Introduction: A secure resource from the Scriptures
1.1. Since you really wanted to be taught, with accuracy, the
topics you proposed to me, my beloved brother Theophilus, I thought it
reasonable, once I drew plentifully from the divine Scriptures like from
a sacred spring, to furnish the results to you in person;
kat' ophthalmon (κατ᾽ ὀφθαλμὸν),
literally "before your eyes"; perhaps Hippolytus is referring to the
fact that he is presenting a work in writing, rather than merely
orally; in any case it is clear Hippolytus wants Theophilus to have a
kind of crib sheet that will help him better internalize the lessons
of the treatise. The reference to "masses" may indicate that
Theophilus is instructing unbaptized Christians. The reference to
"resistant" ones might suggest debates with non-Christians.
that way you might not only enjoy them by hearing them but, with the
ability to investigate these same matters, you could glorify God in all
things. Let this be a secure resource from me to you in this present
life, so that when you produce them out of ready explanations to those
masses for whom they are poorly recognized and grasped, you might
implant them in the depth of your heart, as if in rich and clean earth,
and then through them confound those who are resistant and opposed to
the saving Word. 2. But I do fear that you will supply these things to
faithless and blasphemous tongues, for the risk is not trivial. Share
them with pious and faithful people, who long to live “in holiness
and justice” (1 Thess 2:10) with fear. Not in vain did the blessed
apostle instruct Timothy when he wrote: “Timothy, guard the deposit,
avoiding the empty profanities and the arguments of falsely-named
‘knowledge’; those who proclaim it have strayed concerning the faith”
(1 Tim 6:20-21). And again: “But you, my child, stay strong in the
grace which is in Christ Jesus, and what you have heard from me
through many witnesses, entrust them to faithful people who will be
sufficient to teach others, also” (2 Tim 2:1-2). 3. So if the
blessed apostle handed over these things with reverence, things which
were not familiar to all, foreseeing in the Spirit that “not all have
faith” (2 Thess 3:2), how much more shall we be at risk if
indiscriminately and at random we share the sayings of God with profane
and unworthy men?
2.1. Since the blessed prophets became our eyes, foreseeing
through faith the mysteries of the Word, they administered these things
to subsequent generations, not only speaking of things in the past but
also announcing things in the present and the future. This happened so
the prophet would be shown as a prophet not only at the moment but also
so he might be considered as a prophet when he was predicting the future
to all generations. All of them were equipped with a prophetic spirit
and valued as worthy by the Word himself, like instruments attuned to
each other, having in them always the Word like a plectrum; moved by it
they announced the things God willed. 2. The prophets didn’t speak forth
out of their own power—make no mistake!—nor did the proclaim whatever
they themselves wanted; but first they were made truly wise through the
Word; and then, through visions, they were correctly taught the future
beforehand; and then, sent in this way, they spoke the things which had
been revealed by God only to them. For what reason would a prophet be
described as a prophet unless he foresaw the future by the Spirit? If
the prophet said something about something that had already happened, he
wouldn’t be a prophet, since he would be talking about things which
everyone had seen with their own eyes. But he was judged a prophet
because he rightly predicted the future. This is why, reasonably, the
prophets from the beginning were called “the seers” (cf. 1 Sam
9:9 LXX). 3. So we too, having correctly learned the things foretold by
them, do not speak out of our own imagination.
"imagination" is epinoia (ἐπινοίας),
meaning conception or idea; the sense is that Hippolytus isn't making
anything up. We’re not undertaking to invent anything, but
rather providing the written records of those sayings foretold long ago,
we bring them to light for those who are able to believe correctly, so
that it might be of common benefit to both: on the one hand to the
speaker accurately laying out the propositions while mastering them
through memory, and on the other to the listener, paying attention to
what is being said. Now since a common task is proposed to both—the
speaker to expound securely and the listener to accept what is said with
a faithful ear—I beseech you also to be joined together with me in
supplication to God, 3.1. so that what was revealed long ago to
the blessed prophets by the Word of God (now, recall, he is the Son of
God,
Here,
as elsewhere, Hippolytus uses the locution ho tou theou pais
(ὁ τοῦ θεοῦ παῖς), rather than the more typical ho huios tou theou
(ὁ υἱός τοὺ θεοῦ)who was of old the Word but has now also been
made manifest as a person in the world because of us) he might explain
them to you through us, those things which you seek to obtain from him
through prayer. But since the Word demonstrates his own compassion and
impartiality, roaming about through all the saints;
dia
pantōn hagiōn ho logos phoitōn (διὰ πάντων ἁγίων ὁ λόγος
φοιτῶν); the German edition of the text has phuton (φυτὸν)
for phoitōn (φοιτῶν), and places it in the next clause which
would then read: “harmonizing himself as a creature like a
physician…” calibrating himself like a physician experienced in
what is good for us, knowing the weakness of humans, he attempts to
teach the ignorant while turning those who have strayed back to his own
true path; he is readily found by those who seek him with faith and he
immediately opens up to those clean bodies and pure hearts desiring to
knock at the gate. 2. For he casts away none of those enslaved to him,
he abhors no one as if they are not worthy of his divine mysteries:
neither preferring the rich man over the poor nor discounting the poor
because of their lowliness;
neither reproaching the barbarian as unwise nor setting aside the
eunuch as inhuman;
neither hating the female because of her original disobedience nor
shaming the male because of his transgression;
but—
having mercy on all and desiring to save all;
willing to restore all the children of God;
and calling all the saints into one perfect humanity.
For there is one Son of God, through whom we also encounter rebirth
through the Holy Spirit, and we all desire to arrive into one perfect
and celestial humanity.
4.1. So it is that the Word of God, although fleshless, clothed
itself with holy flesh from the holy Virgin, like a bridegroom in his
cloak, weaving it for himself in suffering on the cross, so that in
uniting our mortal body to his own power, and mixing the corruptible
with the incorruptible and weakness with force, he might save the
perishing humanity. 2.
As in his boat analogy below in chapter 59,
Hippolytus here employs specific technical terms in the service of his
weaving analogy: beam = histos (ἱστὸς); warp = stēmōn (στήμων);
woof = krokē (κρόκη); thread = mitos (μίτος);
shuttle = kerkis (κερκὶς). The beam of the Lord is
like the suffering which took place on the cross; the warp is the power
of the Holy Spirit in him; the woof is like the holy flesh woven into
the Spirit; the thread is the grace sealed through Christ’s love and
uniting the two into one; the shuttle is the Word; the workers are the
patriarchs and prophets who are weaving the lovely, floor-length,
perfect garment of Christ, through whom the Word, moving like a shuttle,
weaves what the Father wishes through them.
The nature of Antichrist
5.1. But since now the moment is pressing for these
propositions, and what has been said in the introduction for God’s glory
suffices on its own, it is right for me, taking hold of the divine
Scriptures themselves, to show through them:
These are apparently the "propositions" (prokeimena
[προκείμενα]) Hippolytus has agreed to take up for Theophilus.
What and of what sort is the coming of Antichrist?
On what sort of occasion and in what time will the Lawless one be
revealed?
From where and from what tribe, and what is his name, which is declared through the number in Scripture? 666 (Rev 13:18), which Hippolytus discusses in chapter 50
How will he engender error in the people, assembling them from the
corners of the world, and rouse up tribulation and persecution against
the saints?
And how will he glorify himself as God?
What is his consummation?
How will the manifestation of the Lord be revealed from the heavens?
And what is the conflagration of the universe?
What is the glorious and celestial kingdom of the saints who will reign
together with Christ?
And what is the eternal punishment through fire of the lawless ones?
Christ and Antichrist in parallel
6.1. Now insofar as our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of
God,
Here
Hippolytus uses the more common tou hiou tou theou (τοῦ υἱοῦ
τοῦ θεοῦ) formulation.was proclaimed beforehand as a lion
(Gen 49:9) because he is regal and glorious, in the same way also the
Scriptures have prophesied Antichrist similarly as a lion because he is
tyrannical and brutal. In every way the Deceiver wants to become like
the Son of God. Christ is a lion, so Antichrist is a lion. Christ is a
King, so Antichrist is an earthly King. The Savior was shown to be a
lamb, so also similarly he will appear like a lamb while being a wolf
inside. The Savior came into the world circumcised, so he will come
similarly. 2. The Lord sent the apostles into all the nations, so he
will similarly send false apostles. The Savior assembled the sheep which
had been scattered, so he similarly will gather up the scattered people.
