Commentary on the Apocalypse 1 part 10/14

Having completed the vision concerning the consummation of the present age and the things that would then happen, it moves on to another subject, wishing to show the evangelist the things concerning Rome.

And, he says, "he said to me, Come, I will show you the judgment of the harlot who sits upon many waters" — by "judgment" meaning her conduct and manner of life, in which she has decided to live and such as she practices.

He calls her "harlot" as one who commits fornication away from God and apostatizes;

for this too has been named "fornication" by divine Scripture, according to what was said by the prophet to the God of all:

"You have utterly destroyed everyone who commits fornication away from you"

"Many waters," he says, means the nations over whom she rules and presides, as he himself says further on

"with whom," he says, "the kings of the earth committed fornication"

and these are those who reigned among them;

for these are the kings of the earth who have shared in her fornication and idol-madness

"and," he says, "those who dwell on the earth were made drunk from the wine of her fornication";

for indeed the rest also, over whom she ruled, apostatized together from God, she in some cases compelling them, in others leading them

"And," he says, "he carried me into the wilderness in the Spirit"

The wilderness hints at her desolation that is to come

"And I saw," he says, "a woman sitting upon a scarlet beast"

By "beast" he means the Devil, on whom she rested, and by whom she was led as an army;

"scarlet" because he was dyed crimson with the blood of the saints

And the beast was full of names of blasphemy;

for the Devil, having claimed for himself the reverence proper to God, sins against God

"having," he says, "seven heads and ten horns"

These he himself explains further on, calling the heads and the horns "kings" — both those who reigned in her and those about to reign

"And the woman was clothed in purple and scarlet" — purple because of the kingship, and scarlet because of shedding the blood of many saints

"adorned with gold and precious stone and pearls"

the discourse fittingly adorns her, as a queen, with royal ornament

"having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations" — golden because of the honor of her dominion, yet full of idolatry and pollutions, on which she was nourished, and with which she poured libations to her own demons

"and," he says, "the unclean things of the fornication of the earth";

for indeed he also attributes to her the causes of the idolatry of the rest of the nations, as the primary author of the evils and of the idol-madness

"And," he says, "there was also written upon her forehead," as though in some inscription on a monument, declaring who she was:

namely that she is Babylon, the mother of harlots — "Babylon" because of the disturbance and confusion within her, and the persecutions of the saints;

for, as has been said, the name "Babylon" signifies confusion;

and "mother" of the fornication and apostasy from God

For how is she not mother and teacher, she who persecutes the evangelical word and those who preach it, and persuades the nations to remain in the error handed down from their fathers? "And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus"

"and I marveled, seeing her, with great amazement;"

"Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns;"

"The beast that you saw, was, and is not, and is about to ascend out of the abyss, and goes to perdition;"

"and those who dwell on the earth, whose name is not written in the book of life from the foundation of the world, will marvel, seeing the beast, that it was not and will be present;"

for the harlot was not only sated with the blood of the saints, but also made drunk

Those who reigned in her had such great difference among themselves; "I will tell you," he says, "what is the mystery of the woman and of the beast."

That is, he mystically reveals these things which are depicted to you as in an image through the revelation.

"The beast that you saw," he says, "was, and is not, and is about to ascend out of the abyss."

For the Devil existed before the existence of the sensible world, having been made by God for good works, just as also the rest of the divine angels;

but he "is not," insofar as the things concerning the consummation of the age are shown to the evangelist, the time in which he will go into the fire prepared for him and his angels.

For to be among these things is not, properly speaking, to exist at all.

Then, since by his working the antichrist is about to be revealed in the days of the end, he says:

"and he is about to ascend out of the abyss and goes into destruction."

For through the antichrist there will occur an ascent, and as it were an increase, for the Devil, the antichrist deceiving men and persuading them to worship him, as has been said before at length.

Or you may understand "was and is not" in this way:

he calls the saints thus, on account of their being in Christ and in closeness and remembrance with God

if then the saints, being, are, then the accursed Devil "is not" now, even though he "was" before, when he stiffened his neck against God the Almighty and slipped away from his own rank.

Likewise also the impious, even if they seem to be as regards subsistence and substance, nevertheless they "are not" as far as concerns the reckoning and remembrance of God;

and that this is so is shown by the fact that the book of Genesis does not give the genealogy of those descended from Cain, since on account of their impiety they are not; and he speaks of the destruction into which he is about to go,

that is, the just punishment of Gehenna against him;

for the Lord says that those condemned in it have perished, speaking in Matthew:

"But fear him who is able to destroy both soul and body in Gehenna."

