Commentary on Revelation & Paul 15

At the outset of this epistle it must be said what cause it was that the Apostle Paul did not, in this epistle, keep his usual custom — namely, of setting down either the term of his own name or the dignity of his rank. This, then, was the cause why he did not entitle it with his own name: because he was writing to the Jews, his own brethren, to whom he was hateful, because he himself taught that circumcision, the sabbath, and the other sacrifices which the law prescribed for observance ought not to be observed carnally after the Lord's passion. For those Jews who had believed contended to hold both — namely, to be baptized according to the grace of the Gospel, and to be circumcised, and also to observe the sabbath according to the precept of the law.

Wherefore, if the Apostle had placed his name at the opening of this epistle, it might have happened that his rivals, reading his name at the very front, would have disdained to receive it, and thus the profit of its reading would have been deferred. He did not place the name of his apostleship, moreover, because — being himself constituted the apostle of the Gentiles — if he had prefixed the name of his apostleship to the epistle directed to them, calling himself an apostle, it might perhaps have seemed to them that he wished to prefer himself to the Apostle Peter, who was their chief, ordained by the Lord, even as the same excellent preacher says in another place: For He who wrought in Peter unto the apostleship of the circumcision, wrought also in me among the Gentiles. And perhaps they would even say:

What is this, that Paul the teacher of the Gentiles prefers himself to our apostles Peter and James? — writing to those to whom he was ordained an apostle; for the writings of our own apostles can amply teach us. By which act he showed that he was not ignorant of their pride, and at the same time exhibited his own humility. In like manner the apostle John also, for the sake of humility and of this reasoning, omitted his own name in his epistle. Or certainly some say that, because the Apostle was about to name Christ in the epistle, saying: We have a High Priest and Apostle of our confession, Jesus the Just, he was unwilling to place the name of his own apostleship at the beginning of this epistle.

For he did not judge it fitting that, where he was about to call Christ 'Apostle,' he should there also name himself an apostle, and most of all in the title, lest he should seem to any to prefer himself to Christ. Some say this epistle to be Barnabas's, some Luke's, some Clement's, saying that if it were Paul's, he himself, in his usual manner — as in the others, so also in this — would place his own name at the head; but if it will not be Paul's, since it is not titled with his name, then it will be neither Barnabas's, nor Luke's, nor Clement's, nor anyone's, since it is titled with no one's name. To whom, then, of these is it to be ascribed? Certainly to that excellent preacher;

inasmuch as it is proved to be his by its lucid sense and its manner of speech, although it is set forth in a more subtle and clearer style than all his epistles. For it is reported that, sending this to the Hebrews, he wrote it in the Hebrew tongue, in which he was himself most skilled, while he wrote the rest in the Greek tongue. But after the Apostle's departure, Luke the evangelist rendered it in the Greek tongue; from which it was afterward translated into the Latin language, as were the rest also. CHAPTER ONE. In many portions and in many manners of old, God speaking to the fathers in the prophets, hath in these last days spoken to us in a Son.

The whole aim of the blessed Apostle in this epistle is that he may cause the Jews, his kinsmen — who are also called Hebrews, from Heber, in whom they were taken up by the law of Moses — to pass over to the grace of the Gospel, from carnal observance to spiritual; and at the same time he distinguishes the eminence of the grace which was given to the faithful through the Son from the legal shadows, which were exhibited by angelic ministrations. Whence here he first sets down that the prophets spoke to the Fathers in diverse modes and various forms of speech, saying: In many portions — that is, in many utterances; and in many manners — that is, in many qualities; of old — that is, in past time; God the Father speaking through the prophets to our Fathers.

Then, to show how great a difference of grace there was between them and their fathers, he subjoined: In these last days, of the final age, He hath spoken to us through a Son. Now by saying: He hath spoken 'in' the prophets, and 'in' a Son, it is worth as much as if he said 'through' the prophets and 'through' the Son; because one preposition is often taken for another, as in many places of the epistle it is found that these prepositions are used indifferently. Let us consider, then, how in many utterances and many qualities God the Father spoke to the fathers of the Testament. In many utterances and many qualities He spoke to them, because He did not always reveal His secrets to them uniformly. For sometimes He spoke to them openly and through an angel:

as to Abraham, to whom He said: About this time I will come, and Sarah shall have a son. To Moses also, in giving the legal precepts: Thou shalt not kill; Thou shalt not commit adultery, and the rest of this kind. To Lot also, in leading him out of Sodom, and to very many others. But sometimes obscurely and through enigmas, as to Moses, to whom He said: I am who am: These things shalt thou say to the children of Israel: He who is hath sent me to you; sometimes in the habit of a soldier, as to Joshua; sometimes in the heart, as to David, who said: I will hear what the Lord God will speak in me; and to the rest of the prophets. Sometimes through a dream, as to Daniel. But how great a distance there is between the grace of the Gospel, which was given through the Son, and the law, which was administered through a servant:

so great is the difference between the ministers and helpers of the law — since servants were sent to servants — and between the promise and the grace which was given through the Son to sons, and which afterward, through sons, follows as administered to sons. Whom He hath appointed heir of all things. 'Heir' is so called from 'herus,' that is, 'lord,' because with free power he holds lordship over the inheritance. God the Father, then, appointed the Son heir of all things — that is, of the whole world, or of all creatures — not, however, according to the divinity by which He is co-eternal with the Father and co-equal with Him in the omnipotence of the Godhead, and by which He eternally possesses all things together with the Father;

but rather according to the humanity assumed by the Word was He constituted Lord and heir over all creation: as God the Father promised Him, saying: Ask of Me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance, and the ends of the earth for thy possession. And the Son Himself, rising from the dead, speaks thus from the person of His humanity: All power (He says) is given to Me in heaven and in earth. Let us therefore not divide the persons, but distinguish the natures. Whence it is to be shrewdly observed that the Apostle in the epistle now speaks of the substance of the humanity, now of the substance of the deity: for what he said — that He was constituted by God the Father heir of all creatures — he referred to His humanity.

