that is, the four gospels, glory, that is, because of his resurrection. honour, that is, because of his divinity. blessing, that is, because every creature blesses him, as is [written] in the Gospel: Blessed be the Lord God of Israel (Luke 1:68). to the one who is seated, that is, to Christ, on the throne, that is, on the Church. 10. the twenty four elders bow down, that is, the whole Church bows down to adore Christ. Or, when the four cfr Gregory the Great, Homiliae in Hiezechihelem prophetam, 1.4, 3. CC SL 142: 48–49. b  cfr Rev 4:4. c  Tyc. 2, 10, 1–4. d  Tyc. 2, 10, 7–9. e  Lat. historiam et sensum. Here the author is commenting on the interpretation of Scripture—the literal or historical understanding (i.e. the eyes around), and the spiritual understanding (i.e. the eyes within). See p. 34, note a supra. f  Lat. inspectiones, see p. 41, note a supra. g  Tyc. 2, 12, 4. a 

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living creatures, that is, the Church, give glory, and honour and blessingh to the Lord, the twenty-four elders, that is, the Church, bow down to adore Christ. Or, when the four living creatures, that is, the evangelists, preach the glory and honour of Jesus Christ, the entire human race bows down to belief and adores the living One. they cast their crowns, that is, whatever goodness the saints have, they assign everything to God,b as is [written] in the passage: Whoever speaks must do so as one speaking the very words of God (1 Pet 4:11). 11. to receive glory, that is, the faith in the birth and passion and resurrection. Or, ‘glory’, that is, praise in heaven and on earth. and honour, that is, from the Church on bended knee. and power, that is, [the power] of miracles. Or, ‘power’ is an appropriate name for him with respect to his divinity, as is [written] in the passage: The power of the Most High will overshadow you (Luke 1:35). for you created all things, that is, all things that are in heaven and on earth.c by your will, that is, because the will of God is the essence of everything. they existed, that is, in [God’s] foreknowledge. and were created, that is, when they were made in the present. Moreover, Moses used this order, who said: Is he not your father, who possesses and made and created you (Deut 32:6)? Moreover, he possessed us in foreknowledge, made us in Adam, and created us from Adam.d

cfr Rev 4:9. Tyc. 2, 13, 4–5. c  cfr Col. 1:16. d  Tyc. 2, 14, 3–7. h  b 

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1. and i saw in the right hand of the one seated, that is, in Christ, because he is the right hand of God, through whom he established everything and redeemed the whole human race. a scroll written within and on the back, that is, each testament. It is one scroll because the New cannot exist without the Old and the Old cannot exist without the New. For the Old is the messenger and veil of the New, and the New is the fulfilment and interpretation of the Old.a Moreover, the writing seen on the back indicates the Old Testament, and the writing seen within indicates the New Testament. Or, the scroll is written ‘within and on the back’ so that through the writing within we may understand the divinity, as is [written] in the passage: In the beginning was the Word, (John 1:1) and through the writing shown on the back we may understand the Incarnation of Christ, as is [written] in the passage: Now the birth of Christ took place in this way (Matt 1:18). Or, this scroll is said to be written ‘within and on the back’. For the book of sacred utterances is written inside and on the back, on the back through the literal, within through its spiritual meaning. Moreover, on the back through the simple meaning of the letter still appropriate for the weak; within because it promises invisible things. Or, on the back because it puts forth the morals of the Church on earth through the correctness of their precepts; within because it promises heavenly things. sealed, that is, closed. seven seals, that is, the conception of Christ and his a 

Tyc. 2, 15, 1–6.

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Chapter Five, 1–2

passion and burial and descent to hell and resurrection and seating at the right hand of God and coming for judgement.a For these seven were written about in the Old Testament. Concerning the conception it is written: Behold a virgin will conceive and give birth to a son (Isa 7:14). And concerning his passion it is written: Authority rests upon his shoulders (Isa 9:6). And concerning his burial it is written: His resting place will be honourable (Isa 11:10). And concerning his descent into hell it is written: I am a man without help, like those forsaken among the dead (Ps 87:5–6). And concerning his resurrection it is written: You will not let your faithful one see the Pit (Ps 15:10). And about sitting at the right hand of God it is written: Sit at my right hand (Ps 109:1). And about his coming for judgement it is written: God will come openly (Ps 49:3). ‘Sealed with seven seals’ may also be interpreted as, [sealed] with the septiform mysteries hidden in the entire canon,b which are said to be seven because of the septiform Spirit, who has spoken those things that have closedc the book of the whole canon. 2. and i saw a mighty angel, that is, the proclamation of the law, because it [the angel] asks for the fulfilment of the will of God but did not find it. proclaiming, ‘who is worthy to open the scroll?’ etc. ‘Who is worthy’, that is, he says this because of its impossibility. to open the scroll and breakd a  For additional early mediaeval interpretations of the seven seals as seven events in the life of Christ, see Hilary of Poitiers, Tractatus super psalmos, prologue. CSEL 22:  7; Apringius of Beja, Tractatus in Apocalypsin (F.  X. Gumerlock, The Seven Seals of the Apocalypse, 27); Ps-Alcuin, De septem sigillis (PL 101: 1169–70); De Enigmatibus ex Apocalypsi Johannis (CC SL 107: 256–57); Theodulf of Orléans, Expositio in Apocalypsin Iohannis (CC SL 107: 314). b  Tyc. 2, 16, 1–2. c  Lat. concluserunt. This possibly refers to Revelation as the close of the canon. See the eighth-century anonymous Preface to the Apocalypse (F.  X. Gumerlock, Carolingian Commentaries, 107), which says: ‘He wrote this Apocalypse so that just as through Moses, who stands out beyond all people as meek (Num 12:3), the beginning of the book of Genesis treats [humankind’s] origin from its incorruptible beginning, so also through John, the disciple more beloved beyond the rest (John 13:25; 21:20), the incorruptible end would be returned to at the close of the New Testament.’ Or it could simply mean ‘those things that have comprised the book of the whole canon’. d  Lat. solvere.

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its seals. This sequence [of language], to open [the scroll] before its seals are broken is preposterous,a but it is not so in respect to the quality of this statement; for, ‘to open’ is to read the history of the whole book, and ‘to break’ is to fulfil the seven seals that prophesied about Christ. 3. and no one was able in heaven, that is, [no] angel, or on earth, that is, [no] living righteous person, or under the earth, that is, [no] dead person.b 4. and i wept much, that is, the Church, burdened and weighed down, wept, wanting her redeemer to come.c 5. one of the elders, that is, he speaks of the whole body of the prophets; for the prophets consoled the Church announcing that Christ was going to come.d root of david, for it is the custom of a root that it grows from a tree and a tree grows from a root; therefore Christ is from David and David from Christ. 6. a lamb standing, that is, Christ, about whom it was said: Behold, the Lamb of God, etc. (John 1:29.36). as though it had been slain, that is, because he resurrected quickly; for this reason he is said to be as if slain. ‘A Lamb standing’ may also be interpreted as the Church which is similar to the Lamb, that is, to Christ;e ‘as though it had been slain’, that is, because she [i.e. the Church] will truly rise. sent out into all the earth, that is, as it is [written]: As the Father has sent me, so I send you (John 20:21).f 7. and he took the scroll from the right hand of the one seated, that is, Christ received the whole canon from the power of the Father; or, the Church received the canon from Christ who is the right hand of God.g 8. the four living creatures and the twenty four elders [fell down], etc., that is, the whole Church fell down Tyc. 2, 17, 3–5. Tyc. 2, 18, 1–3. c  Tyc. 2, 19, 1–3. d  Tyc. 2, 20, 3–5. e  Tyc. 2, 22, 3–4. f  Tyc. 2, 24, 4–5. g  Tyc. 2, 24, 3–4. a 

b 

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to worship Christ, when Christ received the whole canon from the power of the Father. Or, the subordinate Church bows down to worship Christ while the higher Church receives the Scripture from Christ and opens it, that it may know its mysteries. each one holding a harp, that is, hearts praising the Lord.a bowls, that is, minds into which the word of God is poured, or good consciences. 9. a new song—this represents the New Testament.b In another way of interpreting ‘new song’, that is: My soul magnifies the Lord (Luke 1:46). to take the scroll, that is, [you are worthy] to receive thanks for the showing of this book. to open its seals, that is, it is necessary that we do not give honour to another for the opening of the seals, but only to him who opened them. and by your blood you have ransomed us for god. This shows here that the living creatures and the elders are the Church, when they say: ‘By your blood you have ransomed us for God’.c from every tribe, that is, all people, and people, that is, a great part of the people, and nation, that is, offspring.d 10. kingdom. [He says this] because God rules us. on earth, that is, here in the Church, which is on the earth. Or in the land of the living, about which the prophet says: I believe that I shall see the goodness of the Lord in the land of the living (Ps 26:13). 11. then i looked, that is, I  believed. and i heard, that is, with the inner ears, the voice of angels, that is, of those announcing Christ. numbering thousands of thousands, that is, [the number] of angels and living creatures and elders, and for this reason this number is mentioned, so that we may know that the Church of Christ is innumerable.e 12. worthy is the lamb, etc., that is, the whole Church utters this statement about Christ, who was slain on the cross. Or, it refers to the subordinate Church under the higher Church, which [subordinate Church] is a lamb because of its innocence and beTyc. 2, 25, 3. Tyc. 2, 25, 6. c  Tyc. 2, 25, 10–12. d  Lat. proginies. e  Tyc. 2, 27, 1–2. a 

b 

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cause it is offered up in martyrdom. to receive power, that is, the power [of miracles]. and wealth, that is, to be united [to him] in divinity.a and wisdom, that is, of the Scriptures. honour and glory, that is, of eternal life. and blessing, as it is [written]: Come, blessed of my Father (Matt 25:34). 13. and i heard [them] saying, that is, the whole Church. to the one seated, that is, to the Father, on the throne, that is, in the Church, and to the lamb, that is, to Christ. Or, ‘to the one seated’, that is, to Christ; ‘to the lamb’, that is, to the Church.b 14. the four living creatures said ‘a men’, that is, when the whole Church blesses the Father and Christ, another part of it responds ‘Amen’; or when the subordinate Church praises Christ and the higher Church, another part of the subordinate Church responds ‘Amen’.

a  b 

cfr 2 Pet 1:4. Tyc. 2, 29, 1–2.

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1. when the lamb, that is, Christ, opened, etc. one of the four living creatures, that is, the order of teachers. as with a voice of thunder, that is, great preaching, come and see, that is, he invites the Church that is bowing down to him.a Or, he invites the Church that is subject to him. Or, he invites the unbelieving Church. ‘Come’, that is, believe, ‘and see’, that is, know and understand the mystery. 2. and behold, a white horse, that is, Christian peopleb who are [called] a horse for their strength in faith and work. Moreover, they are called ‘white’ because their baptism washed them on the outside, and faith in Christ washed them on the inside. and its rider, that is, Christ, who sits above Christian people; for it is the horse of the Lord, as was promised through Zechariah: The Lord will visit his flock and will make it like a majestic horse in battle (Zech 10:3).c he had a bow, that is, the power of authority or the justice of judgement. ‘He had a bow’ may also be interpreted as threats of [judicial] sentences or the power of vindication against demons and vices and pagans and Jews and heretics. Or, ‘he had a bow’ may also be interpreted as the divine [inspiration] of the Scriptures, from which testimonies are sent into the hearts of others. and a crown was given to him, that is, immortality or Tyc. 2, 31, 4–5. Lat. populus (singular), but understood here in the plural. c  Tyc. 2, 32, 3–6. The interpretation of the rider of the white horse as Christ began with the commentary of Victorinus (ca. ad 260) and had a long lasting influence. a 

b 

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the integritya of eternal life or the integrity of good works. and he went out conquering, that is, [conquering] the devil by the cross, and to conquer through the saints, who are the members of Christ. 4. another horse, bright red, a persecuting people, who for this reason are a horse, that is, for their pride and their foolishness and their uncleanness. And it is red because it sheds the blood of the Church. its rider, that is, the devil, who rules over the persecuting people. was permitted, that is, it was permitted to him, to take peace from the earth, that is, from his own earth, that is, from his own family, because the Church has eternal peace, which Christ left to it.b so that people would slay one another, that is, when one provokes another to bodily death, or to mortal sins that kill the soul.c a great sword, that is, great persecution [was given] to the Church. Or, vengeance [would come] upon him.d Or, a sword of slaughter, of sinners killing each other. 5. the third living creature, that is, the order of teachers. come, that is, it is spoken to the subordinate Church. behold, a black horse, that is, the people of the heretics, who do the works of darkness.e its rider, that is, the devil. held a pair of scales, that is, a pretence of just judgement.f in his hand, that is, in his work. 6. what seemed to be [a voice] in the midst of the four living creatures, that is, the voice of the teachers in the midst of the Church. a quart of wheat and three quarts of barley. For in the three and in the barley he spoke of the whole Church, whether in the great or the lesser ones, namely, in the bishops and the people. And he teaches that there is one price, one denarius, indeed for the smallest or the great, that is, they were redeemed by the perfect price of the blood of Christ. For also the Lat. intigritas. cfr John 14:27. c  Tyc. 2, 33, 6–13. d  The devil. e  cfr Rom 13:12. f  Tyc. 2, 34, 7–9. a 

b 

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apostles were prefigured in the barley, when the remainder of the miracle of Christ was twelve baskets,a which are the body of the bishops, and after the bishops they are called seven little basketsb which are the body of the septiform Church.c ‘A quart of wheat’ may also be interpreted as the contemplative part of the Church; ‘for one denarius’, that is, in the unity of the divinity, or in the unity of person in Christ from divinity and humanity; ‘and three quarts of barley’, that is, the active part of the Church; ‘for one denarius’, that is, as we have written above. Moreover, the contemplative part of the Church is called ‘one quart’ because it believes in the unity of the divinity; and the active part of the Church is called ‘three quarts’ because it believes in the teaching of the Trinity; but nevertheless the contemplative part of the Church holds the faith of the Trinity and the active part of the Church believes in the unity of the divinity.d do not harm the wine and the oil. That which is strict in our teaching, do not make sweet; and what is sweet in our teaching do not make strict. ‘The wine’ may also be interpreted as everyone who drinks the blood of Christ and the wine of the gospel. ‘And the oil’, that is, do not harm the baptized Church, since oil is understood for baptism, and do not harm my priests anointed with oil, and do not harm the oil of the Holy Spirit, oil which is spoken in relationship to the heart of each one.e 8. and behold, a  pale horse, that is, hypocriticalf people, false brothers,g who are neither white, that is, Christians, nor black, that is, heretics. [its rider’s] name [was] death, that is, the devil, about whom it is said: Death, where is your sting (1 Cor 15:55)? He brings death to many,h as Christ brings life to others. hades followed him, that is, the people who follow the devil are [called] Hades, because Hades follows them.i Moreover, these cfr Matt 14:20. Lat. sportae. c  Tyc. 2, 34, 14–15.22–25.28–31. d  Tyc. 2, 34, 16–17.20–22. e  Tyc. 2, 34, 13–14. f  Lat. fictus. g  Tyc. 2, 35, 9. h  Tyc. 2, 35, 37–38. i  Tyc. 2, 35, 49. a 

b 

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Chapter Six, 8–9

three horses are one and they have one rider, the devil.a he was given power over a fourth part of the earth. The whole earth, that is, all people, are divided into two parts, the people of God and the people of the devil. Moreover, the people of the devil are divided into three parts, that is, into persecutors and heretics and false brothers. And those are the fourth part of the earth over which the devil has power, that is, the power of attackingb the Church;c he also has the power of servitude over his people. to kill with the sword,  etc. According to a literal understanding, persecutors [make war] against the Church [with a sword];d and spiritually understood, persecutors and heretics and false brothers will receive a sword, that is, retribution, upon themselves. with famine, that is, with spiritual famine, being without the word of God. with pestilence, that is, with the second death. by the wild beasts of the earth, that is, by evil mene fighting one another. 9. i saw under the altar, that is, under the highest deed of the martyrs. Or under the confession of faith. Or under heaven, because upon that [altar], spiritual sacrifices are offered by the Church. ‘I saw under the altar’ may also be interpreted as under the highest testament of Christ, because they were killed on account of the highest testament of Christ. Or under the high act of penitence. Or under the Church, because her children were killed under it. ‘I saw under the altar’ may also be interpreted as under the earth, which is an altar, when it was said: You will make for me an altar of earth (Exod 20:24). And under that earth souls cry out, as is [written]: The blood of your brother is crying out to me from the earth (Gen 4:10), because in that place in which the blood of bodies is poured out, the souls that were in the blood cry out to God, as is [written]: For the soul of all flesh is in the blood (Lev 17:14). of those killed, that is, of the martyrs.f Tyc. 2, 35, 36–37. Lat. offensionis. c  Tyc. 2, 35, 6–19.26. d  Tyc. 2, 35, 28–29. e  Tyc. 2, 35, 33. f  Tyc. 2, 36, 8–18. a 

b 

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Chapter Six, 10–13

10. how long before you will judge and avenge our blood. How do they say this when they have been commanded to love their enemies?a Namely, they fulfiled the commandment when they were in the present life, but when their souls went out from their bodies to God, they seek what he loves, that is, equity in judgement and vindication of iniquity.b ‘How long before you will judge and avenge’ may also be interpreted as if they had said openly, ‘How long, O Lord, until these will come into faith, these who have shed our blood, so that [once coming to faith] their blood [also] would be shed in martyrdom’. 11. they were each given a white robe, that is, to each pure merits. Moreover, after death the saints have a single robe, since they receive beatitude only of the soul; but at the end of the world they will have two beatitudes, since they will have with beatitude of the soul, the glory of the flesh.c 12. the sixth seal—in every sixth number is represented the time of Antichrist. behold, there was a great earthquake, that is, a movement of believers from the faith in the persecution of Antichrist and a conversion of unbelievers to the faith in that persecution. and the sun became black, that is, the Church became black through the teaching of heretics. ‘The sun became black’ may also be interpreted as the Church that was established in grief, which is called black because of those who departed into unbelief. Or the Church is called black from the darkness of the persecution. as sackcloth, that is, because [sackcloth] is black, or because it is a sign of grief. the full moon became like blood, that is, the Church, whose blood will have been shed in martyrdom in the time of Antichrist. And ‘the full’ is said because there will not be any part of the Church that does not experience that persecution.d 13. the stars of the sky fell, that is, those who are [shining] with the brightness of the stars in the Church. to the earth, that is, into denial [of Christ]. as a fig tree sheds cfr Matt 5:44. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Iob 2, 11. CC SL 143: 66. c  Gregory the Great, Moralia in Iob 35, 13. CC SL 143B: 1789–90. d  Tyc. 2, 37, 11–12. a 

b 

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its winter fruit. Moreover, he compared the fig tree to the Church, and the great wind to persecution, which causes men to be cut off from the Church.a 14. the sky vanished like a scroll that is rolled up. Moreover, understand the Church, which now he calls the sky.b And it is said ‘like a scroll that is rolled up’ because it is generally knownc that with a rolled up scroll one does not understand the things that are written in it; so also the Church will be rolled up in the last time of persecution, that is, it will be separated from everyone so that men will not be able to know the things that will be in it.d every mountain, that is, everyone elevated in good work. islands, that is, the Churches which are vexed by trials. were removed from their place, that is, from the place of faith. Or, they will flee in persecution.e 15. kings, that is, those who rule their body. princes, that is, those who have dominion over their souls. generals, that is, those who render good things. rich, that is, in good virtues. powerful, that is, in good, slave, that is, serving God. free, that is, freed from the devil. in the caves, that is, in the mystical teaching of Holy Scripture. ‘In the caves’, may also be interpreted as ‘in the examples of Christ’. among the rocks, that is, among those who are robust in good work. of the mountains, that is, of the apostles or of the teachers. 16. to the mountains, that is, to those elevated in faith. to the rocks, that is, to those strong in works. fall on us, that is, as if he had said ‘Defend [us]’,f that is, preach to us, so that we do not deny [Christ]. hide us, that his wrath should not come upon us for denial. ‘Kings of the earth and princes’ may also be understood as those things which follow from heretics, spoken through similarity to the Church.