"And those who dwell on the earth will marvel," he says,

not all, however, but those whose names are not in the book of life.

But why will they marvel? Because the beast was, and is not, and will be present, and perishes;

for those who trusted in it will be astounded at the very great change concerning it.

For wishing to be ruler of the world and displaying himself as such, he will not only be deposed from his rule, but will also receive an end worthy of his own wickedness.

"Here is the mind that has wisdom," he says.

"Here," he says, "is a mind made wise;"

let it know the riddle, how the beast was, and is not, and is about to ascend out of the abyss.

For indeed, to one who has passed from being into not-being, it seems contrary that he is about to ascend again out of the abyss, unless one should understand it in the way that has already been said.

"The seven heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits."

"Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come;"

"and when he comes, he must remain a little while;"

"and the beast that was and is not, he himself is an eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into destruction."

"And the ten horns which you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom, but they will receive authority as kings for one hour with the beast."

"These have one mind, and they give their power and authority to the beast."

"These will make war with the Lamb, and the Lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord of lords and King of kings, and those with him are called and chosen and faithful."

"The seven," he says, "heads are seven mountains, on which the woman sits."

From this especially it is shown that what has been said refers to Rome;

for she is recorded to be seven-hilled, and no other city is.

"Five have fallen, one is, the other has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain a little while."

Fittingly he perceives the kings in the heads;

for the kings are the chief part of the Roman dominion.

Why then, when so very many reigned in Rome, did he say that the heads of the beast are only seven? Because it was these seven especially who caused the beast, that is the Devil, to lift up his head against the Christians, having stirred up persecutions against the church;

of whom the first is Nero, the second Domitian, then Trajan, Severus, after him Decius, Valerian, Diocletian;

for these, of those who reigned in Rome, persecuted the church without restraint, as Eusebius says in his Chronicles, of whom he says that five of the seven fell by death;

Nero, Domitian, Trajan, Severus, Decius;

and that the one who "is" is Valerian.

"The other," he says, "has not yet come, and when he comes he must remain a little while."

And he says that the "other" is Diocletian, after whom the kingship over Rome ceased and passed to the city named after the pious Constantine, Constantine himself having transferred the royal residence there.

Now everything was reported very accurately to the evangelist, but especially the matters concerning Diocletian, in which it is said, "and when he comes he must remain a little while," meaning that he remained a little while in the persecution against the Christians;

for although he reigned twenty years, having begun the persecution only in the last two, he laid aside the kingship.

"And the beast," he says, "that was and is not,"

"and it is itself an eighth, and is of the seven, and goes into destruction."

And he has ranked the Devil as both first and last persecutor, and of one mind with the seven.

Could not he too be ranked among them, he who marshaled the seven to be so exceedingly wicked? "And the ten horns," he says, "that you saw are ten kings, who have not yet received a kingdom."

Concerning these ten kings, or horns, the most wise prophet Daniel has spoken distinctly, saying that they arise out of the Roman empire:

that they will arise in the last times, in the midst of whom the antichrist will arise.

For this reason, then, he says, "they have not yet received a kingdom, but they will have authority as kings"

rightly "as kings," on account of the short-lived and shadowy character of their kingship.

Then he adds, "they receive authority for one hour with the beast."

Here he calls the antichrist "beast,"

since also in what preceded he called him thus, saying, "And I saw another beast rising up out of the earth, and it had two horns like a lamb."

"That they reign for one hour" hints either at the short duration of their kingship, or at one season and turning of the year.

"These," he says, "have one mind, and give their power and authority to the beast."

For even if the ten kings who are to be are opposed to one another in their opinions, nevertheless in this they will have one mind, in giving their power and authority to the beast, that is, to the antichrist.

For they will be defeated by him, and thereafter he alone will rule over all.

But even if they will be defeated against their will, nevertheless, since the ten will suffer the same experience of defeat and deposition, he said that they have one mind;

as if he were saying that, as though by agreement and unanimity, the ten will be defeated by the antichrist.

"These," he says, "will make war with the Lamb."

For before they are altogether deposed by the antichrist, these of whom the discourse speaks will persecute the church;

for, being wicked themselves, he will hand them over to one more wicked, the antichrist, unto death.

And in another respect Christ will conquer, since his servants contend even unto death for their faith in him;

"for they are called and chosen and faithful," he says, that is, the servants of Christ.

The waters you saw, where the harlot sits, are peoples and nations and multitudes and tongues.