The Lord granted a seal to those who believe in him, so he will grant
similarly. The Lord was manifest in the form of a human, so he will come
in the form of a human. The Savior rose and demonstrated his own flesh
as a temple, so he will raise up in Jerusalem a temple in stone. And we
shall clarify these deceitful tricks of his later on; let us turn to the
proposition at hand.
Jacob’s benediction
7.1 The blessed Jacob says in the benedictions, prophesying in
advance on matters concerning our Lord and Savior like this: “Judah,
may your brother praise you; your hands are upon the back of your
enemies; your father’s sons will bow down before you. A lion’s cub is
Judah; from a shoot you have risen up, my son; reclining you have
fallen asleep like a lion and like a cub. Who will rouse him? A leader
will not fail from Judah nor a ruler from his loins until the one
comes for whom it is set aside, and he will be the expectation of
nations. Binding his donkey to a vine and the colt of his donkey to
the tendril, he will wash his robe in wine and his cloak in grape’s
blood. His eyes are merry from wine, and his teeth are gleaming like
milk” (Gen 49:8-12).
8.1. It seems now appropriate to cite these things to you, even
though you already know how to explain them. But since these same
phrases exhort us to speak, we shall not neglect it. For they are truly
divine and glorious, with the ability to help a soul. When he said “a
lion’s cub” the prophet meant the Son of God who is from Judah and
David according to the flesh. By saying “from a shoot you have risen
up, my son” he showed the fruit shooting forth from the holy
Virgin, not begotten from seed, but conceived from the Holy Spirit, and
so he comes forth like a holy shoot from the ground. 2. Now Isaiah says:
“A rod will go out from the root of Jesse, and a flower will rise up
from it” (Isa 11:1). The “flower” spoken of by Isaiah is
the “shoot” Jacob has spoken of; for first the Word shot
forth in the womb and then it flowered in the world. Saying “reclining
you have fallen asleep, like a lion and like a cub” indicated the
three-day sleep
koimēsis
(κοίμησις)of Christ, as also Isaiah says: “How has the
faithful city become a prostitute, Zion full of judgment? In her in
whom righteousness slept, now there are murderers” (Isa 1:21). 3.
And David likewise: “I lay down and slept, and I awoke, because the
Lord will assist me” (Ps 3:6), so he might show in this phrase the
sleeping and the resurrection that took place at that time. Jacob says:
“Who will rouse him?” That is the Father, just as also Paul says:
“and God the Father who raised him from the dead” (Gal 1:1).
9. Saying “there will not be a leader out of Judah nor a
ruler from his loins until the one comes for whom it is set aside, and
he will be the expectation of nations” indicated that the course
of the royal descent from Judah would be fulfilled under Christ. For he
is the “expectation of” we who are the “nations”; for we
expect him to be coming from the heavens in power; we see him already
through faith.
10. “Binding his donkey to a vine”: that is, [binding]
the people from circumcision to his own calling. For he was the vine. “And
the colt of his donkey to the tendril”: uniting to him the people
from the nations, like a young colt, as he was calling circumcision and
uncircumcision into a single faith.
11. “He will wash his robe in wine”: the paternal grace
of the Holy Spirit coming down upon him in the Jordan. “And in
grape’s blood his cloak”: in the blood of what sort of grape
except that of his holy flesh, crushed on the wood like a bunch of
grapes? From its side two wells gushed forth, of blood and of water (cf.
John 19:34), through which the nations, being washed, are purified: they
have been reckoned to Christ like a cloak.
12. “His eyes are merry from wine.” What are the eyes
of Christ but the blessed prophets, who foresaw in the spirit and
proclaimed beforehand the sufferings that would befall him, who were
able to rejoice when they looked upon him with spiritual eyes, eternally
strengthened by his Word and his grace?
13. And saying “and his teeth are gleaming like milk”
signified the commandments proceeding forth out of Christ’s holy mouth,
which are as pure as milk.
Antichrist’s tribe and coming
14.1. Now since the Scriptures prophesied Christ as lion and
lion’s cub, a similar thing is said about Antichrist. For Moses says in
this way: “Dan is a lion’s cub and he will leap out of Bashan”
(Deut 33:22). But so that no one might make a mistake, supposing that
this phrase was said about the Savior, let him pay close attention! He
says “Dan is a lion’s cub”; in naming the tribe, that of Dan, he
explained the proposition, from which [tribe] Antichrist is going to be
born. 2. For just as the Savior has been born out of the tribe of Judah,
so also Antichrist will be born out of the tribe of Dan. That this is
the case, what does Jacob say? “Let Dan be a snake, lying on the
road, biting the horse’s heel” (Gen 49:17). What else is the serpent
but the Deceiver from the beginning, who is spoken of in Genesis, the
one who deceived Eve and tripped up Adam?
"tripped
up" = pternisas (πτερνίσας), from "heel," pterna
(πτέρνα) in the Gen 49:17 passage.But since we must prove the
proposition through many more witnesses, let us not dawdle!
15.1. That the tyrant, the king, the fearsome judge, the Devil’s
son is really is going to be born and rise up out of the tribe of Dan
the prophet says: “Dan will judge his own people, just as also a
single tribe in Israel” (Gen 49:16). But someone will say: This
has been said about Samson, who was born out of the tribe of Dan and
judged the people for twenty years (cf. Jud 16:31). Part of this has
happened under Samson, but the entire thing will be fulfilled under
Antichrist. For also Jeremiah says this: “Speedily out of Dan we
shall hear the swiftness of his horses, from the thundering sound of
his cavalry of horses all the earth was shaken” (Jer 8:16). 2. And
another prophet says: “He will gather all of his power from the East
to the West; those whom he had called and those whom he had not called
will go forth with him. He will brighten the sea with the sails of his
ships and darken the field with shields and weapons. And everyone who
meets him in battle will fall by the sword.”
This
citation from "another prophet," which also appears below in chapter
54, is otherwise unknown. That these things have not been said
about another but about the tyrant and shameless one, we shall show in
what follows.
16.1. For Isaiah says it in this way: “And it will be when
the Lord consummates everything he’s doing on Mount Zion and
Jerusalem, he will set upon the great mind, upon the leader of the
Assyrians, and the haughty glory of his eyes. For he said: In might I
shall do it and in the wisdom of understanding I shall remove the
boundaries of nations and I shall plunder their might. And I shall
shake inhabited cities and I shall take hold of the whole world in my
hand like a nest and like abandoned eggs I shall lift it up. And there
is no one who will escape from me or resist me. 2. And not in
this way? But Adonai the Lord will send dishonor against your honor
and a burning fire will be ignited against your glory. And the light
of Israel is for fire and it will purify him in flame and it will
consume the forest like grass” (Isa 10:12-17).
17.1. And again in another passage he says: “How has the
inquisitor ceased and how has the taskmaster ceased? God broke the
yoke of the rulers. In anger inflicting the nation with an incurable
plague, smiting the nation with an angry plague, with which he was not
sparing. In confidence he has ceased. All the land cries out with joy.
The trees of Lebanon rejoiced at you and the cedar of Lebanon: Since
you went to sleep no one has risen up to cut us down. Death
Haidēs
(ᾅδης) is the place of Death, here capitalized.down below
was made bitter when he encountered you, all the giants rose up
together to you, the leaders of the earth, they are stirring from
their thrones all the kings of nations. They will all reply and say to
you: You too have been caught, just like us, and you have been
reckoned among us. 2. Your glory has descended into Death,
your great rejoicing; they will spread rot beneath you, and the worm
is your blanket. How has the Morningstar fallen from heaven, who was
rising yesterday? He was crushed into the ground, who was dispatching
to all the nations. In your mind you said: I shall ascend into heaven,
I shall place my throne above the stars of the heaven, I shall sit on
the high mount which is above the high mountains to the north, I shall
ascend above the clouds, I shall be like the Highest One. But now you
will be cast down into Death and into the foundations of the earth.