Tyc. 2, 38, 1–4. Tyc. 2, 39, 1–2. c  Lat. mos est. d  Tyc. 2, 39, 1–3. e  Tyc. 2, 40, 1–6. f  Tyc. 2, 43, 4–6. a 

b 

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1. after this i saw—now he recapitulatesa—four angels holding back the four winds. Moreover, the four angels are the same as the winds, as if he were saying, ‘I saw four angels holding back four angels’ or ‘I saw four winds holding back four winds’.b The four angels mentioned here and the four winds represent the fourfold teaching of evil teachers, [teaching] that is contradicted by the fourfold gospel. Moreover, these angels, that is evil teachers, hold themselves back so that their teaching does not influence men when they see that they have been conquered by divine power. on the earth, that is, on carnal men, who are lesser in merit, nor on the sea, that is, on holy teachers profound in the wisdom of God, against any tree, that is, against those who produce good fruit. ‘I saw four angels’ may also be interpreted as the entire fourfold Church, because of the fourfold gospel, which was poured out upon it, and because it is extended throughout the four parts of the world; and it is called an angel because it announces. ‘Holding back the four winds of the earth’, that is, the fourfold inspiration of the teaching of the devil, which is fourfold because it inspires [those against] the fourfold Church. ‘Four winds’ may also be interpreted as four persecutions—judiciary persecution, persecution by false brothers, by heathen, and by schismatics. Moreover, ‘holding’ is written, indicating that the Church is stronger than these persecutors. that no wind a  b 

Tyc. 2, 43, 87–88. Tyc. 2, 44, 3–6.

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might blow. This indicates that the teaching of the devil is a unity although it is said to be fourfold. ‘On the earth’, that is, on those who are near to good fruit; ‘on the sea’, that is, on the heathens, who are bitter in their heathenness; ‘against any tree’, that is, against those who are near to good fruit, but their work is higher than those who are named by the term ‘earth’. ‘On the earth’ may also be interpreted as ‘on earthly men’; ‘on the sea’, that is, on men bitter in sin; ‘against any tree’, that is, against unfruitful men. ‘Four angels’ may also be interpreted as the fourfold teachers of the devil; ‘holding back the four winds’, that is, the fourfold teaching of the Catholic teachers of the Church, which is called a wind because it inspires faith in the dry hearts of the faithful. 2. i saw another angel, that is, Christ or the Church.a from the rising of the sun, that is, from the nativity of Christ or from the passion.b having the seal, that is, the cross and the resurrection. of the living god, that is, because he is God, because no one except the Son of God was able to create this seal. ‘Having the seal of the living God’ may also be interpreted as the Church, which has the seal of the living God when she seals the sign of the cross of Christ on her forehead. 3. until we have sealed, that is, in baptism. 4. a  hundred and forty-four thousand. For the infinite number of the faithful is contained in this finite number.c out of every tribe, that is, because the faithful are numbered from them. Just as the twelve tribes of the children of Israel were derived from the twelve sons of Jacob, so also the number of the faithful is taken from the twelve apostles, who are called the children of Christ. 5. from the tribe of judah twelve thousand sealed. Here, twelve thousand from every tribe are enumerated through which are signified the virgins of the Church, which was built upon the twelve tribes of Israel. Or, the faithful who from Israel will merit life are signified. Or, this indicates those who fulfil the Tyc. 2, 46, 2–3. Tyc. 2, 46, 3. c  cfr  Primasius of Hadrumetum, Commentarius in Apocalypsin (CC  SL 92: 108). a 

b 

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Chapter Seven, 5–11

teaching of the twelve apostles from Israel. Moreover, here Dan is not named because it is thought that from that [tribe] the son of perdition,a who is Antichrist [will come].b Or, he is not named because Dan is interpreted ‘judgement’,c through whom are signified those who will perish in the judgement whose names are not written in the book of life (Rev 17:8). Or, Dan is not named because [he signifies] the Catholic Church that will not be condemned in the future judgement. 9. a great multitude, that is, the whole multitude of the faithful. that no one could number. How can this be, when previouslyd he numbered it? [This is written] for the multitude of the faithful passed over in that number.e from every nation, that is, because the aforementioned multitudef is thought to be from Israel, but this multitude is from every nation.g standing before the throne—here is indicated the coming of the faithful into the Church through baptism. white robes, that is, bodies purified through baptism. Or, good virtues, as is in the passage: Clothe yourselves with the new self (Eph 4:24), or good merits. with palm branches in their hands, that is, their victory over the devil and over vices, in their deeds. ‘Palm branches’ may also be interpreted as ‘rewards’; ‘in their hands’, that is, in their deeds, that is, aside from fasting and prayer. 10. with a loud voice, that is, he indicates fortitude in faith. salvation to our god, that is, they give thanks for their salvation through baptism, as is in the passage: O saviour of those who hope in you (Ps 16:7). 11. all the angels, that is, preachers. and they fell, that is, so that they might pray to God for the Church. on their faces, that is, he indicates the foreseen future. But if they had fallen cfr 2 Thess 2:3. This belief was based on Gen 49:17 and Jer 8:16, and was the view of numerous early exegetes. See F. X. Gumerlock, Early Latin Commentaries, 89 n. 136. c  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. d  In Rev 7:4–8. e  The 144,000. f  cfr Rev 17:4–8. g  Tyc. 2, 49, 7–9. a 

b 

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Chapter Seven, 11–16

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backward, he would have signified those adhering to the world and the devil and hell. 13. then one of the elders addressed me, that is, the order of teachers asks the Church under it what this is, what it was, and what it will be. Moreover, John here is a figure of the subordinate Church. ‘Then one of the elders’ signifies the teachers. who are these and from where have they come? That is, [it applies] to every teacher. He ought to ask his students and those under him what is necessary for them to know, and thus he ought to say to those under him and to his students ‘Lord, you know who they are and from where they have come’.a Speak in the ways in which God speaks, that is, in three ways, that is, through the body as the body of the angel is, and through a voice expressed from the air, as this is my beloved Son, (Matt 3:17) and through a vision, that is, when he awakens the mind of each one by compunction of heart. 14. these are they who have come out of the great tribulation, that is, from the struggles of the sin of Adam or from the heathen world or [from] persecution and temptation. they have washed their robes, that is, all Catholics, dazzling white and baptized in the blood of the lamb, not as some think, that they are exclusively the martyrs, but the entire Church, for, he did not say ‘in their own blood’ but ‘in the blood of the Lamb’, that is, in the grace of God through Christ, as it is written: The blood of his Son cleanses us (1 John 1:7).b 15. therefore, they are before the throne of god, that is, in the Church, for these are the throne through whom God baptizes. day and night, here the zeal of servitude is signified. and the one who is seated on the throne, that is, over the Churchc or over the body of each saint. ‘The one who is seated’, for he is our head, and we his body. 16. they will neither hunger nor thirst, that is, because there will be for them what is food from the Scripture, and cfr John 21:15–16. Tyc. 2, 51, 6–11. c  Tyc. 2, 52, 1–4. a 

b 

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Chapter Seven, 16–17

what is drink, that is, what is simple teaching and what is mystical teaching; for the mystical teaching of Scripture is called food. ‘They will neither hunger nor thirst’ may also be interpreted as the Lord says: I am the bread of life. He who comes to me will not hunger, and he who believes in me will not thirst (John 6:35).a the sun will not strike them, that is, the prosperity of this world. nor any scorching heat, that is, of persecution and temptations. 17. he will guide them, that is, he is able to defend them. to springs of the water of life. ‘Springs’, that is, Isaiah and Jeremiah and Matthew and Mark, and all in whom the Holy Spirit spoke; ‘of the water’, that is, of the Scriptures; of life’, that is, of Christ who says: I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). and god will wipe away every tear from their eyes, that is, he will remove every hardship from them now and in the future.

a 

Tyc. 2, 53, 1–3.

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CHAPTER EIGHT

83

1. there was silence, that is, there was a silence of the worship of idols, when Christ came into the world. in heaven, that is, in the Church. for about half an hour, that is, because of the brevity of the time of the New Testament [age], since the time was more lengthy in the [age] of the Old Testament, in which idols were worshipped. ‘There was silence’ may also be interpreted as when the Church rests from persecution—it is a figure of the future rest. in heaven, that is, in the Church.a for about half an hour, that is, in comparison with the times of the life of the Church that goes on in persecution. ‘There was silence in heaven’ may also be interpreted as: they will have a rest from their tribulations when Enoch and Elijah will preach. For heaven is the Church, which in this night of present life contains within it innumerable powersb of the saints and shines with radiant stars from above. ‘About half an hour’, that is, because of the brevity of the time of Elijah and Enoch. ‘There was silence in heaven’ may also be interpreted as: the Church will rest from preaching in the time of Antichrist. ‘About half an hour’, that is, because the time of Antichrist is brief. 2. and i saw the seven angels, that is, the septiform Churchc of the Old Testament. standing before god, that is, indicating perseverance in faith. and seven trumpets were Tyc. 2, 58, 3–5. Lat. virtutes. c  Tyc. 3, 1, 1–2. a 

b 

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Chapter Eight, 2–6

given to them, that is, the septiform Scripture, which the Holy Spirit spoke, which is a trumpet, as is written about the preaching of that Scripture: Lift up your voice like a trumpet (Isa 58:1).a 3. and another angel came, that is, Christ.b before the altar, that is, before the Church.c golden censer, that is, his bodyd cleansed and tried through the fire of [his] passion. he was given much incense, that is, many prayers were given to Christ.e to offer up the prayers of all the saints, that is, because what we offer to Christ, he offers to the Father.f on the golden altar, that is, on the body of Christ or on the Church. before the throne, that is, before the Church. 4. smoke, that is, compunction of heart. from the hand of the angel, that is, from the power of Christ. 5. the angel took the censer, that is, Christ took flesh upon himself.g fire from the altar, that is, from divinity. and threw it on the earth, that is, he sent divine preaching to men. 6. the seven angels, who had the seven trumpets, made ready to blow them, that is, the Church of the Old Testament, although it had the septiform Scripture, did not make herself ready for divine preaching until Christ arrived.h (2.)i ‘I saw the seven angels’ may also be interpreted as the onej septiform Church of the New Testament; ‘seven trumpets’, that is, the teaching of the septiform Spirit. (3.) ‘Another angel’, that is, the higher Church because the seven angels carry a figure of the subordinate Church; ‘before the altar’, that is, before the Church; ‘golden censer’, that is, the body Tyc. 3, 1, 3–4. Tyc. 3, 2, 9–10. c  Tyc. 3, 2, 10–11. d  Tyc. 3, 3, 1–2. e  Tyc. 3, 4, 3–4. f  Tyc. 3, 4, 4–5. g  Lat. carnem suam, literally ‘his flesh’. h  Tyc. 3, 2, 5–10. i  From here to the beginning of the gloss on v. 7 comprises another long ‘aliter’ clause. See introduction supra. j  Lat. primam, literally ‘first’. a 

b 

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tried in temptations; ‘incense was given to him’, that is, the prayers of the [subordinate] Church are mutually given to the superior [Church]; ‘to offer up the prayers’, that is, the superior Church offers to God the prayer of the subordinate Church and its own prayer. (4.) ‘From the hand of the angel’, that is, from the power of the Church. (5.) ‘The angel took the censer’, that is, Christ received the body of the Church;a ‘he filled it from the fire of the altar’, that is, with the resplendent fire of the Holy Spirit. (7.) the first angel blew his trumpet, that is, the first order of teachers preached. and there came hail, that is, the weight of judgement. and fire, that is, the burning of judgement, mixed with blood, that is, mixed with humanity, because a man preached the weighty judgement and burning in the judgement. a third of the earth was burned up, that is, a third of mankind was burned in the judgement, since there are three divisions among men, that is, good teachers and good listeners and those who are neither good teachers nor good listeners, whom the judgement will burn. a  third of the trees—for what the earth is, this also is what the trees are,b but their work is higher, who are designated with the name of trees. and all green grass was burned up, that is, all flesh that is desirous of and weak in will toward gluttony and fornication will be burned by the judgement.c 8. the second angel blew his trumpet, that is, the second order of teachers preached, and the five angels who follow are understood to be the orders of teachers. and something like a great mountain, that is, the devil,d proud and haughty, burning with fire, which indicates that the devil will burn with perpetual punishments in the future. was thrown into the sea, that is, onto heathens bitter in their heathenness. a third of the sea became blood, that is, those who are neither teachTyc. 3, 5, 3–4. Tyc. 3, 10, 3–4. c  Tyc. 3, 10, 4–5. d  Tyc. 3, 11, 1–2. a 

b 

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ers nor listeners from the people who became blood, that is, who experienced judgement. 9. a third of the fish, that is, of the philosophers. who were living, that is, those who were alive in doing good, unless other evildoers had prevented them, to whom they consent. a  third of the birds, that is, astrologers are called by the name of birds. ‘A third of the birds’ may also be interpreted as birds of the kind that live near the sea.a Moreover ‘birds’, that is, those who fly about according to their desires.b 10. fell from heaven, that is, from the Church. a great star, that is, the Church of heresies; but it is called ‘great’ to indicate people of status.c blazing like a torch, for a torch is wood that is divided in the middle, but its two top parts are not divided and fire is put in the middle of it. And [when] it is in the hand of the one holding it, one who acts wickedly persecutes with it and kills his victimd and burns him. So also the teaching of heretics kills the souls of those who consent to it, and is consumed by fire in the judgement. of the rivers, that is, of men. on the springs of water, that is, onto the leaders of the peoples. 11. the name of the star is wormwood because the teaching of the Church of heresies is bitter and deadly to souls. many men died from the water, that is, the souls of many men have died from the evil teaching of heretics. 12. a third of the sun was struck, that is, a third of it was separated from the Catholic Church, since those who were of the same evil merit were separated from the Church. Moreover, it is called a third because of either the one [part that separated] or the two [parts that remained].e a third of the moon, that is, [a third] of the Church lesser in merit. a third of the stars, that is, [a third] of those diverse in merit. a third of the day was kept from shining, and likewise the night. Moreover, two thirds are in the Church, that is, two parts—a third of the Lat. maris, literally ‘of the sea’. Lat. qui volitant per voluntates. c  Lat. pro persona maiorum; Tyc. 3, 15, 1–4. d  Lat. eum. e  Lat. licet unus vel duo, literally ‘although one or two’. a 

b 

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day and a third of the night. Therefore, it was stricken because a third part of the day and a third part of the night, that is, the part that is Christ’s and the part that is the devil’s, might appear. For this [reason] it was stricken, that is, [it was] given over to its own desires so that its abundant sins may be revealed in due time.a 13. the voice of an eagle flying through mid-heaven. He calls the Church an eagle in mid-heaven, that is, [the Church] in the midst of itself running to and fro and preaching the plagues of the last time, that is, the Church of the commandments, which flies throughout the Church, which has been spread throughout the whole world.b ‘Voice of an eagle’ may also be interpreted as the voice of the whole Church, which is an eagle, in that an eagle flies in the sky higher than all the birds; so also the Church flies to contemplation of heaven more than all men. ‘Through mid-heaven’, that is, because neither the entire Church nor the entire earth is heaven, because the body from the earth has a heavenly associationc as Paul says: Our citizenship is in heaven (Phil 3:20). For this reason [the eagle] is said to fly through midheaven. ‘The voice of an eagle’ may also be interpreted as the voice of the preaching of Christ, who is an eagle in that he ascended into heaven. ‘Through mid-heaven’, that is, through the midst of the Church. with a loud voice, that is, because of the strength of its preaching.

