We are to lay aside all guile and go to Christ the living stone, and, as being now his people, walk worthily of him, with submission to superiors and patience under sufferings.
Novv after their Baptisme, vvhat must be their meate: 4 and being come to Christ, hovv happie they be abou• their incredulous brethren, according to the Scriptures also. 11 Wherevpon he beseecheth them to shine in good life among the Heathen, so to procure their conuersion: 13 to be obedient subiects to higher Povvers (hovvsoeuer some misconster Christian libertie) 14 and seruants to obey their Maisters. 19 And so, doing vvel, though they suffer for it. it is very meritorious, 21 vvhereas Christ also not onely gaue them example, 24 but also by his death hath made them able to liue iustly.
1Wherefore laying away all malice and all guile and dissimulations and envies and all detractions,Per la qual cosa deposta ogni malizia, e ogni frode, e le finzioni, e le invidie, e tutte le detrazioni,LAYING avvay therfore al malice, and al guile, and simulations, and enuies, and al detractions,Deponentes igitur omnem malitiam, et omnem dolum, et simulationes, et invidias, et omnes detractiones, 2As newborn babes, desire the rational milk without guile, that thereby you may grow unto salvation:Come bambini di fresco nati bramate il latte spirituale sincero; affinchè per esso cresciate a salute:as infants euen novv borne, reasonable, milke vvithout guile desire ye, that in it you may grovv vnto saluatiō.sicut modo geniti infantes, rationabile, sine dolo lac concupiscite: ut in eo crescatis in salutem: 3If so be you have tasted that the Lord is sweet.Se pure gustato avete, come è dolce il Signore.if yet you haue tasted that our Lord is svveete.si tamen gustastis quoniam dulcis est Dominus. 4Unto whom coming, as to a living stone, rejected indeed by men but chosen and made honourable by God:A cui accostandovi pietra viva, rigettata dagli uomini, ma eletta, e onorata da Dio:Vnto vvhom approching, a liuing stone, of men in deede reprobated, but of God elect and made honorable:Ad quem accedentes lapidem vivum, ab hominibus quidem reprobatum, a Deo autem electum, et honorificatum: 5Be you also as living stones built up, a spiritual house, a holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ.Voi pure come pietre vive siete edificati sopra di lui, casa spirituale, sacerdozio santo per offerire vittime spirituali, gradite a Dio per Gesù Cristo.be ye also your selues superedified as it vvere liuing stones, spiritual houses', a holy priesthod, to offer spiritual hostes, acceptable to God by IESVS Christ.et ipsi tamquam lapides vivi superædificamini, domus spiritualis, sacerdotium sanctum, offerre spirituales hostias, acceptabiles Deo per Jesum Christum. 6Wherefore it is said in the scripture: Behold, I lay in Sion a chief corner stone, elect, precious. And he that shall believe in him shall not be confounded.Per la qual cosa si ha nella scrittura: ecco che io pongo in Sion una pietra principale, angolare, eletta, preziosa: e chi in lei crederà, non rimarrà confuso.For the vvhich cause the Scripture conteineth, Behold I put in Sion a principal corner stone elect, pretious. and he that shal beleeue in him, shal not be confounded.Propter quod continet Scriptura: Ecce pono in Sion lapidem summum angularem, electum, pretiosum: et qui crediderit in eum, non confundetur. 7To you therefore that believe, he is honour: but to them that believe not, the stone which the builders rejected, the same is made the head of the corner:Per voi adunque, che credete, ell'è di onore: ma per quei, che non credono, ella è la pietra rigettata da coloro, che fabbricavano: questa è divenuta testata dell'angolo:To you therfore that beleeue, honour: but to them that beleeue not, the stone vvhich the builders reiected, the same is made into the head of the corner:Vobis igitur honor credentibus: non credentibus autem lapis, quem reprobaverunt ædificantes: hic factus est in caput anguli,
8And a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal, to them who stumble at the word, neither do believe, whereunto also they are set.E pietra d'inciampo, e pietra di scandalo per costoro, che urtano nella parola, e non credono, al che furon pur ordinati.and a stone of offense, and a rocke of scandal, to them that stumble at the vvord, neither doe beleeue wherin also they are put'.et lapis offensionis, et petra scandali, his qui offendunt verbo, nec credunt in quo et positi sunt. 9But you are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood, a holy nation, a purchased people: that you may declare his virtues, who hath called you out of darkness into his marvelous light:Ma voi stirpe eletta, sacerdozio regale, gente santa, popolo di acquisto: affinchè esaltiate le virtù di lui, che dalle tenebre vi chiamò all'ammirabil sua luce.But you are an elect generation, a kingly priesthod, a holy nation, a people of purchase: that you may declare his vertues vvhich from darkenesse hath called you into his maruelous light.Vos autem genus electum, regale sacerdotium, gens sancta, populus acquisitionis: ut virtutes annuntietis ejus qui de tenebris vos vocavit in admirabile lumen suum. 10Who in time past were not a people: but are now the people of God. Who had not obtained mercy: but now have obtained mercy.I quali una volta non popolo, ma ora popolo di Dio: i quali non fatti partecipi di misericordia, ora poi fatti partecipi della misericordia.Vvhich sometime not a people: but novv the people of God. Vvhich not hauing obtained mercie: but novv hauing obtained mercie.Qui aliquando non populus, nunc autem populus Dei: qui non consecuti misericordiam, nunc autem misericordiam consecuti. 11Dearly beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, to refrain yourselves from carnal desires which war against the soul,Carissimi, io vi scongiuro, che come forestieri, e pellegrini vi guardiate dai desiderj carnali, che militan contro dell'anima,My deerest I beseche you as strangers & pilgrimes, to refraine your selues from carnal desires which vvarre against the soule,Carissimi, obsecro vos tamquam advenas et peregrinos abstinere vos a carnalibus desideriis, quæ militant adversus animam, 12Having your conversation good among the Gentiles: that whereas they speak against you as evildoers, they may, by the good works which they shall behold in you, glorify God in the day of visitation.Vivendo bene tralle genti: affinchè laddove sparlan di voi come di uomini di mal affare, considerando le vostre buone opere, glorifichino Dio nel dì, in cui li visiterà.hauing your conuersation good among the Gentiles: that in that vvherein they misreport of you as of malefactors, by the good vvorkes considering you, they may glorifie God in the day of visitation.conversationem vestram inter gentes habentes bonam: ut in eo quod detrectant de vobis tamquam de malefactoribus, ex bonis operibus vos considerantes, glorificent Deum in die visitationis.
13Be ye subject therefore to every human creature for God’s sake: whether it be to the king as excelling,Siate adunque per riguardo a Dio soggetti ad ogni uomo creato: tanto al Re, come sopra di tutti;Be subiect therfore to euery humane creature for God: vvhether it be to king, as excelling:Subjecti igitur estote omni humanæ creaturæ propter Deum: sive regi quasi præcellenti: 14Or to governors as sent by him for the punishment of evildoers and for the praise of the good.Quanto ai presidi come spediti da lui per far vendetta de' malfattori, e per onorare i buoni:or to rulers as sent by him to the reuenge of malefactors, but to the praise of the good:sive ducibus tamquam ab eo missis ad vindictam malefactorum, laudem vero bonorum: 15For so is the will of God, that by doing well you may put to silence the ignorance of foolish men:Perché tale è la volontà di Dio, che ben facendo chiudiate la bocca alla ignoranza degli uomini stolti:for so is the vvil of God, that doing vvel you may make the ignorance of vnvvise men to be dumme:quia sic est voluntas Dei, ut benefacientes obmutescere faciatis imprudentium hominum ignorantiam: 16As free and not as making liberty a cloak for malice, but as the servants of God.Come liberi, e non quasi tenendo la libertà per velame della malizia, ma come servi di Dio.as free, & not as hauing the freedom for a cloke of malice, but as the seruants of God.quasi liberi, et non quasi velamen habentes malitiæ libertatem, sed sicut servi Dei. 17Honour all men. Love the brotherhood. Fear God. Honour the king.Rispettate tutti: amate i fratelli? temete Dio: rendete onore al Re.Honour al men. Loue the fraternitie. Feare God. Honour the king.Omnes honorate: fraternitatem diligite: Deum timete: regem honorificate. 18Servants, be subject to your masters with all fear, not only to the good and gentle but also to the froward.Servi, siate soggetti ai padroni con ogni timore, non solo ai buoni, e modesti, ma anche agl'indiscreti.Seruants be subiect in al feare to your maisters, not only to the good & modest, but also to the vvaivvard.Servi, subditi estote in omni timore dominis, non tantum bonis et modestis, sed etiam dyscolis. 19For this is thankworthy: if, for conscience towards God, a man endure sorrows, suffering wrongfully.Imperocché è cosa di merito, se per riflesso a Dio uno sopporta molestie, patendo ingiustamente.For this is thanke, if for cōscience of God a man sustaine sorovves, suffering vniustly.Hæc est enim gratia, si propter Dei conscientiam sustinet qui tristitias, patiens injuste. 20For what glory is it, if, committing sin and being buffeted for it, you endure? But if doing well you suffer patiently: this is thankworthy before God.Imperocché qual onore è egli, se peccando, ed essendo puniti, patite? Ma se bene operando, e patendo, soffrite in pazienza: questo è il merito dinanzi a Dio.For vvhat glorie is it: if sinning, and buffeted you suffer? but if doing vvel you sustaine patiently: this is thanke before God.Quæ enim est gloria, si peccantes, et colaphizati suffertis ? sed si bene facientes patienter sustinetis, hæc est gratia apud Deum.
21For unto this are you called: because Christ also suffered for us, leaving you an example that you should follow his steps.Imperocché a questo siete stati chiamati: dappoiché anche Cristo patì per noi, lasciando a voi l'esempio, affinchè le vestigia di lui seguitiate:For vnto this are you called: because Christ also suffred for vs', leauing you', an example that you may folovv his steppes.In hoc enim vocati estis: quia et Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum ut sequamini vestigia ejus: 22Who did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.Il quale non fe' peccato, né frode trovossi nella sua bocca:vvho did no sinne, neither vvas guile found in his mouthqui peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore ejus: 23Who, when he was reviled, did not revile: when he suffered, he threatened not, but delivered himself to him that judged him unjustly.Il quale venendo maledetto, non malediceva: strapazzato non minacciava: ma si rimetteva nelle mani dì chi ingiustamente lo giudicava:vvho vvhen he vvas reuiled, did not reuile: vvhen he suffred, he threatened not: but deliuered him self to him that iudged him vniustly.qui cum malediceretur, non maledicebat: cum pateretur, non comminabatur: tradebat autem judicanti se injuste: 24Who his own self bore our sins in his body upon the tree: that we, being dead to sins, should live to justice: by whose stripes you were healed.Il quale i peccati nostri portò egli stesso sul proprio corpo sopra del regno (affinchè morti al peccato, viviamo alla giustizia) per le lividure del quale siete stati sanati.vvho him self bare our sinnes in his body vpon the tree: that dead to sinnes, we may liue to iustice. by vvhose stripes you are healed.qui peccata nostra ipse pertulit in corpore suo super lignum; ut peccatis mortui, justitiæ vivamus: cujus livore sanatis estis. 25For you were as sheep going astray: but you are now converted to the shepherd and bishop of your souls.Imperocché eravate come pecore? sbandate, ma vi siete adesso convertiti al pastore, e vescovo delle anime vostre.For you vvere as sheepe straying: but you be conuerted novv to the Pastor and Bishop of your soules.Eratis enim sicut oves errantes, sed conversi estis nunc ad pastorem, et episcopum animarum vestrarum.
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Witham
Desire the rational[Ver. 2. Rationabile sine dolo lac: to logikon adolon gala: both the adjectives agree with milk.] milk without guile, or deceit. Without guile, in construction, does not agree with new-born children, but with milk, as appears by the text. The sense is, follow the pure doctrine of the gospel, without mixture of errors. (Witham)
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Whoever has a relish for Jesus Christ, has also for his word; and such as have a relish for neither, are truly deplorable. Let us pray then that God would feed us with his word, and with the holy Eucharist, that contains his body and blood, his soul and his divinity, that we may thereby grow up to salvation.
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Witham
You also....a holy[Ver. 5. Ierateuma agion basileion. See St. Ambrose, in Psalm cxviii.; St. Augustine, lib. x. de lib. 1 Peter 6. etc.] priesthood; and, as he saith again, (ver. 9.) a royal priesthood. 1. Because they had ministers of God, who were truly and properly priests, of whom Christ is the chief. 2. Every good Christian in a less proper sense may be called a priest, inasmuch as he offers to God what in a less proper and metaphorical sense may be called sacrifices and oblations; that is, the sacrifice of an humble and contrite heart, (Psalm l.) the sacrifice of self-denials and mortifications, of prayer, almsdeeds, etc. And it is called a royal priesthood, as Christians may be called metaphorically kings, by governing their passions, or because they are invited to reign with Christ in his kingdom, to sit on his throne, etc. See Apocalypse 3:21. etc. (Witham)
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Witham
Whereunto also they are[Ver. 8. In quo et positi sunt: eis o, in quod, etethesan, which cannot agree with logos, or githos, but seems to agree with the whole sentence, which is to be understood of God's permission and punishment for their obstinacy.] set, or placed, that is by God's permission; not that God is the cause of their sins or damnation, (whose will is that every one be saved) but his justice has appointed and decreed punishments against those who, by their own wilful malice, refuse to believe and to follow his doctrine: their stumbling against this stone is wilful and obstinate. (Witham)
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You are....a purchased people, whom Christ purchased, bought and redeemed with the price of his precious blood.
Witham
That you may declare his[Ver. 9. Virtutes ejus, tas aretas, not dunameis, and so should not be translated powers, as by Mr. N.] virtues; that is the excellencies and perfections of God, who hath called you, and now made you his people, which you were not, at least in this matter before, neither you that were Jews, nor especially you that were Gentiles. (Witham)
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Witham
I beseech you....to refrain, etc. from all unlawful and disorderly passions, that the Gentiles not yet converted may have nothing to blame in your lives and conversation, but may be edified and induced to praise God. (Witham)
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Witham
In the day of visitation. God is said to visit his people, sometimes by afflictions and punishments, and sometimes by graces and favours. Some think St. Peter here, by the day of visitation, means the approaching destruction of Jerusalem by the Romans, and that the sense is, that the heathen Romans seeing your peaceable dispositions and pious conversations, may have a favourable opinion of the Christian religion, and be converted. Others, that you and they to whom the gospel is preached, may glorify God when he visits them with graces and favours, whether exterior or interior. (Witham)
Be careful not to give occasion to scandal. Detraction is the life of the world, and piety is most exposed to its shafts, because it most condemns the maxims of its followers.
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Witham
To every human creature,[Ver. 13. Omni humanae creaturae, ktisei, which the Protestants here translate, to every ordinance; but they translated, creature, Mark xvi. 15.; Colossians 1:15.] to every one whom the order of Providence has placed over you, whether it be to emperors or kings, who have the supreme power in kingdoms, or to governors of provinces; obey your temporal princes, though heathens and idolaters, (as the Roman emperors were at that time enemies to the Christian religion) in all that is not sinful and against the law of God: for this is the will of God, and all power is from God. See Romans xiii. In like manner (ver. 18.) servants must be subject and obey their masters, though they be infidels. See 1 Corinthians vii. By this you will silence the ignorance and calumnies of foolish men, who pretended that the Christian religion taught them to be disobedient to princes, and to be subjects of Christ only, their supreme spiritual king. (Witham)
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Witham
As free; to wit, from the slavery of sin, but take care not to make this Christian freedom and liberty a cloak for malice, as they do, who pretend that this makes subjects free from their obedience to temporal princes and magistrates; or servants free from the obedience due to their masters, even when they are froward,[Ver. 16. Dyscolis, skoliois, pravis, curvis, etc.] ill-humoured, or cross to them. (Witham)
There were some heretics in the days of St. Peter, as there are at present, who under pretext of evangelical liberty seek to be free from all even lawful subjection, and thus set themselves above the ordinances of both civil and ecclesiastical power.
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Witham
Take notice that this is praiseworthy, an effect of God's grace, a thing acceptable to God, when you suffer injuries patiently; whereas it is no glory, nothing that deserves commendation or reward, either before God or man, to suffer for doing ill, as a malefactor, who deserves punishments. But it is glorious and meritorious for you to suffer as Christians, and for the Christian faith: be not then ashamed to suffer in this manner. These sufferings are marks of God's favour towards you, and you have the example of Christ, which you must imitate. (Witham)
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Witham
Christ, who was incapable of sinning, did not revile[Ver. 23. Cum malediceretur, non maledicebat, loidoroumenos, convitiis appetitus; improperly translated, cursed, by Mr. N.] them that reviled him; he suffered all with patience; he willingly gave himself up to Pontius Pilate, that judged him, and condemned him unjustly[Ver. 23. Judicanti se injustè. In the present Greek we read dikaios, justè, as also some Latin Fathers read. St. Augustine, (tract. 21. in Joan.) Commendabat autem judicanti justè; and so the sense is, that he commanded and committed his cause to God, the just judge of all.] to the death of the cross: and remember that all he suffered was to satisfy for your sins, that he bore our sins in his own body on the tree of the cross. Remember always this great benefit of your redemption, and of your being called to believe in him, and to be eternally happy by following his doctrine; that all of you were as sheep going astray, lost in your ignorance and in your sins, but that by his grace and by his merits you are now called and converted to Jesus Christ, the great pastor and bishop of your souls. You are happy if you live under his care, inspection, and protection. (Witham)
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•. Spiritual hostes.] Spiritual hostes and Priests. Here vve see, that as he speaketh of spiritual hostes, vvhich euery Christian man offereth, so he speaketh not properly of priesthod, vvhen he maketh al Priests, but of a spiritual priesthod. Which spiritual priesthod vvas also in al the Iewes: but the priesthod (properly so called) vvas onely in the sonnes of Aaron, and they offered the sacrifices (properly so called) vvhich none besides might offer.
In the liturgy The Epistle vpon Saturday in Easter weeke.
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a spiritual house,
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Concordance Es. 28, 16.
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Concordance Ps. 117.
Concordance Mt. 21.
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Concordance Act. 4.
Concordance Es. 8.
vvhereto also they are ordeined.
Concordance Ro. 9, 33.
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Concordance Exo. 19.
The Protestants can no more gather of this, that al Christians be Priests: then, that al be kings: as is most plaine Apocalyp. 1, 6. and 5, 10. Thou hast made vs a kingdom (or kings) & priests.
Concordance Apoc. 1.
Concordance Ose. 2.
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Concordance Ro. 9.
Concordance Gal. 5, 16.
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In the liturgy The Epistle vpō the 3 Sunday after Easter.
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Concordance Mt. 5, 16.
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13. Be subiect.] Obedience to temporal princes. Not onely our Maister Christ, but the Apostles and al Christians vvere euer charged by such as thought to bring them in hatred vvith Princes, vvith disobedience to kings and temporal Magistrates. Ro. 〈◊〉. therfore both S. Paul and this Apostle do specially vvarne the faithful, that they giue no occasiō by their il demeanure to secular Princes, that the Heathen should count them disobedient or seditious vvorkers against the States of the vvorld.
13. To euery humans creature.] So he calleth the temporal Magistrate elected by the people, or holding their Souerainty by birth & carnal propagation, God instituted the Spiritual gouernemēs in more excellēt maner then the temporal. ordained for the vvorldly vvealth, peace, and prosperitie of the subiects: to put a difference betvvixt that humane Superiority, and the spiritual Rulers and regiment, guiding and gouerning the people to an higher end, and instituted by God him self immediatly. for Christ did expresly constitute the forme of regiment vsed euer since in the Church. He made oue the cheese, placing Peter in the Supremacie: he called the Apostles and Disciples, Act. 1. giuing them their seueral authorities. Aftervvared God guided the lot for choise of S. Marthias in Iudas place: and the Holy Ghost expresly and namely seuered and chose Paul and Barnabas vnto their Apostolical function: Act. 20, and generally the Apostle faith of al spiritual Rulers, The holy Ghost hath placed you to rule the Church of God.
And although al povver be of God, and kings rule by him, yet that is no othervvise, but by his ordinarie concurrence, and prouidence, vvhereby he procureth the earthly cōmodity or vvealth of men, by maintaining of due superiority and subiection one tovvards an other, and by giuing povver to the people and Commonvvealth to choose to them selues some kinde or forme of Regiment, vnder vvhich they be content to liue for their preseruation in peace and tranquillity. But Spiritual superiority is far more excellent, as in more excellent sort depending, not of mans ordinance, election, or (as this Apostle speaketh) creation, but of the Holy Ghost, vvho is alvvaies resident in the Church (vvhich is Christs body mystical, and therfore an other manner of Commonwealth then the earthly) concurring in singular sort to the creation of al necessarie Officers in the said Church, Eph. 4. euen to the vvorlds end, as S. Paul vvriteth to the Ephesians.
Lest therfore the people, being then in so precise sort alvvaies vvarned of the excellencie of their Spiritual gouernours and of their obedience tovvard them, Hebr. 13. might neglect their dueties to Temporal Magistrates, specially being infidels, and many times tyrants and persecutors of the faith, as Nero and other vvere then: therfore S. Peter here vvarneth them to be subiect, for their bodies and goods and other temporal things, euen to the vvorldly Princes both infidels and Christians, vvhom he calleth humane creatures.
13. To the king as excelling.] Heret. translation. Some simple heretikes & other also not vnlearned, at the begining, for lacke of better places, vvould haue proued by this, that the king vvas head of the Church, and aboue al Spiritual rulers: and to make it •ound better that vvay, they falsely translated it, To the king as to the cheefe head. The Kings excellencie of power is in respect of the nobilitie and lay magistrates vnder him. In the Bible of the yere 1562. But it is euident that he calleth the king, the precellent or more excellent, in respect of his Vicegerents vvhich he calleth Dukes or Gouernours that be at his appointment: and not in respect of Popes, Bishops, or Priests, as they haue the rule of mens soules: vvho could not in that charge be vnder such kings or Emperours as the Apostle speaketh of: no more then the kings or Emperours then, could be heads of the Church, being Heathen men and no members thereof, much lesse the cheefe members. See a notable place in S. Ignatius ep. ad Smyrnenses, vvhere he exhorteth them first to honour God, next the Bishop, & then the king.
This is an inuincible demōstration, Christiā Princes haue no more right to be supreme heads in spiritual causes, then the Heathen. that this text maketh not for any spiritual claime of earthly kings, because it giueth no more to any Prince then may and ought to be done and graunted to a Heathen Magistrate. Neither is there any thing in al the nevv Testament that proueth the Prince to be head or cheefe gouernour of the Church in spiritual or Ecclesiastical causes, more then it proueth any heathen Emperour of Rome to haue been. for they vvere bound in temporal things to obey the heathen being lavvful kings, to be subiect to them, euen for conscience, to keepe their temporal lavves, to pay them tribute, to pray for them, and to doe al other natural duties: and more no scriptures binde vs to doe to Christian kinges.
So is the Greeke, but the Protest, in fauour of temporal lawes made against the Cath. religion, translate it very falsely thus, to al maner ordināce of man: thē selues boldly reiecting Ecclesiastical decrees as mēs ordinances.
〈Greek〉
Concordance Ro. 13, 1.
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16. Not as hauing.] There vvere some Libertines in those daies, as there be novv, that vnder pretence of libertie of the Gospel, Libertines. sought to be free from subiection and lawes of men as now vnder the like vvicked pretence, Heretikes refuse to obey their spiritual rulers and to obserue their lawes.
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In this speache is often commēded the vnitie of al Christians among them selues.
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18. But also the vvaivvard.) The Vviclefistes and their folovvers in these daies, sometimes to moue the people vnto sedition, Deadly sinnes of Princes or Superiors exempt not the subiectes frō obedience, as Wicleffe held. hold and teach that maisters and magistrates lose their authoritie ouer their seruants and subiects, if they be once in deadly sinne, and that the people in that case neede not in conscience obey them. Vvhich is a pernicious and false doctrine, as is plaine by this place, vvhere vve be expresly commaunded to obey euen the il-conditioned, vvhich must be alvvaies vnderstood, if they commaund nothing against God. for then this rule is euer to be folovved. Vve must obey God rather then men. Act. 5. 29.
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In the liturgy The Epistle vpō the a Sunday after Easter.
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you
vs
Concordance Es. 53, 9.
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〈Greek〉
Concordance Es. 53, 4.
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Concordance Mt. 8, 17.
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St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 23.0
Wherefore putting away all filthiness, and all guile, and evil speaking
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Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 12.31
… Now this interpretation about the three Apostles not tasting of death until they have seen Jesus transfigured, is adapted to those who are designated by Peter as “new-born babes longing for the reasonable milk which is without guile,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 13.26
… Thus, then, these became great, of whom this is written, Isaac, and Moses, and John, and the Saviour Himself above all; for also about Him Gabriel said, “He shall be great;” but the little ones are “the newborn babes which long for the reasonable milk which is without guile,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on Matthew 13.27
Then again one might inquire at what time those who are called their angels assume guardianship of the little ones pointed out by Christ; whether they received this commission to discharge concerning them, from what time “by the laver of regeneration,” through which they were born “as new-born babes, they long for the reasonable milk which is without guile,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 4.1
… Bear with me, I beseech Thee, and give me grace to retrace in my present remembrance the circlings of my past errors, and to “offer to Thee the sacrifice of thanksgiving.” For what am I to myself without Thee, but a guide to mine own downfall? Or what am I even at the best, but one sucking Thy milk,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.25
… But how doth he grieve for certain trees, which did not afford him the fruit due unto him, when he saith, “At my first answer no man stood with me, but all men forsook me: I pray God that it may not be laid to their charge.” For these fruits are due to those who minister spiritual
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 16.41
… “And his eyes are red with wine,” [these are] His spiritual people drunken with His cup, of which the psalm sings, “And thy cup that makes drunken, how excellent it is!” “And his teeth are whiter than milk,” —that is, the nutritive words which, according to the apostle, the babes drink, being as yet unfit for solid food.
2:3
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, XXXVI 1
True knowledge, then, consists in the understanding of Christ, which Paul terms the wisdom of God hidden in a mystery, which “the natural man receiveth not,” the doctrine of the cross; of which if any man “taste,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 107.2
2. “Confess unto the Lord that He is sweet, because for aye in His mercy” ( ver. 1 ). This confess ye that He is sweet: if ye have tasted, confess. But he cannot confess, who hath not chosen to taste, for whence shall he say that that is sweet, which he knoweth not. But ye if ye have tasted how sweet the Lord is,
2:4
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 14
… and there was not in Him attractiveness or glory. And we saw Him, and He had not attractiveness or grace; but His mien was unhonoured, deficient in comparison of the sons of men,” “a man set in the plague, and knowing how to bear infirmity:” to wit as having been set by the Father “for a stone of offence,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Letters of St. Augustin 55.11
… We do not adore sheep or cattle, although Christ is called both a Lamb, and by the prophet a young bullock; nor any beast of prey, though He is called the Lion of the tribe of Judah; nor a stone, although Christ is called a Rock; nor Mount Zion, though in it there was a type of the Church.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 15.4
… and at the same time thou canst find even there the stone, thy Bridegroom, described by Peter as "a living stone, rejected by men, but chosen of God, and precious." To them He was "a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence;" but to thee, "the stone which the builders rejected has become the head of the corner."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 45.18
… It was the expression of a mystery; not the commencement of sacrilege. And notice the meaning of “the stone.” “The Stone which the builders refused, this is become the head of the corner.” Notice here a great mystery. The “Stone” is Christ. Peter calls Him “a living Stone, disallowed indeed of men, but chosen of God.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 45.28
28. “With gladness and rejoicing shall they be brought and shall be led into the Temple of the King” ( ver. 15 ). The “Temple of the King” is the Church itself: it is the Church itself that enters into “the Temple of the King.” Whereof is that Temple constructed? Of the men who enter the Temple? Who but God’s “faithful” ones are its “living stones”?
2:5
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Ephesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 9
Nevertheless, I have heard of some who have passed on from this to you, having false doctrine, whom ye did not suffer to sow among you, but stopped your ears, that ye might not receive those things which were sown by them, as being stones
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.8.3
… which it is not lawful to eat, but for the priests alone?” justifying His disciples by the words of the law, and pointing out that it was lawful for the priests to act freely. For David had been appointed a priest by God, although Saul persecuted him. For all the righteous possess the sacerdotal rank.
Tertullian † AD 220 On Prayer 28
… This victim , devoted from the whole heart, fed on faith, tended by truth, entire in innocence, pure in chastity, garlanded with love, we ought to escort with the pomp of good works, amid psalms and hymns, unto God’s altar, to obtain for us all things from God.
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 8.19
… Accordingly, Peter says, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood, to offer up spiritual sacrifices, acceptable to God by Jesus Christ;”
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.20
… He fittingly gave the answer about the sign connected with the temple, and not about signs unconnected with the temple. Now, both of these two things, the temple and the body of Jesus, appear to me, in one interpretation at least, to be types of the Church, and to signify that it is built of living stones,
Origen † AD 254 Origen's Commentary on the Gospel of John 10.23
… We are well aware, too, that we need the assistance of that excellent Spirit of wisdom, in order to understand such matters, as they should be understood by ministers of sacred things; and in this connection we will attempt to describe, as shortly as we may, our view of what belongs to this subject. The body is the Church, and we learn from Peter
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 16.20
… After this, nay before it, show thyself, I pray, a Moses, or Phinehas to-day. Stand on our behalf and make atonement, and let the plague be stayed, either by the spiritual sacrifice,
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 8.12
… He then remained where we had been sitting, most completely astonished. I flung myself down, how, I know not, under a certain fig-tree, giving free course to my tears, and the streams of mine eyes gushed out, an acceptable sacrifice unto Thee.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 87.3
… another thing are the citizens that dwell therein: that city is builded of its own inmates, who are themselves the blocks that form the city, for the very stones are living: “Ye also,” says the Apostle, “as living stones, are built up a spiritual house,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 122.4
4. “Jerusalem that is being built as a city” ( ver. 3 ). Brethren, when David was uttering these words, that city had been finished, it was not being built. It is some city he speaketh of, therefore, which is now being built, unto which living stones run in faith, of whom Peter saith, “Ye also, as lively stones, are built up a spiritual house;”
2:6
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.35
… Look in and behold. Thou hast in the Gospels In a sepulchre hewn in stone, which was hewn out of a rock . And what happens next? What kind of door has the sepulchre? Again another Prophet says, They cut off My life in a dungeon , and cast a stone upon Me. I, who am the Chief corner-stone, the elect, the precious
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 52.13
… “And he that walketh in darkness knoweth not whither he goeth.” So may he stumble on that stone of stumbling and rock of offence which the Lord Himself became to the blinded Jews: just as to those who believed, the stone which the builders despised was made the head of the corner.
2:7
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 4.5
53. Which of these three different causes of impossibility, think you, which we have enumerated (setting aside the fourth) can we meetly assign to the case of the Son of God? Is He naturally insensible and immovable, like a stone? He is indeed a stone of stumbling to the wicked, a cornerstone for the faithful;
2:8
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 4.1
… possible from passion, he does not speak in his opening words of “Son,” or “Father,” or “generation,” that no one should either, on hearing first of all of a “Father,” be hurried on to the obvious signification of the word, or, on learning the proclamation of a “Son,” should understand that name in the ordinary sense, or stumble, as at a “stone of stumbling
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 57.9
… The Septuagint gives an opposite meaning, “that you fall not on a stumblingstone nor on a rock of offence.” The apostle Peter agrees with Paul and the Hebrew, writing: “but to them that do not believe, a stone of stumbling and a rock of offence.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 46.11
… For now before His coming He lay low before the Jews, and they stumbled at Him, and were broken; hereafter shall He come in His Judgment, glorious and exalted, great and powerful, not weak to be judged, but strong to judge, and grind to powder those who were broken stumbling at Him. For “A stone of stumbling and a rock of offence,”
2:9
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Ephesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 9
… For, says He, “I am the way and the life.” And this way leads to the Father. For “no man,” says He, “cometh to the Father but by Me.” Blessed, then, are ye who are God-bearers, spirit-bearers, temple-bearers, bearers of holiness, adorned in all respects with the commandments of Jesus Christ, being “a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people,”
St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Philadelphians: Shorter and Longer Versions 4
… and one Comforter, the Spirit of truth; and also one preaching, and one faith, and one baptism; and one Church which the holy apostles established from one end of the earth to the other by the blood of Christ, and by their own sweat and toil; it behoves you also, therefore, as “a peculiar people, and a holy nation,”
St Justin Martyr † AD 165 Dialogue with Trypho 116
… and being vehemently inflamed by the word of His calling, we are the true high priestly race of God, as even God Himself bears witness, saying that in every place among the Gentiles sacrifices are presented to Him well-pleasing and pure. Now God receives sacrifices from no one, except through His priests.
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 5.10
… But the Lord hath taken us, and brought us forth out of the iron furnace, even out of Egypt, to be unto Him a people of inheritance, as ye are this day.” The Hebrew people, then, being called by God a “chosen generation, and a royal priesthood, and a holy nation, and a purchased people,”
St Methodius † AD 311 Oration Concerning Simeon and Anna On the Day that They Met in the Temple 1
… Hail, and rejoice, thou that wast once barren, and without seed unto godliness, but who hast now many children of faith. Hail, thou people of the Lord, thou chosen generation, thou royal priesthood, thou holy nation, thou peculiar people—show forth His praises who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; and for His mercies glorify Him.
