He is ordered to measure the temple. The two witnesses.
S. Iohn measuring the Temple, 3 heareth of tvvo vvitnesses that shal preache: 7 vvhom the beast cōming vp from the sea shal kil, 12 but they rising againe ascend into heauen, 13 and seuen thousand persons are slaine vvith an earthquake: 15 and as the sound of the seuenth Angel, the soure and tvventie seniors giue praise, and thankes to God.
1And there was given me a reed, like unto a rod. And it was said to me: Arise, and measure the temple of God and the altar and them that adore therein.E fummi data una canna come una verga, e fummi detto: sorgi, e misura il tempio di Dio, e l'altare, e quegli, che in esso adorano.AND there vvas giuen me a reede like vnto a rodde: and it vvas said to me, Arise, and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that adore in it.Et datus est mihi calamus similis virgæ, et dictum est mihi: Surge, et metire templum Dei, et altare, et adorantes in eo: 2But the court which is without the temple, cast out and measure it not: because it is given unto the Gentiles. And the holy city they shall tread under foot, two and forty months:Ma l'atrio, che è fuora del tempio, lascialo da parte, e nol misurare: imperocché è stato dato alle genti, e calpesteranno la città santa per quarantadue mesi:but the court vvhich is vvithout the temple, cast forth, & measure not that: because it is giuen to the Gentiles, & they shal treade vnder foote the holy citie two and fourtie monethes:atrium autem, quod est foris templum, ejice foras, et ne metiaris illud: quoniam datum est gentibus, et civitatem sanctam calcabunt mensibus quadraginta duobus: 3And I will give unto my two witnesses: and they shall prophesy, a thousand two hundred sixty days, clothed in sackcloth.Ma darò ai due miei testimoni, che per mille dugento sessanta giorni profetino vestiti di sacco.and I vvil giue to my tvvo vvitnesses, and they shal prophecie a thousand tvvo hundred sixtie daies, clothed vvith facke-clothes.et dabo duobus testibus meis, et prophetabunt diebus mille ducentis sexaginta, amicti saccis. 4These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks that stand before the Lord of the earth.Questi sono i due ulivi, e i due cancellieri posti davanti al Signore della terra.These are the two oliue trees and the tvvo candlestickes that stand in the sight of the Lord of the earth.Hi sunt duæ olivæ et duo candelabra in conspectu Domini terræ stantes. 5And if any man will hurt them, fire shall come out of their mouths and shall devour their enemies. And if any man will hurt them, in this manner must he be slain.E se alcuno vorrà offenderli, uscirà fuoco dalle loro bocche, che divorerà i lor nemici: imperocché in tal guisa fa d'uopo, che sia ucciso chi vorrà far loro alcun male.And if any man vvil hurt them, fire shal come forth out of their mouthes, and shal deuoure their enemies. and if any man vvil hurt them: so must he be slaine.Et si quis voluerit eos nocere, ignis exiet de ore eorum, et devorabit inimicos eorum: et si quis voluerit eos lædere, sic oportet eum occidi.
6These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of their prophecy: And they have power over waters, to turn them into blood and to strike the earth with all plagues, as often as they will.Questi hanno potestà di chiudere il cielo, sicché non piova nel tempo del lor profetare: e hanno potestà sopra le acque, per cangiarle in sangue, e di percuoter la terra con qualunque piaga, ogni volta che vogliano.These haue power to shut heauen, that it raine not in the daies of their prophecie: and they haue povver ouer the vvaters to turne them into bloud, and to strike the earth vvith al plague as often as they vvil.Hi habent potestatem claudendi cælum, ne pluat diebus prophetiæ ipsorum: et potestatem habent super aquas convertendi eas in sanguinem, et percutere terram omni plaga quotiescumque voluerint. 7And when they shall have finished their testimony, the beast that ascendeth out of the abyss shall make war against them and shall overcome them and kill them.Finito poi che abbian di rendere testimonianza, la bestia, che vien su dall'abisso, muoverà ad essi guerra, e gli supererà, e gli ucciderà.And vvhen they shal haue finished their testimonie: the beast vvhich ascended from the depth, shal make vvarre against them, and shal ouercome them, and kil them.Et cum finierint testimonium suum, bestia, quæ ascendit de abysso, faciet adversum eos bellum, et vincet illos, et occidet eos. 8And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city which is called spiritually, Sodom and Egypt: where their Lord also was crucified.E i corpi loro giaceranno nella piazza della città grande, che si chiama spiritualmente Sodoma, ed Egitto, dove anche il Signore di essi fu crocifisso.And their bodies shal lie in the streates of the great citie, vvhich is called spiritually Sodom and Aegypt, vvhere their Lord also vvas crucified.Et corpora eorum jacebunt in plateis civitatis magnæ, quæ vocatur spiritualiter Sodoma, et Ægyptus, ubi et Dominus eorum crucifixus est. 9And they of the tribes and peoples and tongues and nations shall see their bodies for three days and a half: and they shall not suffer their bodies to be laid in sepulchres.E gente di ogni tribù, popolo, lingua, nazione vedranno i loro corpi per tre dì e mezzo: e non permetteranno, che i loro corpi siano seppelliti.And there shal of tribes, and peoples, and tonges, and Gentiles, see their bodies for three daies and a halfe: and they shal not suffer their bodies to be laid in monuments.Et videbunt de tribubus, et populis, et linguis, et gentibus corpora eorum per tres dies et dimidium: et corpora eorum non sinent poni in monumentis:
10And they that dwell upon the earth shall rejoice over them and make merry: and shall send gifts one to another, because these two prophets tormented them that dwelt upon the earth.E gli abitanti della terra goderanno, e si rallegreranno sopra di essi: e sì manderanno vicendevolmente de' presenti, perché questi due profeti hanno dato tormento agli abitatori della terra.and the inhabitants of the earth shal be glad vpon them, and make merie: and shal send giftes one to an other, because these tvvo prophets tormented them that dvvelt vpon the earth.et inhabitantes terram gaudebunt super illos, et jucundabuntur: et munera mittent invicem, quoniam hi duo prophetæ cruciaverunt eos, qui habitabant super terram. 11And after three days and a half, the spirit of life from God entered into them. And they stood upon their feet: and great fear fell upon them that saw them.Ma dopo tre giorni, e mezzo lo spirito di vita, che vien da Dio, entrò in essi. E si alzarono in piedi, e un timore gagliardo cadde sopra chi gli vide.And after three daies and a halfe, the spirit of life from God entred into them. And they stoode vpon their seete, and great feare fel vpon them that savv them.Et post dies tres et dimidium, spiritus vitæ a Deo intravit in eos. Et steterunt super pedes suos, et timor magnus cecidit super eos qui viderunt eos. 12And they heard a great voice from heaven, saying to them: Come up hither. And they went up to heaven in a cloud: and their enemies saw them.E udirono una gran voce dal cielo, che disse loro: salite quassù. E salirono in una nuvola al cielo: e gli videro i loro nemici.And they heard a loud voice from heauen saying to them, Come vp hither. And they vvent vp into heauen in a cloude: and their enemies savv them.Et audierunt vocem magnam de cælo, dicentem eis: Ascendite huc. Et ascenderunt in cælum in nube: et viderunt illos inimici eorum. 13And at that hour there was made a great earthquake: and the tenth part of the city fell. And there were slain in the earthquake, names of men, seven thousand: and the rest were cast into a fear and gave glory to the God of heaven.E in quel punto accadde un gran tremuoto, e rovesciò la decima parte della città: e furono uccisi nel tremuoto settemila capi d'uomini: e il restante furono spaventati, e dettero gloria al Dio del cielo.And in that houre there vvas made a great earthquake: and the tenth part of the citie fel: and there vvere slaine in the earthquake names of men seuen thousand: and the rest vvere cast into a feare, and gaue glorie to the God of heauen.Et in illa hora factus est terræmotus magnus, et decima pars civitatis cecidit: et occisa sunt in terræmotu nomina hominum septem millia: et reliqui in timorem sunt missi, et dederunt gloriam Deo cæli.
14The second woe is past: and behold the third woe will come quickly.Il secondo guai è passato: ed ecco che tosto verrà il terzo guai.The second vvoe is gone: and behold the third vvoe vvil come quickly.Væ secundum abiit: et ecce væ tertium veniet cito. 15And the seventh angel sounded the trumpet: and there were great voices in heaven, saying: The kingdom of this world is become our Lord’s and his Christ’s, and he shall reign for ever and ever. Amen.E il settimo Angelo diè fiato alla tromba: e grandi voci si alzarono in cielo, che dicevano: il regno di questo mondo è diventato (regno) del Signor nostro, e del suo Cristo, e regnerà pe' secoli de' secoli: così sia.And the seuenth Angel sounded with a trompet: and there vvere made loude voices in heauen saying, The kingdom of this vvorld is made our Lords & his Christs, and he shal reigne for euer and euer. Amen.Et septimus angelus tuba cecinit: et factæ sunt voces magnæ in cælo dicentes: Factum est regnum hujus mundi, Domini nostri et Christi ejus, et regnabit in sæcula sæculorum. Amen. 16And the four and twenty ancients who sit on their seats in the sight of God, fell on their faces and adored God, saying:E ventiquattro seniori, i quali seggono ne' troni loro nel cospetto dì Dio, si prostraron bocconi, e adorarono Dio, dicendo:And the foure and tvventie seniours vvhich sitte on their seates in the sight of God, fel on their faces, and adored God,Et viginti quatuor seniores, qui in conspectu Dei sedent in sedibus suis, ceciderunt in facies suas, et adoraverunt Deum, dicentes: 17We give thee thanks, O Lord God Almighty, who art and who wast and who art to come: because thou hast taken to thee thy great power, and thou hast reigned.Grazie rendiamo a te. Signore Dio onnipotente, che sei, e che eri, e che verrai: perché hai fatto uso della potenza tua grande, ed hai acquistato il regno.saying: Vve thanke thee Lord God omnipotent, vvhich art, and vvhich vvast, and vvhich shalt come: because thou hast receiued thy great povver, and hast reigned.Gratias agimus tibi, Domine Deus omnipotens, qui es, et qui eras, et qui venturus es: quia accepisti virtutem tuam magnam, et regnasti. 18And the nations were angry: and thy wrath is come. And the time of the dead, that they should be judged and that thou shouldest render reward to thy servants the prophets and the saints, and to them that fear thy name, little and great: and shouldest destroy them who have corrupted the earth.E le genti si sono adirate, ed è comparsa l'ira tua, e il tempo de' morti, perché sian giudicati, e di render mercede ai profeti tuoi servi, e a' santi, e a quei, che temono il nome tuo, piccoli, e grandi, e di mandare in perdizione quegli, che mandan in perdizione la terra.And the Gentiles vvere angrie, and thy vvrath is come, and the time of the dead, to be iudged, and to tender revvard to thy seruants the prophets and sainctes, and to them that feare thy name, litle and great, and to destroy them that haue corrupted the earth.Et iratæ sunt gentes, et advenit ira tua et tempus mortuorum judicari, et reddere mercedem servis tuis prophetis, et sanctis, et timentibus nomen tuum pusillis et magnis, et exterminandi eos qui corruperunt terram.