Tyc. 3, 17, 7–14. Tyc. 3, 18, 4–6. c  Lat. conversationem. a 

b 

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1. i saw a star that had fallen from heaven to earth, that is, sinful people who [had fallen] from the Church or from the height of faith to the earth, that is, into denial [of Christ]. he was given the key to the shaft of the bottomless pit. Moreover, the star or the shaft and the bottomless pit are wicked men as David says: May the pit not shut its mouth upon me (Ps 68:16).a Therefore the star receives the key to the shaft, that is, the power of opening or closing of its heart. How is this interpretation [to be] understood? That is, when kings become Catholic and [enter] the Catholic Church, each has his own iniquity in his heart, but when that king dies, then his iniquity comes to light.b ‘The key to the shaft of the bottomless pit’ may also be interpreted as evil work; moreover the pit is the lower [region of] hell. 2. smoke rose from the shaft, that is, [smoke signifies] all things whatsoever that bring harm to the believersc of the Church. Like the smoke of a great furnace. Moreover, smoke comes before fire. So also it is that minor persecution, of which he now prophesies, precedes a great persecution, that is, the persecution of Antichrist,d since theye are similar to each other. the sun was darkened, that is, the Church is darkened by the persecuting Tyc. 3, 20, 1–5. Lat. erumpit foras. c  Lat. sensibus, or perhaps ‘interpretations’. d  Tyc. 3, 22, 6–8. e  i.e., the persecutions. a 

b 

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persecutors, as the sun is darkened by a cloud. and the air, that is, the Church is darkened by the smoke of its iniquity. 3. locusts came, that is, heretical men. For it is customary for locusts that they are noisy in their destruction. So also heretics are verbose in their teaching, and they livea in the destruction of their sins. on the earth, that is, on the earthly-minded Church. they were given power like the scorpions of the earth. Scorpions kill with their head and tail; so also heretics kill souls with their head when they openly teach heretical doctrine to them. And they kill with their tail when they persuade them into a small amount of sin. [This is done] in likeness to the devil, who kills with the head, that is, in [inspiring] openly evil work, and kills with the tail, when he harms men through pride in their good work. 4. they were told, that is, by the teachers of the Catholic Church. grass of the earth, that is, the subordinate Church. any green growth, that is, the higher Church. any tree, that is, those who bear fruit in them by each Church.b who do not have the seal on their foreheads, that is, in baptism, through which the cross of Christ is sealed on the foreheads of the faithful. 5. for five months, that is, for five years; for in the fifth year the torment was interrupted.c when it stings a man, that is, because a scorpion pours forth its poison into a man. So also heretics pour forth the poison of their teaching into the hearts of others. 6. men will seek death, that is, the faithful of the Church will seek death because of the trouble of the persecution, and death will flee from them, that is, he shows again the time

Lat. sunt. i.e., the subordinate and higher Church. c  Tyc. 3, 25, 2–3. According to Gryson, Tyconius interprets these torments as the Donatist persecution under Constantine from ad 316–21, which he understands as a presaging of the last persecution (Tyconius, Commentaire de l’Apocalypse, translated by R. Gryson, Corpus Christianorum in Translation 10 (Turnhout:Brepols, 2011), 132, n. 12; also Gumerlock, Early Latin Commentaries, 90, n. 161. a 

b 

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of the calamity.a ‘Men will seek death’ may also be interpreted as persecutors who will desire the sin of the murder of the saints, because the death [which persecutors will seek] is of their souls. and they will not find it, that is, because they will not be allowed by the Lord to fulfil what they desire. 7. in appearance the locusts, that is, they appear as the many men of the heretics. were like horses, that is, like the last persecutors who will be in the time of Antichrist.b arrayed for battle, that is, against the Church of God. like [crowns] of gold, because the twenty-four elders, that is, the whole Catholic Church, had golden crowns. These moreover have [something] like crowns similar to gold in imitation of the Church,c since the crowns are not [truly] gold nor are their teachings true. and their faces were like human faces, because they indeed imitate humanity since they teach pleasing things to men. 8. and they had the hair of women, that is, [they had] many disciples. Or, their understandings of Scriptured are grave heresies in doctrine. Or, their desires are effeminatee in the likeness of women.f and their teeth like lions’ teeth, that is, strong teachers for the devouring of the souls of the saints.g Or, the understandings of Scripture of those heretics. Or, their teaching is sharp and strong. 9. they had scales like iron breastplates, that is, iron hearts and chests for resisting virtues. ‘They had scales’, etc. may also be interpreted as the power of shaking off and defence. and the noise of their wings, that is, the noise of their discourses.h like the noise of chariots. For a chariot is one thing formed from many [parts]; so also there are many heretics

Tyc. 3, 28, 1–2. Tyc. 3, 29, 2–3. c  Tyc. 3, 30, 1–3. d  Lat. sensus. e  Lat. molles, or ‘soft’, ‘delicate’. f  cfr Tyc. 3, 31, 2–3. g  Tyc. 3, 32, 1–2. h  Tyc. 3, 34, 2–3. a 

b 

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that form one body. rushing into battle, that is, the last battlea of the persecution of Antichrist. 10. they had tails, that is, leadersb who cause harm with their tail in that they look behind, that is, to the world. like scorpions, that is, as a scorpion greatly harms men after its death, so also heretics harm men by their examples after their death. and stingers in their tails, that is, the discourses of leaders who pour out harmful poison into the souls of men, and whose discourses lacerate souls as a stinger lacerates. five months, that is, he says five for the whole time of the five year persecution that happened especially in Africa.c 11. the angel, that is, the devil,d of the bottomless pit, that is, wicked peoplee robbing souls of life, whose name in hebrew is abaddon. Moreover, this is named in three languages, that is, exhorting men of each language. 13. then the sixth angel blew his trumpet. Moreover, the seven angels about which he speaks comprise the whole space of time from the nativity of Christ up to the end of the world. Moreover, some say that each [angel] would be in part of the world at one time, which we do not believe. Rather, they were [sent] according to [chronological] order, and each one is distinguished in its own time, and the sixth angel symbolizes the persecution of Antichrist.f Moreover, the seventh angel symbolizes the time that will be before the judgement, as in that [passage]: When men say ‘there is peace and security’,  etc. (1  Thess 5:3). and i heard one [voice], that is, Christ, from the horns, that is, from the strong, of the golden altar, that is, of the Catholic Church,g because no other altar, such as the Church of heresy, is golden.

a  b 

ers.

Tyc. 3, 34, 3. Lat. principes, which in this context seems to refer to heretical religious lead-

Tyc. 3, 35, 7–8. See supra p. 90, note c. Tyc. 3, 36, 1–2. e  Tyc. 3, 36, 2–3. f  Tyc. 3, 37, 3–4. g  Tyc. 3, 38, 13–14. c 

d 

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which is before the eyes of god, since the other Church, that is, of heresy, would not be as before the eyes of the Lord. 14. to the sixth angel, that is, to the order of teachers, who had the trumpet, that is, preaching.a release, that is, preach, because they will be released through preaching during the persecution of the whole Church. the four angels, that is, the devil with those who are his own. Moreover, the reason why four angels are mentioned is because of the four persecutions that occur through themb in the four parts of the earth. who are bound, that is, from the time when the Lord suffered, the devil was bound in his bodyc as the Lord says in the Gospel: No one can enter a strong man’s house unless he first binds the strong mand (Matt 12:29). in the great river euphrates, that is, in wicked people who run about throughout the whole world for the persecutione of the Church. Moreover, wicked people are compared to the Euphrates for their inundation in wickedness. Those who are bound are released at another time—when God does not permit them to persecute the Church, they are bound, but they are released when he permits them to persecute the Church. 15. so the four angels were released, that is, the persecution has begun. who had been held ready for the hour, the day, the month, and the year. This is the time of the three and a half year persecution of Antichrist, because an hour is interpreted as half a year, and a day and a month and a year are interpreted as three years. Moreover, they are said to have been ‘held ready’ because from the time in which the third part of the sun was stricken, they were prepared, that is, for the purpose of showing what the third part of the day and the third part of the night was.f to kill a third of mankind, that is, according to a literal understanding, that they might kill those heretical teach-

Tyc. 3, 38, 20–21. The four angels. c  Meaning the devil was confined to his own followers. d  Tyc. 2, 47, 9–12; 3, 38, 24–25. e  Tyc. 3, 38, 23–24. f  Tyc. 3, 39, 1–7. a 

b 

93

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ers or listeners who are not truly the Church.a ‘To kill a third of mankind’ may also be interpreted as that they might spiritually kill those who consent to themb when they capture their souls. 16. the number of the troops [of cavalry]. Moreover, horses, that is, men, and riders, that is, evil spirits. two hundred million, that is, he shows the innumerable people of the heretics in a likeness of the Church, whose number is computed as one hundred and forty-four thousand. ‘Troops’ may also be interpreted as heretics, but the horses are persecutors because they are quick in the persecution of the Church. 17. wearing breastplates the colour of fire, that is, fiery defences. With these they prepare for the fire of the judgement. ‘Breastplates’ may also be interpreted as hearts hardened against love. ‘The colour of fire’ signifies the fire of evil desire. and of sulphur, for sulphur is putrid fire, which indicates perseverance in sin and indicates severe judgement after death. and the heads of the horses, that is, the rulers of the persecutions.c like lions’ heads, that is, [written] for the strength of those rulers, and because they gnaw souls to pieces. from their mouths, that is, from their teaching. fire and smoke and sulphur issued,d that is, their words to men are fire and smoke and sulphur, that is, representing the magnitude of the judgement. 19. for the power of the horses is in their mouths and in their tails, that is, in their words and practice.e ‘In their mouths’ may also be interpreted as in rulers and kings, because everything that they command is carried out; ‘in their tails’, that is, in false prophets and in deceitful teachers, who are tails in that they cling to the world. having heads, that is, kings and rulers, and with them they inflict harm, that is, because they are not able to inflict harm without the authority of kings and rulers.f Lat. nec apud semetipsos, literally ‘not among themselves’. i.e. the heretical teachers or listeners. c  Tyc. 3, 45, 3; 3, 47, 2. d  Tyc. 3, 44, 1–4. e  Lat. officio; Tyc. 3, 46, 1–2. f  Tyc. 3, 47, 1–4. a 

b 

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20. the rest of mankind who were not killed. For in that persecution the heathen are not compelled to consent, but die in their unbelief.a But what profit is in their not being killed, when he says: they did not repent of the works of their hands,b that is, of the worship of idols?

a  b 

Tyc. 3, 48, 13–15. Tyc. 3, 48, 6–8.

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CHAPTER TEN

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1. then i saw another angel. Now he recapitulates and this is interjected between the sixth and seventh angel.a ‘Another angel’, that is, Christ.b mighty, that is, in giving help to the Church. coming down from heaven, that is, for the assumption of flesh Christ descended from heaven, that he might take on flesh. wrapped in a cloud, that is, with his own body or with the people of the saints, for concerning the saints it is said through the prophet Isaiah: Who are these that fly like clouds (Is 60:8)?c ‘Wrapped in a cloud’ may also be interpreted as [wrapped] in holy work. with a rainbow, that is, the promise of perseverance for the Church.d on his head, that is, with divinity. his face was like the sun, that is, he indicates the brightness in which the Church shines in his leadership up to the time of the persecution of Antichrist. his legs like pillars of fire, that is, he indicates the testing of the Church in the last times through Antichrist.e ‘His face was like the sun’ may also be interpreted as the contemplative [part of the] Church; ‘and his legs’ as the subordinate Church, that is, the active [part of the] Church.f

Tyc. 3, 49, 2–4. Tyc. 3, 50, 1–2. c  Tyc. 3, 50, 5–7. d  Tyc. 3, 51, 1–2. e  Tyc. 3, 52, 1–7. f  The theoretica/actualis distinction is between cloistered monastics and the active part of the Church. See p. 42, note b supra. a 

b 

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2. in his hand, that is, in his power, an open scroll, that is, both testaments. and he set his right foot on the sea, that is, it is obligatory for every ruler to put the stronger members of the Church in greater dangers. and his left foot on the land, that is, those lesser in merit, who are weak,a are to be put in places that are removed from the trials. 3. and he called out with a loud voice, that is, he preached boldly.b like a lion roaring, this is [written] for the strength of the voice of a lion and for the strength of the preaching of Christ. the seven thunders sounded, that is, the seven angels, who are understood as teachers of the septiform Spirit, ‘sounded’; because Christ preached they also preached. 4. i  was about to write, that is, clearly. seal up the things that were said, for he was about to write down the words that he saw. Because of this it was said to him that he should not write down just as he heard, but [should write] in another way through allegory, lest the things written down would be disclosed without concealment,c as if he wanted him to write without concealment. and do not write them down, that is, clearly, without concealment. 6. by him who lives, that is, through God. who created heaven, that is, here he exalts divine power. 7. in the days of the [trumpet] call of the seventh angel. For the seventh angel is the last Churchd because the last trumpet is the end of the world, as the apostle says that the resurrection will take place at the last trumpet.e every mystery of god will be fulfiled, that is, every prophet who prophesied will be fulfiled at that time. ‘Every mystery of God’ may also be interpreted as the consummation of the world and the judgement, because the merit of each person is a mystery all the way up to the judgement.

Tyc. 3, 54, 1–4. Tyc. 3, 55, 1–2. c  Tyc. 3, 56, 2–8. d  Meaning the Church in the end times. e  cfr 1 Cor 15:52; Tyc. 3, 57, 6–8. a 

b 

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8. then the first voice which i had heard from heaven, that is, when Christ rose, certain good mysteries [were heard] in the inward parts of the Church. ‘I heard’, that is, John speaks from the person of the Church. said ‘go’, that is, the authority of the Lord commands the heart of the Church to go out and receive the whole canon from the power of Christ.a 9. so i went to the angel, that is, John speaks from the person of the Church, going out to consume the entire Scripture from the power of Christ. take it and eat, that is, ingest it in your inward parts.b it will be bitter, that is, because of incomplete work, because the gate is narrow.c to your stomach, that is, to your soul. in your mouth it will be sweet, that is, when you teach others, it will be sweet to them when heard, but if you say to them ‘do it’, it will be bitter to them.d as honey, for about the divine word it is said: How sweet are your words to my taste, Lord, sweeter than honey to my mouth (Ps 118:103)! 11. you must prophesy again, not that the Church ceased from preaching, but he describes the time that is going to be after the African persecutions.e ‘You must prophesy again’ also ought [to refer] to the Church. When it has greater wisdom it ought to teach more than it taught when it had less wisdom.

Tyc. 3, 58, 5–7. Tyc. 3, 59, 2–3. c  cfr Matt 7:13. d  Tyc. 3, 59, 5–7. e  Tyc. 3, 60, 7–10. a 

b 

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1. i  was given a measuring reed,a that is, divine wisdom, which is called a reed because it is written with a rod. like a staff, that is, because of the correction that is in wisdom; for with a staff servants are corrected. ‘I was given a measuring reed’ may also be interpreted as human nature, which is called a reed because a reed is easily moved here and there by the wind.b So is human nature: it is able to move towards either good or evil. ‘Like a staff’—he did not call human nature a staff, but said that it is similar to a staff, because human nature, if it is disciplined, is not [that way] customarily, but through resemblance [to a staff]. ‘Was given’, that is, by an angel. rise and measure the temple of god, that is, now he incites the Churchc to judge the works of each one within the Church. ‘Rise and measure’ may also be interpreted to mean: preach so that each one within the Church may perform [the duties of] his status, as the wisdom of God teaches, neither greater nor lesser. ‘The temple of God’, that is, the whole Church. Moreover, the posterior part of the temple indicates those lesser in merit in the Church, and the eastern part, that is, the sanctuary, indicates the Church greater in merit. In the sanctuary is where the Scripture is [kept, the same place] as [where] the holy vessels used to be. and the altar, that is, the high priests a  Lat. calamus; normally translated as ‘rod’ but I have chosen to render as ‘reed’ as this aligns better with the text of the commentary. b  cfr Matt 11:7; Luke 7:24. c  Tyc. 3, 61, 3–4.

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Chapter Eleven, 1–4

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or the contemplative Church. and those who worship in it, that is, the subordinate Church. ‘And those who worship in it’ may also mean that not all who are seen in it are worshipping in it. 2. but the courtyard that is outside the temple, that is, the Church of heresy, for a courtyard was an empty place. So also are those who are outside the Church. ‘Outside’, that is, because it is not joined to the Church except in form only.a do not measure it, that is, do not teach [them], as it is written: Do not give what is holy to dogs (Matt 7:6). for it is given over to the nations, that is, a part of the nations. they will trample over the holy city, that is, the nations with their courtyard, that is, with the Church of heresy, will trample over the holy Catholic Church.b for forty two months, that is, here he reckons the whole time of the persecution of Antichrist. 3. and i shall grant my two witnesses, that is, Elijah and Enoch, as some say, or the Church, which testifies from the two laws. power to prophesy, that is, in the time of the persecution of Antichrist. In another manner, you must prophesy again (Rev 10:11) is fulfiled in ‘power to prophesy’. ‘I shall grant’— he did not say ‘I shall make witnesses for myself’ as if they did not exist, but ‘I shall grant my two witnesses’, because they are [already] present. for one thousand two hundred and sixty days. He is not speaking about the time of the last persecution, but [the time] of future peace and of the whole time from the passion of the Lord.c clothed in sackcloth, that is, indicating the work of repentance.d 4. these are the two olive trees, that is, Elijah and Enoch, or the Church on account of its two testaments.e Or there are ‘two olive trees’, that is, the teachers and leaders of the Churches, from which flows oil, that is, commandment. the two lampstands, that is, Elijah and Enoch or the Church which is called

Tyc. 3, 62, 3–4. cfr Tyc. 3, 63, 1–3. c  Tyc. 3, 64, 2–3. d  cfr Tyc. 3, 65, 1. e  Tyc. 3, 66, 4. a 

b 

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by many names, as seven lampstandsa and seven stars and two witnesses and two olive trees and two lampstands. which stand, that is, indicating perseverance in virtues. 5. fire pours from their mouth and consumes their foes. That is, if anyone harms the Church, through prayers he will be consumed in the judgement by the divine fire of its mouth.b ‘Fire pours’ may also be interpreted as fiery preaching; ‘and consumes their foes’ as the vices of their enemies [that] will be burned up. Or, it should not be denied that fire will descend upon their enemies, if they choose, as what happened with Elijah.c 6. they have power to shut the sky, that is, the two aforementioned witnesses [have the power] ‘to shut the sky’, as the sky was shut by Elijah,d so that rain did not come upon the land. ‘To shut the sky’ may also be interpreted as the Church, which has the power to close herself so that reprobates do not enter into her and so that the rains of spiritual teaching do not descend onto [reprobate] men.e over the waters, that is, over the Scriptures; to turn them into blood, that is, in the judgement, when what they preach is not fulfiled [in deeds]. ‘Over the waters’ may also be interpreted as over heretical teachings, and ‘to turn them into blood’, as [to turn them] into something loathsome. 7. and when they have finished [their] testimony, that is, when they have completed giving testimony; for it shows clearly that all the testaments are to be fulfiled before the last persecution.f the beast that will ascend, that is, the false prophets and false teachers; from the bottomless pit, that is, the twog from wicked people. ‘Beast’ may also be interpreted as the devil in the Antichrist. Moreover, they do not call him a beast, but say that he is the Holy Spirit.h and will conquer them, cfr Tyc. 3, 66, 4–8. Tyc. 3, 67, 3–4. c  cfr 2 Kgs 1:10–12. d  cfr 1 Kgs 17:1. e  Tyc. 3, 68, 8–9. f  Tyc. 3, 69, 2–3. g  False prophets and false teachers. h  cfr Tyc. 6, 7, 3–5. a 

b 

101

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Chapter Eleven, 7–12

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that is, if he is unable to conquer them by [causing them] to deny [Christ], he is nevertheless able to conquer them through death. 8. of the great city, that is, of the whole world, which is spiritually called sodom, not because it is the literal Sodom, but because of its similitude in morals. and egypt, for Egypt is interpreted ‘darkness’a and pertains to the world, in which exists the darkness of sins and ignorance. 9. for three and a half days,b that is, for the three and a half years of the persecution of Antichrist. Or, in this finite number is contained the boundless time from the nativity of Christ until the end of the world. they will not allow their bodies to be placed in tombs, that is, [they will not allow] monasteries to be built in the places in which their bodies have been buried. Or ‘they will not allow their bodies to be placed in tombs’, that is, they will not allow that they themselves, after their death, be [put] in the places in which theyc were buried in the world. 10. they will rejoice over them. For as often as the righteous are afflicted, the unrighteous rejoice.d these two prophets, that is, the aforementioned Church, had been a torment to them, that is, by their good deeds. 11. the breath of life entered into them, that is, the faithful will rise again after the slaughter of others in martyrdom. ‘Breath of life,’ that is, when they will be returned to their [state of] initial freedom, ‘into them,’ that is, [into] the faithful, or into the dead according to a literal understanding. they stood up on their feet, that is, those faithful in preaching, or the dead in the resurrection. great fear fell upon them, that is, upon unbelievers in fear of the growing Church, or in fear of the vision of the saints in the kingdom, because of jealousy. 12. they heard a loud voice, that is, the voice of teachers, from heaven, that is, from the Church. come up! That is, [you] faithful [come up] in faith, here, that is, into the Church. and a  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Acts, Jude, Heb. CC SL 72: 143, 151, 156. b  Tyc. 3, 73, 2–3. c  The witnesses, or symbolically the members of the Church. d  Tyc. 3, 74, 4.