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 12.4
… The other wills that I should come forward, and bear fruit for the common good, and be helped by helping others; and publish the Divine light, and bring to God a people for His own possession, a holy nation, a royal priesthood,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 42.9
… Among whom are ye also called to be Saints, a people of possession, a royal priesthood,
St Gregory of Nazianzus † AD 389 Select Orations of Saint Gregory Nazianzen 43.41
… he, moderate as he was in all other respects, could not be moderate in this, but with head erect, casting his mental eye about him, took in the whole world over which the word of salvation has made its way. And when he saw the great heritage of God, purchased by His own words and laws and sufferings, the holy nation, the royal priesthood,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 39.4
… Of course they are right to weep, for as they do not believe in the Lord’s resurrection they are being made ready for the advent of antichrist. But we who have put on Christ and according to the apostle are a royal and priestly race,
St Jerome † AD 420 The Dialogue Against the Luciferians 1
O. I will answer you in your own words. If a layman confesses his error, how is it he continues a layman? Let him lay aside his lay-priesthood, that is, his baptism, and I grant pardon to the penitent. For it is written “He made us to be a kingdom, to be priests unto his God and Father.” And again,
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 1.39
… And as living stones let us be built up a spiritual house, an holy priesthood offering up spiritual sacrifices through Christ our Lord.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 The Confessions 13.19
… And there were made lights in the firmament of heaven, having the word of life. Run ye to and fro everywhere, ye holy fires, ye beautiful fires; for ye are the light of the world, nor are ye put under a bushel. He to whom ye cleave is exalted, and hath exalted you. Run ye to and fro, and be known unto all nations.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 17.5
… For “I have chosen to be mean in Thine house;” I desire to be a member, no matter what, or how small, of Thy priesthood. By the priesthood he here means the people itself, of which He is the Priest who is the Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. This people the Apostle Peter calls “a holy people, a royal priesthood.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 City of God 20.10
… but as we call all believers Christians on account of the mystical chrism, so we call all priests because they are members of the one Priest. Of them the Apostle Peter says, “A holy people, a royal priesthood.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Reply to Faustus the Manichæan 22.89
… that ye might show forth the praises of Him who has called you out of darkness into His marvellous light; which in time past were not a people, but are now the people of God: which had not obtained mercy, but now have obtained mercy."
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 A Treatise on the Merits and Forgiveness of Sins, and on the Baptism of Infants 1.41
… receiving the end of your faith, even the salvation of your souls.” Again, in another place he says: “But ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a peculiar people; that ye should show forth the praises of Him who hath called you out of darkness into His marvellous light.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 78.35
… made thereof a new word, “His sanctifying.” The unicorns are rightly understood to be those, whose firm hope is uplifted unto that one thing, concerning which another Psalm saith, “One thing I have sought of the Lord, this I will require.” But the sanctifying of God, according to the Apostle Peter, is understood to be a holy people and a royal priesthood.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 119.11
… This losing ground is therefore good: for it doth indicate a longing after good, not as yet indeed gained, but most eagerly and earnestly desired. But who saith this, save the chosen generation, the royal priesthood, the holy nation, the peculiar people,
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 24
But you, dearly beloved, whom I address in no less earnest terms than those of the blessed Apostle Peter, “a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation, a people for God’s own possession
Pope St Gregory I the Great † AD 604 The Book of Pastoral Rule 2.3
… For it is of this nobility of the spirit that it is said through Peter, Ye are a chosen generation, a royal priesthood (
Pseudo-Clement The First Epistle of the Blessed Clement, the Disciple of Peter the Apostle 9
… For all who see you will “acknowledge that ye are the seed which the Lord hath blessed;” in very deed a seed honourable and holy, and “a priestly kingdom, a holy people, the people of the inheritance,”
2:10
St Methodius † AD 311 The Banquet of the Ten Virgins; or Concerning Chastity 4.4
… but they did not receive it in their souls, holding it firmly with faith, but rejected it, denying it by their works. And hence they sing the Lord’s song in a strange land, explaining the law by distorting and degrading it, expecting a sensual kingdom, and setting their hopes on this alien world, which the Word says will pass away,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 3.12
… “Wherefore, my brethren, labour to make your calling and election sure, for so doing you shall not go astray, for thus your entrance into the eternal realm of God and our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ shall be granted with the greater abundance of grace.”
2:11
Mathetes † fl. AD 130 Epistle to Diognetus 6
… The soul dwells in the body, yet is not of the body; and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world. The invisible soul is guarded by the visible body, and Christians are known indeed to be in the world, but their godliness remains invisible. The flesh hates the soul, and wars against it,
St Polycarp † AD 155 Epistle to the Philippians 5
… In like manner, let the young men also be blameless in all things, being especially careful to preserve purity, and keeping themselves in, as with a bridle, from every kind of evil. For it is well that they should be cut off from the lusts that are in the world, since “every lust warreth against the spirit;”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 The Epistles of Cyprian 6.3
… “As strangers,” says he, “and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts, which war against the soul, having your conversation honest among the Gentiles; that whereas they speak against you as evil-doers, they may by your good works, which they shall behold, glorify the Lord.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on First Corinthians 10
For we have all things from Christ. Both existence itself we have through Him, and life, and breath, and light, and air, and earth. And if He were to exclude us from any one of these, we are lost and undone. For (
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 31
… Lift your faithful hearts then, dearly-beloved, to the gracious blaze of eternal light, and in adoration of the mysteries dispensed for man’s salvation give your diligent heed to the things which have been wrought on your behalf. Love the purity of a chaste life, because Christ is the Son of a virgin. “Abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 74
… For to this devotion the blessed Apostle Peter arouses us, and entreating us with that loving eagerness which he conceived for feeding Christ’s sheep by the threefold profession of love for the Lord , says, “dearly-beloved, I beseech you, as strangers and pilgrims, abstain from fleshly lusts which war against the soul
2:12
St Polycarp † AD 155 Epistle to the Philippians 10
… When you can do good, defer it not, because “alms delivers from death.” Be all of you subject one to another “having your conduct blameless among the Gentiles,”
2:13
Tertullian † AD 220 Scorpiace 14
… Then he goes on also to show how he wishes you to be subject to the powers, bidding you pay “tribute to whom tribute is due, custom to whom custom,” that is, the things which are Cæsar’s to Cæsar, and the things which are God’s to God; but man is the property of God alone. Peter,
Eusebius of Caesarea † AD 339 The Church History of Eusebius 4.15.22
22. The proconsul said, ‘Persuade the people.’ But Polycarp said, ‘As for thee, I thought thee worthy of an explanation; for we have been taught to render to princes and authorities ordained by God the honor that is due,
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 5.13
157. Or as Peter said: “Submit yourselves to every human creature”?
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 62.4
… And as if they were doing bond-service in the city which is to pass away, even there by the doctors of the Holy City they are bidden to keep faith with those set over them, “whether with the king as supreme, or with governors as though sent by God for the punishment of evil men, but for the praise of good men: ”
Socrates Scholasticus † AD 440 The Ecclesiastical History of Socrates Scholasticus 2.21
… but as subsisting, living, pre-existing, and being before the constitution of the whole world; and having been appointed to rule the universe by his Lord and Father: the word created being here used instead of ordained or constituted. Certainly the apostle
2:16
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.16.5
… And for this reason Peter says “that we have not liberty as a cloak of maliciousness,”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.37.4
… And on this account Paul says, “All things are lawful to me, but all things are not expedient;” referring both to the liberty of man, in which respect “all things are lawful,” God exercising no compulsion in regard to him; and [by the expression] “not expedient” pointing out that we “should not use our liberty as a cloak of maliciousness,”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 21.34
… “Act as free, and not having your liberty as a cloak of wickedness.” The blessed Apostle Paul also says: “For ye, brethren, were called to liberty,” i.e., that ye might be free from the dominion of sin, “only use not your liberty for an occasion of the flesh,”
2:17
Pope St Clement I † AD 99 The First Epistle of Clement to the Corinthians 2
… Full of holy designs, ye did, with true earnestness of mind and a godly confidence, stretch forth your hands to God Almighty, beseeching Him to be merciful unto you, if ye had been guilty of any involuntary transgression. Day and night ye were anxious for the whole brotherhood,
St Polycarp † AD 155 Epistle to the Philippians 10
Stand fast, therefore, in these things, and follow the example of the Lord, being firm and unchangeable in the faith, loving the brotherhood,
Arnobius † AD 327 The Seven Books of Arnobius Against the Heathen. (Adversus Gentes.) 7.15
15. What then! some one will say, do you think that no honour should be given to the gods at all? If you propose to us gods such as they should be if they do exist, and such as we feel that we all mean when we mention that name, how can we but give them even the greatest honour, since we have been taught by the commands which have especial power over us,
St Basil the Great † AD 379 De Spiritu Sancto 7
16. But their contention is that to use the phrase “with him” is altogether strange and unusual, while “through him” is at once most familiar in Holy Scripture, and very common in the language of the brotherhood.
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 2
1 Pet. ii. 17, 18 . Judgement must begin at the house of God.
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 6.26
26. But what have we to do with the emperor? But I have already said that we are treating of human right. And yet the apostle would have us obey kings, would have us honor kings, and said, “Honor the king.”
2:18
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Selections from the Letters of St. Ambrose 63.24
112. Masters, command your servants not as being below you in rank, but as remembering that they are sharers of the same nature as yourselves.
2:20
Tertullian † AD 220 Scorpiace 12
… Addressing the Christians of Pontus, Peter, at all events, says, “How great indeed is the glory, if ye suffer patiently, without being punished as evildoers! For this is a lovely feature, and even hereunto were ye called, since Christ also suffered for us, leaving you Himself as an example, that ye should follow His own steps.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Answer to the Letters of Petilian, the Donatist 2.99
… and your determination not to fear is a sign not of bravery, but of obstinacy. Hear then the words of Peter, where he says, "What glory is it, if, when ye be buffeted for your faults, ye take it patiently?"
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 69.11
… For to you what glory is there, saith Peter, if sinning ye are punished, and ye bear it? But if thou sustainest because thou hast kept the commandment of God, truly for the sake of God thou sustainest; and thy reward remaineth for everlasting, because for the sake of God thou hast sustained revilings.
2:21
St Polycarp † AD 155 Epistle to the Philippians 8
… Let us then be imitators of His patience; and if we suffer for His name’s sake, let us glorify Him. For He has set us this example
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On the Advantage of Patience 9
… who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, threatened not, but gave Himself up to him that judged Him unjustly.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 On Jealousy and Envy 11
… in accordance with what Peter also exhorts and warns, saying, “Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example that ye should follow His steps.”
St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.40
In the Epistle of Peter to them of Pontus: “For Christ suffered for us, leaving you an example, that ye may follow His steps; who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, threatened not, but gave Himself up to him that judgeth unrighteously.”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 2
… That not only should we bear His image, but should receive from Him an example and pattern of heavenly conversation; that as He hath begun, we should go on, that suffering, we should not threaten, being reviled, we should not revile again, but should bless them that curse, and in everything commit ourselves to God who judgeth righteously
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Mysteries 9
… Whence the Apostle says of its type: “Our fathers ate spiritual food and drank spiritual drink,” for the Body of God is a spiritual body; the Body of Christ is the Body of the Divine Spirit, for the Spirit is Christ, as we read: “The Spirit before our face is Christ the Lord.” And in the Epistle of Peter we read: “Christ died for us.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Colossians 7
… There are some who maintain that we must be brought near by Angels, not by Christ, that were too great a thing for us. Therefore it is that he turns over and over again what has been done by Christ, “through the Blood of His Cross” ( c. i. 20 .); on this account he says that “He suffered for us”; that “He loved us.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on 1 Timothy 18
The exhortation again is derived from the example of his Master, and what he means is this; as He had done, so ought ye to do, for for this cause He “witnessed” (
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 On the Catechising of the Uninstructed 10
… and if the great dissimilarity thus felt (between our utterance and our thought) makes it distasteful to us to speak, and a pleasure to us to keep silence, then let us ponder what has been set before us by Him who has “showed us an example that we should follow His steps.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 27
… For this He retained in Himself when grown up, which He took not away from His Mother by His conception and birth. Follow Him, as ye deserve, in virginity of heart and flesh, wheresoever He shall have gone. For what is it to follow, but to imitate? Because “Christ hath suffered for us,”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 28
… Him, “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” “Blessed are the peace-makers;” imitate Him, Who said on behalf of His persecutors, “Father, forgive them, for they know not what they do.” “Blessed are they, who suffer persecution for righteousness sake;” imitate Him, Who “suffered for you, leaving you an example, that ye follow His steps.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 51.6
6. Let us give heed to our Lord, our True Example and Succour. Let us prove that He is our Succour; “Without Me ye can do nothing.” Let us prove that He is our Example; “Christ,” says Peter, “suffered for us, leaving us an example that we should follow His steps.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 64.3
… Forgive then, that they may be forgiven thee. Yet the Lord Himself our God exhorteth us to imitate Him. In the first place God Himself, Christ, exhorteth us, of whom the Apostle Peter said, “Christ hath suffered for us, leaving you an example that ye should follow His steps, who did no sin, neither was guile, found in His mouth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John chapter21.12
… Let us ask Peter; let us hear him speaking in his epistle: “Christ suffered for us,” saith he, “leaving us an example that we should follow His steps; who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who, when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered wrong, He threatened not, but committed Himself to Him that judgeth righteously.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 51.11
11. “If any man serve me, let him follow me.” What is that, “let him follow me,” but just, let him imitate me? “Because Christ suffered for us,” says the Apostle Peter, “leaving us an example that we should follow His steps.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 84
… And what is it, so to put to thy hand, as knowing that thou art bound to make similar preparations, but as I have already said, that, as Christ laid down His life for us, so we also ought to lay down our lives for the brethren? For as the Apostle Peter also says, “Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow His steps.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 88.1
1. The Lord, in exhorting His servants to endure with patience the hatred of the world, proposes to them no greater and better example than His own; seeing that, as the Apostle Peter says, “Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow His steps.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 105.4
… But how has He finished the work which was committed unto Him to do, when there still remains the trial of the passion wherein He especially furnished His martyrs with the example they were to follow, whereof, says the apostle Peter, “Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow His steps:”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Lectures or Tractates on the Gospel According to St. John 124.5
… But its following is the closer in those who contend even unto death for the truth. But to the universality [of the Church] is it said, “Follow me,” even as it was for the same universality that Christ suffered: of whom this same Peter saith, “Christ suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow His footsteps.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 88.1
… so also “to the end;” but what comes next in this title is peculiar. For “Melech” we may translate into Latin “for the chorus,” for chorus is the sense of the Hebrew word Melech. …The Passion of our Lord is here prophesied. Now the Apostle Peter saith, “Christ also suffered for us, leaving us an example, that we should follow His steps;”
Theodoret of Cyrus † AD 458 Counter-statements of Theodoret 1
Against XII. —Passion is proper to the passible; the impassible is above passions. It was then the form of the servant that suffered, the form of God of course dwelling with it, and permitting it to suffer on account of the salvation brought forth of the sufferings, and making the sufferings its own on account of the union. Therefore it was not the Christ
Pope St Leo I the Great † AD 461 Sermons 63
… Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth. Who when He was reviled, reviled not: when He suffered, threatened not, but gave Himself up to His unjust judge. Who Himself bare our sins in His body on the tree, that being dead to sins, we may live to righteousness
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St Polycarp † AD 155 Epistle to the Philippians 8
Let us then continually persevere in our hope, and the earnest of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ, “who bore our sins in His own body on the tree,” “who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth,”
Tertullian † AD 220 An Answer to the Jews 10
… On the other hand, Christ, who spoke not guile from His mouth,
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus i.69
… having, on account of His human body, been tempted in all respects like other men, but no longer as men, with sin as a consequence, but being altogether without sin. For it is distinctly clear to us that “He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; and as one who knew no sin,”
Origen † AD 254 Origen Against Celsus 4.15
And with respect to His having descended among men, He was “previously in the form of God;” and through benevolence, divested Himself (of His glory), that He might be capable of being received by men. But He did not, I imagine, undergo any change from “good to evil,” for “He did no sin ;”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 On the Incarnation of the Word 16
… on the contrary, being incorruptible, He quickened and cleansed the body also, which was in itself mortal: “who
St Basil the Great † AD 379 The Letters 261
… It is on this account that He is said to have been “made in the likeness of flesh of sin;” not, as these men hold, in likeness of flesh, but of flesh of sin. It follows that He took our flesh with its natural afflictions, but “did no sin.”
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.3
… Many have been crucified throughout the world, but by none of these are the devils scared; but when they see even the Sign of the Cross of Christ, who was crucified for us, they shudder . For those men died for their own sins, but Christ for the sins of others; for He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.5
… not for reviling a prophet, for it was Himself who was proclaimed by the Prophets; not for defrauding any of their hire, for He ministered without reward and freely; not for sinning in words, or deeds, or thoughts, He who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth; who when He was reviled, reviled not again; when He suffered, threatened not
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Against Eunomius 6.3
… for it says “He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth
St Gregory of Nyssa † AD 395 Letters 17
… Therefore He Who transformed the elements of our nature into His divine abilities, rendered it secure from mutilation and disease, because He admitted not in Himself the deformity which sin works in the will. “He did no sin,” it says, “neither was guile found in his mouth
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 3.18
135. But they are unable to show us this, and demand our authority from us, namely, that we should show by texts that the Holy Spirit has not sinned, as it is said of the Son that He did no sin.
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Second Corinthians 11
… 11 .) For in us indeed “after the flesh” is being in sins, and “not after the flesh” not being in sins; but in Christ, “after the flesh” is His being subject to the affections of nature, such as to thirst, to hunger, to weariness, to sleep. For “He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 Homilies on Ephesians 3
… If thou art the body of Christ, bear the Cross, for He bore it: bear spitting, bear buffetings, bear nails. Such was that Body; that Body “did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 27
… But the snake which destroyed had venom, that which saved was free from venom; and so again was it here, for the death which slew us had sin with it, as the serpent had venom; but the Lord’s Death was free from all sin, as the brazen serpent from venom. For, saith Peter, “He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Gospel of St. John 82
… For as, when in the case of Him and the Father the “as” is used, a great Equality is signified, because of the Relationship in Nature; so when it is used of us and Him, the interval is great, because of the great and infinite interval between the respective natures. For if He “did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth” (
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 28
“Who,” he says, “for the joy that was set before Him, endured the Cross, despising the shame.” That is, it was in His power not to suffer at all, if He so willed. For “He did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth” (
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 54.4
… your mouth has been filled with the gall of bitterness; you have expelled the indigestible and unwholesome food; you have relieved a heaving stomach. Why will you again swallow what has disagreed with you? “The dog is turned to his own vomit again and the sow that was washed to her wallowing in the mire.”
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 133.8
… What! has God commanded me to be what He is, to put no difference between myself and my creator, to be greater than the greatest of the angels, to have a power which no angels possess? Sinlessness is made a characteristic of Christ, “who did no sin neither was guile found in his mouth.”
St Jerome † AD 420 Against Jovinianus 2.2
… we give him his choice. Does he abide in Christ, or not? If he abide, let him then walk as Christ walked. But if there is rashness in professing to copy the virtues of our Lord, he does not abide in Christ, for he does not walk as did Christ.
St Jerome † AD 420 Against the Pelagians 1.22
… Seldom or never, I say, is there a man who has all the virtues which a bishop should have. And yet if a bishop lacked one or two of the virtues in the list, it does not follow that he can no longer be called righteous, nor will he be condemned for his deficiencies, but will be crowned for what he has. For to have all and lack nothing is the virtue of Him
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Of Holy Virginity 28
… “Blessed are the pure in heart;” imitate Him, “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Sermons on Selected Lessons of the New Testament 93.1
… unless by faith they are united and compacted into His Body, who was conceived without any enticement of the flesh and deadly pleasure, and whom His Mother nourished in her womb without sin, and “Who did no sin, neither was deceit found in His Mouth.”
St Augustine of Hippo † AD 430 Expositions on the Book of Psalms 19.8
8. “The law of the Lord is undefiled, converting souls” ( ver. 7 ). The law of the Lord, therefore, is Himself who came to fulfil the law, not to destroy it; an undefiled law, “Who did no sin, neither was guile found in His mouth,”
John Cassian † AD 435 The Conferences of John Cassian 11.13
… This then is the fear belonging to perfection, with which we are told that the God-man, who came not only to redeem mankind, but also to give us a pattern of perfection and example of goodness, was filled. For the true Son of God “who did no sin neither was guile found in His mouth,”
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St Ignatius of Antioch † AD 108 Epistle to the Ephesians: Shorter and Longer Versions 10
… For say ye to those that hate you, Ye are our brethren, that the name of the Lord may be glorified. And let us imitate the Lord, “who, when He was reviled, reviled not again;”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 3.16.9
… Do not err, [he says to all:] Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is one and the same, who did by suffering reconcile us to God, and rose from the dead; who is at the right hand of the Father, and perfect in all things; “who, when He was buffeted, struck not in return; who, when He suffered, threatened not;”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.20.2
… power over all things from the same God who made all things by the Word, and adorned them by [His] Wisdom, when “the Word was made flesh;” that even as the Word of God had the sovereignty in the heavens, so also might He have the sovereignty in earth, inasmuch as [He was] a righteous man, “who did no sin, neither was there found guile in His mouth;”
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 10
… Thus even our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ comes before us, when He would shew men how to suffer, Who when He was smitten bore it patiently, being reviled He reviled not again, when He suffered He threatened not, but He gave His back to the smiters, and His cheeks to buffetings, and turned not His face from spitting
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Duties of the Clergy 1.21
… They do not know how to act deceitfully and artfully. Do not condemn these children, of whom the Lord says: “Except ye be converted and become as this child, ye shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven.” So also the Lord Himself, Who is the Power of God, as a Boy, when He was reviled, reviled not again, when He was struck, struck not back.
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 Exposition of the Christian Faith 3.7
… Christ is the beginning of frugality, for He became poor, though He was rich. Christ is the beginning of patience, for when He was reviled, He reviled not again, when He was struck, He did not strike back. Christ is the beginning of humility, for He took the form of a servant, though in the majesty of His power He was equal with God the Father.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 50.5
… As Juvenal says, “I also have often withdrawn my hand from the ferule.” Of me, too, it may be said in the words of Horace, “Flee from him; he has hay on his horn.” But I prefer to be a disciple of Him who says, “I gave my back to the smiters…I hid not my face from shame and spitting.” When He was reviled He reviled not again.
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 69.9
… Lot in a fit of intoxication unwittingly adds incest to incontinence, and wine overcomes the man whom Sodom failed to conquer. A bishop that is a striker is condemned by Him who gave His back to the smiters, and when He was reviled reviled not again.
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St Polycarp † AD 155 Epistle to the Philippians 8
Let us then continually persevere in our hope, and the earnest of our righteousness, which is Jesus Christ, “who bore our sins in His own body on the tree,”
St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Fragments from the Lost Writings of Irenaeus, XXIII 1
“And he mounted upon his ass.” The ass was the type of the body of Christ, upon whom all men, resting from their labours, are borne as in a chariot. For the Saviour has taken up the burden of our sins.
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 2.19
… hath made Him sin for us who knew no sin ,’ we do not simply conceive this, that whole Christ has become curse and sin, but that He has taken on Him the curse which lay against us (as the Apostle has said, ‘Has redeemed us from the curse,’ and ‘has carried,’ as Isaiah has said, ‘our sins,’ and as Peter has written, ‘has borne them in the body on the wood
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Against the Arians. (Orationes contra Arianos IV.) 3.26
… but He carries our infirmities, and He Himself bears our sins, that it might be shewn that He has become man for us, and that the body which in Him bore them, was His own body; and, while He received no hurt
St Athanasius of Alexandria † AD 373 Festal and Personal Letters of Athanasius 61
… Or let them fear the Lord Himself, who said, after washing the feet of the disciples: ‘Ye call Me Lord and Master , and ye say well, for so I am.’ But in the same body in which He was when he washed their feet, He also carried up our sins to the Tree
St Cyril of Jerusalem † AD 386 The Catechetical Lectures of S. Cyril 13.33
… either that God, in His truth, should destroy all men, or that in His loving-kindness He should cancel the sentence. But behold the wisdom of God; He preserved both the truth of His sentence, and the exercise of His loving-kindness. Christ took our sins in His body on the tree, that we by His death might die to sin, and live unto righteousness
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Holy Spirit 1.9
… For Christ died for us, that we might live in His revived Body. Therefore not our life but our guilt died in Him, “Who,” it is said, “bare our sins in His own Body on the tree; that being set free from our sins we might live in righteousness, by the wound of Whose stripes we are healed.”
St John Chrysostom † AD 407 The Homilies of St. John Chrysostom on the Epistle to the Hebrews 17
Ver. 28 . “So Christ was once offered.” By whom offered? evidently by Himself. Here he says that He is not Priest only, but Victim also, and what is sacrificed. On this account are [the words] “was offered.” “Was once offered” (he says) “to bear
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1. Laying aside therefore. — The word "therefore" connects these things to the preceding, and draws a conclusion from them as from principles, as if to say: I said in the preceding chapter, verse 23, that you have been reborn in baptism from incorruptible seed through the word of the living God, so that you have already begun to be new men, namely faithful, Christians and holy in Christ: therefore strive earnestly, that having laid aside the manners and vices of paganism, you may constantly retain the infancy and innocence of Christianity, which you have begun in this heavenly regeneration and nativity, and grow in it daily and increase, so that you may savour, taste and breathe nothing but God and Christ whom you have put on. For "laying aside" in Greek is apothemenoi in the aorist, that is, when you shall have laid aside: because namely in baptism they had already laid aside all sin and guilt, but not all vice, because the former evil habits remained in them. Peter therefore commands that just as they have already laid aside all sin, so also they should strive to strip off and lay aside all its roots and evil habits. Whence our translator aptly renders, "laying aside"; the Syrian, "cause to cease", as if to say: When you have laid aside guilt, likewise lay aside and uproot every inclination and habit toward it. Whence also Pagninus and the Zurich Bible render, "having therefore laid aside all malice, etc., desire rational milk without guile". Wherefore the counterpart to this sentence of Peter is that of Paul, Ephesians IV, 22: "That you put off, according to former conversation, the old man, who is corrupted according to the desire of error; and be renewed in the spirit of your mind, and put on the new man, who according to God is created in justice and holiness of truth", etc. And of St. James, chapter 1, verse 21: "Wherefore casting away all uncleanness and abundance of malice, with meekness receive the ingrafted word (as rational milk), which is able to save your souls". Most excellently St. Cyprian, On Zeal and Envy, citing that passage from I Corinthians, chapter XV, verse 47, As we have borne the image of the earthly (Adam), let us also bear the image of the heavenly (Christ): "We cannot bear the heavenly image, unless in that which we have now begun to be, we present the likeness of Christ. For this is to have changed what you were, and to have begun what you were not, so that in you the divine nativity may shine forth, so that to the Father God the deifying discipline may correspond, so that in honour and praise of living God may be made manifest in man". Malice. — "Malice", in Greek kakia, first, is malignity, which is perceived in evasion and cunning, as St. Jerome says in chapter IV on Ephesians. Second, "it is the love of harming, and when someone delights in another's evil", as St. Augustine says, homily 20 among 50. From which that famous robber Cacus among the Poets was so called. For, as St. Augustine says, book XIX of the City of God, XII: "Cacus was of such singular malice, that from this his name was invented, for bad in Greek is kakos, which he was called, and on account of his insatiable savagery they preferred to call him a semi-man rather than a man". Third, "malice" is internal perversity, from which someone deliberately acts badly: for from malice arises maleficence, just as from goodness beneficence. Malice therefore is depravity of mind, hatred, envy, contrivance of deceit, fraud and all evil. Fourth, kakia can be taken for kakologia, that is, malice, for malevolence and maleficence, namely for detraction, accusation, harm. Hence Callimachus the painter was called "kakizotechnos", because he was a constant calumniator of his own work and painting, as Pliny says, book XXXIV, chapter IX. Thus conversely goodness is sometimes called kindness and beneficence itself, as when we say "good God", "good father", "good master", that is, kind and merciful. Fifth, "malice" is every vice and sin, as Aristotle says, book VII of the Ethics, just as conversely goodness is called any virtue and honesty, as when we say, "good man", "good judge", "good servant", that is, just and performing the duty of his office. In all these ways it can be taken here, yet more aptly in the second. For St. Peter speaks of malice which is opposed to the charity of brotherhood, of which the discourse has just preceded, and which generates deceit, simulations, envies, detractors, as follows: but this is wicked thought against one's neighbour, and the love of harming him. And all guile. — "Guile" is a machination of fraud for circumventing someone, which therefore overturns human society. Wherefore Donatus holds that guile is said from "dolando," that is, from harming and diminishing: for in Greek also "dolos" is said to mean harm. But guile signifies rather fraud, deceit and simulation than harm. Whence also dyers, when they induce another color upon wool, are said to "dole," and "dolones" are called daggers and short swords, by which someone strikes another fraudulently and deceitfully. Hence also is called "malicious guile," to which is opposed "good faith." For there is good guile, which Paul used, saying: "When I was crafty, I caught you with guile," II Corinthians XII, 16. Hear Ulpian, lib. I, ff. On Malicious Guile: "Servius thus defines malicious guile, a certain machination for the purpose of deceiving another, when one thing is done and another is simulated." And further down: "Labeo thus defines it, that guile is every cunning, every fallacy; a machination applied for circumventing, deceiving, defrauding another. Labeo's definition is true: he added malicious: for the ancients spoke of good guile, and took this name for shrewdness, especially if someone machinated against an enemy or a robber." Thus also Cicero, lib. III On Duties: "When I asked him (Aquilius) what malicious guile was, he answered, when one thing was simulated and another done." And lib. III On the Nature of the Gods: "Thence the sweeping away of all malices, the judgment concerning malicious guile, which Aquilius brought forth: which guile the same Aquilius, our intimate, then thinks is held, when one thing is simulated and another done." Wherefore the deceitful man seems to have "a double heart, one in which you see truth, the other in which you behold falsehood," says St. Augustine, tract. 7 in John. Hence Christ praises Nathanael, saying: "Behold, a true Israelite in whom there is no guile," John I, 47. Let Christians be such, that Christ may say the same of them. For God is "the God of truth," Galatians II, 11. But the Devil is "the father of lies," and consequently of guile, John VIII, 44. And simulations. — In Greek, hypocrisies; for Christian truth is sincerity and simplicity, dove-like, sheep-like and lamb-like, and abhors all hypocrisy and simulation, says Oecumenius. And, as St. Augustine says in Psalm LXIII: "Simulated equity is not equity, but double iniquity." For truth is a virtue, "by which someone shows himself in both life and speech such as he truly is," says Aristotle, IV Ethics, cap. VII. Hence Diogenes the Cynic, seeing someone soft walking about clothed in the spoils of a lion, as if another Hercules: "Will you not cease to disgrace the trappings of virtue?" Thus Laertius, lib. VI, cap. II. Wherefore wisely Alfonso, King of Aragon, used to say, for this reason God rages so greatly against hypocrites, because while they deceive men, they interpose God himself as the mediator of the crime; and therefore for the most part, living still, they are punished in the sight of men whom they had deceived in God's name. This is what is said in Job XXXVI, 13: "Simulators and the crafty provoke the wrath of God." St. Augustine, homil. 2 among 50, translates hypocrisies as flatteries, namely putting the species for the genus, the most notable one; for flatterers are the supreme and most harmful hypocrites. Envies. — "Envy is the proper sin of the devil," says St. Basil, hom. On Anger, Envy and Avarice, and St. Augustine, lib. On Christian Discipline, cap. 1. For the devil in heaven envied the hypostatic union of humanity with Christ revealed to him by God, and on earth envied Adam and his descendants the heavenly glory, from which he himself had fallen through sin. Whence "by the envy of the devil death entered into the world: and they who are on his side imitate him," Wisdom II, 25. Again St. Augustine, serm. 18 On the Seasons, recounting the harms of envy: "This is what cast the angel from heaven, exiled man from paradise, killed Abel, armed the brothers against Joseph, sent Daniel into the lion's den, affixed our head to the cross, and took Judas by hanging. My brothers, preach upon the rooftops, that envy is that worst beast which takes away faith, scatters concord, destroys justice, and generates all evils. This overturned the walls of Jerusalem, depopulated Rome, destroyed Carthage, devastated Troy." Pindar describes envy in few words in the Nemean Odes, ode 8: "Discourse is the provision of the envious; but envy always touches the good, and does not contend with the worse." But St. Basil paints the same thing most excellently, in his Admonition to a Spiritual Son, when he assigns these antitheses of the envious and the peaceful man. First: "He who embraces peace in the hospitality of his mind prepares a dwelling for Christ, because Christ is peace, and desires to rest in peace: but the envious man curses in every way." Second: the peaceful man always has his heart in tranquility; but the envious man is like a ship tossed about by the waves of the sea. Third: the peaceful man possesses a secure mind; but the envious man is always in disturbance. Fourth: the peaceful man is like an honest vine abounding in copious fruit; but the work of the envious man is held back by want and misery. Fifth: from the abundance of joy the peaceful man is recognized; from a withered countenance and full of rage the envious man is shown. Sixth: the peaceful man will deserve the fellowship of angels, the envious man becomes a partaker of demons. Seventh: just as secret peace illuminates the mind, so hidden envy blinds the heart. Eighth: peace drives out all discord; but envy heaps up wrath. The same, in his homily On Envy, describes its nature through these epithets and similitudes: "Let us flee, brethren, an intolerable evil. The serpent's, that is the devil's precept, the enemy's invention, the wages of punishment, the hindrance of piety, the way to hell, the deprivation of the kingdom of heaven." For indeed the envious man himself confesses this vice by his own mouth: their look is dry and dark, their cheek somewhat sad, their eyebrow lowered, their very soul suffused with disease. Most excellently St. Athanasius, in his Exhortation to Monks: "If your brother is honored by some, do not hold them as less friends, nor regard this one as a rival of the preferred honor. Rather judge that the increase of that honor accrues to your own gain, knowing that it is written: If one member is honored, all the members rejoice together: and you are the body of Christ, and members thereof." And all detraction. — For the kind of detraction is manifold and almost infinite, which harms and destroys all fraternal charity, which St. Peter commends so earnestly here. See the sayings of James III, 6. Hear St. Augustine, homily 20 among 30, unfolding all these things briefly: "What is malice, but the love of harming? What is deceit, but to do one thing and simulate another? What is flattery, but seduction by false praise? What is envy, but hatred of another's happiness? What is detraction, but a more biting than truthful reproach? Malice delights in another's evil. Deceit doubles the heart, flattery the tongue, detraction wounds reputation."