Those who see you will be amazed at you and they will say: He is the
person who made the earth shudder, who shook kings, who made the whole
world into wilderness, and he razed the cities, he didn’t release
those in captivity. 3. All the kings of the nations fell
asleep in honor, each in his own house; but you will be cast out into
the hills, like an abominable corpse, with many who have fallen, who
have been pierced by a sword, who have gone down into Death. In the
same way a cloak defiled by blood will not be clean, so you will not
be clean, because you destroyed my land and slew my people. You will
not remain forever, an evil seed. Prepare your children to be
slaughtered for the sins of your father, so that they will not rise up
and inherit the land” (Isa 14:4-21).
18.1. Similarly Ezekiel speaks about him in this way: “The
Lord God says this: Because your heart has been exalted and you have
said: ‘I am God, I have inhabited God’s dwelling-place in the heart of
a sea’; but you are human and not God, and you have treated your heart
as if it were God’s heart; are you wiser than Daniel? Wise ones have
not instructed you in their knowledge. Is it by your wisdom or your
understanding that you gave yourself power, and gold and silver in
your treasuries? Or by your great knowledge and commerce have you
increased your power? Your heart has been exalted in your power. 2.
This is why the Lord God says this: Since you treated your heart as if
it were God’s heart, for this, behold, I bring down upon you strange
pestilences from the nations, and they will unsheathe their swords
against you and against the beauty of your knowledge, and they will
raze your beauty into destruction, and they will degrade you, and you
will be put to death, wounded in the heart of the sea. Will you not
speak, saying: ‘I am God’ before those who are destroying you? But you
are a human, and not God. In the throng of uncircumcised you
will perish by foreign hands, because I have spoken, says the Lord”
(Ezek 28:2-10).
Daniel’s Visions of Antichrist and Christ (Four Kingdoms)
19.1. Now that these passages having been explained, let us look
more closely at what Daniel said in his visions. For when he was
distinguishing the kingdoms that would come to be afterward, he showed
also the coming of Antichrist in the end times and the consummation of
the whole world. So he says when interpreting the visions of
Nebuchadnezzar: “King, you looked and behold a great image stood
before your presence; its head was of valuable gold, its arms and
shoulders of silver, its torso and thighs of bronze, its calves of
iron, its feet made of one part iron and another part clay. 2. You
looked until a stone was cut without hands and struck the image in its
iron-and-clay feet and it shattered them completely. Then at once the
clay, the iron, the bronze, the silver, the gold were shattered, and
were like dust on a summer’s threshing floor. And the mighty wind took
them away and no place was found for them. And the stone striking the
image became a great hill and filled the whole earth” (Dan
2:33-35).
20.1. Now when we combine Daniel’s visions with this other one
we produce a single account out of both, showing how there might be
harmony and truth. For he says it like this: “I, Daniel, looked and
behold the four winds of the heaven crashed into the great sea, and
four great beasts rose up out of the sea, different from each other.
The first was like a lioness and its wings were like eagle’s; I looked
until its wings were plucked; it was raised up from the earth and
stood on its feet like a human, and a human heart was given to it. And
behold a second beast similar to a bear, and it was stood on one side
and it had three ribs in its mouth.
2. I looked and, behold, another beast like a leopard;
and it had four bird’s wings above it and the beast had four heads. I
looked behind it and behold a fourth beast, fearsome and terrible and
exceedingly mighty, its teeth were iron and its claws were brass,
chomping and shredding, and it was stomping on the remains with its
feet. And it was exceedingly different from all the beasts that
preceded it, and it had ten horns. I was contemplating its horns and
behold another, small horn rose up in their midst and it ripped out
the three horns that preceded it from its presence; and behold eyes
like a human’s were on this horn and a mouth uttering boasts. 21.
I looked until thrones were set up and the Ancient of Days was
sitting and his cloak was like gleaming snow and the hair of his head
was like pure wool; his throne was a flame of fire, with wheels of
blazing fire. A river of fire flowed before him, thousands of
thousands worshiped him and myriads of myriads stood around him. He
sat in the judgment seat and books were opened. I looked then from the
sound of the boastful words which that horn was uttering, until the
beast was destroyed and killed and its mouth was given into burning
fire. And the rule of the remaining beasts was transferred. 22.
I looked in a night-time vision and behold with the clouds of heaven
came one like the Son of Man and he arrived unto the Ancient of Days
and he approached him. And the rule was given to him and the honor and
the kingdom and all the peoples, tribes, and tongues will be enslaved
to him. His authority is eternal authority, which does not go away,
and his kingdom will not pass away” (Dan 7:2-14).
23.1. Now since these things, spoken mystically, seem to some
difficult to understand, we shall conceal nothing about them that leads
to comprehension for those who possess a sound mind. When it said “a
lioness rising from the sea” it meant the kingdom of the
Babylonians coming into the world, which was the golden head of the
image; “its wings were like eagle’s” because King Nebuchadnezzar
was exalted and elevated against God. 2. Then, he says, “its wings
were plucked,” because his glory was diminished: for he was driven
out of his kingdom. “A human heart was given to it and it was stood
on human feet” because he repented, recognizing about himself that
he was a human and he gave glory to God.
24.1. After the lioness he sees “a second beast”
which is “similar to a bear,” which was the Persians. After the
Babylonians the Persians governed. “Three ribs in its mouth”
pointed to three nations: the Persians, Medes, and Babylonians, which is
shown by the silver after the gold on the image. Then the third
beast is a leopard, which was the Greeks. After the Persians Alexander
the Macedonian governed, deposing Darius, which is shown by the bronze
on the statue. 2. “Four bird’s wings” and “four heads” on
the beast showed very clearly how Alexander’s empire was divided into
four parts: saying “four heads” disclosed the four kings who rose
up out of it. For when Alexander died his empire was separated into four
parts.
25.1. Then, he says, “a fourth beast, fearsome and terrible…
its teeth were iron and its claws were brass.” Who are these but
the Romans? The iron is the empire which presently exists. For
he says: “its calves were of iron.” For after this what else
remains, beloved, but the feet of the image, in which “part was of
iron and another part was of clay, mixed into each other.” 2. He
indicated in a mystical way through the toes of the feet ten kings
rising up from it, about which Daniel says: “I was contemplating the
beast and behold ten horns were on its back among which another, small
horn will rise up like a shoot and it will root out the three horns
before it.”
26.1. After this he will come from heaven, “the stone which
strikes the image” and shatters it and transfers all the kingdoms
and grants the kingdom to the saints of the Most High. He is the one “who
has become a great hill and fills all the earth” (Dan 2:35), about
whom Daniel says: “I looked in a night-time vision and behold with
the clouds of heaven came one like the Son of Man and he arrived unto
the Ancient of Days. And the rule was given to him and the honor and
the kingdom and all the peoples, tribes, and tongues will be enslaved
to him. His authority is eternal authority, which does not go away,
and his kingdom will not pass away.” 2. He shows the full
authority which was given from the Father to the Son, who has been
proven to be king and judge of all those “in heaven and on earth and
under the earth” (Phil 2:10): “in heaven,” because the Word
had been begotten out of the Father’s heart before all things; “on
earth,” because he was begotten as a human among humans, remolding
Adam through himself; “under the earth,” because he was accounted
among the dead, bringing the good news to the souls of the saints,
conquering death through death.
27. Since these are the things that will happen—with the ten
toes of the image proceeding into democracies
It's not entirely clear what Hippolytus means by
"democracies" here; Norelli hypothesizes that he envisions a period
when the singular power of the Roman monarchy has been divided up into
smaller, local "popular rules" (dēmokratias [δημοκρατίας]) in
the period immediately preceding the autocratic rise of Antichrist.
and the ten horns of the beast being apportioned into ten kings—let us
look more clearly at the propositions and let us reflect upon them in a
clear-eyed fashion.
28. The gold head of the image, the lioness, was the
Babylonians; the silver arms and shoulders, the bear, the Persians and
Medes; the brass torso and thighs, the leopard, the Greeks ruling after
Alexander; the iron calves, the fearsome and terrible beast, the Romans
who rule now; the soles of the feet of clay and iron, the ten horns,
which will come in the future; the other small horn springing up among
them is Antichrist; the stone striking the image and shattering it,
filling the earth, is Christ coming from heaven and bringing judgment
upon the earth.