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they went up, that is, they believed. to heaven, that is, into the Church. in a cloud, meaning, the multitude of the faithful. ‘They heard a loud voice from heaven’ may also be interpreted as the voice of the teachers of the Church inviting the subordinate Church into the contemplative life, or the voice of the archangel.a And ‘they went up to heaven in a cloud’ is what the apostle says: We shall be caught up in the clouds to meet Christ (1 Thess 4:17).b 13. a tenth of the city fell, that is, from the beginning of the persecution until the end of the world a tenth of the Church fell into denial [of Christ]. And those who fell are called a tenth because the number ten symbolizes the Church in the ten words of the lawc from which they fell. Or, this is understood as being fulfiled in the judgement. seven thousand, that is, he put a finite [number] for the infinite. Or ‘seven thousand’ is said for this reason, since they fell from the Church, because the number seven symbolizes the Church from which they fell. and the rest were terrified with fear, that is, for fear that they would deny [Christ] in the persecution, they were sent into flight. ‘The rest were terrified with fear’ may also be interpreted as the Church, which, about to see those falling in the judgement, will greatly fear concerning them. they gave glory to god, that is, for this aforementioned deed. 15. there were loud voices in heaven, that is, the voices of the saints teaching in the Church. moreover, the kingdom of this world has become [the kingdom] of our lord, since he put down the power of the devil from the world. Or, this is understood as fulfiled through the [second] coming of Christ in the new [heaven and earth], or in the judgement. 16. and the twenty-four elders, that is, the successors of the commandmentsd and the whole Church. [fell] on their faces, that is, indicating true penitence and foreknowledge of the future. cfr 1 Thess 4:16. Tyc. 3, 78, 3–5. c  That is, the ten commandments. d  Meaning, the apostles who received the commandments of Jesus. a 

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17. your great power, that is, the salvation of the world, and you have begun to reign, that is, in the first coming. 18. but your wrath has come, that is, in the second coming. Moreover, this is the last woe.a for the prophets, that is, for the teachers, and for the saints, that is, for the listeners, smaller, that is, in merit. and for the great, that is, in merit, each one according to his rank. for destroying those, that is, heretics, who corrupt the earth, that is [who corrupt] the Church and their own bodies in sin. 19. then was opened. Now he recapitulates fromb the nativity of the Lord and is going to say the same things in another way.c ‘Was opened’, that is, was shown. the temple of god, that is, the body of Christ, in heaven, that is, in the Church. the ark of his covenant, that is, the entire Scripture.d ‘The temple of God was opened’ may also be interpreted as the body of Mary in the nativity of Christ, ‘which is in heaven’, that is, in the Church. ‘Ark of the covenant’, that is, the flesh of Christ. ‘The temple of God was opened’ may also mean that the Church was opened. For the ‘temple’ and ‘heaven’ are the Church which has many names for this one thing. and the ark was seen, that is, the Churche appeared, which is called an ark because the rod of Moses, which was in the ark,f signifies discipline in the Church.

cfr Rev 11:14; Tyc. 3, 84, 13–16.21. Lat. ad corrected to a or ‘from’; Tyc. 4, 1, 1. See p. 61, note c supra. c  Tyc. 4, 1, 1–2. d  Tyc. 4, 2, 1–2. e  Tyc. 4, 3, 2. f  cfr Heb 9:4. a 

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1. a great portent appeared. Truly this is a great portent, that God became man. in heaven, that is, in the Church.a a woman, that is, the Church, clothed with the sun, that is, [clothed] with Christ.b For just as [one clothes] his own body, so also Christ clothed the Church with good virtues, that is, in baptism and faith and love. ‘Clothed with the sun’ may also be interpreted as the entire Church, which is clothed by those who are the highest in it. the moon under her feet, that is, the Church which is lower,c subject to the other [part of the] Church. ‘A great portent appeared in heaven’ may also be interpreted as the Church in a heavenly lifestyle. Or ‘in heaven’, that is, in itself. ‘Woman clothed with the sun’, that is, one general thing divided into many parts, which are one, as if he had said ‘a woman clothed with the sun and a woman under her feet’ or ‘a moon clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet’.d For what the temple is, that is heaven and this woman and this moon.e and on her head, that is, on Christ, a crown of twelve stars, that is, the twelve apostles who lived with Christ. Or, the twelve tribes Tyc. 4, 5, 2–4. cfr Gal 3:27. c  Referencing the lay people and lower ecclesiastics who are under the authority of those in higher positions within the Church. d  the author is quoting from Tyconius, invoking his fourth rule of interpretation De specie et genere / ‘On the general and the particular’. See Gumerlock and Robinson, Tyconius: Exposition of the Apocalypse, 121, n. 5. e  Tyc. 4, 6, 1–6. a 

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of Israel,a who believed in Christ. ‘On her head’, etc., may also be about Mary—many teachers have handed down that at the endb of her life each of the twelve apostles came from their own region, so that they were [able to be] next to her in death and near her burial.c ‘On her head’ may also be interpreted as ‘on the rulers of the Church’; ‘crowns’, that is, the Church that is foreshadowed in the twelve tribes of Jacob. 2. she was pregnant, that is, Christ or those whom he conceives through the doing of penance. and she cried out in birth pangs, that is, in the custom of a woman giving birth. It indicates the labour of giving birth to the Church.d and she was in anguish,e that is, she is not able to give birth without labour. 3. and another portent appeared in heaven, that is, [it appeared] because of its contrary behaviour toward the Church. a great dragon, that is, the devilf in the body of heretics. red, because of his shedding of the blood of bodies and [destruction] of souls. with seven heads, that is, seven kings, and ten horns, that is, ten kingdoms.g seven diadems, that is, the dominion of those kings or their evil works. ‘Seven heads and ten horns’ may also be interpreted as heretics, who are said to have seven heads and ten horns because of their similarity to the Church, which is [symbolized] by the numbers seven and ten. 4. his tail, that is, lying teachers and false prophets, swept down a third of the stars, referring to those in the Church who have the splendour of the stars, that is, who have less merit. ‘His tail swept down a third of the stars’ may also be interpreted as a third of the stars being swept down by the tail of the dragon, because in the last persuasion of the Antichrist, some who seem

Tyc. 4, 7, 1–2. Lat. capite, literally ‘head’. c  Clearly the dormition traditions about Mary. But notice that he does not say the apostles were miraculously transported to her deathbed as some accounts have, and nothing about a bodily assumption to heaven. d  Tyc. 4, 8, 1–2. e  Lat. cruciabatur, literally ‘was tortured’. f  Tyc. 4, 9, 1–3. g  Tyc. 4, 10, 1–3. a 

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to shine will be seized and carried off.a For, to sweep down the stars onto the earth is to envelop those who seem to [have come] out of earthly love and who with eagerness adhere to heavenly life in the open wickedness of error.b He said of the stars of heaven so that no one would think that he was referring to the third part which is from without, but instead to the third part of those who are in heaven, that is, in the Church.c the dragon stood before the woman—this was fulfiled in Herod, who wanted to kill Christ who was born from Mary.d 5. she brought forth a male child, that is, the Church brought forth Christ. ‘Male’ refers to a victor against the devil who fought againste the woman, that is, the Church.f ‘Male child’ may also be interpreted as spiritual work or the Church, which is generated from another Church through baptism. [her] son was caught up to god, that is, according to a literal understanding, Christ [was caught up to God] in the ascension. ‘Her son’ may also be interpreted as every saint who, when he rises, will be called to the Lord.g 6. and the woman fled into the wilderness, just as Mary fled into Egypt.h ‘The woman fled into the wilderness’ i may also be interpreted as the Church, which will flee into the desert of Arabia in the time of Antichrist.j 7. war broke out in heaven, that is, in the Church. michael, that is, Christ;k for Michael is interpreted as ‘one who is like God’,l which pertains to Christ. and his angels, that is, By the Antichrist into denial of Christ. Gregory the Great, Moralia in Iob 4, 17. CC SL 143: 175. c  Tyc. 4, 11, 4–6. d  cfr Matt 2:16; Tyc. 4, 12, 11–12. e  Lat. vincebat, literally ‘conquered’. f  Tyc. 4, 13, 1–3. g  cfr Tyc. 4, 15, 4–5. h  cfr Matt 2:14. i  Lat. desertum, although solitudinem is used in the lemma above. j  Jerome, Commentariorum in Danielem. CC SL 75A: 751–950 k  Tyc. 4, 16, 1.3. l  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Num., Dan., Iud, Apoc. CC SL 72: 82, 129, 151, 160. a 

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holy mena who announce the truth. the dragon, that is, the devil, fought, and his angels, that is, his evil men. For may it never be that we believe that the devil dared to fight in heaven, since on earth he asked permission from the Lord to injure one man, Job.b 8. but they were defeated, that is, they were not able to resist. there was no longer any place for them in heaven, that is, as among holy men, who as believers no longer receive the devil, he having been once expelled [from them].c 9. he was thrown down to the earth, that is, into his own people by whom he is worshipped. 10. i heard a loud voice in heaven, that is, the voice of the saints in the Church. now salvation has come, that is, the victory of Christ over the devil, which he says brought salvation, about which salvation the Lord says: Many righteous people and prophets longed to see what you see (Matt 13:17).d [the accuser] of our brothers, that is, of the faithful. [who accuses them] day and night. Moreover, Holy Scripture often is accustomed to put ‘day’ for prosperity, but ‘night’ for adversities.e 11. by the blood of the lamb, because through the shedding of the blood of Christ the power of the adversary was destroyed. by the word of their testimony, because Christ is preached in the whole world. 12. rejoice, heavens, that is, holy Churches. you who dwell in them, that is, in the Churches. woe to the earth, that is, to wordly men, who cling to the earth. and to the sea, that is, to those who are bitter in sin. he knows that his time is short, that is, the devil was cast forth from the Church, he himself knowing that he has a short time until the judgement, and is enraged at his own body, that is, with sinners.

Tyc. 4, 16, 3–4. cfr Job 1:11–12; 2:5–6. c  Tyc. 4, 17, 1–3. d  Tyc. 4, 19, 5–7. e  cfr Gregory the Great, Moralia in Iob 2, 15. CC SL 143: 69. a 

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13. he persecuted the woman. For to the extent that the devil is thrown down, to that extent he persecutes all the more.a 14. the woman was given the two wings, that is, two testamentsb were given to the Church. of the great eagle, that is, of Christ, who ascended into heaven. ‘Of the great eagle’ may also be interpreted as the Church, which is an eagle in respect to its three births—for the birth according to the flesh and for the birth in baptism, and for the birth in the resurrection. into the wilderness, that is, away from the morals of the devil. where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, that is, for the three and a half years of the persecution of the Antichrist. Or, in this distinct number is contained the whole time from the nativity of Christ until the end of the world.c ‘For a time, and times’ may also be interpreted as these three years signifying the faith of the Trinity, on which the Church is nourished from the presence of the serpent, and ‘the half’ of a year signifies the faith of the divinity [of Christ]. 15. out of his mouth, that is, his power. water, that is, persecution. like a river, this refers to the abundance of the persecution.d to sweep her away, that is, into his body with the flood, that is, with the persecution. 16. but the earth came to the help of the woman, that is, the body of Christ helped the Church,e or another Church helps the Church experiencing persecution. 17. he went off to make war on the rest of her offspring, that is, the devil, when he sees that he is defeated by that part of the Church, [makes war to see] how he could conquer her.f

Tyc. 4, 20, 2–3. Tyc. 4, 21, 4. c  Tyc. 4, 21, 9–11. d  Tyc. 4, 22, 2. e  cfr Tyc. 4, 22, 5–9. f  cfr Tyc. 4, 23, 3–7. a 

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[12:18].a and he stood on the sand of the sea, that is, on unbelieving menb who are called ‘sand’ because they are innumerable. Or, because sand by itself does not sustain being made into a mound. This applies to sinners who do not allow [people] to be united through harmony. 1. i saw a beast rising out of the sea, that is a persecuting people out of a persecuting people; for the beast and the sea are one, as if he had written ‘I saw the sea rising out of the sea’ or ‘I saw a beast rising out of a beast’.c ‘From the sea’ may also be interpreted as the bitterness of the heathens. blasphemous names on its heads, for they call their kings [gods] whether [living] or dead, when they say that their souls enter into other bodies after their death.d Or, ‘blasphemous names on its heads’, that is, when they say that their [kings] were transferred into heaven and are among the gods, so that after their death they may be worshipped as gods.e And in another passage he writes that the names of blasphemy are not only on the headsf—that is, not solely in the kings of the world, a  In the critical edition this phrase is considered Rev 12:18 (not 13:1 as in modern designations of chapter and verse). b  cfr Tyc. 4, 24, 1–2. c  Tyc. 4, 25, 1–6. d  Perhaps a reference to the ancient Celtic belief in reincarnation and the transmigration of souls. See F. X. Gumerlock, Early Latin Commentaries, 92, n. 220. e  A reference to the Roman imperial practice of apotheosis, whereby deceased individuals were elevated to the status of gods. f  cfr Rev 17:3.

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with whom those who are inside are condemned, is there a name of blasphemy—but even in the very ones who are inside when they profess that they are godsa and children of God.b 2. it was like a leopard, that is, on account of the variety of nationsc and on account of the desires within wicked people. its feet were like a bear’s, for the feet of a bear are twisted, just as the understandings of people are twisted, that is, depraved. its mouth was like a lion’s mouth, that is, on account of the strength of its pride.d 3. one of its heads, that is, the rank of emperors, seemed to have a mortal wound, that is, because they believe that the life of that [beast will return] after death. For this reason they are said to be as if slain. the whole earth [followed] the beast, that is, so he would not say ‘the beast followed the beast’.e 4. they worshipped the dragon, that is, the devil, because whoever worships the Antichrist, worships the devil. 5. the beast was given, that is, to the whole body of the devilf it was permitted by God; just as Christ and the Church are one body, so also are the devil and wicked people. a mouth uttering haughty words, that is, ‘I suffered and I arose and I came to judge the world’. 6. in blasphemies against god, that is, not openly, but when they say that they are children of God and [nevertheless] plot against the children of God.g and his tabernacle—what the tabernacle is he explains as those who dwell in heaven. Moreover, the tabernacle and heaven are the Church.h 7. and to conquer them, that is, [to conquer] their souls by denial and their bodies by death. it was given authority

cfr John 10:34–35; Ps 81:6. Tyc. 4, 26, 8–15. c  Tyc. 4, 27, 2–3. d  Tyc. 4, 27, 4. e  Tyc. 4, 29, 3–4. f  Tyc. 4, 30, 1–2. g  Tyc. 4, 30, 3–4. h  Tyc. 4, 31, 2–4. a 

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over every tribe, etc., because a part of each tribe and people and tongue and nation will believe in Antichrist.a 8. they worshipped it, that is, Antichrist. everyone, that is, one body should be understood for its members,b all who dwell on earth, that is, [who live] an earthly lifestyle. He also writes ‘all who dwell on earth’ in contrast with ‘in heaven’.c For in these passages he is going to write about the Church as ‘those dwelling on earth’, that is, their deeds are earthly due to the persuasion of the devil. of the lamb sealed, that is, before the lamb, that is, the Church, existed, it was sealed unto eternal life through the foreknowledge of God.d ‘Of the lamb sealed’ may also be interpreted as, ‘of Christ’, because it was sealed in the providence of the Father that Christ would take on flesh. who was slain from the foundation of the world, that is, because it was prophesied and prefigured from the foundation of the world that Christ would be killed. Or ‘the lamb was slain from the foundation of the world’, that is, the Church, as Cain slew Abel.e 9. let anyone who has an ear listen, that is, because there is a large gap between the quality of this word and the form of it.f 10. one who leads into captivity, that is, he who leads the Church of God into captivity in persecution, goes into captivity, that is, [into] the captivity of judgement by God. ‘One who leads into captivity’ may also mean that a non-Catholic ruler who has the Church captive under his power ‘goes into captivity’, that is, he will be captured by God in the future. here is the endurance and faith of the saints, that is, not to consent to evil men persecuting the Church.