but wishing to make a distinction between the nature of His divinity and of His humanity, and to show what properly pertained to each nature, he added, saying: Through whom also He made the ages. 'Ages' (saecula) are so called from 'following' (sequendo), because they follow one another, returning and reverting into themselves. But here by 'ages' we ought to understand all things that were made in time. Therefore, that the Apostle might show that the same One had come into the world in the last days, and had temporally received the inheritance, who before all ages was with the Father, he said: Through whom God the Father made all things that were made in time. For what the evangelist John said: All things were made through Him, and without Him was made nothing — this the Apostle signified by saying:

Through whom He made also the ages — referring this to His divinity. Then, elegantly using certain steps of ascent, he arrived at that which is greater than all these, and rang out, saying: Who, being the brightness of glory and the figure of His substance. God the Father is light, as the same Apostle says, speaking of the Son: Who dwelleth (he says) in light inaccessible; and the Son is light, and the Holy Spirit is light. Likewise the Father is brightness, and the Son is brightness; and how brightness proceeds from brightness, it is impossible to define. But for this reason the Son is called the brightness of the Father: because, as in fire there are three things inseparable — namely, fire, heat, and brightness — and yet by the brightness fire and heat are shown to us:

though human things are not to be compared with divine: so the nature of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit, inseparably conjoined and united, deigned through its Word — as through a brightness — to show itself, and moreover the mystery of the holy Trinity, the Son Himself saying: I and the Father are one, and, Go, baptize all nations, in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. In a wonderful manner, therefore, the Apostle showed the whole substance of the deity of the Father and of the Son: so as to disclose two persons in glory and brightness. For by the brightness he declared the unity of essence with God the Father; but in the name of 'glory' he expressed the person of God the Father; and in the 'brightness,' the person of the Son;

and thus the Son is brightness from brightness, as light from light, God from God, light from light, principle from principle. There follows: And the figure of His substance. As far as pertains to men, one thing is the figure, another the substance: because when the image and figure of some man is painted on a wall, that which is the figure is not that which is the substance. But the Apostle here placed 'figure' for the very substance and equality of essence: and what he here called 'figure,' elsewhere he called 'form,' saying: Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal with God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant. For 'form' there, and 'figure' here, declare one quality of essence:

Christ, therefore, is the brightness of the Father and the figure of His substance: because through Him the Father was made manifest, as He Himself said: Father, I have manifested Thy name to men; and He is equal to Him in the substance of the deity. There follows: And upholding all things by the word of His power. By saying 'upholding,' he wished to express the ease of containing; and he placed 'upholding' for that which is 'governing and ruling.' The Word, then, of God the Father upholds all things which He made by the word of His power — that is, by the might of His power and by the word of His command He governs and rules all things. For it is no less to govern the world than to have created it; for in creating, the substances of things were produced out of nothing:

but in governing, the things that were made are contained, lest they return to nothing. Therefore, while all these things are ruled and mutually fitted together though warring against one another, the great and admirable judgment of God's power is declared. After so great a brightness of the divine majesty in the Son, he descends to the humble things of His incarnation, and likewise distinguishes the nature of the divinity and of the humanity, saying: Making the cleansing of sins. For what he said — Upholding all things by His governance and the ruling of His power — he referred to the divinity. But what he added — Making the cleansing of sins — pertains properly to His humanity, whether through the redemption of His passion and the water of baptism: as John says in his Apocalypse:

He hath washed us from our sins in His own blood. He sitteth at the right hand of the majesty on high. The order of the words is to be considered: for first he asserted that the Lord procured cleansing for us by His passion; and then he said that He sits at the right hand of the majesty on high. For Christ first redeemed us by the blood of His passion, and thus afterward penetrated the height of the heavens, where now He sits at the right hand of the Father. But His 'sitting' is put for 'dwelling' and 'being' in that place, as also 'the right hand' for supreme honour and dignity. For it is not to be supposed that the omnipotent Father, who is a spirit uncircumscribed, filling all things, has a right hand or a left, as we have:

or that the Son sits at His right hand as the sons of kings are wont to sit beside their father, with a throne placed for them; but, as we say, the right hand is taken for glory and the honour of dignity; since the Father also is written to be at the right hand of Christ, as is held in the psalm: The Lord at thy right hand hath broken kings in the day of His wrath. Both, therefore, are at the right hand, because there is nothing left-hand in the divinity; because the man assumed by the Word is now one with God in glory, and on the fortieth day exalted to the heavenly places. What is it, then — He sits at the right hand of the majesty — but to say, He dwells in the fullness of the paternal majesty? And when he said 'on high,' he showed that that Man was exalted above every creature, angelic and human;

whence there also follows: Made so much better than the angels, as He hath inherited a more excellent name beyond them. Here we ought to take 'made' or 'effected' for 'assumed,' as though he said: He inherited a name more distinguished and excellent than theirs — the name of sonship. For as great as the distance is between the name of a son and of a servant, by so much is He of greater dignity than the angels: since He is Creator (I speak according to the divinity), they creatures. That Man too is in this respect greater than all the angels and every creature: because the power which was in the whole Word, before all ages, rested in that Man assumed by the Word from the time of His conception.

Wherefore they are ministers and servants, as was declared in His temptation and passion, and also in His resurrection and ascension. But He exists as the proper Son and heir: which the Apostle also intimates to us when he subjoins: For to which of the angels did He at any time say, Thou art My Son, this day have I begotten Thee? Understand: to none of the angels was this said. This is to be understood of the Word of God, which is eternal and consubstantial with the Father, not of any creature; though we read in the book of Job that angels are called sons of God. In Genesis also, sons; but this, when it happens, happens by an abuse of the term. When, then, did He say to Him: Thou art My Son? At the time of baptism, and on the mount the paternal voice thundered from heaven, saying:

This is My beloved Son. And in this, that He said, Thou art My Son, He manifests from His very essence that He is begotten. And it is to be noted that He did not say: Before all ages I have begotten Thee, or in past time; but, this day, He says, have I begotten Thee — which adverb is of present time: for in God neither do past things pass away, nor future things succeed; but all times are joined together to Him at once, because He has all things present. And the sense is: As I am always eternal, having neither beginning nor end, so I always have Thee co-eternal with Me. Such also is that which He said elsewhere: Before the day-star I begot Thee — that is, before the angelic creation, and before all ages.