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2. As newborn infants. — The Syriac: "Be as simple infants". He commends to the faithful already reborn in Christ, even to veterans and the aged, that they imitate the innocence, purity, humility, obedience, docility, facility, simplicity and sincerity of infants: for although these things in infants, as lacking reason, are not virtues, but merely images of virtues, yet in the baptized they are true virtues, because through baptism they are clothed with them. Whence Lactantius in his Poem On the Resurrection of the Lord sings thus of them: "O sacred King, behold a great part of thy trophy shines forth, when sacred washings bless pure souls. A white army goes forth from the shining waters, and old sin is purged in the new stream". And St. Paulinus: "Thence the parent priest leads from the sacred font infants snowy in body, heart and habit". For the baptized are clothed in white, that they might represent that inward whiteness received in baptism: and this has been done from the time of the Apostles, as is evident from St. Dionysius, Caelest. Hier., cap. II and V. Hence Clement of Alexandria wrote a book called the Paedagogus, in which in cap. V and VI, he teaches that all Christians are called in Scripture boys, girls and young ones, because they ought to emulate childish sincerity, humility and purity. For Christ declared: "Unless you be converted, and become as little children, you shall not enter into the kingdom of heaven", Matt. cap. XVIII, vers. 3. Thus St. Paul: "We became little ones in the midst of you, as if a nurse should cherish her children", I Thess. II, 7. Again, in this life all the faithful are infants in grace and sanctity; but in the future resurrection they will be men. Hence monks from of old use cowls, that by their habit they might profess childish simplicity and innocence. Hear Cassian, lib. I On the Habit of Monks, cap. IV: "For with very small cowls reaching down only to the neck and shoulders, covering only the head, they use them constantly day and night, namely that they might be continually reminded by the imitation of the very veil itself to preserve the innocence and simplicity of little ones; who, having returned to the infancy of Christ, at all hours sing with affection and virtue: O Lord, my heart is not exalted, nor are my eyes lifted up". Finally, on Dominica in albis these words are wont to be read in place of the epistle. And as a symbol and memorial of this matter, an image of a lamb was given to them; and this is the origin of the wax images, which are commonly called Agnus Dei, as Joseph Vicecomes demonstrates in Observat. Eccles., lib. V, cap. LI On the Rites of Baptism. Rational. — Thus the Roman: for in Greek it is logikon. Therefore some read incorrectly, "rationals". St. Peter thus commands that milk be desired "rational". First, that is to say, Human, not material, but rational, which flows from the dictate of right reason, as it were from the breast of the mind. Second, rational, that is to say, Prudent, moderate, discreet; for thus Paul commands that our obedience be rational, Rom. XII, 1. Third, Clement of Alexandria, I Paedag. cap. VI, Vatablus and others translate logikon as "verbal": for the word of doctrine and of the mouth flows from the mind, and by its word, as milk from the breast. Fourth, the Syriac translates logikon as "ruchana", that is spiritual, that is to say, This milk is not carnal, but spiritual; it feeds the mind, not the belly; it is food of the spirit, not of the body; it fattens reason and spirit, not fat and flesh. Without guile. — dolou aneu, that is sincere, as the Syriac translates it. St. Augustine, hom. 20 among 50, reads, "innocent milk". For heretics mix gypsum with milk, that is, they sprinkle the poison of error upon orthodox doctrine, as Irenaeus says, lib. III, cap. XIX. For as poison is wont to be mixed with and given in wine, so also with milk; whence also lactare from lacio, that is to entice, signifies to deceive and to lead into fraud. Desire milk. — You may ask, what is this milk? I answer first, it is evangelical doctrine, concerning which he said a little before: "This is the word that hath been evangelized to you"; and it is both the more rudimentary doctrine which is handed down to the rudimentary, and the more sublime which is handed down to the more advanced. This is called "milk", first, on account of its sweetness and pleasantness, since the old law was severe like austere wine, or vinegar, according to that in the Canticle, chapter I, verse 1: "Thy breasts are better (giving milk) than wine"; thus in Psalm XVIII, verse 11, the words of God are said to be "sweeter than honey and the honeycomb". Secondly, because it nourishes the soul, as milk nourishes the body; and it not only nourishes, but also fattens, delights, and soothes with wonderful consolations; for milk is not only food, but also drink for infants: thus Clement in the place cited. Thirdly, because it makes the soul bright, beautiful and shining like milk. Whence of the Nazarites it is said in Lamentations, chapter IV, 7: "Brighter than milk". Fourthly, because it is pure and sincere, as in milk there is nothing mixed, nothing foreign, nothing adulterated. Fifthly, because just as milk is the delight of children, so also the doctrine of Christ sweetens the mind, lulls it, tranquilizes it, intoxicates it. Hence Pindar signifies the sweetness and elegance of hymns through milk mixed with honey, when in ode 3 in the Nemean odes, he says: "I send this to you, honey mixed with white milk". Therefore St. Peter commands that the faithful continually draw this milk of evangelical doctrine from the breasts of mother Church, and by it nourish themselves, grow and increase, living according to it, and converting and transforming it into acts and customs. And this is what "desire" signifies: for hunger and desire for milk causes it to be most excellently digested, and converted into pure blood. Secondly, milk is a symbol of brightness, sincerity, benevolence. For Peter opposes this milk to deceit, simulation, envy. Through it therefore he signifies that he wishes Christians in their conversation not to be sour, harsh and bitter, but honeyed and milky, that is, bright, lovable, sweet, kind, beneficent, mutually loving one another fraternally. Hence also Homer, as Clement says, calls just men galaktotrophous, that is, nourished with milk. St. Peter alludes to that in the Canticle, chapter V, 1: "I have eaten my honeycomb with my honey, I have drunk my wine with my milk; eat, O friends, and drink, and be inebriated, O dearest". Again he alludes to the food which Isaiah assigns to Emmanuel, that is, to the boy Jesus, VII, 15, saying: "Butter and honey shall he eat"; and to Christians: "Come, buy, etc., wine and milk". By the symbol of this thing, milk and honey were once given to the newly baptized (and even now the Ethiopians give them the same) so that it might be signified, first, their infancy in Christ; secondly, the sweetness of Christian life; thirdly, humility and childlike gentleness. Whence Tertullian, book I Against Marcion, chapter XIV: "God makes his own infants through the fellowship of honey and milk". And in the book On the Crown of the Soldier, chapter III: "From this we foretaste the harmony of milk and honey received". This is what St. Agnes said: "I have received honey and milk from his mouth". Thirdly, Clement of Alexandria, in the Pedagogue, chapter VI, understands by verbal milk the incarnate Word, namely Christ, concerning whom, explaining further, he adds: "If indeed you have tasted that the Lord is sweet", and this first, because, just as milk flows from the breast, so Christ, as God from the Father, as man from the mother, proceeds like a milky and nursing child. Secondly, because through Christ as it were milk we flee to the breast of the Father, so that from it we may draw grace and every good. Thirdly, because the words of Christ were milky, that is, sweet and gracious. Fourthly, milk denotes the humility of Christ. Whence St. Augustine, tract. 3 on the epistle of St. John: "Our milk is Christ the humble". Fifthly, because Christ is milk, that is, nourishment for the little ones and the humble. Sixthly, because Christ consists of blood: but blood when digested becomes milk. Hear Aristotle, book IV On the Generation of Animals, chapter viii: "The same matter is that which nourishes, and from which nature constitutes generation: and that matter is a sanguineous humor in those having blood. For milk is blood digested, not corrupted". Whence he reproves Empedocles because he called milk white pus: for pus is putrefaction. Fourth, by "rational milk" some understand the Eucharist, which was formerly given to the baptized, even to infants, immediately after baptism, and this from Apostolic tradition, as St. Dionysius teaches, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter v; whence also the Greeks even now give the Eucharist to children. Thus Salmeron here, Turrianus, book II On the Eucharist, chapters xx and xxi, and Clement of Alexandria hints at it, book I Paedagogus vi. Thus St. Peter, when he had converted and baptized St. Processus and Martinian with their family in the Mamertine prison at Rome, "made them partakers of the body and blood of the Lord." The same is related to have been done for SS. Getulius, Cerealis, Amantius, Primitivus and Procopius and other newly baptized martyrs, as their Acts relate. By milk therefore they prove that the Eucharist is understood here. First, because this milk is not dead, nor brute, but living and rational, namely a rational man, that is Christ in the Eucharist. Second, because the Eucharist as to its species has the color of milk; as to taste it is most sweet, like milk; as to its power of nourishing, it most supremely feeds and strengthens souls. Whence Peter adds: "That ye may grow thereby unto salvation," to which St. Dionysius alludes, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy, chapter v: "The priest gives the Sacrament to the infant, that it may be nourished in it and grow by sacred increases." Third, because before the Eucharist we ought to put away all guile, simulation, envy. Fourth, because milk is the blood of Christ, by which we are nourished in the Eucharist. Fifth, because it befits the Eucharist to be desired: for it itself, as it were food and life of minds, ought to be taken with the greatest eagerness, says St. Chrysostom, homily 60 to the People. Sixth, because St. Peter adds: "If so be ye have tasted that the Lord is sweet"; which words are taken from Psalm xxxiii, verse 9: "O taste and see that the Lord is sweet," that is to say, Taste the sweetness of the flesh of Christ in the Eucharist, says St. Basil and Augustine. This sense seems apt, but partial. By milk therefore adequately understand all spiritual food, which Christ provides to his faithful, namely doctrine, grace, virtues (especially of brightness, sincerity and charity), Sacraments, especially the Eucharist. For by these he nourishes them unto eternal life, and makes them grow into a perfect man, Ephesians iv, 13. Tropologically the faithful eat this milk of Christian doctrine and life, so that they communicate the same to others and pour it forth into them, and thus milk passive becomes active. Whence in women milk is a sign of fruitfulness and motherhood. For this reason the head of St. Paul, teacher of the Gentiles, when severed, gave forth milk instead of blood. Hence also St. Basil teaches that St. Julitta, going to martyrdom, gave milk to her own, both spiritual by way of exhortation, and corporeal.
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3. If indeed. — In Greek eiper, that is, if indeed; it can also be taken as epeideper, that is, since, so that it is causal, and then the meaning will be more forceful. You have tasted (some codices have "you taste": certainly under "you have tasted" it understands "you taste" in the Hebrew manner. St. Jerome, in chapter 40 of Ezekiel, for "you have tasted" reads "you have believed", because taste here is made through faith; yet "you have tasted" signifies more, namely the effect, the fruit, and the taste of delights and consolations flowing from faith, which God pours into the faithful). Because (that) the Lord is sweet, — Christ; whence for "sweet" in Greek is chrestos, that is, as St. Jerome, in chapter 18 of Ezekiel, "pleasant"; Pagninus and Vatablus, "benign"; Clarius, "good"; others, "useful", "worthy", "humane", "fruitful", "easy to gratify", "indulgent", "convenient", "merciful". For chrestos signifies all these things, and such was Christ, and such were the first Christians, and ought to be their followers and posterity, says St. Justin, Apology II. Christ therefore, that is, the Anointed, through iota, that is anointed, was chrestos, through eta, that is benign, pleasant, obliging to all. Whence the Gentiles formerly called Christ "Chrestus", and Christians "Chrestians", as Lactantius testifies, book IV, chapter 7, and Tertullian, Apology III. St. Peter alludes to, nay cites, Psalm 33, verse 9: "Taste and see, that the Lord is sweet". Furthermore, the faithful have tasted this sweetness of the Lord, and even now taste it, when they are imbued with Christian doctrine as with divine milk, and are initiated through baptism and Christian life. This sweetness is produced by purity and security of conscience, confidence in God, hope of glory, and spiritual consolations, which God is accustomed to pour into novices in faith and religion. A figure of this was the manna, by which God nourished the Hebrews following Him from Egypt into the desert. Manna, I say, "which in itself had every delight and every sweetness of taste", Wisdom 16:20. St. Peter had tasted this sweetness of God, when, seeing the glory of Christ's humanity on Mount Tabor, he cried out as if drunk: "Lord, it is good for us to be here: let us make here three tabernacles, one for thee, one for Moses, and one for Elias", Matthew 17:4; and the Psalmist: "How great is the multitude of thy sweetness, which thou hast hidden for them that fear thee!" Psalm 30, verse 20; and the Bride: "He brought me into the cellar of wine, he set in order charity in me", Canticles chapter 2, verse 5; and St. Paul: "Blessed be God and the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, the Father of mercies, and the God of all consolation", II Corinthians 1, verse 3. And Wisdom chapter 12, verse 1: "O how good and sweet is, O Lord, thy spirit!" and Isaiah, chapter 66, verse 11: "That you may suck and be filled from the breast of her consolations, that you may milk out and flow with delights from the abundance of her glory"; and St. Jerome, epistle to Ctesiphon: "Everything good that we have is a taste of the Lord: the more I drink, the more I thirst for the fountain of life".
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4. To whom (the Lord, namely Christ) drawing near a living stone. — St. Peter passes from the metaphor of new birth and spiritual milk, which he assigned to the faithful, to another similar one among the Hebrews, namely of building and stones. For the Hebrews call sons banim, as if from abanim, that is stones, from which Christ bana, that is builds, his binian, that is his building and house, namely the Church. Moreover we draw near to Christ not by walking, but by faith, hope and charity, believing in him, hoping in him, loving him; and God is so benign that whenever even in the middle of the night we draw near to him, he offers us his ears and hands, and receives us most lovingly. Thus St. Augustine, in Psalm. LXXXVI: "You are raised up in this building by pious affection, sincere religion, faith, hope, charity: and to build this is to walk." Note first: Peter, because he is a stone, delights in the name and metaphor of stone and rock, and at the same time modestly signifies that he has been made a stone by grace and gift from Christ, who is the true and first stone of the Church, from whom Peter and the other faithful become stones; Christ therefore is the first Peter, that is, stone and rock. First, because he himself is the cornerstone and foundation of the Church. Second, because just as a stone by its weight falls headlong from on high, so Christ by the weight of his love for us descended from heaven to earth. Third, because he is strong and constant, like a stone. Fourth, because just as the stone of David struck and killed Goliath, so Christ struck and weakened the demon. Fifth, because Christ is the stone of refuge for the faithful who hope in him, according to that Psalm. CIII: "The stone is a refuge for the hedgehogs." Hence David rejoicing says: "On a stone he exalted me." And: "He set my feet upon a stone," Psalm. xxxix, 3, and Psalm. xxvi, 5. For these reasons Christ is many times foreshadowed in the Scriptures through a stone. First, Zach. III, when he says: "Upon one stone are seven eyes: behold I will grave the graving thereof, saith the Lord, and I will take away the iniquity of that land in one day." Second, through the stone upon which Jacob sleeping saw a ladder extended to heaven, Gen. xxviii. Third, through the stone upon which Moses praying and sustaining his weary arms obtained victory for Joshua and the Hebrews against Amalec, Exod. xvii. Fourth, through the stone which struck by Moses gave water to the thirsty people, Num. xx. Fifth, through the stone of the cave, in which Moses placed saw the glory of God passing by, Exod. xxxiii. Sixth, through the stone with which David killed Goliath, I Kings xvii. Seventh, through the stone of the tablets, to which God inscribed the Decalogue with his finger, Deut. xxvii, 2. Eighth, through the stone which Joshua set up as a testimony, Joshua xxiv, 26. Ninth, through the stone upon which the ark of the covenant was placed, I Kings vi, 25. Tenth, through the stone of help, I Kings vii, 12. Moreover Christ is a stone not of any kind, but precious, as is said verse 6, namely marble, gem-like, adamantine. Note second: St. Peter calls Christ a stone not inanimate, but animated and living, in Greek zonta, that is living, because he himself is God and living man. For first, as God, he is living, indeed he is essential and uncreated life itself. This is what St. John says, Gospel. I, 4: "In him was life, and the life was the light of men"; and epistle I John I, 2: "For the life was manifested; and we have seen and do bear witness, and declare unto you the life eternal." Second, Christ as man is living, because he rose from death to immortal and glorious life. Third, Christ is living, that is, giving life to all through his merits and death, according to that of John, cap. vi, verse 58: "As the living Father hath sent me, and I live by the Father; so he that eateth me, the same also shall live by me"; and John v, 25: "The hour cometh, and now is, when the dead shall hear the voice of the Son of God, and they that hear shall live." Upon Christ therefore as a living stone the Church is built, as the living body of Christ and vivified by him. Moreover grammatically to the letter "living stone" is called that which is born in its rock or vein, and from there is cut out or dug out (whence Christ is called a stone cut out of the mountain, Daniel. II, 24). Pliny, lib. XXXVI, cap. xviii: "Theophrastus and Mutianus believe that there are some stones which produce offspring." Likewise pyrites, which has much fire, is called living, says Pliny, lib. XXXVI, cap. xix. Again "living stone" is magnet, because it moves and draws iron. For those things have life which move themselves. All these things are easily adapted to Christ. Rejected indeed by men. — For the Jews, the Scribes, Pharisees and High Priests despised Christ, and as a useless stone, indeed a harmful one, rejected and cast him out from the building of their Synagogue. But chosen by God — as the foundation of the Church, through his resurrection, ascension into heaven, the sending of the Holy Spirit, and the renown of his name in the whole world subject to him. The Greek entimon, and "precious," as the Zurich version translates it, and "honorable" signifies.
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5. And you yourselves, as living stones, are built up. — That is, build yourselves up upon Christ through charity, and his works which vivify faith. Bede says some read "you are built up on high," so that you may tend toward heaven, and there your mind, thought and conversation may be. He calls living stones "men strengthened with vigor," says St. Ambrose in chapter III of St. Luke. Note the analogies of a stone in a building, and of a faithful one in the Church. First indeed, just as a stone must be polished and squared so that it may be fit for the building, so also the faithful must be polished and squared through tribulations and temptations, according to that of St. Ambrose and the Divine Office in the dedication of a Church: "Stones polished by blows and pressures are fitted to their places, arranged by the hands of the craftsman to remain in sacred buildings." Second, just as a stone and a building have their dimensions, so also does the faithful. Hear St. Ignatius, in his epistle to the Ephesians: "Jesus Christ founded you upon a rock as chosen stones, fit for the divine building of the Father, lifted on high through Christ, who was crucified for us, using the plumb-line of the Holy Spirit; indeed, supported by faith, and lifted by charity from earth to heaven." Third, a stone in order to be placed in a house must be hard and strong. Thus St. Bernard, sermon 61 in the Canticles: "Exalted in the rock, secure in the rock, I stand firmly in the rock, safe from the enemy, protected from falling; the world trembles, the body is pressed, the devil lies in wait, I do not fall: for I am founded upon a firm rock." Fourth, a lower stone bears an upper one: thus "in the holy Church each one both bears another, and is borne by another," says St. Gregory, homily 13 on Ezekiel, according to the admonition of St. Paul, Galatians chapter vi, 2: "Bear ye one another's burdens." Fifth, one stone is glued to another with lime: thus also one faithful is joined to another with charity. Antistrophic to this sentence of St. Peter is that of Paul, Ephesians II, 19: "Now therefore you are no more strangers and foreigners; but you are fellow citizens with the saints, and the domestics of God, built upon the foundation of the Apostles and Prophets, Jesus Christ himself being the chief corner stone: in whom all the building, being framed together, groweth up into a holy temple in the Lord." St. Peter alludes to Isaiah LIV, 11: "Behold I will lay thy stones in order, and thy foundations in sapphires, and I will make thy battlements of jasper." And to that saying of Christ: "Thou art Peter, and upon this rock I will build my Church," Matthew xvi, 18. A spiritual house. — St. Augustine in Psalm LXXXVI, and others read, "into a spiritual house," that is to say, You are built up upon Christ, so that you may be the house of God, not material, namely wooden or stone; but mystical and spiritual through faith, hope, charity, and the religion of God and Christ. Moreover this house or spiritual temple of God is partly universal, namely the Church; partly particular and singular, namely the soul of each faithful and holy one. For individual faithful, as living stones, compose the fabric of the Church as it were one universal house and temple; these same in this fabric of the Church as it were a spacious temple, are as it were particular temples, according to that I Corinthians III, 16: "Know you not that you are the temple of God, and that the Spirit of God dwelleth in you?" and II Corinthians VI, 16: "For you are the temple of the living God." In this sense also the Syrian version renders it, "be ye spiritual temples." But the former sense is more fitting. The heretics object: The Church is the spiritual house of God; therefore it is not visible, but invisible. I answer by denying the consequence: for "spiritual house" here is opposed to a material house, which consists of wood and stones, not to a visible one. A holy priesthood. — St. Jerome and Ambrose read, "into a holy priesthood," that is to say: You are built upon Christ, so that you may be a priesthood, not impure, profane and sacrilegious, such as that of idolaters and heretics; but pure, sacred and holy. For the Church, just as it is a kingdom which Christ rules and in which He reigns, so also is it a priesthood, in which and through which Christ sacrifices and offers sacrifices to God the Father. For the Church through true priests offers true and proper sacrifices to God; through individual faithful, however, it offers improper and mystical sacrifices of praises, prayers and good works. Therefore a faithful layperson is called and is a priest, but a mystical one, first, because he is a member of the Church, which has true priests; and of Christ, who is the supreme High Priest. Second, because through true priests assisting them, serving, sustaining, cooperating, he offers to God in the Mass a true sacrifice. Third, because he offers to God the calves of his lips. Fourth, because he offers to God the passion and death of Christ, who made himself a living victim to God on the cross, especially when he receives the Holy Synaxis. Fifth, because in heaven he will offer himself entirely for perpetual praise of God as it were in sacrifice. Sixth, because the faithful saints are most closely joined to God, as it were his friends, members of his household, sons and heirs. To offer spiritual sacrifices to God, — in a spiritual house and temple, namely in the Church. "Spiritual" partly is opposed to the carnal sacrifices of the Aaronic priests: for Christian priests do not offer carnal sacrifices by slaughtering, flaying, burning them, but a mystical sacrifice, namely the Eucharist, in which the flesh of Christ is hidden under the species of bread and wine, and is wholly offered, immolated and consumed; partly is opposed to true sacrifices, so that "spiritual" is the same as improper and figurative, such as the faithful laity offer; concerning which Paul says, Rom. XII, 1: "I beseech you therefore, brethren, to present your bodies a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing unto God"; and Lactantius: "Whoever obeys all the heavenly precepts, he is truly a worshipper of God, whose sacrifices are gentleness of mind, and innocent life, and good deeds: all of which whoever exhibits, sacrifices as often as he has done something good and pious." Acceptable to God through Jesus Christ. — For He Himself is our redeemer and mediator appointed by God, through whom we ought to offer all things to the Father, so that they may be acceptable, pleasing, meritorious and impetrative to Him. Wherefore the Church ends all prayers, saying: "Through our Lord Jesus Christ," etc. This is what the Apostle says, Rom. cap. v, vers. 2: "Through Him we have access by faith." And to Hebr. vii, 25, he says that Christ always stands before God, "to make intercession for us."
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6. Wherefore the Scripture contains: — Isaiah cap. xxviii, vers. 16, where equally as in Ephes. II, 20, I have explained this verse.
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7. To you therefore honor that believe, — that is to say: You, O believers in Christ, shall not be confounded, but shall be honored by Christ on the day of judgment, when you shall receive from Him glory and the crown of the heavenly kingdom, according to that Psalm. cxxxviii, 17: "Thy friends, O God, are made exceedingly honourable; their principality is exceedingly strengthened." To them that believe not. — The interpreter reads apistousi; now they read apeithousi, that is, the disobedient, who namely were unwilling to obey Christ, either that they should believe in Him, or that they should obey His law. Is made the head of the corner. — He is made the capital, corner, principal and fundamental stone of the house of God, namely of the Church.
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8. And a stone of stumbling and a rock of scandal. — He cites Isaiah chapter viii, verse 14. This is what Simeon sings: "Behold this child is set for the fall and for the resurrection of many in Israel," Luke ii, 34. To those who are offended by the word. — Many explain it, as if to say, Those who sin by the word, namely by their words contradicting and resisting Christ, and blaspheming him. Thus Hugo, Lyra, Thomas Anglicus and Dionysius. But in Greek it is proskoptousi to logo, that is, those who strike against the word, who namely are offended and scandalized at the word of the Gospel. Whence the Syriac version renders it, "those who are offended at the stone, because they do not assent to the word." For to the Jews the preaching of Christ crucified was a scandal, to the Gentiles foolishness, 1 Corinthians chapter 1, 23. And believe not in whom they are set. — First. Beza from this place contends that the reprobate are set by God before the foreknowledge of works and sins, that is, destined to disobedience and rebellion, just as the elect are destined by God alone before the foreknowledge of merits to faith, obedience and salvation. Thus he, but impiously and ignorantly: for first, if God destines them to disobedience and rebellion, therefore God himself is the first author of sin, which is blasphemous. Second, therefore those destined to this by God do not sin by rebelling. Third, if God decrees disobedience, therefore he himself executes and works it. Second, some Catholics thus explain it, as if to say, The unfaithful are set, that is, destined not to believe by themselves and their own will and malice, then by God they are set in the order of the reprobate. Again and rather, the unfaithful on account of their former crimes deserve to be abandoned by God, blinded and hardened, so that they do not believe the Gospel. Third, Erasmus, Vatable, Cajetan and Titelmann thus explain it, as if to say, "Nor do they believe," namely in the foundation, or the cornerstone, in which they were set and placed, namely in Christ. Fourth and genuinely, for "in whom" in Greek it is eis ho, that is, in which, to which, namely to believing, as if to say, They are set to believe in Christ, and yet they do not believe, because they are unwilling to believe. For all men, and especially the Jews, are set, that is, created and ordained by the law and the Prophets to this end, that they believe in Christ prefigured by the law and the Prophets. Thus Bede and Lyra. For God created and ordained men for good, not however for evil.
