'And at the time I will tell the reapers to gather the tares and make bundles and burn them with eternal fire, but to gather the wheat into my barns.' These reapers and shepherds and laborers the Apocalypse here shows to be angels. The 'trumpet' moreover is the word of power; and although it repeats through the 'bowls,' it does not say it as if done twice, but because it is to be once, what has been decreed by God to happen, therefore it is said twice. Whatever then it said less in the trumpets, here is in the bowls. Nor is the order of the words to be regarded, since the Holy Spirit, when it has run through to the end of the last time, often returns again to the same times and supplies what it said less. Nor is order to be sought in the Apocalypse, but the meaning is to be followed;
for there is also false prophecy. There are therefore written in the trumpets and bowls either the disasters of the plagues sent upon the world, or the madness of Antichrist himself, or the disparagement of the peoples, or the difference of the plagues, or the hope in the kingdom of the saints, or the ruin of cities, or the ruin of great Babylon, that is, of the Roman city. 'And I saw one eagle flying through the midst of heaven.' A great eagle flying in mid-heaven: the Holy Spirit is signified, testifying in the two prophets that the great wrath of plagues is imminent, in case anyone, being willing, might at the last time be converted, so that someone might still be able to be saved.
'And I saw a mighty angel coming down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow was upon his head, and his face was as the sun, and his feet as pillars of fire. And he had in his hand an open book, and he set his right foot upon the sea, but his left upon the earth.' For the mighty angel whom he says came down from heaven, clothed with a cloud, and a rainbow upon his head — and his face as the sun, and his feet as a pillar of fire, and he had in his hand an open book and set his feet upon the sea and the earth — signified our Lord, as we have explained above. His face as the sun: that is, concerning the resurrection. The rainbow upon his head: the judgment which was made or is to be made through him.
The open book [the revelation of works in the future judgment] or is the Apocalypse which John received. His feet 'molten' we also said above to be the apostles. For that both the seas and the earth are trodden by him signifies that all things are subjected under his feet. He calls him an angel, that is, a messenger, namely of the Father; for he is called the messenger of great counsel. That he cried with a loud voice: a loud voice is the heavenly thing, to announce and testify to men the words of the omnipotent God, that after repentance is closed there is afterward no hope to come. 'And the seven thunders uttered their voices.' The seven thunders uttering their voices:
the Holy Spirit of sevenfold power testified through the prophets all things to come, and by his voice bore witness in the world. But because John says that he was about to write down how great things the thunders had uttered, that is, whatever had been obscurely proclaimed in the Old Testament, he is forbidden to write, but to leave them sealed, because he is an apostle, and it was not fitting that the grace of the following grade should be placed in the first one, because the time, he says, is near. For the apostles by virtues, signs, portents and mighty works overcame unbelief. After them, the churches now being completed, the comfort of interpreting the prophetic scriptures was given to those whom he called prophet-interpreters. For the apostle says:
'And he placed in the Church first apostles, secondly prophets, thirdly teachers,' and the rest. And in another place he says: 'Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh,' and he says: 'Every woman praying or prophesying with her head uncovered dishonors her head.' But when he says: 'Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others weigh,' he does not speak of catholic prophecy that is unheard and unknown, but of that which is already proclaimed and known; and let them weigh whether the interpretation agrees with the testimonies of the prophetic utterance. It is established therefore that this was not necessary to John, armed with a higher power, since the body of Christ, that is, the Church, adorned with its members, ought to respond each in its own place.
'And I took the book from the hand of the angel and ate it.' To take the little book and to eat it, when the showing is made to him, is to commit to memory. 'And it was in my mouth sweet as honey.' To be sweet in the mouth is the fruit of the one preaching, and most sweet to the hearers, but also most bitter to the one preaching and to those persevering in the commandments through suffering. 'And he says to me: you must prophesy again,' he says, 'to peoples and tongues and nations': this is because, when John saw this, he was on the island of Patmos, condemned to the mine by Domitian Caesar.