And again, I will be to Him a Father, and He shall be to Me a Son. Dost thou see how he distinguished the twofold nature in Christ? For what he said a little above, This day have I begotten Thee, refers to the divinity of eternity; but what he added, I will be to Him a Father, refers, without any doubt, to the essence of the humanity. Whence he also fittingly used the verb of future time, saying: I will be. For when God the Father said to David: When thou shalt sleep with thy fathers, I will raise up thy seed, which shall come forth from thy loins; and I will establish his throne above thy throne: and he shall be to Me a son, and I will be to him a Father — it was still future that the Word of God the Father should assume man in the virginal womb, in the unity of His person:

or because He should be the Son of God in truth, not adoptive, but proper. But this sentence can also look back to what precedes, so that it be read under interrogation: Again, to which of the angels did He say: I will be to him a Father? And understand: to none. Or certainly absolutely and affirmatively, in this manner: Again God the Father says of Him: I will be a Father. And when again He brought in the firstborn into the world, He said: And let all the angels of God adore Him. Every only-begotten can be called firstborn, because he first opens the womb of the mother; not, however, is every firstborn only-begotten, who has other brothers following. But the Lord Jesus, both according to divinity and according to humanity, can be called both only-begotten and firstborn.

He is only-begotten according to divinity, because in the nature of the divinity He has no brothers following; according to humanity too He is the only-begotten of blessed Mary, who after Him bore no others — as Helvidius calumniates. Then He is firstborn according to the essence of the divinity, as He testifies through Solomon, saying: I, wisdom, came forth from the mouth of the Most High, firstborn before every creature. According to the humanity by which He is firstborn among many adoptive brethren: of whom He Himself said to Mary: Go to My brethren, and say to them. But what the Apostle says — When again God the Father brought in His firstborn Son into the world — these words seem to sound as though He had now been introduced a second time.

But how this is to be understood, the evangelist John openly makes manifest, saying: He was in the world, and the world was made through Him, and the world knew Him not. The Word, therefore, of God the Father, through whom all things were made, being of one essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, is everywhere, and fills all things. Because by encompassing He fills all things, and He encompasses the things to be filled; by governing He presides, by presiding He governs. And because He was in the world, where He assumed flesh, and while He was inaccessible to our sight, because He was not seen: He calls the very assumption of flesh a second entrance; for while He who was invisible to human sight, having assumed flesh, presented Himself visible, He was as it were introduced again.

It should be noted that what the Apostle calls an 'entering in,' this Truth itself in the Gospel calls a 'going out,' saying: 'I went forth from the Father, and came into the world.' Rightly, then, does he call the assumption and manifestation of his Incarnation a 'going out,' because we were outside, cast out from God beyond the hall of paradise, the palace of the eternal King, placed in the prison of this world and banished into exile. For example: just as accused men are shut out from the royal hall when they incur the king's displeasure, and are consigned to exile and closed up in prison; yet just as a good mediator, wishing to obtain pardon for them, does not first bring them into the king's hall, but himself goes out, and there enters into the business of conversing with them:

and thus, having corrected and chastened them, he brings them into the king's presence; in like manner the Lord Jesus showed himself. For he went forth to us from the presence of the paternal majesty, by taking flesh and making himself visible, and he conversed with us the precepts of the eternal King; and thus, having corrected and chastened us by his preaching and miracles, and confirmed us in his faith, and cleansed us from our sins by his passion, he brought us into the hall, into the presence of the paternal majesty, when, ascending into heaven, he opened to us the entrance of the heavenly kingdom. But by saying that he was 'brought into the world,' he signifies this: that in committing the world to him, he declares him to be the Lord of the whole world:

For then shall he possess the world, when he is acknowledged by all as Lord of the whole earth. But take this as said not of the substance of the Word, but of the essence of the man. And what follows, 'And let all the angels of God adore him,' is as if he said: All the angels are mine and his, for through him were they made. Then, therefore, did they adore him, when they announced his nativity, and when, as he hungered, they drew near and ministered to him; or when they guarded his sepulchre; and daily too do they adore him, because they obey his gaze. But did God the Father command only the angels to adore him? No, but rather every creature. And to the angels indeed he says: 'Who maketh his angels spirits, and his ministers a flame of fire.'

As for his saying, 'and to the angels indeed God the Father,' or the divine Scripture, 'says,' it is as if he said 'concerning the angels,' putting 'to' for 'concerning'; for the Apostle does not preserve the order or sense of the prepositions. And the meaning is: He whom the angels are commanded to adore makes angels out of these his own spirits as often as he wills; he also makes a flame of fire his ministers, because those who stand in his presence he renders burning and enkindled in his love; according to what is said elsewhere: 'On whom the angels desire to look.' For as to his saying 'Who maketh his angels spirits,' he set it forth in inverted order; for he ought to have said, 'Who maketh his spirits angels.' But it must be known that 'angel' is the name of an office, not of a nature;

for they are indeed always spirits, but by no means are they always called angels, save when they are sent; for 'angel,' a Greek word, is in Latin called 'messenger' (nuntius). If you seek the name of their nature, it is 'spirit'; from the fact that one is sent, 'angel.' For example, just as 'man' is the name of a nature, but 'soldier' is the name of an office. It is also said in another way: The ministers of Almighty God are also the priests and prelates of the Church; according to what Malachi said: 'The lips of the priest keep knowledge, and they seek the law from his mouth, for he is the angel of the Lord of hosts.' The priests of the Church, therefore, are angels, when they announce to their hearers the joys of the heavenly homeland, saying: 'Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' And:

