An 'idolum' (idol) is so called as though 'idos dulos'—the service of a form (servitus formae); and 'idolum' is derived from 'idea' just as 'formula' from 'forma.' 'Then'—in ancient time. 'Barabbas' is interpreted 'son of their father the devil'—'bar' in Greek is son, 'abbas' is father; or 'Barrabas' with two r's—'son of their master.' For 'Rabbi' in Hebrew is 'master' in Latin. 'He was commanded'—Christ suffered for all, even for the thief. For 'all' is not always set down universally but particularly, because the Lord did not suffer for the wicked. 'Grim sickle.' A 'falx' (sickle) is the iron tool with which hay is cut; by the sickle is understood the curse of the Jews, when they said: 'His blood be upon us and upon our children.' For just as hay is cut by a sickle, so the Jews were cut down by that curse.
'Watchful'—keen-witted. 'To have washed' for 'to wash.' 'Sacred'—that which grants pardon. 'The reed fills the hand': when he says 'fills,' he shows that it was large. A 'reed' (arundo) is the same as a 'ferula' (giant fennel/cane). 'Scepter'—weak, feeble, because it is a slender and flexible plant. 'Empty,' because it has no pith. 'And soon,' after He had been mocked. Christ was mocked in another's garments. He allegorizes. Having received this borrowed garment, He laid aside His own clothing and received it again; this signifies that He was about to lay down His mortal flesh and to take it up again, immortal, by rising. 'That it might be changeable'—mortal. 'Wine with gall.' Myrrh and gall make the wine most bitter. 'Of punishment' (discriminis)—of the torment. 'Punishment' (supplicium)—torment.
Therefore He chose the cross, that we might more easily be saved from the devil and his deceits by the sign of the cross set upon us; for if He had been stoned, as the Jews wished, we would carry a stone as His sign. By His cross the Lord embraces the whole world, as He Himself says: 'When I am lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to Myself.' Therefore, placed upon the cross, the Lord held the east with His head, the west with His feet, the north with His right hand, the south with His left. These are the four parts of the world, which in Greek are called thus: the east 'anatole,' the west 'dysis,' the north 'arctos,' the south 'mesembria.' 'It gathers'—it joins together. This title was written in three languages:
in Hebrew, on account of the divine Scripture, namely that, according to the word of the Apostle, every tongue may confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father. Therefore the Jews, willing or unwilling, confess that Christ is the King of the Jews; in Greek, on account of human wisdom, because the Greeks invented many arts; in Latin, on account of Roman power, for they ruled over almost all nations. 'Spoils' (exuviae)—plunder; 'exuviae' are properly the skins of wild beasts stripped from their limbs, but by extension they are set down for all spoil. 'Schism' in Greek is a 'tearing,' hence also 'schismatics'—heretics who tear themselves away from the catholic faith.
雖然那審判——十字架的刑罰——對基督和對那兩個強盜是同一個,然而功效卻不相同,因為基督是為著我們的救恩被掛。「判詞」——審判。「Beas ton meson」(中性的)兼用於善與惡——用於惡如此節,那裡說「這些人對世界是當受咒詛、有罪的」;用於善如下節,那裡說「世界是有罪的」,因它欠負且為負債者,因為它欠祂永遠的忠誠。「辱罵」(convicia)之名取自「鄰舍」(vicini),因為鄰舍彼此投擲毀謗。「它聚集」——它聯合;他向樂園發出呼語。希伯來文作「伊甸」,希臘文作「樂園」,拉丁文作「園子」。「兇暴的」——極其兇暴的。「Facinus」(行為/罪行)是個中性詞,正如它所源出的「facio」(行事)。因為有時也說到善的「facinus」(作為)。
Although the judgment—the punishment of the cross—was one for Christ and for the thieves, yet the merit was not one, because Christ was hanging for the sake of our salvation. 'Sentence'—judgment. 'Beas ton meson' (the indifferent/middle) is found in good and in evil—in evil as in this verse, where 'these men are condemnable to the world, guilty'; in good as in the following verse, where 'the world is guilty,' being liable and a debtor, because it owes Him eternal fidelity. 'Reproaches' (convicia) are named from 'neighbors' (vicini), because neighbors hurl insults at one another. 'It gathers'—it unites; he makes an apostrophe to paradise. 'Eden' in Hebrew, 'paradise' in Greek, 'garden' in Latin. 'Violent'—of great violence. 'Facinus' (deed/crime) is a middle/neutral word, like 'facio' (to do), from which it is derived. For sometimes a good 'facinus' (deed) is spoken of.