There therefore he saw the Apocalypse, and when, being now an old man, he thought that he would receive his release through suffering, Domitian having been killed, all his judgments were annulled, and John was dismissed from the mine. So afterward he handed on this same Apocalypse which he had received from the Lord. This is: 'you must preach again.' 'And a reed like a rod was shown to me, and the angel stood saying: Rise and measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship therein.' To have received a reed like a rod, to measure the temple of God and the altar and those worshiping in it, he says, signifies the power which, after being released, he afterward exhibited to the churches. For he also afterward wrote the Gospel.
For when Valentinus and Cerinthus and Ebion and the rest of the school of Satan were spread throughout the world, all the bishops from the neighboring provinces came together to him and compelled him to write down his testimony himself. But the 'measure' of the Son of God is the commandment of our Lord, to confess the Father almighty; and we say also that his Son Christ was begotten spiritually with the Father before the origin of the age, was made man, and, death having been conquered, was received in heaven by the Father with his body, and poured out the Holy Spirit, the gift and pledge of immortality; that he was proclaimed through the prophets, written of through the Law; that he is the hand of God and the Word of the Father and the Maker of the world.
This is the reed and the measure of faith, and no one worships at the holy altar except him who confesses this faith. 'And the court which is within the temple cast out.' But cast out the inner hall. The hall is called a court, an empty space between the walls. He commanded such people, as not necessary, to be cast out of the Church. 'Because it has been given,' he says, 'to be trodden by the nations,' that is, by the men of this world, so that it is trampled by the nations. Then he repeats concerning the ruin and destruction of the last time, and says: 'They shall trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will give to my two witnesses, and they shall prophesy clothed in sackcloth one thousand two hundred and sixty days,' that is, three years and six months; this makes forty-two months.
Their preaching therefore is three years and six months, and the kingdom of Antichrist as much again. 'And if anyone wishes to harm them, fire proceeds from their mouth and devours their enemies.' But that fire goes out of the mouth of those prophets against their adversaries, he calls the power of the word. For all the plagues, however many are to come from the angels, will be sent by their voice. Many think that with Elijah there is Elisha or Moses. But both of these died. The death of Jeremiah, however, is not found. And throughout all things our ancients have handed down that he is Jeremiah; for the very word which came to him testifies to him, saying: 'Before I formed you in the womb,
I knew you, and before you came forth from the womb I sanctified you, and appointed you a prophet among the nations.' But among the nations he was not a prophet, and therefore the word of the truthful God must of necessity exhibit what it promised, that there be a prophet among the nations. These are the two candlesticks standing in the sight of the Lord of the earth. These two candlesticks and two olive trees he therefore brought to mind, so that, if reading in another place you did not understand, here you might understand; for it is written in Zechariah, one of the twelve prophets. 'These are the two olive trees and the two candlesticks which stand in the sight of the Lord of the earth,' that is: they are in paradise.
These therefore must be killed by Antichrist 'and I saw,' he says, 'a beast ascending from the abyss,' after many plagues inflicted upon the world, which beast he says ascended from the abyss. But that he is to ascend from the abyss, many testimonies are to be gathered for us in this chapter. For Ezekiel says: 'Behold, Assur, a cypress on Mount Lebanon.' 'Assur': pressing down; 'cypress' lofty and branching: that is, a numerous people; 'on Mount Lebanon': the kingdom of kingdoms, that is, of the Romans; 'beautiful in its shoots': that is, strong in armies. 'The water,' he says, 'shall nourish him': that is, the many thousands of men who will be subjected to him. 'And the abyss increased him': that is, it belched him forth. For Isaiah too speaks in almost the same words.