God’s punishment against the prostitute
29.1. Beloved, with trepidation
Literally, “with fear”: meta phobou,
μετὰ φόβου do we fulsomely share these things with you “because
of Christ’s surpassing love” (Eph 3:19). For if the blessed
prophets who existed before us, having seen these things, did not wish
to proclaim them openly,
parrēsiai (παρρησίᾳ), literally "in
frank speech"; Hippolytus means that the prophets spoke in symbols and
parables rather than frankly and openly.for fear they would
engender disturbance in human souls, but they recounted them mystically
through parables and puzzles, saying “here is the mind possessing
wisdom” (Rev 17:9), how much more danger do we risk when we dare
to bring the things said by them in a concealed fashion out into the
open? 2. Let us see then what will happen at the end to that impure
prostitute, of what manner and of what kind will be the special torture
that will come upon her before the judgment according to God’s wrath.
30.1. Come then, blessed Isaiah, awaken! Say clearly what you
prophesied about the great city of Babylon. You spoke also about
Jerusalem and she has been met her end. For you said openly:
In
contrast to his comment above, here Hippolytus praises Isaiah for
speaking "with parrēsia" (μετὰ παρρησίας). “May
your land be desolate, your cities burned up; foreigners are consuming
your land before you; overthrown, it has been devastated by many
foreigners. The daughter of Zion will be forsaken, like a tent in a
vineyard and like a shed in a vegetable patch,
Literally, "cucumber field," sikuēratōi
(σικυηράτῳ); the image seems to be of temporary agricultural shelters
left behind after a harvest. like a city besieged” (Isa
1:7-8). 2. How about it? Hasn’t this already come to pass? Haven’t these
statements been fulfilled? Hasn’t their land of Judea been devastated?
Hasn’t the Temple been burned down? Haven’t the walls been overthrown?
Haven’t the cities been razed? Aren’t foreigners consuming the land?
Don’t the Romans rule their land? But the lawless ones who hated you
sawed you apart.
Hippolytus
refers to noncanonical traditions that several of the prophets were
murdered (or, in his understanding, martyred) by ancient Israelites.
(See the general reference in Matt 13:29-35.) Isaiah's execution by
sawing is referenced in the Ascencion of Isaiah and the Vitae
Prophetarum. Jeremiah's death by stoning is likewise noted in
the Vitae Prophetarum. Heb 11:37, "They were stoned to
death, they were sawn in two," may also refer to these prophetic
martyrdoms. They also crucified Christ. You died in the world
but you live with Christ.
31.1. Whom among all of you shall I love more than you?
The first “you,” referring to all the prophets, is plural; the second
“you,” referring to Isaiah, is singular.Now Jeremiah is also
stoned to death. So then Jeremiah? But Daniel also bears witness.
marturei (μαρτυρεῖ), "bear witness"
could, in context, mean that Hippolytus is saying that Daniel, like
Isaiah and Jeremiah, was a martyr. There is no tradition of Daniel's
martyrdom, however, and Hippolytus likewise does not suggest that
John, the next prophet, died a martyr. Daniel, shall I praise
you above all? But John does not lie! With how many mouths and tongues
shall I glorify you all—or, rather, the Word speaking in you. For you
died with Christ, but you will live in God. Listen and rejoice! Behold,
the things which have been spoken by you have been fulfilled in their
time. 2. For you saw these things first, then in this way you proclaimed
God’s sayings to all generations, you ministered to all generations. You
were called “prophets” so you could save everyone. That’s when a prophet
really becomes a prophet, when by proclaiming in advance what’s going to
happen, he shows these things occurring later. You all became students
of the Good Teacher. I exclaim these things to you deservedly, as if you
were living: for you already possess the crown of life and incorruption,
laid up for you in the heavens.
32.1. Speak to me, blessed Daniel, reassure me, I beseech you! You prophesy about the lioness in Babylon; for you were a prisoner there. You have explained the future about the bear; for you were still in the world and you saw these things happen. Then you’re speaking about the leopard: and how do you know about this? For you had already fallen asleep. i.e., died Who else taught you these things in advance but the one who formed you in your mother’s womb, the Word of God? 2. For you spoke and you didn’t lie. The leopard rose up and the he-goat of the goats came, he struck the ram, he shattered his horns, and he trampled him underfoot, he conquered, he was exalted. When he fell the four horns rose up from beneath him. Rejoice, blessed Daniel, you have not been mistaken, all of these things have come to pass! This vision is from Daniel 8, which Hippolytus had not referred to earlier.
33. After this once more you explained to me: “A fourth
beast, fearsome and terrible, its teeth were iron and its claws were
brass, chomping and shredding, and it was stomping on the remains with
its feet” (Dan 7:7). Behold now “the iron” rules, behold “it
subdues and it shreds” (Dan 2:40), behold it subjects all against
their will, behold we observe these very things, behold we glorify God,
we who have been taught by you!
34. Now since it has been proposed to us to speak about the
prostitute: come forth, blessed Isaiah! Let us see what you say about
Babylon. “Go down, sit upon the ground, virgin daughter of Babylon,
sit, daughter of Chaldeans; no longer will you continue to be called
‘tender’ or ‘gentle.’ Take the millstone, grind the grain, lift back
your veil, expose your gray hair, uncover your legs, cross rivers.
Your dishonor will be revealed, your reproaches will be manifest. I
shall take the right from you, I shall no longer hand you over to
people. The Lord Sabaoth who redeemed you, his name is the Holy One of
Israel. Sit, stunned, enter into the darkness, daughter of Chaldeans,
no longer will you be called the force of the kingdom. 35.
1. I was provoked against my people, you defiled my inheritance. I
gave them into your hand but you did not give them mercy; you made the
yoke of the elderly exceedingly heavy, and you said: I shall rule
forever. You did not consider these things in your heart, nor did you
recall the last things. But hear them now, Gentle One, confidently
sitting, saying to yourself: ‘I am, and there is no other, I shall not
sit as a widow, I shall not know bereavement.’ 2. Now these
two things will come upon you in a single day, widowhood and
childlessness will come upon you suddenly in your alchemy,
pharmakeia
(φαρμακείᾳ), literally "pharmacy," here indicating sorcery or
witchcraft. excessively in the force of your enchantments,
in the hope of your fornication. For you have said: ‘I am, and there
is no other,’ and your fornication will be your dishonor because you
said to yourself: ‘I am.’ And destruction will come upon you and you
will not know it; a pit, and you will fall into it. And hardship will
come upon you and you will not be able to become pure. And it will
come upon you suddenly, and you will not know it. Stand now among your
enchantments and your great alchemy, which you learned from your
youth, if you can be helped. 3. You have toiled in your
counsels; let your celestial astronomers stand and save you, let your
stargazers report to you what’s going to come upon you. See! They will
all be burned up like kindling on a fire, and their lives will not be
delivered from the flame; since you have coals from fire, sit on them
and so that will be your help! You toiled in transformation from your
youth; a person went astray on his own, but there will be no salvation
for you” (Isa 47:1-15). Isaiah prophesies these things, but let’s
see if John uttered things similar to him.
36.1. When he is on the island of Patmos he sees a revelation of
horrible mysteries, and by fulsomely recounting them he also teaches
others. Tell me, blessed John, apostle and disciple of the Lord, what
you saw and what you heard about Babylon. Wake up and speak, for she
also exiled you.
