Alcuin of York

In his own words on Revelation

• Revelation 1:1

  The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ. First, it is to be noted that the meaning would be expressed more fully if he said "this is the Apocalypse;" but it is a habit of the Scriptures to leave those little words implied for brevity's sake. This is why Solomon did not say "these are the parables of Solomon" [Cf. Prov. 1:1] or "these are the words of Ecclesiastes." [Cf. Eccles. 1:1] Apocalypse, as already said, comes from the Greek for "revelation." Jesus in Hebrew translates to soter in Greek and salutaris in Latin. Christ comes from the Greek for "anointed"; for chrisma means "unction". It is told in the book of Exodus [Ex. 30:22-25] that Moses was the first to prepare chrisma at the Lord's bidding, with which kings and priests used to be anointed, prefiguring Christ invisibly anointed by the Father. Which God gave unto him, to make known to his servants the things which must shortly come to pass. Here also it is to be noted that "'by' which God gave unto him" would be a more usual way of saying it; but it is a habit of the sacred Scripture frequently to put the accusative instead of the ablative without preposition. Whence this in a psalm: Hear, O Lord, my voice, which I have cried to thee, [Variant of Psalm 26:7] and Paul: I have fought a good fight [2 Tim. 4:7]. Indeed what is shown by these words is that this revelation is that of Jesus Christ, and that he received from God the task to make known to his servants by his revelation the things which must shortly come to pass. This is why it is necessary to mark it thus: the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, and then to introduce, which God gave unto him, to make known to his servants, etc., the former referring to his divinity, according to which he reveals all the mysteries with the Father; the latter referring to his humanity, according to which he received not only from the Father and the Holy Spirit, but also from himself, the task to manifest to his servants by his revelation the things which must shortly come to pass. Whence it is not said, "which God 'the Father' gave unto him," but, indeterminately, which God, that is the Trinity, gave unto him. Note also that in saying to his servants, he also shows the Son in the form of a servant, but not a servant, as his humanity is proclaimed master of the servants. He says his, which means "subject to divine grace", according to this: I confess to thee, O Father, Lord of heaven and earth, because thou hast hidden these things from the wise and prudent, and hast revealed them to little ones. [Lk. 10:21] In what is said afterwards, the things which must shortly come to pass, although one could understand countless things by it, his particular intention was nonetheless to speak of the Church's temporal afflictions and everlasting joys to come, and of the wicked's present happiness and future eternal torments. These things all come to pass shortly, because this present time is forced to fly by until the end without a moment's interruption; whence the same John says elsewhere, little children, it is the last hour. [1 John 2:18] And signified, sending by his angel to his servant John. Signified. That is "sealed." For signum means "seal," whence it is also said to Daniel, clausi sunt signatique sermones, [Dan. 12:9] and to Isaiah, signavi visionem in discipulis meis. [Apparently a variant of Is. 8:16] But what does it mean that this vision is said to be sealed, while it is said later, seal not the words of the prophecy of this book, [Rev. 22:10] if not that these words are opened for the good, and closed with a seal for the wicked? For it is not because of faithful servants, but because of thieves that riches are sealed. Whence it is said to Daniel, the wicked shall deal wickedly, but the learned understand. [Slight variant of Dan. 12:10] Moreover, by saying signified, he showed that it should not be taken literally, but by the word signification he made us intent on examining the mysteries more deeply. So this vision was sent through an angel; but the unbounded Spirit that sent it was there both in the one through whom he sent it and in the one to whom he sent it. The same angel who appeared wore the figure of the Word incarnate alone and of his body, which is the Church. John himself as well, whom he appeared to, presented the symbol of the Church. However, one should not believe that the angel and John prefigured two churches; but when the angel possesses the symbol of the Head, John possesses that of the preachers, and when the angel possesses that of the preachers, John possesses that of the listeners; and when by the angel are represented the members that lead the way, by John are represented those that follow; or in the angel we understand the Church glorified after the resurrection, and in John the present Church needing to be instructed by Christ. Furthermore, one should know that the Lord appears after his Ascension in the same way as he appeared to the fathers before his Incarnation, namely through an angelic creature. By this fact he clearly shows that he must not now be sought physically for teaching, as he is present everywhere in majesty; for we should not think that his humanity taken from the Virgin was present in the angel, but that the angel expressed its figure. It is not at all surprising either that he is called like to the Son of man, [Rev. 1:13] when the prophet Daniel is said to have called the angel Gabriel a man. [Dan. 9:21] Moreover, it is said by this angel, I am the First and the Last, [Rev. 1:17] etc., just as, before the Incarnation, God said in the person of an angel he had assumed, I am the God of Abraham, [Ex. 3:6] etc. Indeed, just as Moses calls the one who appeared to him in the bush sometimes "angel," sometimes "God," so does John say that this revelation was sent to him through an angel, and affirm that it was the Lord Jesus Christ himself in the mystery and figure. Therefore it was also through an angel that the Lord appeared to Paul on the road, [Acts 9:1-19] because if he had been to appear in the substance of his own flesh, he would appear thus to John, whom he particularly loved. It is also to be noted that John speaks of himself as if of someone else, as others do. Indeed Moses says, Moses was a man exceeding meek, [Num. 12:3] and Job, there was a man in the land of Hus, whose name was Job [Job 1:1] etc.; for they were not speaking by themselves, but it was the Holy Spirit speaking through them.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:1

  QUESTION: What does it mean that he says, The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, which God gave unto him, since the Son is equal to the Father? ANSWER: It needed to be revealed by what development the Church founded by the apostles would be enlarged and how it would be made perfect in the end, so as to strengthen the preachers of the faith against the adversity of the world. John attributes the glory of the Son to the Father in the manner usual to him, and thus declares that Jesus Christ received the revelation of this mystery from God. QUESTION: What is meant by the things which must shortly come to pass? ANSWER: It means the things that will happen to the Church in the present time. QUESTION: What is meant by and signified or, as some books have it, "sealed?" ANSWER: He interwove this same Apocalypse with mystical words so that it should not lose its worth if it was obvious to everyone.