Tyc. 4, 32, 2. Tyc. 4, 34, 2. c  Tyc. 4, 33, 3–4. d  Tyc. 4, 35, 1–3. e  cfr Gen 4:8. f  Lat. qualitatem et formam; that it, ‘to hear’ in form refers simply to the function of the ear, but the qualitative meaning of ‘to hear’ is to understand and heed; Tyc. 4, 36, 3–5. a 

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11. i saw another beast that rose out of the earth, that is, heretical people being born from other people;a for the land and the beast are one.b it had two horns, [two] testaments,c like a lamb, that is, because they say that they are the people of the true Lamb, that is, Christ, in their lifestyle and [use of their bodily] members, but they are not similar to the Lamb if they openly speak as a dragon. For this reason Christ said: Beware of false prophets, who come to you in sheep’s clothing, but inwardly are ravenous wolves (Matt 7:15).d it spoke like a dragon, that is, when it utters the evil that is within its heart.e 12. it exercised all the authority of the first beast in its presence, that is, [the authority] of the aforementioned beast to whom the devil had given authority.f These beasts are one body. ‘Authority of the first beast’ may also be interpreted as the authority of the people who preside and make the people subject ‘in its presence,’ that is, in the presence of the higher people. to worship the first beast, that is, [to worship] those who are pre-eminent in power, or those who were before them. whose mortal wound was healed, that is, their assessmentg when they think they have life after death, or when they think that their souls go into other bodies after their death.h 13. it performs great signs, because with the assistance of the people the leaders do that which accomplishes the will of the devil.i even making fire come down from heaven to earth. This should not be denied, that this will be a sign in the sight of men. Or ‘fire’, that is, retribution; ‘from heaven’, that is, from the Church, because of his persecution; ‘to earth’, that is, to the menj consenting to those [two beasts]. cfr Tyc. 6, 8, 6. Tyc. 4, 41, 9–10. c  Tyc. 4, 39, 1. d  Tyc. 4, 39, 3–8. e  cfr Mark 7:21–23, Luke 6:45. f  Tyc. 3, 40, 1–3. g  Lat. estimatione, interpreting what the ‘mortal wound’ is. h  See p. 110, n. d supra. i  Tyc. 4, 40, 6–7. j  Tyc. 4, 42, 2–3. a 

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14. [signs] given to it, that is, that were permitted to it [to perform]. to make an image of the beast, that is, that they themselves might be an image of the beast, that is, that they would be the beast, the body of the devil.a which was wounded by the sword and yet lived, that is, as we have said above. 15. that it might give breath to the image of the beast, that is, that it might give teaching to those who make the [image of] a beast. Or, that it might give baptism, through which the Holy Spirit descends upon the Church. so that the image of the beast could speak, that is, that they should teach or that they will give baptism [to] those about whom [it was said, are] the image of the beast, that is, who became the beast itself.b who would not worship the image of the beast to be killed. We understand the image of the beast from the [context of] these passages. Sometimes it is the people themselves or false prophets, and sometimes it is the similarity to the name of Christ.c 17. unless one has the mark. Moreover, a mark is a sign, that is, a monogram or a name or a number of the letters of a name. 18. this calls for wisdom, for although we have said it is a beast, nevertheless it is a man, but the Spirit calls it a beast. for it is the number of a man, that is the number of the name of a man, the number of the name of a beast. and the number of its name is six hundred sixteen, moreover the name which has that number is Christ, which is written with Greek letters,d that is with chi (χ), and psi (ψ) and sigma. Chi is represented by the number six hundred, but psi cannot be represented by the number ten. Therefore another Greek letter is given in its place, that is iota, which can have the number ten, and therefore is put in its place, since they are the same language. And sigma cannot have the number six above it because, as some say, the Greeks do not have a letter that signifies the number six, and therefore in place of that letter, which is called sigma, is put a ‘final Tyc. 4, 42, 4–7. that is, a member of the body of the devil. c  Tyc. 4, 43, 2–6. d  Tyc. 4, 46, 4–5.9. a 

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sigma’,a which is the sign that is written by the Greeks and has the number six. This interpretation, however, is not easy, because what is a name is not a number, and what is a number is not a name. So then, let us produce one letter which can be both a name and a number. That is, for the letter chi, with which the name begins, there can be a name, and this letter is called a monogram.b For ‘mono’ in Greek is interpreted ‘one’ in Latin, and the Greek gamma is interpreted ‘letter’. Why is a monogram found in the Apocalypse although it is not found in the body of the book?c For this reason, because the angel said: let him who has understanding reckon the number of the beast. For this is the monogram:d

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XIS

However in other books it is not found in this way, but as: ‘six hundred and sixty-six’. Moreover, the name which has this number is ‘Tietan’, and therefore this name is spoken about Antichrist, in whom the devil will be entirely, because Tietan in Greek is interpreted ‘sun’ in Latin.e And it is fitting that Antichrist is called by this name, because concerning the devil it is written: He transforms himself into an angel of light (2  Cor 11:14). For this is the number of that name, because tau is represented by 300,f and iota by 10, and eta by 5, and tau by 300, and alpha by 1, and nu by 50. Moreover the number 600 is rightly spoken about Antichrist, because he pretends that he fulfils the four gospels, and he pretends that he fulfils the two testaments, and he pretends that he does the will of God in body and soul, and he pretends that he loves God and his neighbour, and he pretends to make peace between Lat. epissimon. Tyc. 4, 46, 8–9. c  Lat. corpore libri, i.e. the Bible. d  Tyc. 4, 46, 9. e  For earlier citations of the name ‘Tietan’, see Irenaeus of Lyon, Adversus haereses, 5.30, 3; Hippolytus of Rome, L’Anticristo. De Antichristo, 50, 2; Victorinus of Petovium, Explanatio in Apocalypsin. CC SL 5: 237. This same name is adduced by the two related texts De Enigmatibus (CC SL 107: 277) and the Expositio in Apocalypsin of Theodulf of Orleans (CC SL 107: 327). f  Lat. super tau exeunt CCC. a 

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himself and his neighbour. And the number ten is suitably spoken about Antichrist, because he pretends that he fulfils the ten commandments of the law and uses the ten senses for the will of God.  And the number of senses is suitably spoken about Antichrist, because he himself will proclaim the six days in which the world was made, and he will proclaim six ages of the world, and that number is divided into three and three. And suitably about Antichrist is spoken the number six, because he will pretend that he preaches faith in the Trinity and the three laws—the law of nature, the law of the prophets, and the law of the New Testament. And rightly the number fifty pertains to penitence, as in the fiftieth psalm, which is sung about penance.a

Miserere mei, Deus  / Have mercy on me, O  God—one of the penitential Psalms. a 

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1. behold, a lamb standing on mount zion, that is, Christ will come for the judgement on Mount Zion. Or, as others say, after the persecution of Antichrist, Christ will come to the aid of the Church, by which Christ is awaited. For Zion is interpreted ‘hope’.a who had his name and the name of his father written on their foreheads, that is, the sign of his name, [the name] of Christ, and the sign of the name of his Father.b For the faithful say that when they make the sign of the cross, they signify the sign of the cross of Jesus Christ, the Son of the living, most high God.c 2. i heard a voice, that is, the voice of virgins who had purity of flesh. from heaven, that is, from the Church. 3. and no one could sing the song except the one hundred and forty-four thousand. Moreover, this is the song that virgins will sing. Indeed, it is a song to sing with the Lamb, to rejoice with him forever before all the faithful about the incorruptibility of the flesh.d Nevertheless, the elect are able to hear the song although they are not permitted to sing it, since through charity they indeed rejoice in their heavenly state. who have been redeemed, that is, Christ redeemed them by his blood. from the earth, that is, from mankind. Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 161. Tyc. 4, 47, 2–5. c  cfr Matt 16:16. d  cfr Gregory the Great, Liber regulae pastoralis, 3, 28. a 

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4. who follow the lamb, that is, his example, or in all the places of paradise. 6. then i saw another angel. Here he recapitulates, beginning from the time of the persecutions that have taken place in Africa.a He said ‘angel’, that is, preaching. through midheaven, that is, through the midst of the Church. eternal gospel, because although the heresy of heretics begins well, it does not endure. upon the earth, that is, into human customs. 7. fear the lord, that is, not the beast, not the dragon. 8. another angel, that is, the preaching of future peace. fallen, fallen is babylon the great, that is, the people of the devil.b For Babylon is interpreted ‘confusion’,c through which is signified the confusion of the whole body of the devil. ‘Fallen, fallen’: this is repeated because both the soul has fallen into sin and the body into judgement. Or, because [the whole body of the devil] was laid low in judgement and will be laid low in the future. all the nations have drunk, that is, since all nations and the city itself are one, he divides the one thing for the purpose of obscuring it.d 9. and a third angel followed, that is, the preaching of the last persecution.e 10. poured unmixed. Moreover, unmixed [wine], as some say, is new wine that is sweeter. About this it should be known what he says: and he will drink the wine of god’s wrath, poured unmixed, because it is customary for the Lord to have mercy to the same extent that he executes judgement to each. into the cup of his anger, that is, in the fullness of his anger. 11. and the smoke of their torment, that is, the smoke of judgement, as [in the passage]: Whose fire will not be quenched (Isa 66:24; Mark 9:43 et par). goes up, that is, it begins here and will continue in the future without end. Tyc. 5, 1, 1–2. Tyc. 5, 3, 1–4. c  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Gen, Josh, Pss, 1 Pet, Rev. CC SL 72: 62, 90, 119, 150, 159. d  Tyc. 5, 4, 1–4. e  Tyc. 5, 5, 1–2. a 

b 

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12. here is the wisdom of the saints, that is, [wisdom] not to receive the mark of the image [of the beast] but the mark of his truth, and [wisdom] not to worship the image [of the beast] but the true Christ.a 13. who die in the lord, that is, who die on account of the Lord. now the spirit says, that is, the Spirit revealed these things to John. 14. then i looked. Now he recapitulates beginning from the time of future peace. and behold, a white cloud, that is, he describes the Church in her glory. and one seated upon the cloud, that is, Christ.b on his head, that is, in his rule. a golden crown, that is, the multitude of the faithful. in his hand, that is, in his power, a sharp sickle, that is, judgement here and in the future. 15. another angel, that is, the order of Catholic teachers, out of the temple, that is, out of the Church, calling, that is, praying. to the one seated upon the cloud, that is, to Christ, who sits above the Church. use your sickle, that is, your judgement. and reap, that is, cut down sinners from life, because the harvest of the earth is ripe, that is, [it is the time] when the reprobate are revealed as sinners in the sight of God. 16. and the earth was reaped that is, earthly men were consumed in the judgement. (14). Or, as others say, the ‘one who sits upon the cloud’ is the Church, which sits upon itself, that is, the order of teachers over the subordinate Church. And ‘in his hand he held a sickle’, that is, preaching. (15.) Moreover, ‘another angel’ is Christ, who goes out of the Church ‘calling’ to the order of teachers to send forth his preaching, that it should teach men. ‘And reap,’ that is, excise men from their iniquity, ‘for the hour to reap has come’, that is, because the time is right that men may be taught. (16.) ‘The earth was reaped’, that is, men were excised from their iniquity.

a  b 

Tyc. 5, 7, 1–4. Tyc. 5, 9, 1–3.

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17. another angel, that is, another order of teachers, out of the temple, that is, out of the Church, which is in heaven, that is, in the height of virtues. Moreover, this phrase indicates that it does not pertain to the Church of heretics which is on earth, that is, in human things. 18. another angel, that is, Christ, out from the altar, that is, from the Church, who has power over fire, that is, over the fire of the Holy Spirit, or over the fire of persecution, or over the fire of purgation in the judgement, or over the fire of the judgement, which he sends upon sinners. use your sickle, that is, send forth your preaching, and gather the clusters, that is, excise sinners from iniquity, of the vine of the earth, that is, of earthly men, for its grapes are ripe, that is, the time is right for mankind to be taught. 19. and threw it into the wine press of the wrath of god, that is, by the word of his precept, the order of teachers threw into the world those who did not believe, who will suitably receive the wrath of God. 20. and the wine press was trodden, that is, the world [was trodden] through the shedding of blood, outside the city, that is, outside the Church, because they are not of the number [of those] of the Church. blood flowed out, that is, judgement hastening throughout the whole world, as high as a horse’s bridle, that is, as high as the teachers of the people, or as high as the leaders, for one thousand six hundred stadia, that is, throughout the wideness of the whole world. Here he put a finite [number] for the infinite. (17.)a ‘Another angel’ may also be interpreted as Christ; ‘out of the temple’ as out of the Church;b ‘sharp sickle’ as the power of judgement. (18.) Or, ‘another angel,’ that is, the order of teachers; ‘out from the altar’, that is, from the Church;c ‘over fire’, that is, over prayer. ‘Called’, that is, he prayed to Christ; ‘use your sickle’, that is, render judgement; ‘and gather the clusters’, that is, judge a  From here to the end of the chapter comprises another long ‘aliter’ clause. See introduction supra. b  Tyc. 5, 14, 1–2. c  Tyc. 5, 16, 1–2.

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men for their sins. ‘For its grapes are ripe’—it is the time of judgement because their measure of sin is full, that is, they themselves are full [of sin]. (19.) ‘And threw it into the wine press of the wrath of God’, that is, into retribution for their sins,a that is, in the judgement. ‘Great’, that is, the pride of each.b (20.) ‘And the wine press was trodden’, that is, those who were sent into judgement were trodden, ‘as high as a horse’s bridle’; here the profundity of the judgement is shown. ‘For one thousand six hundred stadia’—in this [number] he indicates the breadth of the judgement. Moreover, in themc the magnitude of the judgement is shown. In this [passage] he writes ‘six hundred’ [for the number] of martyrs, because the number six hundred [can be] divided into four hundred and two hundred; and for this reason judgement of this breadth is sent upon them because they have not obeyedd the four gospels and two laws.e

Tyc. 5, 19, 3. Tyc. 5, 18, 2–3. c  The number of stadia. d  Lat. impleverunt, literally ‘fulfiled’. e  Love of God and love of neighbour (Matt 22:35–40). a 

b 

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1. then i saw; now he recapitulates, he is going to speak about that same persecution.a in heaven, that is, in the Church, seven angels, that is, those who tell about the evils of the last time [perpetrated] through the Antichrist. seven last plagues; he says ‘last’ because the wrath of God always strikes obstinate people.b And he says ‘seven plagues’ for the teaching of the septiform Spirit,c because for each one who does not obey this teaching, it is a plague. with them the wrath of god will be ended, that is, in the last preaching the judgement will arrive. 2. what appeared to be a sea of glass, that is, baptism.d mixed with fire, that is, the fire of the Holy Spirit, since the gift of the Holy Spirit is given in baptism. ‘Mixed with fire’ may also be interpreted as the fire of persecution.e beast, that is, Antichrist. the number of his name, that is, those who were not numbered among the people of Antichrist. standing beside the sea of glass, that is, in fulfilment of their baptism. harps, that is, the hearts of those praising God.f

Tyc. 5, 22, 1. Tyc. 5, 22, 4–5. c  cfr Isa 11:2. d  Tyc. 5, 23, 1. e  Tyc. 5, 23, 1–4. f  Tyc. 5, 24, 2–3. a 

b 

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3. the song of moses and the song of the lamb, that is, each testament.a just, that is, in retribution, not as the beast, and true, that is, in judgement. 4. you alone are holy, that is, since no holiness was able to save the world except that of Jesus Christ. 5. after this i looked. Now he repeats what he had put forward saying: the temple of the tabernacle was opened, for the temple and the tabernacle and heaven are names of the Church.b Moreover, the Church is compared to a temple of God because divine vessels were in the temple and divine Scriptures are in the Church. 6. seven angels, that is, the fullness of the family of Christ, as opposed to the fullness of the family of the devil. robed in linen, that is, [robed] with Christ,c pure, that is, from sin, bright, that is, with chastity, and girded around their chests; this signifies that the girding of the Church is higher than the girding of the Jewish people who seek after earthly promises. with golden girdles, that is, with spiritual girdles. 7. one of the four living creatures gave, etc., that is, when the Church teaches the Church and when she sends herself to preach. Or, each book of the four books of gospels gives the teaching of the Church. Or Christ, when he takes on the form of any one of the four living creatures, teaches the Church.d seven golden bowls, that is, the teaching of the septiform Spirit.e ‘Seven bowls’ may also be interpreted as one’s understanding, which has been cleansed and tried through the fire of temptation. Moreover, one’s understanding is called a ‘bowl’ because a bowl is wide in its top part, and in its lower part is narrow. So also is the understanding of every Catholic teacher: wide for pondering heavenly things and narrow for pondering earthly things. full

Tyc. 5, 24, 4–5. Tyc. 5, 25, 1–2.4. c  cfr Rom 13:14; Gal 3:27. d  that is, when Christ speaks in any of the gospels, which our author sees as represented by four living creatures. See his comment on Rev 4:6 supra. e  cfr Isa 11:2. a 

b 

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of the wrath of god, that is, because they pronounce the wrath of God now and in the future. 8. the temple was filled with smoke, that is, the Church was filled with compunction of heart. no one could enter, that is, none of the unbelievers, into the temple, that is, into the Church, until they [the seven plagues] were ended. This ‘until’ is interpreted as ‘always’.

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CHAPTER SIXTEEN

1. then i heard a loud voice. This ‘voice’ is the Church preaching to sinful men. 2. a sore of sin came in the soul, in that they did not receive Catholic teaching. foul and painful, that is, in comparison with a bodily plague. 3. the second [angel] poured out his bowl. Moreover, the fact that he spoke of a ‘first’ [angel in Rev 16:2] established that there also [would be] a ‘second’ [angel]. into the sea, that is, into the contemptible and into the unstable and into the embittered. became blood, that is, in the judgement. every living thing in the sea died, that is, every soul is living when it does good, but is dead when it commits sin. This is why he says ‘every living thing died’, because the souls which had lived by doing good died because of the evil people with whom they lived, whose examples did not permit them to receive Catholic preaching. ‘Into the sea’, that is, into the world. 4. on the rivers, that is, on wicked men and those not consistent in good. Or, the land and sea and rivers are kingdoms. on the fountains of waters, that is, on the rulers of wicked people. and became blood, for it is customary that the shedding of blood comes from taking up a sword. So also the word of the commandments sheds blood: it prepares [the listener] for the judgement when it is not obeyed after it is heard. 5. and i heard the angel of the waters. Moreover, ‘in the angel of the waters’ [is signified] all the angels of the people,

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that is, he speaks of their inner being.a you are just, that is, in granting retribution. 6. because it is their due, that is, because they deserved it. 7. i heard the altar, that is, the Church.b 8. on the sun, that is, on the Church of heresy. and it was given to him to scorch. For it was not given to the sun, but to the one who poured out his bowl on the sun.c 9. and men were scorched, that is, representing the magnitude of the judgement. and they cursed the name of god, that is, not openly but by indulging in sins and calling themselves children of God.d so that they might give to him, that is, to God, glory, that is, correct faith. 10. on the throne of the beast, that is, on the Church of the devil.e his kingdom was plunged into darkness, that is, in comparison to the Catholic Church. and they gnawed their tongues, that is, they harmed themselves blaspheming on account of the wrath of God.f 12. on the great river euphrates, that is, on sinful peopleg roaming throughout the whole world to persecute the Church. and its water was dried up, that is, the fury of their persecution was extinguished by the power of the Lord. that a way for the kingh might be prepared, that is, for each holy person of the Church. from the east, that is, from the resurrection of Christ, or from faith. 13. of the dragon, that is, from the mouth of a lion or from the mouth of a wicked ruler. from the mouth of the beast, that is, from the mouth of the whole body of the devil. from the mouth of the false prophet, that is, from the mouth of teachers. three spirits, that is, on a  In other words, one’s spiritual aspect. cfr 2 Cor 4:16; Eph 3:16; Rom 7:22–23; Tyc. 5, 31, 17–18. b  Tyc. 5, 32, 3. c  Tyc. 5, 33, 2–3. d  Tyc. 5, 35, 1–3. e  Tyc. 5, 36, 4. f  Tyc. 5, 37, 1–3. g  Tyc. 5, 38, 1–2. h  Lat. regi (singular), though Scripture has it in the plural.

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account of the three persons mentioned above, although it is one spirit.a like frogs, for a frog is an unclean animal and greatly feared; it signifies heretics and philosophers. 14. they perform signs, as is [written]: Did we not cast out demons in your name (Matt 7:22)? [who] go abroad to kings, for he calls the men of the kingdom of the devil ‘kings’, just as all Christians are kings.b to assemble them for battle, not that the whole world will be assembled, but they will persuade each nation in its own placec to do battle against the Church. on the great day of god the almighty. For he calls the whole time from the passion of Christ until the end of the world the great day of the Lord. But it should be understood from the passages; for sometimes he calls [the great day of the Lord] the day of judgement, sometimes the last persecution, and sometimes the whole time,d as is shown here. 15. behold, i am coming like a thief, that is, I intend to extinguish the persecution in the [Last] Judgement. blessed is the one who stays awake, that is, [awake] in righteousness. one’s garments, that is, one’s good virtues. lest one go naked, that is, lest one be without the garment of truth. 16. armageddon, that is, ‘rising of the roof’, but a better [translation] is ‘round-top mountain’.e 17. into the air, that is, into deceitful people. out of the temple, that is, out of the Church. it is done, that is, it is finished;f the world and every evil are consumed. 18. Now he recapitulates, returning to the same persecution.g flashes of lightning, that is, spiritual virtues, voices, that is, prayers, peals of thunder, that is, the precepts of the gospel.