'The just shall shine as the sun, and shall be as the angels of God in heaven.' But they are a flame of fire when they threaten their hearers with the terror of hell-fire, saying: 'Every tree that bringeth not forth good fruit shall be cut down and cast into the fire.' 'But to the Son'—understand, says the Psalmist—'Thy throne, O God, is for ever and ever: the sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.' Behold how, and with how great clarity, he distinguishes the angelic creature from the Son, who created all things. 'Throne' in Greek is in Latin called 'royal seat,' as also is 'solium.' By the throne we can understand the kingdom in one sense; by the sceptre, which is a golden rod, is understood the power of the kingdom. The Psalmist therefore says, speaking to the Son of God:

'O God, thy kingdom and the power of thy dominion shall abide for ever and ever.' Something similar Gabriel says to Mary: 'He shall reign in the house of Jacob for ever, and of his kingdom there shall be no end.' This is the kingdom about which the crowds cried out: 'Blessed be the kingdom of our father David that cometh.' Concerning it the Lord himself said to Pilate: 'My kingdom is not of this world.' Otherwise: By the throne, as the seat of those who judge, we may not incongruously understand the judgment, which proceeds from the seat. This is the judgment of which the Son of man says: 'The Father judgeth no man, but hath given all judgment to the Son'; and of which the Psalmist says: 'Give to the king thy judgment, O God, and thy justice to the king's son,' that is, to Christ.

The throne of God, therefore, shall abide for ever and ever, because the last judgment, which he will give to the elect, saying: 'Come, ye blessed of my Father,' and to the reprobate: 'Go into everlasting fire,' shall stand by an eternal separation between the two, as the Gospel testifies and says: 'Then shall these go into everlasting punishment, but the just into life everlasting.' And what follows: 'The sceptre of equity is the sceptre of thy kingdom.' By the sceptre of equity is understood the rectitude of his sentence and judgment, or the just power of his kingdom; which sceptre rules the just with justice, and strikes the wicked justly and rightly, governing and judging all without any respect of persons. 'Thou hast loved justice, and hated iniquity.'

This sceptre brings it about, both that justice be loved and iniquity be hated; for no one can perfectly love justice unless he has hated iniquity. And 'iniquity' (iniquitas), which is so named, is understood as whatever is done against the divine law; for the love of truth is the hatred of falsehood. And because the Lord loved justice, in that he did not sin, and hated iniquity—which the first man deserved to receive—he sets it forth, saying: 'Therefore God, thy God, hath anointed thee with the oil of gladness above thy fellows.' The Psalmist addresses the Son of God and says: 'O God, God, thy God the Father, hath anointed thee with the oil of exultation, because thou didst hate iniquity and love justice.'

It is not, therefore, to be understood that the Son of God, according to the nature of his divinity, in which he is equal to the Father, can have a God; for he himself, together with the Father, is true God. But according to that which he is man, he has God the Father; because he was made by him; and therefore the Psalmist says: 'God, thy God, hath anointed thee.' He was anointed, not with visible oil, but with the fullness of the Holy Spirit, who from the day of his baptism rested upon him in the form of a dove; nor did the fullness of the Holy Spirit remain in him only from the time of his baptism, but rather from the time of his conception; according to what Isaiah testifies, saying: 'The Spirit of the Lord shall rest upon him, the spirit of wisdom and of understanding,' and so forth.

He says he was anointed with the oil of exultation or gladness, because Christ never sinned, never had sadness from the recollection of sin. For what is it to be anointed with the oil of gladness, but to have no stain of sin? For the conscience of the saints then more and more rejoices and bursts into gladness, when it is bitten by no recollection of any grievous sin. Indeed the Holy Spirit, who rested in Christ, guarded him, that he might be conceived without sin, born without sin, and pass from this world without the stain of sin; according to what is written of him: 'He did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth.' But what is it that the Psalmist said: 'God hath anointed thee above thy fellows'?

Who then are his fellows? In the Old Testament indeed the patriarchs were fellows of Christ in this anointing; according to what is read in the psalm, the Lord saying of Abraham, Isaac, and Jacob to Abimelech and to the other kings of the Philistines: 'Touch not my anointed ones.' Kings too, and priests, and prophets were his fellows, because the anointing especially pertained to them, through which they merited to receive the gift of the Holy Spirit; for we read that Saul was anointed, and Samuel, and David; Solomon too was anointed at Gihon. Priests were anointed, as Aaron was anointed by Moses, the Lord saying to him: 'Thou shalt anoint Aaron and his sons unto me as priests by a perpetual right.'

Prophets likewise were anointed, as Elisha was anointed by Elijah, to whom the Lord said: 'Thou shalt anoint Elisha the prophet in thy stead.' These three orders prefigured the Lord, who is the true King, Priest, and Prophet. But in the New Testament his fellows are the apostles, martyrs, confessors, and all who, washed by the grace of baptism, obtain the gift of the Holy Spirit; and from Christ they are called Christians. Christ therefore was anointed with the oil of gladness above all his fellows, because all receive the Holy Spirit by measure; but he receives it not by measure, but through fullness, according to that saying: 'For God the Father giveth not the Spirit by measure to his Son'; but in him dwelleth all the fullness of the Godhead bodily.