  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:2

  Who hath given testimony to the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, what things soever he hath seen. John gave testimony then, and now the Church does, whose symbol he was bearing when he saw this Apocalypse. He makes a distinction between the Word and Jesus Christ because of the two substances of Christ — he who gave testimony to both, saying, in the beginning was the Word, [John 1:1] as well as the Word was made flesh. [Ibid. 14] Saw refers to both: for he saw the Word with his spiritual eyes, and with his physical eyes he saw everything that is told about his humanity.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:3

  QUESTION: What is meant by Blessed is he that reads and they that hear the words of this prophecy, etc.? ANSWER: The teacher and his listeners are blessed because, for those who keep the words of God, the short time of hardship is followed by eternal joys. As the Truth replied to the woman who said to him that the womb of the mother of such great son was blessed as well as her paps, even more blessed are they who hear the word of God, and keep it. [Luke 11:27-28] For he may doubtless call singularly blessed whoever is quick to understand it correctly and to put it into practice once they understand it, and, finally, as he stipulates in this same book: And he that heareth, let him say: Come, [Rev. 22:17] that is, let whoever perceives the inner light of faith and glory in their mind, also call others to it; or, as it is said concerning the same Truth, the things which Jesus began to do and to teach. [Acts 1:1]

  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:3

  Blessed is he that readeth and they that hear the words of the prophecy of this book, and keep those things which are written in it; for the time is at hand. Here it is made clear how great this book's authority is, since it is the only one among all prophecies to promise blessedness in return with a promise that is in some way specific. In saying he that readeth and they that hear, he indicated the persons of the teachers and of the listeners. What is said after that, and keep those things, pertains to both, because not the hearers of the law are just before God, but the doers of the law shall be justified. [Rom. 2:13] Then, in order to stimulate the minds of both to observe those things, he added, for the time is at hand; namely the time either for the just to be rewarded after their observance of the commandments or for the unjust to be punished after their negligence of them.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:4-5

  John to the seven churches which are in Asia. By the number seven is represented the universal Church, because of the seven gifts of him who has filled the earth. Hence Elisha made the child upon whom he lay gape seven times, [2 Kings 4:32 et seq.] because the people that died from unfaithfulness is brought back to life by the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit. So the number seven is perfect, being formed by the number three and the number four; for the number three is considered perfect in the divine Scriptures because of the mystery of the Trinity, because of the three virtues: faith, hope, and love, or because of the three classes of the faithful: preachers, celibates, and married people. As for the number four, it is perfect because of the four parts of the world, because of the four cardinal virtues (namely prudence, temperance, courage, and justice) or because of the four books of the Gospels. Therefore, because knowledge of the Trinity encompasses the four cardinal points of the sky; because hope, faith, and love complete the sum of the four cardinal virtues; or because the three classes of believers submit to the commandments of the four Gospels, it is right for the universal Church to be symbolized by this number seven. One should nonetheless know that it was especially to the seven churches of the Ephesians that he sent these mysteries he wrote in exile. So species is not excluded, but in the species a genus is shown, namely the universal Church. It is appropriate to say that the universal Church is in Asia, for Asia translates to "pride." The word "pride" is not always used to refer to a vice, but sometimes to the summit of virtue, as in I will make thee to be the pride of worlds, [Is. 60:15] that is "I will make you despise all pleasures and low honors;" and elsewhere, He hath lifted thee up above the height of the earth. [Cf. Is. 58:14] So it is in this height of pride that the Church takes its place. Alternatively, if "pride" is being used to refer to a vice, we should not take it to mean that the Church will remain proud, but that it was raised in the arrogance of pride some time ago, but is predestined to become humble through a heavenly gift, according to this: Hast thou entered into the storehouses of the snow, or has thou beheld the treasures of the hail: Which I have prepared for the time of the enemy, against the day of battle and war? [Job 38:22-23] Grace be unto you and peace from him that is, and that was, and that is to come, and from the seven spirits which are in the sight of his throne, and from Jesus Christ. Grace means forgiveness granted freely, and it is with it shining on us when we were servants of sin that we were adopted as children of justice. It is this grace that Peter and Paul first mentioned in their salutations when they were about to write to the faithful, in order to show, before exhorting the peoples of grace, that the whole sum of the salutation was in this grace. It is proper for grace to be put before peace, because no one could have come to God's peace reconciled if the grace of mercy had not preceded them. As for the fact that he says from him that is, and that was, and that is to come, it should be taken as referring specifically to the only-begotten Son of God. He is in essence with the Father and the Holy Spirit, and has never been affected by mutability, according to this saying of Paul's: There was not in him " it is " and " it is not ", but " it is " was in him [Variant of 2 Cor. 1:19], because, before he was born of the Virgin in time, he spent all times with the Father. Whence the same John says, in the beginning was the Word. [John 1:1] It is also the same who is to come to judge the living and the dead in the humanity he assumed, as it is written: He shall so come, as you have seen him going into heaven. [Acts 1:11] So, since it is certain that the Church has received this grace not only from the Son and the Holy Spirit but also from the Father through the Son and the Holy Spirit, why is the person of the Father not mentioned in this passage? Because it is habitual in the sacred Scriptures, where one or two of the persons of the Trinity are mentioned, for the whole Trinity to be understood at the same time. As for the words from the seven spirits, he says this because of the sevenfold operation of one spirit; and this spirit is said to be alone in the sight of the throne, that is of the Church, that is in the memory of the saints, because it is to this same spirit in particular that the remission of sins is ascribed, according to this: Receive ye the Holy Ghost: whose sins you shall forgive, they are forgiven them. [John 20:22-23] Or if not, then surely the whole Trinity is understood in the Spirit. In saying from Jesus Christ, he mentions the person of the Son again, because the one referred to existed before the ages, and was made man in the end of the ages. Who is the faithful witness, the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. It is obviously a way of speaking when he calls Christ specifically the faithful witness, while there are three who give testimony: the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit, and the three are one God. [Cf. 1 John 5:7] One may also call the Son specifically, in the role of man he assumed, a faithful witness, in that he went as far as the death of the flesh for the sake of the testimony of the truth. For while the whole Church, in the holy preachers, gives testimony concerning Christ, the ones called martyrs, that is "witnesses," are principally those who suffered physical death for Christ. He is called first begotten because no one before him rose never to die. A different interpretation would be that all the saints are dead to the world, as it is said in for you are dead, [Col. 3:3] but he is so in a special way, because there has been no sin in him. By the kings, he means either all the saints, who know how to govern themselves well, or at any rate the preachers, who become partners with the good but raise themselves above the wicked, like Peter above Ananias, [Acts 5:1 et seq.] and Paul who brandishes his scepter, saying, What will you? shall I come to you with a rod? [1 Cor. 4:21] Because he hath loved us. How he has loved us, the pains he suffered clearly show. He did not however love us as we were, that is wicked ones, but as he made us by love itself. Whence it is added right afterwards, and washed us from our sins in his own blood; but in what way he has washed us in his own blood, the apostle indicated, saying, All we, who are baptized in Christ Jesus, are baptized in his death. [Rom. 6:3]

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:4-5

  QUESTION: What does it mean that John salutes only seven churches whereas the Master of truth says, Go ye into the whole world, and preach to every creature? [Mark 16:15] ANSWER: Through these seven churches, he writes to the whole Church. Indeed totality is often represented by the number seven, because all this worldly time flies by in cycles of seven days. THERE FOLLOWS: Grace be unto you and peace from him that is, and that was, and that is to come, and from the seven spirits. ANSWER: He wishes the pious people grace and peace from God the eternal Father, the sevenfold Spirit, and Jesus Christ, who gave testimony to the Father in the human form he assumed. He names the Son in the third place as he is going to say more about him. He also names him last because he is the first and the last, and he has already named him together with the Father when he said that is to come. The first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth.

