Fragments from Commentaries on Various Books of Scripture

On the Hexaëmeron, Or Six Days' Work.

Now these things we are under the necessity of setting forth at length, in order to disprove the supposition of others. For some choose to maintain that paradise is in heaven, and forms no part of the system of creation. But since we see with our eyes the rivers that go forth from it which are open, indeed, even in our day, to the inspection of any who choose, let every one conclude from this that it did not belong to heaven, but was in reality planted in the created system. And, in truth, it is a locality in the east, and a place select.

On Genesis.

Gen. I. 5. And it was evening, and it was morning, one day.

Hippolytus . He did not say night and day, but one day, with reference to the name of the light. He did not say the first day; for if he had said the first day, he would also have had to say that the second day was made. But it was right to speak not of the first day, but of one day, in order that by saying one, he might show that it returns on its orbit and, while it remains one, makes up the week.

Gen. I. 6. And God said, Let there be a firmament in the midst of the water.

Hipp . On the first day God made what He made out of nothing. But on the other days He did not make out of nothing, but out of what He had made on the first day, by moulding it according to His pleasure.

Gen. I. 6, 7 . And let it divide between water and water: and it was so. And God made the firmament; and God divided between the water which was under the firmament, and the water above the firmament: and it was so.

Hipp. As the excessive volume of water bore along over the face of the earth, the earth was by reason thereof invisible and formless. When the Lord of all designed to make the invisible visible, He fixed then a third part of the waters in the midst; and another third part He set by itself on high, raising it together with the firmament by His own power; and the remaining third He left beneath, for the use and benefit of men. Now at this point we have an asterisk. The words are found in the Hebrew, but do not occur in the Septuagint.

Gen. III. 8. And they heard the voice of the Lord God walking in the garden at even.

Hipp. Rather they discerned the approach of the Lord by a certain breeze. As soon, therefore, as they had sinned, God appeared to them, producing consciousness of their sin, and calling them to repentance.

Gen. XLIX. 3. Reuben, my first-born, you are my strength, and the first of my children; hard to bear with, and hard and self-willed: you have grown wanton as water; boil not over.

Aquila . Reuben, my first-born, you are my strength, and the sum of my sorrow: excelling in dignity and excelling in might: you have been insensate as water; excel not.

Symmachus . Reuben, my first-born, and beginning of my pain: above measure grasping, and above measure hot as water, you shall not more excel.

Hipp . For there was a great display of strength made by God in behalf of His first-born people from Egypt. For in very many ways was the land of the Egyptians chastised. That first people of the circumcision is meant by my strength, and the first of my children: even as God gave the promise to Abraham and to his seed. But hard to bear with, because the people hardened itself against the obedience of God. And hard, self-willed, because it was not only hard against the obedience of God, but also self-willed so as to set upon the Lord. You have grown wanton, because in the instance of our Lord Jesus Christ the people grew wanton against the Father. But boil not over, says the Spirit, by way of comfort, that it might not, by boiling utterly over, be spilt abroad,— giving it hope of salvation. For what has boiled over and been spilt is lost.

Gen. XLIX. 4. For you went up to your father's bed.

Hipp . First he mentions the event,— that in the last days the people will assault the bed of the Father, that is, the bride, the Church, with intent to corrupt her; which thing, indeed, it does even at this present day, assaulting her by blasphemies.

Gen. XLIX. 5 . Simeon and Levi, brethren.

Hipp . Since from Simeon sprang the scribes, and from Levi the priests. For the scribes and priests fulfilled iniquity of their own choice, and with one mind they slew the Lord.

Gen. XLIX. 5. Simeon and Levi, brethren, fulfilled iniquity of their own choice. Into their counsel let not my soul enter, and in their assembly let not my heart contend; for in their anger they slew men, and in their passion they houghed a bull.

Hipp . This he says regarding the conspiracy into which they were to enter against the Lord. And that he means this conspiracy, is evident to us. For the blessed David sings, Rulers have taken counsel together against the Lord, and so forth. And of this conspiracy the Spirit prophesied, saying, Let not my soul contend, desiring to draw them off, if possible, so that that future crime might not happen through them. They slew men, and houghed the bull; by the strong bull he means Christ. And they houghed, since, when He was suspended on the tree, they pierced through His sinews. Again, in their anger they houghed a bull. And mark the nicety of the expression: for they slew men, and houghed a bull. For they killed the saints, and they remain dead, awaiting the time of the resurrection. But as a young bull, so to speak, when houghed, sinks down to the ground, such was Christ in submitting voluntarily to the death of the flesh; but He was not overcome of death. But though as man He became one of the dead, He remained alive in the nature of divinity. For Christ is the bull,— an animal, above all, strong and neat and devoted to sacred use. And the Son is Lord of all power, who did no sin, but rather offered Himself for us, a savour of a sweet smell to His God and Father. Therefore let those hear who houghed this august bull: Cursed be their anger, for it was stubborn; and their wrath, for it was hardened.Genesis 49:7 But this people of the Jews dared to boast of houghing the bull: Our hands shed this. For this is nothing different, I think, from the word of folly: His blood (be upon us), and so forth.Matthew 27:25 Moses recalls Deuteronomy 33:8 the curse against Levi, or, rather converts it into a blessing, on account of the subsequent zeal of the tribe, and of Phinehas in particular, in behalf of God. But that against Simeon he did not recall. Wherefore it also was fulfilled in deed. For Simeon did not obtain an inheritance like the other tribes, for he dwelt in the midst of Judah. Yet his tribe was preserved, although it was small in numbers.

Gen. XLIX. 11. Binding his foal unto the vine, and his ass's colt to the choice vine,— the tendril of the vine,— he will wash his garment in wine, and his clothes in the blood of the grape.

Hipp . By the foal he means the calling of the Gentiles; by the other, that of the circumcision: one ass, moreover, that is to signify that the two colts are of one faith; in other words, the two callings. And one colt is bound to the vine, and the other to the vine tendril, which means that the Church of the Gentiles is bound to the Lord, but he who is of the circumcision to the oldness of the law. He will wash his garment in wine; that is, by the Holy Spirit and the word of truth, he will cleanse the flesh, which is meant by the garment. And in the blood of the grape, trodden and giving forth blood, which means the flesh of the Lord, he cleanses the whole calling of the Gentiles.

Gen. XLIX. 12-15. His eyes are gladsome with wine, and his teeth white as milk. Zabulun shall dwell by the sea, and he shall be by a haven of ships, and he shall extend to Sidon. Issachar desired the good part, resting in the midst of the lots. And seeing that rest was good, and that the land was fat, he set his shoulder to toil, and became a husbandman.

Hipp . That is, his eyes are brilliant as with the word of truth; for they regard all who believe upon him. And his teeth are white as milk;— that denotes the luminous power of his words: for this reason he calls them white, and compares them to milk, as that which nourishes the flesh and the soul. And Zabulun is, by interpretation, fragrance and blessing.