Tyc. 5, 41, 1–6. Tyc. 5, 43, 3. c  Tyc. 5, 43, 6–9. d  Tyc. 5, 43, 10–13. e  Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 159. f  Tyc. 5, 45, 2–3. g  Tyc. 5, 45, 3–4. a 

b 

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19. and the great city was split into three parts, that is, all the people who are under heaven.a the cities of the nations fell, that is, when they did not stand in the truth, they were humbled here in judgement, and will be humbled in the future judgement. babylon the great, that is, the total confusion of the body of the devil. wine-cup, that is, the fullness of the judgement. 20. and every island fled away, that is, every Church [fled] for fear of denying [Christ]. no mountains were to be found, that is, no saints were to be found following the beast. 21. great hailstones, that is, the wrath of God, as it is written: The wrath of the Lord descends like hail (Isa 28:2).b weighing about a talent, that is, because of the magnitude of the judgement. on men, that is, on the allies of the beast.

a  b 

Tyc. 5, 46, 5–6. Tyc. 5, 48, 4–5.

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CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

1. Now he recapitulates, starting from the beginning.a one of the seven angels, that is, the unity of the story of the Church. said to me: John, here is a figure of the subordinate Church, whose instructors teach about the condemnation of the world. condemnation, that is, judgement, of the great harlot, that is, of nearly the whole world, because nearly the whole world is Babylon. 2. with whom they have committed fornication, that is, in the worship of idols. they have become drunk, that is, with the drunkenness of [evil] desire. 3. and he carried me away into a wilderness, that is, the subordinate Church is led by the order of teachers into a wilderness away from vices, so that it may perceive spiritual things. in the spirit, that is, because visions of this kind are not able to be seen except in the spirit.b i saw a woman sitting on a beast. They [the woman and the beast] are one, that is, wicked people.c scarlet, that is, representing the shedding of the blood of the innocent.d full of blasphemous names, that is, one is the blasphemy of the Jews and another is the blasphemy of heretics and another is the blasphemy of the heathens.

Tyc. 6, 1, 1. Tyc. 6, 2, 5–6. c  Tyc. 6, 3, 1–3. d  cfr Tyc. 6, 4, 1. a 

b 

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4. and the woman was arrayed in purple,  etc. All these are worldly trappings, in which worldly men adorn themselves. a golden cup, that is, indicating the beauty of desire. in her hand, that is, in her deeds, full of abominations, that is, she possesses every sort of crime. 5. on her [forehead] was written a name, that is, because on her face is shown the diligence of a Christian person, but the name written on her forehead is hypocrisy, because from behind she appears righteous to men.a a mystery, that is, because although she has the appearance of a Christian, inwardly she is a ravenous wolf.b 6. i saw the woman drunk, that is, [I saw] the Church of the persecutors. and i marveled, that is, as is the custom for the foolish and the imprudent of the Church, that they admire worldly people. 8. and [the beast] is about to ascend from the bottomless pit, that is, from wicked people.c 10. five of whom have fallen, one is, and another has not yet come, that is, Gaius Julius Caesar, the first emperor; the second Augustus, under whom the Lord was born, the third Tiberius, under whom he suffered; the fourth Claudius, under whom the famine in the Acts of the Apostles occurred;d the fifth Galba, the sixth Nero, and the seventh Otho, about whom he said ‘has not yet come’. he must remain for only a little while, that is, in a figure of the revealed Antichrist; for Otho reigned for three months and six days, and Antichrist will reign for three years and six months.e 11. and [the beast] itself is an eighth, because through something entirely new is [signified] the eighth. but it belongs to the seven, because through something entirely old was [signified] the seventh. ‘Is an eighth’, may also be interpreted as in

Tyc. 6, 6, 4–5. cfr Matt 7:15. c  Tyc. 6, 8, 5–6. d  cfr Acts 11:28. e  Tyc. 6, 11, 1–9. a 

b 

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number, according to a literal understanding; ‘and is from the seven’, that is, they have one body.a 12. who have not yet received a kingdom, that is, until Antichrist comes. as kings, because those who oppose the kingdom of Christ reign as if in dreams. one hour, that is, for the brevity of this age, or because it is the end of the world and it is the last hour (1 John 2:18).b with the beast, that is, in two things, in body and in morals.c 13. they will yield their power, that is, to the will of Antichrist in obedience to him, as the saints do to Christ. 14. [the lamb] will conquer them, that is, in judgement in the present and in the future. called, that is, in baptism, as it is [written]: Come to me, all (Matt 11:28). and chosen, that is, it is higher to be chosen than called, as it is [written]: Many are called but few are chosen (Matt 22:14);d for all the faithful are called in baptism, although they have not [all] been chosen.e

Tyc. 6, 12, 4–9. Tyc. 6, 14, 2–6. c  Meaning, the kings receive power with the beast literally or bodily (corpore), and also receive power in the realm of laws, customs or morals (moribus). d  Tyc. 6, 16, 3–5. e  Refencing Tyconius who, like many North Africans of the fourth and fifth centuries, affirmed a type of doctrine of election. a 

b 

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1. after this i saw. Now he recapitulates, beginning from the time of future peace.a another angel, that is, Christ. and the earth was made bright, that is, as it is [written]: In your light we shall see light (Ps 35:10). with his glory, that is, with the number of the faithful glorifying Christ. 2. with a mighty voice, that is, with the power of preaching. fallen, fallen, that is, in unfaithfulness and in judgement. every foul spirit, that is, among demons and men. every [foul] bird, that is, all philosophers and astrologers. every foul beast, that is, all heretics. 3. of the wrath of her fornication, that is, of the wrath that she deserved for her fornication. the merchants of the earth, that is, those who buy earthly pleasures. from the wealth of her wantonness, that is, the abundance of her pleasures. have grown rich, that is, in sins.b 4. i  heard another voice, from the Church of Christ, which preaches to each one to separate himself from all uncleanness.c 5. high as heaven. This is [said] for the multitude and openness of her sins. 6. and [repay her] double, that is, it is commanded by the angels or by teachers, for her deeds, that is, as is [written] in Tyc. 6, 22, 1. Tyc. 6, 24, 1–2. c  Tyc. 6, 25, 3–12. a 

b 

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the passage: For the measure you give will be the measure you get back (Luke 6:38). He says ‘double’, that is, he commands the angels to render judgement here and in the future. Or, it is commanded to the teachers to double the penance for those who come to them. 7. she glorified, that is, was adorned, in luxuries, that is, in human desires. torment, that is, in the pain of perpetual punishment. mourning—this is [said] for the magnitude of the pain of her punishment. i am not able to be a widow, that is, there is nothing that disturbs me. 8. in a single day, that is, in a short time. mourning, that is, after death, famine, that is, as in the siege of cities. with fire, that is, judgement here and in the future. 9. and the kings of the earth will wail over her. That is, not on account of their own wantonness by which they sin with her, but because of her utter downfall.a when they see the smoke of her burning, that is, the present judgement, since every toil and every persecution that one suffers in this world is smoke itself, which comes from the future punishment since it is the beginning of future punishment.b 10. standing far off, that is, they stand far off not in body, but in soul through power.c Or ‘standing far off’ because they wish that they had not been in any consort with them, with those who are receiving punishment. the great city, babylon. For the Spirit indicates the name of the city; truly they [many interpreters] say [it refers to] the world.d mighty, that is, in evil. 12. cargo of gold. Moreover, it is gold, that is, mentally pure. silver, that is, upright in speech. jewels, that is, steadfast and pure work. and pearls, that is, a perfect work. fine linen, that is, a body pure in baptism. purple, that is, [the colour] of the martyrs. silk, that is, of perfect work that lacks the stain of sin. and scarlet, that is, [symbolizing] love of God and neighbour. all kinds of citron wood, that is, the name of the wood through which is signified work uncorrupted by sin. articles of ivory, Tyc. 6, 28, 4–5. Tyc. 6, 29, 1–4. c  Tyc. 6, 30, 1–3. d  Tyc. 6, 31, 1–3. a 

b 

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that is, they come from the tusks of elephants. bronze, that is, those who have the voice of faith. iron, that is, steadfast work. and marble, that is, perfect work. 13. cinnamon, that is, the odour of faith. myrrh, that is, of spiritual teaching. frankincense, that is, faith in his divinity. wine, that is, powerful teaching. oil, that is, the teaching of mercy. fine flour, that is, holy example. and wheat, that is, the teaching of mercy. 17. and sailors, that is, everyone who has money in a ship, stood far off, that is, ceased to come or will fall in the judgement. 18. and cried out, that is, in the present or in the judgement. 19. they threw dust on their heads—this is a sign of mourning. Or, they buried their kings under the ground. in which they grew rich,  etc., as is said of Massilia, which transacts much business.a 20. heaven, that is, the saints. 21. will be thrown down, that is, into perdition. will be found no more, that is, [not found] in remembrance with God. 23. and the voice of the bridegroom and bride will be heard in you no more, that is, he says that the jocundity of evil men will pass away.b This is understood [as happening] in the judgement. 24. and in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints. For the same city that killed the prophets, kills the saints. This is the city that Cain founded, and all the blood, from the blood of righteous Abel to the blood of Zechariah son of Barachiah (Matt 23:35)c was shed in the construction of this city.

a  The mention of this particular port city (modern-day Marseilles) by the author is probably indicative that he is residing in France. See the introduction, supra. b  Tyc. 6, 38, 7–9. c  Tyc. 6, 39, 4–11.

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1. of a great multitude, that is, of those announcing, because they are in the Church. allelu, that is, praise, ia, that is, the Lord. salvation, that is, he saved us though the cross. 3. the smoke from her goes up. This indicates the perpetual nature of the judgement in the future punishment. 4. and they fell down, that is, prayer with diligence. twenty-four elders, etc., that is, the Church. 5. a  voice came from the throne, that is, the voice of Christ from the Church through her members. give praise, that is, Christ is speaking from a part of his body. to god, that is, to the divinity. small and great, that is, weak and strong, not in body but in power. 6. like the sound of many waters, that is, the sound of the adoration of Christ in the whole world. like the sound of thunder peals, that is, the voice of the teachers who disturb the hearts [of their listeners] saying: And their fire will not be extinguished (Isa 66:24; Mark 9:43 et par). 7. for the marriage has come, that is, the marriage of Christ and the Church. his bride, that is, the Church, has made herself ready, that is, through faith. 8. and it was granted to her, that is, in baptism and in preaching. to be clothed, that is, when she throws off the clothing of the devil with which Adam clothed himself. 9. to the supper, that is, to the body and the blood of Christ, or to the entire canon of the New Testament.

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10. worship god. Earlier he had said: I am the first and the last (Rev 1:17), but now he says: i am a fellow servant with you and your brothers. This indicates that the angel had been sent in a figure of God to the Church; for at the end [of Revelation] he says: I am Jesus, who has sent my angel to testify in the Churches (Rev 22:16).a you must not do that, i am a fellow servant with you and your brothers. Why is it that before the coming of the redeemer, angels were worshipped by men and were silent, but afterwards, in truth, refuse to be worshipped, except that they perceived our nature, which formerly they looked down upon, as having been raised above themselvesb and tremble at having once seen it ranked beneath them? And have they no longer dared to look down as beneath themselves and weak that which they venerate even above themselves, namely, in the king of heaven?c having the testimony of jesus. Moreover, one who has the testimony of Jesus testifies to men about Christ. the spirit of prophecy, that is, because the tongue of the prophets signifies the whole canon of the Old and New Testaments, since the language is of one Spirit. Moreover, one who has the Spirit of prophecy pronounces the teaching of the whole canon. 11. And now he recapitulates from the beginning more briefly.d heaven, that is, the Church. a white horse, that is, the body of Christ or [Christian] people. he is called faithful, that is, because he promises with certainty, and true, innocent. and in righteousness he judges, that is, in judgement he judges rightly. and makes war, that is, according to the truth he makes war against heretics and heathen and Jews. 12. his eyes, that is, bishops or testimonies of the Scriptures, because through the testimonies of the Scriptures the wise see what they do not see with their corporeal eyes. on his head,

Tyc. 6, 44, 6–10. Lat. adsumptam. Because Christ assumed human nature, all human nature has now risen above the angels (see F. X. Gumerlock, Early Latin Commentaries, 96, n. 320). c  cfr Gregory the Great, Homiliae in evangelia, 8.2. CC SL 141: 55–56. d  Tyc. 7, 1, 1. a 

b 

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Chapter Nineteen, 12–18

that is, [in his] divinity. many diadems, that is, saints.a and he has a name inscribed, that is, the mystery of the Son of Man, namely, God and man in one person, which no one knows but he himself who receives it, that is, Christ and the Catholic Church which is in him.b 13. a robe dipped in blood, that is, his flesh, the blood of which was shed on the cross. Or, we understand ‘a robe dipped in blood’ as the Church, the blood of which is shed in martyrdom.c 14. and the armies of heaven, that is, the saints who are in the Church. on white horses, that is, in pured bodies.e 15. with which to strike down the nations, that is, for the purpose of separating the heathen from [the believers who are in] the nations. and he will tread the wine press, that is, wicked people, in whom dwells the wine of sinful desire, on account of which the Lord is angered. 16. on his robe, that is, in the Church. and on his thigh, that is, in his incarnation. Or in the people of marriage according to a literal understanding. Or, in the teachers who give birth to others in faith. 17. i saw an angel, that is, Christ, in the sun, that is, in the Church, as in the passage: In the sun he has placed his tent (Ps 18:6). to all the birds, that is, to all the saints which some cause, that is, persecution, stirred [to fly up] from the ground, lest they enter into denial [of Christ], as: When men persecute you in one town, flee to the next (Matt 10:23). that were flying, that is, in good virtues. through mid-heaven, that is, through the midst of the Church. come gather for the great supper of god, that is, to the whole canon of the Old and New Testaments. 18. to eat the flesh of kings, that is, you will be gorged when you see the judgement upon them. ‘To eat the flesh of kings’ may also be interpreted as to consume their substance and labours Tyc. 7, 1, 4–5. Tyc. 7, 2, 1–2. c  Tyc. 7, 3, 1–3. d  Lat. albus, literally ‘white’. e  Tyc. 7, 4, 1–3. a 

b 

137

127

Chapter Nineteen, 18–21

through penitence. of horses, that is, of persecutors, and of their riders, that is, of wicked rulers. 19. and i saw the beast, that is, the impious city or the devil.a 20. and the beast was captured, that is, the devil or wicked people. the false prophet, that is, deceitful teachers.b who had performed the signs, just as Simon Magus did.c those who had received the mark of the beast, that is, who observed the morals of the beast. were thrown alive, that is, in their own lifetime they knew beforehand that they would receive punishment for their sins, as is [written]: Let them go down to Sheol alive (Ps 54:16). these two, that is, the beast and the false prophet, that is, he [John] divided the one body into [two] parts. 21. and the rest were killed, first in their soul because they did not consent to the word of preaching, and then they will be killed in body in the judgement. and all the birds were gorged with their flesh, that is, the saints are gorged from the judgement upon sinners,d because their cause is avenged upon sinners. ‘All the birds’ may also be interpreted as demons, because they feast on them [sinners] in the destruction of the wicked.

Tyc. 7, 10, 1–2. Tyc. 7, 11, 5–6. c  cfr Acts 8:9–11. d  Tyc. 7, 12, 7–8. a 

b 

138

CHAPTER TWENTY

1. then i saw. Now he recapitulates from the beginning. an angel, that is, Christ in his first coming. holding the key, that is, power, of the bottomless pit, that is, of wicked men. a chain, that is, a restraint, in his hand, that is, in his power.a 2. for a thousand years, that is, throughout the entire New Testament [age]. 3. into the pit, that is, into wicked men.b and sealed it over him, that is, because the whole world up to the day of judgement is under a seal,c since we do not know the part belonging to God and the part belonging to the devil. that he should deceive the nations no more, that is, because his power was great before the cross. for a little while, that is, for the three and a half years of the persecution of the Antichrist.d 4. then i saw thrones, that is, many Churches in the whole world. those seated on them, that is, men who have greater status. were given authority to judge, that is, judgement through the wisdom of the Scriptures. and the souls of those killed. Moreover, if he had seen thrones at the Last Judgement, he would not have said ‘souls’, for at that time they

Tyc. 7, 13, 1–3; 14, 1–3. Tyc. 7, 16, 1. c  Lat. sub sigilla, here meaning that the knowledge of whom the true Church consists is concealed. d  Tyc. 7, 18, 1–2. a 

b 

139

128

Chapter Twenty, 4–12

129

will be with their bodies.a they came to life, that is, in the truth, and reigned, that is, in the present Church. 5. they did not come to life, that is, in the truth. this is the first resurrection, that is, to live and to reign with Christ. 7. from his prison, that is, from wicked people. gog, that is, ‘covered’,b that is, the people of the heretics who cover their iniquity. magog, that is, ‘uncovered’,c that is, the heathen who openly practice their iniquity. 8. over the breadth of the earth, that is, from the east to the west and from the south to the north, and everyone [on earth]. the beloved city, that is, the Church.d 9. fire came down from god, that is, according to a literal understanding, in the judgement. 11. then i saw. Now he recapitulates and is going to speak about the same judgement.e a great throne, that is, the gathering of the chorus that will happen on the day of judgement. the one who sat, that is, Christ. the earth fled,  etc., that is, [fled] from the form in which it is, as is [written]: But we wait for new heavens and a new earth and his promises (2 Pet 3:13). and no place was found for them, that is, [the place] of its prior form. Or, they did not find a place that defended itself. 12. before the throne, that is, before the gathering that will happen on the day of judgement. and books were opened, that is, the remembrance of our deeds.f also another book was opened, that is, [the book] of divine knowledge in which are all who have been foreknown before the foundation of the world.g which is [the book] of life, that is, of him who said: I am the way and the truth and the life (John 14:6). Tyc. 7, 19, 18–20. Lat. tectum; Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. c  Lat. detectum; Jerome, Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum, Apoc. CC SL 72: 160. d  Tyc. 7, 24, 5–6. e  Tyc. 7, 27, 1. f  Tyc. 7, 27, 8–9. g  cfr 1 Pet 1:20. a 

b 

140

Chapter Twenty, 13

13. death, that is, the entire people of the devil.a hades, that is, everyone who had been destined to go into hell.b gave up their dead, that is, gave themselves in the resurrection, who will be in them, that is, who were in their number.