  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:6

  QUESTION: What is meant by And hath made us a kingdom, and priests to God and his Father? ANSWER: Seeing that the King of kings and heavenly Priest united us to his body by sacrificing himself for us, there is no one among the saints who does not spiritually have the office of a priest, since each of them is a member of the highest and eternal Priest. (1:8) THERE FOLLOWS: I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord God. ANSWER: The beginning means the one whom no one precedes; the end, the one whom no one succeeds. — He also repeats the same words again: who is, and who was, and who is to come. ANSWER: He had said the same about the Father, for God the Father both came and is to come in the Son.

  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:6

  And hath made our kingdom priests to God and his Father. Because our Head is a king and priest, all the limbs are kings and priests, as the apostle Peter says in You are a chosen generation, a kingly priesthood. [1 Pet. 2:9] They are kings by governing themselves, and priests by offering themselves to God, according to this: I beseech you therefore by the mercy of God, that you present your bodies a living sacrifice. [Rom. 12:1] So, in saying to God and his Father, he indicates one person (although, according to the rule mentioned earlier, the Holy Spirit is there understood) in the same way as the apostle also says, Blessed be the God and Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, [2 Cor. 1:3] with the intention that one person should be understood by God and Father; hence it needs to be said, to him be glory forever and ever: to him, that is to him who has made us kings and priests, namely the Father and the Son, in which we understand the love of both, which is the Holy Spirit: for the love of God is poured forth in our hearts by the Holy Ghost. [Rom. 5:5] Moreover, the Church is right to attribute glory for these things not to itself, but to the one it received them from, according to this: Not to us, O Lord, not to us; but to thy name give glory. [Ps. 113:9]

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:7

  Behold, he cometh with the clouds. If we are to take this literally, when the Lord comes for the judgment, there will be a white cloud overshadowing the saints to protect them from the fire burning the world. This cloud will be frightening, and the reprobates will be terrified by its din. However, hardly anything in this Apocalypse is to be taken literally. So, in the sacred Scripture, when clouds are mentioned in the plural, they represent the holy preachers, who are light by the cleanness of their minds, and keep watering the hearts of their listeners with drops of preaching. Therefore it is with these clouds that the Lord will come for the judgment, according to this saying of the prophet: Behold, the Lord comes for the judgment with the ancients of his people. [Variant of Is. 3:14] And every eye shall see him, and they also that pierced him. Every eye shall see him, that is, every man shall (the whole is meant by a part) who shall then have been resurrected, either to life or to death — but not the eyes of animals, to which it is not given to rise again after death. Every man shall see him in the form of a servant in which he was judged by the wicked, not in the form of the divinity, which cannot be seen by the wicked. Note also that another translator says, "all the earth shall see him such," as if he were saying, "such as the wicked did not believe he would be when he was here." And all the tribes of the earth shall bewail themselves because of him. In this place it is to be noted that he says with an addition, the tribes of the earth, as if he were saying "those who long for earthly things and devote themselves to greed," to whom it is said, Woe to you that are rich, [Luke 6:24] as well as, Woe to you that laugh. [Ibid. 25] As for what the cause of their pain is, it is disclosed with the words because of him: for even though there will then be mourning due to many afflictions, it will be nothing compared to the lamentation caused by the sight of Christ's glory; for the unfortunate will then feel more pained by the fact that they have lost such a Lord than by the fact that they have fallen into the most atrocious torment. Now, look: he confirms the things that have been said with the insertion of an oath, when he adds, Even so. Amen. Amen is for the Hebrews what even so is for us. Both are adverbs of affirmation: therefore he says Even so. Amen as if he were saying with duplication, "It is true. It is true."

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:8

  I am Alpha and Omega, the beginning and the end, saith the Lord God, who is, and who was, and who is to come. By saying I am, he lets us know clearly that God was speaking through him. Whence the Apostle: Do you seek a proof of Christ that speaketh in me? [2 Cor. 13:3], and David: Attend, O my people, to my law, [Ps. 77:1] while neither the people nor the law was David's. Alpha and Omega means the same as the beginning and the end, for alpha for the Greeks is the beginning of the alphabet, and omega its end. Christ is called the beginning because all the creation has got its beginning from him, and he is called the end because he encloses everything like a boundary. Alternatively, he is called the beginning and the end because he is God before the ages and a man in the end of the ages; whence John: In the beginning was the Word, [John 1:1] as well as: The Word was made flesh. [Ibid. 14]

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:9

  I John, your brother and your partner in tribulation, and in the kingdom, and patience in Christ Jesus, was in the island, which is called Patmos, for the word of God, and for the testimony of Jesus. In this place John represents both his own person specifically and that of the Church generally. It is also to be noted that the kingdom pertains to the Head, tribulation to the limbs, and patience to both, and all this can be found in Jesus alone. Indeed, the Head was suffering tribulation with the limbs when he said, Saul, Saul, why persecutest thou me? [Acts 9:4]. The kingdom is in the Head, as in Come, ye blessed of my Father, possess you the kingdom prepared for you from the foundation of the world, [Matt. 25:34] which is like saying clearly, "Come, ye limbs, reign with the Head, because I am the kingdom." For he will grant himself to his people, as it is written: The oath, which he swore to Abraham our father, that he would grant (himself) to us [Luke 1:73]. Patience awaits us, according to this: Knowest thou not, that the benignity of God leadeth thee to patience? [Variant of Rom. 2:4], and we, in our patience, shall possess our souls. [Cf. Luke 21:19] By the island of Patmos, which translates to "strait," in which John was in exile, are represented the persecutions and hardships suffered by John and the Church (that is, a species and a genus) but for the Word of God, not for their own bad actions, according to this saying of the apostle Peter: Let none of you suffer as a thief, [1 Pet. 4:15] but as a disciple of Christ.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:10-11