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9. But you. — The pronoun "you" can be understood, first, collectively, that is to say: You, O faithful, gathered together in one assembly, you, O congregation of Christians, you, O Church of Christ, are a royal priesthood, a holy nation, etc. Second, distributively, that is to say: You, O individual faithful, are a chosen generation, etc. Just as therefore God once chose the Jews, so now He chooses Christians into His people and Church, and through them He blesses and benefits the whole world. Whence most beautifully St. Justin, in his epistle to Diognetus, teaches that Christians are in the world as a soul in a body: "The soul is distributed through all the members of the body, and Christians through all the cities of the world. The soul indeed dwells in the body, yet is not of the body: and Christians dwell in the world, yet are not of the world." Morally from this St. Hilary and Clement of Alexandria teach that Christians ought to flee every shadow of luxury and pride, because we are all a chosen generation, indeed kings and priests. A royal priesthood. — He cites Exodus xix, 6, where Moses calls the Synagogue of the Jews a "priestly kingdom," or, as it is in Hebrew, "a kingdom of priests": for in a similar manner Peter, and the Septuagint, elegantly and prudently inverting the words of Moses, calls it "a royal priesthood." The reason for this inversion is that, namely, in the Synagogue of the Jews the kingdom was eminent over the priesthood, but in the Church of Christ the priesthood is eminent over the kingdom. Whence the Syriac version renders it, "you are a priesthood unto a kingdom." The Church therefore is the kingdom of Christ, not temporal, lay and profane, but heavenly, priestly and sacred. The same, conversely and rather, is the priesthood of Christ not legal, not gentile, not plebeian, but royal, distinguished, illustrious, magnificent, heavenly and divine: and this first, because its first priest and founder, namely Christ, was the High Pontiff and King, indeed God and the Son of God. Hence its type was Melchizedech, king and pontiff, to whom St. Peter here alludes, Hebrews vii, 1. Second, because its victim is royal, distinguished and divine, namely Christ, who on the altar of the cross offered Himself as it were a royal victim for us. Third, because the manner of offering is royal. Fourth, because its fruit is royal: for it abolishes sins, placates God, reconciles all graces and virtues, and finally merits and leads to the kingdom of heaven. Let priests therefore remember when they celebrate that they perform a royal priesthood. Second, not only the Church, but also individual faithful are a priestly kingdom and a royal priesthood, or, as the Chaldaic version renders Exodus xix, 6, "kings and priests." Kings, both because they rule their senses, members, powers and passions, and have dominion over them; and because they are familiars, indeed sons of Jesus Christ, King of kings and Lord of lords, who reigns in us with the Father and the Holy Spirit. Hence a crown was once placed on the head of the baptized. Hear Severus of Alexandria, in his book On Baptism: "They elevate the baptized to the altar, and give them the mysteries, the Eucharist, and the priest crowns them with garlands." And St. Chrysostom, homily on the Baptized: "Remember me when you feel on your head a crown more splendid than the rays of the sun." And Cyril of Jerusalem in his Procatechesis: "Now you are gathering spiritual flowers to weave heavenly crowns." Prudentius signifies the same thing, when he thus sings in the Psychomachia: "After the marks inscribed with oil on the forehead, through which the royal ointment is given, and the perpetual chrism." In like manner the faithful are priests, because devoted to the worship of God, they offer to Him mystical and metaphorical victims of praise and virtues, as I said in verse 5. Therefore the heretics wrongly conclude from this that all Christians are properly priests: for they are such priests as they are also kings. But they are mystical and metaphorical kings, not true and proper ones. Add that all the Jews, to whom Moses first gave these titles of kings and priests, were not true priests (but only the descendants of Aaron). Cajetan, Catharinus and Salmeron add that the priesthood of Christians is royal because it directs kings and commands them; for Pontiffs are spiritual kings, and preside over kings. Thus the priestly kingdom of the Church is seen chiefly in Bishops and the episcopate. "The priesthood is the sum of all goods which exist in men," says St. Ignatius, in his epistle to the Smyrnaeans. The same, in his epistle to the Philadelphians, says: "Let the Caesars themselves obey the bishop." But most of all this is seen in the Supreme Pontiff and the Pontificate. The insignia of this priestly kingdom is the cidaris, or tiara, which he wears on his head encircled with a triple crown. The voice of St. Vigilius was truly regal, when, being urged by the Emperor Justinian to embrace the Eutychian heresy, he boldly resisted him to his face and said: "I wished to come to Justinian the most Christian Emperor, but I found Diocletian instead." Similar was St. Martin's conduct toward the Emperor Constans, a Monothelite, when captured by him: "I would rather allow myself to be torn into a thousand pieces than subscribe in any point to your heresy." Moreover, in such great dignity does the Pontiff preserve the honor of humility, calling himself the servant of servants. Wherefore that is like a prodigy: "Servant of servants, ruling over those who rule over rulers." Morally, let the faithful here contemplate the dignity of their vocation to the kingdom and priesthood of Christ, and live worthily thereof, doing and ordering all things to the glory of God. "All the children of the Church are priests," says St. Ambrose: "for we are anointed unto a holy priesthood, offering ourselves to God as spiritual sacrifices." Most elegantly indeed Leo: "The sign of the cross makes all those regenerated in Christ kings, and the unction of the Holy Spirit consecrates them priests, so that apart from this special service of our mystery, all spiritual and rational Christians may recognize themselves to be of a royal race and sharers in the priestly office. For what is so royal as a mind subject to God being the ruler of its body? And what is so priestly as to vow to the Lord a pure conscience and to offer from the altar of the heart immaculate sacrifices of piety?" In a similar manner Seneca says, epistle 37: "If you wish to subject all things to yourself, subject yourself to reason: you will rule many kings, if reason shall have ruled you." But beyond all others, martyrdom is a royal priesthood, because the Martyr with a regal spirit and burning charity offers himself and all that is his, his life and death, to God as a holocaust. Again, Religious life is a royal priesthood, because in it the Religious offer themselves wholly as it were as willing victims, indeed as holocausts, to God. "The man himself consecrated and devoted in the name of God, inasmuch as he dies to the world that he may live to God, is a sacrifice," says St. Augustine, book X of the City of God, chapter vi; and St. Gregory, book IX of the Morals: "We indeed offer ourselves as a sacrifice to God, when we dedicate our life to divine worship." A holy nation. — First, because just as the Synagogue of the Jews formerly, so now the Church of Christians from all nations is separated, dedicated and sanctified to God. Second, because it has had and has many Saints, Apostles, Martyrs, Confessors, Virgins. Third, because all are called to holiness, according to that in Hebrews xii, 22: "You are come to Mount Sion and to the city of the living God, the heavenly Jerusalem, and to the company of many thousands of angels, and to the Church of the firstborn." Fourth, because the religion, faith, doctrine, Sacraments and sacrifices of Christians are holy. Fifth, because its author is Christ the Holy of Holies, Daniel ix, 24, and its ruler is the Holy Spirit. Sixth, because nowhere except in the Church is true holiness found. Seventh, because their law and a life conformed to the law is holy. Hear St. Basil in the Morals, rule LXXX: "What is proper to a Christian? Faith which works through charity. What is proper to a Christian? that through baptism he be born again from water and spirit, that he become one spirit with Christ. What is proper to a Christian? to be cleansed from all defilement of flesh and spirit, and to perfect holiness in the fear of God and the charity of Christ, and to have no spot or wrinkle. What is proper to a Christian? to have the Lord always in his sight. What is proper to a Christian? to watch daily and at every hour, and to be continually prepared for that perfection by which he may please God." A people of acquisition, that is, acquired. The Syriac: "a redeemed congregation", which namely Christ acquired, redeemed and purchased by his blood. Less correctly do Vatable and Erasmus translate, "who came as gain to Christ". For although that be true, yet it does not precisely signify acquisition, but acquisition and purchase, from which not so much to Christ as to the very ones purchased came an immense gain of grace, glory and heavenly inheritance. Hence Paul says the faithful are placed in the acquisition of salvation through Christ, and calls them children of faith in the acquisition of the soul, Hebrews x, 39, and I Thessalonians v, 9. Yet to Christ from the same came immense glory. For, as St. Bernard says in the Sentences: "This portion of Christ which he took from the hand of the Amorite by the sword of preaching and the bow of the incarnation". For this reason Christ loves us supremely, because we have become his flesh: for he purchased us by his blood. St. Augustine, book I On the Sins of Morals, chapter xxvii, and St. Ambrose on Psalm cxviii, octon. 6, read, "a people in adoption", rendering the sense, not the words: for acquisition does not signify adoption, but vindication, or vindication into liberty, acquisition, possession, preservation, salvation. The sense is, as if to say, Christians are a peculiar people, that is a possession, a peculium and a treasure of God. Whence also Oecumenius interprets acquisition as possession and inheritance. St. Augustine, On the Words of the Lord according to Luke, sermon 35, at the end: "A great thing, brethren: and we are his inheritance, and his is our inheritance; because we both worship him, and he cares for us. I am, says Christ, the vine, you are the branches, my Father is the husbandman. Therefore he cares for us; but, if we bear fruit, he prepares a barn". Hence St. Basil in the Morals teaches that the faithful are sheep, branches, spouses, temples, victims, children of Christ, and therefore ought to live so that they may be the light of the world and the salt of the earth. That you may declare his virtues. — What virtues? First, as if to say, that you as it were royal priests of Christ may narrate, preach and celebrate his immense clemency toward us, wisdom, patience, humility, charity, justice and other virtues, which Christ exhibited in his life and death for redeeming us. He alludes to the Hebrews, who after crossing the Red Sea, giving thanks to God, celebrated his great deeds saying: "Let us sing to the Lord: for he is gloriously magnified, the horse and the rider he hath thrown into the sea", Exodus xv, 1. Secondly, virtue, that is arete, signifies industry: for Christ with great industry assumed passible flesh, and was crucified in it, that he might deceive the devil. Hence the Church sings in the hymn of the Lord's Passion: "The Creator, grieving at the fraud of the first parent, himself then marked the tree, to undo the damage of the tree". Thirdly, arete signifies virtue and warlike fortitude; for it is derived from Ares, that is Mars. For Christ with great fortitude conquered the devil, the world, the flesh, and all tyrants and Gentiles not with iron, but with wood; not by striking, but by dying. Fourthly, virtue signifies an excellent and magnificent work, which produces notable praise and honor. Fifthly, the "virtues" of Christ can be taken not passively, but actively, which namely he himself acts and works in us, namely wonderful, nay divine humility, charity, patience, chastity, constancy. He alludes to the oracle of David, Psalm xxi, verse 32: "It shall be declared to the Lord for a generation to come, and the heavens shall declare his justice to a people that shall be born". And that of Isaiah, chapter xliii, verse 21: "This people have I formed for myself; they shall declare my praise". Who from darkness (of infidelity, ignorance of God and salvation, errors and sins) has called you into his admirable light, namely of faith, knowledge of God, prudence and virtues: by which words St. Peter alludes to Isaiah ix, 2: "The people that walked in darkness have seen a great light; to them that dwell in the region of the shadow of death, light is risen"; and cap. lx, vers. 1: "Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem, for thy light is come, and the glory of the Lord is risen upon thee". By this teaching St. Peter tacitly admonishes the faithful that they should follow this light and sun of justice which has shone upon them from heaven, and walk and live in its light, according to that of Paul, Ephes. v, 8: "For you were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord. Walk then as children of the light". Furthermore, he calls this light "admirable", both because it reveals and shows wonderful mysteries concerning God, the Holy Trinity, Christ, predestination, the calling of the Gentiles; and because it teaches wonderful things concerning the duties of virtues; and because the Saints through it accomplished heroic and wonderful works of virtue. Thus wonderful was the love of Christ in St. Peter, wonderful the love of the cross in St. Andrew, wonderful the power of preaching in St. Paul, wonderful purity in St. John, wonderful fortitude in St. Stephen, wonderful constancy in St. Athanasius, wonderful penance in St. Mary Magdalene, wonderful contemplation in St. Anthony, wonderful devotion in St. Basil, wonderful humility in St. Francis, wonderful fervor in St. Dominic, wonderful brightness in St. Bernard, wonderful ardor in St. Lawrence. All these things show forth and proclaim virtues and the glory of Christ. And this will be evident on the day of judgment, "when he shall come to be glorified in his saints, and to be made wonderful in all them that have believed", says St. Paul, II Thessal. i, 10.
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10. Who once were not a people, but now are the people of God. — He cites Hosea I, 6.
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11. Dearest. — In Greek "agapetoi", that is, lovable, worthy of love, dear, beloved. I beseech. — parakalo, that is, I exhort, or I beseech. Note the modesty of St. Peter the Supreme Pontiff, in that he does not command his subjects, but beseeches them. This should be imitated by Prelates, as St. Bonaventure teaches, tract. De Sex alis Seraphim. As strangers (St. Cyprian, lib. I, epist. 5, reads "guests") and pilgrims. — For our soul is heavenly and created by God comes into the earth, and this mortal body, and there it is a stranger, and from there as a pilgrim it tends and desires to return to heaven. Again, the heavenly Jerusalem, whose citizens we are enrolled, descends from heaven, so that from there it may snatch up the faithful with itself ascending into heaven, Apoc. xxi. Moreover, we were placed by God in paradise as its dwellers, from there expelled on account of sin, we wander as exiles and pilgrims on the earth. Thus St. Augustine in Psalm. cxviii. Wherefore Christ, that he might recall us from this exile to the homeland of paradise, descending to the earth, was born in an inn, lived in a lodging, died on a cross. What then is a Christian? He is like Christ a pilgrim of the earth and a citizen of heaven. Furthermore, "the duty of a pilgrim is", said St. Francis, "to gather under another's roof, to pass through peacefully and to long for the homeland". Whence St. Basil in Ascetic.: "Let your eyes be cast down to the earth, your mind raised to heaven". First therefore the condition, the gift and virtue of a pilgrim is that he know himself to be a pilgrim. For many pilgrims, enticed by the delights of the roads, cling to them and forget their homeland, because they love the lodging as home and fatherland, says St. Gregory. How many and how great mortals here build houses, estates, gardens, palaces; heap up gold, silver and wealth without end; accumulate servants, horses, offices, benefices, as if they were to remain here forever? Truly, pitying their vile lot and mind, the Poet exclaims: "O souls bent to the earth and empty of heavenly things?" And Seneca, epist. 99: "But they are so wicked and so forgetful of where they are going, that they wonder at losing something, about to lose everything in one day. Whatever you are inscribed as master of, is with you, it is not yours. Nothing is firm to the weak, nothing eternal to the fragile, nothing is unconquered". More briefly, more clearly and more acutely St. Augustine, Quaest. xci in Levit.: "Every man is a stranger by being born, because he is compelled to depart by dying". Secondly, a pilgrim sees everything as if abroad, esteems it as alien and foreign to himself: whence he does not fix his heart on it. Thus also a Christian esteems everything in this world to be alien and foreign to himself as a pilgrim. "For we are strangers before thee and sojourners, as all our fathers were: our days upon earth are as a shadow, and there is no stay", says David I Paralip. xxix, 15. Thirdly, a guest who has stayed one night in a lodging departs and leaves it to other guests coming: thus man does also. Hear St. Augustine serm. 32 De Verb. Dom.: "Each one here and in his own house is a guest; if he is not a guest, let him not depart from there; if he is about to depart, willing or unwilling, he is a guest. For he leaves it to his sons, a guest to guests". Fourthly, St. Bernard, serm. 7 De Quadrag.: "A pilgrim goes straight on his way, content with food and clothing, without superfluous burdens; he cares for his one journey, not for the affairs of others". Thus let a Christian also do. Fifth, a pilgrim longs for his homeland. Let the Christian do the same. Hear St. Cyprian, tract. On Mortality: "We reckon our homeland to be paradise: a great multitude of our dear ones awaits us there, a copious throng of parents, brothers, and children desires us, already secure in their own safety, and still solicitous for our salvation. Why therefore do we not hasten, that we may see our homeland and greet our parents?" And St. Augustine on Psalm CXLVIII: "He who does not groan as a pilgrim will not rejoice as a citizen, because desire is not in him." Sixth, a pilgrim bears strongly and constantly the labors of his journey, heat, cold, hunger, thirst, and all the discomforts of roads and lodgings. Thus let the Christian strongly bear all the hardships of this life and pilgrimage. Such was Abel, the first pilgrim of the world, but a citizen of heaven, whom Cain slew. Seventh, a pilgrim conducts himself with propriety, honestly and justly, is unjust to no one, and is cautious in all things. Wherefore St. Paul, whose words are the antistrophe of St. Peter: "The grace of God our Saviour hath appeared to all men, instructing us, that denying ungodliness and worldly desires, we should live soberly, and justly, and godly in this world, looking for the blessed hope and coming of the glory of the great God and our Saviour Jesus Christ." Eighth, a pilgrim esteems all men whatsoever as pilgrims: his heart is in his homeland. Thus the Christian esteems all men and women of this age as pilgrims, his heart is with God, the angels and the Saints. Whence St. Basil: "A soul burning with heavenly eagerness is joined to the love of Christ, while dwelling on earth it meditates continually on heavenly things: it tramples underfoot the pleasures of the world, nor does any care of the world separate it from the love of Christ." Hence St. Bernard, On the Manner of Living Well: "All things that are in this world are contrary to the servants of God, so that while they feel these adversities, they may sigh toward the heavenly kingdom with the greatest longing. Holy men are pilgrims and guests in the world: whence Peter is reproved, because he wished to make a tabernacle on the mountain; because for the saints in this world there is no tabernacle, for whom in heaven is homeland and house." Ninth, a pilgrim prepares and equips himself for his journey with shoes, a cloak and waxed garments, a staff on which to lean: thus let the faithful arm himself against all difficulties and temptations with solid humility, patience, prayer, and especially with Christ, His cross and death. Again, a pilgrim prepares for himself provisions necessary for his journey: thus the faithful uses the Holy Eucharist as provisions for his journey. Excellently St. Basil: "For the possession of the future age, which has no end, prepare provisions for yourself," namely the Holy Sacraments, virtues and merits, from which you may live eternally. Tenth, a pilgrim is mocked by the natives, especially by children, as a barbarian on account of his strange dress, speech, and bearing; but he despises them and passes on. Thus also the Christian is mocked by the world and worldlings; but he likewise mocks them, and says with the Apostle: "We are made as the refuse of this world: the offscouring of all even until now," I Cor. IV, 13. Therefore the first "virtue of a Christian is to despise and be despised," says St. Jerome. Pilgrims to abstain from carnal desires. — First, because a pilgrim abstains from these things; for he does not burden and fill himself with food and drink, but takes them lightly and moderately, so that he may be expeditious and agile for his journey. For it befits pilgrims to follow that maxim of Epictetus: "Endure and abstain." Second, because the faithful man considers not only the land to be foreign to him, but much more carnal concupiscence, because he desires spiritual and eternal delights. Third, because carnal concupiscence is to him not only an impediment to the way, but also a poison to life. Moreover, understand by carnal desires not only those of gluttony and lust, but also of anger, envy, pride, etc. For all these are works of the flesh, that is, of concupiscence, which resides not only in the flesh, but also in the soul and mind, as the Apostle teaches in Galatians v, 19. By "abstain" therefore understand "restrain" and "continence." The ancient Christians excelled in continence. Notable is the continence of St. James the Less, who, abstaining from wine, meat, baths, and other delights, lived an austere life. Similar were St. Peter, St. Paul, and the other Apostles. John the Hermit was of such continence that for 40 years he did not see a woman. St. Anthony gave this counsel to the abbot Pambo, who asked for instruction in salvation and perfection: "Do not be confident in your own righteousness, nor let it grieve you what is past, and be continent in your tongue and your belly." St. Arsenius, to a woman who had crept to him in secret, asking for his prayers, said: "I pray my God that He may blot out your memory from my heart." Famous is the saying of the abbot Pastor: "Unless Nabuzardan the chief cook had come, the temple of the Lord would not have been burned with fire: so too, unless rest, gluttony, and the belly come into the soul, the mind would never fall fighting against the enemy." Moreover, St. Gregory wisely admonishes: "Thus it is necessary that each one hold the art of continence, so that he may kill not the flesh, but vices." Which war against the soul. — For the flesh "lusteth against the spirit, and the spirit against the flesh," Galatians v, 17; whence: "The life of man upon earth is a warfare," says Job, cap. xiv, vers. 4. This warfare and struggle St. Augustine depicts most excellently in himself, lib. VIII of the Confessions. Tertullian treats it vigorously, ad Martyr., cap. III: "The conflict and victory of his athletes stands before God the living; the Holy Spirit is the Master of the Games; Christ Jesus is the Overseer; the crown is of eternity; the prize is the polity of the angelic substance in the heavens; the glory is for ever and ever."
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12. Let your conversation among the Gentiles (Syriac: "before all the children of men") be good. — "For we are made a spectacle to the world, to angels and to men," I Cor. IV, 9. And: "We owe our reputation to our neighbor, and we provide our conscience to God," says St. Bernard, sermon 71 in the Canticles. Let Christians note here that they ought so to conduct themselves that both the faithful and the unfaithful, and heretics, may be drawn by their holy conversation to God, to faith and to holiness. For the power of example is greater than that of words, of life than of voice, of conduct than of speech. Wherefore St. Paul before King Agrippa: "In this I also exercise myself, to have always a conscience without offense toward God, and toward men," Acts xxiv, 16. Indeed, even Cicero says in Lactantius: "I am badly treated if my speech purges me more than my life." And Aristippus, when asked what in this world was admirable, answered: "A virtuous and temperate man: because although he lives among many impious people, he is not corrupted." That wherein they speak evil of you as of evildoers. — For they said that Christians were contemners of princes, of divinity and of gods, voluptuaries, engaging in promiscuous intercourse (because the Gnostic heretics, sprung from Christians, did this), eating human flesh (namely the flesh of Christ in the Eucharist, of which the Gentiles had heard rumors, but did not understand the manner and mystery), so much so that they attributed all the plagues and calamities of the world to the impiety of Christians. Tertullian, Apology XL: "If the Tiber rises into the walls, if the Nile does not rise into the fields, if the earth shakes, if there is famine, if there is plague, straightway 'Christians to the lion!'" Wherefore in defense of the innocence of Christians, grave and learned Apologies were written by St. Justin, Athenagoras, Clement of Alexandria, Cyprian, Tertullian, Arnobius and others. That they may, by the good works which they shall see in you, glorify God. — Thus St. Blandina, cruelly tortured, so that she might confess the crimes already mentioned as charged against Christians, proclaimed steadfastly and cheerfully: "I am a Christian, and nothing evil is done among us," and astounded her torturers. Called back to torture, she said: "You are greatly mistaken, O men, in thinking that they eat the entrails of infants, they who do not even use the flesh of many animals." Wherefore Pliny the Younger, Proconsul of Asia, having made an inquiry into the life of Christians, wrote to Trajan that he had found no crime in them, except that they sang hymns to Christ at dawn: to which Trajan replied that they ought not to be sought out, but if brought before him, they ought to be punished. Whence Tertullian exclaims, Apology II: "O sentence confused by necessity! He denies that they should be sought out as innocent, and commands that they be punished as guilty." Having perceived this holiness of Christians, Justin the Philosopher and Martyr was converted, as he himself relates. Many judges and torturers were also converted. Porphyry himself, though sworn an enemy of Christ, was overcome by the same virtue, and wrote a book On Essays, in which he describes and praises their angelic conduct. So powerful is virtue, that it extorts from enemies not only testimony, but also eulogy and commendation. In the day of visitation. — First, by "visitation," Oecumenius and Arias understand investigation and inquiry, as if to say: So that when Pliny and other Governors and Gentiles inquire about you and visit you, seeing that all your things are holy, they may glorify God. Whence Tertullian, Apology, last chapter: "Torture, torment, condemn, grind us to dust: the injustice of your treatment is the proof of our innocence; the more unjust your treatment, the more it attracts to our sect. We are multiplied whenever you measure us. The blood of Christians is seed." Second, others understand "visitation," in Greek episkopen, that is, inspection, care, correction, in a mystical sense through illumination and grace, as if to say: So that the Gentiles may glorify God, then when God has visited them with the light of His grace, so that they may see the truth and holiness of Christ and Christianity, and embrace it. Third, Hugh and Thomas the Englishman understand it of the visitation by which God visits and scourges the faithful, so that from their patience He may extort praise from the unbelievers who speak evil of them. Fourth, Bede understands by the day of visitation the day of judgment. For then the wicked, especially judges and persecutors, seeing the glory of the Martyrs and Saints, will glorify God, saying: "These are they whom we had some time in derision. Behold how they are numbered among the children of God, and their lot is among the saints," Wisdom V.
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13. Be ye subject therefore. — The word "therefore" draws forth this conclusion, as it were, from what he said concerning good conversation, as if to say: I have commanded you good conversation, therefore I likewise command subjection and obedience; for in this especially does it consist and appear, particularly in that first age of the Church and of St. Peter. For the Christian religion was heard with displeasure among some, as if it taught Christians, inasmuch as they are the sons of Christ and designated heirs of the kingdom of heaven, that they ought not to be subject to princes, especially to Gentiles and infidels, says Oecumenius. It was added to this that the first Christians were originally Jews, who at that time had begun to rebel against the Romans, indeed the Apostles were Galileans; then the sect of Galileans arose from Judas the Galilean, who taught the Jews, as the people of God, that they ought to be free from taxes, nor subject themselves to the Roman Emperor. Thus even now the Anabaptists on the other hand say that all Christians are equal and free, and therefore one Christian ought not to rule over another. Against all these Paul writes, chapter XIII to the Romans. Truly St. Basil, sermon On the Renunciation of Things: "Progress of the soul in virtue is progress in humility, and on the other hand, to be left in the last place arises from nothing other than from pride. For knowledge of piety is knowledge of humility and gentleness, when one knows how to submit oneself in mind, that is to know how to imitate Christ; but on the other hand, to be puffed up with arrogance is to make oneself like the devil." To every human creature. — First, the Syrian translator renders it, "to all the sons of men," as if Peter wished Christians to be supremely humble, so that they submit themselves to any man whatsoever. For the first degree of humility is to subject oneself to a superior; the second, to an equal; the third, to an inferior, according to that of Paul, Galatians v, 13: "By charity of the spirit serve one another"; and Philippians, chapter ii, verse 3: "In humility, each esteeming others better than themselves." But this is a matter of counsel and perfection, not of precept. Second and properly, Peter calls "every human creature" every man, namely a superior, to whom subjection is owed. He says "every," lest anyone except infidels and the impious. "A human creature therefore" he calls princes and magistrates created by men, namely kings and dukes, as he explains by adding below. Thus Oecumenius. For the Greek ktisis, that is creature, is used for ordinance and the arrangement of civil government. Thus we say a Pope, Cardinals, kings, princes, consuls are created, when namely by votes such are elected and constituted. Moreover, these are called "human creatures," either because created by men, or rather because they themselves are human creatures, that is men made princes by God; they are therefore creatures of God, because from among men they have been chosen and elevated to this dignity by God, and because beyond others they themselves are the living image of the Creator God. St. Peter speaks directly of civil princes, and commands the faithful to be subject to them, lest through Christ they think themselves exempt from their dominion; by an argument from the equal or the lesser, however, St. Basil concludes from this place that the same ought to be done regarding ecclesiastical princes, namely bishops and prelates, that is, that any laymen ought to be subject to them in spiritual matters. Indeed Christ, Matthew x, 40: "He that heareth you, heareth me; and he that despiseth you, despiseth me." And St. Paul, Hebrews XIII, 17: "Obey your prelates, and be subject to them. For they watch as being to render an account of your souls." And St. Paul's disciple St. Ignatius, epistle 9 to the Philadelphians: "Let princes obey Caesar, soldiers princes, Deacons Presbyters of sacred things; let Presbyters, Deacons and the rest of the Clergy together with all the people, soldiers, princes, and Caesar, obey the Bishop, the Bishop Christ, as Christ obeyed the Father." Wherefore St. Bernard appropriately, epistle 183 to Conrad the Emperor: "I have read: Let every soul be subject to higher powers; which sentence I wish you to keep in showing reverence to the vicar of Peter, as you yourselves wish it to be kept by all in your Empire." Learn here from a political perspective that the sign and effect of true faith is humility, submission, obedience of subjects toward magistrates; but the effect of infidelity and heresy is pride, disobedience, rebellion, as we have seen from the Lutherans, and more from the Calvinists in Scotland, England, Germany. Indeed Luther, the parent of all these things, by his rebellion and heresy armed through his disciples a hundred thousand peasants against princes. On the other hand, Catholics for the first three hundred years obeyed Pagan Emperors, even persecutors, in all things except faith and religion; nor did anyone plot death or rebellion against them under the pretext of faith. Indeed the entire legion of the Thebans, most brave under the leadership of St. Maurice, could have resisted Maximian and defended faith and life with arms; but he would not, and with all arms laid down, kneeling for the sake of faith allowed himself to be cut down. This even now many pagan princes among the Indians, Japanese and Chinese experience and feel, who love and foster Christians and the Christian religion, because they see Christians obey them more than pagans do. Orthodox faith therefore is the pillar of the commonwealth equally as of the Church, whose plague is infidelity and heresy. Whence Solon the legislator of the Athenians, when asked "by what means can a state endure?" answered: "If citizens obey their magistrates; but magistrates obey the laws." For God's sake. — First, because God established magistrates and commanded that obedience be paid to them. "For there is no power but from God; and those that are, are ordained of God," Rom. XIII, 1. Whence St. Peter immediately adds this reason, saying: "Because so is the will of God." Second, because a king and prince is the living image of God on earth, and is as it were the vicar of God, indeed a certain earthly God. Wherefore he who violates him violates God. "Therefore he that resisteth the power, resisteth the ordinance of God," says Paul, Rom. XIII, 2. Third, because God constitutes individual kings and princes either by himself, as Saul, David, or through his own. Whence Tertullian to Scapula, cap. II: "A Christian is the enemy of no one, least of all the Emperor, whom knowing to be constituted by his God, he must necessarily both love, and revere, and honor." Fourth, Didymus and Oecumenius: "for God's sake," they say, that is, in the manner in which God commands; namely that obedience be paid to them, when they command nothing against God and God's law: for if they do that, it must be said with St. Peter: "We ought to obey God rather than men," Acts IV, 19; and with the Maccabee: "I obey not the commandment of the king, but the commandment of the law," II Mach. VII, 30. This is what Christ ordained: "Render therefore to Caesar the things that are Caesar's, and to God the things that are God's," Matt. XXII, 21. Fifth, "for God's sake," that is, from love of God and reverence be subject to magistrates, as if to say: Obey them not as if forced by fear of the sword and their vengeance, but for God's sake, that is willingly and liberally from love of God. Sixth, "for God's sake," so that namely the Gentiles, seeing your obedience, may glorify your God, and be drawn to the faith and worship of God. Seventh, "for God's sake," so that kings and princes may remember that they are subject to God, and that they rule and command for his sake. Such were Constantine, Theodosius, Charlemagne, St. Louis in France, St. Stephen in Hungary, St. Leopold in Austria, St. Wenceslaus in Bohemia, St. Hermenegild in Spain, St. Henry in Germany, St. Casimir in Poland, who earnestly honored and defended the Church and the Roman Pontiff.
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14. Whether to rulers. — The Zurich version, "whether to governors"; the Syriac, "to judges." For in Greek they are called hegemones, that is, prefects, governors and other magistrates, who depend on a superior, and are as it were his vicars. For the punishment of evildoers, and the praise of the good, — that is, of those acting rightly. For this is the end of royal power and of every magistracy, namely that by punishing the wicked, they protect the good; and thus they preserve the civil society of men, which is done through justice, by which reward is given to the good, punishment to the wicked. Whence Socrates said: "States are governed best when the unjust pay the penalty." Cicero praises to Brutus the opinion of Solon, who when asked "by what means the Republic would be governed best," answered: "If the good are invited by rewards, the wicked restrained by punishments." Theophrastus when asked: "What would preserve human life?" answered: "Beneficence, honor and punishment." Cato said: "Injury, even if it brings no danger to the one committing it, is nevertheless dangerous to all. Wherefore magistrates who do not restrain evildoers ought to be buried under stones, lest the neglect of punishment should undermine the safety of the Republic." Hence the philosopher Architas said magistrates are like an altar, to which those injured by wrong may flee. Moreover it was rightly done among the Egyptians that the Pontiff praying publicly for the king, prayed this among other things for him: "That he inflict lighter punishments than crimes deserve, and render greater thanks than benefits require."
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15. Whether to the king as excelling. — The Syriac: "to kings on account of their power". The excellence of the king therefore is his power and royal authority: wherefore under king understand the Emperor, such as he then was at Rome, and absolute dukes and princes, who are subject to none. For the king by dignity and power far excels his subjects, and ought to excel them likewise in wisdom, beneficence and virtue. He himself is as it were the sun in the kingdom. This Athalaric, king of the Goths, observed, who thus speaks in Cassiodorus: "We owe so much the more to divinity, as we have received greater things than other mortals; for what like thing can be rendered to God, who possesses power?" Because so it is the will of God, that you doing good (beneficiis afficientes) may silence (phimoun, that is, stop up, obstruct, block) the ignorance of unwise (aphronon, that is, foolish; for, as St. Jerome says, "without knowledge of the Creator every man is a beast") men. — The Syriac: "that by your good deeds you may stop the mouth of those foolish ones, who know not God". "For when they speak ill of us as arrogant, insolent and disobedient, if they see us to be humble and obedient in what is fitting, they are the more ashamed and silent", says Oecumenius. St. Athanasius wisely admonishes, in the Exhortation to Monks: "Thus let us beware of everything that can be feigned, as if it could also be believed, lest in any wound of our reputation there creep in suspicion born of occasion. Let the very seeds of reputation perish before they are nourished by tongues".
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16. As free, and not having freedom as a cloak of malice. — The word "as" is not one of comparison, but of asseveration, as if to say: Obey princes freely and liberally as free and noble children of Christ and of obedience. It is a preemption: for it meets an objection: Christ made us free: therefore we ought not to be subject to and serve any prince. Again, therefore it is permitted us to do whatever we please. Thus formerly the Gnostics (and now the Libertines) abused this Christian freedom to every shame and wickedness. St. Peter answers: You have been made free by Christ, but from sin, not from the law of God, nor from obedience to princes: do not therefore cloak your disobedience, baseness and malice with Christian freedom: for this is not freedom, but slavery to wickedness. St. Paul likewise admonished the Galatians, chapter v, verse 13, saying: "You are called unto liberty, only make not liberty an occasion to the flesh". For, as he says in II Corinthians III, 17: "Where the Spirit of the Lord is, there is liberty". Moreover, as Oecumenius says: "If we sin, having lost freedom we become slaves of disobedience" and of sin; and St. Augustine, in the book On the Quantity of the Soul, chapter xxxiv: "He (God) frees all, to whom it is most useful to serve, and in whose service to please is perfect freedom alone". The same, in the 21st tract on John: "This is our hope, brethren, that we may be freed from a free man, and that freeing us he may make us servants. For we were slaves of desire, freed we become servants of charity". But as servants of God, — who freely and liberally serve and obey not only God, but also all magistrates, whom God has ordained as his vicars and our superiors: for to serve God is to reign.
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17. Honor all men,—according to the condition of each, and the honor due to him. This is what Paul says, Rom. XII, 10: "Preventing one another with honor." Secondly, "honor," that is, pursue all with the offices and benefits of charity. For honor includes not only reverence and obedience, but also love, sustenance and every kind of assistance, as when it is said: "Honor thy father and mother," Exodus xx, 12. Love the brotherhood (that is, brethren, namely Christians: or rather, "the brotherhood," that is of brethren, that is of Christians, the assembly and union) —For he commands not only that they love the union, but also that they love and frequent the assembly of the faithful and the gathering for common prayers, sermons, and synaxes, according to that saying of Paul, Hebrews x, 23: "Not forsaking our assembly, as the custom is with some." Fear God,—not with servile, but with filial fear, by which sons out of love fear to offend their father, and carefully beware lest they do anything that displeases him. To God therefore this fear is as it were a proper tribute and debt, according to Psalm II, 11: "Serve the Lord in fear, and rejoice unto him with trembling." And Malachi I, 6: "If I am the Lord, where is my fear?" And Psalm XXXIII, 10: "Fear the Lord, all ye his saints, for there is no want to them that fear him." It is added that, as the Poet says: "Fear first made gods in the world." Hence Clement of Rome, epistle 1: God is called theos as it were from theos, that is fear, because he is supremely to be feared, honored and loved. Thus Jacob calls God "the fear of his father Isaac," that is whom Isaac feared and honored, Genesis xxxi, 42. Honor the king,—with the honor which is due to the king, that is to the supreme civil power. This honor includes obedience and prayer, namely that subjects pray for kings, as St. Paul commands I Timothy II; for it is most useful to pray for princes, both civil and ecclesiastical: for from the former depends the safety of the commonwealth, from the latter the Church. Whoever therefore prays for them, prays for the whole commonwealth and Church. Tertullian prudently says in the Scorpiace, xiv: "The King is to be honored when he attends to his own affairs, when he is far from divine honors," namely when he avoids those which many kings have sought.
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18. Servants, be subject to your masters in all fear. — First, Lyra and Hugo: "all", that is, in complete and perfect fear, which includes love. Second, "all", because fear is manifold, namely first, of punishment, lest they be punished by their masters if they are disobedient. Second, of fault, lest they offend God through disobedience. Third, of scandal, lest their disobedience provoke their masters to hatred of the faith; "but in all things shewing good faith, that they may adorn the doctrine of our Saviour God in all things", says Paul to Titus, chapter II, verse 9. Paul commands the same to servants at length in Ephesians vi, 5. For this proverb was commonly bandied about, "we have as many enemies as we have servants"; and Plato, book VI of the Laws, says, "Jupiter has taken away half the mind from servants". Not only to good and modest masters (by epieikeia, that is, equitable, modest, benign, upright, clement), but also to froward ones, — that is, fastidious, in Greek skoliois, that is, perverse, oblique, tortuous, harsh, morose, difficult, severe and cruel. Hugo and the Gloss err: "dyscolos", they say, is called rustic, rude, unlearned, so called as it were alien from school and studies. For dyskolos in Greek is said, and signifies morose and difficult, one who creates tedium and disgust for himself and others. Morally, St. Peter teaches here that obedience ought to extend to patience, and to embrace it, just as Christ extended it, being made obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; therefore the perfection of obedience is patience, if namely he patiently and cheerfully endures the harshness, reproofs, scoldings, and even threats and blows of his Superiors. For patience and humility, and humble obedience are two wings by which one flies to heaven, as one of the Saints says. Cassian, Collation XIX, chapter 1, celebrates the obedience and patience of a certain religious, who in the assembly of brothers was publicly struck with a palm by Abbot Paul, and gave no sign of disturbance, much less of murmuring. St. Stephen, says St. Gregory, homily 35 in the Gospel, had grown to such patience that he called him a friend who had caused him some trouble. "He returned thanks for insults, he considered damage done to him as the greatest gain, he esteemed all his adversaries as nothing other than helpers". The same, book I of the Dialogues, II, praises Libertinus, who by his angry Abbot, struck in the face with a stool, bore his face swollen and livid, and said it was his own fault, not the Abbot's cruelty: and thus he brought the Abbot to great gentleness, and "the humility of the disciple became the teacher of the master". Similar was the obedience and patience of St. John of Damascus, who, rejected by his senior for a hymn composed by him, and ordered to clean out sewers and latrines, cheerfully did it. Thus St. Monica, called by a maidservant a wine-bibber, renounced all desire for wine, and "the injury done to the maidservant became the medicine of the mistress", says St. Augustine, book IX of the Confessions, VIII. Catherine of Aragon, wife of Henry VIII king of the English, repudiated by him, bore the repudiation constantly, saying she would prefer the saddest fortune to the most flattering: in her there is not lacking consolation, this robs the fortunate of mind.