Then, after something from Cyril:—

Hipp . Again, I think, it mystically signifies the sacraments of the New Testament of our Saviour; and the words, his teeth are white as milk, denote the excellency and purity of the sacramental food. And again, these words, his teeth are white as milk, we take in the sense that His words give light to those who believe in Him.

And in saying, moreover, that Zabulun will dwell by the sea, he speaks prophetically of his territory as bordering on the sea, and of Israel as mingling with the Gentiles, the two nations being brought as it were into one flock. And this is manifest in the Gospel. The land of Zabulun, and the land of Nephthalim, etc. And you will mark more fully the richness of his lot as having both inland territory and seaboard.

And he is by a haven of ships; that is, as in a safe anchorage, referring to Christ, the anchor of hope. And this denotes the calling of the Gentiles— that the grace of Christ shall go forth to the whole earth and sea. For he says, And (he is) by a haven of ships, and shall extend as far as Sidon. And that this is said prophetically of the Church of the Gentiles, is made apparent to us in the Gospel: The land of Zabulun, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Galilee of the Gentiles; the people which sat in darkness saw great light.Matthew 4:15-16 In saying, then, that he, namely Zabulun, would inhabit a territory bordering on the sea, he plainly confirmed that, just as if he had said that in the future Israel would mingle with the Gentiles, the two peoples being brought together into one fold and under the hand of one chief Shepherd, the good (Shepherd) by nature, that is, Christ. In blessing him Moses said, Zabulun shall rejoice.Deuteronomy 33:18 And Moses prophesies, that in the allocation of the land he should have abundance ministered of the good things both of land and sea, under the hand of One. By a haven of ships; that is, as in an anchorage that proves safe, referring to Christ, the anchor of hope. For by His grace he shall come forth out of many a tempest, and shall be brought hereafter to land, like ships secure in harbours. Besides, he said that he extends as far even as Sidon, indicating, as it seems, that so complete a unity will be effected in the spirit's course between the two peoples, that those of the blood of Israel shall occupy those very cities which once were exceeding guilty in the sight of God.

After something from Cyril:—

Hipp . And that the land was fat; that is, the flesh of our Lord: fat, that is, rich; for it flows with honey and milk. The parts of the land are marked off for an inheritance and possession to him— that means the doctrine of the Lord. For this is a pleasant rest, as He says Himself: Come unto me, all you that labour and are heavy laden,Matthew 11:28 etc. For they who keep the commandments, and do not disclaim the ordinances of the law, enjoy rest both in them and in the doctrine of our Lord; and that is the meaning of in the midst of the lots. As the Lord says, I am not come to destroy the law and the prophets, but to fulfil them.Matthew 5:17 For even our Lord, in the fact that He keeps the commandments, does not destroy the law and the prophets, but fulfils them, as He says in the Gospels. He set his shoulder to toil, and became a husbandman. This the apostles did. Having received power from God, and having set themselves to labour, they became husbandmen of the Lord, cultivating the earth— that is, the human race— with the preaching of our Lord.

Gen. XLIX. 16-20. Dan shall judge his people, as himself also one tribe in Israel. And let Dan become a serpent by the way, lying on the path, stinging the horse's heel; and the horseman shall fall backward, waiting for the salvation of the Lord. Gad— a robber's troop shall rob him; and he shall spoil it at the heels. Aser— his bread shall be fat, and he shall furnish dainties to princes.

After something from Cyril, Apollinaris, and Diodorus:—

Hipp . The Lord is represented to us as a horseman; and the heel points us to the last times. And His falling denotes His death; as it is written in the Gospel: Behold, this (child) is set for the fall and rising again of many.Luke 2:34 We take the robber to be the traitor. Nor was there any other traitor to the Lord save the (Jewish) people. Shall rob him, i.e., shall plot against him. At the heels: that refers to the help of the Lord against those who lie in wait against Him. And again, the words at the heels denote that the Lord will take vengeance swiftly. He shall be well armed in the foot (heel), and shall overtake and rob the robber's troop.

Aquila . Girded, he shall gird himself; that means that as a man of arms and war he shall arm himself. And he shall be armed in the heel: he means this rather, that Gad shall follow behind his brethren in arms. For though his lot was beyond Jordan, yet they (the men of that tribe) were enjoined to follow their brethren in arms until they too got their lots. Or perhaps he meant this, that Gad's tribesmen were to live in the mummer of robbers, and that he was to take up a confederacy of freebooters, which is just a robber's troop, and to follow them, practising piracy, which is robbery, along with them.

Whereas, on the abolition of the shadow in the law, and the introduction of the worship in spirit and truth, the world had need of greater light, at last, with this object, the inspired disciples were called, and put in possession of the lot of the teachers of the law. For thus did God speak with regard to the mother of the Jews— that is to say, Jerusalem— by the voice of the Psalmist: Instead of your fathers were your sons; that is, to those called your sons was given the position of fathers. And with regard to our Lord Jesus Christ in particular: You will appoint them rulers over all the earth. Yet presently their authority will not be by any means void of trouble to them. Nay rather, they were to experience unnumbered ills and they were to be in perplexity; and the course of their apostleship they were by no means to find free of peril, as he intimated indeed by way of an example, when he said, Let (Dan) be, meaning by that, that there shall be a multitude of persecutors in Dan like a serpent lying by the way on the path, stinging the horse's heel, i.e., giving fierce and dangerous bites; for the bites of snakes are generally very dangerous. And they were in the heel in particular. for he shall bruise your head, and you shall bruise his heel. And some did persecute the holy apostles in this way even to the death of the flesh. And thus we may say that their position was something like that when a horse stumbles and flings out his heels. For in such a case the horseman will be thrown, and, falling to the ground, I suppose, he waits thus for some one alive. And thus, too, the inspired apostles survive and wait for the time of their redemption, when they shall be called into a kingdom which cannot be moved, when Christ addresses them with the word, Come, you blessed of my Father, ' etc.

And again, if any one will take the words as meaning, not that there will be some lying in wait against Dan like serpents, but that this Dan himself lies in wait against others, we may say that those meant thereby are the scribes and Pharisees, hypocrites who, while in possession of the power of judgment and instruction among the people, fastened like snakes upon Christ, and strove impiously to compass His fall, vexing Him with their stings as He held on in His lofty and gentle course. But if that horseman did indeed fall, He fell at least of His own will, voluntarily enduring the death of the flesh. And, moreover, it was destined that He should come to life again, having the Father as His helper and conductor. For the Son, being the power of God the Father, endued the temple of His own body again with life. Thus is He said to have been saved by the Father, as He stood in peril as a man, though by nature He is God, and Himself maintains the whole creation, visible and invisible, in a state of wellbeing. In this sense, also, the inspired Paul says of Him: Though He was crucified in weakness, yet He lives by the power of God. 2 Corinthians 13:4

Aser obtained the parts about Ptolemais and Sidon. Wherefore he says, His bread shall be fat, and he shall furnish dainties to princes. This we take to be a figure of our calling; for fat means rich. And whose bread is rich, if not ours? For the Lord is out bread, as He says Himself: I am the bread of life. John 6:35 And who else will furnish dainties to princes but our Lord Jesus Christ?— not only to the believing among the Gentiles, but also to those of the circumcision, who are first in the faith, to wit, to the fathers, and the patriarchs, and the prophets, and to all who believe in His name and passion.