  I was in the spirit on the Lord's day. Here we need to start speaking about species and genus individually. John's spirit did not leave his flesh altogether when he saw this, because his body could not have survived without spirit; but, being in ecstasy, he could not feel or understand anything through his body. Note also that he says he was in the spirit not on the Sabbath, but on the Lord's day, because the old law, which produced death, had already passed, and the new one, which gives life, had become well-known with Christ's Resurrection. Allegorically, the Church is also shown to be the Lord's day, because, in the elect, it mortifies the deeds of the flesh by the spirit [Rom. 8:13] so that it may rise in the spirit in the conduct of a new life. Whence this saying of the apostle: You are not in the flesh, but in the spirit. [Ibid. 9] And heard behind me a great voice, as of a trumpet, saying: What thou seest, write. What one should know is that just as John heard it in the spirit, so was the voice spoken to him spiritual. We should however ask the question of what back a spirit could have to be able to hear a voice behind him. It seems then that the face of that spirit was the very force of divine contemplation, and its back, obliviousness of present matters. Therefore he heard the voice in the things he had forgotten, the purpose of this being to make him turn his mind's face towards them and write in a book everything he saw; as if the voice were saying to him, "Those things which you are beginning to see in the spirit of God, either have been done or must be done here, where you hear me sounding without sound, that is on earth." With the words What thou seest, write, it is as if he were saying "what thou art about to see," for he had not seen anything yet. Allegorically, the Church hears a voice concerning its union with Christ, behind it, from the law and the prophets, like this: They shall be two in one flesh. [Gen. 2:24] This voice, whether with regards to the Church or with regards to John, is rightly called great, because it speaks of the highest mysteries, and because of that it is compared to a trumpet and spread by the mouths of the preachers; whence it is said to one of them, Lift up thy voice like a trumpet. [Is. 58:1] This voice, through John, tells the Church to write what it sees, that is, to keep it in mind. And send to the seven churches, to Ephesus, to Smyrna, to Pergamus, to Thyatira, to Sardis, to Philadelphia, and to Laodicea. We need to say how the interpretations of these names tally with the universal Church. Ephesus translates to "my will" or "my counsel": and whose counsel, but that of the one who casteth away the counsels of princes, but his counsel standeth forever? [Ps. 32:10-11] Moreover, the Church is the will of God, to which it is said through the prophet, Thou shalt be called My will. [Is. 62:4] Note also that will pertains to love, while counsel pertains to correction. Indeed, someone is the will of God when they submit to the Creator not out of fear of punishment, but willingly; whereas if someone wants to join neither for fear nor for love, they are given a speech of correction through the action of divine mercy so that they may abandon their error and receive the counsel of salvation. Smyrna translates to "their canticle," that is the elect's, and that canticle is the new commandment. Therefore the Church sings this canticle every day when it fulfills the new commandment by loving God and neighbor. Pergamus translates to "separating their horns": and whose horns but Christ's and the Devil's? So by Christ's horns is represented his kingdom, that is the Church, and by the Devil's horns, it is also his kingdom that is represented, that is the wicked. Hear therefore the separation of the horns: I will break all the horns of sinners, and the horns of the just shall be exalted. [Ps. 74:11] Thyatira means "enlightened": and what other enlightened one are we to understand, but the one to whom it is said by Isaiah, Arise, be enlightened, O Jerusalem? [Is. 60:1] It is appropriate for the Church to be called enlightened, so that it should remember that it used to be darkness; whence the apostle to its members: You were heretofore darkness, but now light in the Lord. [Eph. 5:8] Sardis means "for the prince of beauty," and "fitted" or "prepared" is implied. The prince of beauty is the one about whom the Psalmist says, beautiful above the sons of men. [Ps. 44:3] And who is prepared for him, if not the one about whom the prophet says to the same prince, The queen stood on thy right hand, in gilded clothing; surrounded with variety? [Ibid. 10] Philadelphia translates to "saving the inheritance for the Lord." From this it is right to understand the Church of the elect, which strives to save itself with divine help. Indeed it is about this inheritance that it is said, I will give thee the Gentiles for thy inheritance. [Ps. 2:8] Laodicea translates to "tribe lovely to the Lord" or "they were in vomit": this interpretation shows the good mingled with the wicked in the Church.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:12-13

  And I turned to see the voice that spoke with me. By saying to see, he shows that it was not a physical voice, which cannot be seen, but a spiritual one, with which seeing it is no different from hearing it. Allegorically, the Church turned to see the voice, because it directed its attention, out of the desire of its mind, to the words of the law and of the prophets, so as to see their mysteries now fulfilled. And being turned, I saw seven golden candlesticks: and in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks, one like to the Son of man. By the seven candlesticks is represented the sevenfold Church, in whose midst is Christ, who is called like to the Son of man because he was now immortal, or because he appeared not with sin, but in the likeness of the flesh of sin. We read that he appeared in the midst according to this: Where there are two or three gathered together in my name, there am I in the midst of them. [Matt. 18:20] It is appropriate for the Church to be symbolized by seven golden candlesticks, for the sevenfold operation of the Holy Spirit is symbolized by the number, and the brightness of eternal wisdom is symbolized by gold. So just as gold, tried by fire and stretched by blows, is made into a candlestick, so does the Church, melted by the fire of tribulation until purification, and extended into long-suffering by the blows of temptations, reach completion; whence Isaiah says, The Lord hath said it, whose fire is in Sion, and his furnace in Jerusalem. [Is. 31:9] Furthermore, one should know that one Church is represented by both the seven candlesticks and the Son of man, because the person of Christ and of the Church is one. So the same Lord who appeared clothed with a garment down to the feet in the midst of the candlesticks, put on as a garment the candlesticks themselves. Therefore, Christ's clothes are the same as the seven candlesticks, that is the Church. Indeed genus is joined to genus, when the Church is meant by both the seven candlesticks and the Son of man. Note also that the likeness to the Son of man concerns us, because just as our Head has risen again in deed, so have we in hope. Clothed with a garment down to the feet (a poderes). Podes means "feet" in Greek. What do we understand by the poderes, that is a tunic reaching the ankles, which Zechariah says is a priestly garment, [Probable reference to Zec. 3:4 LXX] if not the flesh of Christ specifically, and the whole Church generally? Indeed, by offering himself on the cross to God the Father, he carried out a priesthood. Now, this priestly garment is down to the ankles because his body, which is the Church, down to its very last members, fills up those things that are wanting of the sufferings of Christ; [Cf. Col. 1:24] or if not, then certainly his garment down to the ankles was his work of love to the suffering of death. And girt about the paps with a golden girdle. What one should know is that Daniel saw a man girt about the loins [Dan. 10:5] and John saw him girt about the paps because the Old Testament restrains the lust of the flesh, whereas the New restrains also that of the mind. However, that double girding does not refer to the Head, but to the limbs, since it is certain that our Redeemer has been touched by neither the lust of the body nor that of the heart. So it is fitting to say that this girdle was golden, because whoever is a citizen of the heavenly fatherland, forsakes uncleanness, not out of fear of punishment, but out of love for heavenly brightness. The order given to the apostles in the New Testament, Let your loins be girt, [Luke 12:35] is given, through their persons, to those who, not yet restraining the fornication of the flesh, belong to the man of the old life; for the apostles themselves had already forsaken the uncleanness of the flesh. Alternatively, the angel is girt about the paps with a golden girdle because the Church, coming from two peoples, is united in Christ by the bond of love.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:13

  QUESTION: He affirms that he saw one like to the Son of man, clothed with a garment down to the feet. ANSWER: The garment down to the feet, which is a priestly garment, represents Christ's priesthood, in which he offered himself for us on the altar of the cross as a sacrifice to the Father.