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19. This is indeed grace. — As if to say, This is the illustrious effect of divine grace, or this is very pleasing to God. Whence the Syriac translator renders it, "for them indeed there is grace before God". Or thirdly, and more forcefully, as if to say, This is grace, that is, your glory. Whence, explaining further, he adds: "For what is glory". Thus Paul says that his glory is not to evangelize: for to this the necessity of God's precept bound him; but to evangelize without expense, that is, freely: for this was a liberal and illustrious work of supererogation and counsel, not of precept, I Corinthians IX, 16. The sense therefore is, as if to say, This is grace, that is, this is the glory of a Christian, in this consists the excellent virtue and Christian perfection, this is the illustrious office of the disciples of Christ, praise and honor, if they suffer many sorrows for God's sake. If for God's conscience one endures sorrows. — You will ask, what is God's conscience? I answer first, it is conscience according to God, by which one strives and endeavors to please God alone, even with the offense of men, and therefore in order to please God, patiently endures the harsh manners of masters and obeys their hard commands. For he does this in order to satisfy his own conscience and God: for conscience dictates that such are to be obeyed on account of God, who commanded that subjects obey their masters. This conscience is called God's, both because it is most approved and pleasing to God, and because it is undertaken for God, in order to please him. Secondly, Gagneius: "for God's conscience", he says, that is, for God who is conscious of your patience, and of the masters' cruelty and wickedness, and will be judge and avenger of both, so that he may crown your obedience and patience with heavenly rewards, and punish the masters' cruelty with the flames of hell. God's conscience therefore is that which lies open to God alone, "to whom", as Seneca says in epistle VIII, "nothing is closed. For he is present in our minds, and intervenes between our thoughts". God's conscience therefore is innocence before God, as St. Peter explains by the example of Christ, verse 22, which in hard circumstances is a wall of bronze, namely when innocent servants, who have committed no sin, are punished by perverse masters. For the highest consolation and glory is the testimony of a good conscience, says the Apostle, II Corinthians I, 8 and following. Thirdly, "God's conscience" is that which regards the honor and glory of God alone. Fourthly and most perfectly: many servants of old, made Christian, were afflicted by infidel masters with blows, wounds, chains, hunger, and often death and martyrdom, in hatred of Christ and the faith: these truly and fully suffered for God's conscience, that is, for God, and God's faith and worship, which they bore in their conscience. Endures sorrows, — that is, sad things, bitter things: in Greek lypas, that is, troubles, pains, sorrows, griefs; for every trouble and pain produces sorrow. For sorrow is a sickness and contraction of the mind on account of present evil. On the occasion of servants afflicted by hard masters, St. Peter says this, but his discourse is general, and therefore pertains to all who suffer innocently in any way, and he encourages and consoles them to bear it bravely. Suffering unjustly, — because he is innocent, and much more if he suffers for justice.
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20. For what is glory? — Poion kleos, that is, what honor, what praise, what is illustrious, what is great. Tertullian in the Scorpiace, chapter XII: "How great is the glory?" as if to say, It is small, or no glory to endure blows and wounds for crime; but it is great to endure them for innocence and justice. Struck in the face. — This is the proper punishment of servants: for masters inflict blows or slaps on them either in the face or on the back. Whence that one in Terence in the Adelphi: "He broke more than five hundred blows on me, a wretched man". Hence to Martyrs, even noble ones, for example St. Symphorosa, St. Torpes, the courtier of Nero, St. Marcellinus and others, blows were inflicted, both for punishment, and more for insult, so that as it were they were chastised with servile punishment like slaves. But if doing good. — The Greek texts add, kai paschontes, that is, "and suffering", which our Translator rendered by an adverb, but with the same sense, translating, "you suffer patiently, this is grace with God". The Syriac, "then your glory increases before God".
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21. In this therefore you are called. — "In this," to this, that is to say, the calling of Christians is to the cross and patience, according to that in Lamentations III, 12: "He hath set me as a mark to the arrow, he hath sent his arrows into my reins." Where I have shown that any Christian whatsoever is as it were another St. Sebastian, placed namely as a target for archers, at whom all the arrows and darts of their curses and malefactions are aimed and hurled. Because Christ also suffered for us. — This is a reason drawn from the example of Christ, that is to say, Do not marvel, O Christians, that you are called to the cross: for Christ also, your leader and standard-bearer, was called to the same, bore it upon his own shoulders, and was suspended and slain upon it. Act therefore, follow Christ your leader willingly and fearlessly: for through the cross you shall enter with him into glory. You, — O servants. He speaks directly to servants, but through them to all others. He therefore proposes Christ to servants as their leader, because Christ assumed the form of a servant, and as a servant and vile slave was condemned to the gallows. "Look and make according to the pattern which was shewn thee in the mount" of Calvary by Christ, Exodus xxv, 40. Most excellently St. Cyprian, in the tract On the Passion: "Christ, setting aside fear as if using a more powerful authority, amid spittings and blows, and other mockeries, by patience and gentleness disturbs the frenzied minds of persecutors, and in that the malice of the Jews feels him despised amid injuries and reproaches, it is the more exacerbated, and over impiety and malice the sweetness and piety of Christ triumphs." Leaving an example. — For Christ came into the world for three reasons: first, that by his death he might redeem us; second, that by his preaching he might teach us; third, that by his life he might give an example of holy life, nay the most perfect exemplar. This indeed is the duty of a prince and superior, to propose his own life to his subjects as a painted table of virtue, which by imitating they may follow and express. Hence St. Basil, in the Monastic Constitutions, calls Christ our exemplar, type, archetype and pattern: the more we gaze upon which, and express it in life and morals, the more like to Christ, holier, and more pleasing to God do we become. Most excellently St. Augustine, On the Words of the Apostle, sermon 26: "He taught us by the example of his passion, with how much patience we should walk in him, and he strengthened us by the example of his resurrection, what we ought patiently to hope from it." And St. Leo, sermon 2 On the Passion: "Let us embrace the wonderful Sacrament of the saving Pasch, and be renewed according to his image, who was made conformable to our deformity. Let us rise to him, who made the dust of our abjection the body of his glory; and that we may deserve to be partakers of his resurrection, let us in all things be conformed to his humility and patience." That you may follow (Tertullian, Scorpiaci chapter XII, reads "obey") his footsteps — marked with his blood, and therefore easy to find, obvious and certain. Thus St. Stephen followed the footsteps of Christ by suffering and praying for those who stoned him, as St. Augustine says. Let the soft heretics note this, who wish to follow the faith of Christ, not the footsteps of his passion, saying that faith in Christ alone suffices for salvation, for Christ has fully satisfied for us. Let them hear what St. Peter thunders here and from him St. Gregory in I Kings IX, 24: "He remained, because Christ did not fulfill all things for us: by his cross indeed he redeemed all; but it remained, that he who strives to be redeemed and to reign with him should be crucified. This indeed was the remainder which he saw, who said: If we suffer with him, we shall also reign with him," II Timothy II, 12; and: "I fill up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ in my flesh," Colossians I, 24. For although Christ by suffering paid the full price of our redemption, he nevertheless wills that we also suffer, both because God wills us to follow Christ our leader given to us by him; and because it is not fitting that members be delicate under a head crowned with thorns, as St. Jerome says, but rather it is fitting that members be conformed to the head, "that we may be conformed to the image of the Son of God," as Paul says to the Romans VIII, 29.
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22. Who did no sin — because his humanity, hypostatically united to the Word, was so guarded and directed by it that he could not sin. For the custody of it was entrusted to the Word as to his hypostasis. For if this man (namely Christ) had sinned, the Word would have sinned, which was his hypostasis and suppositum. For actions belong to supposita, and proceed originally from supposita. Thus the Theologians and among them Suarez. Wherefore the blasphemy of Calvin is horrible, saying that Christ was truly a sinner and guilty of damnation, that he fled the cup from fear of passion, and despaired on the cross. Far otherwise does Paul call Christ, "A high priest, holy, innocent, separated from sinners," Hebrews vii, 26; and: "Him who knew no sin, he hath made sin for us, that we might be made the justice of God in him," II Corinthians v, 21. Here St. Peter declares what he called, verse 19, to suffer for the sake of conscience, namely to suffer for the sake of innocence, to suffer namely for a cause falsely esteemed and imputed, which is not guilt, but innocence, that is, to suffer innocently. Thus Christ, who did no sin, suffered innocently, because namely he said he was the Son of God, which was not falsehood nor guilt of blasphemy, but confession of truth and innocence. Neither was guile found in his mouth, — even by the Scribes and Pharisees, who endeavored to catch him in his speech, that they might accuse and kill him, Matthew XXII, 13. St. Peter cites Isaiah, chapter LIII, verse 8, which whole chapter is concerning Christ's passion, the lamb's patience, obedience and innocence. "He shall be led as a sheep to the slaughter, and shall be dumb as a lamb before his shearer, and shall not open his mouth."
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23. When He was reviled (called a drunkard; a Samaritan, possessed by a devil, seditious, an enemy of Caesar, a subverter of the nation), He reviled not—ouk anteloidorei, He did not revile in return, as St. Jerome reads it, that is to say, Christ did not return tit for tat, did not repay cursing with cursing, did not curse back at those who cursed Him, but maintained the most profound silence, so that Pilate marveled. This was a sign of a mind not only innocent, but also exalted. Indeed, He commanded His disciples: "Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you. Bless those who curse you, and pray for those who calumniate you." And: "Whosoever shall strike thee on thy right cheek, turn to him also the other," Luke VI, 28. What innocence, patience, charity, and loftiness of mind in Christ! The Greek texts add: "When He was struck, He struck not back; when He was reviled, He reviled not in return; when He suffered, He threatened not." For although He often pronounced woe and eternal malediction upon the Jews and Scribes, and threatened God's judgment both in life and in death, as in Matthew XXIII throughout the whole chapter, yet He did not do this for Himself, nor from impatience or desire for vengeance, but for their sake and from charity, so that by announcing to the wicked the divine wrath and eternal fires, He might turn them away from wickedness and from hell. Hence St. Ambrose fittingly portrays the Christian in this manner in Psalm XXXVII: "Desiring to form the institutions of his life according to His (Christ's) likeness and image, the just man, when accused, is silent; when injured, he forgives; when provoked, he dissembles, and opens not his mouth, so that we may imitate Him who, like a lamb led to the slaughter, opened not His mouth; so that when He could have something to say in return, He prefers to be silent rather than to speak." A notable example of this virtue was recently given by the Most Illustrious Cardinal Bellarmine, who, when a certain rival attacked and refuted him in almost all his opinions, and did so continually, remained silent; when others marveled and asked why he did not defend himself and his teachings and the honor of the Cardinals, he replied: "An ounce of charity and peace is better than a pound of victory." And He delivered Himself to him that judged Him unjustly (to Pilate)—both because, being innocent, He was condemned by him, and Pilate acknowledged this innocence when, washing his hands, he said: "I am innocent of the blood of this just man; you shall see," Matthew XXVII, 24. Whence St. Leo, Sermon 3 On the Passion: "With hands washed and mouth defiled, with those same lips Pilate sent Jesus to the cross, with which he had pronounced Him innocent." And because Christ, even as man, inasmuch as He was hypostatically united to the Word, was not subject to Pilate, nor to any prince or judge, but was Himself the judge and prince of all. The Greek codices read it differently, namely: "And He delivered Himself to him that judged Him justly." Whence the Syriac, "He delivered His judgment to the judge of justice," that is to say, "to God the Word dwelling in Himself," says Oecumenius, or rather to God the Father. First, that is to say, Christ did not avenge His cause and injury, but left their vengeance to God the Father, according to that: "Vengeance is mine; I will repay, saith the Lord," Romans XII, 19. Second, that is to say, Christ commended His persecutors, torturers and executioners to God the Father, praying for them and saying: "Father, forgive them; for they know not what they do," Luke XXIII, 34. Third, and more aptly and genuinely, that is to say, Christ, like a lamb, willingly and liberally delivered Himself to God the Father unto death and the cross, so that He might obey Him, and by obeying, suffering and dying, might make satisfaction for the sins of all men: and thus He gave us an example, so that when we are unjustly afflicted by men, we should not regard their injustice and be angry with them, but receive it from the hand of God justly judging, saying with St. Job: "The Lord gave, and the Lord hath taken away; blessed be the name of the Lord." But our Latin reading is truer and more apt. This is what Christ says, Jeremiah XI, 19: "And I was as a meek lamb that is carried to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised counsels against me, saying: Let us put wood on his bread, and cut him off from the land of the living." And Isaiah L, 6: "I gave my body to the strikers, and my cheeks to them that plucked them." Wherefore, to bear any injuries, calumnies, reproaches, mockeries, contradictions, contempt, troubles, pains, and afflictions, the most efficacious remedy, and "a singular refuge," says St. Bernard, sermon 22 on the Canticles, is the Passion of Christ, if it be attentively pondered and invoked. Thus did St. Elzearius, Count of Ariano. For when asked how he had attained to such great gentleness and patience of soul, he answered: Through meditation on the Passion of Christ. "Whenever I feel some disturbance of soul toward anger or impatience, I think upon the Passion and patience of Christ, nor do I cease from thinking upon and pondering it, until through it all the heat and disturbance of my soul subsides and is calmed." For this reason St. Francis Xavier meditated daily for at least half an hour upon the Passion of Christ. Abbot Stephen in the Spiritual Meadow, LXIV: "I behold day and night nothing else save our Lord Jesus Christ hanging upon the wood." The same did St. Augustine. For thus he says in the Manual, chapter XXII: "Safe and firm rest is for the infirm and sinners in the wounds of the Saviour; dwelling secure there, the bowels are laid open to me through the wounds. Whatever is lacking to me in myself, I take for myself from the bowels of my Lord, because mercies abound there. When some foul thought strikes me, I have recourse to the wounds of Christ. When my flesh presses upon me, I rise again by the remembrance of the wounds of my Lord. When the devil prepares snares for me, I flee to the bowels of the mercy of my Lord. In all adversities I have found no remedy so efficacious as the wounds of Christ; in them I sleep secure, and rest undisturbed: Christ died for us. Nothing so bitter unto death, which is not healed by the death of Christ. All my hope is in the death of my Lord. His death is my merit, my refuge, my salvation, my life and my resurrection."
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24. Who himself bore our sins in his body upon the wood of the cross, like the scapegoat, to which the Hebrews imposed all their sins, Leviticus xvi, 21. The Syriac: "he bore all our sins, and took them away in his body to the cross". Athanasius: "Bearing our sins to the cross together with his body". He alludes to Isaiah liii, 4: "Surely he hath borne our infirmities, and carried our sorrows". Our sins—that is, the punishments due to our sins: this is a metonymy. For guilt is put in place of the punishment due to guilt, just as reward is put for merit. This is what Paul says in Colossians ii, 14: "Blotting out the handwriting of the decree that was against us, nailing it to the cross". "For this handwriting," says Origen, homily 13 on Genesis, "was the bond of our sins. For each of us, in those things in which he has sinned, becomes a debtor, and writes the letters of his sin". Again, St. Peter signifies here that Christ affixed our sins to the cross with himself and crucified them, so that, dead to them, we might live to justice. Whence Clement of Alexandria: "We have a limit (of sin and as it were a boundary of sinning) in the cross of the Lord, to which we are crucified, and by which we are restrained from former sins". And Origen, homily 8 on Joshua: "Visibly indeed the Son of God was crucified in the flesh, but invisibly on that cross the devil with his principalities and powers was affixed to the cross. That cross was the trophy of the devil, on which he was both crucified and triumphed over". For on the cross Christ "despoiling the principalities and powers," as Paul says, Colossians ii, 14, "led them away confidently in open triumph in himself". Hence thirdly, "God hath reigned from the wood," Psalm xcv, 10, according to the Septuagint, as St. Justin cites it Against Trypho. For Christ won for himself victory and the kingdom of the whole world through the cross. "For the government shall be upon his shoulder," Isaiah ix, 6. "For the government of the Lord and his kingdom is the cross," says Theophylactus in Luke chapter xxiii. The cross therefore was the triumphal chariot of Christ: whence St. Augustine, marveling in tractate 117 on John: "A great spectacle, but if impiety beholds it, a great mockery; if piety beholds it, a great mystery. If impiety beholds it, it sees a king bearing for the rod of his kingdom the wood of his own punishment; if piety beholds it, it sees a king bearing the wood, which he was also about to fix on the foreheads of kings". St. Clare, following the example of her master St. Francis, continually beheld with the eyes of her mind Christ crucified, and thus was inflamed to contempt of the world, desire of the cross, poverty, divine love and all perfection. She taught the novices to weep for Christ crucified. She girded a cord of thirteen knots to her flesh in remembrance of the wounds of Christ. It is well known what St. Bonaventure writes concerning the stigmata of St. Francis, impressed upon him by Christ as he meditated on Christ's passion. St. Colette was so frequent and intent in meditation on the passion of Christ that she was rapt out of herself and transformed into God by the most ardent desire and love, especially on Fridays. Similar was Lyduvina, who, dwelling continually in the garden of the passion, drew sighs from her heart, poured forth showers of tears from her eyes, and for thirty-three years afflicted with continuous sicknesses and sharp pains, conformed herself with supreme patience to Christ suffering. The leader and standard-bearer of all these was St. Magdalene, who, alone with Christ suffering, when almost all others had fled in fear, stood constantly among the executioners, the Scribes and Pharisees even unto death, indeed even unto the resurrection. Thus St. Elizabeth, daughter of the King of Hungary, gazing more intently upon the image of Christ crucified, was so moved to compunction that, bursting forth into tears, she said to herself: "Behold my creator and redeemer, with naked body, for my sake suffered an ignominious death on the cross: but I, wretched one, covered with gems, gold, fine linen and purple, lose rather than live a life unworthy of heavenly benefits". of justice let us live. — Wherefore St. Ambrose exclaims: "O divine sacrament of that cross, in which infirmity clings fast, free virtue is, vices are fastened, trophies are raised up!" Whence he concludes: "Therefore do thou also crucify sin, that thou mayest die to sin. For he who dies to sin, lives to God. Let us live to him, who spared not his own Son, that in his body he might crucify our passions. For Christ died for us, that we in his body made alive again might live. Therefore in him there died not our life, but our guilt." And St. Bernard, epistle 105 to Romanus: "The just man dies, but securely: for his death is as much an exit from the present life, so an entrance into a better. A good death, if thou die to sin, that thou mayest live to justice. While thou livest in the flesh, die to the world, that after the death of the flesh thou mayest begin to live to God." By whose bruise — in Greek molopi, that is, a wound, a welt, a stripe — you are healed. — For the body of Christ in his passion was so beaten with scourges and wounds, bruised, torn and livid, that it seemed to be all bruise, nay rather leprosy, as Isaiah says, chapter LIII. Piously St. Ambrose, in the book On the Holy Spirit: "The wound of Christ is our medicine." The same in chapter XXII of Luke: "Thou sufferest therefore, O Lord, not thy wounds, but mine; not thy death, but our infirmity; and we esteemed thee to be in sorrows, when thou didst not suffer for thyself, but for me, and by thy bruise didst heal our wounds." Just as therefore the bird called the icterus heals those with icterus, because it draws the disease into itself, and dies from it. So Christ, drawing into himself the diseases of our soul, was destroyed by them, and we were made alive.
2:25
25. For you were as sheep going astray. — He stirs up the faithful to humility and gratitude, so that they may understand that they were sheep wandering from God in virtue, salvation and heaven, and rushing toward the devil, crimes, damnation and hell, but recalled by Christ the shepherd, brought back, and placed in the right way to salvation. Let them therefore render immense thanks to Christ their shepherd. He alludes to Isaiah LIII, 6: "All we like sheep have gone astray, every one hath turned aside into his own way." And Psalm CXVIII, last verse: "I have gone astray like a sheep that is lost: seek thy servant, O Lord." And to the parable of the shepherd, who, leaving ninety-nine sheep, sought the hundredth that had gone astray, and when found, laid it upon his shoulders and brought it back to the fold, Luke xv, 4. Hence in Rome in the Basilica of the Lateran and in other churches Christ is frequently depicted as a shepherd among sheep, carrying the lost sheep upon his shoulders and bringing it back to the fold. Whence St. Leo, sermon 18 On the Passion, opposing Christ to Adam: "He through the desire of pride made a way to misery, this one through the fortitude of humility prepared a way to glory." Note: Aptly are sinning men compared to sheep going astray: First, because a sheep is a simple and gentle animal: so too is man. Second, sheep are afflicted with as many diseases as men. Third, sheep ruminate and sleep just as men do. Fourth, a sheep is a social animal: so too is man. Fifth, sheep live for a short time: so too men are of brief life. Sixth, to each flock individual leaders are appointed: so each commonwealth, city and assembly of men has its rulers. Seventh, a sheep is a gregarious animal: so too is man. Eighth, a sheep easily deviates and goes astray: so too does man. "The ovine race," says Aristotle, "is senseless, and in its habits, as is commonly said, most foolish." Ninth, a sheep often gives birth to a monster: so too does man. Tenth: a wandering sheep becomes prey to a wolf: thus a sinning man to the devil; dogs keep away the wolf: thus preachers keep away the devil. But you are now converted, — not by yourselves, but by Christ calling and drawing you to himself through his grace, according to that saying in John vi, 44: "No man can come to me, except the Father, who hath sent me, draw him"; and that of Paul: "For it is God who worketh in you, both to will and to accomplish," Philip. II, 13; and that of the Psalmist, Psalm LVIII, 11: "His mercy shall prevent me"; and that: "Convert us, O Lord, to thee, and we shall be converted," Lamentations cap. v, vers. 21; and that of Jeremiah xxxi, 18: "Thou hast chastised me, and I was instructed, as a young bullock unaccustomed to the yoke: convert me, and I shall be converted, for thou art the Lord my God. For after thou didst convert me, I did penance." To the pastor and bishop of your souls, — namely Christ, according to that saying of Christ: "I am the good shepherd," John x, 11; and that of Isaiah xl, 11: "He shall feed his flock like a shepherd: he shall gather together the lambs with his arm, and shall take them up in his bosom, and he himself shall carry them that are with young"; and Ezekiel xxxiv, 23: "I will raise up one shepherd over them, who shall feed them, my servant David: he shall feed them, and he shall be their shepherd." Some understand by "Pastor" a king. For thus by Homer King Agamemnon is called the Shepherd of peoples, and David by Ezekiel is called Shepherd: for what a shepherd is in a flock, that a king ought to be in a people. Christ therefore is a shepherd, that is, a king of souls, because he reigns in them through faith and grace, and rules and directs them to glory and the eternal kingdom, according to that saying in Psalm XXII, 1: "The Lord ruleth me, and I shall want nothing, in a place of pasture there he hath placed me." Thus Christ, in Apocalypse xix, 16, is called "King of kings, and Lord of lords." Hence Christ coming into the world, first called shepherds of sheep to his manger through angels, and the Magi, who were kings, that is, shepherds of peoples, through a star. Hence also in the Echinades islands was heard a voice, when Christ was dying, that great Pan was dead. For Pan was the God of Shepherds. Such was Christ. And the bishop of your souls. — He himself is the bishop also of bodies, inasmuch as the health of bodies is directed to the health of souls. Christ therefore is the bishop, the overseer, the superintendent, ruling, guarding, directing souls as his own sheep unto eternal life. Whence let Bishops learn that their duty is not to be occupied with their own comforts and honors, but to be devoted to the salvation of souls, as St. Bernard teaches, book II to Eugenius, chapter VI: "Is a chair raised up? It is a watchtower: from there you oversee, with the name of Bishop sounding to you, not dominion, but office." Most excellently St. Epiphanius, in heresy 55, shows that Christ is the Shepherd and Bishop. "Who offered himself for the whole world, himself the victim, himself the sacrifice, himself the priest, himself the altar, himself God, himself man, himself king, himself pontiff, himself sheep, himself lamb, all things in all things for us, that life might become ours in all ways, and that he might make the immutable foundation of his priesthood firm for ages." Assuredly he is so much the Shepherd that he feeds us his own sheep with his own flesh, and gives us drink with his own blood in the Eucharist. Wherefore deservedly St. Eucherius: "It is most foolish, when God has done so much for us, that we ourselves have done nothing for ourselves." To him therefore as to the Shepherd of our souls, most loving, most vigilant, most powerful, let us sing continually with St. Thomas and the whole Church on the feast of the Body of Christ: "Good Shepherd, true bread, Jesus, have mercy on us: Feed us, guard us, Make us see good things in the land of the living. You who know and can do all things, who feed us here mortals, make us your table companions there, coheirs and companions of the holy citizens." Good Jesus, my one soul, as your little sheep, I commit to you with all my heart: it is yours, because it was bought with your blood: rule and guard it: direct it by right paths, which have no stumbling-block of sin, to the harbor of eternal salvation. I say with St. Gregory of Nazianzus, poem 9: "To you alone am I alone left, Christ. In you all my strength is placed; in you all my confidence of salvation." Let Bishops and Pastors therefore continually look upon Christ as the chief Shepherd, and in him and from him let them know how much care for souls they ought to have, that they may be assimilated to Christ: for they have taken upon themselves his burden and office, as his vicars. Thus did St. Gregory Thaumaturgus, Bishop of Neocaesarea, care for his own, who converted almost all his fellow citizens from infidelity to the faith of Christ. Whence when dying, he asked how many infidels remained in the city, and was answered that only seventeen remained, giving thanks to God: "There were so many faithful when I took up the episcopate." Similar and of the same name with him was St. Gregory the Great, pontiff, in whom how great was the zeal for souls is evident from so many and so constant letters, homilies, cares and deeds of his. Whence he himself, book II, epistle 25 to John, Bishop of Squillacium: "We admonish your brotherhood, that you watch diligently over the souls committed to you, and attend more to the gains of souls than to the comforts of present life."
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
2:1
1. Deponentes igitur omnem mali^ tiam et omnem dolumy et simulationes, et invidiaSj et omnes detractiones. Deponentes, in Graeco est aoristus: aTco- Ol/xsyot. Sto Tertas: Deposita igitur omni malitia et omni dolo etc, quomodo legit Augustinus hon). 20. inter 50. Postquam interposuit Apostolus mentionem regenerationis, qua renati erant Deo, et per hoc fratres effecti inter se, subinfert hanc brevem admonitionem ad ea vitia fugienda, quae fraternae dilectiQjii-'-TJTJ^ntranaiittnw Enumerat autem quinque. Malitiam, Graece: xaxtav, cum quia data opera nocet alteri; tametsi quidam faciunt genus sequentium vitiorum, quod non probo. Nam Paulus Rom. 1. xaxiav medio vitiorum inseruit. Quatuor reliqua per se nota sunt. Tantum adverte, simulationes, quae sunt mendacia quaedam in facto, potissimum hic intelligi, cum quis amorem aut benevolentiam vultu praefert, quam non habet in animo. Deponere pro derelinquere, phrasis Apostolica est, ubi de vitiis agitur. Ita Paulus praecipit deponere veterem homi- ^/ srr. N'iCr;ALL'S ^ -^ ^ V CO_L£GE / 4? nem, mendaciumj iram, indignationem etc.; denique omne pondus et circumstans nos peccatum, Eph. 4., Col. 3., Hebr. 12. Quod addit: omnem, eignificat, omnino atque perfecte his vitiis renuntiandum esse. Et quibus hoc non addit, ex proximo relinquit intelligendum.
2:2
2. Sicut modo geniti infantes, rationabile sine dolo lac concupiscite. Vitiose in multis codicibus legebatur: rationabiles. Nam Graece est: t6 Xoytxov, id est rationabile, seu potius rationale. Sic et Latini legunt, Augustinus loco citato, Hieronymus in cap. 55. et 60. Jesaiae, Beda, Carthusianus in commentariis, et alii. Favet et Syra versio. Sine dolo, Graece: aSoXov, id est expers doli. Augustinus legit: innocens. Itaque patet, referendum esse ad lac, non ad suppositum verbi: concupiscite. Sunt enim ambo lactis epitheta: Xoytxovet aSoXov, Perstat autem Apostolus in allegoria novae nativitatis, coepta cap. superiori. Renati estis, inquit, ex semine verbi Dei; igitur omni vitiorum vetustate deposita, velut infantes nuper nati, lac rationale et sincerum appetite. Comparatio ab infantibus sumpta referri potest ad praecedentia et ad sequentia. Nam et alieni sunt infantes a vitiis, quae hic nominantur, id est, a malitia, dolo, simulatione etc, et lactis appetentes sunt. Unde Beda refert ad utrumque; tametsi probabilius existimem, ad sequentia referri. Nam infantes, etsi careant illis vitiis, non tamen ea deponunt. Lactis nomine doctrinam indicat Evangelicam, id est, fidei morumque praecepta. Considerat autem in hac metaphora lactis candorem et puritatem, quia vocat ado- Xov. Talis vero est Evangelica doctrina, pura, sincera, immaculata. Considerat etiam vim nutriendi, quoniam addit: ut in eo crescatis. Quod autem lac infantibus aptum sit, non viris, hic non attendit. Unde non pugnat, quod Pauhis lactis alimentum attribuit carnalibus et imperfectis, ut 1 Cor. 3.: Tamquam parvulis in Christo lac vobis potum dedi, non escam; nondum enim poteratis; et Hebr. 5.: Facti estis, quibus lacte opus sit, non solido cibo etc. Petrus autem ad lac appetenduro hortatur fideles in genere, tam perfectos, quam imperfectos. Non, inquam, pugnat, quia Petrus non opponit lac cibo perfectorum, sed vetustati vitae. Lac quippe eorum est, qui sunt novi homines. Quamquam alioqui, quamdiu hic vivimus, omnes parvuli sumus, comparatione virilis ac perfectae aetatis, quam assequemur in futuro saeculo; quemadmodum Paulus docet illis verbis 1 Cor. 13.: Cum essem parvulus, loquebar ut parvulus etc. Sunt, qui nomine lactis significatum velint omne genus Christianarum virtutum, quod eodem recidit. Sed cur vocat rationale? Quidam ab usu rationis hoc epithetum deducunt; ac si dicat Apostolus: Non exhortor ad infantiam rationis expertom, sed ita lac dolo vacuum jubeo vos appetere, ut tamen intelligentia conditum sit, secundum illud Pauli 1 Cor. 14.: Nolite pueri effici sensibus, sed malitia parvuli estote. Quod et Christus admonet, dicens: Estote prudentes sicut serpentes, ei simpUces sicut columbae, Matth 10. Alii pleriquo, meo judicio rectius, censent, Apostolum addendo: rationale, significare, se metaphorice loqui, videlicet de lacle non corporis, sed animi. Quod et Erasmus paraphrastice in sua versione putavit exprimendum. Unde et SyruB interpres reddidit: spirituale. Confirmat hunc sensum locus similis Rom. 12.: Bationabile obsequium vestrum. Vocat enim ibi Paulus oblationem corporum nostrorum, qua Deo offeruntur a nobis ad sanctimoniam, obsequium seu cultum rationalem, id est spiritualem, ad discrimen hostiarum corporalium, quemadmodum et hic paulo post legimus domum spiritualem et spirituales hostias. Ita nunc B. Petrus ad concupiscendum lac rationale, id est mysticum ac spirituale, fideles hortatur.
Ut in eo crescatis in salutem. Graeca pleraque non addunt: in salutem, legitur tamon in Syriaco et nonnullis Graeci?) nec non apud Augustinum et Bedam. Ut autem non fuerit additum ab Apostolo, recte tamen intelligi potest: in salutem, in virum perfectum, vel aliquid tale. Nam motus incrementi tendit ad quantitatem perfectam. Itaque sensus est: Lac Evangelicae doctrinae, quam semel accepistis, quotidie adhuc more infantium appetite et sugite; ut per illud adolescatis, id est, magis ac magis in vita hac nova, ad quam estis renati, proficiatis, donec virile robur, id est, perfectam aseequamini salutem.