"Babylon"
in Revelation serves as a code for Rome. Hippolytus is an early
witness for the idea that John was on Patmos because he had been sent
there by the Romans in exile (see Tertullian, Prescription Against
Heretics 36; Victorinus of Pettau, On the Apocalypse
10.3; Eusebius, Church History 3.18.1-3). “And one
of the seven angels holding the seven vials came and he spoke with me,
saying: Come, I’ll show you the judgment of the great prostitute who
sits on many waters, with whom the kings of the earth have fornicated,
and those inhabiting the earth have grown drunk from the wine of her
fornication. 2. And he carried me off into the wilderness in
the spirit and I saw a woman seated on a red beast, full of the names;
it had seven heads and ten horns. And the woman was draped in purple
and red, gilded in gold and precious stone and pearls, holding a
golden cup in her hand full of abominations and the impurities of the
fornication of the earth, and on her forehead a name was written, a
mystery: ‘Babylon the great, the mother of prostitutes and
abominations of the earth.’ 37. And I saw the woman
drunk on the blood of the saints and out of the blood of the martyrs
of Jesus, and I was amazed, looking at her, a great wonder. And the
angel said to me: Why are you amazed? I shall tell you the mystery of
the woman and the beast bearing her, which has seven head and ten
horns. The beast that you see was and is not and is going to rise up
from the pit and he goes away into destruction. And those inhabiting
the earth will be amazed, whose names have not been written in the
Book of Life from the foundation of the world, when they behold the
beast that was and is not and will be present. 38.1. Here,
the mind possessing wisdom! The seven heads are the seven hills upon
which the woman sits, and they are seven kings. Five have fallen, one
exists, another has not yet come and when he comes it is necessary
that he remain for a little while. And the beast who was and is not,
he is also the eighth and he is out of the seven and he goes away into
destruction. 2. And the ten horns which you saw, they are ten
kings who have not yet taken the kingdom but they receive authority
like kings for a single hour with the beast. They have a single
intention
"intention" throughout this passage is gnōmē
(γνώμη), which refers to internal orientation: opinion, goal, purpose.
and they give their power and authority to the beast. They will wage
war with the lamb and the lamb will conquer them, because he is Lord
of Lords and King of Kings, and those with him are called and chosen
and faithful. 39. And he says to me: The waters which
you saw, where the prostitute sits, are peoples and crowds and nations
and tongues. And the ten horns which you saw, and the beast, will hate
the prostitute and they will make her desolate and naked and they will
eat her flesh and they will burn her in fire. For God has given into
their hearts to carry out his intention and to make a single intention
and to give their kingdom to the beast until the words of God will be
accomplished. And the woman whom you saw is the great city which
possesses the kingdom over the kings of the earth. 40. After
this I saw another angel descending from heaven, possessing great
authority, and the earth was illuminated by his glory. And he cried
out in a great, forceful voice, saying: She has fallen, Babylon the
great has fallen and she has become the dwelling-place of demons and
the prison of every unclean and defiled spirit and the prison of every
unclean and defiled beast, because out of the wrath of the wine of her
fornication all the nations have fallen, and the kings of the earth
fornicated with her and the merchants of the earth grew rich out of
the power of her luxury. And I heard another voice from the heavens
saying: Come out of her, my people, so you will not be associated with
her sins, and so you won’t receive a portion of her plagues, because
her sins have been collected unto heaven and God has remembered her
injustices. 41.1. Render to her just as she has
rendered, and pay back twofold according to her deeds; in the cup in
which she mixed you mix for her twofold; as much as she glorified
herself and luxuriated, you give her as much torture and grief.
Because she said to herself: because I sit as queen and I am not a
widow and may I see no grief, because of this on a single day all her
plagues will come: death and grief and famine, and she will be burned
up in fire. Because the Lord Almighty is the one judging her. 2.
And the kings of the earth who were fornicating with her and
luxuriating will wail and mourn for her when they see the smoke from
her burning, standing at a distance because of fear of her torment,
saying: Woe, woe, the great city, Babylon the mighty city, that in a
single hour your judgment has come! And the merchants of the earth
will wail and grieve over her, because no one buys their wares any
longer, wares of gold and silver and precious stone and pearls and
linen and silk and purple and red, and all the citron wood and every
ivory vessel and every vessel out of most precious wood and brass and
iron and marble and cinnamon and incense and myrrh and cedar and wine
and oil and wheat and grain and mounts and flocks and horses and
chariots and bodies and human lives; and the fruit of your soul’s
desire has gone away from you, and all the comforts and joys have been
destroyed from you and no longer may you find them. 3. Your
merchants, who grew rich from her, will stand at a distance because of
fear of her torture, wailing and grieving and saying: Woe, woe, the
great city, draped in linen and red and purple, and gilded with gold
and precious stone and pearl, that in a single hour such wealth has
been made desolate! 4. And every ship-captain and everyone on
the boats and sailors and as many as worked on the sea, from a
distance they stood and cried out when they saw the smoke from her
burning, saying: Who is like this great city? And they threw dust on
their heads and they cried out, wailing and grieving, saying: Woe,
woe, the great city, in which all who had ships on the sea grew rich
from her expense, that in a single hour she has been made desolate!
42. Rejoice over her, heaven, and the saints and apostles and
prophets, because God has rendered your judgment over her. And one
mighty angel raised up a stone like a great millstone and he cast it
into the sea, saying: So in violence Babylon the great city will be
cast down, and it will no longer be found. And the sound of harpists
and musicians and pipers and trumpeters will not be heard in you, and
every artists of every art will not be found in you, and the sound of
a millstone will not be heard in you and the light of a lamp will not
be visible in you and the sound of a bridegroom and the sound of a
bride will not be heard in you, because your merchants were the great
men of the earth, because in your alchemy all the nations were
deceived, and in her the blood of prophets and saints was found and of
all those slaughtered upon the earth” (Rev 17:1-18:24).
The chronology of Antichrist
43.1. As for the tortures and the special judgment which will
come upon her in the end times from the tyrants who will then exist,
very clearly have these things been indicated in these passages. But it
is necessary for us, as we inquire precisely into the chronology, to lay
out on what occasions these things will happen and how the small horn
will spring up among them. When the iron legs have prevailed over the
soles of the feet and the toes, proceeding according to the
manifestation of the image and the appearance of the fearsome beast,
just as they have been explained in what came before, on what occasions
are the iron and the clay mixed together into the same thing? 2. Daniel
will show us the propositions. For he says: “And a single week will
make a covenant with many. And it will be in the midst of the week my
sacrifice and drink-offering will be suspended” (Dan 9:27). When
he said a single week he meant the last one [week] which will
come upon the end-point of the whole world at the end-times; of this
week the two prophets Enoch and Elijah will receive half. For they will
preach “one thousand two hundred and sixty days, draped in sack-cloth”
(Rev 11:3), proclaiming repentance to the people and to all the nations.
44.1. For just as two appearances of our Lord and Savior have
been shown to us through the Scriptures—the first one happening
according to the flesh, dishonored because he was despised, just as
Isaiah predicted when he said: “We saw him, and he did not possess a
fair form but his form is dishonored and inferior among all people;
being a man in distress and knowing how to bear weakness, he was
dishonored and discounted” (Isa 53:2-3); but his second coming has
been preached in glory, as he will come from the heaven with the power
of angels and his father’s glory, as the prophet says “you will look
upon the king with glory” (Isa 33:17) and “they saw upon the
clouds of heaven one coming like the Son of Man, and he arrived unto
the Ancient of Days and he approached him. And the rule and the honor
and the glory and the kingdom were given to him and all peoples,
tribes, tongues were enslaved to him. His kingdom is an eternal
kingdom, which will not pass away” (Dan 7:13-14). 2. So also two
forerunners have been shown: the first one was John the son of
Zechariah, in every way he was the forerunner and herald of our Savior;
he gave the good news to all of the heavenly light visible in the world;
for he came ahead in his mother’s womb, first conceived by Elizabeth in
order to show to those infants still abiding in their mothers’ wombs the
new genesis that would come to them through the Holy Spirit and a
virgin.
45. When he “heard Mary’s greeting he leapt in his mother’s
womb, exulting” (Luke 1:41), observing the Word of God conceived
in a virgin’s womb. Then, “preaching in the desert” he appeared
proclaiming the “baptism of repentance” (Mark 1:4) to the people,
foretelling salvation to the nations dwelling in the desert of the
world; afterward in the Jordan, upon seeing him he points out the Savior
and says: “Behold the Lamb of God who takes away the sin of the world”
(John 1:29). He also went first to preach the good news to those in
Death, after he was killed by Herod: he was a forerunner there,
indicating that the Savior was going to come down to there, redeeming
the souls of the saints in death’s grip.