  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:14

  And his head and his hairs were white, as white wool, and as snow. Christ's head is God the Father; whence the apostle: The head of Christ is God; [1 Cor. 11:3] whose eternity is represented, according to the habit of human speech, by the whiteness of the head. Allegorically, the head of the Church is its Redeemer, according to this: The head of man is Christ. [Ibid.] The hairs are the most excellent people in the Church, who are compared to lambs, that is to wool, because of their innocence, and to snow because of the resurrection. Because Christ has shown both in himself (i.e. innocence and resurrection, the former of which we are ordered to imitate, the latter of which we are ordered to expect) not only the hairs, but also the whole head is assimilated to white wool and snow. And his eyes were as a flame of fire. These eyes are those concerning which it is said later, I saw a Lamb as it were slain, having seven eyes, which are the seven Spirits of God; [Rev. 5:6] for since the Holy Spirit both enlightens the Church to faith and burns it to the love of God, it is right for him to be assimilated to the lights of eyes and to a flame of fire. These eyes may also represent spiritual angels in the Church who enlighten the same Church with the light of knowledge and provide the fire of love.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:15

  And his feet like unto fine brass, as in a burning furnace. The fabrication of fine brass is said to be as follows: copper is thrown into a furnace, a violent fire is applied to it, a certain medicine is also thrown into it all, and the copper as a result both gains a greater solidity and turns into the brightness of gold: whence it is appropriate for the feet like unto fine brass to refer to those last members of the Church that are to be melted by an intense fire of tribulation under the Antichrist, but will be found to be stronger and brighter after using the medicine of endurance. Because the trouble will be even more severe in Judea, where the Lord was crucified by the wicked Jews, another translation has "fine brass of Lebanon," which is said to be a mountain in Judea. And his voice as the voice of many waters. Above, he compared the voice of the one who appeared to a trumpet, and now he compares it to the voice of many waters, because what was first proclaimed by a few preachers, was afterwards proclaimed by the whole world. Alternatively, we could understand, by the voice of the trumpet, the voice of the Old and of the New Testament, and by the voice of many waters, love, whose law is manifold, as it is said in and thou shalt know that his law is manifold. [Cf. Job 11:6]

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:16

  And he had in his right hand seven stars. By the seven stars, as the same angel explains below, angels are meant; not however those spirits of the heavenly fatherland, in whom nothing reprehensible can be found, but preachers of the Church, about whom it is said, The angels of peace shall weep bitterly. [Is. 33:7] It is right for these to be represented by stars and angels, because they both shine in the night of this world by the cleanness of their lives, and prove to be angels of truth by announcing heavenly things to their listeners. Because they are seven not truly in number, but in the signification of totality, this species includes all the preachers of the Church. Whence in signification there are no longer seven angels, but one, that is the perfected order of preachers, just as the seven candlesticks represent not only the churches of Asia, but the universal Church; and if we pay subtle attention, we also find the candlesticks in these seven stars, that is, the universal Church in the holy preachers. Whence, when the Lord speaks to one angel, he says in the end: Let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. [Rev. 2:7, 11, 17, 29; 3:6, 13, 22] The right hand in this passage should be understood to mean the utmost blessedness, which now is there in hope, and will then be there in fact; whence this saying of Isaiah: The right hand of my just one will uphold thee. [Variant of Is. 41:10] Then, when we hear that the Church is held in the right hand, from the whole we must understand a part, which must be placed on the right hand in the future. And from his mouth came out a sharp two-edged sword. What is symbolized by the sword but the preaching of the Old and of the New Testament? As in this saying of Paul's: and the sword of the Spirit, which is the word of God. [Eph. 6:17] It is right for it to be called two-edged, because it cuts off faults committed in deed on one side, and forbidden thoughts on the other; or because it informs imperfect people on the outside according to the literal meaning, and instructs perfect people on the inside according to the mystical meaning. And his face was as the sun shineth in his power. By the face shining as the sun, we may understand the elect, as in The just shall shine as the sun. [Matt. 13:43] If we wish to understand the sun mentioned in this sentence to mean the visible sun, we should know that it will then be of a greater brightness than it now is, and the glory of the saints will then be greater, as Isaiah attests, who says, The light of the moon shall be as the light of the sun, and the light of the sun shall be sevenfold, as the light of seven days: in the day when the Lord shall bind up the wound of his people; [Is. 30:26] whence in this passage it is added in his power. Alternatively: what is symbolized by the face of the angel but the Redeemer's manifest incarnation, which had, as it were, a rising in being born, a setting in dying, and again a rising in being resurrected? And since his resurrection had already become well-known throughout the world, it is as if the sun had gone up to the hours around midday when John was seeing these things, and this is why he said, with those words added, as the sun shineth in his power.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:17-18

  And when I had seen him, I fell at his feet as dead. In this passage John signifies Christ's limbs, and the angel signifies Christ specifically. Therefore John falls as dead at the angel's feet because the Church follows Christ's footprints to die to the world. It is appropriate to say that he is as dead, because even if the Church dies to the world and to vices, it still lives to God. And he laid his right hand upon me, saying: Fear not. The right hand of the angel in this place represents the preachers. Hence it is said by Moses, In his right hand a fiery law, [Deut. 33:2] that is, in the holy preachers the teaching of the Holy Spirit. It is not mentioned at all what the angel did with his hand laid upon him, but we deduce with a certain reasoning that he lifted up from the ground either John or the Church in him. Now, can it be that the Church was put away from the imitation of the sufferings of Christ? No. Therefore the angel laying his hand upon John who lay at his feet as dead and raising him from the ground, is the Redeemer Lord lifting up the Church which imitates his sufferings from sorrow of the heart to the hope of future glory by encouraging it through the holy preachers, as in The sufferings of this time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, that shall be revealed in us. [Rom. 8:18] He fittingly says Fear not, as if the Lord were saying to the Church, "Receive confidence from above, and drive human fear away." I am the First and the Last, and I was alive, and dead, and behold I am living for ever and ever. Here it is made clear that this angel specifically bore the person of the Lord Jesus Christ, whom all this corresponds to. And have the keys of death and of hell. By the keys is represented the divine judgment's power, which no one can escape, but it shuts everyone in like a key, according to this: He shutteth, and no man openeth; [Rev. 3:7] by death is meant the one about whom it is written, By the envy of the devil, death came into the world; [Wis. 2:24] and by hell are represented those who belong to him. So with one set of keys the Devil is released to tempt the Church, and with the other he is bound; whence it is written, God is faithful, who will not suffer you to be tempted above that which you are able. [1 Cor. 10:13]

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:19

  Write therefore the things which thou hast seen, and which are, and which must be done hereafter. It passes from genus to species, for here John represents the preachers specifically. Note also that he repeats things he had already said, so that the fault of sluggishness should be put away. Write therefore, he says, the things which thou hast seen, as if he were saying "the things foretold concerning me in the law and the prophets," "and which are — namely the things fulfilled by me — and which must be done hereafter — that is the things that are to be fulfilled among my limbs." But we should now close this book in its due end, so that we not get tired in the flat of plains before we come to climb the mountains of this Apocalypse. As we have already said in the previous book, some affirm that this vision is a spiritual one, while others affirm it is an intellectual one. If it is an intellectual one, it is not in his own person, but in that of others that he learns. If, on the other hand, it is a spiritual one, he says in some places how he received understanding of the vision, and keeps silent about it in other places. This he of course does with the right moderation, because if the vision were made altogether clear, it would lose its worth, and if it remained completely obscure, it would be despised.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 1:20