Gen. XLIX. 21-26. Nephthalim is a slender thing, showing beauty in the shoot. Joseph is a goodly son; my goodly, envied son; my youngest son. Turn back to me. Against him the archers took counsel together, and reviled him, and pressed him sore. And their bows were broken with might, and the sinews of the arms of their hands were relaxed by the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob. Thence is he who strengthened Israel from the God of your father. And my God helped you, and blessed you with the blessing of heaven above, and with the blessing of the earth which possesses all things, with the blessing of the breasts and womb, with the blessing of your father and your mother. It prevailed above the blessings of abiding mountains, and above the blessings of everlasting hills; which (blessings) shall be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the temples of his brothers, whose chief he was.

Hipp . Who is the son goodly and envied, even to this day, but our Lord Jesus Christ? An object of envy is He indeed to those who choose to hate Him, yet He is not by any means to be overcome. For though He endured the cross, yet as God He returned to life, having trampled upon death, as His God and Father addresses Him, and says, Sit at my fight band. And that even those are brought to nought who strive with the utmost possible madness against Him, he has taught us, when he says, Against Him the archers took counsel together, and reviled Him. For the archers— that is, the leaders of the people— did convene their assemblies, and take bitter counsel. But their bows were broken, and the sinews of their arms were relaxed, by the hand of the Mighty One of Jacob, that is to say, by God the Father, who is the Lord of power, who also made His Son blessed in heaven and on earth. And he (Naphtali) is adopted as a figure of things pertaining to us, as the Gospel shows: The land of Zabulun, and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of the sea, beyond Jordan, Matthew 4:15 etc.; and, To them that sat in darkness light has arisen.Matthew 4:17 And what other light was this but the calling of the Gentiles, which is the trunk, i.e., the tree of the Lord, in whom engrafted it bears fruit? And the word, giving increase of beauty in the case of the shoot, expresses the excellency of our calling. And if the words, giving increase of beauty in the case of the shoot, are understood, as perhaps they may, with reference to its, the clause is still quite intelligible. For, by progressing in virtue, and attaining to better things, reaching forth to those things which are before,Philippians 3:15 according to the word of the blessed Paul, we rise ever to the higher beauty. I mean, however, of course, spiritual beauty, so that to us too it may be said hereafter, The King greatly desired your beauty.

After something from Apollinaris:—

Hipp . The word of prophecy passes again to Immanuel Himself. For, in my opinion, what is intended by it is just what has been already stated in the words, giving increase of beauty in the case of the shoot. For he means that He increased and grew up into that which He had been from the beginning, and indicates the return to the glory which He had by nature. This, if we apprehend it correctly, is (we should say) just restored to Him. For as the only begotten Word of God, being God of God, emptied Himself, according to the Scriptures, humbling Himself of His own will to that which He was not before, and took unto Himself this vile flesh, and appeared in the form of a servant, and became obedient to God the Father, even unto death, so hereafter He is said to be highly exalted; and as if well-nigh He had it not by reason of His humanity, and as if it were in the way of grace, He receives the name which is above every name,Philippians 2:7-9 according to the word of the blessed Paul. But the matter, in truth, was not a giving, as for the first time, of what He had not by nature; far otherwise. But rather we must understand a return and restoration to that which existed in Him at the beginning, essentially and inseparably. And it is for this reason that, when He had assumed, by divine arrangement, the lowly estate of humanity, He said, Father, glorify me with the glory which I had,John 17:5 etc. For He who was co-existent with His Father before all time. and before the foundation of the world, always had the glory proper to Godhead. He too may very well be understood as the youngest (son). For He appeared in the last times, after the glorious and honourable company of the holy prophets, and simply once, after all those who, previous to the time of His sojourn, were reckoned in the number of sons by reason of excellence. That Immanuel, however, was an object of envy, is a somewhat doubtful phrase. Yet He is an object of envy or emulation to the saints, who aspire to follow His footsteps, and conform themselves to His divine beauty, and make Him the pattern of their conduct, and win thereby their highest glory. And again, He is an object of envy in another sense,— an object of ill-will, namely, to those who are declared not to love Him. I refer to the leading parties among the Jews,— the scribes, in sooth, and the Pharisees,— who travailed with bitter envy against Him, and made the glory of which He could not be spoiled the ground of their slander, and assailed Him in many ways. For Christ indeed raised the dead to life again, when they already stank and were corrupt; and He displayed other signs of divinity. And these should have filled them with wonder, and have made them ready to believe, and to doubt no longer. Yet this was not the case with them; but they were consumed with ill-will, and nursed its bitter pangs in their mind.

After something from Cyril:—

Hipp . Who else is this than as is shown us by the apostle, the second man, the Lord from heaven? And in the Gospel,Matthew 21:31 He said that he who did the will of the Father was the last. And by the words, Turn back to me, is meant His ascension to His Father in heaven after His passion. And in the phrase, Against Him they took counsel together, and reviled Him, who are intended but just the people in their opposition to our Lord? And as to the words, they pressed Him sore, who pressed Him, and to this day still press Him sore? Those— these archers, namely— who think to contend against the Lord. But though they prevailed to put Him to death, yet their bows were broken with might. This plainly means, that after the resurrection their bows were broken with might. And those intended are the leaders of the people, who set themselves in array against Him, and, as it were, sharpened the points of their weapons. But they failed to transfix Him, though they did what was unlawful, and dared to assail Him even in the manner of wild beasts.

You prevailed above the blessings of abiding mountains. By eternal and abiding mountains and everlasting hills, he means the saints, because they are lifted above the earth, and make no account of the things that perish, but seek the things that are above, and aspire earnestly to rise to the highest virtues. After the glory of Christ, therefore, are those of the Fathers who were most illustrious, and reached the greatest elevation in virtue. These, however, were but servants; but the Lord, the Son, supplied them with the means by which they became illustrious. Wherefore also they acknowledge (the truth of this word), Out of His fulness have all we received.John 1:16

And my God helped you. This indicates clearly that the aid and support of the Son came from no one else but our God and Father in heaven. And by the word my God, is meant that the Spirit speaks by Jacob. Genesis 48:3-4

Euseb . The sinews of the arms. He could not say, of the hands or shoulders; but since the broad central parts of the bow are termed arms, he says appropriately arms.

Hipp . Blessings of the breasts and womb. By this is meant that the true blessing from heaven is the Spirit descending through the Word upon flesh. And by breasts and womb he means the blessings of the Virgin. And by that of your father and your mother, he means also the blessing of the Father which we have received in the Church through our Lord Jesus Christ.

Gen. XLIX. 27. Benjamin is a ravening wolf; in the morning he shall devour still, and till evening he apportions food.