19And the temple of God was opened in heaven: and the ark of his testament was seen in his temple. And there were lightnings and voices and an earthquake and great hail.Ed aprissi il tempio di Dio nel cielo: e vide si l'arca del suo testamento nel suo tempio, e v'avvennero folgori, e grida, e tremuoti, e grandine molta.And the temple of God vvas opened in heauen: and the arke of his testament vvas seen in his temple, and there vvere made lightenings, and voices, and an earthquake and greate haile.Et apertum est templum Dei in cælo: et visa est arca testamenti ejus in templo ejus, et facta sunt fulgura, et voces, et terræmotus, et grando magna.
11:1
The apostle is ordered to measure the temple. Two prophets are promised, to teach mankind. They are put to death, and in three days and a half after they are raised to life, and ascend to heaven. A great earthquake follows. The seventh Angel sounds the trumpet. The elders give thanks to God.
Witham
Measure the temple, etc. This is to signify that the divine Providence would always protect his faithful servants, who are called the temple of God; (1 Corinthians 3:17.; 2 Corinthians 6:16.) but by the outward court not to be measured, because it is given to the Gentiles, etc. (Apocalypse11:2) is commonly understood idolaters, infidels, heretics, who are not in the temple of God, nor in his Church. It is an allusion to the Jewish temple, and the different divisions of it, the Gentiles not being permitted to enter into the temple itself, but only into that outward part called the court of the Gentiles. (Witham)
Pastorini
The churches consecrated to the true God, are so much diminished in number, that they are represented by St. John as one church; its ministers officiate at one altar; and all the true faithful are so few, with respect to the bulk of mankind, that the evangelist sees them assembled in one temple, to pay their adorations to the Most High. (Pastorini)
11:2
The holy city they shall tread under foot forty-two months.[Ver. 2, etc. Atrium autem quod est foris, ten aulen exothen, not esothen, as in some manuscripts.
Witham
Dr. Wells, when he tells us, on the third verse of this chapter, that the consent of the primitive Church and their unexceptionable authority, require that by the two witnesses we understand Henoch[Enoch] and Elias[Elijah], seems to be convinced of it by the authority (as he imagines) of Dr. Grabe. This we find by his own words, (p. 79) "I shall hear," saith he, "adjoin a note of the late most learned and pious divine, Dr. Grabe, in reference to this matter, in a passage of St. Irenaeus, lib. v., ch. V. It is note 4, in p. 405, Oxon. Edit. and runs thus in the doctor's own words: Disputationem de loco in quam Deus transtulerit et huc usque viventes conservarit Enochum et Eliam Augustinus indicavit ad fidem non pertinere, at cum hic Irenaeus doceat Apostolorum discipulos et (N. B.[Nota Bene, Note Well?]) auditores dixisse, etc. And the note in Dr. Wells ends with these words: Plures alios legendo notes licet. After this Dr. W.[Wells] adds: I have taken the pains to transcribe all these citations, that the reader may see how generally the Fathers do agree in this matter. And the same Dr. Wells a little after: Whereupon, saith he, the good doctor (Grabe) adds in reference to himself: mihi parum tutum videtur aliter nunc sentire. And had all others the like due esteem for the Fathers, and the like modest opinion of themselves, there would quickly be taken away that great and unhappy difference of opinions, which is now in the Church, as to points of religion." I wish, no less than Dr. Wells, that all others had the like due esteem of the Fathers, and the like modest opinion of themselves as the author of this note, and he who writ, mihi parum tutum videtur aliter nunc sentire. By such dispositions of submission to the doctrine delivered or witnessed by the consent of the primitive Fathers, might be quickly taken away the unhappy differences in points of religion betwixt us, and all pretended reformers, who, by setting up their private judgment against the authority of the Catholic Church, have brought in these differences. Luther led the way: I care not, said he, if a thousand Cyprians, a thousand Augustines, are against me, etc. But I am fully persuaded that Dr. W. did not know that all this Latin note, with the citations of the Fathers, and with those words upon them, (mihi parum tutum videtur aliter nunc sentire) are not the words of the learned and pious divine, Dr. Grabe, but are found word for word in the third note of Franciscus Feuardentius, in his Paris edition of St. Irenaeus, in the year 1576, p. 322, from whence they were taken above a hundred years after by Dr. Grabe. Had Dr. W. taken notice that they were the words of so warm an adversary of the pretended reformation as Feuardentius, I doubt whether he would have given such high commendations of the true author, with an N. B. on those words of Feuardentius, mihi parum tutum videtur, etc. But I am glad that Dr. Grabe and Dr. Wells are of the same judgment with the author of the note.] That is, Gentiles and Jews shall be permitted to persecute the Church and the faithful servants of God; but only for a short time, expressed by forty-two months, as elsewhere by twelve hundred and sixty days, and also by a time, and times, and half a time, which, as St. Jerome observes, is for a year, and two years, and half a year, which three different ways of speaking by years, by months, and by days, are only to signify that God never permits his faithful to be under any violent persecution for any long time. (Witham)
11:3
Witham
My two witnesses....shall prophesy twelve hundred and sixty days. It is a very common interpretation, that by these two witnesses must be understood Henoch[Enoch] and Elias[Elijah], who are to come before the end of the world. It is true this is what we read in several of the ancient Fathers, insomuch, that Dr. Wells, in his paraphrase, calls it the "consent of the primitive fathers," and in his notes says, it is of "unexceptionable authority." This opinion (at least as to Elias) is grounded on those words of the prophet Malachy, (Malachias 4:5.) behold, I will send you Elias, the prophet, before the coming of the great and dreadful day of the Lord; and also on the words of our Saviour, Christ, (Matthew 17:11.) where he tells his disciples: Elias indeed shall come, and restore all things. But I cannot say that the consent of the fathers is so unanimous as to Henoch: for we find by St. Hilary, that some thought Jeremy[Jeremiah] was to come with Elias, and he himself thought that with Elias would come Moses. See his commentary on Matt., p. 710, Nov. edit. Secondly, allowing it a received opinion that Henoch and Elias are again to come before the day of judgment, yet it is not the constant doctrine of the ancient fathers, that by these two witnesses in this place of the Apocalypse, must be understood Henoch and Elias. St. Cyprian expounds it of two sorts of martyrs for the Catholic faith; to wit, they who suffer death, and others who only suffered imprisonment, loss of goods, and the like. Others expound it of the testimonies concerning Christ and his Church, of which some are in the Old Testament, some in the New. To these we must join all those interpreters who expound all the visions and predictions in the Apocalypse, till the 20th chapter, of the persecutions raised by the Jews: or by the heathens against the Church, which have already happened. Of these, both as to ancient fathers and later interpreters, see Alcazar in his Prologomena, note 6, p. 33, and note 12, p. 48. (Witham)
Challoner
Two witnesses. It is commonly understood of Henoch and Elias. (Challoner)
11:4
Witham
These are the two olive-trees, flourishing with works of piety and mercy, and the two candlesticks shining with faith and good works. (Witham)
11:5
Witham
And if any man would hurt them, etc. These two verses seem to signify both the miracles which God many times wrought by the prayers of his martyrs, as he had done formerly in the time of Elias[Elijah] and the exemplary punishments with which from time to time he chastised those by whom they were persecuted, and that he will do the like by Henoch[Enoch] and Elias, when they shall come. (Witham)
Pastorini
In this and the following verse are expressed the miraculous powers with which the two witnesses will be invested. These powers will be necessary to enable them to prove the truth of their doctrine. Every messenger who appears with a commission from God, is always furnished with means to prove it. Thus our Saviour and his apostles worked miracles in testimony of the Christian religion. And in the Old Testament, Elias convicted the false prophets by a miracle. See 3 Kings xviii. Every new teacher consequently, who comes destitute of this sanction, can claim no credit, but is only to be considered as an imposter. (Pastorini)
11:7
Witham
The beast, etc. God, for the greater good and glory of his servants, permits the devil by antichrist, and such like instruments, to torment them, and put them to death; and yet by dying they conquer, to the eternal confusion of their persecutors, who shall behold them going up to heaven, to be there happy with God in his kingdom for ever. (Witham)
Pastorini
Antichrist, impelled by Satan, shall kill them. (Pastorini)
11:8
Their bodies shall lie in the streets. It is what has often happened to the bodies of the martyrs, and may happen to Henoch[Enoch] and Elias[Elijah], for three days and a half, for a short time.
Witham
The great city. Some understand any city where Christians are persecuted. Others by the following words, where also their Lord was crucified, will needs have to be understood Jerusalem, which they hold shall be rebuilt in the time of antichrist, and where by him shall be put to death Henoch and Elias. But others think it may be expounded of heathen Rome, which in a mystical sense might be called Sodom for its infamous crimes, and Egypt for its idolatries and superstitions, where Christ might be said to be crucified, not as to himself, but in his members, according to what he himself said, Matthew 25:40., "inasmuch as you did it to one of these, my least brethren, you did it to me." (Witham)
Menochius
City; Jerusalem, which it is supposed will be the residence of antichrist, and filled with a great concourse of people. (Menochius)
11:10
Witham
The inhabitants of the earth shall rejoice, etc. The persecutors rejoice and make merry for a while, when they seem to get the better of the Christians. Dioclesian caused pillars to be erected to him, as if he had destroyed the Christian religion; and when, by his cruelties he saw the faith of Christ, still increase more and more, he fell into a kind of madness, and laid down his empire. See Baron.[Baronius] ad an. Dni. 304[A.D. 304], p. 771. (Witham)
11:11
Witham
The spirit of life from God entered into them, etc. It is an allusion to a vision in the prophet Ezechiel, Ezechiel xxxvii. (Witham)
11:13
Witham
A great earthquake. By which may be signified the consternation that fell upon the persecutors of Christians, when by God's visible chastisements, seven thousand (that is, many of them) perished miserably; others were struck with fear, others converted. (Witham)
11:14
Witham
These visions belonged to the second woe, and the third woe is at hand. (Witham)
Second woe; the persecution of antichrist.
Pastorini
Third woe, or the day of judgment, is near at hand. (Pastorini)
11:15
Witham
The seventh Angel, etc. The saints and blessed spirits in heaven are represented praising God with loud voices, at the approaching of the kingdom of God; some understand at the end and consummation of the wicked world, after the destruction of antichrist, when the blessed shall reign in heaven: but others expound this of the triumph of the Christian faith and Church, when the providence of God putting an end to the persecutions against the Christian religion, by the miserable end of Dioclesian, Maximian, Maxentius, etc., made the kingdom of this world (the powerful Roman empire) become the kingdom of our Lord, by his raising Constantine the great to the empire, and under him making the faith of Christ triumph over all its persecutors and adversaries. (Witham)
11:19
Witham
The temple of God was opened....the ark of his testament was seen; which P. Alleman applies to the cross that appeared in the air to Constantine. Such applications may be probable, but cannot be called certain. (Witham)
11:3
11:2
Three yeres and a halfe. vvhich is the time of Antichrists reigne and persecution.