'And thou, Lord, in the beginning didst found the earth, and the heavens are the works of thy hands.' After the excellent humanity of the Son of God, he turns again to the eternity of his divinity, saying: 'Thou, Lord,' he says, 'in the beginning of creatures didst found the earth.' Where did he found the earth? If we weigh it rightly, we shall see that it subsists by the divine nod and disposition, founded upon nothing except upon itself. And as for his saying, 'The heavens are the works of thy hands,' it is not to be supposed that the Word of God the Father, which is incorporeal, works with hands, since there are no bodily features in the nature of the divinity, as we have. By 'the works of his hands,' therefore, we ought to understand the power of his command:

how by the word and power of his command he works whatever he wills; according to what the psalm says: 'He spoke, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created.' By the power of the Word of God, therefore, heaven and earth subsist, because by the power of his command all things were made, and without him was made nothing. But since Moses at the beginning of Genesis said that heaven was made first, and then the earth, saying thus: 'In the beginning God made heaven and earth,' a question arises: why does the Psalmist place the earth first, and then the heaven, as though the earth had been made before the heaven? This is resolved thus: what the one placed before—heaven before earth—the other placed after; and this was done in order to show that the two were made simultaneously:

but what the divine majesty made simultaneously, the human voice could not utter simultaneously; wherefore it was necessary to say one before the other. 'They shall perish, but thou shalt remain.' Here the plural number is put for the singular, as in many other places of divine Scripture; for this is not to be understood of that firmament in which the stars are contained, nor of the ethereal heaven, through which the courses of the seven planets are driven; but rather it is to be taken of that airy heaven, from which the birds too are called 'birds of heaven.' On the day of judgment, therefore, that airy heaven shall perish, from which we draw in our breath and give it back:

not that it should utterly cease to exist in its nature, but it shall be changed from this appearance into a better, and from this density into the subtlety and clarity of the ether; whence the Apostle says in another place: 'The fashion of this world passeth away.' If the fashion passes away, the substance shall remain; for as great a space as the water occupied at the time of the flood—so that it was higher by fifteen cubits above all the mountains under the whole heaven, and, as some say, reaching even to the circle of the moon—so great a space shall the fire hold on the day of judgment, accompanying the Lord's coming; according to what the Psalmist says: 'A fire shall go before him,' because it shall consume all the clouds and all the density of this air; and there shall be a new heaven and a new earth.

Of this transformation the Lord also speaks in the Gospel, saying: 'Heaven and earth shall pass away'—they shall indeed pass away from this fashion and appearance into a better through renewal, and shall remain in their own substance. 'And they all shall grow old as a garment.' By 'garment' here we ought to understand the human body, which is worn out by length of time and by the pain of infirmity, and is reduced to dust; just as, therefore, the human body indeed grows old and is reduced to dust, but on the day of judgment shall be renewed through the resurrection—so this airy heaven, by reason of its excessive age, already in a manner grows old, but on the day of judgment shall be renewed through the burning of fire. 'And as a vesture thou shalt change them, and they shall be changed.'

'Vesture' (amictus) is so called from 'wrapping around' (amiciendo), that is, from encircling; well, then, is heaven compared to a garment, by which we are encircled, since just as a garment girds the human body on every side, so heaven girds the earth from every part, poised on an equal balance; whence too it is compared in another place to the skin of an animal, the Psalmist saying: 'Stretching out the heaven like a skin.' 'Thou shalt change,' he says, 'the heaven as a vesture'; as if he said: Just as a garment is easily folded when it has been stretched out, and again, when folded, is lightly stretched out; and if it has been soiled with filth, it can easily be cleansed—so heaven, stretched out and composed by thee;

and thus with incomprehensible ease it shall be changed on the day of judgment from this fashion and appearance into a better; and to show that the works of the Lord, once made, shall abide under eternity, he added: 'And they shall be changed'; as if he said: After they have been changed, they shall remain in that newness, never to return to this corruptible state. 'But thou art the selfsame, and thy years shall not fail.' Behold the difference between the creature made in time and the Creator abiding equably in his eternity; for upon the omnipotent God there falls no past or future, nor any mutability; but all things are present to him, and he is ever immutable;

whence the Psalmist, weighing the eternity and immutability of the Word of God with subtle consideration, used the substantive verb of the present tense, speaking of him: 'Heaven,' he says, 'and earth shall be changed; but thou art the selfsame,' that is, thou who wast before all ages. 'And thy years,' that is, thy eternity, 'shall not fail.' He, therefore, who always has being, says of himself to Moses: 'I am who am. Thus shalt thou say to the children of Israel: He who is hath sent me to you.' Wherefore every rational creature, which is of itself mutable or temporal, ought to labour to the utmost that it may be able to be joined and to cleave to him who ever remains the same. 'But to which of the angels said he at any time:

Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool?' After he has shown the majesty of divine eternity to be in the Son, the blessed Apostle again turns his discourse to the glorification of his humility, saying: 'To which of the angels said he at any time: Sit thou at my right hand?'—understand: To none; for to none of the archangels, to none of the dominations, or virtues, or principalities did God the Father grant this glory, that he should say to him: 'Sit thou at my right hand,' that is, dwell with me and rest in the fullness of my majesty. But to the victorious Son, and the triumpher over the whole world through the dispensation of his Incarnation, after the glory of the resurrection, on the fortieth day, he says to him:

'Thou hast laboured in the passion, thou hast laboured in the redemption of the human race; rest with me in glory, until I make thy enemies as thy footstool.' 'Until,' or 'till,' does not signify the end of any time in this place, but is put for the infinite and the everlasting; as if he said in other words: Thou shalt ever dwell in the fullness of my majesty; because I shall ever subject to thy eternity thy enemies—the Jews and other unbelievers. For the feet of the Lord designate the stability of eternity, where he stands, as it were, upon firm footprints, by the power of his omnipotence. We may also not incongruously understand the feet as the mystery of his Incarnation, in two ways:

his enemies are daily subjected to him, namely, when—having abandoned the contrariety of vices and unbelief—they willingly submit themselves to him unto salvation, that under him they may be protected; or certainly, when, being unwilling to believe in him, they are compelled to be subjected to him, and are trodden under the dominion of his power. 'Are they not all ministering spirits, sent to minister for them who receive the inheritance of salvation?' If all the spirits of the heavenly powers are sent for the salvation of believers, what is it that Daniel said: 'Thousands of thousands ministered to him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before him'? For how are they all sent, if ten thousand times a hundred thousand stand before him?