And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast — these will hate the harlot, and will make her desolate and naked, and will eat her flesh, and will burn her up with fire;

For God has put it into their hearts to carry out his purpose, and to be of one mind, and to give their kingdom to the beast, until the words of God shall be fulfilled.

And the woman whom you saw is the great city, which holds kingship over the kings of the earth.

He said the waters on which the harlot sits are peoples and nations, over whom, that is, the city holds dominion.

But how will Rome be made desolate by the kings? For we have understood that it is Rome which the Apocalypse signifies through this.

Perhaps she will be an object of contention to them, as a royal city, both fortified and populous, and one that receives tribute.

So in the war over her, it is inevitable that, being set forth as the prize of victory, she should suffer evil at the hands of all, being burned with fire and made desolate.

For God, he says, gave into their hearts to carry out their own purpose.

By God's permission, he says, she will suffer these things at the hands of those who cling to her and desire to seize her.

And to be of one mind, he says, and to give the kingdom to the beast.

And as though of one mind, to be handed over as subjects to the Antichrist, as has been said before; until, he says, the words of God shall be fulfilled.

They will become subject, he says, to the beast, until the punishment against the Antichrist arrives, and the things spoken by God through the prophets, even concerning him, reach their fulfillment.

But wishing to signify more clearly the matters concerning the city of which the discourse speaks, he adds that the woman is the great city which holds dominion over all.

After these things I saw another angel coming down from heaven, having great authority, and the earth was illumined by his glory.

And he cried out with a mighty voice, saying:

...have committed fornication with her, and the merchants of the earth have grown rich from the power of her wantonness.

And I saw, he says, another angel having great authority.

By this he means that this authority is that of a luminary — both to be a luminary, and to illumine the earth by his glory.

He proclaims God's sentence against her.

It has been decreed, he says, that she suffer these things: "and she has become a dwelling place of demons;"

For the wandering, man-hating and blood-devouring demons, in whatever places they find the blood of men spilled — whether of those slain in wars or destroyed in some other way — make their dwellings there, as though rejoicing over what has happened.

Since therefore very many will be slain in the city, as he has already said, it thus becomes a dwelling place of demons, and a prison for every unclean spirit, and for every unclean beast;

For such creatures flee from dwelling among men, and, taking possession of desolate places, they keep themselves safe from those who plot against them and from the hunting of those who pursue them.

Such things also Isaiah the prophet says concerning Babylon.

He says: "and sirens will rest there, and demons will dance there;"

"and onocentaurs will dwell there, and hedgehogs will nest in their houses."

For all the nations have drunk of the wrath of her fornication.

Here he calls their insatiable greed and love of money "fornication";

for such is the character of the fornicators.

For indeed those in the said city encroached upon all the nations, and having subdued them, ordained that they pay tribute.

And the kings, he says, who are in her have become participants and partners in her love of money; and the merchants who trade in her, he says, have grown rich from her wantonness, that is, from her arrogance and from her loose, dissolute, and slothful way of life, disposing of all kinds of merchandise within her.

And I heard another voice from heaven, saying:

Come out of her, my people, that you may not share together in their sins, and that you may not receive of her plagues;

for her sins have reached up to heaven, and God has remembered her iniquities.

Render to her as she herself has rendered, and double to her double according to her works; in the cup which she mixed, mix for her double. As much as she glorified herself and lived wantonly, so much give her torment and mourning;

for in her heart she says, "I sit as a queen, and I am not a widow, and I shall never see mourning;"

therefore in one day her plagues will come, death and mourning and famine, and she will be burned up with fire;

for strong is the Lord who judges her.

When the divine angels took hold of the city of the Sodomites, in order to exact justice upon those in it and upon the neighboring cities — or rather, as it seems to Cyril among the saints, when the Son of God and the Holy Spirit visited that place (for the Father judges no one, according to what is written, but has given all judgment to the Son, the life-giving Spirit being naturally and essentially present with him) — then, they say, [the angels spoke] to the divinely-inspired Lot:

"Save yourself, escape for your life;"

"do not look back, nor stay anywhere in all the surrounding region;"

"escape to the mountain, lest you be swept away with them."

This the Apocalypse now teaches us also:

For since it is not possible that in so vast and populous a city as Rome there should not also be found servants of Christ in it, it says to them: "Come out of her, my people, that you may not share together in their sins, and that you may not receive of their plagues."

For to share in the sins is to share also in the plagues;

for, he says, "her sins have reached up to heaven;"

as if to say that they had polluted even the intervening air with their sins.

Therefore, he says, God, having long been patient, has now risen up for retribution.