Hipp . This thoroughly suits Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin. For when he was young, he was a ravening wolf; but when he believed, he apportioned food. This also is shown us by the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the tribe of Benjamin is among the first persecutors, which is the sense of in the morning. For Saul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, persecuted David, who was appointed to be a type of the Lord.

II.

From the Commentary of the Holy Hippolytus of Rome Upon Genesis.

Gen. II. 7. And God formed man of the dust of the ground. And what does this import? Are we to say, according to the opinion of some, that there were three men made, one spiritual, one animal, and one earthy? Not such is the case, but the whole narrative is of one man. For the word, Let us make, is about the man that was to be; and then comes the word, God made man of the dust of the ground, so that I he narrative is of one and the same man. For then He says, Let him be made, and now He makes him, and the narrative tells how He makes him.

III.

Quoted in Jerome, Epist. 36, Ad Damasum, Num. XVIII. (from Galland).

Isaac conveys a figure of God the Father; Rebecca of the Holy Spirit; Esau of the first people and the devil; Jacob of the Church, or of Christ. That Isaac was old, points to the end of the world; that his eyes were dim, denotes that faith had perished from the world, and that the light of religion was neglected before him; that the elder son is called, expresses the Jews' possession of the law; that the father loves his meat and venison, denotes the saving of men from error, whom ever), righteous man seeks to gain (lit. hunt for) by doctrine. The word of God here is the promise anew of the blessing and the hope of a kingdom to come, in which the saints shall reign with Christ, and keep the true Sabbath. Rebecca is full of the Holy Spirit, as understanding the word which she heard before she gave birth, For the elder shall serve the younger.Genesis 25:23 As a figure of the Holy Spirit, moreover, she cares for Jacob in preference. She says to her younger son, Go to the flock and fetch me two kids,Genesis 27:9 prefiguring the Saviour's advent in the flesh to work a mighty deliverance for them who were held liable to the punishment of sin; for indeed in all the Scriptures kids are taken for emblems of sinners. His being charged to bring two, denotes the reception of two peoples: by the tender and good, are meant teachable and innocent souls. The robe or raiment of Esau denotes the faith and Scriptures of the Hebrews, with which the people of the Gentiles were endowed. The skins which were put upon his arms are the sins of both peoples, which Christ, when His hands were stretched forth on the cross, fastened to it along with Himself. In that Isaac asks of Jacob why he came so soon,Genesis 27:20 we take him as admiring the quick faith of them that believe. That savoury meats are offered, denotes an offering pleasing to God, the salvation of sinners. After the eating follows the blessing, and he delights in his smell. He announces with clear voice the perfection of the resurrection and the kingdom, and also how his brethren who believe in Israel adore him and serve him. Because iniquity is opposed to righteousness, Esau is excited to strife, and meditates death deceitfully, saying in his heart, Let the days of the mourning for my father come on, and I will slay my brother Jacob. Genesis 27:41 The devil, who previously exhibited the fratricidal Jews by anticipation in Cain, makes the most manifest disclosure of them now in Esau, showing also the time of the murder: let the days, says he, of the mourning for my father come on, that I may slay my brother. Wherefore Rebecca— that is, patience— told her husband of the brother's plot: who, summoning Jacob, bade him go to Mesopotamia and thence take a wife of the family of Laban the Syrian, his mother's brother. As therefore Jacob, to escape his brother's evil designs, proceeds to Mesopotamia, so Christ, too, constrained by the unbelief of the Jews, goes into Galilee, to take from thence to Himself a bride from the Gentiles, His Church.

On Numbers. By the Holy Bishop and Martyr Hippolytus, from Balaam's Blessings.

Now, in order that He might be shown to have together in Himself at once the nature of God and that of man,— as the apostle, too, says: Mediator between God and men, the man Christ Jesus. 1 Timothy 2:5 Now a mediator is not of one man, but two,Galatians 3:20 — it was therefore necessary that Christ, in becoming the Mediator between God and men, should receive from both an earnest of some kind, that He might appear as the Mediator between two distinct persons.

On Kings.

The question is raised, whether Samuel rose by the hand of the sorceress or not. And if, indeed, we were to allow that he did rise, we should be propounding what is false. For how could a demon call back the soul, I say not of a righteous man merely, but of any one whatever, when it had gone, and was tarrying one knew not where? But he says, how then was the woman dismayed, and how did she see in an extraordinary way men ascending? For if her vision had not been of an extraordinary kind, she would not have said, I see gods ascending out of the earth. She invoked one, and how did there ascend many? What then? Shall we say that the souls of all who appeared ascended, and those, too, not invoked by the woman; or that what was seen was merely phantasms of them? Even this, however, will not suffice. How, he urges further, did Saul recognise (what appeared), and do obeisance? Well, Saul did not actually see, but only, on being told by the woman that the figure of one of those who ascended was the figure he desired, and taking it to be Samuel, he consulted it as such, and did it obeisance. And it could be no difficult matter for the demon to conjure up the form of Samuel, as it was known to him. How then, says he, did he foretell the calamities that were to befall Saul and Jonathan at the same time? He did foretell indeed the end of the war, and how Saul would be overcome, drawing that as an inference from the wrath of God against him. Just as a physician, who has no exact knowledge of the science, might yet, seeing a patient past cure, tell of his death, though he made an error as to the hour, so, too, the demon, knowing the wrath of God by Saul's deeds, and by this very attempt to consult the sorceress, foretells his defeat and his death at the same time, though in error as to the day of his death.

On the Psalms. The Argument Prefixed by Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, to His Exposition of the Psalms.

The book of Psalms contains new doctrine after the law of Moses. And after the writing of Moses, it is the second book of doctrine. Now, after the death of Moses and Joshua, and after the judges, arose David, who was deemed worthy of bearing the name of father of the Saviour himself; and he first gave to the Hebrews a new style of psalmody, by which he abrogates the ordinances established by Moses with respect to sacrifices, and introduces the new hymn and a new style of jubilant praise in the worship of God; and throughout his whole ministry he teaches very many other things that went beyond the law of Moses.

On Psalm II. From the Exposition of the Second Psalm, by the Holy Bishop Hippolytus.

When he came into the world, He was manifested as God and man. And it is easy to perceive the man in Him, when He hungers and shows exhaustion, and is weary and thirsty, and withdraws in fear, and is in prayer and in grief, and sleeps on a boat's pillow, and entreats the removal of the cup of suffering, and sweats in an agony, and is strengthened by an angel, and betrayed by a Judas, and mocked by Caiaphas, and set at nought by Herod, and scourged by Pilate, and derided by the soldiers, and nailed to the tree by the Jews, and with a cry commits His spirit to His Father, and drops His head and gives up the ghost, and has His side pierced with a spear, and is wrapped in linen and laid in a tomb, and is raised by the Father on the third day. And the divine in Him, on the other hand, is equally manifest, when He is worshipped by angels, and seen by shepherds, and waited for b, y Simeon, and testified of by Anna, and inquired after by wise men, and pointed out by a star, and at a marriage makes wine of water, and chides the sea when tossed by the violence of winds, and walks upon the deep, and makes one see who was blind from birth, and raises Lazarus when dead for four days, and works many wonders, and forgives sins, and grants power to His disciples.