46.1. But since the Savior was the first-fruit of the
resurrection of all people, it was necessary for the Lord alone to rise
from the dead, through whom also the judgment will come against the
whole world, in order that those who struggled worthily might also be
worthily crowned by him, by the noble judge of games,
kalou
agōnothetou (καλοῦ ἀγωνοθέτου); referee the first to
have won the race, who was received into the heavens and seated at the
right hand of God and the Father, and who once more will be visible as
the judge at the consummation of the world. 2. It is absolutely
necessary for his forerunners to appear first, just as he says through
Malachi the messenger: “I shall send you Elijah the Tishbite before
the great day of the Lord comes and before he appears, who will
restore the hearts of fathers to their children and the disobedient
ones in the prudence of the just, so that when I come I shall not
smite the earth utterly” (Mal 3:22-23). So they who are present
will preach the future appearance which is coming from heaven, and they
will perform signs and wonders for shaming and turning people to
repentance because of their excessive transgression and impiety.
47.1. John says: “And I shall give my two witnesses and they
will prophecy one thousand two hundred and sixty days, draped in
sack-cloth”—that is, the half-week about which Daniel spoke—“they
are the two olive trees and the two lamps which stand before the Lord
of the earth: and if someone should wish to harm them, fire will
proceed out of their mouths and consume their enemies. And if someone
wishes to harm them, so he must be killed. They have the authority to
close the heaven so that no rain will fall during the days of their
prophecy and they have the authority over the waters, to turn them
into blood and to smite the earth with every plague as often as they
wish. 2. And when they finish their race and their witness”
what does the prophet say? “The beast, which is rising out of the
pit, will wage war with them and he will defeat them and kill them”
(Rev 11:3-7), because they are unwilling to grant glory to Antichrist
(that is, the little horn which has sprung up) who, having been puffed
up in his heart, begins to exalt himself and glorify himself as God,
persecuting the saints and blaspheming against Christ, just as Daniel
says: “I was considering the horn and behold eyes like a person’s on
the horn and a mouth uttering boasts” (Dan 7:8) “and he
opened his mouth for blasphemy toward God” (Rev 13:6) “and that
horn waged war with the saints and prevailed against them, until the
beast was removed and destroyed and his body was given over to burning
of fire” (Dan 7:21).
Antichrist’s name and number
48.1. But since it is necessary to recount most carefully about
him—how the Holy Spirit indicated his name mystically through a
number—we shall recount these things very clearly about him. For John
says it like this: “And I saw another beast rising up out of the
earth and it had two horns like a lamb and it spoke like a dragon. And
it produced all authority of the first beast on his behalf. 2. And
it makes the earth and all those dwelling in it bow down to the first
beast, whose death blow was healed. And it makes great signs so that
it might make fire come down from heaven onto the earth before humans
and it deceives those dwelling on the earth through the signs which
were given to it to make on behalf of the beast, telling those
dwelling on the earth to make an image of the beast, which had the
sword-blow and lived. And it was granted to it to give breath to the
image of the beast so that the image of the beast might speak and it
might cause as many to die as would not bow down before the image of
the beast. 3. And he causes all, small and great and rich and
poor and free and enslaved, that he might give to them the mark on
their right hand or on their forehead, so that no one could buy or
sell unless they had the mark, the name of the beast or the number of
his name. There is wisdom here! Let the one possessing understanding
calculate the number of the beast: for the number is a person’s. And
his number is 666” (Rev 13:11-18).
49.1. Now the “beast rising up out of the earth” means
the kingdom of Antichrist that will be and the “two horns” are
the false prophet with him. To say “two horns like a lamb” means
that he wants to be equated with the Son of God and he presents himself
as a king. To say “he spoke like a dragon” means that he is a
deceiver and not truthful. 2. “And he made all the authority of the
first beast and makes the earth and all those dwelling on it bow down
to the first beast, whose death blow was healed” means that,
according to the law of Augustus, from which the Roman Empire was
constituted, so too will he command and bring order, deciding all
things, and through this he will acquire greater glory for himself. For
this is the fourth beast, whose head was wounded and once more was
healed—because it was demolished and dishonored and broken up into ten
crowns and then, since he is clever, as it were, he will heal it and
reunite it.
Hippolytus
seems to imagine a Rome-style empire reconstituted out of the ten
"democracies" (see above, Chapter 17) by Antichrist, perhaps even a
New Rome. 3. For this is what was said by the prophet, that “he
will give breath to the image and the image of the beast will speak”:
for he will be effective and capable once more through the laws
determined by him, and he will put to death as many as will not bow down
to the image of the beast. “Here the faith and the endurance of the
saints” will be clear (Rev 13:10). For he says: “and it causes
all, small and great and rich and poor and free and enslaved, that he
might give them the mark on their right hand or on their forehead, so
that no one will be able to buy or sell unless they have the mark or
the number of his name.” 4. Now since he is wily and puffed up
against those enslaved to God, wanting to afflict them sorely and
persecute them out of the world because they won’t grant him glory, he
commands everyone everywhere to set up censers, so that no one of the
saints will be able to buy or sell unless they first offer sacrifice.
For this is “the mark given on the right hand.” He says “on
the forehead” because all will be crowned, wearing among
themselves a fiery crown not of life but of death. 5. For this is what
Antiochus Epiphanes devised against the Jews, when he, who was of
Alexander of Macedon’s lineage, became King of Syria. For he too in
those times then, puffed up in his heart, wrote a decree that altars
should be set up before the gates for all to sacrifice, and that they
should process for Dionysus, crowned with ivy; and those who didn’t want
to do it would be subjected and they would be destroyed with sacrificial
meat-eating and trials and tortures (cf. 2 Macc 6-7). But he received
the same in return from the Lord and righteous Judge and all-observant
God, a similar torture: for he gave up his life being eaten away by
worms.
That
is, the punishment of forcing impure food on Jews was inverted by
Antiochus’s insides being eaten out.And if someone should wish
to examine these things more carefully, they have been explained in the
[books of] Maccabees.
50.1. But now we shall speak to the proposition. These things he
is also devising in this way, in his desire to afflict the saints in all
things. For the prophet and apostle says: “Here there is
understanding. Let the one having wisdom calculate the number of the
beast: for it is a person’s number, and his number is 666.” About
his name it’s not possible for us to expound precisely, in the way the
blessed John understood and was taught about it, but only in
supposition: for when he appears, the occasion will show the answer. 2.
But as much as we understand, even shakily, let us say. For we find many
names equaling this number, for example, let us say, there is Titan,
These
three names, whose letters add up to 666 based on the value of the Greek
letters as numbers, appear in Irenaeus, Adversus
haereses 5.30.3. "Titan"/τειταν: τ=300; ε=5; ι=10; α=1;
τ=300; ν=50. This name seems to be Irenaeus's favorite.
an ancient and noble name; or Euanthas.
"Euanthas"/Εὐάνθας:
ε=5; α=1; ν=50; υ=400; θ=9; α=1; σ=200. This name is usually spelled Euanthēs;
in the early 20th century, F.
H. Colson speculated this unusual name was an attempt to come up
with a Greek equivalent of Florus that equaled 666.
For this also is equal to that number, and a great many others can be
found. 3. But since we were already saying that the first beast’s wound
was healed and he will make the image speak, that is he has prevailed,
and it is manifest to all that the rulers now are the Latins, the name
translated into that of a single person becomes “Latinus,”
"Lateinos"/Λατεῖνος: λ=30; α=1; τ=300; ε=5; ι=10;
ν=50; ο=70; σ=200. Hippolytus may (slightly) prefer this option since
he believes Antichrist will reconstitute a Roman-style empire.
so that we should neither pronounce that this is really it nor, again,
ignore that it might not be able to be reckoned otherwise; since we, who
“have the mystery of God in a pure heart” (1 Tim 3:9) faithfully
keep, with fear, the things said by the blessed prophets so that we
won’t fail to recognize when these things are happening. For when the
times arrive and he, about whom these things have been said, will be
made manifest and the name will be indicated clearly to all.
Antichrist’s lineage
51. So that we don’t persuade those who labor over God’s sayings
from these passages alone, let us demonstrate through other, more
fulsome proofs. For Daniel says: “and they will be saved from his
hand, Edom and Moab and the rule of the sons of Ammon” (Dan
11:41). For they are also the ones joined together with him through
kinship, revealing that he is their king. For Edom are the sons of Esau
and Ammon and Moab are the sons who were born from the daughters of Lot,
from whom their lineage exists until now. For Isaiah also says: “and
they will fly about in foreigners’ boats: plundering the sea together
and those from the East, they will cast their hands first against
Moab, first the sons of Ammon will obey” (Isa 11:14).