"Render to her," therefore, he says, "her sins doubled," although through the all-wise Moses God has commanded us:

"You shall not take vengeance twice for the same thing."

And not only double, but even sevenfold.

And knowing this, the prophet said, "Render to our neighbors sevenfold into their bosom the reproach with which they reproached you, O Lord," asking God, through this request for the sevenfold recompense, for the punishment the enemies deserved; because, he says, she, having been glorified and having wallowed in the luxury of the present life, took no thought for the divine will.

For she says, "I shall never be deprived of reigning;"

for this is what a "widow" is: one who is, as it were, bereft of the one who reigns.

Therefore, on account of her boastful speech, every evil will come upon her together;

for strong, he says, is God, and by no one will he be hindered from bringing judgment and punishment upon her;

from which may we all be made free, by the grace of him who called us to the knowledge of himself and to the hope of Christ;

Amen. Book Ten. The Apocalypse's discourse concerning Rome continues:

For inasmuch as it recounts so great and strange a change, the discourse lingers upon it.

What then does it say? "And the kings of the earth who committed fornication and lived wantonly with her will weep and mourn over her, when they see the smoke of her burning, standing far off because of fear of her torment, saying:"

"Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon, the mighty city! For in one hour your judgment has come."

And the merchants of the earth weep and mourn over her, because no one buys their cargo anymore;

cargo no longer of gold and silver and precious stone and pearl, and fine linen and purple and silk and scarlet, and every kind of scented wood, and every vessel of ivory, and every vessel of most precious wood, and of bronze and iron and marble, and cinnamon, and incense and myrrh and frankincense and wine and oil and fine flour and wheat and cattle and sheep, and horses and chariots, and of bodies, and souls of men.

And the fruit your soul desired has departed from you, and all your rich and splendid things have perished from you, and they will never find them again; the merchants of these things, who grew rich from her, will stand far off because of fear of her torment, weeping and mourning, and saying:

"Woe, woe, the great city, clothed in fine linen and purple and scarlet, and adorned with gold and precious stone and pearl, for in one hour so great riches have been made desolate!"

And every helmsman, and everyone who sails upon the river, and sailors, and as many as work the sea, stood far off, and cried out, seeing the anguish of her burning, saying:

"What city is like the great city?" And they threw dust on their heads, and cried out, weeping and mourning, saying:

"Woe, woe, the great city, in which all who had ships on the sea grew rich from her costly wares, for in one hour she has been made desolate!"

How variedly and skillfully he has woven the lament over her, and the very height of the mourning!

Since almost all things are clear, let us note only whatever seems to be difficult, and proceed to the rest.

'And horses,' it says, 'and of rhedōn, and of bodies.'

The word rhedōn (ῥέδων) is a Roman word;

for since the Romans were ruling, it is not unreasonable that the divinely-inspired evangelist should have made use of a Roman word;

and Scripture Hellenized it.

for among the Romans the vehicle is called rhedium (ῥεδιούμ), but he has put it in the genitive plural case;

and though it was necessary, following the Romans, to say rhediorum (ῥεδιορούμ), having Hellenized it he wrote a Greek ending, saying rhedōn, so that what was said might be as follows:

'And horses,' he says, 'of rhedōn and of bodies,' that is, horses of vehicles, those suited for vehicles, and 'of bodies,' that is, riding-horses, those made for riders.

'Rejoice over her, O heaven, and you saints and apostles and prophets, for God has judged your judgment on her.'

'And a mighty angel took up a great stone like a millstone and cast it into the sea, saying:'

'Thus with violence shall Babylon the great be thrown down, and shall not be found any more.'

'...in you, and every craftsman of every craft shall not be found in you any more, and the sound of a millstone shall not be heard in you any more, and the light of a lamp shall not shine in you any more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride shall not be heard in you any more;'

'for your merchants were the great men of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived, and in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints and of all who have been slain upon the earth.'

The merchants and the kings of the earth and all those to whom it mattered that the city stood and flourished shall weep bitterly over her;

but let the heavens rejoice, that is, the angels in heaven and the souls of the righteous — the souls, because vengeance has been executed by God, and the angels, as rejoicing together with those who have been avenged.

Again, through the lingering treatment within the narrative, he heightens the calamity of the noetic Babylon;

Since these things are clear, there is no need to dwell on what has already been agreed upon.

'After these things I heard a great voice of a great multitude in heaven, saying, Hallelujah;'

'Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for true and righteous are His judgments;'

'for He has judged the great harlot who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and He has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand;'

'And a second time they said, Hallelujah;'

'and her smoke rises up forever and ever. And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who sits on the throne, saying, Amen, Hallelujah.'