2:3
3. Si tamen gustastis, quoniam dul^ cis est Dominus. Particula tamen in Graeco et Syriaco non habetur, nec in omnibus est Latinis. Augustinus quoque non addit; tametsi, quod Graece est: srTisp eys^oaods, si quidtm gustastiSj etiam verti potuit: si tamen gustastis, nisi erusp hoc loco non tam esset dubitantis, quam supponentis, quod verum ■ est; uti patebit ex sensu. Caeterum mendose quidam codices legunt: gustatis, praesenti tempore. Est autem manifesta, allusio ad versum Psalm. 33.: Gustate et videte, quoniam suavis est Dominus, Graece tam in Psalmo, quam hoc loco, legitur: ov. xpi^JOTOC 6 xupioc, quia benignus Dominus. At Hebraice est: tob, bonus. Ergo dulcedinem intelligi oportet bonitatem ac benignitatem Dei erga homines, quae, dum ab illis agnoscitur atque gustatur, dulcedo vocatur. Jam hoc quoque ad metaphoram lactis et infantium pertinet. Nam infantes, dulcedine lactis gustata, rursus ipsum gustare cupiunt. Est igitur exhortationis confirmatio a dulcedine prius percepta; quasi dicat: Jam ante percepistis gustu palati spiritualis (tunc scilicet, quando fide suscepistis Evaogelium, tamquam salutis vestrae nuntium laetissimum et omni acceptione dignum), quam bonus et suavis est Dominus; igitur hujus tam salutaris doctrinae succum amplius adhuc appetite, quo magis eo delectati plenius assequaxnini perfectionem in Christo. Qui sensus etsi bonus ac verus sit, attamen haud est improbabile, sub istorum verborum velamine mysterium latere, quod Petrus aperte eloqui nohierit; participationem dico sacrae Eucharistiae, qua dulcedo bonitatis et gratiae Dei in suo fonte gustatur. Etenim primis Ecclesiae temporibus solet neophytis statim a baptismo dari sacra Eucharistia. Sed et inter ipsas baptismi caeremonias lac et mcl gustandum praebebatur; ut verisimile sit, Apostolum Petrum ad ea mysteria respexisse hoc loco, quemadmodum et Paulum Hebr. 6. illis verbis: Gustaverunt etiam donum coeleste. Unde et Ecclesia locum hunc recitat in oflficio divino illius Dominicae, qua neophytorum habitus olim commutari solet, quando et illud ex neophytorum persona canitur, haud dubie, quin de Eucharistiae Sacramento: Cujus corpus sanctissimum, in ara crucis torridum, cruore ejus roseo gustando vivimus Deo. Denique constat, Dominum hic intelligi Christum. Nam sequitur:
2:4
4. Ad quem accedentes, lapidem vivum. Exhortationem superiorem confirmat ab excellenti dignitate Christianorum, quam verbis magnificis, et, ut ita dixerim, heroicis depraedicat, immorans haic argumento usque ad illum locum: Carissimiy obsecro vos etc. Accedentes, id est dum acceditis. Acceditur autem ad Christum etiam ab iis, qui jam in Christo renati sunt, dum quotidianis virtutum profectibus magis magisque se ei conjungunt. Christum vocat lapidem vivum, lapidem propter firmitatem, metaphora sumpta a lapide, praesertim angulari, qui firmitatem praestat aedificio; cujus adinstai Christus suam Ecclesiam sustinet ac firmat. Acceptum nomen a Prophetis, quorum verba refert, paucis interpositis. Vivum seu viventem, ut tropus agnoscatur, quomodo supra dixit: lac rationabile, quia non solum ipse in se vitam habet, sed etiam omnes sibi adhaerentes vivificat. Ah hominibus quidem reprobatum. Judaei significantur, qui tradiderunt eum gentibus ad illudendum et flagellandum et crucifigendum, Matth. 20. Respicit Apostolus ad locum Psalmi, ex quo paulo post plura.
A Deo autem electum et honorificatum. Graece: Apud Deum autem electum, pretiosum sive honorobilem, quod idem interpres paulo post vertit: pretio- 8um. Sunt enim nomina, non participia: IxXsxTOVj svTi|yiov. Quae eadem scripta sunt a LXX. Jes. 28. verbis hic infra repetendis. Consonat his etiam Syriaca versio. Est autem allusio ad lapides praestantes, qui apud homines sunt in pretio. Nam quod praestans est, electum vocatur more Scripturae. Sensus igitur est, hunc lapidem, etsi reprobatum ab hominibus, tamquam vilem et rejectaneum, tamen apud Deum atque in oculis Dei valde pretiosum atque honorabilem esse, ut quem testatus sit Deus suum esse Filium, regemque constituerit super omnem creaturam, et in coelis ad dexteram suam coUocarit, nomenque ei dederit, quod est super omne nomen.
2:5
5. Et ipsi tamquam lapides vivi superaedificamini. Metaphoram de lapide Christo etiam ad fideles accommodat, ostendens, quemadmodum et ipsi sint lapides vivi, Christo lapidi coagmentandi. Superaedificamini, Graece: oixo5o- |AsTo^£, aedificamini. Ubi tam Graecum, quam Latinum ambigui modi est, indicantis scilicet aut imperantis; quomodo Joan. 5.: epsuvaTS^ scrutamini Scripturas; Erasmus et Hentenius imperativum elegerunt, vertentes: aedificamini. Qui modus etiam Syro paraphrastae placuit. Alii vero, ut Beda, Cajetanus, Hesselius, enuntiative dictum accipiunt, idque rectius. Nam (ut dixi) versatur hoc loco B. Petrus in declaranda et commendanda dignitate Christianorum, quam a Christo auctore participant. Etenim, quod dicit, tale est: Merito vos exhortatus sum ad incrementa capienda in vita spirituali, dicens: Ut in eo crescatis etc, quia, dum ad Christum profectibus quotidianis acceditis, qui est lapis vivus, ab hominibus quidem reprobatus, apud Deum vero in pretio et honore habitus, ipsi quoque, tamquam vivi lapides, aedificamini, supple, super eo, videlicet lapide fundamentali, qui sustinet totam spiritualis aedificii molem. Igitur lapides vocat, quia aedificatio firma et solida fit ex lapidibus; viventes autem ad significationem metaphorae, simul ut insinuet, eos non ita collocari in aedificio, quomodo lapides insensibiles, qui se ipsos movere non possunt; sed ut, vitam in se habentes, ipsi sese bonis actionibus et studiis, adjuvante Deo, promoveant, ut aedificio perfectius inhaereant. Quod et significatum est verbo: accedentes. Nam lapides materiales non accedunt, sed alienis tantum manibus portantur. Verisimile esl autem, B. Petrum hic respicere ad locum Jes. 54., ubi praedicitur ac describitur Ecclesia * ex lapidibus pretiosis construenda.
Domus spiritualis. Variant exemplaria jam olim, Beda teste, qui legit pluraliter et accusandi casu: domos spirituales. Annotat autem, quosdam codices habere in singulari: superaedificamini domus spiritualis; alios autem: sursum aedificamini in domum spirituaUm. Sed haec explicatio est verae lectionis: domus spiritualis, ut nos legimus ex castigatione Romana, sufiragantibus Graecis, nec non Latinis, tam manuscriptis, quam impressis melioribus. Ad quem modum et Augustinus legit Epist. 57. ad Dard. Nec vero convenit plurale: domos (aut, ut in quibusdnm est, domus) spirituales, etiamsi in praepositio addatur aut intelligatur. Non enim singuli lapides aedificantur in singulas domos, sed multi in unam. Et sensus est, fideles ita aedificari, id est, componi instar lapidum, super Christo, tamquam lapide fundamontali, ut constituant unam domum spiritualem, quae est Ecclesia. Vocatur autem Ecclesia domus spiritualiSf non quod sit occulta et invisibilis, qui est haereticus commentarius, pugnans cum manifestissimis Scripturis; sed tum ad difi^erentiam domus materialis, quae cx materia corporali constat; tum vero propter signiticationera mysterii. Nam spirituale, Graece 7iveu|iaTCx6v, vocabulum est scholae Christianae, quo significatur quid allegoricum, id est, allegorice sive mystice significans aut significatum; significans, ut 1 Cor. 10., ubi manna et aqua de petra fluens, et ipsa petra vocantur spiritualia; significatum, ut Apoc. 11., ubi civitas magna, Christi et martyrum ejus interfectrix, vocatur spiritualiter Sodoma et Aegyptus. Sic Ecclesia domus spiritualis, id est mystica dicitur, quia per domum materialem et proprie dictam, ut per tabernaculum Mosi et templum Salomonis, praefigurata.
Sacerdotium sanctum. Aedificantur fideles non solum ut domus spiritualis, sed etiam (quae magna dignitas eorum sacerdotii, velut* collectivo, significari videtur coetus, collegium et chorus sacerdotum, ita ut singuli sint sacerdotes. Verum sicut illa domus figurate, non proprie intelligitur, quod significabatur epitheto spiritualis: ita et hoc sacerdotium non proprie dictum, sed metaphoricum est; quod insinuatur epitheto: sanctum. Nam qui proprie sacerdotes dicuntur, videlicet ad externa sacrificia offerenda deputati, non omnes sunt sancti, id est, interna animorum sanctimonia et puritate praediti, etiam dum suo funguntur sacerdotio, ut Ophni et Phinees, 1 Reg. 2., et alii multi in veteri lege. Qui vero ad hoc, de quo Petrus loquitur, sacerdotium pertinent, nisi sancti sint, hostias suo sacerdotio proprias offerre non possunt. Ex quo patet, eos vehementer falli, qui hac Petri sententia et similibus nitentes, simpliciter aflSrraant, omnes Christianos esse sacerdotes; dum non distinguunt inter id, quod proprie dicitur, et id, quod figurate. Nam ut sacrificium specialiter et proprie vocatur, quod extemo ritu cum aliqua sui immutatione Deo offertur, ut supremo Domino; generaliter autem et improprie omne id, quod agitur, ut sancta societate Deo inhaereatur; quomodo describitur ab Augustino lib. 10. de civitat. Dei, cap. 6.: ita pecuHariter et proprie sacerdotes dicuntur, quorum officium est, sacrificia prioris generis offerre; cujusmodi quidem in Ecclesia nuUum est praeter incruentum sacrificium corporis et sanguinis Domini; impropvie vero ac generali ratione, qui posterioris generis offerunt Deo sacrificia, id est, quicumque pia et sancta opera, sive religionis, sive misericordiae, seu cujuscumque virtuti.s, exercent. Sicut autem utrumque sacrificium suo modo verum dicitur; externum quidem verum proprietate sermonis, quomodo dicitur vera vitis, quae fert uvas; intemum autem verum, quia per se Deo placitum, quomodo Christus dixit: Ego sum, vitis vera, Joan. 15.: sic etiam de sacerdotio et sacerdotibus dlstingucndum. Porro de sacerdotio improprie ac generaliter accepto B. Petrum loqui, manifeste declarant ejus verba subjuncta:
Offerre spirituales hostias. Id est, ad offerendum hostias sive sacrificia spiritualia. Exponit sacerdotium spirituale per actum proprium, qui est, offerre spirituales hostias, id est opera virtutum; quae quidem omnia, quatenus ad Dei referuntur honorem, ut auctoris ac Domini univer&alis, hostiae dicuntur; spirituales autem ad differentiam carnalium hostiarum, quae in veteri lege offerebantur, et per quas mystice fuerunt significatae; vel generatim ad discrimen cultus externi, qui ad interiorem cultum in animo consi3tentem referri debet. Subest igitur in hac parte exhortatio tacita ad opera bona, tamquam ad spirituales hostias, ad quas Deo offerendas consecrati sint sacerdotes in baptismo.
Acceptabiles Deo per Jesum Christum. Hanc partem: per Jesum Christum, Ven. Beda refert ad cuncta praemissa, quia per Christi gratiam et superaedificamur in domum spiritualem, et sacerdotio sancto participamus, et hostias Deo acceptabiles offerimus. Alii referunt ad solam partem proximum: acceptabiles Deo; nam spirituales hostiae, quamvis per se gratae sint et placitae Deo, quatenus sunt opera pietatis, tamen sicut haberi non possunt, nisi per Jesum Christum, ita nec acceptantur a Deo ad salutem et gloriam nostram, nisi per eundem Jesum Christam. Haec constructio satis est accommodata textui. Veruntamen alii referre malunt ad verbum offerre. Nam per Christum ofiPerimus spirituales hostias, in quantum ille, tamquam mediator et sacerdos noster, eas velut a nobis susceptas offert Deo Patri, suaque intercessione commendat. Huic constructioni favent aliae Scripturae. Nam Heb. 13. de Christo sic dicitur: Per ipsum ergo offeramm hostiam laudis semper Deo; et Apoc. 8.: Data sunt illi (angelo) incensa multa, ut daret orationibus sanctorum omnium super altare aureum. Per quem angelum Christus significatur. Quamquam hujus constructionis census paene idem est cum sensu secundae. Offert enim Christus orationes nostras ac caetera bona opera Deo Patri, quia per suum meritum grata ei facit et accepta.
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6. Propter quod continet Scriptura. Graece: Ideo et continet in Scriptura. Quod quia obscurum est, varie exponitur. Erasmus in annotat. duas refert conjecturas verius, quam expositiones. Primo verbum continet ad Christum lapidem refert, hoc modo: Lapis ille, de quo locutus sura, continet in Scriptura, id est Scripturae testimonio describitur continens et connectens in se duos populos, tamquam duos parietes, dum vocatur lapis angularis. Quia vero Graecum verbum Tiepisxstv interdum excellere significat, hinc alteram addit de eodem lapide Christo expositionem hujusmodi: Excellit in Scriptura j id est excellens declaratur hic lapis subjuncto Scripturae testimonio. Porro apud R. Stephanum annotatur unus codex Graecus, in quo scriptum sit: usptsxst yi TP°'-9'^^ continet Scriptura, quemadmodam habet nostra versio. Sed vereor, ne locus studio sit efformatus, ut in aliis quibusdam factum, ad versionem Latinam. Mihi rem attigisse videtur Joan. Hasselanus, qui submonet, iiEpiej^etv hic accipi posse, ut sit verbum scholasticum, a quo deducitur izepioxy}, id est eumma, 611 II. Eslii Comm. Todi. III. argumentum, item comprehensio paucorum verborum aut versuum ex aliquo libro, quam Ecclesiastici scriptores Latini capitulum vocare solent. Exemplum est Act. 8., ubi nos habemus: Locus Scripturae, quam legebat eunuchus, erat hic: Tamquam ovis ad occisionem ductus est etc, ubi locus, Graece usptox'^, id est capitulum. Cui significationi congruenter etiam ipsum verbum hic positum exponere licebit ad hunc modum: Qua de re locus seu capitulum exstat in Scriptura, videlicet accepto verbo Ttsptsx^iv neutraliter (nam et hoc suggerit Erasmus), ac si dixisset B. Petrus: ContinC' tur seu habetur in Scriptura. Quod et velle videtur Syriaca versio: Dicitur enim in Scriptura. Nam quia dixerat Petrus Christum lapidem vivum, a Deo electum et honorificatum, ad id probandum adducit ex Scriptura prophetica testimonium:
Ecce, pono in Sion lapidem summum angularem, electum, pretiosum. Sum^ mum angularem, Graece composito nomine axpoyojvtalov, quasi dicas: summ^ angularem. Erasmus periphrasi reddit: in summo ponendum angulo. Ita Graecis vocatur lapis, qui in extremo angulo fandamenti duos parietes ex diverso venientes conjungit et continet. Citat autem Apostolus Prophetae testiraoniura, nec verbis omnino iisdem, nec eodem ordine servato, prout ieguntur vel in Hebraeo, vel apud LXX. Nam Hebraea sic habent, Hieronymo interprete: Ecce, ego mittam in fundamentis Sion lapidem, lapidem probatum, angularem, pretiosum. LXX. vero sic: Ecce, ego immilto in fundamenta Sion lapidem pretiosum (Graece noXuzeXy]), electum, summ-angularem, pretiosum sive honorabilem, Graece £VIt|Jiov. De sententia tamen Prophetao nihil mutatum est. Ea vero est hujusmodi: Ecce ego, dicit Dominus Deus ad populum Israel, faciam in vobis rem novam ac longe praeter merita vestra; nam in Sion, hoc est, in Ecclesia, quae ortum habebit in monte Sion in Jerusalem, ponam loco fundamenti Christum Salvatorem ut lapidem angularem, electum, pretiosum. Lapis vocatur Christus ob firmitatem, ut supra dictum est. ^-^Angularis autem sive summ-angularis cur vocetur, sciendum, Hebraea phrasi principes ac primores in populis vocari angulos populorum, quasi fundamenta eorum et sustentacula praecipua, ot Jud. 20., 1 Reg. 14., Jes. 19. et Sophon. 1. et 3. Christus igitur dicitur angularis Ecclesiae lapis, id est primarium ac principale ejus fundamentum, quia princeps et caput ejufl est, spiritus sui gubernatione eam firmans, fulciens atque sustentans. Deinde etiam ob hoc lapis summangularis, quia, sicut lapis angolaris in aedificio duos inter se parietes connectit, ita duos populos, Judaicum et gentilem, ipse in se conjungit. Quam rationem sine dubio spectavit Paulus Eph. 2. illis verbis: Ipso summo angulari lapide Jesu Christo, in quo omnis aedificatio constructa, crescit in templum sanctum in Domino; in quo et vos aedificaynini etc. Nam et prius dixerat: Ipse enim est pax nostra, qui fecit utraque unum etc. Verisimile est autem, et B. Petrum huc spectasse, utpote scribentem Judaeis per gentium provincias dispersis et gentibus in Christo per fidem adunatis. Electus autem hic lapis est, sive ut in Hebraeo, probatus, scilicet prae omnibus aliis, quia non est in alio aliquo salus; nec enim aliud nomen est sub coelo datum hominibus, in quo oporteat nos salvos fierij Act. 4. Ideoque et pretiosus ac summo honore dignus, adeo ut in nomine ejus omne genu flectatur coele&tium, terrestrium et infernorum, Phil. 1.
Et qui crediderit in eum, non confundetur. Graece: Et qui credit in eo, nequaquam pudefiet. Verba posuit prorsus, ut sunt apud LXX., nisi quod horum quidam codices omittunt iilod: iv auTW^ in eu. Hebraea vero sic habent: Qui credit, non festinabit; quomodo reliqui etiam Graeci interpretes ex Hebraeo transtulerunt. Sensus tamen utriusque lectionis eodem redit, estque hujusmodi: Qui crediderit, quae dico de lapido in fundamentis Sion mittendo, et salute eum speranda, ne festinet ad rem pr< missam, impatiens morae, quasi statii ea debeat exhiberi; neque si differatui!^ spem abjiciat, sed patienter exspectet Non enim pudefiet, non frustrabitur exi spectata salute. Nam certissime ea vei tum est tempore definito a Deo; quam certissime consequetur, qui credit, sici oportet, id est fide sperante, diligente perseverante. CitathancScripturam etiami Paulus Rom. 9. et 10. Vide, quae illic annotata.
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7. Vobis igitur honor credentibus. Erasmus vertit. Vobis igitur pretiosus est, qui creditis, ut subaudiatur: lapis, de quo in praecedentibus. Vult enim, hunc esse sensum: Vobis est pretiosus, qui in illum credidistis; Judaeis, et non credentibus vilis est. Verum si id voluisset Petrus, non mutasset evTt|iov in Ti|i7jv; sed prius vocabulum, etiam huic loco aptum, retinuisset. Nam ti/jltj non significat pretiosum, sed honorem aut pretium. Rectius proinde Hentenius: Vobis igitur, qui creditis, honor est. Beda deducit hanc illationem ex eo, quod proxime praecessit: Ille nimirum honor, inquit, ut non confundamini ab eo in adventu ejus. Sed sicut ipse ait: Si quis mihi ministraverit, honorificabit eum Pater meus. Potest nihilominus deduci per allusionem ex vocabulo £Vti|jiov, quod ex honore compositum est; ut haec sit illatio: Dixi, lapidem illum esse evTtfjiov, id est pretiosum, honorabilem; atqui vos tamquam lapides vivi super eo aedificamini, illique coadunamini per fidem, in domum spiritualem; igitur et vobis credentibus honor, scilicet in judicio Dei. De quo honore etiam Paulus Rom. 2.; Gloria et honor et pax omni operanti bonum. JSon credentibus autem lapis, quem^ reprobaverunt aedificantes. Non credentibus, Graece uno verbo: aTCStOouat, id est 7iolentibus credere, persuaderi, fidem repellentibus. Significatur enim in^ fidelitas positiva, quam vocant. Ilhid porro: Lapis, quem reprobaverunt aectiflcdrites, sumptum est ex Psalmo 177., cum 60, quod sequitur:
Hic factus est in caput anguli. Hebraea phrasis pro eo, quod diceretur: factus est caput anguli, id est lapis angulkris, quem superius ex Jesaia' Graece vocavit: axpoywviaTov.
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8. Et lapis offensionis, et petra scandali. Hoc assumit ex Jesaiae cap. 8., quod et Paulus citat Rom. 9. Vide nostrum ejus loci commentarium. Jam vero, ut totus hic locus intelligatur, primum exponendus est versus Psalmi; deinde verba Apostoli ordinanda, et sensus reddendus. Quod ad Psalmi locum attinet, sumpta metaphora est ab aedificantibus, id est architectis, qui aedificio exstruendo lapides aptos quaerunt, et quos ineptos arbitrantur, rejiciunt; quibus forte contigit, ut lapis rejectus postea aptus inveniretur, qui collocaretur in angulo fundamenti. Igitur lapis aedificantibus rejectus et denique factus anguli caput, Christus est, quem aedificantes sive architecti, id est pontifices et magistratus populi Judaici, quorum erat, docere et gubernare populum, reprobaverunt, dicentes: Quoniam inutilis est nobis, Sap. 2., et adeo reprobaverunt, ut non solum regem eum habere nollent: Nolumus, hunc regnare super nos, Luc. 19., et adPilatum: Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem, Joan. 19., verum etiam crucifigendum procurarent. Idem tamen ille, repentina facta conversione, non modo receptus est in partem aedificii spiritualis, quod est Ecclesia, sed mirabili Dei consilio et dispositione (nam ut in Psalmo sequitur: A Domino factum est istud, et est mirabile in oculis nostris) etiam factus est lapis angularis, id est totius Ecclesiae fundamentum longe primarium, duos illius parietes, Judaicum scilicet populum et gentilem, in se ipso firmissima junctura connectens. Et quia lapis angularis, ideo rex populi; siquidem per angulos significantur principes, ut supra dictum est. Hinc ipse loquitur Psalm. 2.: Ego autem constitutus sum rex ah eo super Sion montem sanctum ejus. Sensum hunc versus Davidici Chri^ stus ipse nobis insinuat Matth. 21., declarat autem Petrus Actorum 4. et ho(s loco, et Pauhis Ephes. 2. Nunc de ordinando contextu videamus, Quidam, ut eum illustrent, illa verba: Hic factus est in caput anguli, claudunt parenthesi, ac separatim exponunt. Nam absurdum eis videtur, Christum non credentibus dici factum iu caput anguli. Itaque sensum hunc periodi faciunt: Non credentibus Christus factus est lapis eth aediticantibus reprobatus (scilicet idem ille, qui postea factas est caput anguli, id est fundamentum et princeps Ecclesiae), factus etiam iisdem lapis ofPensio^ nis et petra scandali. Haec constructio probari posset, nisi obstaret, quod in Graeco non legitur: lapis, sed: lapidem, ki^^ov, accusativo casu; quemadmodum et in Psalmo, nec non Matth. 21., Marc. 12. et Luc. 20. Qui casus aptari non potest parti praecedenti, si, quod sequitur, parenthesi claudas. Notatur quidem apud Robertum Stephanum unus codex, in quo legatur Xi^OQ, nominandi casu; sed fidem apud doctos non meretur. Igitur recta constructione servata, sensus hic reddi potest: Incredulis autem lapis ille, quem reprobaverunt aedificantes, id est, quem rejecerunt Judaeorum principes, factus est in caput anguli, hoc est, eis, quantumvis invitis et renitentibus, datus est Judex et Rex, qui rebelles duro ac justo imperio coerceat atque puniat. Jerem. 31.: Dominatus sum eorum, et Ezech. 20.: In furore effuso regnabo super eos. Promotus est in caput aedificii et regem populi, atque in eo gradu collocatus a Patre, nunc regnat, donec eos ipsos inimicos suos, qui nolebant, ipsum regnare, ponat aliquando scabellum pedum suorum. Quibus interim iisdem lapis est off^ensionis, quod in Hebraeo est: percussionis: et petra scandali, id est lapis in quem ipsi graviter impingant, ab eodem colHdendi et conterendi, sicut dicitur Matth. 21. Hoc autem proprie ad Judaeos pertinet, quibus Christus crucifixus scandalum factus 33 -^ est, 1 Cor. 1. Nam gentibus incredulis stultitia potius fuit Christus, quam scandalum; ut ibidem dicitur. Unde ex hoc etiam loco sumitur argumentum, hanc Epistolam ad Judaeos scriptam esse. Laudat enim Apostolus Judaeos fideles ex comparatione Judaeorum, qui credere noluerunt. De quibus adhuc sequitur:
His, qui offendunt verbo, nec credunt. NeccreduntfGrfiece: (iTisiOouvTSC. Idem vocabulum, quod supra, id est, non credentes, non acquiesceutes persuaderi, et credere nolentes. Sensus est: His, qui impingunt in verbum Evangelii sibi annuntiati, nolentes illud recipere, sed eo offensi, contradicentes et blasphemantes; ut de iis dicitur Act. 13.; iis, inquam, Christus (qui est verbum Dei increatum) factus est lapis offensionis et petra scandali. Offendentes enim et impingentes in verbum Evangelii, impegerunt in Christum, quem Evangelium annuntiat. Aut certe ideo impegerunt in verbum evangelicum, quia impegerunt in Chri- Stum crucifixum.
In quo et positi sunt. In quOj Graece: siQ 0, in quod j vel ad quod. Ven. Beda legit: i?i quod, licet etiam alterius lectionis meminerit, et utramque exponat. Sed et MSS. quaedam probatissima, nec non veteres concordantiae, quartum ca- 8um exhibent. Porro de sensu variant interpretes. Multi jungunt cum complexo verbi praecedentis et casus, qui in eo subauditur, et hunc sensum reddunt: Nec credunt verbo Evangelii, ad quod audiendum et fide suscipiendum positi erant, id est ordinati per legem et Prophetas, Chri- Btum praenuntiantes et })romittente8. Unde Paulus ad eos ait: Vobis oportebat primum loqui verbum Dei, Act. 13. Sed sciendum, in Graeco genus non respondere. Nam aoyoc: masculinum est, relativum o neutrum, quod proinde tov "kQ^^j^ referre non potest. Qua ratione etiam illa cujusdam improbatur expositio, qui relativum ad lapidem refert. Nam et lapis in Graeco masculinum est, Xi^OQ. Igitur alii relativum indeterminate sumunt: ad quod, id est ad quam rem; ut possit ad diversa referri. Beda refert ad credendum, In hoc, inquit, positi, id est per naturam facti sunt homines, ut credant Deo et ejus voluntati obtemperent. Sed hic sensus nimium generalis est; loquitar enim Apostolus specialiter de Judaeis. Alii proinde sic exponunt: Ad quod, id est ut crederent evangelico sermoni, praeparati erant et instructi per legem Mosaicam, quae Christum multipliciter praenuntiarat. Ita Liranus, Richelius et Cajetanus. Item Erasmus tam in annotat., quam in paraphrasi. Quo respicit etiam ejus versio: neque creduntid, ad quod et instituti fuerunt. Et quidem hic sensus, si res ipsa spectetur, concidit cum primo. Verum nihil istorum cum textu cohaeret; nec omnino particula: in quod, ad verbum credere potest referri, quod in Graeco non praecessit. Nam, ut dixi, Graece est: dTCSi^oDvxsc, ac si dicatur uno verbo: diffidentes aut refragantes. Cui respondere non potest illa expositio relativi: in quod, id est ad credendum. Ac sane miror, nec ab Erasmo id fuisse animadversum. Est igitur alius sensus, a dictis longe diversus ac paene contrarius, quo videlicet relativum quod non ad verbum Evangelii, neque ad credendum, sed ad non credendum, et ad offendendum referatur, hoc modo: Ad quod, id est ut offendant in verbum, et non credant, positi et ordinati sunt a Deo, videlicet permittente, propter eorum peccata praecedentia et propter gloriam suam, quam ex illorum justa condemnationesibi parat. Hic sensus mihi videtur germanus. Non solum enim convenit cum Scripturis, in quibus Deus dicitur aliquos tradidisse in desideria cordis eorum, in passiones ignominiae, in reprobum sensum, Rom. 1.; sed et cum aliis, in quibus idem hoc verbum logitur, ut Rom. 9.: In hoc ipsum excitavi te (pro quo in Exod. 9.: posui et 1 Thess. 5.: Non posuit nos Deus in iram, sed in acquisitionem salutis. Et cap. 3., loquens de tribulationibus: Ipsi enim scitis, inquit, quod in hoc positi sumuSf Denique sensus hic praesenti inetituto maxime est accommodus. Loquitur enim Petrus de Judaeis a Deo reprobatis. Quam eorum reprobationem hic sensus explicat ea parte, qua dicuntur a Deo permissi cadore in peccatum infidelitatis. Adferunt eum Didymus, Oecumenius, Gaignaeus, Salmeronus, Lorinus, et in notationibus suis Franciscus Lucas.
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9. Vos autem genus electum. Ad fideles orationem reflectit, quorum rursus insignem felicitatem amplissimis epithetis ac velut dignitatum titulis praedicat et commendat. Mirifice enim assurgit hic sermo, qui, quamvis partim ex Mose desumptus sit, totus tamen usque ad versum 11. apostolicam refert ac spirat majestatem. Dicuntur autem haec ad Judaeos, vel solos, vel praecipue. Notandum enim, quatuor epitheta, quae hic ordine ponuntur, in veteri testamento fuisse attributa populo Israelitico, quem Deus ad sui cultum prae cunctis gentibus elegerat, ac sibi peculiarem fecerat, multisque praerogativis ornaverat; itaque vere quidem illa, juxta sensum literalem, competebant illi populo. Verum quia omnia in figura contingebant illis, 1 Cor. 10., non dubium, quin sensu mystico, eoque longe sublimiori, conveniant eadem populo Christiano. Id igitur est, quod hic intendit ac docet B. Petrus. Israelitas quidem fuisse genus electum, passim testantur Scripturae, quae vocant eos, populum et semen electum a Deo, ut Deuter. 4. 7. 10. et 14. et alibi. Gratuitam quoque ejusdem populi electionem significatMosesDeuter. 7. his verbis: No7i quia cunctas gentes numero vincebatis, vobis junctus est Dominus et elegit vos, cum omnibus sitis populis pauciores; sed quia dilexit vos Dominus. Ac rursum cap. 9., ubi populum monet, ne dicat: Propter jw stitiam meam introduxit me Dominus, ut terram hanc possiderem. Cum, inquit, durissimae cervicis sis populus; sed ut compleret verbum suum DominuSy quod sub juramento pollicitus est patribus tuis Abraham, Isaac et Jacob. Caeterum multo magis ac verius Christiani genus sunt electum, quia non ad terrenam possessionem, sed ad coelestem ex toto hominum genere, et absque ullo meritorum respectu, sunt electi et vocati a Deo, quasi dicat Apostolus: Majori jure in vos competunt omnes hi tituli, quam in illos, quibus olim adscriptos fuisse legimus. Vocat autem genus propter regenerationem factam in baptismo ex semine incorruptibili per verbum Dei, quemadmodum dixit capite praecedenti.
Regale sacerdotium. Sumptum ex verbis, quae Deus jussit ad populum dici, Exod. 19., idque juxta versionem LXX., ubi nos habemus, interprete Hieronymo: regnum sacerdotale, pro eo, quod in Hebraeo est: regnum sacerdo^ tum. Unde evanescit argumentum, quod ex hoc loco faciunt nonnulli pro discrimine, quod statuendum putant inter sacerdotium vetus et novum, dicentes, in veteri testamento regiam potestatem fuisse sacerdotali superiorem, quia dictum sit in Exodo: regnum sacerdotale; nunc autem sacerdotium regali potestate esse prius ac potius, quia Petrus sermone converso dicat: sacerdotium regale; tamquam illic sacerdotium fuerit accessorium regno, hic aulem regnum sit accessorium sacerdotio; atque hanc esse praerogativam novi testamenti prae veteri. Evanescit, inquam, hoc argumentum, quia Petrus ipsa Mosi verba, quae ad veterem populum dicta fuerunt, referre voluit; sed retulit, ut habebantur in Graeca versione, quae erat in usu fidelium. Quae res et a Lorino observata est. An autem vere consistat illud discrimen, hc non potius cum aliis doctissimis Theologis dicendum sit, etiam sub lege veteri sacerdotium fuisse regali potestate prius ac dignius, non hujus est loci disquirere. Conferendus est autem hic locus cum eo, quod Apoc. 1. et 5. dicitur Deus nos fecisse regnum et sacerdotes, Graece: reges et sacerdotes, non sine allusione,ad locum Exodi. Nam et in Exodo Chaldaea versio Iiabet: reges sacerdotes. Ex quibus apparet, etiam B. Petrum id ipsum velle significare, scilicet omnes Christianos esse reges et sacerdotes. Et quidem quo sensu sacerdotes sint omnes, ipse Petrus jam ante exposuit, dicens: sacerdotium sanctum offerre spirituales hostias. Reges vero sunt omnes Christiani, vel quatenus Deo subditi, cui servire regnare est, ut habet oratio Ecclesiae; vel quia suoram affectuum Domini sunt ac reges, mente suum in eis obtinente principatum, ut quidam exponunt; vel ideo maxime, quia praedestinatipne ac vocatione reges sunt, utpote filii et haeredes Dei, cohaeredes autem Christi, et cum eo regnaturi in aeternum; sicut ipse testatur, dicens ad suos discipulos Luc. 22.: Et ego dispono vobis, sicut disposuit mihiPater meuSy regnum; et dicturus omnibus suis electis in extremo judicio: Venite, possidete paratum vobis regnum. Est autem et alius modus, secundum quem omnes Christi^ni dici pos.sint et sacerdotes, etreges; quatenus scilicetomnes membra 8unt Christi sacerdotis et regis, cum quo unum corpus constituunt. Quem sensum pluribus prosequitur Hesselius scribens in hunc locum. Vide S. Augustinum de civit. lib. 20. cap. 10. Quo autem sensu vetus ille populus Israeliticus appellatus fuerit a Deo regnum sacerdotalcj Exod. 19., petendum ex illius Scripturae commentariis. Porro jam ex his patet, valde inepte quosdam abuti hoc Scripturae luco et similibus, ut doceant, omnes Christianos vere et proprie esse sacerdotes. Nam Scripturae utrumque eis attribuunt, et quod reges sint, et quod sace.rdotes. Ex quo cum non sit consequens, proprie reges esse, profecto nec consequitur, esse proprie sacerdotes.