'Pole'—heaven; he named not a part but the whole, because an eclipse holds a part of the pole when it happens according to nature. But that one was not natural, but a sign. And it is to be known that an eclipse of the sun never happens except at the thirtieth moon or at the first, whereas then it was the fourteenth. 'Obsequies'—services; 'exsequiae' are so called because they follow (sequuntur) the corpses of the dead. 'It hid'—it concealed. 'Deliteo' is compounded from 'lateo' (to lie hidden). 'Not to remain long'—that is, the very light of the sun, except for three hours. 'Mystical'—figured. By the span of three hours was signified that the Lord would lie in the sepulchre for three days, from the sixth hour to the ninth. There are three hours during which the sun was hidden. He translated word for word when he said 'mystica'—secrets.
For the Greeks call a secret 'mysticon.' 'Nor was the earth without disaster'—without harm. Now he tells how the earth grieved with Him, since he has already spoken of the heaven. 'Supremum'—the last. 'Supremo' with two p's signifies 'last' and comes from the verb 'supprimo' (to press down), but here he could not use it because of the metre; 'supremus' with one p signifies the most high God. 'Apex'—the sublimity of Christ. 'To succumb'—to fall downward, thinking to descend with its author to hell. 'Wandering'—changeable. 'Lost'—the human race. 'Subsisting'—abiding; the world. 'With a little sponge'—a sponge, which they put around the hyssop with the reed. 'From bastards'—from those born of a harlot.
Therefore he says the Jews were born of a harlot, because, forsaking Christ the husband of their soul, they followed Barabbas the robber by choosing him as it were as an adulterer. Vinegar is made from the best wine, and is so called as though 'sour' (acidum), 'sharp' (acerbum). So too the Jews were born of the fathers, of the patriarchs. 'Hateful offspring'—an enemy generation. Christ is called 'good' (bonus) from the Greek 'boo'—I call, because He calls all by His natural goodness. 'He dismissed' [His spirit], because He died by His will. Death did not come to Him as it does to men. 'God not dying'—the divinity not perishing; 'obeo' signifies 'I surround,' and it also signifies 'I die.' 'They gape'—they are abundantly loosened; 'hio, hias'—I open the mouth.
It makes the inchoative 'hisco, hiscis'; hence 'fatisco' is compounded from the Greek 'fatos' (much), whence the adverb 'affatim' (abundantly) and the verb 'fatisco,' which signifies 'abundantly.' 'With a crash'—with a sound. 'Fragor' (crash) is the name for a great sound, drawn from broken things (fractis rebus). 'A greater temple' he calls the body of Christ, because it was full of divinity. 'Foster-children'—companions, just as a companion mourns another, or a disciple his master, so too did that [temple mourn] Christ. He said poetically, on account of grief, that the temple bared its breast on seeing Christ die, and this according to the Jews, among whom the garment was torn if any grief befell them. But it is to be known that there were two veils in the temple: one inner, the other outer, which was rent.
'It opens'—it is opened; he shows what the tearing of the veil signifies, namely the unlocking of the law. For just as the face of Moses was covered with a veil, so the law before the coming of Christ was covered with a carnal and literal understanding. 'He did not form you'—did not create you. 'Viperous'—serpentine. Poetically [he says] that death had as its father that serpent through whom the first man was led astray, and that its mother was the fault which the same man committed. 'For a time'—he says 'for a time' because He was soon to rise after the third day. 'By an excursus'—by a digression, when he returns to the narrative. 'And gaping'—open. 'Cruor' (gore) is named from 'running' (currendo); as long as it runs, the blood too is called 'cruor.' 'Dweller'—inhabitant. 'Noble'—the place, from Him who lay there.
'More noble'—He who rose from it. 'It increased'—it was multiplied. 'And they would report'—the disciples would tell. 'Sealed with the governor's ring.' They sealed the sepulchre with a seal and the bulla of the ring of Pilate himself. 'With watches'—with vigils. 'Excubiae' are called the daytime watches, just as 'vigiliae' are the night watches. 'Sabbaths.' 'Sabbata' and 'sabbatum' in the singular both denote one day. By the fact that he says 'the seventh day,' he commemorates the last day and shows that the Lord's day, which follows, is the first, because all the time of this age revolves through seven days. 'With a gift'—with ointment, with finished spices. A 'genus' of spice is a kind of ointment, and it is gathered like a harvest. 'Dispensing,' that is, completing the things that pertained to the Lord's burial. 'By angelic faith'—by the faithful narration of the angel;
therefore the angel appeared in the likeness of fire, to terrify the guards. 'Lulled to sleep'—sleeping. 'Exuviae' are the garments of the dead. 'To loose'—to untie. 'Covered'—clothed, wrapped up. 'To carry away'—to bear. A thief never loves delay. 'About to perish'—'apo koinou' (from the common), it is a figure of speech from what is shared. 'Not the trumpet'—the feast, in which you sound the trumpet. 'Not your king is anointed.' 'Nor your sacrifice,' because at the kalends and at the new moons, at the new moon, the Jews used to make sacrifices and almsgivings and great banquets. 'Darkened'—blackened. The synagogue was first the bride of Christ, and afterward, when idols were worshipped, became adulterous; and in her place Christ joined the Church to Himself, as the Apostle says: 'He espoused the Church to Himself, having no spot nor wrinkle.'