'And a voice came out of the throne, saying:'

'Praise our God, all you His servants, and you who fear Him, both small and great.'

'As of a great multitude,' he says, 'I heard a voice from heaven:'

for the ranks of the holy angels are innumerable, as one of the Fathers has said, that the ninety-nine sheep who were preserved and remained unstrayed are the angels, and the one that went astray is all humanity.

'And they were saying,' he says, 'Hallelujah.'

Now 'Hallelujah' is a Hebrew word;

and it means, 'Praise, hymn God.'

Therefore they sing a song of thanksgiving over the righteous judgment of the noetic Babylon.

And a second time they raised up the same hymn, and yet further below they uttered it again, so that by the threefold offering of the Hallelujah the holy and much-hymned Trinity might be glorified by them;

'And her smoke,' he says, 'rises up forever and ever.'

The Hallelujah, uttered as a doxology in the middle, interrupts the sequence of the discourse, since the natural order of the construction is in fact as follows:

'and He has avenged the blood of His servants at her hand;'

'and her smoke rises up forever and ever.'

And he speaks of smoke as though the city concerning which he says these things is altogether burning;

for smoke is in fact an indication of fire.

And the fact that the elders and the living creatures say 'Amen' signifies their assent to the doxology offered by the holy angels;

for 'Amen,' when translated from the Hebrew into the Greek tongue, means, 'May it be so.'

'Praise our God,' he says, 'both small and great;'

for he calls 'small' those who are greater in sanctification, and 'great' those who are preeminent in rank.

'And I heard as it were the voice of a great multitude, and as the voice of many waters, and as the voice of mighty thunders, saying, Hallelujah, for the Lord our God the Almighty reigns.'

'And let us rejoice and be glad and give the glory to Him, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself, and it was given to her to be clothed in fine linen.'

'[the fine linen] is the righteous deeds of the saints.'

'Blessed are those who are called to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'

'These are the true words of God.'

The holy and all-hymned Trinity exists as one in essence and in divinity.

'For,' he says, 'the Lord our God reigns.'

Our Lord Jesus Christ, even before His saving incarnation, reigned together with the Father and the All-Holy Spirit over both those in heaven and those on earth, as the only-begotten Son and Word of the Father and the Creator of all things.

And after the incarnation likewise He is Lord and King of all things, having been diminished in no way by the enfleshment with regard to His rule and kingship over all things.

But since, according to the most wise Apostle, we do not yet see all things subjected to Him, but in the age to come all things shall be subjected — even those who now for the present stubbornly stretch their necks against Him — so that even death itself shall be subjected (for death, the last enemy, is abolished) — the divinely-inspired angels fittingly say, 'the Lord our God reigns,' making the reference of their doxology to the age to come, inasmuch as it is then, by the subjection of all things, that Christ obtains the most perfect kingship over all;

for some shall render their subjection through punishment, and others through face-to-face knowledge, and not through a mirror or in an enigma as now.

'For,' he says, 'the marriage of the Lamb has come, and His wife has prepared herself.'

The Lord's marriage with the Church, in the present, is still a betrothal, and not yet a perfect marriage.

And the divinely-inspired Apostle hints at this in writing the second epistle to the Corinthians, in which he says, 'For I have betrothed you to one husband, to present you as a chaste virgin to Christ.'

The matter, then, is still one of betrothal;

for 'I have betrothed' pertains to betrothal.

And we receive the pledge of the Spirit as the token of the betrothal.

But when the Church becomes one spirit with Christ, just as a husband becomes one body with his wife, then there shall be the perfect marriage.

For indeed, when the wise Apostle philosophizes to us concerning bodily marriage, and cites the scriptural saying, 'The two shall become one flesh,' he adds, 'This mystery is great;'

'but I speak concerning Christ and the Church.'

Therefore the holy angels say, 'the marriage of the Lamb has come,' signifying that the marriage of the present betrothal shall then be consummated;

for this the Gospel too has clearly handed down to us, at one point introducing a wedding feast held by a king for his son, with many called to the banquet, some partaking of the feast and others declining the supper, and one who was not clothed in a wedding garment being cast out;

and at another point speaking of ten virgins, of whom the five whom it calls prudent entered in together with the bridegroom into that blessed bridal chamber, while the others were shut out, since they had not filled their lamps with abundant oil;

none of which it is possible to understand as pertaining to the present time, but to the time that shall be.