11:3
3. My tvvo vvitnesses.] Enoch and Elias, Enoch & Elias yet aliue, shal preach in the time of Antichrist. as it is commonly expounded. for, that Elias shal come againe before the later day, it is a most notorious knovven thing (to vse S. Augustines vvordes) in the mouthes and hartes of faithful men. See li. 20 de Ciuit. Dei c. 29. Tract. 4 in Ioan. and both of Enoch and Elias, Lib. 1 de pec. merit. c. 3. So the rest of the Latin Doctors. as, S. Hierom ad Pāmach ep. 61 c. 11. & in Psal. 20. S. Ambrose in Psal. 45. S. Hilarie 20 can. in Mat. Prospet li. vltim• de Promissionibus c. 13. S Gregorie li. 14. Moral. c. 11. & he. 12 in Ezech. Beda in 9 Marci. The Greeke fathers also, as S. Chrysostom he. 58 in Mat. & ho. 4 in 2 Thessal. & ho. 21 in Genes. & ho. 22 in ep. ad Hebr. Theophylacte and Occumenius in 17 Matthai. S. Damascene li. 4 de Orthodoxa fide c. 27.
Furthermore, that they liue also in Paradise, it is partly gathered out of the Scripture Ecclici 44. 16. vvhere it is plainely said of Enoch, that he is translated into Paradise, as al our Latin exemplars do reade: and of Elias, that he vvas taken vp aliue, it is euident 4 Reg. 2. And S. Irenaeus saith, it is the tradition of the Apostles, that they be both there. li. 5 in initio. Dicunt Presbyteri (saith he) qui sunt Apostolorum Discipuli. So say the Priests or Auncients that are the scholers of the Apostles. See S. Iustine q. 85 ad orthodoxos. Finally, that they shal returne into the companie of men in the end of the vvorld, to preache against Antichrist, and to inutie both Ievves and Gentiles to penance, and so be martyred, as this place of the Apocalypse seemeth plaine, so vve haue in part other testimonies hereof. Malac. 4. Ecclci 44, 16. 48, 10. Mat. 17, 11. See also Hyppolytus booke of Antichrist and the end of the vvorld. Al vvhich being vvel considered, the Heretikes are to contentious and incredulous, to discredite the same, as they commonly doe.
11:7
The great Antichrist.
11:8
He meaneth Hierusalem, named Sodom and Aegypt for the imitatiō of thē in wickednes. So that we see his cheefe reigne shal be there, though his tyrannie may extend to al places of the vvorld.
11:10
The wicked reioyce, vvhen holy men are executed by the tyrants of the vvorld, because their life and doctrine are hurdenous vnto them.
11:15
The kingdō of this world vsurped before by Satan & Antichrist, shal aftervvard be Christes for euer.
11:18
To repay the hire or wages (for so both the Greeke vvord and the latin signifie) due to holy men, proueth against the protestāts, that they did truely merite the same in this life.
11:2
St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 46.6
… Ten lines earlier in the apocalypse it is written: “Rise and measure the temple of God, and the altar, and them that worship therein. But the court which is without the temple leave out and measure it not; for it is given unto the Gentiles; and the holy city shall they tread under foot forty and two months.”
11:3
Tertullian † AD 220 A Treatise on the Soul 50
… Such power was not accorded to the great Medea herself—over a human being at any rate, if allowed her over a silly sheep. Enoch no doubt was translated, and so was Elijah; nor did they experience death: it was postponed, (and only postponed,) most certainly: they are reserved for the suffering of death, that by their blood they may extinguish Antichrist.
St Hippolytus † AD 235 On Daniel 2.39
… He shall cut off the two witnesses and forerunners of Christ, who proclaim His glorious kingdom from heaven, as it is said: “And I will give (power) unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 Treatise on Christ and Antichrist 47
47. For John says, “And I will give power unto my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy a thousand two hundred and threescore days, clothed in sackcloth.”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 Treatise on Christ and Antichrist 61
… And to the woman were given two wings of the great eagle, that she might fly into the wilderness, where she is nourished for a time, and times, and half a time, from the face of the serpent.”
St Hippolytus † AD 235 A discourse by the most blessed Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, on the end of the world, and on Antichrist, and on the second coming of our lord Jesus Christ 21
… So then His second advent is declared to be in glory; for He comes from heaven with power, and angels, and the glory of His Father. His first advent had John the Baptist as its forerunner; and His second, in which He is to come in glory, will exhibit Enoch, and Elias, and John the Divine.
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St Hippolytus † AD 235 Treatise on Christ and Antichrist 47
… and have power over waters, to turn them to blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will. And when they shall have finished their course and their testimony,” what saith the prophet? “the beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall make war against them, and shall overcome them, and kill them,”
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St Hippolytus † AD 235 A discourse by the most blessed Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, on the end of the world, and on Antichrist, and on the second coming of our lord Jesus Christ 21
… “And if any man will hurt them, fire will proceed out of their mouth, and devour their enemies. These have power to shut heaven, that it rain not in the days of the advent of Antichrist, and to turn waters into blood, and to smite the earth with all plagues as often as they will.”
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St Jerome † AD 420 The Letters of St. Jerome 46.6
6. How, then, you will say, do we read in the apocalypse written by John: “The beast that ascendeth out of the bottomless pit shall…kill them [that is, obviously, the prophets], and their dead bodies shall lie in the street of the great city which spiritually is called Sodom and Egypt, where also their Lord was crucified?”
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Novatian † AD 258 A Treatise of Novatian Concerning the Trinity 20
… And in the former case indeed this name is given with reserve, in the latter lavishly; in the former by measure, in the latter above all kind of measure: “For,” it is said, “the Father giveth not to the Son by measure, for the Father loveth the Son.” In the former for the time, in the latter without reference to time;
St Ambrose of Milan † AD 397 On the Decease of His Brother Satyrus 2.105
… We read of seven trumpets in the Revelation of John, which seven angels received. And there you read that when the seventh angel sounded his trumpet, there was a great voice from heaven, saying: “The kingdom of this world is become the kingdom of our God and of His Christ, and He shall reign for ever and ever.”
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St Cyprian of Carthage † AD 258 Three Books of Testimonies Against the Jews 3.21
… because Thou hast taken Thy great power, and hast reigned. And the nations were angry, and Thy wrath is come, and the time in which it should be judged concerning the dead, and the reward should be given to Thy servants the prophets, and the saints that fear Thy name, small and great; and to disperse those who have corrupted the earth.”
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St Irenaeus of Lyons † AD 202 Against Heresies 4.18.6
… thus is it, therefore, also His will that we, too, should offer a gift at the altar, frequently and without intermission. The altar, then, is in heaven (for towards that place are our prayers and oblations directed); the temple likewise [is there], as John says in the Apocalypse, “And the temple of God was opened:”
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This reed was not a writing reed, but a measuring reed, namely a cane for measuring the temple, by which again he measures the heavenly Jerusalem cap. XXI, vers. 16 and 17, and concerning it he says that it is "the measure of a man," which Alcazar thus expounds: Because, he says, the measure of a man is a reed. For the reed was six cubits: and so many cubits of his own is every man rightly formed, because a cubit is not a quarter, as others wish, but the sixth part of the stature of man: therefore six cubits are the measure of the stature of man. For Hippocrates, Aristotle and Galen call πηχύν, that is a cubit, the principal bone of the arm, which extends from the lowest part of the hand to the bending of the arm. Therefore the measure of the cubit excludes the hand itself, and the same is the measure as the foot, and as the head; for the head rightly formed is the sixth part of man, and consequently is a cubit. Thus far Alcazar. But this can be said physically, not geometrically: for St. Jerome and the ancients everywhere call a cubit the measure, which extends from the bending of the arm to the extremity of the hand and fingers, which is the fourth part of the stature of man. Again, Alcazar by "reed" or "measuring rod," which was the old measure of the old Adam, and therefore greater than the reed of the later age, understands the passion and cross of the second Adam, that is Christ, which surpassed all the passions of the later Martyrs; wherefore Christ by this reed, that is the cross, measured and erected the fabric of his temple, that is the Church. "I judge therefore," he himself says, "that measure in cap. XI to be the measure of afflictions which the servants of Christ endure for him, and especially which the faithful of the primitive Church suffered: but the measure in cap. XXI to be the measure of glory which the Blessed enjoy in their homeland, by which it is signified, that perfection in virtue and glory is not ascended to, except through great crosses and the endurance of immense labors." For this is the measure of a man, so as to denote that children are and as it were pygmies, who are led by another, namely a softer and gentler way. Whence also concerning that person who was to measure the temple Ezekiel, XL, 3, it is said: "A man whose appearance was as the appearance of brass." This man was Christ, in passion and cross carnal in nature, but brazen in strength. The altar of holocaust both here and in Ezekiel signifies the devotion and fervor of the first Christians, offering themselves to God for martyrdom in the persecution of the Jews. The sense therefore is, as if to say, Measure, O John, the magnitude of the altar of holocaust of the primitive Church, that is, gather and comprehend how much the Church was increased, enlarged and exalted by the magnitude of persecution, so that that mystical altar (that is that immense devotion to martyrdom) would be absolute in all respects, and therefore most pleasing to God, equally as most glorious to the Church. Thus he himself subtly and piously according to his scope and purpose. But less soundly. For first, he deviates from the genuine scope of the Apocalypse, as I have often said. Second, the reed is not the measure of a man, but exceeds it by two cubits, as I taught a little before from the common opinion of the Doctors. The reed therefore here for measuring was precisely six cubits and a palm: a palm, that is, four fingers placed transversely, as Ezech. XL, 3 expressly asserts, to which place this alludes. This reed was similar to a rod, first, so as to signify the equity and rectitude of divine measure and justice. Second, so that we might fear God the judge, as being prepared immediately to believe him guilty whom he found guilty, or less having in measuring, says Viegas. Third, as Nicholas Zegerus, this reed was similar to a rod, that is a royal scepter, because it pertains to God as it were to the king of the world to measure men, that is to judge them, and according to merit either to reward or to punish them. And It Was Said To Me. — In Greek λέγων, that is "saying," as if the reed were speaking. But by a Hebraism, that is, by Hebrew antiptosis, the nominative is put for the genitive, "of the one saying" for "saying." Whence Vatable translates, "by the one saying to me." Hence the Complutensians read: καὶ ἔστη ὁ ἄγγελος λέγων, that is, "and the Angel stood saying." Measure the Temple of God, and the Altar, and those that adore therein. — This signifies the old Jewish temple, but by this is understood the Church. Now the temple had two parts, one which was open to priests and Levites alone: this began from the court of the priests, which was called the inner court, and extended through the Holy Place, by which one proceeded to the Holy of Holies. The other was the outer court, which was as it were the temple of the laity. The former part was called the temple of God, because in it was the altar of holocausts in the court itself; but in the Holy Place was the altar of incense, on which incense was offered, as victims were offered on that one. Now those adoring therein are priests and Levites. In this former part of the temple, therefore, and in those adoring, namely the priests, are signified symbolically the faithful, who in the time of Antichrist will be in the Church the best, most religious, most united to God and most steadfast in His worship. John is commanded to measure these, that is, to number them, because these will not yield to Antichrist, but will persevere in the faith unto the end, and therefore will be chosen for glory. For this symbolic and imaginary measurement of the temple, which is here prescribed to John in the vision, signifies only these. For this temple signifies the holy Church, which so constantly fights for God that it is soon to be triumphant. John therefore measures and numbers here the Church militant at the end of the world, and soon to be triumphant. Thus Arethas, Richard and Oecumenius. Moreover, Arethas again takes by "temple" the Church of the Old Testament; by "court," the Church of Christ, which is commanded to be cast out, that is, to be freed from the observances and burdens of the old law. But this is not literal, nor pertinent to the present matter.