On Psalm XXII. Or XXIII. From the Commentary by the Holy Bishop and Martyr Hippolytus, on The Lord is My Shepherd.

And, moreover, the ark made of imperishable wood was the Saviour Himself. For by this was signified the imperishable and incorruptible tabernacle of (the Lord) Himself, which gendered no corruption of sin. For the sinner, indeed, makes this confession: My wounds stank, and were corrupt, because of my foolishness. But the Lord was without sin, made of imperishable wood, as regards His humanity; that is, of the virgin and the Holy Ghost inwardly, and outwardly of the word of God, like an ark overlaid with purest gold.

On Psalm XXIII. Or XXIV. From the Commentary by the Same, on Ps. XXIII.

He comes to the heavenly gates: angels accompany Him: and the gates of heaven were closed. For He has not yet ascended into heaven. Now first does He appear to the powers of heaven as flesh ascending. Therefore to these powers it is said by the angels, who are the couriers of the Saviour and Lord: Lift up your gates, you princes; and be lifted up, you everlasting doors: and the King of glory shall come in.

On Psalm CIX. Or CX. From the Commentary by the Same on the Great Song.

1. He who delivered from the lowest hell the man first made of earth, when lost and bound by the chains of death; He who came down from above, and exalted earth-born man on high; He who is become the preacher of the Gospel to the dead, the redeemer of souls, and the resurrection of the buried;— He became the helper of man in his defeat, and appeared in his likeness, the first-born Word, and took upon Himself the first Adam in the Virgin; and though spiritual Himself, He made acquaintance with the earthy in the womb; though Himself the ever-living One, He made acquaintance with the dead in transgressions; Himself the heavenly One, He bore the terrestrial on high; Himself of lofty extraction, He chose, by His own subjection, to set the slave free; and making man, who turns to dust, and forms food for the serpent, unconquerable as adamant, and that, too, when hung upon the tree, He declared him lord over his victor, and is thus Himself proved conqueror by the tree.

2. Those, indeed, who do not acknowledge the incarnate Son of God now, shall have to acknowledge Him as Judge, when He who is now despised in His inglorious body, comes in His glory.

3. And when the apostles came to the sepulchre on the third day, they did not find the body of Jesus; just as the children of Israel went up the mount to seek the tomb of Moses, and did not find it.

On Psalm LXXVII. Or LXXVIII.

45. He sent the dog-fly among them, and consumed them; and the frog, and destroyed them.

46. He gave also their fruits to the mildew, and their labours to the locust.

47. He destroyed their vine with hail, and their sycamines with frost.

Now, just as, in consequence of an irregular mode of living, a deadly bilious humour may be formed in the inwards, which the physician by his art may bring on to be a sick-vomiting, without being himself chargeable with producing the sick humour in the man's body; for excess in diet was what produced it, while the physician's science only made it show itself; so, although it may be said that the painful retribution that falls upon those who are by choice wicked comes from God, it would be only in accordance with right reason, to think that ills of that kind find both their beginnings and their causes in ourselves. For to one who lives without sin there is no darkness, no worm, no hell (Gehenna), no fire, nor any other of these words or things of terror; just as the plagues of Egypt were not for the Hebrews,— those fine lice annoying with invisible bites, the dog-fly fastening on the body with its painful sting, the hurricanes from heaven falling upon them with hailstones, the husbandman's labours devoured by the locusts, the darkened sky, and the rest. It is God's counsel, indeed, to tend the true vine, and to destroy the Egyptian, while sparing those who are to eat the grape of gall, and drink the deadly venom of asps. And the sycamine of Egypt is utterly destroyed; not, however, that one which Zaccheus climbed that he might be able to see my Lord. And the fruits of Egypt are wasted, that is, the works of the flesh, but not the fruit of the Spirit, love, joy, and peace.Galatians 5:22

48. He gave up their cattle also to the hail, and their substance to the fire.

Symmachus renders it: Who gave up their cattle to the plague, and their possessions to birds. For, having met an overwhelming overthrow, they became a prey for carnivorous birds, But, according to the Seventy, the sense is not that the hail destroyed their cattle, and the fire the rest of their substance, but that hail, falling in an extraordinary manner along with fire, destroyed utterly their vines and sycamines first of all, which were entirely unable to stand out against the first attack; then the cattle which grazed on the plains; and then every herb and tree, which the fire accompanying the hail consumed; and the affair was altogether portentous, as fire ran with the water, and was commingled with it. For fire ran in the hail, he says; and it was thus hail, and fire burning in the hail. David also calls the cattle and the fruit of the trees substance, or riches. And it should be observed that, though the hail is recorded to have destroyed every herb and every tree, yet there were left some which the locust, as it came upon them after the fiery hail, consumed; of which it is said, that it eats up every herb, and all the fruit of the trees which the hail left behind it. Now, in a spiritual sense, there are some sheep belonging to Christ, and others belonging to the Egyptians. Those, however, which once belonged to others may become His, as the sheep of Laban became Jacob's; and contrariwise. Whichever of the sheep, moreover, Jacob rejected, he made over to Esau. Beware, then, lest, being found in the flock of Jesus, you be set apart when gifts are sent to Esau, and be given over to Esau as reprobate and unworthy of the spiritual Jacob. The single-minded are the sheep of Christ, and these God saves according to the word: O Lord, You preserve man and beast. They who in their folly attach themselves to godless doctrine, are the sheep of the Egyptians, and these, too, are destroyed by the hail. And whatsoever the Egyptians possess is given over to the fire, but Abraham's substance is given to Isaac.

49. He discharged upon them the wrath of His anger;— anger, and wrath, and tribulation, a visitation by evil angels.

Under anger, wrath, and tribulation, he intended bitter punishments; for God is without passion. And by anger you will understand the lesser penalties, and by wrath the greater, and by tribulation the greatest. The angels also are called evil, not because they are so in their nature, or by their own will, but because they have this office, and are appointed to produce pains and sufferings,— being so called, therefore, with reference to the disposition of those who endure such things; just as the day of judgment is called the evil day, as being laden with miseries and pains for sinners. To the same effect is the word of Isaiah, I, the Lord, make peace, and create evil; Isaiah 45:7 meaning by that, I maintain peace, and permit war.

On Proverbs. From the Commentary of St. Hippolytus on Proverbs.

Proverbs, therefore, are words of exhortation serviceable for the whole path of life; for to those who seek their way to God, these serve as guides and signs to revive them when wearied with the length of the road. These, moreover, are the proverbs of Solomon, that is to say, the peacemaker, who, in truth, is Christ the Saviour. And since we understand the words of the Lord without offence, as being the words of the Lord, that no one may mislead us by likeness of name, he tells us who wrote these things, and of what people he was king, in order that the credit of the speaker may make the discourse acceptable and the hearers attentive; for they are the words of that Solomon to whom the Lord said: I will give you a wise and an understanding heart; so that there has been none like you upon the earth, and after you there shall not arise any like you,1 Kings 3:12 and as follows in what is written of him. Now he was the wise son of a wise father; wherefore there is added the name of David, by whom Solomon was begotten. From a child he was instructed in the sacred Scriptures, and obtained his dominion not by lot, nor by force, but by the judgment of the Spirit and the decree of God.