It is to be understood, therefore, that the omnipotent God, who is an uncircumscribed spirit, fills all things and is wholly everywhere; wherefore the angelic spirit, which is circumscribed, wherever it be sent, runs within the Lord, and ever has the Lord present; and therefore those same who are sent, they also stand before him. Or certainly, all are said to be sent for this reason: because, as Didymus the Greek says in his book on the Holy Spirit, they are sent from all the orders of the heavenly dignities; just as we read that the archangels Gabriel and Michael were sent in the volume of Daniel, and Raphael to Tobias; one of the seraphim too is read to have been sent to Isaiah, when with a coal he touched his lips, and just as angels are frequently read to have been sent to the saints.

But generally, as the doctors say, to each of the faithful, from the moment of birth—or rather from the time of baptism—an angel is given by God for his guardianship, and to persuade him to do good; whence the Apostle here says: 'They are sent to the ministry of salvation, for the sake of those who are to receive the inheritance of the heavenly homeland.' In this place, therefore, as we have said, all are sent, because they are sent from all the orders; and those who are sent are of the same dignity as those who stand before him; or certainly, because all are of the same will, and while those who ever stand before him consent with those who are sent, in a manner all come in them, and all are sent. And the meaning is:

What wonder is it, if the angels render their ministry to the only Son of God, since it is established that they were made ministers of our salvation? Wherefore to none of them did he say: 'Sit thou at my right hand.' CHAPTER II. 'Therefore ought we more abundantly to observe the things which we have heard, lest perhaps we should let them slip.' 'Therefore'—what wonder is it, that the Son of God, who gave his Gospel, is more excellent than all the angels? Or certainly, since the angels minister to us, who ever report our works to God, though he himself is everywhere, we ought more abundantly and fully to observe the things which we have heard from Christ in the Gospel, and from his Apostles, than we were wont to observe in the law, which was given through a servant. And why 'more abundantly'? Lest perhaps we should let them slip:

that is, lest perhaps we perish, and fall away from salvation. Or, lest perhaps we vanish away, passing into perdition after the manner of a river running into the sea, while our senses run through empty things of every kind. But he joins his own person with them, acting after his custom. And why he said 'more abundantly,' he gives the reason, when in the following words he explains, saying: 'For if the word spoken by angels became firm, and every transgression and disobedience received a just recompense of reward: how shall we escape, if we neglect so great a salvation?' The word of the law and the prophets was spoken by angels to our fathers; because through a subject creature he spoke to Moses and the prophets:

according to what the blessed Stephen also manifests in his disputation concerning Moses: 'This is Moses, who was with the angel who spoke to him on Mount Sinai.' And 'became firm,' that is, true, that same word spoken through the angel; since, as was there foretold, so all things came to pass, whether good or evil. Every transgression, that is, breach of the law, and disobedience, perpetrated against that word, received a just recompense of reward, namely the judgment of eternal damnation; thus it befell those who murmured. But it is to be noted that, although 'reward' (merces) is chiefly taken in a good sense, here the Apostle put it for evil, after his usual manner, not caring about the propriety of words, but indifferently putting one for another:

just as here 'reward' for evil, and elsewhere 'captivity' in a good sense, where he said: 'Bringing into captivity every understanding, unto the obedience of Christ.' The Apostle therefore makes a comparison from the word of the law, which was spoken through an angel, to the grace of the Gospel given through the Son, and says: For if the word of the law spoken through angels became true in all the good things which it promised, or the evil things with which it threatened: how much more shall the word of the Gospel be firm, given through the Son! And if those who were disobedient to the law had damnation, and could not escape judgment: how shall we escape the vengeance of God, if we neglect so great a salvation?

namely, the faith of the Gospel and life eternal, so great, inasmuch as it is announced and promised to us through the Son? Understand: by no means. By these words the Apostle manifests that there was not so great a salvation in the law as there is in the Gospel; for the law promised the land, saying: 'If you be willing, and will hearken to me, you shall eat the good things of the land.' The Gospel promised the kingdom of heaven, saying: 'Do penance, for the kingdom of heaven is at hand.' The former furnished vengeance upon earthly foes; the latter furnishes it upon spiritual ones. The former held out a long temporal life; the Gospel grants a life that shall abide without end. 'Which'—understand 'salvation.' 'Having begun to be declared by the Lord, was confirmed unto us by them that heard him.'

The salvation, therefore, which is contained in the Gospel, received from God the beginning of its declaring; for he himself first announced it through himself, saying: 'Do penance,' and so forth, and: 'He that believeth and is baptized shall be saved.' Then indeed it was confirmed, that is, it was believed by those who heard him—namely, by the apostles, who were with him, and by their successors; or certainly, it was confirmed, that is, consolidated and perfected in us, by those who received it from the Lord himself; because the salvation which is given to us through the Holy Spirit remains for ever. For the sake of humility he joins his own person with them, saying: 'It was confirmed in us by them that heard.' To this someone might say:

'How was it confirmed by them?' To whom he replies: 'God also bearing them witness by signs, and wonders, and divers powers, and distributions of the Holy Spirit according to his own will.' 'It was confirmed,' he says, 'in us by them that heard, God bearing witness'—that is, at the same time affording testimony to their doctrine and preaching, not by voice, but by power, and by the exhibition of miracles, and by the variety of tongues; because, as one of the apostles used to say to a dead or infirm man, 'Arise, be living or whole,' at once he would rise up unharmed. And 'signs,' and 'wonders,' and 'powers' are here taken as one and the same.

But what he subjoins, 'distributions of the Holy Spirit,' signifies the affluence of graces which the Fathers of the Old Testament did not have, which was given after Jesus was glorified, as the Gospel testifies, which says: 'For as yet the Spirit was not given, because Jesus was not yet glorified.' These are the distributions, or divisions, which the Apostle commemorates in another place, saying: 'To one indeed by the Spirit is given the word of wisdom,' and the rest which he enumerates in what follows, until he subjoins: 'All these things one and the same Spirit worketh, dividing to every one according as he will.' Whence here too he says: 'According to his own will'; for he attributed all things to the divine will and counsel, lest anyone should trust in his own merits.