Gens sancta. Hoc sumptum est consequenter ex eodem loco Exodi. Israelitae quidem dicti gens sancta propter externam et legalem «anctitatem. Erat enim populus a gentilium immupditiis, praesertim idololatriae, segregatus, et legalis munditiae, quae in delectu ciborum et lotionibus aliisque similibus consistebat, studiosus. Quo, secundum literam, pertinebat illud aliquoties in lege repetitum: Sancti estGte, quoniam ego sanctus sum; ut ostendimus capite superiori. Christiani vero dicuntur gens sancta, et apud Jesaiam cap. 62. poyulus sanctus, propter internam et veram sanctitatem, id est puritatem a contaminatione vitiorum. Haec enim ea est sanctitas, a qua proprie Ecclesia sancta vocatur in symbolo fidei. Nam qui sanctitatem hanc definiunt a religione, doctrina, sacramentis ac reliquo cultu externo, non sufficienter eam explicant, nec attingunt, quod in sanctitate Ecclesiae praecipuum est. Oportet enim eam intelligi sanctitatem, quam Christus sanguine suo contulit Ecclesiae secundum Scripturas, ut Joan. ^7.: Pro eis ego sanctifico me ipsum, ut sint et ipsi sanctificati in veritate; Eph. 1.: Elegit nos in ipso, ut essemus sancti et immaculati, et cap. 5.: Christus dilexit Ecclesiam, et se ipsum tradidit pro ea, ut illam sanctificaret, mundans eam lavacro aquae in verbo; et Heb. 13.: Jesus, ut sanctificaret per suum sanguinem populum, extra portam passus est. Nec obstat, quod haec sanctifas non sit in omnibus Ecclesiae membris; nam nec illa veteris populi sanctitas, quam dixi, in singulis erat. Sed sancta dicitur Ecclesia a sanctitate praecipuorum membrorum, quae tamen omnium e.sse debeat, ut vocationi respondeant.
Populus acquisitiotiis. Graece: Xaoc cLC TTspiTUOirjGiv ^ populus, in acquisitionem, sive in vendicationem. Id quoque sumptum ex eodem cap. 19. Exodi, ubi ante verba superiora sic habetur in Hebraeo: Eritis tnihi in peculium de cunctis populis. Pro quo LXX.: "^Rosa^l |jiot Aaoc: mpiooaiOQ, id est eritis mihi populus peculiaris. Ad quam versionem respexit Paulus in Epistola ad Titum 2., dicens: Et mundaret sibi populum acceptabilem j Graece: Ttepiouaiov, pecu' Uarem. Vide, quae in illius loci commentario diximus. Caeterum vox Graeca, ^uam Petrus usurpat hoc loco, legitur etiam apud Paulum Eph. 1.: 7n redemptionem acquisitionis. Ubi Erasmus: in redemptionem acquisitae possessionis; melius "sane, quam hic: pupulus, qui in lucrum accessit. Sensus enim Apostoli est: Quomodo filii Israel vocabantur et erant Deo populus acquisitionis, seu vendicationis, quod Deus illum e tyrannide Pharaonis ereptum et in manu valida ex Aegjpto eductum in suam vendicasset possessionem, ac suum fecisset e cunctis gentibus peculium: ita, ac potiori ratione, Christianos esse Christo Deo suo populum acquisitum, vendicatum et peculiarem, quia, sicut dictum est cap. praeced., pretioso sanguine suo eum e potestate diaboli redemit, atque ex universo hominumge nere electum, suum peculium fecit. Quae certe maxima dignitas est Christianorum. Quo modo et Pauhis eos vocat Ecclesiam Dei, quam acquisivit sanguine suo, Act. 20. Notandum est, apud Ambrosium in exposit Psalm. 118. octon. 6., et apud Augustinum lib. 1. de peccat. mer. cap. 2^7., hanc partem ita legi: populus in adoptione, Sed et Eph. 1. veteris editionis haec erat lectio: In redemptionem adoptionis, quemadmodum Hieronymus testatur in ejus loci comm. Sed eam versionem corrigit ibidem Hieronymus ac docet e Graeco, legendum: acquisitionis seu posesssionis. Quod et nos eo loco annotavimus. Quamquam potius existimem, non adoptionis, sed adeptionis ab illo interprete scriptum fuisse, quod scribarum oscitantia mutatum postea fuerit in adoptionis. Nam adeptio fere idem est, quod acquisitio.
Ut virtutes annuntietis Ejus, qui de tenebris vos vocavit in admirabile lumen suum. Virtutes, non 5uva|X£tg Graece, quod alibi passim, id est potentias, unde dicitur Deus virtutum; sed apsxag (rarum alioqui in Scripturis vocabulum), id est virtutes, quae vitiis opponuntur; ut sunt in Deo sapientia, justitia, bonitas, caritas, misericordia, denique cptXav^ptiJ- Tua, Tit. 3. Quidam addunt patientiam, obedientiam, humilitatem; videlicet de virtutibus Christi hominis accipientes hunc locum, quod non est necesse. Sunt enim in Deo virtutes omnes excellentissimo modo, aliae quidem formaliter, aliae vero eminenter, ut loquuntur et docent Theologi. Declarat Petrus his verbis causam finalem acquisitionis praedictae, nempe gloriam Dei. Ad hoc enim Christianos, id est populum suum, nos fecit Deus, ut de hoc tanto beneficio eum laudemus, et virtutes ejus, quae in opere nostrae redemptionis et sanctificationis mirabiliter eluxerunt, quibusque laudabilem se ostendit, ubique praedicemus, quemadmodum ipse testatur Jes. 43., dicens: Omnem, qui invocat nomen meum, in gloriam meam creavi eum. Et infra: Populum istum formavi mihi; laudem meam narrabit, id est: formavi, ut laudem meam narret. Ad has enim Scriptuias alludere videtur Apostolus; tametsi Beda refert ad historiam Exod. 15., in qua legimus, Hebraeos, postquam ex Aegypto liberati mare rubrum transierant, canticum gratiarum actionis et laudis Domino cecinisse. Porro vocationem hic intellige efficacem, quae divinae praedestinationis effectus est, et vocatio secundum propositum appellatur a Paulo Rom. 8.
Lumen, ad quod vocatos dicit, quidam Christum exponunt, de quo Joan. 1.: Erat lux vera, quae illuminat omnem hominem. Qui et de se ipso ait: Ego sum lux mundi, Joan. 8. Estque sane admirabile hoc lumen, quiatam magnum, ut a nemine comprehendi possit. Juxta quem intellectum lumen suum, id est Dei, dixit Apostolus, quia Christus, ut est Deus de Deo, ita lumen est de lumine. Alii tamen, inter quos Cajetanus, de lumine fidei exponunt, qua Deus resque divinae cognoscuntur. Quae cognitio, licet obscura sit propter inevidentiam, lumen tamen, atque adeo lumen Dei, recte vocatur ob certitudinem levelationis divinae. Quamquam alioqui omnis cognitio Inmen quoddam est. Rursum fides ipsa lumen est ndmirahile, quia notitia est eorum, quae a sensibus nostris remotissima sunt, et quorum rationes assequi mente non possnrar.s, testante Paulo, quod oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit, nec in cor hominis ascendit, quae praeparavit Deus iis, qui diligunt illum, 1 Cor. 2. Ab hoc lumine, qui baptizati erant, illuminati vocabantur, ut Heb. 6. et 10.; et baptismus sacramentum illuminationis apud veteres. Affectat hanc luminis acceptionem antithesis inter tenebras ac lumen, quam facit Apostolus; ac si dicat: Qui de profundis ignorantiae tenebris vos vocavit ad sui cognitionem. Caeterum videri potest hoc proprie dictum ad fideles ex gentibus, quae diu jacuerant in tenebris ignorfintiae veri Dei. Unde et Christus lumen ad revelationem gentium vocafur a Simeone jupto, Luc. 2. Sed ea res non convincit. Nam et ad Judaeos similia dicta legimus, ut Jes. 60.: Surge, illuminare Jerusalem, quia venit lumen tuum, et Matth. 4. ex ejusdem Prophetae cap. 9.: Populus, qui sedebat in tenebris, vidit lucem magnam. Sed et ista Judaeos haud dubie comprehendunt: Lux in tenebris Jucet, et tenebrae eam non comprehenderunt. Lux venit in mundum, et dilexerunt homines magis tenebras, quam lucem, Joan. 1. et 3. Nam etsi Deum aliquo modo popr.ius ille veteris testamenti cognoscebat, non tamen ut Salvatorem, id est, verae justitiae et salutis auctorem. Hoc enim modo nosse Deum, promittitur filiis novi testamenti, Jer. 31. Heb. 8. et Jes. 11.
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10. Qui aliquando Non-populus, nunc autem populus Dei. Versum hunc totum desnmsit B. Petrus ex Osee cap. 2. sub finem, ubi sichabetur: Et miserebor ejus, quae fuit ahsque misericordia. Et dicam Non-populo meo: Pi^pulus meus es tu. Sed ordinem commutat Petrus, ideo forte, quia vult explicare et commendare, quod dixit: pcpulus acquisitio7iis, tametsi Paulus quoque, citans eundem Prophetae locum Rom. 9., ordinem transposuit. Citat autem Paulus, ut doceat, a Deo vocatos esse non Judaeos eolnm, sed etiam gentiles. Ex quo apparet, etiam a Petro haec eadem scribi ad fideles ex gentibus, si Prophetae testimonium ab utroque Apostolo eodem sensu intellectum est. Quo argumento praecipue moventur, qui putant, hanc Epistolam ad eos, qui ex gentibus erant fideles, scriptam esse. Cujus contrarium nos ostendimus in argumento Epistolae. Primum igitur respondeo, non aliud ex hoc loco colligi posse, quam non ad solos Judaeos scribi hanc Epistolam, sed etiam ad gentiles, quibus permixti Judaei in dispersione positi fide et sacramentis communicabant; ut propterea partim ad Judaeos^ partim ad gentiles, alias vero simul ad utrosque sermonem dirigat Apostolus. Deinde, nec id quidem necessario nobis fatendum esse. Nam quae de populo gentili praedicta snut a Propheta, potuit ea Petrus suis verbis (quod sentit Cajetanus) populo circumcisionis accommodare. Non enim dicit Apostolus, Prophetam haec scripsisse de iis, quos alloquitur. Quin etiam illud dici potest, praedictionem Prophetae vel ad solos pertinere Israelitas in gentibus dispersos, quibus Propheta, post indictum repudium, gratiam reconciliationis promittit; quam promissionem Petrus nunc impletam esse docet; hic enim sensus Prophetae verbis et contextui valde consentaneus est: vel, ad utrumque populum pertinere, Judaicum et gentilem; sensu quidem literali ad Judaeos, mystico autem ad gentiles. Quae sententia estHieronymi, Prophetam hunc exponentis. Quam et Franciscus Pibera amplectitur in prooemio sui comm. super Epist. ad Heb., retractans ea, quae prius in diversam sententiam dixerat in con m. Prophetae. Recte igitur B. Petrus Judaeis dispersionis id adscribit, quod de eis a Propheta, secundum literam praedictum fuerat. Recte et Paulus id ipsum ad gentiles refert, ad quos secundum mysterium pertinebat; uti suo loco declaraviraus. Restat, ut verba B. Petri exponamuB. Quod ait: Qui aliquando Non-populus, sic absolute dictum accipi potest, quia populus dispersus revera non est populus. Significat enim hoc nomen coUectionem hominum in unam rempublicam. Potius tamen apparet, ex posteriori membro supplendum esse: Dei. Nam et apud Prophetam Deus loquitur: Et dicam Non^populo meo. Sensus igitur est: Qui hactenus fuistis non Dei populus, quia veram et salutarem Dei rerumque divinanjm notitiam non habuistis, quia mandata Dei propter traditiones paternas (de quibus cap. super.) irrita fecistis, insuper et gentium corruptelis ac superstitionibus impliciti fuistis: nunc, Christo per suos Apostolos in unam fidem et Ecclesiam vos colligente, facti estis populus Dei.
Qui non consecuti misericordiam, nunc autem misericordiam consecuti. Commendatio est vocationis gratuitae. Sensus: Qui quondam et antehac a Deo derelicti fuistis in tenebris ignorantiae vestrae; nunc per ejus misericordiam et gratiam, non autem vestris meritis, quae nulla erant, adducti estis ad lumen fidei, et assumpti ad eam dignitatem, ut sitis genus electum, et caetera, quae supra commemoravit.
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11. Carissimi, obsecro vos tamquam advenas et peregrinos. Redit ad exhortationem aliquantisper intermissam, admonens, ut tantae dignitati suae vocationis, de qua hactenus, sancta conversatione respondeant. Obsecro, Graece: TcapaxaXto, quod etiam verti potest: adhortor. Pronomen vos, quod Graeca non exprimunt, additum ab interprete, vel potius a scriba quopiam; nam nec in omnibus est Latinis. Advenas et peregrinos, Graece: TcapotxouQ xal TiapsTrtSTg/xouc; quarum vocum posteriorem interpres initio Epifitolae vertit: advenas; tametsi fere idem ambae significent, videlicet eos, qui ut adventitii et peregrini commorantur in aliquo loco. Alhidit autem Petrus ad id, cjuod in principio dixit: advenas dispersionis; ac sidicat: Vos, qui estis advenae dispersionis, extorres e terra patrum vestrorum, exhortor et obsecro tamquam spiritualiter advenas et peregrinos, id est, hujus mundi hospites, qui debeatis cogitare, nihil vobis, etsi inter homines saeculo deditos agentibus, commune esse debere cum desideriis et vanitatibus saeculi; sed animis et studiis semper tendere ad ccelestem patriam, exemplo sanctorum Patriarcharum, qui, confitentes, se peregrinos et hospites esse super terram, significabant, se patriam inquirere, utique coelestem, Heb. 11.
Abstinere vos a carnalibus desideriis. Graece: abstinete a carnalibus desideriis seu concupiscentiis, tametsi quidam Graeci codices pro: aTTSj^so^s, abstinetey habent: anix^^^OLi, abstinere, quemadmodum et legit Clomens Alexandrinus lib. 3. Strom. cap. 6. Quae lectio sane probabilior est. Cohaeret enim haec pars cura praecedente: tamquam advenas et peregrinos abstinere, ut sensus sit: Obsecro vos, ut, tamquam advenae et peregrini in hoc mundo velut in terra aliena, ab iis concupiscendis, quae ranndus admiratur et concupiscit, abstineatis; ut sunt voluptates, opes, honores. Nam peregrinorum et advenarum est, haud sese miscere negotiis civitatis aut regionis, in qua peregrinantur. Carnalia desideria dicuntur a carne, id est concupiscentia, seu fomite peccati, ea in nobis excitante. Ab iis autem abstinere jubemur, non ut prorsus iis careamus, quod in hac vitae corruptione fieri non potest; sed ut nec opere, nec consensu ea sequamur.
Quae militant adversus animam. Animae nomine vita et salus intelligi solet in Scripturis. Hinc animam perdere et invenire passim in Evangeliis. Igitur militare dicuntur desideria carnis adversus animam, quia, quantumlibet sensibus animae grata sint et jucunda, tamen exitiale bellum homini inferunt, utpote vitae ejus salutique contraria. Non enim sentit Apostohis, pugnam esse inter carnem et animam, cujusmodi est inter legem membrorum et legem mentis, Rom. 7., aut inter carnem et spiritum, Gal. 5.; nusquam enim haec pugna inter carnem et animam statuitur: sed a carnalibus desideriis revocat, proposito salutis a*tei'nae periculo.
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12. Conv&rsationem vestram inter gentes habentes bonam. Loco participii: exovxeg, habentes, apud Oecumenium legitur: Ix^^^j habere, ut dependeat ab illo: obsecro vol, sicut et verbum abstinere. Bonam, Graece xocatjv, id est honestam, ut alii vertunt. Praecepit Apostolus, ut animum servent putum a carnalibus desideriis; nunc, quod proximum est, exigit, ut apud homines honeste sc gerant, ac non solum non offendant improbitate morum, sed etiam bona conversatione moribusque recte compositis amorem proximorum erga se provocent, ac religionem, quam profitentur, commeadent. Quod ait: inter gentes, arguit, Epistolam hanc ad Judaeos scriptam esse. Nam ad gentiles scribens non diceret: inter gentes, sed: inter incredulos, aut eos, qui foris sunt, aut cum addito, ut alibi: inter gentes, quae Deum ignorant.
Ut in eo, quod detrectant de vobis tamquam de malefactoribus. Detrectant seu potius detractant, ut legitur in multis codicibus, Graece: xaTaXaAoijaiv, obloquuntur, detrahunt, obtrectant vobis tamquam maleficis, id est, sceleratis hominibus, ac reipublicae noxiis. Quidam istas detractiones interpretantur, quod dicerentur Christiani humanas carnes edere, videlicet occasione sumpta ex mystica participatione corporis et sangainis Domini. Cujus calumniae meminerunt Justinus Martyr in prima apologia, Eusebius lib. 5. hist. eccles. cap. 1. et seq. et Oecumenius in comment. Rursus, quod dicerentur in mysteriis uti promiscua Venere. Cujus meminit idem Justinus in 2. apologia. At huic criminationi materiam praebuerant haeretici, cognomento Gnostici, revera in suis conventiculis turpia quaedam et nefanda exercentes; de quibus Epiphanius in haeresi Gnost. Alii locum hunc ad alias referunt calumnias paganorum adversus Christianos, de quibus Tertullianum consule in Apologet. et Joan. Hesselium in comment. Sed cum haec Epistola scripta sit a^i fideles cx circumcisione Judaeos, verisimilius est, hic intelligi detractiones, quibus obnoxii erant Judaei, ae ni>minatim de eo, quod religionis ac libertatis praetextu principibus ac magistratibus ethnicis minus essent obsequentes, parumque civilitei* iis, inter quos vivebant, sese accommodarent. Huc sane B. Petrum respicere, satis ostendunt verba sequentia:
Ex bonis operibus vos considerantes, glorificent Deum. Vos supplementum est interpretis. Alii sic: Ex bonis operibus, quae considerarint, inspexerint. Nam Graece est aoristus: STcoTiTEuaavTeCi id est conspicati, cum inspexerint. Cyprianus lib. 3. testimoniorum cap. 11., totum hunc locum citans, ita legit: TJt, dum detrectant de vobis quasi de malignis, bona opera vestra aspicientes, magnificent Deum. Sensus Apostoli: Bene et honeste inter gentiles conversamini; ut, si qui male de vobis loquuntur, male persuasi, vos esse maleficos et tranquillitatis publicae turbatores, opera vestra bona videant et considerent, atque ex iis recto judicio voe aestimantes, Deum, qui tales habeat cultores, glorificent, sicque detractionem vertant in laudem et gloriam Dei. Qui scopus esse debet bonarum nostrarum actionum, Domino praecipiente, Matth. 5.: Sic luceat lux vestra coram hominibus, ut videant opera vestra bona, et glorificent Patrem vestrum, qui in coelis est.
In die visitatio7iis. Diem visitationis Oecumeaius, Aria Montano suffragante, exponit inquisitionem hominum mundanorum, scilicet eorum, qui male de Christianis loquebantur. Quum enim, inquit Oecumenius, fit ab eis inquisitio de vita nostra, ubi res contrario modo se habere reperiuntur, quam fuerit eorum suspicio, non solum pudefiunt, sed et ipsi corriguntur, et Deus glorificatur. Hic sensus accipit probabilitatem ex vocabulo visitationis, Graece: 1'Kiay.QnfjQ, id est inspectionis; quasi respiciat Apostolus ad id, quod dixit: ex bonis operibus vos considerantes, inspicientes. Alii« magis placet, visitationem intelligi divinam, qua scilicet Deus visitat homines. Sic enim visitatio et dies visitationis familiarius acoipiuntur in Scripturis. Igitur nonnulli de die judicii seu retributionis interpretantur, quando impii, conspecta justorum gloria, Dei justitiam agnoscent vel inviti. Sic infra cap. 5.: Humiliamini sub potenti manu Dei, ut vos exaltet in tempore visitationis; tametsi illic visitationis non additur in Graeco. Obstat huic sensui, quod dicit: ex bonis operibus vos considerantes. Id enim est hujus saeculi. Proinde alii plerique diem intelligunt divinae visitationis in hoc saeculo, cum scilicet Deus per suam gratiam obtrectatores illos visitare dignatur, convertens coram corda a detractione et odio ad benevolentiam. Numquam enim sancta Christianorum vita ad infidelium et malevolorum conversionem proficeret, nisi Deus speciali gratia, tamquam benigna vultus sui illuminatione, eos respiceret, quomodo Petrum Christus respexit, Luc. 22.
2:13
13. Subjecti igitur estote omni humanae creaturae propter Deum. A generali exhortatione ad particularia praecepta sanctae et honestae conversationis descendit; et quia Judaei, ut ante dictum est, vulgo male audiebant inter gentiles, tamquam legum refractarii, primo loco subjectionem praecipit praestandam regibus ac civitatum praefectis, ne in ordinem politiae quoquo modo peccent. Atque hinc amplius probabile fit, ad Judaeos hanc Epistolam scribi, propter quos etiam Paulus similia dat praecepta, Rom. 13. et ad Tit. 3., quemadmodum suis locis est annotatum. Creaturam humanam Oecumenius post Didymum intelligit humanam constitutionem seu creationem, concretive tamen, id esthomines, qui a regibus creati seu designati sunt praefecti et in potestate constituti; aut ipsos etiam reges, eo quod et ipsi ab hominibus constituti ac positi sint. Cajetanus ipsum officium regiminis intelligit, eo quod humanis suffragiis creatur. Alii creataram humanam non dissimiliter quidem accipiunt, sed abstractive, ut vocabulum sonat, id est ordinationes, constitutiones seu leges humanas. Verum his obstat, quod statim sequitur: sive regi, etc., quod primam illam, id est, concretivam postulat magis acceptionem. At enim sciendum, Graecam vocem XTioiv, qua Petrus utitur, nusquam alibi in Scriptura significare constitutionem sive ordinationem, praesertim talem, qualis est legum; sed passim accipi pro creatura, id est, rebus a Deo creatis; quemadmodum ostendimus ad illud Rom. 1.: Invisibilia ipsius a creatura mundi etc. Nec vero necessitas uUa est, quae cogat, aliter accipi hoc loco; quandoquidem et apud Marcum, Petri discipu lum, cap. ult., sic accipitur in simili locutione, ubi memorat, Dominumsuis Apostolis dixisse: Euntes in mundum universum praedicate Evangelium omni creuturae, utique humanae, id est omnibus hominibus, non Judaeis tantum, sed et gentibus, ubique et indiscriminatim. Quod et factum fuisso, simili sermone testatur Paulus, Col. 1. dicens de Evangelio: Quod praedicatum est in universa creatura, quae sub coelo est. Sicut autem iu illis Scripturis primum opus est restrictione, quae hoc loco expriroitur, id est, ut intelligatur creatura humana; deinde ut ea, cui praedicatio fieri potest (neque enim infantibus aut amentibus praedicandum erat Evangelium): ita, quod hic dicitur: omni humanae creaturae, debet accipi restricte et ipsi materiae accommodate, de omnibus hominibus, qui sunt in potestate constituti, quicumque et qualescumque sint; ut sensus sit; Subditi estote, obedite cuicumque homini superiori, sive Judaeus ille sit, sive gentilis, et sive Christianus, sive infidelis; denique seu bonus, seu malus. Nam certe de hominibus accipi oportere, constat ex distributione sequenti: sive regi, sive ducibus. Hunc eundem sensum Syrus interpres Hebraismo reddidit: Estote subjecti omnibus filiis hominis.
Propter Deum, Graece: propter Do^ minum. Quod et in Latinis quibusdam legitur. Ac verisimile, Dominum intelligi Christum, ut fere alibi in scriptis Apostolicis. Qui Deum legunt, sicexponunt: Propter Deum, cujus gerunt vices; ut in homine jubente non hominem consideretis, sed Deum, a quo potestatem accepit, et cujus personam sustinet. Quod diligenter inculcat Apostolus Paulus, Rom. 13., concludens inde, non solum propter iram, sed etiam propter conscientiam debere principibus subjectionem. Si cum Graecis legamus: Dominum, sensus erit: Quia Dominus Christus hoc jussit, dicens: Reddite, quae sunt Cae^ saris, Caesari, Matth. 22. Notandum, haec intelligi de legitima potestate, quamvis ea forte, ut saepe fit, a tyrannide et malis artibus initium duxerit; nec non de justis legibus. Justas autem leges bene definit Hesselius, quae nec contraria legi Dei praecipiunt, nec privata au" ctoritate] feruntur, nec ad privatum commodum, nec inaequaliter onerant aequales.
Sive regi, quasi praecellenti. Quo tempore scripta fuit haec Epi?tola, princeps iraperji Romani erat Doraitius Nero, Christianorum gravissimus persecutor, sub quo Petrus ipee, qui haec scribit, et Paulus martyrium subierunt. Liquet ergo ex doctrina Apostolica, principibus, etiam infidelibus et valde malis, obediendum esse. Etsi vero Romani suum principem non regem, quodnoraen illis exosum erat, sed vel Caesarem, vel Augustum, vel Imperatorem appellarent: Graeci tamen eum, consueto populorum more, paoiXea vocitabant. Unde et Judaei dicebant, Joan. 19.: Non habemus regem, nisi Caesarem. Addit: tamquam praecellenti, Graece UTrspexo^'^^ ^ i^ est, supremam habenti potestatem in republica, atque in rebus ad politiam externam pertinentibus. Nam in his, quae ad Ecclesiae regimen et (qui illius regiminis finis est) salutem spectant aniraarura, Christus suum habebat vicarium Petrum Apostolum, et habet nunc quoque ejus successorem, Romanum pontificem, cui sine exceptione omnes suas oves pascendas et regendas commisit, Joan. 21. Quidam illud: tamquam praecellenti, putant ad omnes magistratus pertinere; sicut extendit Paulus, Rom. 13. dicens: Omnis anima potestatibus sublimioribus, id est emiuentibns, Graece: U7:£p£xo6oaic, subdita sit. Et expressius 1 Tim. 2., ubi vult, orationes fieri pro regibus et omnibus, qui in sublimitate sunt, Graece: Iv (iTzepox^Q, in eminentia. Nihil tamen vetat, hoc loco significari titulum ita regi proprium, ut caeteris praefectis, de quibus alterum membrum subjungit, non sit communis.
2:14
14. Sive ducibus, tamquam ab eo missis. Ducibus, Graece: '^7£;ji6otv, quos interpres in Evangeliis et Actis Apostolicis praesides interpretatur. Neque enim belli duces significare vult B. Petrus, sed praesides provinciarum, quae Romanis erant subjectae; cujusmodi in Judaea Pilatus, Felix, Festus. Sunt, qui putent, hoc nomine designari quoslibet magistratus rege inferiores. At Scripturae magis consentaneum est, quod dixi; ita tamen, ut sub nomine speciali etiam reliqui magistratus intelligantur comprehensi. Unde non male Syrus interpres vertit: Judices. In eo, quod additur: tamquam ab eo missis, pronomen eo ad regem referunt nonnuUi. Quod non placet. Nam Apostolus vult, hoc in praesidibus istis considerari, quod Deus eos miserit; id quod ad obediendum movere debet. Ac ut taceam, quod praesides provinciis praeficiebantur, non tam auctoritate Caesaris, quam senatus, illi alteri relationi non quadrat, quod sequitur: ad vindictam malefactorum etc., quem scopum mali reges non usquequaque habebant propositum. Rectius igitur ad Deum refertur, qui hunc finem omnibus magistratibus praescribit. Unde et Paulus de potestate Rom. 13.: Dei enim minister est, tibi in bonum, ac rursnra: Dei minister est, vindex in iram ei, qui male agit. Ex quo etiam apparet, missos a Deo hic intelligi debere non solum duces seu praesides, sed etiam regem ipsum, ad quem per syllepsin illa pars: tamquam db eo missiSf etiam pertineat.
Ad vindictam malefactorum, laudem vero bonorum. Graece: Ad vindictam quidem xaxoTiotdiv^ male agentium, lau~ dem vero ava^oiioicov, bona agentium. Hos interpres nominat bonos, quia, qui bona agunt, boni merito reputantur in republica civili. Illos maleficos sive nocentes liceat appellare. Significat Apostolus officium principum ac magistratuum, propter quod a Deo sint missi 5 sicut et Paulus verbis supra citatis. Hoc officium est, ad tuendam reipublicae pacem et tranquillitatem malefacta suppliciis, et benefacta praemiis prosequi. His enim duobus reipublicae status continetur. Laudem dixit pro praemio, quomadmodum et Paulus, dicens: Bonum fac et habebis laudem; vel quia laus ipsa praemium quoddam est; vel quia praemium laudis est signum. Est autem praemii pars non minima, sub tutela magistratuum quietam et tranquillam vitam agere, ut dicitur 2 Tim. 2. Quod si ne hoc quidem praemium assequantur in terrena republica boni, propter improbitatem et tyrannidem eorum, qui praesunt: laude tamen sua ac praemio condigno in Dei judicio nequaquam defraudabuntur.
2:15
15. Quia sic est voluntas Dei, ut benefacientes obmutescere faciatis imprudentium hominum ignorantiam. Obmutescere faciatis, Graece: ^tfjioDv, id est os obstruere, os obligare. Unde illud apud LXX. Deuter. 25., citante etiam Paulo 1 Cor. 9.: 06 «pi/jicooeK:^ non alligabis os bovi trituranti. Verbum deductum a nomine (piixoQ, quod inter alia significat camum, instrumentum aptum non ad frenandum modo, sed et ad constringcndum forinsecus ora boum, equorum, mulorum. Erasmus hoc modo vertit: Ut benefaciendo obturetis os hominibus tes stultis et ignorantibus. Potest ad sensum etiam ita verti: Ut benefaciendo cohibeatis ac reprimatis amentium hominum ignorantiam. Amentiam sive imprudentiam cum ignorantia conjungit, quia, qui Deum ignorant, facile per imprudentiam impingant. Vel imprudentiam ponit tamquam matrem ignorantiaej id est judicii et sermonis irrationabilis ac stulti, quo censebant et inter se loquebantur infideles de Christianis Judaeis, tamquam de his, qui legibus essent refractarii. Clemens Alexandrinus lib. 3. 8trom. cap. 6. non aYVCootav, id est ignorantiam legit, sed spyaotav^ id est occupationem. Ita sensus erit: Ut, dum benefacitis, adversariae linguae non habeant, quod dicant, et in quo occupentur. Illud observandum, voluntatem Dei non esse referendam ad id, quod dixit: subjecti estote etc.j quasi sensus sit: Hoc vult et praecipit Deus, ut sitis subditi regibus et magistratibus; ita namque futurum, ut obmutescere cogantur increduli, qui solent de vobis male loqui; quamvis vera sint haec. Sed referri debet voluntas Dei ad sequentia, quae sic habent in Graeco: ayaOoTiotouvTac; ^t^ouv, benefacientes obturare etc, quasi dicat: Voluntas Dei est, vos benefaciendo cohibere maledicentiam infidelium. Ubi tam praeceptiva Dei voluntas, quam absoluta potest intelligi. Nam et praecipit Deus, ut benefaciendo, quantum in nobis est, obstruamus ora maledicis; et ita disposuit, ut malorum linguae elanguescant per innocentiam bonorum, nec id solum, verum etiam excitentur ad eos laudandos, et Deum glorificandum; uti dictum est V. 12. Similis admonitio Pauli ad Tit. 2.: Verbum sanum, irreprehensibile, ut is, qui ex adverso est, vereatur, nihil habens malum dicere de nobis.