  The mystery of the seven stars, which thou sawest in my right hand, and the seven golden candlesticks. The seven stars are the angels of the seven churches. And the seven candlesticks are the seven churches. Enough has already been said about this.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:1-2

  And unto the angel of the church of Ephesus write: These things saith he, who holdeth the seven stars in his right hand, who walketh in the midst of the seven golden candlesticks: I know thy works, and thy labour, and thy patience. In this place, blessed John, either in his own person or in that of preceding preachers, writes the Lord's words at the latter's bidding to the universal Church, which is represented by the angel. In this angel, sometimes the whole body of the elect, which consists of holy preachers and good listeners, is extolled by the proclamation of its merits, sometimes a part in particular is censured as wicked. So, what does it mean that the Redeemer Lord holds stars in his right hand, if not that he has predestined his elect to the blessedness of success? What does it mean that the same walks in the midst of the candlesticks, if not that he is present everywhere by bestowing the grace of gifts on every one of the saints through his inward discernment? If by the stars and candlesticks we understand the whole body of the Church, which consists of the elect and of the reprobates, by the right hand of Christ we should understand the power of his divinity, which no one can escape, for in his hand are all the ends of the earth; [Ps. 94:4] and he walks among the candlesticks, visiting the just and forsaking the unjust. The Lord says he knows the works, labor, and patience of the saints, which means that he approves them by the grace of choosing. But then the speech turns back to a specific weak part of the body when it is said after that, and how thou canst not bear them that are evil: for it is not a sign of merit, but of great weakness, that the angel cannot bear them that are evil. It is also to be noted that he says below to the same angel, Thou hast endured for my name: [Rev. 2:3] which is not incompatible with this passage, because in the one is indicated the weakness of some limbs, and in the other the strength of others. And thou hast tried them, who say they are apostles, and are not, and hast found them liars. It is to be believed that false apostles had then spread in the Church of Ephesus, whom the same John calls Antichrists in his epistle, [1 John 2:18] and in whose persons is denoted the perfidy of all heretics. As for trying, it is sometimes done with a view to approbation, as in The Lord your God trieth you. [Deut. 13:3] So the Church tries the false ones when, through the preachers, it interrogates the heretics about faith, to see whether they are disciples of the truth or of falsehood.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:3

  And thou hast patience, and hast endured for my name, and hast not fainted. As this is obvious, let us pass over it.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:4-5

  But I have somewhat against thee, because thou hast left thy first charity. Be mindful therefore from whence thou art fallen: and do penance, and do the first works. Let us not believe that the one who has left his first charity is the one he honored with such great praise in the previous verse; but from this species he turns his speech towards another, which he judges worthy of reprimand. By the first charity, he means that of earlier times, using a human way of speaking. Or else I come to thee, and will move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do penance. What does it mean to say to an unrepentant man, I come to thee, if not "I will make thee feel the presence of my wrath?" And since the angel and the candlestick are one in signification, what does it mean to say I will move thy candlestick out of its place, if not "I will move thee?" Here we must understand not the whole angel, but the unrepentant part of him, and its place is the Church; for since he is dealing not with genus but with species in the angel, he shows the place of the species in the genus. It is also to be noted that he does not say "I will throw away," but I will move, showing that an unrepentant person is by no means totally torn away from the Church as long as they are in this life, but that, because of their unrepentant heart, they do not deserve the gift of holiness by which they shone before human eyes. The Lord is said to move a candlestick (that is, not to set it up) in the same way as he is said to harden Pharaoh's heart. [Ex. 4:21; 7:3, 13, 22; 8:19; 9:12, 35; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8] So when someone commits a fault, then their candlestick is moved in the sight of men; but if they quickly stand up through penitence, it is mercifully put back in the same place; and that is why many are standing in the sight of God, who in the sight of men seem to be lying down. Therefore he says, I will quickly move thy candlestick out of its place, except thou do penance, that is "Thou shalt not get the gift of holiness back after thy fall, except thou take care to soften thy heart to penance."

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:6

  But this thou hast, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites, which I also hate. As if the universal angel were told, "Not in the species that I have just frightened, but in another one, thou hast this, that thou hatest the deeds of the Nicolaites, which I also hate." As for what the specific deeds of the Nicolaites are, blessed Augustine explained it in his book on heresies, saying: "Nicolas, according to the story, was one of the seven deacons who were ordained by the apostles. [Cf. Acts 6] As he was censured for jealousy towards his wife, who was very beautiful, he is said, in order to exculpate himself, to have given permission for anyone who so wished to use her. This deed of his gave rise to a most shameful sect, which has as a principle the promiscuous use of women. Its followers also do not even keep their food free of things sacrificed to idols." Moreover, all the heretics generally, are Nicolaites: indeed "Nicolas" translates to "foolish people." Therefore all those who do not hold the right views concerning the Father's wisdom, which is the Son, even if they are wise for the world, show that they are fools for God. We find Nicolaites even in the Church: namely those we see foolishly amassing treasure in their love for the world. Finally, it is to be noted that he does not say "Thou hatest the Nicolaites," but the deeds of the Nicolaites, because it is demonstrated that the Lord and those who are on his side do not hate in them the nature, which was created good in them, but their execrable deeds.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:7

  He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. By saying this, he clearly shows that in the one church of the Ephesians, he includes the totality of believers. He is not after the ears of the body, but after those of the heart, according to this: I say to you that hear. [Luke 6:27] Now, since the angel bore the person of the Son specifically, what does it mean that it is not said "what the Son of God" but what the Spirit saith to the churches, if not that, to instruct human manners, the words of the Son are the words of the Spirit? Or, alternatively, we should understand in the Spirit not the person of the Holy Spirit specifically, but the whole Trinity. To him, that overcometh, I will give to eat of the tree of life, which is in the paradise of my God. The tree of life is the wisdom of God the Father, according to this saying of Solomon's: Blessed is the man that findeth wisdom, a tree of life, etc. [Prov. 3:13-18] It is fitting for it to be called a tree of life, because in the present it protects its elect from the heat of vices, and in the future blessedness it will provide those who desire wisdom with the food of eternal contemplation; whence this: I shall be filled when thy glory shall appear to me. [Variant of Ps. 16:15] So to him who overcomes, that is to him who, in Christ and through Christ, prevails over the temptations of the old enemy, Christ will, according to his humanity, give to eat of the tree of life, because, when he comes for the judgment, he will bring him to contemplate the majesty of his divinity. As for the paradise the tree of life is in, it is eternal life, which is in the tree of life. Note also that he says he has a God as he speaks according to his humanity which he assumed for us. Furthermore, the fact that he both partly praises and partly blames this angel, is in accordance with the latter's name: for "Ephesus" means both "great fall" and "my will."

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:10

  QUESTION: What is meant by and you shall have tribulation ten days? ANSWER: It means the whole time during which the commandments of the Decalogue are necessary; for, as long as you follow the light of the divine Word, you are bound to suffer the prison of the opposing enemy.