The blessed Virgin Mary prefigures the Church, because she was chaste and a virgin before the birth and after the birth; so too the Church daily begets sons to God spiritually in baptism, and yet remains chaste in the integrity of faith. 'Proclaiming'—announcing. This is poetic. 'Index'—the indicator of the returning Christ. He appeared to two disciples going to the village of Emmaus and showed Himself in the breaking of bread. 'Roasted'—broiled. 'Apostate-like'—unbelieving. 'Thomas.' Thomas is interpreted 'abyss.' 'Didymus.' Didymus is interpreted 'doubtful' or 'most like,' because he was in part like Christ. 'Threshold'—door. 'Whoever is a magician.' The magic art always wishes to lie hidden and never to display itself, nor does the magician love those who seek out his art. 'Hanging'—suspended.
'Wave-wandering'—the fishes which wander in the waves. 'Way'—reason; it is not without mystery. The net was full. 153. This number signifies the number of the elect. He calls the net 'preaching,' because just as fishes are joined to a net, so the souls of the godly are joined to the preachings of the disciples. 'Worthy'—the faithful. 'It is enclosed'—it is caught. Just as they cast the net on the right side, so Christ [places] His own on the right side of blessedness. 'With arms' (ulnis)—with the arms. 'To the footsteps'—to imitation. 'Olenos' in Greek is the elbow (cubitus), whence 'ulna' is called a part of the arm. 'One faith.' 'To stand firm'—to abide. He allegorizes. The fish is water, baptism; Christ is the bread, as He Himself says, 'I am the living bread.'
The Holy Spirit is fire, because the Holy Spirit appeared in fiery tongues to the disciples on the day of Pentecost. Hence the water of baptism. 'For the feasts'—for partaking of the feasts. 'With modest provision'—with small preparation; small, not luxurious, as kings and princes are wont to do. 'By custom,' because the ancients reclined on couches while dining. 'On couches'—on grasses, where they reclined with the Master. 'To the laborer'—to Peter; by 'sheep' he means the preachers. Bethania is a little town situated on the Mount of Olives, and is interpreted 'house of obedience.' 'The right hand' signifies equal glory. The Lord has no right hand; the 'right hand' is set down for equality and power.
'Very many'—of innumerable good things. The disciples did not write down all that the Lord did, but wrote only as much as pertains to the saving of the human race, because if they had done so, the world could not have contained it. 'Charta' (paper) is named from the town Chartan, where the use of paper was first discovered, just as 'parchment' (pergamentum) is named from the town Pergamum. 'Chartae' are membranes, and membranes are the skins of sheep, and are so called because they are stripped from the limbs (membra) of sheep. The miracles having been described, the poet exhorts all to sing with him to Christ and to render thanks. INTO HYMN I. 'Honor'—glory. 'O with our mouth.' 'Holy,' that is, glorious.
'Paractera' in Greek is 'a striking back' (repercussio), whence a 'paracteric' poem is so called, said to be 'struck back' (repercussum) because one verse is struck back by another—that is, the beginning of the first becomes the ending of the second. 'Of one Adam.' 'By merit'—for a cause. 'The lesser ones,' that is, the descendants. 'Of one Christ.' 'Which lay open'—it was a door, because through it death entered. He calls Judas a 'wicked brother,' because Christ calls all His disciples brothers. 'The passing'—the translation of Enoch. 'What he lost'—what kind of place he forfeited. 'May they prepare.' Concerning the passing of Christ, because we too shall pass over thus. 'The sea'—the flood. The ark of Noah was made of smoothed timbers, planed, and did not have great weight. Likewise the righteous do not have the weight of crimes. 'The highest victim' is Isaac.
'Hidden'—covered, because it concealed the future immolation of Christ. 'It unlocks'—it opens. 'Heir'—Jacob, to whom the inheritance of Isaac came. He speaks of Jacob, how he wrestled with the angel. Jacob was lame, because the angel touched him on the sinews, both for the mystery's sake, and therefore the Jews do not eat the sinews. 'The nation' of the Jews. 'It limps' in believing. 'Sold'—sold off. 'Sold' (venundatus) comes from 'veneo, is,' as though 'I go for sale' (venum eo), but 'venum' is not in use. 'His brother.' He speaks of Joseph. 'Sold' by Judah. 'It drove back' from us. 'All'—the whole land of Egypt. He speaks of Pharaoh. 'While they cease'—you likewise always perish. 'With his blood.'