That he was already in the kingdom of the Romans and was among the Caesars, the apostle Paul also testifies. For he says to the Thessalonians: 'He who now holds, let him hold, until he be taken out of the way. And then shall that lawless one appear, whose coming is according to the working of Satan with lying signs and portents.' And that they might know that he would come, who was then prince, he added: 'The mystery,' he says, 'of iniquity is already at work,' that is, the iniquity which he is to do, he secretly works; but he is raised up not by his own power nor by that of his father, but by the command of God. Why then does Paul say to the same people: 'Because they did not receive the love of God, God sends them a spirit of error, that all may be persuaded by the lie, who were not persuaded by the truth.' And Isaiah says:
'While they waited for light, darkness arose for them.' The Apocalypse therefore makes manifest that these prophets are killed by the same one, and rise again on the fourth day, lest anyone be found equal to the Lord. 'And their bodies shall lie in the streets of the great city, which is spiritually called Sodom and Egypt.' But by Sodom and Egypt he means Jerusalem: the conduct of a persecuting people brings this about. One ought therefore diligently and with the utmost care to follow the prophetic proclamation and to understand that the Spirit prophesies in part and out of order, and when it has run ahead to the last, again it repeats the earlier times.
And because what he is to do once, he sometimes shows as if already done — and unless you understand it as sometimes said, not sometimes to come, you will fall into great darkness — therefore the interpretation of the following words will show this, so that they are understood not by the order of reading but by reason. 'The temple of God which is in heaven was opened': the temple opened is the manifestation of our Lord. For the temple of God is his Son, as he himself says: 'Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up'; and when the Jews said: 'This temple was forty-six years in building,' the evangelist says: 'He spoke,' he says, 'of the temple of his body.' 'And the ark of the testament of the Lord was seen in his temple.' The ark of the testament:
the preaching of the Gospel and the indulgence of sins and all the good things which came with him, these he says appeared. 'And a great sign was seen in heaven: a woman clothed with the sun, and the moon under her feet, and upon her head a crown of twelve stars; and she is with child and cries out, being in labor and suffering torments to give birth.' But the woman clothed with the sun and the moon under her feet, having a crown of twelve stars, being in labor in her pains: this is the ancient Church of the fathers and prophets and holy apostles, which had the groans and torments of its desire, until it should see the fruit from its own people according to the flesh, Christ long ago promised to it, having taken a body from that very nation. But clothed with the sun:
it signifies the hope of the resurrection and the glory of the promise. But the moon: the falling of the holy bodies under the debt of death, which can never fail. For just as life is diminished, so it is also increased, nor is the hope of those who sleep entirely extinguished, as some suppose; but they have light in the darkness, like the moon. The crown of twelve stars signifies the choir of fathers according to the nativity of the flesh, from whom Christ was to take flesh. 'And another sign was seen in heaven: and behold, a red dragon stood in the sight of the woman who was about to give birth, that when she had borne her son he might devour him.' The red dragon standing and waiting, that when she had borne her son, he might devour him:
it is the devil, the apostate angel, namely, who supposed that the destruction of all men through death could be equal. But he who was not born of seed owed nothing to death; wherefore he could not devour him, that is, hold him in death; for on the third day he rose again. Finally, even before he suffered, he approached to tempt him as a man; but when he had found that he was not the one he supposed, he departed from him, he says, until a time. 'And her son was caught up to God and to his throne.' This one he says was caught up to the throne of God. And we read in the Acts of the Apostles how, while speaking with the disciples, he was caught up into heaven.
'And she bore a son, who is to shepherd all the nations with a rod of iron.' But that he is to drive all the nations with a rod of iron: the rod of iron is the sword; all the nations, which contend under the sign of Antichrist against the saints, are to fall by the sword one upon another. 'I saw, and behold, a great red dragon.' But that he says he is of a red color, that is, scarlet, the fruit of his work gave him such a color; for from the beginning he was a murderer and oppressed the whole human race, not so much by the debt of death as by various disasters and deaths. 'Having seven heads.' The seven heads are the seven Roman kings, from whom also is Antichrist, as we shall say earlier. The ten horns: ten kings at the last time; these same we shall treat there more fully.
'But the woman fled into the wilderness, and two wings of that great eagle were given to her.' But that the woman flew into the desert by the help of the wings of the great eagle — namely of the two prophets —: he here means that catholic Church, out of which at the last time the hundred and forty-four thousand men of Elijah are to believe, but also that the rest of the living people will be found at the coming of the Lord. But the Lord also says in the Gospel: 'Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,' that is, however many shall have been gathered in Judea, let them go to that place which they have prepared, and let them be nourished there three years and six months from the face of the devil. The two great wings: there are two prophets, Elijah and he who shall be a prophet with him.