  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:10

  Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer. According to this saying of the Gospel: Fear ye not them that kill the body, and are not able to kill the soul. [Matt. 10:28] Behold, the devil will cast some of you into prison that you may be tried: and you shall have tribulation ten days. Here it is clearly shown that he is addressing several people in one angel: for while he first said Fear none of those things which thou shalt suffer in the singular, he said some of you in the plural, as well as that you may be tried; but he did not say either "that they may be tried" or "they shall have," but that you may be tried and you shall have: he did so in order to let us know by saying this that many are standing together in one. So it is all the straits of oppressions that he indicated by the name of prison. When he says not "you" but some of you, he wants us to understand by this those who emerge victorious from the tribulations inflicted on them. Now what does it mean that he confines the tribulation of the Church to a number of ten days, if not that the Church is doing battle against the various sufferings of persecutions and diverse enticements of desires while submitting to the commandments of the Decalogue? Be thou faithful until death: and I will give thee the crown of life. This is said to the whole Church generally, and to every one of the faithful specifically. Hence the Lord in the Gospel: He that shall persevere unto the end, he shall be saved. [Ibid. 22]

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:11

  He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: He that shall overcome, shall not be hurt by the second death. When the sacred Scripture usually mentions three deaths, namely one of sin, one of the flesh, and one of damnation, why is the last damnation in this passage not called the third, but the second death, if not because it seems that here are mentioned only the deaths that are demonstrated to harm? Namely the death of sin and the death of eternal punishment, compared to which that of the flesh is not worthy to be called death. By the word hurting, we should understand decay in afflictions.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:12

  And to the angel of the church of Pergamus write: These things, saith he, that hath the sharp two-edged sword. This was explained earlier.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:13

  I know where thou dwellest, where the seat of Satan is. This is said to the Church generally, which dwells throughout the whole world, in which the Devil reigns. And thou holdest fast my name, and hast not denied my faith. Even in those days Antipas my faithful witness, who was slain among you, where Satan dwelleth. This sentence either was corrupted by scribes' fault, or it must be explained by some words being left implied, so that the order of words should be the following: "In those days, Antipas my faithful witness, who was slain among you, did not deny my faith;" or if not, then certainly "In those days there was Antipas my witness, who was slain among you." In this martyr, it is all witnesses that are praised by the proclamation of their merits. He says among you not because he was slain by them, but among them by those in whom Satan dwells. Note also that first comes thou holdest in the singular, and then comes you in the plural, because he is addressing several in one person.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:14

  But I have against thee a few things: thou hast there them that hold the doctrine of Balaam, who taught Balac to cast a stumbling block before the children of Israel, to eat, and to commit fornication. These things do not at all correspond to the one to whom he had previously said, "Thou holdest fast my name", etc.; but the speech turns towards another species. What he calls the doctrine of Balaam is the advice he gave Balac to put very beautiful women before the children of Israel so that, delighted by their looks, they might rush into forbidden embraces; enticed by their flatteries, they might eat of Beelphegor's sacrifices; and because of this be forsaken by God and fall before their enemies. [Num. 31:16] Now if we turn from the literal meaning to the symbol, we find how things happened afterwards or are still to happen. Balaam indeed translates to "varying people;" whence it suitably indicates the heretics, who are weakened by their divergent errors. As for Balac, it translates to "knocking out", and by him are represented the powers of this world, which (most of the time on the advice of heretics) bring the dignity of the Church down for a time. By Israel, "man seeing the Lord God," are symbolized the elect. So, on Balaam's advice, Balac casts before the children of Israel the stumbling block (that is the deception) of women so that they should eat of things sacrificed to idols and fornicate with them, because, on the heretics' advice, the princes of this world present in their discourses on the outside the sects of the heretics as if they were beautiful, while we know that they are full of all filth inside. Alternatively, Balaam, that is the Devil, teaches Balac, that is the flesh, to cast women, that is pleasures of the world, for souls to perish from.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:15-16

  So hast thou also them that hold the doctrine of the Nicolaites. Enough has already been said concerning the deeds of the Nicolaites. When he says not "thou hast there" but so hast thou also, he shows that the speech is turning from one species to another. Now since it makes no difference whether one is convicted of tolerating in silence the doctrine of Balaam or that of the Nicolaites, it is suitably said after that, In like manner do penance. With these words are also secretly invited to penance those whom the same sluggish preachers are reprimanded for having completely failed to correct; whence it is also said after that, If not, I come to thee, and will fight against them with the sword of my mouth. Why indeed does he not say "I will fight against thee" but I will fight against them, if not because, as already said, he is exhorting to come to lamentation of their faults also those who he knew had perished because of the sluggishness of the preachers? Which is the same as if he said, "I come to thee, and will fight against thee," as another translation shows, or "I come to you all, and will fight against you." Now what does it mean to say I come to thee, if not "I make thee feel consideration for my wrath?" Or what does it mean to say I will fight against them with the sword of my mouth, if not "I will damn them with the sharp sentences of my words?"

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:17

  He, that hath an ear, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches: To him that overcometh, I will give the hidden manna. By the hidden manna he means the invisible bread that came down from heaven and was made man so that man might eat the bread of angels. [Cf. John 6:51; Ps. 77:24-25] This manna is now consumed in the sacrament by faith, and will someday be consumed in reality by sight, according to this saying of the Psalmist: I shall be filled when thy glory shall appear to me. [Variant of Ps. 16:15] Indeed if we translate manna, it means "What is this?", which we say only of a thing we have not seen before. Therefore it is appropriate for that satiety of heavenly glory to be called manna, because, according to Paul's words, neither hath eye seen, nor hath it entered into the heart of man, what things God hath prepared for them that love him. [Part of 1 Cor. 2:9] And will give him a white counter, and in the counter, a new name, which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it. The counter is a precious stone which is also called carbuncle, because this stone is said to do the same as a kindled piece of coal, which shines in the darkness with the size in which it stopped. Therefore, what is indicated by the white counter but Jesus Christ, who appeared clean among men without any dark stain of sin, and illuminated the darkness of our mortality with the light of his divinity? The meaning is: I will make the one who triumphs over the author of death my coheir in the Father's kingdom. Another translation has "pearl" instead of counter. The new name he is talking about is "Christian," which was previously unheard of, concerning which the Lord says through Isaiah to the Church, Thou shalt be called by a new name, which the mouth of the Lord hath spoken. [Variant of Is. 62:2] Yet, since many who have been overcome by the Devil are called by this name, how is it that he promises to give it only to those who overcome, if not because the gift we must understand here is the one by which we know those who are predestined to life in the heavenly city have been chosen? Here it is suitably said after that, which no man knoweth, but he that receiveth it, as if he were saying, "No one defends the dignity of the Christian name by their life and manners but the one who has gained it through divine predestination to eternal life." For knowing the name of Christ is about keeping the commandments, while receiving it is traced back to the grace of divine predestination.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:18-19