2:16
16. Quasi liberiy et non quasi velamen habentes malitiae libertatem. Construenda est haec pars cum superiori verbo: uTiOTayTfjTS, subjecti estote, quod facit Oecumenius, auctore Chrysostomo; non, ut Beda, cum participio benefacien- quod in Graeco diversi est casus. Notandum, duplicis libertatis praetextu quosdam, qui Christo nomen dederant, abusos fuisse ad peccandum. Nam Judaei quidem, quod essent Dei populus peculiaris, liberos se esse volebant a legibus alienorum principum, et a tributis pendendis. NonnulUvero, libertatem, qua per Ohristum donati sumus, perverse interpretantes, existimabant, ita se esse a lege liberos, ut, quidquid liberet, agere possent. Contra quos Paulus Rom. 6.: Permanebimus in peccato, ut gratia abundet? etitemm: Peccabimus, quoniam non sumus sub lege, sed sub gratia? Absit; et ad Gal. 5.: Vos in libertatem vocati estis; tantum ne libertatem in occasionem detis carnis. Inde nati Gnostici, de quibus B. Petrus in 2. Epist. cap. 2.: Libertatem illis promittentes, cum ipsi servi sint corruptionis. Et S, Judas in sua Epistola: Dei nostri gratiam transferentes in luxuriam. Verisimile est autem, Petrum hoc loco respicere potissimum ad praetextum illum priorem libertatis. Scribit enim ad Judaeos, et versaturin inculcando praecepto obedientiae magistratibus exhibendae. Sensus: Subjecti estote tamquam liberi, id est, liberaliter, et non serviliter legibus principum parentes. Vel tamquam liberi, id est, a peccatis per Christum liberati; qui proinde justitiam colere debeatis, et facere, quod Paulus praecipit: Reddite libertatem, quasi velum, praetexere malitiae et inobedientiae vestrae.
Sed sicut servi Dei. Ac si dicat: In hoc, quod principibus obeditis, Deo servitis, qui id praecepit. Itaque hominibus obediendo propter Deum, non hominibus, sed Deo vos ut servos subjicitis. Atqui Deo servire summa libertas est. Deinceps aliquot praecepta subjungit, eodem fere pertinentia.
2:17
17. Omnes honorate. Accommodate hoc intellige, sicut illud praecedens: Subjecti estote omni humonae creaturae. Nam sensus est: Omnes honorandos honorate, etiamsi gentiles sint aut infideles. Est enim idem cum eo, quod Paulus praecipit: Cui honorem, honorem, Rom. 13. Neque enim vult Petrus, omnes homines sine exceptione a nobis honorari, etiam pessimos; sed eos, quibus honor debetur ratione potestatis, quam hic praecipue spectat. Alioqui tenendum illud Psalm. 14.: Ad nihilum deductus est in conspectu ejus malignus; timentes autem Dominum glorificat.
Fraternitatem diligite. Fraternitatis nomen collective sumitur pro fratribus, id est Ohristianis, quos speciali prae infidelibus amore ac benevolentia vult prosequendos. Id enim postulat ordo caritatis. Unde Gal. 6.: Operemur bonum ad omnes, maxime autem ad domesticos fidei. Praecipit igitur, ut, qui regeneratione fratres sunt, sese mutuo omnes amore complectantur sic, ut neque divites despiciant pauperes, de quo vitio Judaeos accusat Jacobus Apostolus; neque Judaei gentiles dedignentur habere in sacramentis et conversatione socios, quos coelestium promissionum habent cohaeredes.
Deum timete. Interserit hoc praeceptum de Deo timendo, ut, si quid homines, quantumvis potentes, aut praecipiant, aut velint, quod Dei voluntati contrarium sit, ab eo revocemur timore Dei, qui potest et animam et corpus perdere in gehennam. Matth. 10. Scientes, illud ejusdem Apostoli: Obedire oportet Deo magis, quam hominibus, Act. 5. Deum ergo timendum praecipit ut Deum, id est Dominum ac judicem supremum; de quo Jacobus cap. 4.: JJnus est legislator et judex, qui potest perdere et liberare.
Regem honorificate. Idem in Graeco verbum cum superiori: honorate, Tt|iaT£, Tiixrj^aTe. Quod igitur praecepit de omnibus in potestate constitutis, ut eis ho-. nor debitus reddatur, id specialiter exprimendum putavit de rege; tum propter ejus prae caeteris eminentiam; tum ne propter insignem illius, qui tunc regnabat, malitiam (erat is Nero, Romani imperii princeps) cuiquam forte videretur minus honorandus. Porro cum honor sit testimonium excellentiae, principes honorari censentur, quum eorum excellentia, quam inter homines habent, agnoscitur observatione legum, et praestatione tributorum.
2:18
18. Servi subditi estote in omni timore Dominis. A genere subjectionis politicae ad quasdam alias subjectionis formas descendit; iit sunt, servos parere dominis, et uxores maritis; quam utramque partem graviter et Christiane persequitur. Necessaria fuit haec ad servos admonitio, ne propter eos, si praetextu libertatis Christianae servitia detrectarent, aut minus essent obsequentes, male audiret apud ethnicos Christiana reb*^io. Quae causa fuit etiam Paulo Apostolo idem hoc praeceptum in suis Epistolis inculcandi, ut Eph. 6., Col. 3., 1 Tim. 6. et ad Tit. 2. In Graeco sic legitur: Famuli subditi (subaudi: sint) in omni timore heris. Famulos dicit, non servos, item heros, non dominos, quia ad Judaeos scribit, quibus, quod essent populus Dei, valde molestum erat vocari servos, et habere dominos. Itaque rem odiosam minuit lenitate vocabulorum. In omni timore, id est cum multa reverentia. Nam timorem intelligit non servilem, sed cum amore conjunctum, quae reverentia vocatur.
Non tantum bonis et modestis. Graece iTCistxeotv^ id est humanis et commodis, quique aequos sese praebeant servis. Bonos autem vocat vulgi more eos, qui non caedunt, nec affligunt injuste.
Sed etiam dyscolis. Graece: axoXtoTc, id est pravis seu morosis. Noster interpres Graecam vocem alia Graeca reddidit, quae forte Latinis erat in usu. Quaedam vetus versio, referente Beda, legit: difficilioribus. Vult B. Petrus, servos Christianos, etiamsi dure et inique tractentur a dominis, ac justo graviora imponantur onera, non tamen imperium recusare, sed nec fugam arripere. Nam servo fugere propter quamlibet injuriam non licet, imo injustum id est, cum servus sit possessio domini sui. Secus si vitae, vel incolumitatis membrorum, vel innocentiae periculum ei a domino immineret.
2:19
19. Haec enim est gratia, si propter Dei conscientiam sustinet quis tristitias, patiens injuste. Consolatio est servorum qui pravos et injustos patiebantur dominos, sumpta a mercede et laude patientiae. Haec enim est gratia, Graece: TOUTO Y^p X^P^^^ ^^^' ^*w gratia. Ubi nomine gratiae quidam intelligunt laudem seu gloriam, de qua statim sequitur: Quae enim est gloria. Alii significatum putant eftectum gratiae, id est opus a gratia Dei profectum, idemque eximia laude dignum. Quod Paulus 1 Cor. 9. gloriam vocat. Quae tamen duae expositiones fere eodem redeunt. Rursus illud: Dei conscientiam, non uno modo omnes interpretantur. Cajeta? nus sic: Propter applicationem scientiae, quam habet de iis, quae sunt grata Deo. Sed hunc sensum non immerito rejicit Gaignaeus. Ipse vero sic exponit: Propter Deum, qui et tuae pa~ tientiae et illorum nequitiae conscius est. Alii rectius hoc modo: Quia conscius est, id Deum velle, et Deo gratum esse; ut conscientia Dei dicatur, id est de Deo. Nam si quis sustineat tantum, ne graviora incurrat incommoda, aut ut heri sui gratiam sibi conciliet, non erit haec gratia, de qua Petrus loquitur, id est gratia apud Deum, sicut infra dicit. Nonnulli sic exponunt: propter Dei conscientiam, id est quia veri Dei estis cultores, videh*cet eo nomine dominis vestris exosi. Sed nondum agere videtur Petrus de Christianorum afflictione propter justitiam, et quia Christiani sunt; de qua demum agit post medium capitis sequentis, ac rursum cap. 4. Sensus igitur est: Opus esse Deo valde gratum et singulari laude dignum, si quis Dei respectu, id est, ut Deo placeat, quem animo gerit, tristia et molesta patienter ferat, dum injuste ac praeter meritum affligitur.
2:20
20. Quae enim est gloria. Male quidam codices: gratia. Nam Graece sic habetur: HoTov yap xXeoc, qualis enim laus? xXeoc vero laudem significat non qualemcumque, sed quae fit a multis; unde gloria nascitur. Itaque recte gloriam vertit noster interpres. Sic enim legitur passim in omnibus exemplaribus MSS. Syrus interpres laudem dedit.
Si peccantes et coJaphizati suffertis? Dilucidius ex Graeco: Si, quum pec^ cantes colaphis caedimini, sufferatis? Sensus: Quid magnum aut singalare, ut de eo laudem quis exspectet aut gloriam, si propter delictum aliquis caeditur? Hoc propter servos, qui a dominis iratis solent alapis caedi. Sed si benefacientes patienter sustinetis. Graece: Sed si benefacientes et patientes sustinetis, quemadmodum et in Latinis quibusdam MSS. legitur, et apud Bedam; cui lectioni etiam Syrus annuit. Et ita respondet parti praecedenti: peC' cantes et colaphizati. Congruit etiam his, quae sunt cap. 3. v. 17. Verum imperitus scriba, quod non intellexit, mutavit in id, quod promptius videbatur. Sensus est: Sed si suffertis, si sustinetis aequo animo, quum benefacitis et tamen patimini, id est malis afficimini, gloria vobis est; ea sustinentia laudem et gloriam vobis pariet. Est enim hic supplendum ex praecedenti parte: est (vel erit) gloria; idque juxta Graecam lectionem, uti statim videbimus.
Haec est gratia apud Deum. Graece in multis codicibus: Hoc enim gratia apud Deum. Latina lectio partem hanc annectit praecedenti, ad hunc modum: Sed si benefacientes, ac nihilominus mala patientes, sustineatis, ea gratia est apud Deum, id est, opus hujusmodi vehementer gratum est Deo. Graeci vero partem priorem supplentes, ut dictum est, hic ejus causam sive explicationem subjiciunt. Ideo namque gloria est benefacienti et mala patienter sustinenti, quia facit opus Deo gratissimum. Non ergo significat B. Petrus, eum, qui pro delictis suis in republica meritas patienter sustinet poenas, patientiae suae mercede cariturum apud Deum; sed negat, esse ex suo genere magnum et singulare opus patientiae, cui gloria debeatur; quale, si quis, benefaciens ac praeter meritum afflictus, patientiam conservet.
2:21
21. In hoc enim vocati estis. Hortatur ad patientiam a vocatione Christianis omnibus communi; eamque adhortationem mox confirmat alio argumento ab exemplo Christi. Sensus: Hac enim lege vocati estis; ita se habet vocatio et professio vestra, ut bene agentes mala patiamini et patienter sustineatis. Haec via ad regnum est, testante Paulo: Quoniam per multas tribulationes oportet no8 intrare in regnum Dei, Act. 14.
Quia et Christus passus est pro nobis, vobis relinquens exemplum y ut sequa^ mini vestigia ejus. Variant hoc loco pro nomina nobis et vobis, tam in Graecis codicibus, quam in Latinis; ut quae, in utraque lingua, una sola litera differant. Plerique Latini codices habent: nobis, vobis; plerique Graeci: nobis, nobis, astipulante versione Sjriaca. Sunt alii Latini codices non pauci, iique probatissimi, Graecis etiam nonnullis, et inter hos Oecumenii textu, suffragantibas, in quibus legatur: vobis, vobis. Quam quidem veram ac germanam esse lectionem, non abs re censent castigatores Nicolaus Zegerus et F. Lucas. Est enim textui revera caeteris accommodatior. Nam servos alloquitur Petrus, admonens, ut aequo ferant animo, si a djscolis dominis plagas referant, dum bene fecerint; hanc enim esse Christianorum vocationem. Quoniam, inquit, etiam pro vobis passus est Christus (habet enim emphasim vocula et), pro vobis, inquam, servis, non minus, quam pro liberis (nam in Christo Jesu non est servus, neque liber, Gal. 3. et Col. 3.); eademque sua passione etiam vobis exemplum reliquit, quod imitemini, insequentes ejus vestigia. Ad eundem modum legisse Ven. Bedam, commentarius ejus, si bene discutiatur, satis indicat. Occasio mutandae personae secundae in primam esse potuit, quod non advertentibus seriem orationis videretur ingrati et arrogantis animi, dicere in secunda persona: Christus passus est pro vobis, vobis relinquens exemplum etc. Sed cur ita locutus sit B. Petrus, jam patet ex sensu dato.
2:22
22. Qui peccatum non fecit, nec inventus est dolus in ore ejus. Sumptum est hoc ex Jes. 53. cap., quod totum de Christi passione est, ubi versus iste ex Hebraeo sic iegitnr: Eo quod iniquitatem non fecerit, nec dolus fuerit in ore ejus. Apud LXX.: 7iec dolum in ore suo; sed lepete ex praecedenti: fecerit. Quod ergo Petrus dicit: Nec inventus est dolus in ore ejus, non aliud dicit, quam Jesaias, sed Hebraismo usus est, quo dicitur inveniri id, quod est, non inveniri id, quod non est; ut Phil. 2.: Habitu inventus ut homo, et Eccl. 44.: Non est inventus similis illi. Sensus tam Apostoli, quam Prophetae est, Christi tantam esse innocentiam, ut nec facto, nec verbo peccaverit. Sub quibus omne genus peccati comprehenditur, etiam originale. Etenim ut de eo scribit Augustinus lib. 5. contra Julianum cap. 15.: Profecto peccatum etiam major fecisset, si parvulus habuisset. Nam propterea nullus est hominum praeter ipsum, qui peccatum non fecerit grandioris aetatis accessu, quia nullus est hominum praeter ipsum, qui peccatum non habuerit infantilis aetatis exortu. Sic ille. Porro Christum peccati expertem dicit B. Petrus, ut, quemadmodum indicatur in sequentibus, intelligatur idoneus fuisse, qui sua passione genus humanum Patri reconciliaret; quod utique facere idoneus non esset, si ipse etiam aliquando peccato subjacuisset. Inest autem verbis Apostoli hujusmodi argumentum: Si Christus plane innocens passus est, quid grave, si vos, quorum nemo sine peccato est, patiamini? Et si Christus innocens passus est pro vobis, ut exemplum patientiae vobis relinqueret, debetis et vos, peccatores, pati, ut ejus vestigia sequamini. Porro quod de perfecta Christi innocentia minus expresse forte dictum est iu his Petri et Jesaiae verbis, alibi Scriptura plenius et expressius loquitur, omne prorsus a Christo peccatum removens, ut Joan. 14., 2 Cor. 5., Heb. 7., 1 Joan. 3. Imo nec omnino peccare potuisse Christum, recte docent l'heologi ex eo fundamento, quia Christus persona erat divina, quam peccare impossibile est.
2:23
23. Qui cum malediceretur, non maledicebat. Graece: oux avxsXotSopsi, non remaledicebat; quomodo Cyprianus Gall. Esui Comm. Tom. III. citat non uno loco. Erasmus vertit: Qui cum maledictis incesseretur, non regessit maledicta. Manifestum id ex historia evangelica; nam subinde vocatus a Judaeis daemoniacus, Samaritanus, utens opera Beelzebub, blasphemus in Deum, vorax acvinipotor, item subversor gentis, et seditiosus in Caesarem, nusquam recriminatus fuisse legitur, nec malum pro malo reddidisse. Namquod dixit Judaeis, Joan. 8.: Vos ex patre diabolo estis, non recriminatio fuit, quia nihil simile prius tunc ei fuerat objectum, sed vera et justa accusatio. Videtur autem etiam hic respicere Petrus ad Jesaiam, de Christo dicente eodem cnp. 53.: Non aperuit os suum; sicut ovis ad occisionem ducetur, etc.
Cum pateretur, non comminabatur, Hoc est: Non minas regerebat in eos, qui plagis aut aliis malis ipsum afficiebant. Lsgitur quidem Christus aliquando minatus fuisse, et vae denuntiasse civitatibus, quae doctrinam ipsius non reciperent, ut Matth. 10. et 11.; item scribis et pharisaeis hypocritis, et doctrinam a Deo traditam corrumpentibus; sed non minatus fuit tunc, quando patiebatur, ne, non ex zelo justitiae, sed affectibus irae et odii commotus, id fecisse videretur.
Tradebat autem judicanti se injuste. Ita legunt omnes Latini codices; ut sensus sit: Tradebat se, nihil contradicens, nec obmurmurans, Pilato judicandum injusto judici. At in Graecis omnibus omnino diversa lectio est: Tradebat autem judicanti juste. Quam et Syrus interpres paraphrastice sic reddit: Sed tradebat judicium suum judici justitiae. Sensus igitur Graecae lectionis est: Christus non se ipsum vindicabat, sed tradebat seu committebat causam suam Deo, qui juste judicat, judicandam et vindicandam. Juxta illud Deuter. 32., a Paulo repetitum Rom. 12. et Hebr. 10.: Mihi vindicta; ego retribuam. Videri potestallusisse B. Petrus ad illud iu persona Chri- &ti dictum a Jeremia cap. 11.: Tu autem, Domine Sabaoth, qui judicas juste, et probas renes et corda; videam ultionem tuam ex eis. Tibi enim revelavi causam meam. Ita et David in Psalmis: Judica me, Domine, et discerne causam meam. Judica, Domine, nocentes me. Id vero est,_dare locum irae, scilicet divinae; quemadmodum praecipit PaulusRom. 12. Verisimile est, interpretem nostrum non aliud vertisse, quam quod in omnibus Graecis legitur; sed cum non intelligeretur, librariorum inscitia jam olim fuisse mutatum in sensum magis obvium. Alioqui certe Augustinus tract. 21. in Joan. cum Graecis convenit, ita legens: Sed commendabat illi, qui juste judicat. Similiter Fulgentius ad Trasimundum cap. 11.: Commendabat autem judicanti juste.
2:24
24. Qui peccata nostra ipse pertuJit in corpore suo super lignum. Pertalit, avVjvsyxsv, sustulit, averbo, avacpspofjiai, sustollo. Hic jam personam secundam mutat in primam, ut non servos solum, sed omnes, ad quos scribit fideles, et in eis totam Ecclesiam, tanti beneficii memorem reddat. Respicit autem ad voces Jesaiae 53.: Vere languores nustros ipsetulitj et dolores nostros ipse portavit. Et posuit Dominus in eo iniquitatem omnium nostrum. Item: Iniquitates eorum ipse portabit. Et ipse peccata multorum tulit, ubi LXX.: avI^vsyxcVj sustulit, idem verbum, quod hoc loco. Deinde etiam ad illud Joannis Baptistae praeconium de Jesu: Ecce agnus Dei, ecce, qui tollit peccatum mundi y Joan. 1. Sed et illud emphaticum: ipse, a Propheta sumptam est, apud quem toties repetitur. Itaque sensus est: Qui ipse per se peccata, non sua, sed nostra, tamquam pondus grave, sustulit ac portavit in suo corpore super lignum crucis, cui erat affixus, id est pendens in cruce, poenas ipse recepit ac persolvit peccatis nostris debitas. JJt peccatis mortui, justitiae vivamus. Mortui, Graece: aTioysvo/jLSvot, id est, defecti, seu defuncti. Qua voce mortuos intelligi, docet antithetum: vivamus, Significat, Christum passum et mortuum esse in cruce, non solum ut peccata nostra tolleret; verum etiam ut ad vitam justitiae et sanctae conversationis nos reformaret, quae est altera pars justificationis nostrae; ad quam, velut finem, prior pars (quae in remissione peccatorum consistit) ordinatur. Continet autem haec pericope tacitam exhortationem: Ut peccatis, inquit, mortui, id est a peccatorum dominio ac reatu soluti, jamque nihil amplius cum peccatis habentes commercii, deinceps justitiae vivamus, id est opera justitiae exerceamus. Quid sit peccato mortuum esse, plenius a nobis expositum est ad illud Rom. 6.: Qui enim mortui sumus peccato etc.
Cujus livore sanati estis. Et hoc sumptum ex eodem capite Jesaiae, ubi dicit, interprete Hieronymo: Disciplina pacis nosfrae super eum, et livore ejus sanati sumus. Pro livore Graece est: ini)A(x>^. Qua voce usi sunt etiam LXX. Significat autem vestigium plagae in cate; Latini vibicem vocant. In Hebraeo legitur: chabburah. Quo vocabulo tumorexplaga surgens significatur. Sed haec affinia sunt, et ad idem significandum adhibita. Notandum etiam, verba B. Petri sic habere: Cujus vibice ejus sanati sumus. Quod Erasmus ita reddidit: Cujus ejusdem vibice sanati sumus. At meo judicio non recte, nec secundum usum Graeci sermonis. Potius dixerim, vel ad emphasim additum esse: auTOU, ipsius, velut superius: ai)zb<z, ipse; vel (quod magis verisimile) pleonasmum esse Hebraeis peculiarem; cujusmodi passim occurrit in Scriptura veteris testamenti, ut Psalm. 73.: Montem Sion, in quo habitasti in eo, et 104.: Aaron, quem elegit ipsum. Ut proinde noster interpres negligendum putaverit, et Hieronymus negligere soleat. Alludit autem Petrus ad livores seu vibices plagarum, quas servi patiuntur ab inclementibus dominis; ideoque redit ad secundam personam, dicens: Sanati estis. Et sensus est: Meminisse vos volo, dum injuste caedimini a dominis vestris, quae Christus pro vobis passus sit; qui etiam non sine gravissima ignominia, servorum more flagris caesus fuit, non ob ullum suum meritum, sed vestri causa. Nam per ejus livores, plagas et vulnera vos sanati estis a plagis peccatorum ve- Btrorum.
2:25
26. Eratis enim sicut oves errantes. Et hic rursum ad Jesaiae locum respicit dicentem eodem capite in totius humani generis persona: Omnes nos quasi oves erravimics; unusguisque in viaw, suam declinavit. Hac similitudine, sumpta ab ove, quae a grege et pastore aberravit, etiam alias utitur Scriptura; ut Psalm. 118.: Erravi, sicut ovis, quaeperiit; item Ezech. 34. et alibi. Chvistus quoque ab ea sumsit parabolam ovis errantis sen perditae, Luc. 15. Significatur autem error sive aberratio hominum a vero pastore Christo, et a grege justorum-, qui error contingit per varia peccatorum genera. Petrus igitur hac parte morbum indicat, a quo sanati sumus. Sicut enim oves abeirantes inopia boni pabuli languescunt ac deficiunt: ita nos alieni a Christo, et peccatorum erroribus impliciti, veram sanitatem, id est justitiam, nesciebamus, nedum habebamus.
Sed conversi esiis nunc ad Pastorem et Episcopum animarum vestrarum. Conversi estis, ab erroribus vestris, id est peccatis, quae vos elongabant a Deo. Pastorem et Episcopum animarum no^ strarum Christum vocat; pastorem qui" dem, quia pascit, regit et fovet nos doctrina et praeceptis evangelicis, salutaribus sacramentis, et sanctissimae vitae suae exemplis; potissimum autem interna suae gratiae inspiratione, ut per haec ad aeternae vitae pascua perducat. EpiscO" pum vero, id est inspectorem, visitatorem et (ut Latine vertunt quidam) curatorem, quia vigilans super nos, et infirmitates atque necessitates nostras considerans, salutis nostrae curam assidue gerit. In eo, quod Christum pastorem nuncupat animarum nostrarum, iterum ad Prophetas respicit; ut ad Jesaiam dicentem cap. 40.: Sicut pastor gregem suum pascet; ac praecipue ad Ezechielem, cujus hoc de Christo illustre vaticinium est cap..34.: Et suscitabo super eas pastorem unum, qui pascat eas, servum meum David; ipse pascet eas, et ipse erit eis in pasforem. Quo loco, Christum etiam Episcopum seu viaitatorem esse suarum ovium, idem Propheta significat, ita loquens in Dei persona: Ecce, ego ipse requiram oves meas et visitabo (Graece l7ccax£'-j;o/jtat) eas. Sicut visitat pastor gregem suum, sic visitabo oves meas etc.
2:1
… Then, forcing and exaggerating the meaning of the words of St. Peter (1 Pet. 2, 1), who calls the Christian people a chosen race, a royal priesthood, a holy nation and a people of acquisition, they concluded that all Christians are priests. …
… "Whoever is the least among all of you, this one is the greatest" (Lk. 9:48). St. Peter recommended being "like newborn babes, without guile, eager for pure spiritual milk," rejecting "all malice, all deceit, every kind of hypocrisy, envy, and slander" (I Pt. 2:1-2).
2:2
… At times it offers itself as the sweetness of God (1 Pt. 2:2-3), an experience of His Goodness that relieves moral weariness (Mt. 11:28), pacifies the heart, renews the inner man (2 Cor. 4:16); at other times it arises as a sudden flame of divine …
2:4
… But you (who believe) are a chosen race, a royal priesthood (βασίλειον ἱεράτευμα), a holy nation, a people reserved as God's own possession" (1 Pt. 2:4-5, 9). The whole passage is metaphorical.
… Pt. 1:3-11), it is like a new nature superimposed on the old man (Rom. 6:6); the very life of Jesus engraved in our mortal flesh (II Cor. 4:10-11). It is opposed to the natural life as light to darkness (Eph. 5:8-9), as a living stone to a dead stone (I Pt. 2:4-5); it is a life blossomed from the word of truth (Jas. 1:16-18), which is identified with the truth (I Jn. 3:19). All this entails in the soul a new entitative form, a radical habit, …
2:9
c) Together with the two preceding affirmations there is the doctrine of the sacrifice of the Mass as the sacrifice of the Church and of the priesthood of the faithful (cf. 1 Pt. 2:9; Pius XII, encyclical Mystici Corporis of 29 June 1943, in AAS, 35 [1943], pp. 232-33).
… freedom, it is a royal and divine conduct according to the formulation of the first Pope: "You are a chosen race, a holy people, a royal priesthood, a people won for proclaiming the virtue of Him who has called you out of darkness into his shining light" (1 Pt. 2:9).
… They wished to see symbolized in it the insertion of the baptized into the genus electum, into the regale sacerdotium, into the gens sancta of which St. Peter speaks (1 Pt 2:9). For the same reason, in the Greek Church it has been considered constitutive of the sacrament of Confirmation: very early it would have been substituted for the apostolic rite of …
… Christ» (ibid. 5:17). From Jesus Christ there springs, through the hierarchy and the priestly ministry, the «perfecting of the saints» (Eph. 4:12). Christ the Head sanctifies the Church his Body (ibid. 5:26; Heb. 2:11). The Church is a «holy nation» (1 Pt. 2:9). This constant flow of graces takes place through the Holy Spirit, the soul of the Church, who distributes the treasures of the supernatural life, inspires the pastors of souls so …
… to affirm an explicit connection between the passage of St. Peter and the prophecy of Malachi regarding the Mass: "We who all believe as one man in God the creator of the universe... are a priestly race (the broadening of the meaning with respect to 1 Pt. 2:9 is noteworthy), as God himself attests when he says that pure and acceptable sacrifices will be offered to him in every place among the nations (Mal. 1:10). Now God accepts sacrifices …
… In this light one better understands the words of St. Peter, who calls the ordinary faithful a chosen race and a royal priesthood (genus electum, regale sacerdotium: I Pt. 2, 9). Since, moreover, Christ's priesthood is eternal, the character, which is its participation and configuration, must endure indelibly even in the next life, as the common view of theologians holds. …
2:10
I. ETYMOLOGY AND NATURE OF THE LAY STATE. - The name layman comes from the Greek word λαός, which St. Peter (I Pt. 2:10) uses to designate the entire Christian people. …
State, Duties of the Individual
… prejudice the higher interests and duties of man; indeed it must be considered as a means subordinate to the higher spiritual exigencies: as a gift granted in order to serve Jesus Christ in one's brethren, making them sharers in those same gifts (cf. 1 Pt. 2:10).
2:11
… The Jewish people too had its militias, and Sacred Scripture refers to military service as an image of man's life on earth, in struggle with his own passions and with the seductions of the external world (Job 7:1; 14:17; II Cor. 10:4; I Tim. 1:18; Jas. 4:1; I Pet. 2:11), and compares the heavenly hierarchies to armed hosts (Deut. 17:3; II Par. 33:3; Isa. 24:21; Jer. 8:7; Luke 3:13; Acts 7:42).
Following the example of Abraham (Gen. 21:23; 23:4), of Moses (Ex. 2:22; Acts 7:29), of Israel drawn by God away from the pagan world (Wis. 18:3; Hab. 3:16: παρενία is a synonym of x.), every Christian is and must feel himself a "stranger" (ξένος) and a "foreigner" (παρενός): 1 Pt. 1:1; 2:11; Heb. 11:13; 13:14); his homeland is the city of God and of the saints (Eph. 2:19; Phil. 3:20). Many ascetics of antiquity practiced voluntary x., wandering ceaselessly. …
2:12
… Hence the Apostles, who labored to have it accepted, did not think at all of contesting for this reason the authority of the established powers: these too are willed by God and are feared only by evildoers (1 Pet. 2, 12-17; Rom. 13, 1-7). The same, moreover, Jesus Christ had already formally taught beforehand: if one must give to God what is God's, one must also give to Caesar what is Caesar's. …
… Pt. 3:10, 12; Apoc. 16:14), "manifestation" (ἐπιφάνεια: 5 times in the pastoral epistles), "revelation" (ἀποκάλυψις: I Cor. 1:7; II Thess. 1:7; I Pt. 1:7, 13; 4:13). It is also called "visitation" (ἐπισκοπή: Lk. 19:44; cf. 1:68, 78; 7:16; I Pt. 2:12 [cf. 5:6]) according to the prophetic expression (pēquddāh: Is. 10:3; Hos. 9:7; Num. 16:29 is "the death that is the lot of all").
2:13
… The Apostles, while recommending subjection to the public powers, however unfaithful (Rom. 13, 1 ff.; Tit. 3, 1; I Pet. 2, 13), in the case of a higher right declare resistance to be a duty (Act. 4, 19; 5, 29; Phil. 1, 13; I Pet. 4, 16) and seal this principle with their blood, followed by the martyrs.
2:17
… whom honor is due (Rom. 12:10). In the family society the stronger party, the husband, will be exhorted to honor the weaker party, the wife (1 Pt. 3:7); in society subjects will be invited to render honor to kings and to persons exercising authority (ibid. 2:17) and the young to honor the aged (1 Tim. 5:17). Whoever fails in this duty makes himself guilty of sin and, in a well-ordered society, also of a crime.
2:19
… Sadness amid the laughter of the world's revelers, shunned and hated by Jews and pagans, will be transformed into joy (Jn. 16:20-22; II Cor. 7:10; I Pt. 2:19; Apoc. 7:17; 21:4). The Messiah comes to console the afflicted (Is. 61:2 nāḥam, Septuagint τοὺς πενθοῦντας; cf. Is. 25:8). As a condition of eternal happiness, the cross of Christ …
2:21
… exhortations (Jn. 5:41; 8:54). Thus one has the serenity of him who has placed his own honor in God's hands, and esteems him immeasurably more than any human glory (ibid., 12:43), drawing closer to the example of Him who "when he was reviled, did not revile" (1 Pt. 2:21-23).
2:22
Holiness of Christ and of Mary
… Jesus firmly asserted that he is without sin (Jn. 8:46; 14:30); an assertion expressed abstractly in II Cor. 5:21; Heb. 4:15; I Jn. 3:5 and I Pt. 2:22. He is the one in whom all others are, and are called, holy (I Cor. 1:2; Phil. 1:1).
2:24
3. Uniqueness of the literal sense. - The rather rare fact that an Old Testament text in the New Testament is applied and explained in different ways (for example, Ps. 2:7, in Acts 13:33 and Heb. 1:5 and 5:5; or Is. 53:4, in Mt. 8:17 and 1 Pt. 2:24), has led various theologians, particularly from the 16th century onward, to admit and defend the theory of pluriliteralism — both the possibility and the fact that at least some scriptural …
… Therefore in the New Testament the cross is called simply "wood" (Acts 5:30; 1 Pet. 2:24; etc.). …
2:25
… (Iob. 20, 20; Sap. 1, 6). In the New Testament the word ἐπίσκοπος is used only five times, four of which designate the superiors of the Christian community (Act. 20, 28; Phil. 1, 1; I Tim. 3, 4; Tit. 1, 7), and one signifies Jesus Christ (I Pt. 2, 25: «episcopus animarum nostrarum»). …
… (cf. Nathan's apologue II Sam. 12, 3-4), the lamb requires as its correlative the shepherd (cf. Dante, Par. IX, 131 ff.; X, 94; XXIX, 106). The Messiah will be a shepherd solicitous for men, a flock without a guide (cf. Mt. 9, 36; Mc. 6, 34; I Pt. 2, 25; Num. 27, 17), he will be the Good Shepherd (Io. 10, 2-16; cf. Lc. 15, 4-6; Mt. 12, 12; 18, 11 ff.) who entrusts his lambs to Peter (Io. 21, 15; τὰ ἀρνία μου).
Douay-Rheims (Challoner) · Vulgata Clementina · original Douay-Rheims (Rheims 1582), transcription by EEBO-TCP (CC0) · La Sacra Bibbia, tradotta dalla Volgata da Antonio Martini (1769-1781) (LaParola (laparola.net), Martini OSIS text, Public domain (LaParola's electronic edition marks it 'Dominio pubblico')). Public domain.