'And the serpent cast out of his mouth, after the woman, water like a river, that he might cause her to be carried away by the river.' The water which the serpent cast out of his mouth signifies that by his command an army should pursue her. 'And the earth helped the woman, and opened its mouth and swallowed up that river which the dragon cast out of his mouth.' That the earth opened its mouth and devoured the waters makes plain a vengeance taken upon those who pursued her. Although, therefore, it signifies her as being in travail, yet afterwards, the birth once accomplished, it shows her fleeing; for both things were not done at one and the same time. For we know that, in the matter of Christ's being born, intervals of time passed; whereas that she should flee 'from the face of the serpent' has not yet come to pass. Then he says: 'There was a battle in heaven:'
'Michael and his angels fought against the dragon, and the dragon waged war and his angels, and they did not prevail, neither was their place found any more in heaven. And that great dragon was cast down, the ancient serpent, he was cast down to the earth.' There was war in heaven: Michael and his messengers fought against the dragon, and the dragon fought and his messengers, and his place was no longer found in heaven. And the great dragon was cast out, the ancient serpent, cast down to the earth. This is the beginning of the Antichrist.
Yet first Elijah must preach, and there must be times of peace; and afterwards, when the three years and six months of Elijah's preaching are completed, that he should be cast down from heaven, where he had held the power of ascending until that time, and all the apostate angels with him. So too the Apostle Paul says that the Antichrist shall be raised up out of hell: 'unless first there come a falling away, and the man of sin be revealed, the son of perdition and the adversary, who shall exalt himself above all that is named God or that is worshipped.' 'And his tail drew the third part of the stars of heaven, and cast them to the earth.' But as for his saying that the tail of the dragon drew the third part of the stars, this is understood in two ways.
For many suppose that he is able to seduce the third part of believing men; but what ought rather to be understood is that, while he was yet a prince, when 'he came down from his estate,' he seduced the third part of the angels who were subject to him. Therefore, as we said above, the Apocalypse says: 'And he stood upon the sand of the sea.' Chapters XIII and XVII. 'And I saw a beast rising up out of the sea, like to a leopard:' this signifies the kingdom of that time of the Antichrist, with a variety and a mingled people of the nations. Its feet were as those of a bear, a strong and most foul beast; by 'feet' he meant its leaders. 'Its mouth was as the mouths of lions,' he says — that is, armed for blood.
For its mouth is his command and his tongue, which shall proceed to speak nothing save the shedding of blood. 'Having seven heads.' The seven heads are seven mountains, upon which the woman sits — that is, the city of Rome. 'And there are seven kings: five are fallen, one is, the other is not yet come; and when he is come, he must continue a short space. And the beast which thou sawest is of the seven, and is the eighth.' The time at which the writing of the Apocalypse was published must be understood, since at that time Caesar Domitian was reigning. Before him, however, had been Titus his brother and Vespasian his father; Vitellius, Otho, Galba. These are 'the five who have fallen'; 'one is' — under whom the Apocalypse is written, namely Domitian. 'The other is not yet come':
he means Nerva. 'And when he is come, he must continue a short space'; for he did not complete two years. 'And the beast which thou sawest,' he says, 'is of the seven': since before these kings Nero had reigned. 'And it is the eighth,' he says, now, since it comes with that one, reckoning in the eighth place. And since in him is the consummation, he added: 'it goeth into perdition.' For the ten kings shall have received royal power when he shall move from the East, or shall be sent from the city of Rome with his armies. These 'ten horns' and 'ten diadems' Daniel shows; 'and three to be plucked up from the former ones' — that is, three of the chief leaders to be slain by the Antichrist. The remaining seven give to him 'both honour and counsel and power,' concerning whom he says:
'These shall hate the harlot' — he means, of course, the city — 'and shall burn her flesh with fire.' 'And one of its heads was as it were slain unto death, and the stroke of its death was healed': he means Nero. For it is well established that, while the cavalry sent by the senate was pursuing him, he cut his own throat. Him, therefore, raised up, God shall send as a king worthy of the worthy, and as a Christ such as the Jews deserved. And since he is about to bring another name, he is also about to set up another manner of life, that so the Jews may receive him as if he were the Christ. For Daniel says: 'He shall not regard the desire of women' — being first most impure — 'and he shall know none of the gods of his fathers.' For he cannot seduce the people of the circumcision unless he be an avenger of the Law.