To know wisdom and instruction. He who knows the wisdom of God, receives from Him also instruction, and learns by it the mysteries of the Word; and they who know the true heavenly wisdom will easily understand the words of these mysteries. Wherefore he says: To understand the difficulties of words; for things spoken in strange language by the Holy Spirit become intelligible to those who have their hearts right with God.

These things he understands of the people of the Jews, and their guilt in the blood of Christ; for they thought that He had His conversation (citizenship) on earth only.

They will not simply obtain, but inherit. The wicked, again, even though they are exalted, are exalted only so as to have greater dishonour. For as one does not honour an ugly and mis-shapen fellow, if he exalts him, but only dishonours him the more, by making his shame manifest to a larger number; so also God exalts the wicked, in order that He may make their disgrace patent. For Pharaoh was exalted, but only to have the world as his accuser.

Proverbs 4:2 It must be noted, that he names the law a good gift, on account of the man who takes gifts into his bosom unrighteously. And he forsakes the law who transgresses it; the law, namely, of which he speaks, or which he has kept.

And what is meant by exalt (fortify) her? Surround her with holy thoughts; for you have need of large defence, since there are many things to imperil such a possession. But if it is in our power to fortify her, and if there are virtues in our power which exalt the knowledge of God, these will be her bulwarks,— as, for example, practice, study, and the whole chain of other virtues; and the man who observes these, honours wisdom; and the reward is, to be exalted to be with her, and to be embraced by her in the chamber of heaven.

The heterodox are the wicked, and the transgressors of the law are evil men, whose ways— that is to say, their deeds— he bids us not enter.

He looks right on who has thoughts free of passion; and he has true judgments, who is not in a state of excitement about external appearances. When he says, Let your eyes look right on, he means the vision of the soul; and when he gives the exhortation, Eat honey, my son, that it may be sweet to your palate, he uses honey figuratively, meaning divine doctrine, which restores the spiritual knowledge of the soul. But wisdom embraces the soul also; for, says he, love her, that she may embrace you. And the soul, by her embrace being made one with wisdom, is filled with holiness and purity. Yea more, the fragrant ointments of Christ are laid hold of by the soul's sense of smell.

Virtue occupies the middle position; whence also he says, that manly courage is the mean between boldness and cowardice. And now he mentions the right, not meaning thereby things which are right by nature, such as the virtues, but things which seem to you to be right on account of their pleasures. Now pleasures are not simply sensual enjoyments, but also riches and luxury. And the left indicates envy, robberies, and the like. For Boreas, says he, is a bitter wind, and yet is called by name right. For, symbolically, under Boreas he designates the wicked devil by whom every flame of evil is kindled in the earth. And this has the name right, because an angel is called by a right (propitious) name. Turn aside, says he, from evil, and God will take care of your end; for He will go before you, scattering your enemies, that you may go in peace.

Proverbs 5:19 He shows also, by the mention of the creature (the hind), the purity of that pleasure; and by the roe he intimates the quick responsive affection of the wife. And whereas he knows many things to excite, he secures them against these, and puts upon them the indissoluble bond of affection, setting constancy before them. And as for the rest, wisdom, figuratively speaking, like a stag, can repel and crush the snaky doctrines of the heterodox. Let her therefore, says he, be with you, like a roe, to keep all virtue fresh. And whereas a wife and wisdom are not in this respect the same, let her rather lead you; for thus you shall conceive good thoughts.

That you may not say, What harm is there in the eyes, when there is no necessity that he should be perverted who looks? he shows you that desire is a fire, and the flesh is like a garment. The latter is an easy prey, and the former is a tyrant. And when anything harmful is not only taken within, but also held fast, it will not go forth again until it has made an exit for itself. For he who looks upon a woman, even though he escape the temptation, does not come away pure of all lust. And why should one have trouble, if he can be chaste and free of trouble? See what Job says: I made a covenant with my eyes, that I should not think of another's wife.Job 31:1 Thus well does he know the power of abuse. And Paul for this reason kept under his body, and brought it into subjection. And, figuratively speaking, he keeps a fire in his breast who permits an impure thought to dwell in his heart. And he walks upon coals who, by sinning in act, destroys his own soul.

The cemphus is a kind of wild sea-bird, which has so immoderate an impulse to sexual enjoyment, that its eyes seem to fill with blood in coition; and it often blindly falls into snares, or into the hands of men. To this, therefore, he compares the man who gives himself up to the harlot on account of his immoderate lust; or else on account of the insensate folly of the creature, for he, too, pursues his object like one senseless. And they say that this bird is so much pleased with foam, that if one should hold foam in his hand as he sails, it will sit upon his hand. And it also brings forth with pain.

Proverbs 7:26 You have seen her mischief. Wait not to admit the rising of lust; for her death is everlasting. And for the rest, by her words, her arguments in sooth, she wounds, and by her sins she kills those who yield to her. For many are the forms of wickedness that lead the foolish down to hell. And the chambers of death mean either its depths or its treasure. How, then, is escape possible?

He intends the new Jerusalem, or the sanctified flesh. By the seven pillars he means the sevenfold unity of the Holy Spirit resting upon it; as Isaiah testifies, saying, She has slain her victims.

Observe that the wise man must be useful to many; so that he who is useful only to himself cannot be wise. For great is the condemnation of wisdom if she reserves her power simply for the one possessing her. But as poison is not injurious to another body, but only to that one which takes it, so also the man who turns out wicked will injure himself, and not another. For no man of real virtue is injured by a wicked man.

The fruit of righteousness and the tree of life is Christ. He alone, as man, fulfilled all righteousness. And with His own underived life He has brought forth the fruits of knowledge and virtue like a tree, whereof they that eat shall receive eternal life, and shall enjoy the tree of life in paradise, with Adam and all the righteous. But the souls of the unrighteous meet an untimely expulsion from the presence of God, by whom they shall be left to remain in the flame of torment.

Not from men, but with the Lord, will he obtain favour.

He asks of wisdom, who seeks to know what is the will of God. And he will show himself prudent who is sparing of his words on that which he has come to learn. If one inquires about wisdom, desiring to learn something about wisdom, while another asks nothing of wisdom, as not only wishing to learn nothing about wisdom himself, but even keeping back his neighbours from so doing, the former certainly is deemed to be more prudent than the latter.