Tyc. 7, 30, 1–2. Early mediaeval writers did not hesitate to express that the people who belong to the devil, and who persist in that state until their end, are destined for hell with the devil. Similarly, they did not hesitate to say, as in Matt 25:41, that eternal fire ‘has been prepared for the devil’ and his body. However, they viewed this predestined punishment as a prediction, and were very careful to assert that no one has been predestined to the commission of the moral evil which would send them to hell. See for example, Fulgentius of Ruspe, To Monimus. Translated by Robert B. Eno. FC 95: 185–275. 1997 and Pope Hadrian, Letter 95 (Codex Carolinus). Edited by W. Gundlach. MGH, Epp. 3: Epistolae Merowingici et Karolini aeui, 1. Berlin:Weidmann, 1892. a 

b 

141

CHAPTER TWENTY ONE

130

1. then i saw a new heaven, etc. [This] was revealed to him since everything after the judgement will be revealed. passed away, in the form in which it was. the sea was no more, in the state in which it was. 2. the new jerusalem, that is, the Church through baptisma or after the judgement. coming down out of heaven, that is, from the other [part of] the Church through its teaching. Or, according to history, [this happens] after the judgement. 3. i heard a loud voice, that is, the voice of Christ, from the throne, that is, from the Church. dwelling, that is, the Church with men, that is, each person is a dwelling of God.b 4. god will wipe away, that is, in the custom of a consoling person, he will console them after all the tribulation. 6. to the thirsty i shall give. Now he recapitulates from the beginning. ‘To the thirsty’, that is, to one desiring forgiveness of sins. from the fountain of the water of life, that is, from the font of baptismc or from the gospel. without payment, that is, one will not give money for that water. 7. he who conquers, that is, [conquers] the demon or heretics and other evil, will possess these things, that is, the prosperous things mentioned above. he will be my son, that is, with an inheritance. Tyc. 7, 31, 10. cfr 1 Cor 6:19. c  Tyc. 7, 32, 4–5. a 

b 

142

Chapter Twenty One, 8–13

8. for the cowardly, that is, for those who fear experiencing the danger of the Christian struggle and fear obeying the divine commands. the polluted, that is, those who regard the divine law as something accursed. 9. then came one. Now he recapitulates from the beginning. As some [say] ‘one,’ that is, the order of teachers inviting the subordinate Church. the bride, that is, the Church—she was a bride in the old law, but in the new she is the wife of the Lamb, that is, Christ. 10. and in the spirit he carried me away, bodily. to a mountain, which is Christ.a high, that is, in authority. and he showed me the city, that is, the Church,b which has been built on Christ. coming down out of heaven, that is, receiving teaching given from heaven. 11. having the glory of god, that is, the glory which Christ had on the mountain.c its radiance, that is, its work. like a very rare jewel, that is, the Church is similar to Christ,d because it follows his example. 12. it had a great wall, that is, a wall of faith or many faithful men. and high, that is, for her elevation in good virtues. twelve gates, that is, the twelve apostles. twelve angels, that is, the successors of the apostles. ‘Gates’ may also be interpreted as bishops, but the ‘twelve angels’ we understand as the [twelve] tribes of Israel which are under the authority of the bishops.e What the gates are, this is what the foundation is, and what the city is, this is what the wall is.f These things are the Church, which was founded upon the bishops, as [is written]: You are Peter, and upon this rock I shall build my Church (Matt 16:18). 13. on the east, that is, from childhood or from Christ. three gates, that is, the faith of the Trinity,g because one comes Tyc. 7, 33, 9–10. Tyc. 7, 34, 1–2. c  cfr Matt 17: 1–2. d  Tyc. 7, 35, 3. e  Tyc. 7, 36, 4–9. f  Tyc. 7, 38, 2–3. g  Tyc. 7, 37, 2–4. a 

b 

143

131

Chapter Twenty One, 13–17

132

into the Church through that faith. on the north, that is, from tribulation or from sin. on the south, that is, from wisdom or from prosperity. on the west, that is, from the devil or from sin or from extreme old age.a 14. twelve foundations, that is, the twelve apostles or twelve prophets. 15. and he who talked to me, that is, the order of teachers, who talk with the subordinate Church, had a measuring rod of gold, that is, divine wisdom, to measure the city, that is, that he might teach the Catholic Church, and its gates, that is, her rulers, and its walls, that is, those steadfast in good works. 16. the city lies foursquare. This indicates the stability of the Church, or it indicates that the Church is steadfast in the teaching of the four books of the gospels. its length, that is, the length of her perpetual life in the future or the length of her perseverance. as its width, that is, the width of her charity. and he measured the city, that is, he taught the Church, with his rod, that is, from divine wisdom, for twelve thousand stadia, that is, through the teaching of the twelve apostles. its length and width and height are equal, that is, her perseverance and charity and hope are alike. 17. he also measured its walls.b He taught those steadfast ones of the Church. one hundred and forty-four cubits. For this number corresponds to the people of God, who are numbered one hundred and forty-four thousandc and the order of teachers measures these people from its wisdom. by the measure of a man, that is, men are the measure whom the order of teachers measures through their wisdom. which is [the measure of] an angel, because although they are angels, they make their stand under divine wisdom. The Latin words for east and west derive from the terms for rising (oriens) and dying (occidens), and are related to the directions in which the sun rises and sets. But from this exegetes also made the association of these directions with human birth and death. b  Lat. muros (pl.) here, but singular in the Vulgate text. c  cfr Rev 7:4. a 

144

Chapter Twenty One, 18–25

18. the wall was built, that is, the structure of her faith, from jasper stone, that is, from Christ. the city itself [was] pure gold, that is, the Church is goldena because it is tried through the fire of testing. like glass, that is, on account of baptism. 19. every jewel, that is, every perfect work.b 21. and the twelve gates are twelve pearls, one for each [gate]. That is, Christ, who is the pearl of great price,c is in each apostle. the street of the city, that is, all the people of the Church.d 22. and i saw no temple in it [the city], that is, any worldly structure as it is here [in this world]. for the lord almighty is its temple. For the Church is in God and God is in the Church. [and the lamb (23.) and the city],—the lamb and the city are the Church,—have no need of sun, etc. That is, because the Churches are ruled neither by the light nor by the elements of this world, but by Christ the eternal sun.e ‘Have no need of sun’, may also be interpreted as [have no need of the Sun] in the future. for the glory of god is its light. That is, as is [written]: I am the light of this world, etc. (John 8:12).f the lamb, that is, Christ. 24. the nations will walk, that is, all believers, by its light, that is, by the illumination of the faith of the Church. the kings of the earth, that is, the saints,g will bring their glory, that is, chastity and humility and the work of prayer, into it, that is, into the Church. 25. its gates, that is, the teachers, will never be shut, that is, from all wickedness, as is the case here. by day, that is, Christ. and there will be no night there, that is, literally, or [there will be no] sin [there]. Tyc. 7, 40, 6–7. cfr Heb 13:21. c  cfr Matt 13:46. d  Tyc. 7, 42, 1–5. e  Tyc. 7, 43, 1–3; 44, 1–4; cfr Mal 4:2. f  Tyc. 7, 45, 1–2. g  Tyc. 7, 46, 2–3. a 

b 

145

133

Chapter Twenty One, 27

27. but nothing unclean will enter it, as is [written]: O Lord, who may abide in your tent or who may dwell on your holy hill? He who walks blamelessly (Ps 14:1–2). but only those who are written in the lamb’s book of life, that is, those whom Christ foreknew to have life.

146

CHAPTER TWENTY TWO

1. the river, that is, [the font of baptisma or] the font of knowledge. from the throne of god, that is, from the Church. 2. through the middle of the street, that is, in the midst of the Church.b and on either side of the river [is] the tree of life, that is, the cross of Christ which before baptism was [pre]figured and prophesied in the old law, and after baptism was fulfiled in the new law. with its twelve kinds of fruit, that is, the cross of Christ bears fruit through the teaching of the twelve apostles, or it bears fruit in each month.c the leaves of the tree, that is, the teachings of the cross. 3. there will no more be anything accursed, that is, of the sin of Adam, as was written in Numbers: There will be no lamentation in Jacob, nor will sorrow be seen in Israel (Num 23:21).d 4. they will see his face, that is, now and in eternity, just as he himself says: Blessed are the pure in heart, for they will see God (Matt 5:8).e 5. there will be no more night, that is, there will be no darkness of sin in every place in which baptism is performed.

Tyc. 7, 49, 3. Tyc. 7, 49, 2–3. c  Tyc. 7, 50, 1–4. d  Tyc. 7, 51, 1–3. e  Tyc. 7, 52, 2–5. a 

b 

147

Chapter Twenty Two, 6–18

34

135

6. he has sent his angel, that is, Christ in the form of an angel. what must soon take place, that is, from the nativity of Christ until the end of the world. 8. i, john, that is, he gives testimony about himself, fell down to worship. What he said beforea he now says again.b 10. do not seal up the words of this book, that is, from the faithful, since they are closed from unbelievers because of their unbelief. That is, they themselves had closed them. for the time is near, that is, [the time] of judgement. 13. i  am the alpha and the omega,  etc., that is, many words about one thing. 14. their robes, that is, their works. so that they may have the right to the tree of life, that is, that they will have the power of supplanting vices through the cross of Christ. by the gates, that is, by the rulers. into the city, that is, in the Church. 15. outside [are] the dogs, that is, heretics and heathen and philosophers and everyone opposing the truth. 16. to you with this testimony for the churches, that is, the Churches are symbolized in John. i am the root, that is, according to divinity. the offspring, that is, because he assumed flesh from the offspring of David. 17. the spirit and the bride, that is, the Holy Spirit and the Church in which he dwells. and let anyone who hears, say ‘come,’ that is, for unbelievers to come into the faith, and let the Church, which hears these words, say [this]. anyone who wishes, as it is [written]: If anyone wishes to come after me, let him deny himself (Matt 16:24). the water of life, that is, the water of baptism.c 18. if anyone adds to them, god will add to him the plagues described in this book, etc. That is, not those who simply add or take away, who say what they believe, but those who by a deliberate choice of theirs add and take away because of the cfr Rev 19:10. Tyc. 7, 54, 8–9. c  Tyc. 7, 57, 5–6. a 

b 

148

Chapter Twenty Two, 18–20

the labour it takes to complete it, and because they want to please men.a 20. come, lord jesus, that is, John and the Church are saying [‘come’]. Amen. Here it ends. John [is interpreted] ‘the grace of God’ on account of the gift of holiness or revelation or on account of his [unusual] death. John was twenty three [years old] at the time of the crucifixion.b From his birth until his death [there were] ninety-seven years.

a  Tyc. 7, 58, 2–7. Perhaps a reference to the temptations of mediaeval scribes to cut corners to complete a long project, and yet to appear to be diligent to their fellow scribes and the master of the scriptorium. b  Lat. post crucem, literally ‘after the cross’. However, the author could be referencing an opinion also found in an anonymous prologue to the Apocalypse (CC SL 107: 193, see supra p. 31, note e) which says ‘XXIII anno post passionem domini scriptum est’—‘[The Apocalypse] was written in the twenty-third year after the passion of the Lord’.

149

INDICES

INDEX OF SCRIPTURES

Genesis 3:939 3:2249 4:8112 4:1076 9:1363 49:1781 Exodus 10:2044 20:2476 Numbers 12:369 23:21147 Leviticus 17:1476 Deuteronomy 32:667 1 Kings 17:1101 2 Kings 1:10–12101 Job

1:11–12108 2:5–6108

Psalms 1:133 2:954 14:1–2146 15:1069 16:781 18:6137 18:943 26:1371 35:10132 40:544 41:841 49:369 50:1936 54:16138 68:1047 68:1689 76:1964 81:6111 86:1–234 87:5–669 104:1943 109:169 118:10398 118:10543 Proverbs 3:140 Song of Songs 6:845

153

Index of Scriptures

7:22127 10:23137 10:28 44, 48 11:799 11:28131 11:2943 12:2993 12:3464 13:11–1762 13:17108 13:43 44, 54 13:46145 14:2075 16:16117 16:18143 17:1–2143 18:1045 19:2164 22:14131 22:35134 22:35–40121 23:360 23:2551 25:1157 25:3472 25:41 50, 51, 141 28:2058

Isaiah 7:1469 9:6 34, 69 11:2 35, 122, 123 11:2–3 35, 40 11:458 11:1069 26:1037 28:2128 30:2139 45:2239 58:185 60:896 66:162 66:24 118, 135 Jeremiah 8:1681 23:6.33, 16 47 Ezekiel 40:22.26

35, 40

Daniel 12:354 Zechariah 10:373 Malachi 3:739 4:2145 Matthew 1:1 33, 34, 65 1:1868 3:17 17, 82 4:664 4:1742 5:348 5:8147 5:4477 6:3359 7:6100 7:1398 7:15 113, 130

Mark 1:133 1:365 4:3434 7:21–23113 9:43 118, 135 12:30–3165 Luke 1:233 1:565 1:3567 1:4671 1:6866 6:38133 6:45113 7:2499 12:2056

154

Index of Scriptures

John 1:1 33, 65, 68 1:960 1:1434 1:29.3670 3:5 57, 63 6:3583 8:12145 10:9 57, 62 10:34–35111 12:2661 13:25 31, 69 14:6 83, 140 14:2774 18:3736 19:3737 20:2170 21:15–1682 21:2069 Acts 1:136 1:936 1:1136 2:363 6:448 7:4962 8:9–11138 11:28130 Romans 1:133 2:28–2949 6:11 42, 44, 49 7:4.642 7:22–23126 12:1 36, 43, 52 13:1274 13:14123 1 Corinthians 1:3047 2:1438 6:19142 10:1353 11:341 11:2952

13:847 15:5297 15:5575 2 Corinthians 3:642 4:16126 6:1661 11:250 11:14115 Galatians 3:27

60, 105, 123

Ephesians 1:441 2:15–1642 3:16126 4:2481 5:2739 Philippians 3:2088 Colossians 1:1667 1 Thessalonians 4:16103 4:17103 5:392 5:1766 2 Thessalonians 2:381 2:858 2 Timothy 2:2054 Hebrews 4:1242 9:4104 10:2136 12:2341 13:21145

155

Index of Scriptures

1 Peter 1:133 1:20140 2:936 3:1241 4:1167 2 Peter 1:472 3:13140 1 John 1:782 2:952 2:18131 Revelation 1:1 15, 20 1:1–2:59 1:516 1:735 1:815 1:916 1:1041 1:1117 1:1241 1:1418 1:1537 1:17136 2:2–348 2:5 17, 51 2:616 2:10 14, 15 2:1350 2:14–1548 2:2357 3:156 3:456 3:12 16, 43

156

3:1417 3:15 15, 60 4:315 4:466 4:6123 4:8 15, 41 4:967 5:1 14, 15, 57 5:1–6:69 5:216 6:115 6:1–1757 6:215 6:915 7:116 7:4144 7:4–881 7:916 7:1316 8:1 16, 57 9:13 17, 59 10:11100 11:15 17, 59 13:13–14:19 13:1816 16:2125 17:3110 17:4–881 17:881 17:1544 18:1914 19:10148 19:1636 19:2050 20:4–612 20:1450 21:2.1043 21:850 22:16136

INDEX OF NON-SCRIPTURAL SOURCES

Moralia in Iob 2, 11 2, 15 4, 17 35, 13

Anonymous Commentarius in epistolas catholicas41 Apringius of Beja Tractatus in Apocalypsin 1, 276

55

Augustine De Genesi ad litteram38 Bede Explanatio Apocalypseo 4.346 4.32–3349 4.98–9952 4.16655 4.182–8356 4.24159 Eusebius of Caesaria Historia ecclesiastica 6.25, 9

31

Gregory the Great Homiliae in evangelia136 Homiliae in Hiezechihelem prophetam 1.4, 3 66 Liber regulae pastoralis 1, 11 60 3, 28 117

77 108 107 77

Hippolytus of Rome L’Anticristo. De Antichristo 50, 2

115

Irenaeus of Lyon Adversus haereses 5.30, 3

115

Isidore of Seville Chronica maiora 2.259–6331 Etymologiae38 Jerome De viris illustribus 931 Epistulae 18B, 2, 3 52 53, 9, 6 32 Liber interpretationis hebraicorum nominum Acts, Jude, Heb. 102 Apoc. 35, 46, 48, 49, 50, 51, 53, 55, 56, 59, 81, 117, 127, 140 Gen, John, Pss, 1 Pet, Rev 118 Matt.38 Num., Dan., Iud 107

157

Index of Non-Scriptural Sources

Origen Homiliae in Leviticum 3.7.250 Sedulius Scottus In Epistolam ad Galatas 5.1953 Tyconius Expositio Apocalypseos 1, 1, 1–5 1, 1, 4–6 1, 2, 1–2 1, 2, 35–36 1, 4, 1–7 1, 5, 2–4 1, 5, 5–7 1, 6, 1–3 1, 7, 1–2 1, 8, 3–6 1, 9, 2–4 1, 11, 5–8 1, 11, 6–7 1, 11, 14–15.65–67 1, 11, 72–74 1, 11, 110–11 1, 11, 126–38 1, 12, 1–3 1, 13, 5–8 1, 14, 6–7 1, 15, 5–7 1, 16, 1 1, 17, 2–4.44–47 1, 18, 3–4 1, 19, 4–5 1, 19, 11 1, 20, 1–3 1, 22, 3 1, 22, 4–5 1, 23, 1–3 1, 23, 10–14 1, 25, 3–4 1, 25, 10–11 1, 26, 1–3 1, 26, 4–9 1, 27, 14–16 1, 27, 27–29

40 42 43 43 43 43 41 44 44 44 44 45 46 45 45 48 46 46 47 47 48 48 49 49 49 49 49 50 50 50 51 51 52 52 52 53 53

158

1, 27, 35 1, 27, 63 1, 31, 1–2 1, 33, 1–2 1, 33, 2–3 1, 34, 10–11 1, 35, 3–4 1, 37, 5 1, 37, 6–9 1, 40, 4–5 1, 41, 8–11 1, 43, 6–8 1, 44, 1–2 1, 44, 3–4 1, 44, 6–10 1, 45, 14 1, 46, 2–3 1, 50, 3 2, 1, 2–3 2, 2, 1–3 2, 2, 3–4 2, 2, 5 2, 5, 7–8 2, 6, 4–5 2, 7, 2–3 2, 9, 3–19 2, 10, 1–4 2, 10, 7–9 2, 12, 4 2, 13, 4–5 2, 14, 3–7 2, 15, 1–6 2, 16, 1–2 2, 17, 3–5 2, 18, 1–3 2, 19, 1–3 2, 20, 3–5 2, 22, 3–4 2, 24, 3–4 2, 24, 4–5 2, 25, 3 2, 25, 6 2, 25, 10–12 2, 27, 1–2 2, 29, 1–2 2, 31, 4–5 2, 32, 3–6