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deniqueetsanctosnonadidolacolendareuocaturussedadcircumcisionemcolendam, siquospotueritseducere, itademumfidemfacietsibi, utChristusabeisappelletur. deinfernoautemillumsurgereetsuperiusdiximusuerboEsaiae: aquanutrietillumetabyssusauxitillum. quitamenlicetetnomineinmutatoetactuinmutatoueniat, aitspiritus: numeruseiusnomenhominisestetnumeruseiussexcentisexagintasex: cumenimadtuleritadlitteramgrecam, huncnumerumexplebit. [AI. JS7. L. T . CCC. E . V. JLXL. 0. LXX. C . CC: ANTEMOC. r . III. E. V. N . L. C . CC. II. VIII. P . C. 1. X. K. XX . 0. LXX. C . CC:
In short, he shall recall even the saints, not to the worship of idols, but to the keeping of circumcision; and if he can seduce any, he shall at last so win their faith that he may be called Christ by them. That he rises from hell we have also said above, in the word of Isaiah: 'water nourished him, and the deep increased him.' Yet, although he comes both with a changed name and a changed deed, the Spirit says: 'his number is the name of a man, and his number is six hundred and sixty-six': for when one brings it to the Greek letters, he shall fill out this number. 'A 1, S 7, L 30, T 300, E 5, V — ... 40, O 70, ... 200: ANTEMOS. G 3, E 5, N 50, ... 200, ... 8, P 100, I 10, K 20, O 70, ... 200:'
'GENSERIKOS.' 'For it is the number of a man, and his number, as it is reckoned from the Greek letters, so is it found in several names. For it is interpreted as Teitan, whom the gentiles call Sun and Phoebus, and it is reckoned in Greek thus: T (tau) three hundred, E (e) five, I (iota) ten, T (tau) three hundred, A (alpha) one, N (ni) fifty, which drawn together make six hundred and sixty-six. For as far as concerns the Greek letters, they fill out this number and name. And if you wish to turn this name into Latin, it is understood by antiphrasis as DICLVX, which letters are reckoned in this way: D indeed figures five hundred, I one, C a hundred.
L fifty, V five, X ten — which, the letters reckoned together, likewise make six hundred and sixty-six. For that which in Greek sounds Teitan, if you wish to understand it in Latin, is called Diclux; by which name, expressed through antiphrasis, we understand the Antichrist, who, although he is deprived and cut off from the light above, yet transforms himself into an angel of light, daring to call himself light. Likewise we find in a certain Greek codex thus: ANTEMOS; the letters of which being reckoned, you will find the number as above: A one, N (ni) fifty, T three hundred, E five, M (my) forty, O seventy, S (sigma) two hundred — which together make six hundred and sixty-six according to the Greeks.