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He understands the outer court, or the temple of the laity, which because it was more remote from either altar, signified thereby weaker Christians and those of a more lax life, and therefore more remote from God. These (he says) "cast out abroad," that is, outside the Church, as if to say, Reject them among the infidels and apostates, because these shall yield to the Gentiles, that is, to Antichrist and his followers. Whence they are unworthy to be measured or numbered among the faithful. Thus Richard. He alludes to the outermost court of the temple, which was called the court of the Gentiles, because Gentiles could dwell in it, as if to say, The Gentiles shall not only occupy their own court, but also the court of Israel, that is of the faithful, and shall lay it waste. Note the catachresis, "cast out abroad," that is, reject, repudiate, despise, do not number and measure it. For this court was outside; therefore properly it could not be cast out abroad. Wherefore some Greek codices, which Erasmus and Vatable cite and follow, read ἔσωθεν, that is "within," for "abroad." Others, which Our author follows, everywhere read ἔξωθεν, that is "abroad"; both are true. For this court of the Jews was outside, with respect to the court of the priests; the same was within, with respect to the court of the Gentiles. For it was in the temple of the faithful people, and therefore it was itself the temple of the faithful laity. Otherwise Ambrose: for he thinks this court was given to the Gentiles, because the Jews on account of their unbelief were joined with pagan Gentiles. "Or for this reason," he says, "are they said to be delivered to the Gentiles, because they were delivered to the Romans, that they might be destroyed by them." Thus also Primasius, Pannonius and others understand by "court" heretics, schismatics and Jews, whom God commands to be expelled from the Church. But Andrew understands by "temple" the faithful, by "court" the unfaithful. Tropologically Alcazar (although he himself thinks it to be the literal sense) the outer court, or that which is outside, signifies the external goods of the faithful, such as fortunes, honors, magistracies, health, life, and finally whatever is subject to profane violence. These the faithful are commanded to cast out abroad, that is, to renounce from themselves, and to turn their mind away from them, and to give them as prey to the unfaithful persecuting the Church and the faithful. By which it is hinted that the Gentiles shall invade all the temporal goods of the faithful, and shall inflict upon the faithful themselves such calamities, that there shall remain to them neither the form of the commonwealth, nor the advantages of citizens, nor houses or possessions. But the inner court, that is the Church itself, faith, religion and Christian virtue in the faithful shall remain unharmed; nor shall it come into the power of enemies; but rather shall flourish more through persecutions, so that the Church as a magnificent temple of God shall rise to the greatest amplitude and glory. Thus St. Gregory, XXVIII Moral., VI: "What," he says, "else does the court signify but the breadth of the present life? And rightly those who are designated by the court are outside the temple. And therefore they are not to be measured, because narrow is the gate that leads to life; and the breadth of the life of the wicked is not admitted to the measures and rules of the elect." And The Holy City They Shall Tread Under Foot (The Church, which he previously called temple and court, he here calls the holy city, as if to say, Antichrist and the Antichristians shall pervert, lay waste and possess the greatest part of the Church) For Forty-Two Months,—that is, three years and a half (for if you give to each year twelve months, you will find forty-two months to make three years and a half), as Daniel predicted in cap. VII, vers. 25: "They shall be," he says, "delivered into his hand (of Antichrist) until a time, and times, and half a time," that is for a year and two years, and half a year. See the things said there. Otherwise Alcazar: for he thinks that by three years and a half, symbolically is signified the whole time in which the Jews persecuted Christ and the primitive Church, which was forty years, namely from Christ preaching and being crucified by the Jews in the year of his age 34, until Jerusalem was destroyed by Titus, which happened in the year of Christ 72.
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And I Will Give (namely the office of prophesying, and together with it the spirit, courage, ardor, a mouth and wisdom which no one can resist) To My Two Witnesses, and They Shall Prophesy, — that is, so that they may prophesy. For thus the particle "and" is often placed with the future tense for "so that," as happens in Psalm 50, 20: "Do well, O Lord, in thy good will to Sion, and the walls of thy Jerusalem shall be built," (that is, so that they may be built). And Psalm 79, verse 4: "O God, convert us, and show us thy face, and we shall be saved," that is, so that we may be saved. Psalm 54, 7: "Who will give me wings like a dove, and I will fly," that is, so that I may fly. Now "they shall prophesy," that is, they shall teach, evangelize, dispute against Antichrist and his defenders: and so that they may establish faith in their words, they shall also truly prophesy, that is, they shall predict future things, and shall perform other miracles; for all these things pertain to prophecy, and are signified in Scripture by "to prophesy," as I have said in the preface to the Prophets. Two Witnesses. — First, some understand by these two witnesses not two individual men, but two kinds of witnesses. Whence Pannonius asserts that these two witnesses are the doctors and preachers of the Church, who teach and preach the two Testaments, namely the new and the old. And Arias Montanus thinks that these two witnesses are the law and prophecy, the law being denoted in Moses, prophecy in Elijah. This the Calvinists eagerly seize upon, especially the English, who deny that Elijah and Enoch are to come at the end of the world, and teach that these two witnesses are the new and old Testament, or the sacred Scriptures and the assembly of the faithful. But Alcazar understands by the two witnesses the great wisdom and great holiness of the primitive Church, which itself and Christ bore witness against the Jews; for to these, by prosopopoeia, the persons of Moses and Elijah are given and attributed. For Moses was the paradigm of heavenly wisdom, Elijah of zeal and holiness, and therefore Moses is here substituted for Enoch. For he himself admits that there is an allusion here to the coming of Elijah and Enoch in the time of Antichrist, and that it is here presupposed as it were. Moreover Alcazar here, in note 7, enumerates twenty symbols of elegance, partly natural, partly artificial, by which it is shown how much the conjunction of wisdom with holiness benefits the Church and each faithful person; all of which are beautiful, but mystical and moral, not literal. Second, those who expound these things concerning times not future but already past vary thus in their exposition. For those who expound these things concerning the primitive Church think that the two witnesses are the Lord Christ and John the Baptist. Thus Ubertinus and Michael Eitsingerus in the Pentapla, page 109. Again, Lyra, Aureolus, and St. Antoninus think that the two witnesses are Pope Sylverius and Mennas, Patriarch of Constantinople, who contended against the heresy of Eutyches. Finally, there are those who think that in these two are noted St. Dominic and St. Francis, which also pleased Ubertinus. Third, the common opinion of others is that these things pertain to the last times of the world and of Antichrist, and that two individual witnesses are here denoted, who are to contend for Christ against Antichrist. All agree that one is to be Elijah. Whence the Sibyl also sang of him, book II: Then also borne in a heavenly chariot shall the Thespian enter the lands from heaven. And this is taught by Malachi, chapter IV, verse 5; Ecclesiasticus, chapter XLVIII, verses 9 and 10, and by Christ, Matthew XVII, 10. Concerning the other, some doubt. Victorinus, from Jeremiah I, 5, as I have said there, was of the opinion that he is to be Jeremiah, or certainly Elisha. But this is rejected by all. Others suspect that he is to be Moses, both because Moses was present with Elijah at the transfiguration of Christ; and because Moses seems to be denoted in verse 6, when it is said: "These have power over the waters to turn them into blood, and to strike the earth with all plagues." For it seems that John alludes by these words to the plagues with which Moses struck Egypt. Thus St. Hilary, canon 20 in Matthew; St. Ambrose in chapter IX of Luke, Joachim, Gagneius, Catharinus, and our Maldonatus in Matthew XVII have thought. But all the rest with one voice assert that the companion of Elijah is to be Enoch. For it is established that Moses is dead; but Enoch is not dead, but was taken up by God, Genesis V, 24, and to Hebrews XI, 5, and this "so that he might give penance to the Gentiles," as Ecclesiasticus XLIV, 16 says. Thus Ambrose, Aretas, Ansbert, Haymo, Richard, Hugh, Thomas, Dionysius, Vatablus here, and others throughout, both ancient and more recent, whom Francis Suarez, III part., vol. II, disp. LV, sect. 2, cites and follows, and more fully in book V On Antichrist, chapter XII, Viegas and Ribera here. Mystically Primasius understands this of a twofold kind of witnesses, namely of orders, who, confirmed by Elias and Henoch, will defend Christ against Antichrist; whom Joachim asserts will be priests and monks, and recently St. Teresa, celebrated for prophetic spirit, asserted that a twofold Order, namely of St. Dominic and of our Society, will especially defend the Church against heretics and Antichristians, and therefore from both will come illustrious both doctors and preachers, and also Martyrs. Thus both others report, and Francis Ribiera in his Life, book V, chapter V. Furthermore, where Elias and Henoch now dwell, whence they live, what manner of life they lead, whether they are in a state of meriting, etc., I have taught at length in Genesis V, 24. Finally, these will be two witnesses, both because by the law of nations and divine law, "in the mouth of two or three witnesses every word shall stand," Deuteronomy XIX, 15; and because Christ sent the Apostles two by two to preach: but these will be the Apostles of Christ; and finally because it alludes to the two Cherubim placed upon the ark of the testimony, sustaining the mercy seat: for in like manner these two by their testimony will sustain both the ark, that is the Church, and the mercy seat, that is the faith concerning Christ the propitiator and redeemer of the world. Finally, because Henoch represents the state of the Patriarchs and the law of nature, Elias the state of the Prophets and the Mosaic law, so that it may be signified that the law and prophecy, and all the Patriarchs and Prophets of former ages bear witness to Christ against Antichrist. And They Shall Prophesy During One Thousand Two Hundred and Sixty Days,—that is, forty-two months, as I said in verse 2. Thus all the Orthodox. The Lutherans and Calvinists vary wonderfully in these days, and torment themselves. They agree almost in this, that they say a time of persecution of Antichrist is designated here, that is, of the Roman Pontiff, by which namely he himself tyrannically oppressed and occupies the Church of Christ. But in these days they labor and sweat. For they say the Pontiff has already exercised his tyranny for more than a thousand years. Wherefore Henry Bullinger the Lutheran here, sermon 46, thinks a certain number is put for an uncertain one. This does not please Chytraeus and Illyricus, who in their Centuries think these 42 months and 1260 days to be angelic. Therefore Oedipus is needed, nay, an angel called down from heaven, who might explain them. And others of their companions rightly laugh at this. The Anglo-Calvinist thinks a day is put here for a year, and therefore he thinks the Pontifical tyranny will last 1260 years. Others devise other things. For heresy, being false and lying, is a hydra, which always produces new heads of errors and monsters. It is clear that days here are to be understood as true and proper, both because these days are the same as 42 months: for these precisely contain 1260 days; and because Daniel chapter VII, verse 25, to which John alludes here, expressly affirms that Antichrist will reign for a time and times and half a time, that is, a year, two years and half a year, that is three years and a half, as all the Orthodox expound. Therefore these three are the same, namely 1260 days, 42 months, and three years and a half. Also wrongly Michael Eitsingerus in the place already cited, thinks John here defines the time of the preaching of Christ: for that was three years and a half. For it is certain that here the matter is of the final times of the world, and the time is defined here in which Elias and Henoch will prophesy against Antichrist; for what he above named 42 months, he here calls 1260 days, so that he might indicate that Elias and Henoch in those months will preach not only on feast days, but on all and each single days. For this the necessity of the Church will urge them, and the impious zeal of Antichrist, and their inflamed love toward Christ and Christians, which will make them like Paul, tireless and fiery. Where note morally: Just as where there are poisons, there are found their antidotes, nature providing thus, as Pliny says, book XXIX, chapter IV: so where there is persecution, God provides a remedy: where heresy rages, there he raises up antagonist Doctors. Thus when Arius arose, he raised up and opposed to him St. Athanasius: thus to Nestorius Cyril, to Origen Jerome, to Pelagius Augustine, to Abelard St. Bernard, to the Albigensians St. Dominic, to Luther and Calvin he opposed modern Doctors: thus at the end of the world he will oppose to Antichrist Elias and Henoch. Moreover, Ribera holds that these 1260 days are not precisely