He speaks of the lamb which the children of Israel slew at the Passover, with whose blood they made signs on the doorposts, because the angel passed through all Egypt that night, slaying all the firstborn of Egypt; and where the blood was, he did no harm. 'It overwhelms'—it submerges. 'The wave' of baptism. 'Refreshed'—satisfied. He speaks of the children of Israel, when God rained manna upon them. 'It adopts'—it chooses. He speaks of the children of Israel, when they worshipped idols. 'To itself'—from itself. 'Indication'—a sign, because men before the law did not know that they had sin, nor [knew] concupiscence, nor did they perceive it to be sin, until they intimate [it], so that the law saying 'Thou shalt not covet thy neighbor's goods.' 'Behold the rock'—lo, he speaks of the rock from which the waters flowed.
That rock signifies Christ, as the Apostle says, 'and that rock was Christ.' 'The offering'—the holocausts. 'Seditious'—Dathan and Abiram. He speaks of the children of Israel, when, rising up against Moses, they wished to stone him; and then fire came down from heaven upon the holocaust and consumed it and the greatest part of the camp, to such a degree that, had not Aaron, holding the censer with incense, stood between the dead and the living, nearly all would have died. 'Heir'—the people who went out of Egypt and died in the wilderness, except Joshua and Caleb. And Joshua divided the land to his people; so Christ apportions the blessed kingdoms of His Father to His faithful.
He speaks of the walls of Jericho: when the children of Israel were coming from Egypt, the priests carried the ark for six days, and on the seventh they took the city. The ark of God is the flesh of Christ, or the Church. 'Beneath the fleece'; he speaks of Gideon, who, when he wished to fight against the Midianites, asked for a sign, that there might be dew upon the fleece while the ground was dry, and on another night that there might be dew upon the ground while the fleece was dry. 'You conquer, O Jephthah.' 'The nations'—the Midianites; he speaks of Jephthah, who, when he was going forth to war, promised to give to God as an offering whatever he should first meet. And he met his own daughter, saying: 'I will not shut my mouth concerning you, but I will fulfill to God what I have said.' Yet he gave her a respite of two months, that she might bewail her virginity. Why this?
Because the law cursed all women who had no offspring. 'Affection'—love, because he loved God more than his daughter. 'It took away'—it took from us. 'Of the command'—of the Gospel, of the new law, where it is read: 'If anyone strikes you on the cheek, offer him the other.' 'Defiling'—polluting. 'They move' the hardened Jews to belief—though all should believe and the signs should move them, yet all the hardened Jews refused to believe. 'It took'—it brought. 'To the slaves'—to the human race; when He ought to have brought punishments, He brought gifts in place of punishments. 'He bore'—he sustained. 'Life'—Christ. 'Tartarus'—hell; 'tartarus' is called the depth of hell, from 'tartarizein,' from trembling, because the depth of anything trembles. 'Profane'—Adam, as though sacrilegious by sinning.
'Hard'—rebellious, because His disciples were from among them. 'Tasted'—drunk, because His blood was poured out for our race, and we daily drink of it. 'It had bound'—it had bound fast. 'The bonds' of love to the apostles and martyrs, whom they could not terrify by punishment. 'Enemies'—the hostile Jews. 'To hasten'—the coming, the indication of the former prophets. 'Our gifts'—the body and blood of our [Lord]. 'Of the former prophets.' 'Holy'—the saints. The 'sects'—heresies are full in the Church. 'Ravens'—the impious. 'The dove'—the Church. 'Crooked,' it is said, twisted, not straight. The vision of Christ will be reward to the elect and damnation to the reprobate. 'Spiritus' has a long 'spi,' but the poet preferred to corrupt the rule rather than to diminish the Trinity. INTO HYMN II. 'He carries'—he bears.
'Secret things'—heavenly things. 'Dashed pledges'—the slain children. 'With bent knee'—through the knee. A 'centurion' is so called as having a hundred (C) men; in Greek 'hecatontarchos,' just as 'chiliarchos'—having a thousand men. 'Chile' is a thousand. 'With weeping'—of one beseeching, supplicating. 'Certain women.' 'Cherommyrra'—dry ointments, as though prepared by hand. 'Gero' in Greek is dry, 'myron' ointment, whence 'xerophagi'—those who eat dry things. And hence a shop is called 'myropolium,' where ointments are sold. The same is 'pharmacopolium'—'pharma' is ointment, whose sellers and tenders are called 'myrocopi.' 'Cheira' in Greek is hand, 'kopos' labor, whence 'cheirocopi'; hence too 'copia' (abundance) is so called, because all substance arises from labor.
Thus a place is called 'bibliopolium' where books are sold, whose sellers are called 'Sosii.' 'Sanna' is a foul sound of the nostrils, whence it is also set down for mockery. 'Sold' by Judah. 'Of the worst lion.' 'Lion' is said of God on account of His strength, and 'lion' of the devil on account of his savagery.