Likewise another name of his in Gothic, that is GENSERIKOS, which is allowed to him, that he may seduce the nations. This you shall reckon in the same way by the Greek letters: G (gamma) three, E five, N (ny) fifty, S (sigma) two hundred, E (eta) eight, P (rho) one hundred, I (iota) ten, K (kappa) twenty, O seventy, S (sigma) likewise two hundred — which, as was said above, make six hundred and sixty-six.' 'And I saw another beast coming up out of the earth.' By the other beast rising up out of the earth he means the great false prophet, who is about to do signs and wonders and lies before him 'in the sight of men,' 'and it had two horns like a lamb' — having horns as a lamb, that is, the appearance of a righteous man — 'and it spake as a dragon' — speaking as a dragon;
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loqueturautemdiabolimalitiaplenus. hicenimfacturusest \'inconspectuhominum\', utetmortuiuideantursurgere. sed \'inconspectuhominum\' [etignemdecaelodescenderefaciet;] etignisdecaelodescendet; sed \'inconspectuhominum\' haecmagiperangelosrefugasethodiefaciunt. facietetiam, utimagoaureaAntichristi 13, 14. 15 intemploHierosolymisponaturetintretangelusrefugaetindeuocesetsortesreddat. facietetiamhincipse, ut 13, 16. 17 accipiantseruietliberinotaminfrontibusautinmanibusdextris — numerumnominiseius —, nequisematueluendat. aspernationemautemdeietexacerbationenDanihelantepraedixerat:
but he shall speak full of the malice of the devil. For this one is about to act 'in the sight of men,' so that even the dead may seem to rise. But 'in the sight of men'; 'and he shall make fire to come down from heaven' — and fire shall come down from heaven; but 'in the sight of men' — these things the magicians by the apostate angels do even to this day. He shall also bring it to pass that a golden image of the Antichrist be set up in the temple at Jerusalem, and that an apostate angel enter in and thence give voices and oracles. He shall also bring it to pass from this, that both bond and free receive a mark on their foreheads or on their right hands — the number of his name — that no one may buy or sell. The contempt of God and the provocation Daniel had foretold beforehand:
'And he shall set up,' he says, 'his temple between the two seas, upon the renowned and holy mountain' — that is, at Jerusalem; an image, just as Nebuchadnezzar had then made, this one shall now set up in its place. Recalling this, the Lord, admonishing his churches concerning the last times and dangers, says: 'But when you shall see the contempt of desolation, which was spoken of by Daniel the prophet, standing in the holy place — let him that readeth understand.' It is called 'contempt' when God is provoked, because idols are worshipped in his stead, or the doctrine of heretics is brought into the churches; and 'desolation,' because steadfast men, seduced by false signs and wonders, are overthrown from salvation. Chapters XIV and XVII.
'And I saw an angel flying through the midst of heaven.' The angel flying in the midst of heaven, whom he says he saw: this one we treated above as being the same Elijah, who anticipates by his preaching the kingdom of the Antichrist. 'And another angel following him.' But the other angel following: he proclaims to be the same prophet whom he proclaims as the companion of his preaching. 'There came one of the seven angels, who have the seven vials, and spake with me, saying:' For he says, 'Come, I will show thee the damnation of that great harlot, who sitteth upon many waters.' 'And I saw,' he says, 'a woman drunken with the blood of the saints.'
By the decree of that senate all manner of wickednesses have always been brought to their consummation; and against the preaching of the faith, even with full indulgence granted, that very senate gave its decree among all the nations. 'And I saw that woman sitting upon a scarlet beast, full of names of blasphemy.' That she sits upon a red beast, the author of murders, is the image of the devil — where also he makes mention of these 'heads,' of which we treated above. This woman indeed he calls 'Babylon' on account of her diffusion, both in the Apocalypse and in Isaiah; but in Ezekiel he named her 'Tyre.' In short, if you compare what is said against Tyre, and what Isaiah says against Babylon, and what the Apocalypse says, you will find them all to be one. But as for his saying:
'Send forth thy sharp sickle, and gather the clusters of the vine' — this signifies concerning the nations that are to perish at the coming of the Lord; and indeed under many figures he sets this same thing forth, as 'in a dry harvest'; but once, at the coming of the Lord and the consummation of the world and the kingdom of Christ and the opening of the kingdom of the saints, it shall be brought to pass. 'And the angel sent his sickle and gathered the vine of the earth, and cast it into the great winepress of the wrath of the indignation of God, and the winepress was trodden without, outside the city.' But as for his saying that it was cast into the winepress of the wrath of God and trodden outside the city — the treading of the winepress is the recompense of the sinner. 'And blood came out from the winepress, even unto the bridles of the horses':