As to the horse-leech. There were three daughters fondly loved by sin— fornication, murder, and idolatry. These three did not satisfy her, for she is not to be satisfied. In destroying man by these actions, sin never varies, but only grows continually. For the fourth, he continues, is never content to say enough, meaning that it is universal lust. In naming the fourth, he intends lust in the universal. For as the body is one, and yet has many members; so also sin, being one, contains within it many various lusts by which it lays its snares for men. Wherefore, in order to teach us this, he uses the examples of Sheol (Hades), and the love of women, and hell (Tartarus), and the earth that is not filled with water. And water and fire, indeed, will never say, It is enough. And the grave (Hades) in no wise ceases to receive the souls of unrighteous men; nor does the love of sin, in the instance of the love of women, cease to be given to fornication, and it becomes the betrayer of the soul. And as Tartarus, which is situated in a doleful and dark locality, is not touched by a ray of light, so is every one who is the slave of sin in all the passions of the flesh Like the earth not filled with water he is never able to come to confession, and to the laver of regeneration, and like water and fire, never says, It is enough.

For as a serpent cannot mark its track upon a rock, so the devil could not find sin in the body of Christ. For the Lord says, Behold, the prince of this world comes, and will find nothing in me. — For as a ship, sailing in the sea, leaves no traces of her way behind her, so neither does the Church, which is situate in the world as in a sea, leave her hope upon the earth, because she has her life reserved in heaven; and as she holds her way here only for a short time, it is not possible to trace out her course.— As the Church does not leave her hope behind in the world, her hope in the incarnation of Christ which bears us all good, she did not leave the track of death in Hades.— Of whom but of Him who is born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin?— who, in renewing the perfect man in the world, works miracles, beginning from the baptism of John, as the Evangelist also testifies: And Jesus was then beginning to be about thirty years of age. This, then, was the youthful and blooming period of the age of Him who, in journeying among the cities and districts, healed the diseases and infirmities of men.

The eye that mocks at his father, and dishonours the old age of his mother. That is to say, one that blasphemes God and despises the mother of Christ, the wisdom of God,— his eyes may ravens from the caves tear out, i.e., him may unclean and wicked spirits deprive of the clear eye of gladness; and may the young eagles devour him: and such shall be trodden under the feet of the saints.

There be three things which I cannot understand, and the fourth I know not: the tracks of an eagle flying, i.e., Christ's ascension; and the ways of a serpent upon a rock, i.e., that the devil did not find a trace of sin in the body of Christ; and the ways of a ship crossing the sea, i.e., the ways of the Church, which is in this life as in a sea, and which is directed by her hope in Christ through the cross; and the ways of a man in youth, — the ways of Him, namely, who is born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin. For behold, says the Scripture, a man whose name is the Rising.

Such is the way of an adulterous woman, who, when she has done the deed of sin, wipes herself, and will say that no wickedness has been done. Such is the conduct of the Church that believes on Christ, when, after committing fornication with idols, she renounces these and the devil, and is cleansed of her sins and receives forgiveness, and then asserts that she has done no wickedness.

By three things the earth is moved, viz., by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Ghost. And the fourth it cannot bear, viz., the last appearing of Christ. When a servant reigns: Israel was a slave in Egypt, and in the land of promise became a ruler. And a fool when he is filled with meat: i.e., getting the land in possession readily, and eating its fruit, and being filled, it (the people) kicked. And a handmaid when she casts out her mistress: i.e., the synagogue which took the life of the Lord, and crucified the flesh of Christ.

There be four things which are least upon the earth, and these are wiser than the wise: The ants have no strength, yet they prepare their meat in the summer. And in like manner, the Gentiles by faith in Christ prepare for themselves eternal life through good works. And the conies, a feeble folk, have made their houses in the rocks. The Gentiles, that is to say, are built upon Christ, the spiritual rock, which is become the head of the corner. The spider, that supports itself upon its hands, and is easily caught, dwells in the strongholds of kings. That is, the thief with his hands extended (on the cross), rests on the cross of Christ and dwells n Paradise, the stronghold of the three Kings— Father, Son, and Holy Ghost.

The locust has no king, and yet marches out in array as by one command. The Gentiles had no king, for they were ruled by sin; but now, believing God, they engage in the heavenly warfare.

There be three things which go well, and the fourth which is comely in going; that is, the angels in heaven, the saints upon earth, and the souls of the righteous under the earth. And the fourth, viz. God, the Word Incarnate, passed in honour through the Virgin's womb; and creating our Adam anew, he passed through the gates of heaven, and became the first-fruits of the resurrection and of the ascension for all.

The cub of the lion is stronger than the beasts: i.e., Christ as prophesied of by Jacob in the person of Judah. A cock walking with high spirit among his dames: such was Paul, when preaching boldly among the churches the word of the Christ of God. A goat heading the herd: such is He who was offered for the sins of the world. And a king speaking among the people: so Christ reigns over the nations, and speaks by prophets and apostles the word of truth.

That is one confirmed in wickedness. The apostle, too, says, Them that sin, rebuke before all; that is to say, all but reprobate. Who are meant by the conies, but we ourselves, who once were like hogs, walking in all the filthiness of the world; but now, believing in Christ, we build our houses upon the holy flesh of Christ as upon a rock?

The shaking (of the earth) signifies the change of things upon earth.— Sin, then, which in its own nature is a slave, has reigned in the mortal body of men: once, indeed, at the time of the flood; and again in the time of the Sodomites, who, not satisfied with what the land yielded, offered violence to strangers; and a third time in the case of hateful Egypt, which, though it obtained in Joseph a man who distributed food to all, that they might not perish of famine, yet did not take well with his prosperity, but persecuted the children of Israel. The handmaid casting out her mistress: i.e., the Church of the Gentiles, which, though itself a slave and a stranger to the promises, cast out the free-born and lordly synagogue, and became the wife and bride of Christ. By Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, the whole earth is moved. The fourth it cannot bear: for He came first by lawgivers, and secondly by prophets, and thirdly by the Gospel, manifesting Himself openly; and in the fourth instance He shall come as the Judge of the living and the dead, whose glory the whole creation will not be able to endure.

Another Fragment. St. Hippolytus On Prov. IX. 1, Wisdom Hath Builded Her House.

Christ, he means, the wisdom and power of God the Father, has built His house, i.e., His nature in the flesh derived from the Virgin, even as he (John) has said beforetime, The Word became flesh, and dwelt among us. As likewise the wise prophet testifies: Wisdom that was before the world, and is the source of life, the infinite Wisdom of God, has built her house by a mother who knew no man,— to wit, as He assumed the temple of the body. And has raised her seven pillars; that is, the fragrant grace of the all-holy Spirit, as Isaiah says: And the seven spirits of God shall rest upon Him, But others say that the seven pillars are the seven divine orders which sustain the creation by His holy and inspired teaching; to wit, me prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, the hierarchs, the hermits, the saints, and the righteous. And the phrase, She has killed her beasts, denotes the prophets and martyrs who in every city and country are slain like sheep every day by the unbelieving, in behalf of the truth, and cry aloud, For your sake we are killed all the day long, we were counted as sheep for the slaughter. And again, She has mingled her wine in the bowl, by which is meant, that the Saviour, uniting his Godhead, like pure wine, with the flesh in the Virgin, was born of her at once God and man without confusion of the one in the other. And she has furnished her table: that denotes the promised knowledge of the Holy Trinity; it also refers to His honoured and undefiled body and blood, which day by day are administered and offered sacrificially at the spiritual divine table, as a memorial of that first and ever-memorable table of the spiritual divine supper. And again, She bath sent forth her servants: Wisdom, that is to say, has done so— Christ, to wit— summoning them with lofty announcement. Whoever is simple, Let him turn to me, she says, alluding manifestly to the holy apostles, who traversed the whole world, and called the nations to the knowledge of Him in truth, with their lofty and divine preaching. And again, And to those that want understanding she said— that is, to those who have not yet obtained the power of the Holy Ghost— Come, eat of my bread, and drink of the wine which I have mingled for you; by which is meant, that He gave His divine flesh and honoured blood to us, to eat and to drink it for the remission of sins.