the same as the 42 months, or as three and a half years, but fall short by 18 days, by which it is likely that the Antichrist will outlive Elijah and Enoch, so that he may reign completely for three and a half years, as Daniel predicted, or 42 months, as John predicted, verse 3. For three years and a half precisely contain 1278 days; therefore in 1260 days there are lacking 18 days, so that they may complete the same period. This calculation is subtle and solid. Alcazar, however, not improbably holds that the same period is signified by 1260 days, which is signified by 42 months, and by three and a half years. For the Greeks, Hebrews and Chaldeans commonly gave 30 days to each month: now multiply 42 (which is the number of months of the Antichrist) by 30, you will have 1260 days, and consequently in a year of 12 months you will have precisely 360 days. Although the solar year has 365 days (whence Julius Caesar instituted a year of so many days in the reform of the Calendar, which we still follow), nevertheless a month (which they described from the course of the moon through the zodiac) has only 30 days. Whence in order to equate these days and months to the solar year, they inserted one month in certain years, which they called embolismal or embolism. But John, as it were a rare and extraordinary month, neglects this month and does not count it, but only the ordinary days of 42 months, which precisely make 1260 days; Daniel, however, in chapter XII, verse 11, does not neglect this embolismal month, which perhaps occurred then, but counts it; whence he reckons 1290 days. Thus Alcazar here at verse 2, note 3. It is more true and more certain that Elijah and Enoch will preach precisely for 1260 days, as John here says; the Antichrist, however, as a monarch will reign 42 months, namely Julian months, which were then in use at Rome and in Greece (where John lived), that is three and a half Julian years, as Daniel asserted. Now three Julian years and a half make 1278 days; but the monarchy of the Antichrist will extend a little further, namely still for 12 days, so that it would precisely give 1290 days, as Daniel expressly asserts, chapter XII, verse 11. But John neglected these 12 days, as it were trifles of a whole number, and expressed only the whole 42 months, as he also did when he reckoned three and a half years. But it is not varied, therefore, what Ribera said that the Antichrist will outlive Elijah and Enoch, not only by eighteen, but by thirty days. For they will reach 1260 days; the Antichrist, however, will reach 1290 days, as Daniel says. And by this chronological arrangement of the years of the monarchy of the Antichrist and the preaching of Elijah and Enoch, "it is likely," says Suarez, disputation LV already cited, section 2, "that Elijah and Enoch will come, after the Antichrist has already obtained the monarchy of all things, as St. Augustine signifies, book I of Questions on the Gospels, Question XXI, saying that Elijah will come to restore those whom the persecution of the Antichrist had troubled, and Anselm teaches this more clearly in the Elucidation. And reason can be applied, because these most holy men will come in order to resist the Antichrist; therefore they will come then, when the persecution of the Antichrist will be more open and more powerful. Again, because (as is gathered from the same place of the Apocalypse) shortly after the death of these precursors the Antichrist will perish, and his persecution will cease: therefore since this will last 1260 days, the preaching of the precursors will begin at the same time as that, or shortly after it. You will say: How will they be able to preach throughout the whole world in so short a time? It is answered first, that it is not necessary that they teach everywhere, but they will chiefly traverse those places in which either the Antichrist himself, or his more powerful ministers will be present. Next, it is not to be believed that Enoch and Elijah will always go together; but it is more likely that they will traverse different regions separately, until by divine will they come together in that place where they are to be slain together. Finally, it is credible that they will console and confirm the minds of the faithful not only by word, but also by writings; whom also the fame of their virtue and power against the Antichrist will greatly uplift. Some also add that they will have disciples, whom they will send throughout the whole world." You will say secondly: How is it that Antichrist, who will pursue them with capital hatred, will not immediately kill them, but will permit them to preach against him for 42 months? I answer, this will happen, partly because God will protect them, partly on account of their admirable virtue and power, which no one will be able to overcome; for fire will go forth out of their mouth, and will devour their enemies, as is said in verse 5. But when the time of preaching appointed to them by God is completed, they will cease to work miracles, and then Antichrist will kill them. Finally, from the words of St. John it is gathered that they will appear to the world suddenly and unexpectedly. But how they will come, whether visibly being transported through the air in a fiery chariot or in a cloud, or in some similar manner, or whether they will appear imperceptibly and suddenly in Jerusalem, or in another place, neither Scripture nor the Fathers say. Moreover, they will go forth from Paradise, or being sent through the air, they will begin to preach in those neighbouring regions; thus they will continue traversing regions, until they come to Jerusalem to Antichrist himself. Clothed in Sackcloth — that is, clothed in haircloth: sackcloth, as here Galatinus and others, and St. Gregory, hom. 12 in Ezech., Ribera in Zachar. 19, and others. These therefore "stand before the Lord of the whole earth" as legates and Apostles, so that namely they may spread his faith and Gospel throughout the whole world, and may defend against Antichrist.
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He alludes to the two Cherubim, which Solomon fabricated from olive wood, III Kings, chapter vi, verse 32. For just as those supported the mercy seat and the ark, so Elias and Henoch will sustain the Church and the faith of Christ. They are rightly called Cherubim on account of their angelic life and wisdom. Moreover, oil and olive denote their splendor and mercy, by which, having taken pity on the destruction of perishing souls, they expend themselves and all that is theirs together with their life for the Jews and the salvation of men, and for the defense of that and of the glory of God and Christ, to which applies that passage from Ecclesiasticus, chapter xliv, verse 10: "These men are merciful, whose godlinesses have not failed." Hence note morally: The olive is a symbol of holiness and of Saints; and this first, because the olive is a solid wood, it does not suffer decay, winds or old age: hence it is a symbol of victory, happiness and eternity. Whence Cicero, in book I of On Laws: "An eternal," he says, "olive Athens was able to hold in the citadel." Hence also in triumphs the attendants of the triumphant were crowned with olive crowns, as Festus says, because Minerva, the inventor of the olive, was thought to be the patroness and goddess of war: whence also boxers and athletes about to contend anointed themselves with oil, and oil was the symbol of contest. Such men, however, through constant struggle, fortitude, constancy and victory become Saints, especially Elias and Henoch, who, living and vigorous through so many thousands of years, are deservedly called by Tertullian candidates of eternity. Second, because the olive is a symbol of mercy, which is the proper virtue of Saints, as Solomon says: "The just knoweth the souls of his beasts, but the bowels of the wicked are cruel," Proverbs, chapter xii, verse 10. Wherefore, as Philip, Bishop of Eystett, rightly observes in the Life of St. Wilibald, chapter xxxvi, from the bones of those Saints who were very merciful and pious (such as St. Catherine, St. Nicholas, St. Walburga) oil flows forth, because oil is a symbol of mercy and piety; so that, just as they exercised it in life, so also after death they do not cease to exercise the same, healing the wretched and infirm with this oil. For they were men of mercy, and now they are in heaven all the more. Third, because the olive is a symbol of peace. Whence Genesis viii, 11, the dove brought to Noah in the ark a branch of green olive, as a sign of the ceasing of the flood and the drying of the earth, as if together with the olive it brought security from the waters, peace and reconciliation of God to the world. Such is the peace of Saints on earth, and it will be more so in heaven, which Elias and Henoch will announce is at hand. It is commonly said: "More tranquil than oil"; which applies most to Saints, who are meek and peaceful; for oil is so tranquil that it even calms the sea, a most savage thing, and on account of this divers say they scatter oil from their mouths, which mitigates the harsh nature of the element, the fluctuating, carries it, as Pliny says, in book II, chapter ciii, with whom let the credit rest. Fourth, because the leaves of the olive never fall off: thus the virtue and appearance of Saints never wither. Wherefore concerning St. Olive the virgin, whom the Roman Martyrology mentions on the 3rd of June, thus appropriately sings the Christian poet: "Fear not, O virgin, that your name can wither: Both in heaven and on earth Olive ever flourishes." Again: "If a goat's tongue should touch an olive by licking it and should browse on it at its first sprouting, it becomes sterile, as the author M. Varro says," as Pliny says, in book XV, chapter lxxxii. Thus gluttony and lust, of which the goat is a symbol, dry up and destroy the vigor and life of holiness. Fifth, because the fat olive signifies the fatness of spirit and grace, with which Saints are anointed. Finally, the olive is fertile and fruitful, especially if the male is planted next to the female: for olives are distinguished by sex. Whence Ovid in book IV of the Fasti: "Burn the male olives and the Sabine torches and herbs." Again, the olive has vile and flaccid leaves, but excellent fruit. So also Saints spurn pomp and ostentation, but produce precious fruit of good works. Wherefore, Jeremiah, chapter xi, verse 16, God says to His Church: "A fruitful olive, fair, fruitful, comely, the Lord hath called thy name." See the remarks there. Such olives were St. John and Paul, Martyrs under Julian the Apostate, in the year of Christ 362, on the 26th day of June; because by their sanctity and zeal, they persuaded Constantia, the daughter of Constantine the Great, to virginity and the pursuit of perfection; and they advanced Gallicanus, the commander of the army, to Christianity, to contempt of the world, to martyrdom; and finally, fighting valiantly against Julian, they underwent glorious martyrdom for Christ. Whence the Church sings of them: "These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks shining before the Lord; they have power to shut up heaven with clouds, and to open the gates thereof (for they obtained a glorious victory from heaven against the Scythians through Gallicanus), because their tongues have become the keys of heaven." Thus Sixtus V, the Pontiff, in a Bull issued in the year of the Lord 1588, who canonized St. Bonaventure and numbered him among the Doctors of the Church, just as Pius V had numbered St. Thomas Aquinas, speaking of both: "These," he says, "are two olive trees and two candlesticks shining in the house of God, who illuminate the whole Church both with the richness of charity and with the light of knowledge. These by singular providence of God, arising at the same time like two stars, came forth from the families of two most illustrious Orders of the Regular clergy. These two Saints, being of the same age, devoted to the same studies, fellow students, teachers together, were in like manner summoned by Gregory X, the Supreme Pontiff, both to the council, honored, and in this pilgrimage of life were most closely joined by fraternal charity, spiritual familiarity, and the fellowship of holy labors: and finally, departing with equal step to the heavenly homeland, they equally enjoy that eternal beatitude in happiness and glory; where, with the same affection of charity, as we piously believe, they pray for us laboring in this vale of tears, and implore divine aid." And Two Candlesticks Standing in the Sight of the Lord of the Earth. — "standing," that is, "standing." Thus the Arabic. The Interpreter Grecizes here, as also elsewhere from time to time; for the Greek texts have λυχνίαι ἑστῶσαι. He therefore imitates the Greek gender: for λυχνίαι, that is candlesticks, is of the feminine gender. The sense is, as if to say, These two, namely Elias and Henoch, like candlesticks, present and show Christ, who is the true light, to the whole world. Otherwise Alcazar: for "standing" he refers to "these," not to "candlesticks," and thus arranges the sentence: "These standing before the Lord are like two olive trees and two candlesticks." Whence the Syriac translates, these who stand before the Lord of the earth. Note: Zacharias, chapter IV, saw only one candlestick, and beside it on either side two olive trees. But John here hears: "These are two olive trees and two candlesticks," so that he might know that Elias and Henoch will not only be olive trees, which supply oil abundantly to the candlestick, that is to the Church, for fire and light, but also will themselves be candlesticks, which will burn and shine wonderfully before God and the world. He alludes to the candlestick which was in the Holy of Holies, sevenfold, and therefore illuminated the whole Holy Place with various and abundant light. For this signified the light of the Gospel, and the evangelical doctors. Thus of John the Baptist Christ says: "He was a burning and shining lamp," John v, 35, where see Pererius, who brings forth many analogies of the lamp and the Saint. And of the primitive faithful St. Paul says, Philippians II, verse 15: "Among whom you shine as lights in the world."