Antichrist glorified as God
52.1. Now this one, once he has been proclaimed by them and has
conquered in the field of war the three horns out of the ten horns and
having rooted them out—the ones belonging to Egypt and to the Libyans
and Ethiopians— once he has taken their arms and spoils, while the seven
remaining horns who are left over have been subordinated to him, then he
will begin to be exalted in his own mind and puffed up against God, as
he rules the entire world. 2. First his violence will be against Tyre
and Sidon and territory around them. When he has first plundered these
cities he will engender fear in the others, just as Isaiah says: “Be
ashamed, Sidon, said the sea; for the might of the sea said: I have
not been in labor and I have not born a child, nor have I reared young
men nor raised up virgins; whenever it is heard in Egypt, pain will
take hold of them concerning Tyre” (Isa 23:4-5).
53. When these things take place like this, dearest one, and the
three horns are cut off by him, afterward he will begin to portray
himself as God, as Ezekiel foretold: “Because your heart has been
exalted you said: I am God” (Ezek 28:2). And Isaiah likewise: “You
said in your heart: I shall rise up into heaven, I shall place my
throne above the stars of the heaven, I shall be like the Most High.
But now you shall be brought down into Death and into the foundation
of the earth” (Isa 14:13-15). So too also Ezekiel: “Will you
speak and say to those who are destroying you, I am God? But you are a
human and not God” (Ezek 28:9).
Antichrist rouses people to persecute the saints
54.1. Now that these passages have demonstrated his tribe and
appearance and destruction, and his name has been mystically indicated,
let us also look at his activity. For he will summon all the people to
him out of all the territory of the diaspora, claiming them as his own,
like his own children, announcing to them that he is restoring the
territory and raising up their kingdom and temple so that he will be
worshiped by them as God, as the prophet says: “He will gather all of
his power from the East until the West, those whom he had called and
those whom he had not called will go forth with him.”
Hippolytus
also cites this unknown prophet above in Chapter 15.2. And
Jeremiah says this, using a parable for him: “A partridge called out,
it gathered those it had not given birth to; making its wealth without
judgment, in old age they will leave him behind and he will be foolish
at the end of his days” (Jer 17:11 LXX).
55.1. It will do no harm, because of the proposition, also to
explain the technique of this animal and that the prophet did not make
his point in vain using the parable of the animal.
While
the Hebrew of Jeremiah has the partridge "hatching" (דָגַל) those to
which it did not give birth, in the Septuagint the partridge has
"called out to" (ἐφώνησεν) them. Third- and fourth-century sources
interpreting this passage, such as the Physiologus, Origen,
and Jerome, introduce the idea that partridges steal other birds eggs
which then return to their natural parents when they hatch. Hippolytus
uniquely has the partridges mimicking the voice of other hatchlings'
parents, which better serves his parallel of the Antichrist pretending
to be Christ. Now since the partridge is a vain type of animal,
when it sees nearby the nest of another partridge having chicks, while
their father is off in search of food, it imitates the call of the other
one and summons the chicks to him. Since they think he is their own
father, they run off to him. 2. So it preens at another’s offspring like
its own. But when the real father comes back and cries out with its own
call, the chicks recognize it and, abandoning the counterfeit, they go
to their real father. Likewise the prophet used this simile when
speaking about Antichrist, who will summon humanity to him, wishing to
claim another’s as his own, announcing empty liberation to all, unable
to save even himself.
56. Once he has collected to himself from everywhere the people
who have become disobedient to God, he begins exhorting that the saints
be persecuted by them, as if they are their enemies and opponents, just
as the evangelist says: “There was a certain judge in a certain city
who didn’t fear God and had no respect for person. There was a certain
widow in that city who exhorted him, saying: Vindicate me from my
opponent. But he did not want to at the time; but later he said to
himself: Even if I don’t fear God and respect person, because this
widow is bothering me I shall vindicate her” (Luke 18:2-5).
57.1. Now the judge of injustice who doesn’t fear
God or respect person indubitably means Antichrist, who is the son
of the Devil and vessel of Satan and, when reigning, will also begin to
be puffed up against God, truly not fearing God nor respecting
the Son of God who is the Judge of all. The widow whom he says
was in the city means Jerusalem itself, which is truly a widow,
forsaken by her perfect and heavenly bridegroom, who seeks vindication
from a mortal human as if harmed by Christ. 2. Calling him her opponent
and not savior, not acknowledging what was said by Jeremiah the prophet:
“because they rejected the truth at that time a spirit of error will
speak to this people and to Jerusalem” (Jer 4:11). And Isaiah
likewise: “this people, because they did not wish to drink the water
of Siloam which goes forth in peace, but they were drawn back by
themselves to Rezin the king of the Assyrians”
(Isa 8:6-7). King of the Assyrians is a
figure for Antichrist, just as also another prophet says: “And
this same peace will come from me when the Assyrian comes upon your
land and ascends your hills”
(Mic 5:4).
58.1. And Moses also knows in advance that the people will reject and cast away the true “savior of the world” (John 4:42), that they will join together, in error, to choose an earthly king and that they will set aside a heavenly one; he says: “behold have these things not been gathered alongside me, and have they been sealed in my treasuries? On the day of vindication I shall give in return and in that moment whenever their foot fails” (Deut 32:34-35). 2. They have failed in every way, in nothing have they been found to be in harmony with the truth: not according to the law, because they became transgressors; nor according to the prophets, because they destroyed the prophets themselves; nor according to the voice of the gospels, because they have crucified the savior himself; nor were they persuaded by the apostles, because they persecuted them severely, being at all times plotters and betrayers of the truth, found to be haters of God rather than friends of God; and some, seizing the opportunity, beseech from a mortal man to gain vindication, aroused against those who are enslaved to God. 3. This one, having been puffed up by them, begins to send warrants against the saints to root all of them out everywhere, since they don’t want to venerate him or worship him as God, just as Isaiah says: “Woe, wings of the ships of the earth beyond the rivers of Ethiopia, the one sending into the sea pledges and papyrus letters to a fickle nation and a strange and difficult people: who is beyond him? A nation is hopeful Other editors have "is not hopeful," but Norelli argues against it. and stomped upon” (Isa 18:1-2).
59.1.
[Norelli adds from Ethiopic:
So what is the nation which hopes and which is stomped upon if not us,
because] We, who hope in the Son of God, are persecuted, being stomped
upon by faithless and wicked people. The
wings of ships are the
churches; the sea is the world, in which the Church is tossed about like a ship on the
sea but is not destroyed. For she has with her an experienced captain,
Christ. She carries in her midst also the trophy against death, as she
carries the Lord’s cross with her. Her prow is the East, her stern is
the West, her hold is the South, her two rudders are the two
Testaments, her rope is stretched like the love of Christ which binds
the Church, she carries a reservoir with her like the “bath
of regeneration” (Tit
3:5), renewing the faithful. 2. She has a sail bright like the Spirit
from heaven, through which the faithful are sealed to God. Iron
anchors accompany her, the holy commands of Christ himself which are
mighty like iron. She also has sailors to the right and left, as the
holy angels are attendants, through whom the church is always held and
made secure. A ladder in her leading up to the mast is like an image
of the sign of Christ’s suffering, drawing the faithful into a
heavenly ascent. Topsails united at the top of the mast are like the
ranks of the prophets, martyrs, and apostles resting in the kingdom of
Christ.
60.1.