53 53 53 54 54 55 56 56 57 57 58 58 58 59 59 60 60 61 62 62 62 62 63 64 65 65 66 66 66 67 67 68 69 70 70 70 70 70 70 70 71 71 71 71 72 73 73

Index of Non-Scriptural Sources

2, 33, 6–13 2, 34, 7–9 2, 34, 13–14 2, 34, 14–15.22–25.28–31 2, 34, 16–17.20–22 2, 35, 6–19.26 2, 35, 9 2, 35, 28–29 2, 35, 33 2, 35, 36–37 2, 35, 37–38 2, 35, 49 2, 36, 8–18 2, 37, 11–12 2, 38, 1–4 2, 39, 1–2 2, 39, 1–3 2, 40, 1–6 2, 43, 4–6 2, 43, 87–88 2, 44, 3–6 2, 46, 2–3 2, 46, 3 2, 47, 9–12 2, 49, 7–9 2, 51, 6–11 2, 52, 1–4 2, 53, 1–3 2, 58, 3–5 3, 1, 1–2 3, 1, 3–4 3, 2, 5–10 3, 2, 9–10 3, 2, 10–11 3, 3, 1–2 3, 4, 3–4 3, 4, 4–5 3, 5, 3–4 3, 10, 3–4 3, 10, 4–5 3, 11, 1–2 3, 15, 1–4 3, 17, 7–14 3, 18, 4–6 3, 20, 1–5 3, 22, 6–8 3, 25, 2–3

74 74 75 75 75 76 75 76 76 76 75 75 76 77 78 78 78 78 78 79 79 80 80 93 81 82 82 83 84 84 85 85 85 85 85 85 85 86 86 86 86 87 88 88 89 89 90

159

3, 28, 1–2 3, 29, 2–3 3, 30, 1–3 3, 31, 2–3 3, 32, 1–2 3, 34, 2–3 3, 34, 3 3, 35, 7–8 3, 36, 1–2 3, 36, 2–3 3, 37, 3–4 3, 38, 13–14 3, 38, 20–21 3, 38, 23–24 3, 38, 24–25 3, 39, 1–7 3, 40, 1–3 3, 44, 1–4 3, 45, 3 3, 46, 1–2 3, 47, 1–4 3, 47, 2 3, 48, 6–8 3, 48, 13–15 3, 49, 2–4 3, 50, 1–2 3, 50, 5–7 3, 51, 1–2 3, 52, 1–7 3, 54, 1–4 3, 55, 1–2 3, 56, 2–8 3, 57, 6–8 3, 58, 5–7 3, 59, 2–3 3, 59, 5–7 3, 60, 7–10 3, 61, 3–4 3, 62, 3–4 3, 63, 1–3 3, 64, 2–3 3, 65, 1 3, 66, 4 3, 66, 4–8 3, 67, 3–4 3, 68, 8–9 3, 69, 2–3

91 91 91 91 91 91 92 92 92 92 92 92 93 93 93 93 113 94 94 94 94 94 95 95 96 96 96 96 96 97 97 97 97 98 98 98 98 99 100 100 100 100 100 101 101 101 101

Index of Non-Scriptural Sources

3, 73, 2–3 3, 74, 4 3, 78, 3–5 3, 84, 13–16.21 4, 1, 1–2 4, 2, 1–2 4, 3, 2 4, 5, 2–4 4, 6, 1–6 4, 7, 1–2 4, 8, 1–2 4, 9, 1–3 4, 10, 1–3 4, 11, 4–6 4, 12, 11–12 4, 13, 1–3 4, 15, 4–5 4, 16, 1.3 4, 16, 3–4 4, 17, 1–3 4, 19, 5–7 4, 20, 2–3 4, 21, 4 4, 21, 9–11 4, 22, 2 4, 22, 5–9 4, 23, 3–7 4, 24, 1–2 4, 25, 1–6 4, 26, 8–15 4, 27, 2–3 4, 27, 4 4, 29, 3–4 4, 30, 1–2 4, 30, 3–4 4, 31, 2–4 4, 32, 2 4, 33, 3–4 4, 34, 2 4, 35, 1–3 4, 36, 3–5 4, 39, 1 4, 39, 3–8 4, 40, 6–7 4, 41, 9–10 4, 42, 2–3 4, 42, 4–7

102 102 103 104 104 104 104 105 105 106 106 106 106 107 107 107 107 107 108 108 108 109 109 109 109 109 109 110 110 111 111 111 111 111 111 111 112 112 112 112 112 113 113 113 113 113 114

160

4, 43, 2–6 4, 46, 4–5.9 4, 46, 8–9 4, 46, 9 4, 47, 2–5 5, 1, 1–2 5, 3, 1–4 5, 4, 1–4 5, 5, 1–2 5, 7, 1–4 5, 9, 1–3 5, 14, 1–2 5, 16, 1–2 5, 18, 2–3 5, 19, 3 5, 22, 1 5, 22, 4–5 5, 23, 1 5, 23, 1–4 5, 24, 2–3 5, 24, 4–5 5, 25, 1–2.4 5, 31, 17–18 5, 32, 3 5, 33, 2–3 5, 35, 1–3 5, 36, 4 5, 37, 1–3 5, 38, 1–2 5, 41, 1–6 5, 43, 3 5, 43, 6–9 5, 43, 10–13 5, 45, 2–3 5, 45, 3–4 5, 46, 5–6 5, 48, 4–5 6, 1, 1 6, 2, 5–6 6, 3, 1–3 6, 4, 1 6, 6, 4–5 6, 7, 3–5 6, 8, 5–6 6, 8, 6 6, 11, 1–9 6, 12, 4–9

114 114 115 115 117 118 118 118 118 119 119 120 120 121 121 122 122 122 122 122 123 123 126 126 126 126 126 126 126 127 127 127 127 127 127 128 128 129 129 129 129 130 101 130 113 130 131

Index of Non-Scriptural Sources

6, 14, 2–6 6, 16, 3–5 6, 22, 1 6, 24, 1–2 6, 25, 3–12 6, 28, 4–5 6, 29, 1–4 6, 30, 1–3 6, 31, 1–3 6, 38, 7–9 6, 39, 4–11 6, 44, 6–10 7, 1, 1 7, 1, 4–5 7, 2, 1–2 7, 3, 1–3 7, 4, 1–3 7, 10, 1–2 7, 11, 5–6 7, 12, 7–8 7, 13, 1–3 7, 14, 1–3 7, 16, 1 7, 18, 1–2 7, 19, 18–20 7, 24, 5–6

131 131 132 132 132 133 133 133 133 134 134 136 136 137 137 137 137 138 138 138 139 139 139 139 140 140

161

7, 27, 1 7, 27, 8–9 7, 30, 1–2 7, 31, 10 7, 32, 4–5 7, 33, 9–10 7, 34, 1–2 7, 35, 3 7, 36, 4–9 7, 37, 2–4 7, 38, 2–3 7, 40, 6–7 7, 42, 1–5 7, 43, 1–3 7, 44, 1–4 7, 45, 1–2 7, 46, 2–3 7, 49, 2–3 7, 49, 3 7, 50, 1–4 7, 51, 1–3 7, 52, 2–5 7, 54, 8–9 7, 57, 5–6 7, 58, 2–7

140 140 141 142 142 143 143 143 143 143 143 145 145 145 145 145 145 147 147 147 147 147 148 148 149

INDEX OF NAMES

Abel, biblical figure  112, 134 Adam, biblical patriarch  35, 39, 46, 49, 67, 82, 135, 147 Alcuin of York  11, 19 Ambrose Autpert  19 Antipas, bishop of Pergamum, martyr 50 Arius 57 Augustine of Hippo  19, 46 Augustus, Roman emperor  130 Beatus of Liébana  12, 19 Bede the Venerable  11, 12, 18, 19 Bischoff, Bernhard  13, 19 Caesar, Gaius Julius, Roman emperor 130 Caesarius of Arles  12 Cain, biblical figure  112, 134 Cassiodorus 12 Christ, Jesus  14, 20–21, 33, 41, 47, 58, 60, 67, 76, 83, 88–90, 98, 119–120, 123, 132, 139, 149 adoration of  66–67, 71–72, 135 as alpha and omega  37 appearance of  39–44 ascension of  109 atonement of  17 and baptism  73 and baskets, twelve  75 blood of  74–75, 82, 108, 135 Body of  39–40, 51, 85, 104, 109, 135

162

burial of  69 and chiliasm 12 and Church as Church  42–43, 64, 80, 85–86, 111, 137 clothes of  43, 105 as spouse of  50, 135, 143 clothing of  40–41, 43, 105 conception of  68 crucifixion/cross of  46, 71, 147–149 and David, key of  56–57 denial of  77–78, 89, 102–103, 128, 137 devil, power over  108 and door of life  57, 62 as eagle  88 endurance of  38 genealogy of  65, 70 hell, descent to  69 and Herod  107 humanity of (as Son of Man), 34, 40, 42, 59, 66, 75, 98, 112 Incarnation of  68 as jasper and carnelian  63 and judgement  140 as lamb  70–73, 82, 108, 112–113, 117–118, 131, 143, 145–146 as lion  65, 97 and love  47 and Michael, archangel  107 as morning star  54

Index of Names

as mountain/stone  143, 145 name of  114, 117 nativity/birth of  61, 68, 84, 92, 102, 104, 106, 109, 148 as ox  65 passion of  37, 49, 69, 127 and peace  74 prayer of  66 preaching of  97 Resurrection of  38, 44, 69, 126 as sacrament  49 second coming of  103 and seven seals  16, 70 as sun  145 testimony of  15, 136 on throne, heavenly  63, 66, 68–69, 142 in Trinity  35–36 voice of  41, 44 and white horse  73 Christe, Yves  9 Claudius, Roman emperor  130 David, king of Israel  56–57, 70, 148 Domitian, Roman emperor  31 Elijah, biblical prophet  84, 100–102 Enoch, biblical figure  84, 100–102 Eumonius 57 Galba, Roman emperor  130 Ganz, David  9 Gregory I the Great, pope  31 Gryson, Roger, Msgr., 10, 12–14

Haimo of Auxerre  19 Herod, king of Judea  107 Jacob, biblical patriarch  80 Jerome, saint  12, 31 Jesus see Christ, Jesus Jezebel, biblical figure  52–54 John, apostle  13, 31 Lobrichon, Guy  9 Mary, Virgin  40, 107 McNamara, Martin  9, 14 Moses, biblical patriarch  104, 123 Nero, Roman emperor  130 Origen 31 Otho, Roman emperor  130 Pontius Pilate  36 Primasius of Hadrumentum  12, 18, 19 Ps-Jerome 12 Sabellius 57 Simon Magus  138 Theodulf of Orléans  12, 14, 17 Tiberius, Roman emperor  130 Tyconius  10–12, 14, 17, 18–19 Victorinus 18 Zechariah, son of Barachiah  134

163

SUBJECT INDEX

adultery 53 ‘aliter’ clauses  18–19, 20 alpha and omega  15, 37, 148 altar  76, 85, 92, 99, 126 angels  69–71, 80–82, 99, 115, 137, 143, 144, 148 from the altar  120 archangels  103, 107–108 with censer  85–86 of Ephesus, church of  46 four  16, 79–80, 93 and key of bottomless pit  139 of Laodicea, church of  17, 59 of Pergamum, church of  50 of Philadelphia, church of  17, 56 preaching  118, 132 of Sardis, church of  55 with scroll of testaments  96–97 seven, of the church  17, 45, 84–85, 122–123, 125, 129 seven, of the trumpets  17, 59, 84–86, 92–92, 97 of Smyrna, church of  49 from the temple  120 of Thyatira, church of  52 of the waters  125 Antichrist  17, 59, 81, 84, 101, 106– 107, 111–112, 115–116, 122, 130–131 persecution of  45, 58, 77, 89, 92–93, 96, 100, 102, 109, 117, 139 apostles  33, 36, 39, 41–42, 97, 103, 105–106, 147 as foundations, twelve  144

as fruit, twelve kinds  147 as gates, twelve  143, 145 as mountains  78 prefiguring of  75 and tribes of Israel  63, 80–81 Apringius of Beja, Tractatus in Apocalypsin 69 ark of the covenant  104 Armageddon 127 Augustine of Hippo De Civitate Dei (The City of God) 12 De Doctrina Cristiana (On Christian Teaching) 112 On the Literal Meaning of Genesis 17 Babylon  118, 128, 129, 133 Balaam 50–51 baptism  56, 59, 73, 107, 114, 131, 133, 147–148 as eagle  109 as New Jerusalem  142 as oil  75 as open door  57 as rainbow  63 as sea of glass  64, 122, 145 as seal  80, 90 as white robes  81–82 as white stone  52 beast  101, 122–123, 131, 138 from the earth  113–114 mark of  114, 119, 138

164

Subject Index

number of  16, 114–116, 122 from the sea  110–113 throne of  126 woman sitting on  129–130 see also Antichrist blasphemies  110–111, 129 Book of Life  56, 81, 140, 146 bowls, seven golden  123, 125 captivity 112 censer, golden  85–86 chiliasm 12 churches, seven (septiform), 17, 35, 45, 50, 75, 84–85 clouds  36–37, 119 commaticum interpretandi genus 10 Commemoratorium de Apocalypsin Iohannis apostoli (Handbook of the Apocalypse of the Apostle John), 15 Commentary on Catholic Epistles 18 creatures, four living  64–67, 70–72, 73–74 crown of twelve stars  105–106 dating of Cambridge Gloss 19 De Enigmatibus ex Apocalypsi Iohannis (On the Mysteries of the Apocalypse of John), 9, 12, 14, 17, 18, 69, 115 devil see Satan/devil dragons  113, 126 with seven heads  106–108, 111 eagles  65, 88, 109 earthquake 77 Egypt 102 elders, twenty-four  63–64, 66–67, 70–71, 82, 91 Ephesus  40, 46–49, 51 Euphrates river  93, 126 Eusebius, Ecclesiastical History 18 eyesalve 60 faithful, hundred and forty-four thousand 80–81 famine  76, 133 fornication  51, 53, 129, 132

Gog and Magog  140 gospels  13, 31, 33, 36, 57, 79, 93, 109, 118, 121, 142, 144 as four living creatures  64–66, 123 as wine  75 Greek language  20, 33, 40 letters of  37, 114–115; see also alpha and omega Gregory the Great The Book of Pastoral Rule 17 Gospel Homilies 17 Homilies on the Book of Ezekiel 17 Moral Reflections on the Book of Job 17 Hades  75, 141 hail and fire  86, 128 harvest of the earth  119–120 heathens  14, 57, 59, 79–80, 82, 86, 95, 110, 129, 136–137, 140, 148 Hebrew language  17, 40, 92 heretics/heresy  11, 14, 19, 47–48, 51, 57, 73–76, 78, 87, 90–94, 100–101, 106, 126–127, 129, 132, 136, 142 Hilary of Poitiers, Tractatus super psalmos 69 horses  91, 94, 138 black  74, 76 pale 75–76 red  74, 76 white  73, 137 idolatry  51, 53, 95, 129 ‘Irish Reference Bible’, 14 Isidore of Seville, Chronicle 18 Jerome Interpretation of Hebrew Names 17 Letters 17 On Illustrious Men 18 Jerusalem 59 New 142–146 Jews  14, 49–50, 57–58, 73, 123, 129, 136 Judgement, Last  50, 127, 139

165

Subject Index

Key of David  56–57 lampstands seven golden  40, 41, 45, 46, 48, 101 two (Elijah and Enoch), 100–101 Laodicea  17, 59–61 lightning  64, 127 lions  65, 67, 91, 94, 111, 126 locusts 90–92 luxuries 133–134 manna 51–52 Massilia (Marseilles), 14, 134 Michael, archangel  107–108 monogram 115 Mount Zion  117 Nicolaitans  48, 51 olive trees  100–101 ox 65 palm branches  81 pedagogy/teachers 16–17 Pergamum 50–52 pestilence 76; see also plagues, seven last Philadelphia  17, 56–59 pit, bottomless  89, 92, 101, 130, 139 plagues, seven last  122, 124, 148 portents 105–106 Preface to the Apocalypse 69 priests  36, 52, 65, 75, 99 Primasius of Hadrumentum  80 prophets/prophecy  16, 36, 39, 53, 58, 70–71, 89, 96–98, 100, 102, 104, 108, 112, 116, 134, 136, 144, 147 false  94, 101, 106, 113–114, 126, 138 Ps-Alcuin, De septem sigillis 69 Ps-Jerome, Commemoratorium 12 rainbow  63, 96 Reference Bible 9 revelation, interpretation of word  20, 33–34 rod of Moses  104

St Gall, library catalogue  19 St Mesmin (Micy), 14 saints and martyrs  36, 50, 76–77, 103–104, 108, 112, 119, 134, 137 Sardis 55–56 Satan/devil  49–50, 53, 57–58, 74–76, 82, 86, 92, 101, 113–114, 138 defeat of  103, 138 as dragon  108, 111 expulsion/fall of  108–109, 118 throne of  126 scroll of testaments  68–71, 97–98 sea of blood  86, 125 of glass  64, 122 seals, seven  16, 68–71, 77 sickles as judgement  119–120 Smyrna 49–50 Sodom 102 sources 17–19 Spirit, Holy  35, 39–40, 55, 60, 63–65, 75, 83, 85–86, 101, 114, 120, 122, 148 spirits, seven (septiform Spirit), 35, 55, 64, 122–123 stars falling  78, 87, 89 seven  41, 45, 46, 55, 101 swept down by dragon  106–107 sun, darkened  89–90 sword, two-edged  41–42 teachers see pedagogy/teachers temple of God  99–100, 104 temple of the tabernacle  123–124, 127 Theodulf of Orléans, Expositio in Apocalypsin Iohannis (Exposition on the Apocalypse of John), 14, 18, 69, 115 thrones, heavenly  35, 81–82, 85, 135, 140 of Christ  63, 66, 68–69, 142 of twenty-four elders  63 Thyatira 52–54 Tietan 115 tree of life  147 tribes, twelve of Israel  80–81, 105–106, 112, 143 Trinity  16, 35–36, 75, 109, 116, 143

166

Subject Index

troops of cavalry  94 trumpets, seven  39, 59, 84–86, 92–93, 97 Tyconius Expositio Apocalypseos (Exposition of the Apocalypse), 10 Liber Regularum (Book of Rules), 10–12 Victorinus of Petovium, Explanation in Apocalypsin 18 virgins, one hundred and forty-four thousand 117

war in heaven  107–108 winds, four  16, 79–80 wine press of wrath of God  120–121, 137 witnesses, two (Elijah and Enoch), 100–102 woman clothed with the sun  105– 107, 109 woman sitting on beast  129–130 word of God  34, 60, 71, 76

167