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And If Any Man Will Hurt Them (that is, "them" is a Grecism; thus in the Gospel and elsewhere we read: "It hurt him not," that is, "it hurt him") To Hurt Them. — In Greek ἀδικῆσαι, that is, "to do injury," to hurt, to harm, as Our Author translates a little later. Fire Shall Come Out Of Their Mouths. — This will be the first miracle, or rather a kind of miracle (for they will perform it frequently), which Elias and Henoch will accomplish. He alludes to the zeal and fire of Elias, who in IV Kings 1, 10, to the captain of fifty sent by Achab to capture Elias, said: "If I be a man of God, let fire come down from heaven, and devour thee"; immediately fire coming down from heaven devoured him with all his men. Whence Ecclesiasticus xlviii, 3, concerning him it says: "He brought down fire from heaven thrice," namely twice upon the captains of fifty, in the place already mentioned, and a third time upon his own sacrifice, when he contended against the prophets of Baal, III Kings cap. xviii. For Elias seemed to call down fire from heaven not so much by prayers as by command, namely by ordering with his mouth, and to send it against the enemies of God: and consequently this fire seemed to go forth and proceed from his own mouth. He will do the same at the end of the world. For he will insert himself into the gatherings of men through villages and cities, indeed into Jerusalem itself and the royal seat of Antichrist, and there will freely and boldly preach that Christ crucified is the redeemer of the world; but that this is a false Christ, indeed that he is Antichrist. Wherefore the magistrates and leaders, subject to Antichrist, will wish to lay hands on Elias and Henoch, and to capture and kill them; but they will immediately command and decree: Let fire come down from heaven, and destroy these Antichristians; and quicker than the word fire will descend and destroy them. Thus St. Hilary and Athanasius and Lucifer of Cagliari reproached to the face Constantius the Arian Emperor, the forerunner of Antichrist: Thou art an Arian, thou art Antichrist. Hear their words worthy of eternity, Hilary in his book Against the Emperor Constantius: "I proclaim," he says, "to thee, Constans, what I would have spoken to Nero, what Decius Maximianus would have heard from me: thou fightest against God, thou raggest against the Church, thou persecutest the Saints, thou takest away religion, thou art a tyrant not merely of human but of divine things. Thou falsely claimest to be Christian, thou art a new enemy of Christ, thou goest before Antichrist." And again: "Thou, Constans, cruelest of all cruel men, and most wicked of mortals, raggest more savagely against us than the Pagans." St. Athanasius in his letter to those living a solitary life: "Who," he says, "would dare to call Constantius Christian, and not rather an image of Antichrist? For what is lacking to him of the marks of Antichrist? or what reason is there why Constantius should not in every way be held to be Antichrist, and conversely Antichrist be held to be Constantius?" and soon after he calls him an apostate, a deserter of the faith, a dog, an executioner, a son of perdition, a plague, a beast, the abyss of all evils. Lucifer, Bishop of Cagliari, surpassed these in zeal and acrimony, whom St. Athanasius calls the Elias of his age, who in his book On Dying for the Son of God thus addresses the Emperor Constantius: "Thou hast slain many, torn them to pieces, scattered them; but all these are Martyrs. Believe me that we have determined to be killed by thee: because we see it to be better, throughout all ages to have God as a lover, than to be punished with thee, Judas Iscariot, imitator of the Jews: we are all prepared to undergo destruction." And below: "Thou takest it ill, worm of Arius, that we defend the Son of God. If at last thou openest thine eyes, blinded by the bites of the serpent, thou wilt find, most foolish Emperor, Christians everywhere, as we believe, and desiring to die for the Son of God, as we do: but thy new preaching and recent religion is blasphemy." Moreover, with titles and names more severe than Athanasius and Hilary he thereafter addresses the same man.
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This will be the second miracle which Elias and Henoch will perform in the time of Antichrist, namely that by their prophecy and command they will prohibit rain, and as it were declare a cessation to heaven, or as it were bring in a closure, and thus bring upon the followers of Antichrist sterility, famine and plague. Elias did the same thing, III Kings xvii, 1, namely so that for three and a half years it would not rain. Mystically, this fire signifies the freedom, fervor, boldness and efficacy of the preaching of Elias and Henoch, so that they freely say to the face of Antichrist: Thou art not Christ, but Antichrist; and to his followers: You are not Christians, but Antichristians; and for this reason they will finally be slain by them and will suffer martyrdom. Thus once Elias said to Achab: "Not I have troubled Israel, but thou," III Kings cap. xviii, vers. 18. And They Have Power Over the Waters to Turn Them into Blood. — This will be the third miracle of Elias and Henoch. Moses did the same thing (whence some thought Moses is meant here, and that he will come with Elias), Exodus VII, 20. He says therefore that the same power will be given to Elias and Henoch contending against Antichrist, which was once given to Moses contending against Pharaoh, the precursor of Antichrist. Whence he adds: And to Smite the Earth with All Plagues as Often as They Will. — This will be the fourth miracle of Elias and Henoch, not simple, but manifold: for it comprehends many things, indeed all things in itself. They will therefore be true wonder-workers, so that at their pleasure they command heaven, earth, air, winds, lightnings, etc., and thence evoke and send forth whatever plagues they wish upon the impious. He alludes to Moses, who by his rod threatening and striking Egypt, sent ten plagues partly from the earth, partly from heaven, partly from the waters, partly from fire upon the Egyptians. Whence he heard from God, Exodus VII, 1: "I have made thee a god to Pharaoh." For, as Philo says, lib. III De Vita Mosis: "Since all things of friends are common, therefore God communicates his power and riches with the Saints." Note: The ten plagues of Egypt were these: first, the turning of waters into blood; second, frogs; third, gnats; fourth, dog-flies, indeed every kind of fly; fifth, pestilence of animals; sixth, ulcers of boils; seventh, hail; eighth, locusts; ninth, darkness; tenth, the slaying of the firstborn. These therefore and more plagues will Elias and Henoch also have the power to send, as it were new and Christian Moses. Alcazar expounds all these things mystically. For by the first plague of blood, he understands the discord of the unfaithful Jews in the time of Titus: by the second of frogs, their quarrels and tumults: by the third of gnats, the cares and anxieties which tormented them: by the fourth of flies, the angers and hatreds by which they burned: by the fifth of pestilence, the vanity and deprivation of temporal things and riches which they sought: by the sixth of ulcers, the stings and bites of conscience: by the seventh of hail, obstinacy in Judaism: by the eighth of locusts, the tyranny of concupiscences ruling over them: by the ninth of darkness, the miserable blindness in which they lie: by the tenth of the slaying of the firstborn, the damnation of their own souls. But that these are mystical, not literal, no one fails to see.
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This will happen after 1260 days, as I said vers. 3; until then therefore they will be invincible, indeed they will overcome all things and all by their fire and plagues; but when their office is completed and the time span decreed to them by God is finished, they will allow themselves to be overcome and slain, so that by death and martyrdom they may seal their testimony concerning the truth and Christ. The Beast That Ascendeth Out of the Abyss. — This beast is Antichrist, because he will be savage and fierce as a beast, not earthly, but infernal, as if ascending from the abyss. For demons will drive him and possess him, and through him will exercise all their cruelty upon Elias and Henoch and other holy followers of theirs. Thus commonly the Interpreters. Antichrist therefore through his ministers will slay Elias and Henoch, and for this reason he will be a parricide: for he will slay his parent, namely Henoch; for from Henoch descended Noe, and all men after the flood, and consequently Antichrist himself. Alcazar by this beast understands the locusts, which cap. ix, vers. 1, 2, were seen by John coming forth from the abyss; by locusts however he himself understands concupiscences, by which the Jews were delivered over as a punishment for their crimes, and on account of which they slew Elias and Henoch, that is wisdom and holiness, namely the holy and wise Apostles of Christ, Deacons, and other primitive Christians; but these after three days, that is after a short time, with the Church growing bright, as it were rose again, and ascended to greater glory both on earth and in heaven; and then seven, that is many, thousands of Jews were slain, that is were converted to Christ: for infidelity was slain in them, so that as it were new Christian men they might rise again to the life of faith and the grace of God; the rest, being struck, gave glory to God, who attributed the destruction of Jerusalem to the slaying of St. James the Less by the Jews, and consequently to Christ; for James preached him: thus Eusebius relates from Josephus, lib. II, cap. xxiii. But these are mystical things. Add that the locusts do not pertain to these times, but to the preceding ones, namely to the trumpet of the fifth Angel, and have already passed, as was said cap. ix.
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The Arabic version: "which is called spiritually Sodom of Egypt, the place in which they crucified their Lord," that is, in Jerusalem; for there the Lord of Elias and Henoch, namely Christ, was crucified. St. Jerome seems to deny this, in epistle 17, which he wrote in the name of St. Paula and Eustochium to Marcella, and by this city understands pagan and impious Rome. But this is to be pardoned in women, who wish to commend their Jerusalem (for they migrated to Judaea, and lived and died in Bethlehem, as did St. Jerome also) and to vindicate it from every mark of infamy. For they endeavor to persuade Marcella to migrate from Rome to Jerusalem, and there to live a monastic life with them. Furthermore, Jerusalem is called spiritually, that is, mystically and symbolically, Sodom, on account of the sodomitical lusts and sins which flourished in it, and will flourish more in the time of Antichrist ruling in it. Thus Isaias thunders against the Hierosolymites, saying in chapter I, verse 10: "Hear the word of the Lord, ye princes of the Sodomites." See the remarks there. And chapter III, verse 9: "They have proclaimed their sin as Sodom." Ezechiel also, in chapter xvi, verse 49, calls Sodom the sister of Jerusalem, because she was like her in wickedness. "This," he says, "was the iniquity of Sodom thy sister, pride, fulness of bread, and abundance, and idleness; and she did not put out her hand to the needy and the poor." Again, Jerusalem is called symbolically Egypt, on account of the idolatry and superstitions which will reign in Jerusalem, when Antichrist, as the Messias promised to the Jews, will rule in it as his royal seat. Secondly, just as Egypt and Pharao persecuted Moses and his faithful people: so Antichrist with his Hierosolymites will persecute Elias, Henoch and other Christians, who are the true Israelites of God: concerning which matter more in chapter xiv. Hence it is clear that the seat and royal residence of Antichrist will not be Rome, but Jerusalem. For he will wish to be held as Christ, that is, the Messias promised to the Jews, heir to the throne of David and Solomon: thus interpreters both new and old everywhere. See Cardinal Bellarmine, book III On the Roman Pontiffs, chapter xiii: Therefore, to omit other things, the Roman Pontiff is not Antichrist, as heretics endeavor to prove from the Apocalypse; but as much as Rome is distant from Jerusalem, and Christianity from Judaism, so much the Roman Pontiff differs and is distant from Antichrist. Where Also Their Lord Was Crucified. — As if to say, Just as the Hierosolymites killed Christ, so also will they kill his Prophets, Elias and Henoch; because it is not fitting that a Prophet should perish outside Jerusalem, as Christ objects to them, Luke XIII, 33. Now the bodies of Elias and Henoch will lie for three days and a half in the streets of Jerusalem, while tribes, peoples, tongues and nations from the whole world shall behold them, nor will they be suffered to be placed in tombs: thus their enemies will insult them even when dead; but he animated the Orthodox, saying: "Wait, it is a cloud which quickly passes away." How brief will be the affliction and reproach of Elias and Henoch compared to the eternity of rewards! how brief the glory of Antichrist and the impious compared to the eternity of punishments!