For the Holy Spirit himself knows what is profitable to each, or what is fitting for each. 'For God hath not subjected unto angels the world to come, whereof we speak.' He looks back to what he said above, that God the Father had said: 'Sit thou at my right hand, until I make thy enemies thy footstool,' but he delivered it to his Son, to whom he himself said in the psalm: 'Ask of me, and I will give thee the nations for thine inheritance.' Whence too the Son himself, rejoicing that the world which should believe was delivered to him, says: 'But I am appointed king by him,' that is, by God the Father. 'But one in a certain place hath testified, saying.'

That he passes over in silence the names of the prophets in this epistle, whose testimony he knows, he does not do this out of envy or an intent to conceal, but out of a wish to honour, and to show that the Hebrews, to whom he was writing these things, had much knowledge of the divine Scriptures, so much that he had no need even to set down the name of the speaker. This testimony, then, is taken from the Davidic Psalter: how it speaks to God the Father: 'What is man?' This must be pronounced in a subdued way and with a certain contempt. 'What is man?'—understand: frail, mortal, perishable, and one who, in the original sin of Adam, has been overcome by a general depravity. 'That thou art mindful of him.' Understand: even thus dost thou bestow the gifts of thy mercy. There follows: 'Or the son of man.' Understand: what is he?

This same thing the doctors refer to Christ, who in the Gospel very often calls himself the Son of man, that is, the son of Mary; and therefore, in the form of a question, the voice must be raised upward: and the meaning is: What did that man, assumed by the Word, merit, that he should become the Son of God? And what follows, 'That thou visitest him?', they refer to the human race, of which a little above, under the name of man, it was said: 'What is man?' And the meaning is: That thou visitest the human race through thy Son, and bestowest perpetual benefits, is not its merit, but thy grace; and therefore it subsists, because it is visited by thee. Visitation pertains to the physician and to the sick: for one is said to fulfil the office of visitation, as a physician, when he enters in to the infirm;

and the human race, which was infirm and languishing, God the Father then visited, when he sent his Son, who is the Word made flesh, and dwelt among us. Of which visitation Zacharias too, the father of blessed John, says: 'The Orient from on high hath visited us.' Certain doctors refer this, which he says—'What is man, that thou art mindful of him; or the son of man, that is, that thou visitest him?'—wholly to the human race; but that which follows they refer concordantly to Christ. 'Thou hast made him a little less than the angels.' Through the death of the body and the reproaches of the passion, God the Father made his Son less than the angels—he who according to his divinity was equal to him in omnipotence—because the angels are immortal and impassible:

but he was made less, not by necessity, but by spontaneous devotion, as the same Apostle says elsewhere: 'Who, though he was in the form of God, emptied himself, taking the form of a servant'; and he became obedient to the Father even unto death, and death upon a cross. For from that part in which he could die, the Creator of the angels was made less than the angels. But he said well, 'a little less,' because, although he assumed a mortal body, yet he had no stain of sin. 'Thou hast crowned him with glory and honour.' The Psalmist speaks to God the Father concerning the humility and exaltation of the Son, saying: 'Thou hast made,' he says, 'thy Son a little less than the angels,' in that thou didst create him mortal; but because he was obedient to thee even unto death, 'thou hast crowned him with glory and honour.'

Such is also that which the Apostle says in another place: 'For which cause God also hath exalted him, and hath given him a name which is above every name, that in the name of Jesus every knee should bow, of those that are in heaven, on earth, and under the earth.' With glory, therefore, did God the Father crown him in the resurrection, and with honour in the ascension, when on the fortieth day of his resurrection he exalted him above every creature. Otherwise: With glory he was crowned in the multitude of believers—namely, when, after the triumph of the resurrection, he received the inheritance of the whole world in that which he is man; and with honour, in the confession of eternal majesty, that is, in that he dwells in the fullness of the paternal glory. 'And thou hast set him over the works of thy hands.'

By the fact that He became man, He was appointed by God the Father over the works of His vision: namely over the heavenly things, and the earthly, and the things beneath; He who, according to the power of His divinity, just as He had created all things together with God the Father, so together with Him possessed all things. For by saying, 'Thou hast set him over the works of thy hands,' every creature is shown to be subject to Him; because just as all things were created by the Word, so that man taken up by the Word possesses, together with the Word, all things: 'Thou hast put all things under his feet.' That is, under His eternity and His power, so that every creature may adore Him. And this is what He Himself said to them when He appeared after the glory of the resurrection: 'All power is given unto me in heaven and in earth.'

For in that He subjected all things to Him, He left nothing that was not subject to Him. In this, that is, in this gift or deed by which He subjected all things to Him, He is seen to have excepted neither the heavenly things nor the earthly, so that He would say, 'after the angelic creation'; but He concluded thus, saying: 'He subjected all things to Him.' 'But now we do not yet see all things subject to Him.' For what is it that the blessed Apostle says? For when he had said that all things were subjected to Christ, he immediately added, saying: 'But now we do not yet see all things subject to Him.' If all things are subject to Him, how are they not subject? It must therefore be understood in this way, as above, where he said:

'He left nothing that was not subject to Him' — let us understand a universal subjection, both voluntary, namely through faith, and necessary, by which every creature is compelled to be subject to its Creator. But here, where he said, 'We do not yet see all things subject to Him,' we ought to take it only of the voluntary subjection which stands through faith: by which certain ones are unwilling to believe in Him. For because at that time, when the Apostle was speaking these things, the evangelical preaching had not yet been spread throughout the whole world, and not yet did all those predestined to life believe, he rightly says now: 'Not yet are all things subject to Him'; and not only then, but even still all the predestined do not believe.

'But Him who was made a little lower than the angels, we see, namely Jesus, on account of the suffering of death, crowned with glory and honour.' Here he openly manifests that the glory and honour of Christ was His cross, for which He was made a little lower than the angels, by dying for our salvation: whence the Apostle also, when he had said elsewhere, 'He became obedient to the Father unto death, even the death of the cross,' immediately followed, saying: 'Wherefore God also hath exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name'; so also the Lord Himself provoked it, saying: 'That the Son of man may be glorified.'