On the Song of Songs.

1. Arise, O north wind, and come, you south; blow upon my garden, that the spices thereof may flow out (Canticles iv. 16). As Joseph was delighted with these spices, he is designated the King's son by God; as the Virgin Mary was anointed with them, she conceived the Word: then new secrets, and new truth, and a new kingdom, and also great and inexplicable mysteries, are made manifest.

2. And where is all this rich knowledge? And where are these mysteries? And where are the books? For the only ones extant are Proverbs, and Wisdom, and Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. What then? Does the Scripture speak falsely? God forbid. But the matter of his writings was various, as is shown in the phrase Song of Songs; for that indicates that in this one book he digested the contents of the 5, 000 songs. In the days moreover of Hezekiah, there were some of the books selected for use, and others set aside. Whence the Scripture says, These are the mixed Proverbs of Solomon, which the friends of Hezekiah the king copied out. And whence did they take them, but out of the books containing the 3, 000 parables and the 5, 000 songs? Out of these, then, the wise friends of Hezekiah took those portions which bore upon the edification of the Church. And the books of Solomon on the Parables and Songs, in which he wrote of the physiology of plants, and all kinds of animals belonging to the dry land, and the air, and the sea, and of the cures of disease, Hezekiah did away with, because the people looked to these for the remedies for their diseases, and neglected to seek their healing from God.

On the Prophet Isaiah.

Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome on Hezekiah.

When Hezekiah, king of Judah, was still sick and weeping, there came an angel, and said to him: I have seen your tears, and I have heard your voice. Behold, I add unto your time fifteen years. And this shall be a sign to you from the Lord: Behold, I turn back the shadow of the degrees of the house of your father, by which the sun has gone down, the ten degrees by which the shadow has gone down, so that day be a day of thirty-two hours. For when the sun had run its course to the tenth hour, it returned again. And again, when Joshua the son of Nun was fighting against the Amorites, when the sun was now inclining to its setting, and the battle was being pressed closely, Joshua, being anxious lest the heathen host should escape on the descent of night, cried out, saying, Sun, stand still in Gibeon; and moon, in the valley of Ajalon, until I vanquish this people. And the sun stood still, and the moon, in their places, so that day was one of twenty-four hours. And in the time of Hezekiah the moon also turned back along with the sun, that there might be no collision between the two elemental bodies, by their bearing against each other in defiance of law. And Merodach the Chaldean, king of Babylon, being struck with amazement at that time— for he studied the science of astrology, and measured the courses of these bodies carefully— on learning the cause, sent a letter and gifts to Hezekiah, just as also the wise men from the east did to Christ.

II.

From the Discourse of St. Hippolytus on the beginning of Isaiah.

Under Egypt he meant the world, and under things made with hands its idolatry, and under the shaking its subversion and dissolution. And the Lord, the Word, he represented as upon a light cloud, referring to that most pure tabernacle, in which setting up His throne, our Lord Jesus Christ came into the world to shake error.

III.

We find in the commentaries, written by our predecessors, that day had thirty-two hours. For when the sun had run its course, and reached the tenth hour, and the shadow had gone down by the ten degrees in the house of the temple, the sun turned back again by the ten degrees, according to the word of the Lord, and there were thus twenty hours. And again, the sun accomplished its own proper course, according to the common law, and reached its setting. And thus there were thirty-two hours.

On Jeremiah and Ezekiel.

What were the dimensions, then, of the temple of Solomon? Its length was sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty. And it was not turned to the east, that the worshippers might not worship the rising sun, but the Lord of the sun. And let no one marvel if, when the Scripture gives the length at forty cubits, I have said sixty. For a little after it mentions the other twenty, in describing the holy of holies, which it also names Dabir. Thus the holy place was forty cubits, and the holy of holies other twenty. And Josephus says that the temple had two storeys, and that the whole height was one hundred and twenty cubits. For so also the book of Chronicles indicates, saying, And Solomon began to build the house of God. In length its first measure was sixty cubits, and its breadth twenty cubits, and its height one hundred and twenty; and he overlaid it within with pure gold.

On Daniel. I.

Preface by the most holy Hippolytus, (Bishop) of Rome.

As I wish to give an accurate account of the times of the captivity of the children of Israel in Babylon, and to discuss the prophecies contained in the visions of the blessed Daniel, (as well as) his manner of life from his boyhood in Babylon, I too shall proceed to bear my testimony to that holy and righteous man, a prophet and witness of Christ, who not only declared the visions of Nebuchadnezzar the king in those times, but also trained youths of like mind with himself, and raised up faithful witnesses in the world. He is horn, then, in the time of the prophetic ministry of the blessed Jeremiah, and in the reign of Jehoiakim or Eliakim. Along with the other captives, he is carried off a prisoner to Babylon. Now there are born to the blessed Josiah these five sons— Jehoahaz, Eliakim, Johanan, Zedekiah, or Jeconiah, and Sadum. And on his father's death, Jehoahaz is anointed as king by the people at the age of twenty-three years. Against him comes up Pharaoh-Necho, in the third month of his reign; and he takes him (Jehoahaz) prisoner, and carries him into Egypt, and imposes tribute on the land to the extent of one hundred talents of silver and ten talents of gold. And in his stead he sets up his brother Eliakim as king over the land, whose name also he changed to Jehoiakim, and who was then eleven years old. Against him came up Nebuchadnezzar king of Babylon, and carries him off prisoner to Babylon, taking with him also some of the vessels of the house in Jerusalem. Thrown into prison as a friend of Pharaoh, and as one set up by him over the kingdom, he is released at length in the thirty-seventh year by Evil-Merodach king of Babylon; and he cut his hair short, and was counsellor to him, and ate at his table until the day that he died. On his removal, his son Jehoiakim reigns three years. And against him came up Nebuchadnezzar, and transports him and ten thousand of the men of his people to Babylon, and sets up in his stead his father's brother, whose name he changed also to Zedekiah; and after making agreement with him by oath and treaty, he returns to Babylon. This (Zedekiah), after a reign of eleven years, revolted from him and went over to Pharaoh king of Egypt. And in the tenth year Nebuchadnezzar came against him from (he land of the Chaldeans, and surrounded the city with a stockade, and environed it all round, and completely shut it up. In this way th