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And They That Dwell Upon the Earth (for then most men will be impious, as being subject to Antichrist, and conforming themselves to him as their lord) Shall Rejoice: Because (supply, they are slain) These Two Prophets (who) Tormented Them, — with threatening words, fire and plagues, which we heard of in verse 5.
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"The spirit of life," that is, the vivifying soul. Hence it is clear that Elias and Henoch, slain by Antichrist, after three days and a half will rise again publicly, with all the followers of Antichrist from the whole world gathering and beholding; and a voice will descend from heaven, saying to them:
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And immediately they themselves will ascend into heaven before all publicly, as Christ did: and then there will be a great earthquake of the earth, by which the tenth part of Jerusalem will fall, and seven thousand men will be slain: the rest, struck with fear, will give praise and glory to God. For John narrates all and each of these things so expressly, that whoever wishes to twist them otherwise must necessarily do violence to his words. Aureolus and Lyranus understand by these two witnesses Sylverius the Pope and Mennas the Patriarch of Constantinople, whom Theodora Augusta, the wife of the Emperor Justinian, in the year of Christ 538, banished into exile, which is as it were a civil death, and thus as it were killed them, because they would not restore Arthemius the Eutychian Bishop to his former rank; but God soon restored to them eternal fame and glory in the Church. They refer the trampling of the city to Totila, king of the Goths, who at about the same time, on account of these crimes, took Rome and laid waste the Roman Empire. But these things neither accord with the words of St. John, nor are they consistent with each other. For St. John says that these two witnesses were slain in Jerusalem, not in Rome or Constantinople, and that they were not to be banished into exile, but that their slain bodies were to remain unburied in the streets for three days, etc.
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That is, the rest who were not slain in this slaughter, but survived, struck with fear, were converted to God and Christ through penance. Then indeed all Israel shall be saved, as the Apostle foretold in Rom. xi, 26.
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Woe the Second (from those three of which he spoke in cap. viii, at the end of the verse) Has Passed, — that is, it has already been inflicted and has passed away. For these three "woes" were three plagues of three final Angels sounding the trumpet, namely the Angel of the fifth, sixth and seventh. John repeats this "woe," so that, as it were after a parenthesis concerning Elias and Henoch inserted, he returns to these three plagues and weaves them together in order. Whence follows:
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This seventh trumpet announces and brings the blessed and glorious kingdom of Christ, which Elias and Henoch will enter with Christ, and shortly thereafter all the Saints on the day of resurrection and judgment. For indeed the words sound clearly: "The time," he says, "of the dead to be judged, and to give reward to thy servants, etc., to the little and to the great, and to destroy them that have corrupted the earth"; thus Andrew, Aretas, Primasius, Bede, Albert, Ribera, Viegas and others. Hence it follows that this seventh trumpet is placed here by anticipation, so that it may be joined with the six preceding ones. For before this seventh trumpet those things will come to pass which are narrated concerning the Antichrist, Gog, Magog, etc. (which are the matter and scripture of the book sealed with seven seals, cap. v) in this chapter and the following. The proper place of this trumpet, therefore, is at cap. xix before verse 11, where it begins to describe the war of Gog and Magog against Christ and the Christians. Whence concerning Gog and Magog it says here: "And the nations were angry," etc. Wherefore when Elias and Henoch ascend into heaven, and their enemies are confounded and struck down from heaven, the mystery of God will begin to be consummated, as he said in the preceding chapter, verse 7, namely the glorious kingdom of Christ and his elect: wherefore then this seventh Angel will sound the trumpet, and then the 24 elders and all the Blessed will praise God together, because the kingdom of sin and the impious now begins to end and be overthrown. For shortly after the Antichrist will be slain with Gog, Magog and all their followers; then will follow the resurrection of the dead and the universal judgment of all. Hence it follows that these seven seals of the sealed book, although for the most part they contain the preambles which are to come before the Antichrist, nevertheless contain some things at their end which are to come, or more perfectly are to come after the Antichrist. Such is what is said in cap. viii, verse 12, in the trumpet of the fourth Angel, that a third part of the sun, moon and stars is struck. Such also is what is said in cap. vi, verse 12, in the sixth seal, concerning the sun being darkened, the stars falling from heaven, the heaven departing. Such also is what is sung by this trumpet. For this trumpet will be as it were a proclamation and cry of the beginning of the victory and triumph of Christ. Wherefore it pertains to the sealed book and its end: it is referred, however, to the seals, both because it was the seventh and last trumpet of the seven of the seventh Angel and seal; and because it is the conclusion of all things both contained in the seals and contained in the book. Just as therefore in sealed books, for example in the instruments of testaments, besides external seals, there are certain internal seals, which seal and secure their very end, so as to designate that the testament ends there, lest anything be added to them by anyone: so also it is with this seal, that is with this last part of the last seal. These seals therefore joined together embrace not only the beginning but also the end of the sealed book; for they envelop and seal it entirely before and behind, within and without. Although therefore they contain for the most part those things which will precede the kingdom of the Antichrist, some nevertheless contain those things which will follow it. For this kingdom of the Antichrist is as it were a middle thing, which is anterior to the kingdoms of the impious, namely the precursors of the Antichrist: but posterior to the glorious kingdom of Christ and the Saints (which this seventh trumpet announces) it is closed and sealed. This trumpet therefore will proclaim that in the resurrection and glorification of Elias and Henoch the glorious kingdom of Christ begins: which will be perfected shortly after the slaughter of the Antichrist and the impious on the day of judgment, when all the Saints will enter this kingdom with Christ. It is therefore aptly placed in this location, as it were on the border of the seven seals and of the sealed book itself. For it pertains both to the seals and to the book: to the seals, because it is the conclusion and sealing of the book; to the book, because it will happen at the time when the mysteries of the book are revealed. John therefore could not place it in a more fitting place than this, and for this reason he wove shortly before the death and resurrection of Elias and Henoch, so that at the same time he might weave the seventh trumpet of the seventh seal, which will then begin to sound. Mystically Alcazar (although he himself thinks it to be literal) expounds it, as if to say: the Christian Church, having already conquered and subdued the Jews, is Catholic and permanent, that is, embracing the nations of every age and ruling over them, and destined to endure forever. For in the Church militant the triumphant and glorious kingdom of Christ begins. Whence the 24 elders in the following verse give thanks to God, and adore and celebrate him, especially in the sacrifice of the Mass. Wherefore "we give thanks" is the same as we offer the Eucharistic sacrifice for the calling of the Gentiles. The Kingdom Has Come, etc. — That is to say, Christ now begins to reign, He has now glorified Elijah and Enoch, and destroyed their enemies, and in like manner will soon destroy all the other impious, and overturn the kingdom of impiety and sin, and will press down and trample under His feet all the wicked cast into hell: now justice will reign, and the just with Christ in heavenly and eternal glory, to the praise of God their Lord. This is what Paul says, I Corinthians xv, 24: "Then comes the end, when He shall have delivered up the kingdom to God and the Father." See the things said there. Aureolus with his followers refers these things to the liberty and the happy and peaceful empire of Justin the Younger, Emperor, who succeeding his uncle Justinian in the empire, through Narses the Roman Patrician, repressed Totila, king of the Goths, and restored the kingdom of Italy. But when Narses, accused by rivals, was recalled by the Empress Sophia to Constantinople to take charge of the women's quarters (for he himself was a eunuch) and to distribute wool and linen to the royal maidens, answering indignantly, he said that he would set up such a web as she would never unravel. Therefore he called the Lombards from Pannonia, and delivered Italy to them, and they harassed it and the Church until Charles the Great; for he exterminated them, having slain their king. And this is what is said here: "And the nations were angry," etc. But truly this was a meager and brief liberty and joy. Add that, although Paul the Deacon accuses Narses of treachery, asserting that he himself called the Lombards into Italy, nevertheless the Greek historians, whom Baronius follows, in the year of Christ 567, refute this, and commend Narses for faith and sanctity; indeed they also record that he returned to Constantinople to the Empress, and there lived honorably and was buried. Finally, the sequence of the Apocalypse demands that these things be referred to the last times of the world, and to the glorious kingdom of Christ.
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Who these are, I have said in chapter iv, verse 4.
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See what I have said concerning this name of God in chapter i, verse 4. Because Thou Hast Taken Thy Power. — That is, thou hast assumed thy strength, thou hast clothed thyself with thy most mighty arms, namely in that thou hast used thy strength, and hast displayed thy forces in vanquishing thy enemies, namely the Antichrist and the impious, and therefore now thou reignest and triumphest in full peace and glory. It alludes to Psalm xcii, 1: "The Lord hath reigned, He is clothed with beauty: the Lord is clothed with strength, and hath girded Himself." And Thou Hast Reigned. — βασιλεύσας, that is, thou hast obtained the kingdom, thou hast begun to reign.
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The Antichristians, Gog, Magog and other impious ones will be angry and gnash their teeth, seeing such great plagues sent upon them by God, and will prepare themselves for battle against Christ and the Christians, of which in chapter xix, verse 11. But in vain; for they will be slain, and from there will be snatched to the tribunal of Christ, that they may be cast into hell: wherefore despairing they will curse God and Christ. And Thy Wrath Is Come and the Time of the Dead to Be Judged. — And (that is, because) Thy Wrath Is Come (so that in the final judgment thou mayest exercise thy wrath upon the reprobate, condemning them to hell) and the Time of the Dead to Be Judged, — that is to say, the time of resurrection and judgment has come, in which namely the dead shall rise from death "to be judged," that is, that they may be judged, and according as they have done in life, good or evil, may receive eternal things from the judge Christ; thus Andrew, Aretas, Primasius, Bede and others.