Now John also talks about the persecution and affliction from the
adversary which is happening to the Church: “And
I saw a great and wondrous sign, a woman clothed in the sun, and the
moon was beneath her feet and on her head was a crown of twelve stars
and being pregnant she cried out, in labor and tortured by giving
birth. And the dragon stood opposite the woman who was going to give
birth, so that when she gave birth he might consume her offspring. And
she gave birth to a male son, who is going to be the shepherd of all
the nations. And her offspring was snatched away to God and to his
throne. And the woman fled into the wilderness, where she had a place
prepared for her from God, so that he might nourish her there for one
thousand two-hundred and sixty days”
(Rev 12:1-6). 2. “And
when the dragon saw, he pursued the woman who had given birth to the
male. And two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman so she
might fly into the wilderness where she is nourished for a time and
times and a half time from the presence of the serpent. And the
serpent cast out of his mouth behind the woman a lot of water so that
he might cause her to be swept away. And the earth helped the woman
and the earth opened up its mouth and drank the river which the dragon
cast from its mouth. And the dragon grew angry at the woman and went
away to make war with the rest of her seed which was guarding the
commandments of God and possessing the witness of Jesus”
(Rev 12:13-17).
61.1.
Now “the woman clothed in the sun”
indicated very obviously the Church, robed in the paternal word
brighter than the sun; “moon
beneath her feet” means
she has been adorned with heavenly glory like the moon; saying “above
her
head a crown of twelve stars”
reveals the twelve apostles, through whom the Church is established. “And
being pregnant she cried out, in labor and tortured by giving birth”
because the Church never ceases begetting the Word from its heart even
when persecuted in the world by the faithless. “And she gave birth,” it
says, “to a male son, who
is going to be the shepherd of all the nations,”
the
male and perfect Christ, child of God, God and human, whom the
prophets proclaimed, whom the Church, always giving birth, teaches to
all the nations. 2. Saying “her
offspring was snatched away to God and to his throne”
means that he is a heavenly king and not an earthly one, begotten
eternally through her, just as David predicted, saying: “The Lord said to my Lord: sit at my right hand, until I set your enemies
beneath your feet” (Ps
110:1). It says: “And the
dragon saw and he pursued the woman who had given birth to the male.
And two wings of the great eagle were given to the woman so she might
fly into the wilderness where she is nourished for a time and times
and a half time from the presence of the serpent.”
3. These are the same “one
thousand two-hundred sixty days,”
That is, "time and times and half time" = 3.5
years = 1260 days (counting 360 days per year) = "half-week," i.e.,
half of seven (years). “the
half of the week” (Dan
9:27) when the tyrant will rule, persecuting the Church fleeing “from
city to city” (Matt
23:34), driven into the desert and into the hills, having with her
nothing else but “two
wings of the great eagle,”
that is faith in Christ Jesus, who when he stretched out his holy
hands on the cross unfolded two wings, right and left, summoning all
those who believe in him and sheltering them “like
a hen with her chicks”
(Luke 23:37). For also Malachi says: “and
to you who fear my name the sun of righteousness will rise up and
healing is in its wings”
(Mal 3:20).
62.
For the Lord also says: “When
you see the abomination of desolation standing in the holy place—let
the one who reads understand!—then let those who are in Judea flee
into the hills, and let the one on his roof not come down to pick up
anything from his house, and let the one in the field not turn back to
pick up his cloak. Woe to those who are pregnant and nursing in those
days. There will be great tribulation at that time, such as there has
not been since the beginning of the world nor will there be again: and
if those days had not been shortened, no flesh would be saved” (Matt 24:15-22). Daniel says: “And they will grant an abomination of desolation for one thousand two
hundred and sixty days. Blessed is the one who endures and arrives at
the one thousand three hundred and thirty-fifth day” (Dan 12:11-12).
63.1.
The blessed Paul the apostle, writing to the Thessalonians, says: “We
ask you, brothers and sisters, concerning the coming of our Lord Jesus
Christ and our gathering together under him, that you not rashly waver
in your opinion or be disturbed, not through spirit or word or letter
as though through us, such that the day of the Lord is at hand. Let no
one deceive you in any way: unless the apostasy comes first and the
sinful person is revealed, the son of destruction, the adversary and
the one exalted above every so-called god and object of worship, such
that he sits in the temple of God, displaying himself as if he is God.
2. Do you not remember
that when I was with you I spoke of these things to you? And now know
what holds him back so that he will be revealed in his own time. For
already the mystery of transgression is at work, only as long as the
one restraining him goes away. And then the transgressor will be
revealed, whom the Lord Jesus will destroy by the breath of his mouth
and he will abolish him in the appearance of his coming, he whose
coming is according to the operation of Satan, false in every power
and in signs and wonders and in every deceit of injustice to those
that are dying, because they did not accept the love of truth to save
them. And because of this God sends to them the operation of deceit so
they will believe in the false one, in order that all who did not
believe in the truth but enjoyed injustice might be judged”
(2 Thess 2:1-12). Isaiah says: “Let
the impious one be taken away so he doesn’t see the Lord’s glory” (Isa 26:10).
Manifestation of the Lord:
Conflagration, resurrection, kingdom
64.1.
When these things happen, dearest one, and the one week has been
divided into two and the “abomination of desolation”
has then appeared, and the two prophets and forerunners of the Lord
have finished their run and the universe is at last coming into
consummation, what else remains but the manifestation of our Lord and
Savior Jesus Christ, the Son of God from the heavens, “in
whom we have placed our hope”
(2 Cor 1:10)? He will bring down the conflagration and the righteous
judgment to all those who did not believe in him. 2. For the Lord
says: “When these things
begin to happen, stand up and lift up your heads for your destruction
is near. (Luke 21:28). “But the
hair of your head will not be destroyed” (Luke 21:18). “For just
as lightning strikes from the East and appears to the West, so will be
the coming of the Son of Man. For wherever the corpse is, there will
the vultures be gathered”
(Matt 24:27-28). The corpse was in Paradise: for there Adam fell when
he was deceived.
65.1.
About the resurrection and the kingdom of the saints Daniel says: “And
many
of those in the mound of the earth will be raised up, some for eternal
life and others for reproach and eternal shame” (Dan 12:2). Isaiah says: “The
dead
will be raised up and those in their tombs will be roused up because
the dew from you is a cure for them”
(Isa 26:19). The Lord says: “Many
on
that day will hear the voice of the Son of God and when they hear it
they will live” (John
5:25). 2. The prophet says: “Awaken,
you who sleep, and be roused up from the dead, and Christ will shine
upon you” (Eph 5:14).
John says: “Blessed and
holy is the one who has a portion in the first resurrection; over them
the second death has no authority”
(Rev 20:6). “For the second death is the lake of fire which burns”
(Rev 20:14). And again the Lord says: “When
the righteous shine forth like the sun”
(Matt 13:43) he appears in his glory. And to the saints he will say: “Come,
you who are blessed by my father, receive as your inheritance the
kingdom which has been prepared for you from the foundation of the
world” (Matt 25:34). 3.
What does he say to the lawless ones? “You
who have been cursed by me proceed into the eternal fire which my
father has prepared for the devil and his angels”
(Matt 25:41). John says: “Dogs
are outside and sorcerers and fornicators and murderers and idolaters
and everyone who loves and creates a lie”
because “their portion is
in Gehenna of fire” (Rev
22:15). Likewise also Isaiah says: “And
they will go out and they will see the cadavers of the people who have
transgressed against me; because their worm will not die and their
fire will not be quenched and they will be on display to all flesh”
(Isa 66:24).
66.1.
Paul says about the resurrection of the just when he’s writing to the
Thessalonians: “We do not want you to be ignorant, brothers and sisters, about those who
have fallen asleep, so that you may not grieve like the rest who have
no hope. For if we believe that Jesus died and rose, so also God will
lead those who have died through Jesus with him. 2. For we say this to you
in the word of the Lord that we who are still living at the coming of
the Lord shall not precede those who have fallen asleep, because the
Lord himself at a signal, in the sound of the archangel and in the
trumpet of God, will descend from heaven and the dead in Christ will
rise first and then we who are still living shall be lifted up
together with them into the clouds to meet the Lord in the air, and we
shall thus always be with the Lord”
(1 Thess 4:13-17).
67.
These things for you, in brief, out of love for the Lord, drawing from
the holy Scriptures as from sweet perfumes, and weaving them into a
heavenly crown I offer to you, my dearest brother Theophilus, so that,
by keeping the writings with faith and by seeing in advance what will
be, you might keep yourself from giving offense either to God or to
people, “awaiting the
blessed hope and manifestation of God and our Savior” (Tit 2:13), at which time, when he raises up the saints, he will
rejoice with them, glorifying the Father, in whom is the glory
forever. Amen.
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