If He who is Lord calls the things He suffered for His servants 'glory,' much more oughtest thou, O man, not to doubt that what thou sufferest for God pertains to thy everlasting glory. Him, I say, that is Jesus, we see crowned, not with bodily eyes, but with the eyes of the mind, while He sits in the fullness of the paternal majesty. 'That by the grace of God He might taste death for all.' The Son is called the grace of God the Father, in that He was freely given to us by God the Father, and because He freely endured death for us; for it was not owed to us by our merit that the Son of God should taste death for us, but He did this by ineffable grace.

As for what he says, that He tasted death 'for all,' certain teachers understand this absolutely, so that it be said 'for all for whom He tasted it,' that is, for the elect, predestined to eternal life. But indeed certain others take it so generally, that it be said He died for all, although not all are saved. And what if not all believe? He nevertheless did what was His to do. Whence the blessed Prosper sets forth this likeness: There is some most skilled physician who, coming into a populous city where many sick are found, prepares a potion against all kinds of infirmities, and calls together all, saying:

'Come, all you peoples who labour under various infirmities, and drink of this potion which I have prepared for the sake of your health: I promise you with solemn assurance that if anyone drink of it, he shall straightway deserve to obtain healing.' Those who believe his words come, drink, and are healed; but those who refuse to drink are not healed, but waste away in their infirmity. As far, therefore, as pertains to the physician's devotion, he tempered the potion for the health of all of them, although it profits none but those who drank of it; so also Christ, as far as in Him lay, died for all, although His passion profits none save only those who are willing to believe in Him. And at the same time it is to be noted that the Apostle did not say:

'He lay under death,' but properly: 'He tasted death,' by which He willed to show the swiftness of the resurrection: for indeed He could be held by death only a short time, and having conquered it He at once rose again victorious. For it became Him, on account of whom are all things and by whom are all things, who had brought many sons into glory, to consummate the author of their salvation through suffering. 'He was saying' (he says) that He, namely, was to consummate the author of their salvation through suffering, that is, to perfect the salvation of all through the passion of Christ, who is the author of salvation of all believers, and who before His passion had brought many adopted sons into the glory of faith, hope, and charity;

who had a sure hope that they could receive the joys of the heavenly fatherland and the inheritance of the eternal King: or certainly, through the passion it became Him to fulfil all things that had been foretold concerning Him. Whence He Himself said, hanging on the cross: 'It is consummated.' 'On account of whom are all things,' that is, through His death all things heavenly and earthly were restored: namely man redeemed and the number of the angels made whole again. 'By whom are all things': supply, 'were made'; according to what John says: 'All things were made by Him.' You see how He is in the midst of us and joined to us: He the Son, and we the sons; He the proper, we the adopted; but He saves, and we are saved. You see how He joins us and distinguishes us; for when He says:

'He had brought many sons into glory,' here He joined them together. But when He adds, 'the author of their salvation,' here He distinguishes. 'For both He that sanctifieth and they who are sanctified are all of one.' Who is it that sanctifies? Christ, through the faith of His passion and through the gift of baptism. Who are they that are sanctified? All who believe, who are sanctified by faith in the passion of Christ and by the grace of baptism. But both He who sanctifies, Christ, and we who are sanctified, are of one God the Father, because from Him all things received their origin: for there is one God, from whom are all things. But He is in one way, we in another. He, as the proper Son, can sanctify; we, as adopted, are sanctified by Him: yet we have one Father in the heavens.

He the proper, we the adopted. 'For which cause': supply, because both He and we are of one God the Father, though distinctly. 'He is not ashamed to call them brethren.' Who are the adopted sons. Saying: 'I will declare thy name unto my brethren.' He is not ashamed to call them brethren, showing that the brotherhood of our humanity is not the same: but in His great mercy and utmost humility, He chose us as brethren. This too He affirms by prophetic testimony, lest it should be thought something new and not long before foretold: for he says: 'I will declare thy name unto my brethren'; that is, by His sacred passion and glorious resurrection He promises that He will make known the glory of the paternal divinity, and even His name, by which He was called Father.

'I will declare,' He says: that is, I will cause it to be narrated by my preachers, that you may believe in me; for rising from the dead He says to the women: 'Go and declare to my brethren.' And to Mary: 'Go to my brethren.' Now both those who love and those who are loved are called brethren. And He added: 'In the midst of the Church I will praise thee.' 'In the midst of the Church,' that is, in the assembly of the faithful. The Son praised the Lord the Father when, the apostles having returned from preaching, He said: 'I confess to thee, Father, Lord of heaven and earth,' that is, I praise thee and glorify thee: 'because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them unto little ones.'

He too praises God the Father in the midst of the Church, while all the faithful, redeemed by His passion and washed by His baptism, render unwearied praises to God the Father in heart and in deed. And in these three ways God is to be praised. And again: 'I will be trusting in Him.' That is, in God the Father. It is the voice of the Son of God speaking of God the Father according to His humanity: for the man taken up by the Word had placed all His confidence in God the Father: whence He was saying: 'Father, glorify thy name.' And, supplicating for His faithful, He said: 'Father, I will that where I am, they also may be with me.' And exhorting them to have confidence, He commanded: 'Be of good cheer, I have overcome the world.' And again: 'Behold I and my children, whom God hath given me.'

These two testimonies are taken from the oracle of the prophet Isaiah, speaking in the person of the Son of God. Now these are, namely, the holy apostles, to whom the Lord said: 'Children, have you any meat?' Who are rightly called children on account of their innocence and humility, of whom Truth itself says: 'Suffer the little ones to come unto me, for of such is the kingdom of heaven.' Because therefore the children have shared in flesh and blood, He also in like manner partook of the same. This is said of the apostles and of all the faithful, that through this they were brethren of the Lord, because He had a true body and blood, just as they had.