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First, Alcazar from his own principles and premises thinks that here is signified the rejection of the Jews and their abandonment by God, and therefore feigns parabolically the ark, which was among them of the highest veneration and sanctity, translated from earth into heaven, just as Ovid in the first book of the Metamorphoses feigns that virtues, having abandoned the earth on account of crimes, ascended into heaven: "Last of the heavenly ones, Astraea left the earth." This is what St. Leo says, sermon 8 On the Passion: "Thou hast drawn all things to thee, O Lord, when, in execration of the Jewish crime, the veil of the temple being torn, the Holy of Holies departed from the unworthy priests, so that the figure might be turned into truth, prophecy into manifestation, and the law into the Gospel." Then there came hail, that is, the hardening of the Jews, they saw voices, that is, thunders and lightnings, that is, miracles, the sanctity and efficacy of the Apostles in evangelizing. For, as Isidore says in the book On the World, chapter thirty-five: "Figuratively, hail is the hardness of perfidy, cold with the torpor of malice." Now in the ark (in which were the tables of the law) is signified the true observance of the law according to the spirit, translated from the Jews to the Christians; likewise also the mercy seat, that is, the remission of sins through faith in Christ; likewise also the two Cherubim, that is, true wisdom and sanctity; likewise also the rod of Aaron with manna: the rod denotes the manifestation of divine power against the enemies of His people; manna, beneficence and the providence of sustenance; both indeed have been translated from the Jews to the Christians, especially manna through the Eucharist. Second, Aureolus thinks that here is predicted the institution of the feast of the Purification of the Blessed Virgin, in which Christ as the ark of the covenant was presented in the temple; which was instituted in Constantinople under the Emperor Justinian to allay the pestilence then raging, as Sigebert testifies in the Chronicle, in the year of Christ 542, Paul, or rather John the Deacon in the Miscellaneous History, Nicephorus in book seventeen, chapter twenty-eight, and from these Baronius in the Martyrology on February 2. Whence also in the Mass of that feast is read the epistle of Malachi 3:1, in which Christ is called the Angel of the covenant: "Straightway," he says, "shall come to his temple the Lord whom you seek, and the Angel of the covenant whom you desire." For the ark had on either side an Angel, namely a Cherub, of the covenant. Third, many separate these from the trumpet of the seventh Angel, and think that this is a new vision and pertains to the following chapter; whence they begin chapter twelve here. Thus Andrew, Rupert, Anselm, Hugh, Joachim, Albert and Pannonius. But I say that they pertain to the seventh trumpet of the seventh Angel, of which verse 15 speaks. "The temple of God was opened in heaven," namely the dwelling place of the Blessed, in which as in a temple they themselves always serve and praise God. This therefore was opened to me, John, for this reason, that I might see from afar through some kind of image, or rather shadow, the happiness and glory of the Blessed. Opened, I say, not in reality, but through an imaginary, or mental symbolic vision. And the Ark of His Covenant Was Seen in His Temple. — This ark is the body or humanity of Christ. For this indeed anagogically (in the manner in which St. John speaks throughout here) the ark of the Old Testament signified: and this first, because just as the ark was made of incorruptible wood of acacia, so the body of Christ was incorruptible, because it could neither be dissolved nor corrupted by the stain of sin or the corruption of death. Second, because the ark was covered within with plates of gold: so Christ within is of the most ardent and most precious charity. Third, the ark had above it a mercy seat as a cover; so Christ brings with him the propitiation and redemption of the world. Fourth, above the ark were two Cherubim, looking at each other and the mercy seat with the ark with their faces turned toward it: so the two Testaments, namely the new and the old, look upon one Christ. Fifth, in the ark were the tables of the law: so Christ always had the law and the will of the Father in his mind and heart. Sixth, beside the ark was the rod of Aaron, which had budded: so in Christ is both royal and priestly power, which this rod represented. Finally, beside the ark was an urn with manna: so in Christ is wonderful sweetness and clemency, especially because he exhibits himself as manna not only in the Eucharist, but also in heaven to the Blessed for their enjoyment, and wonderfully feeds, refreshes and blesses them. By the ark therefore is signified the most beautiful and most glorious humanity of Christ, which in heaven exhibits itself to the Saints for them to see and enjoy, and this was shown here to St. John by vision, who just as in this life he was wonderfully delighted in the humanity of Christ, and was sweetly intimate with it, so much more in that other heavenly life is he wonderfully delighted in it, and is sweetly intimate with it: thus Richard, Victorinus, Bede and Rupert. Again the ark of the covenant signifies the glorious body of Christ, not only natural, namely the humanity of Christ already mentioned, but also mystical, namely the Church or congregation of the Saints, who in body and soul are blessed, and reign with Christ in the Holy of Holies, that is in heaven. For just as the mercy seat properly signified Christ, so the ark subject to it signified the Church triumphant: for upon both, as it were upon a throne, the glorious God sits and presides over the wings of the Cherubim, blessing and glorifying Christ the man and his Saints. See the things said in Exodus chapter xxv, verses 10 and 17. Hence consequently the ark of the covenant is the Blessed Virgin, who stands out among the Blessed, and is the more excellent part of the Church triumphant as well as militant. For she enclosed Christ in herself as it were manna, and equally the law of God. Thus St. Bernard, sermon On the Blessed Mary, and others, and namely Francis Suarez, III part., Question XXXVII, article 4, disputation xxi, section 2, who by the ark of the covenant understands the body of the Blessed Virgin, which rose again, and was gloriously assumed into heaven, appeared here to John. John therefore saw in the heavens through a shadow the glory of the Blessed Virgin and the Saints. Beautifully St. Ambrose, sermon 81, compares the Blessed Virgin to the ark of the covenant. For indeed, he says, the ark bore within it the tablets of the covenant, but Mary bore the heir of the covenant itself. That retained the law within it, this retained the Gospel. That had the voice of God, this the Word. The ark shone within and without with the brightness of gold, the Blessed Mary shone within and without with the splendor of virginity. That was adorned with earthly gold, this with heavenly. Deservedly therefore the Church in the Litanies of Loreto calls upon and invokes the Blessed Virgin saying: "Ark of the covenant, pray for us." Note: Above in chapter vi, verse 9, John saw the souls of the Martyrs under the altar, namely before the resurrection; but here after the consummation and resurrection he saw them transferred from the Holy Place (where they rested under the altar of incense, praying for their resurrection, and for the end and vengeance of sin and sinners) into the Holy of Holies, namely into the ark of the covenant, that is, into the glorious assembly of the fully and perfectly blessed, where now they ask for nothing further, but both in body and in soul blessed and made divine are sons of God, members of his household, heirs, members and as it were his body: see the things said in chapter viii, 3. And There Were Made Lightnings, and Voices, and Earthquakes, and Great Hail. — All these things St. John saw symbolically through a vision: they were not therefore actually made. And so all these things signify the wrath of God and vengeance, and the punishments of the impious, both present, namely Gog and Magog, whom God will destroy with heavenly fire in chapter xx, verse 9; and future ones in hell. For this wrath of God upon the reprobate, equally as the mercy of God upon the elect at the same time, namely on the day of war against Gog and Magog, and perfectly on the day of judgment will come to pass, and therefore pertains to the consummation which the seventh and last trumpet of the seventh Angel here introduces, in which all the seals and the book itself, namely the Apocalypse, begin to be finished: thus Rupert, Pannonius, Hugo. It alludes to Psalm cxlviii, 8: "Fire, hail, snow, ice, spirits of storms, which do the word of him," to terrify and prostrate the impious. And to Isaiah xxviii, 2: "Behold the Lord is mighty and strong, as a storm of hail." And chapter xxx, verse 30: "The Lord shall strike in a whirlwind, and in a stone of hail"; for hail brings a great storm and indicates it. I saw hail which not only laid low crops, but also killed animals. I have said more about hail in Exodus IX, 18. Aureolus, continuing his series of times and histories, refers these things to the conversion of the English, which was brought about through miracles and the preaching of St. Augustine, whom St. Gregory the Great sent there with other monks. But these, as well as the others of the same author, are not so much explanations of the Apocalypse as applications and accommodations.
Machine translation from the Latin, not reviewed.
11:2
… As Antiochus Epiphanes is the type of the Antichrist (v.), so the impious profanation of the "devastator," while it marks the end of the old worship, inaugurates the messianic opposition, the negative aspect of the new economy (cf. Apoc. 11:2 and Lk. 21:24). The intervention of the "man of sin" who "takes his seat and exhibits himself in the Temple of God" (II Thess. 2:3-4), hinted at by the masculine form (ἑστηκώς), …
11:3
Epistles I-II to the Thessalonians
… Satan triumphs, in his satellites; but the true victors are the martyrs; the persecution has passed, Nero has been killed, but the Church endures, develops by purifying itself, triumphs (Rev. 11:3-13; cf. J. Munck, Petrus und Paulus in der Offenbarung Johannis, Copenhagen 1950, review in Revue biblique, 58 [1951], p. 627 ff.; P. Boismard, L'apocalypse ou les apocalypses de St Jean, …
11:6
… "The obstacle", which seems to be (as St. Thomas notes, followed by B. Allo and D. Buzy) the true preaching of the Gospel (convergence of II Thess. 2:3-12 with Mt. 23:11 ff., 24; I Tim. 4:1-2, where the "apostasy" is connected with false preaching; Apoc. 11:6-7) operating as "power of God" (I Cor. 1:18; Rom. 1:16), is a present and enduring reality that prevents the "lawless one" from revealing himself in all the "activity of Satan", …
11:7
… In the Talmud (Shabbat, 55ᵃ) A. is set over (with death, cf. Rev. 20:14) the six "angels of destruction." It seems that A. is identified with the fallen star of Rev. 9:1, perhaps also with the beast from the abyss (Rev. 11:7), with the dragon (Rev. 12:3-4) and with Satan (Rev. 20:7). A similar personification is in Wis. 18:25 (ὁ Ὀλοθρεύων; cf. I Cor. 10:10).
11:10
… since after the "night" no one can work any longer (cf. Jn. 9, 4). The same thought and the same exhortations are found in the Apostles (cf. Gal. 6, 9-10; I Cor. 9, 24 ff.; II Cor. 5, 1-10; I Thess. 5, 2-3; I Pt. 1, 3-8; II Pt. 3, 10; Jas. 4, 13-15; Apoc. 11, 10-11; 16, 15). Especially St. Paul teaches clearly (I Cor. 15, 24-28) that with the judgment the economy of salvation is closed for all, without any possibility of an "eternal return" or …
11:13
… Žuvić, De A. taupum prophetico libro, in Bogoslovská Smotná, 22 (1934), pp. 330-46; id., Explicatio A. s. Johannis, ibid., 23 (1935), pp. 17-46; P. Touilleux, L'A. et les cultes de Domitien et de Cybèle, Parigi 1935; D. Haugg, Die zwei Zeugen (Apoc. 11, 13), Münster 1936; J. Schmid, Der Apokalypsetext des Ch. Benty-Papyrus, in Neugriech-Byzant. …
11:18
… appearing of the Prince of pastors; the same reward awaits all the faithful for their good works (2 Pt. 1:5-6). According to St. John, God searches reins and hearts and will give to each according to his works (Apoc. 2:23) and the reward to his servants (ibid. 11:18). "Be faithful unto death and I will give you the crown of life" (ibid. 2:10). Death for those who die in the Lord is rest from their labors; their good works follow after them (ibid. 13).
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.