  And to the angel of the church of Thyatira write: These things saith the Son of God, who hath his eyes like to a flame of fire, and his feet like to fine brass. I know thy works, and thy faith, and thy charity, and thy ministry, and thy patience, and thy last works which are more than the former. This is said to the universal Church, whose works, charity, and faith the Lord knows because he approves them by the grace of choosing. However, these things are mentioned out of order: for you first need to believe, then to love what you believe, and lastly to do the works love and belief force you to. By ministry in this passage he wants us to understand ample almsgiving in extreme poverty. We should however ask the question of why the last works of the Church are declared to be more than the former. So, one should know that at first, the Gentiles converted to Christ were ordered by the apostles to keep only four laws: namely to abstain from things sacrificed, fornication, meat of animals killed by suffocation, and blood; [Cf. Acts 15:19-20] but after a little time had passed, they attained the summit of perfection, so that many of the believers disregarded all things of the world. Either this is the explanation, or it is because starting from the persecution of the Antichrist a greater virtue of works will shine in the Church. Indeed, while the Church made up of Gentiles is now working alone, it will then also bring the Jews to faith, and thus work twice as much.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:20

  But I have somewhat against thee: because thou sufferest the woman Jezabel, who calleth herself a prophetess, to teach, and to seduce my servants, to commit fornication, and to eat of things sacrificed to idols. These things do not correspond to the one he honored with such great praise above, but they refer specifically to the bad preachers who allow fornication and idolatry in the Church by their negligence. It is not to be believed that Jezabel the wife of Ahab, who we know was crushed by the hoofs of horses, [2 Kings 9:33] physically survived until that time; but since there were then in that church some people who imitated her sexual intercourses, the very mother of fornications was censured in them: for the reprobates, united in an equality of vices, constitute one body, which is that of the old enemy, just as the elect, by the bond of virtues, make up one body, which is that of Christ. Jezebel's fornication is of four kinds: there is fornication in pleasure, as in Whosoever shall look on a woman to lust after her, hath already committed adultery with her in his heart; [Matt. 5:28] there is also fornication in deed, whence the apostle: Fly fornication, brethren; [Variant of 1 Cor. 6:18] there is the fornication of idolatry, according to this: She played the harlot with stones and with stocks; [Jer. 3:9] and there is also the fornication of covetousness, according to this: covetousness, which is the service of idols. [Col. 3:5] It is also to be noted that Jezabel calls herself a prophetess, and seduces God's servants because of that. So, when anyone says to a celibate, "Come, let us enjoy what we desire, because if God did not wish this to happen, he would not have created man and woman," they are seeking to seduce a soldier of God as though by prophesying. So, Jezabel translates to "flow of blood," "flowing," or "dunghill." By the name of blood are symbolized sins, according to this: Deliver me from bloods. [Ps. 50:16] It is said that what happens to women when they suffer their flow of blood is that humor of blood collected during several days overflows and is discharged when the menstrual time has come. It is demonstrated that it is what happens to the universal Jezabel: a shameful pleasure accumulated during a long time springs forth to open ugliness of works when the time has come. Then the mind grows excessively anxious, and the man melts just like wax in front of fire; whence it is right for her to be called "flowing." Finally, by the very repetition of the perpetration of lust, a stench of bad reputation is emitted far and wide, whence it is fittingly that Jezabel translates to "dunghill."

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:21

  And I gave her a time that she might do penance, and she will not repent of her fornication. Hence it is said by blessed Job concerning any reprobate, The Lord hath given him place for penance, and he abuseth it unto pride. [Variant of Job 24:23] Now, since in the previous verse he blamed the sluggish preacher for Jezabel's fornication, why is it not said, "I gave you and her," but only her? Especially since the apostle affirms that not only those who do evil, but also those who consent to those who do it, must be punished with eternal death. [Rom. 1:32] One should know therefore that God's speech is passing from species to genus, and it is as if in it he covertly blamed as unrepentant the reprobate part of the species that he had overtly reproved above, so that one and the same species appears now guilty, now worthy, when it is blamed both overtly as negligent and non-overtly as unrepentant. He did this in order that the part of the species that consists of holy preachers should not seem to be joined to the one that is part of the reprobates.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:22

  Behold, I put her into a bed: and they that commit adultery with her shall be in very great tribulation, except they do penance from their deeds. Jezabel, those who fornicate in her, and her children are one body, that of Satan, which is put in a bed not in order that it may rest, but that it may run into madness: for by the name of bed are meant the audacity and feeling of security to commit wrongs. She is said to be put in it by God not because he himself impels her, but because he does not snatch her away from this illusion of security by punishing her; and since increases of vices are like some kinds of torments, it is right for the bed to be called a great tribulation. The bed may also indicate eternal torment; it seems to me this is why another translator put "mourning" instead of bed.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:23

  And I will kill her children unto death. And the churches shall know that I am he that searcheth the reins and hearts. By the reins he wants us to understand the very perpetrated wickedness of physical lust, because the seed of human conception comes from the loins of men. By the word hearts he wants us to understand incitements to spiritual adultery. Whence the Psalmist: Burn my reins and my heart. [Ps. 25:2] But can it be that before the Lord publicly unmasks idolaters and fornicators and massacres them, the Church does not know that he is the Knower of secrets? Or how can it be called Church, if it gets to know it by this outcome of events rather than by faith? We should therefore hold the firm belief that, as far as the present state of things is concerned, they are punished with a hidden death, so that the meaning should be the following: When I condemn the reprobates hiddenly and secretly, even then the faithful do not doubt that I know the actions of everyone. And I will give to every one of you according to his works. He comes back from species to genus. There is nothing more to be explained here, but there is more to be feared.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:24

  To you I say, to the rest who are at Thyatira: Whosoever have not this doctrine, and who have not known the depth of Satan. In this passage the discourse returns to the elect. By the depth of Satan we should understand his ruinous pride, because of which he was the first to carry himself high and swell with vanity against God. The elect are said not to know this pride, that is, not to agree to take it as an example to imitate; in the same way as the sacred Scripture says that unmarried women have not known men, which means that they have no experience whatsoever of the actions of men in sexual acts, and in the same way as we say that a truthful person knows nothing about lying. As they say, I will not put upon you any other burthen. Who are those who say this but the peoples of the Jews, who say that the observances of the old law are being put on the shoulders of believers? Whence Luke the evangelist: Some coming down from Judea, taught the brethren: That except you be circumcised after the manner of Moses, you cannot be saved. [Acts 15:1]

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:25

  Yet that, which you have, hold fast till I come. That is, do not give up the light burden that you are called to, namely the grace of the Redeemer. By saying till I come, he shows that the Church remains under grace until the times of the renewal.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:26-27

  And he that shall overcome, and keep my works unto the end, I will give him power over the nations. And he shall rule them with a rod of iron, and as the vessel of a potter they shall be broken, as I also have received of my Father. The Son did not receive this power from the Father in his divinity, but in his humanity, in which he is inferior to the Father; whence this: All power is given to me in heaven and in earth; [Matt. 28:18] and since the elect are his limbs, they also receive this power in their Head, according to this: Whatsoever you shall bind upon earth, shall be bound also in heaven, etc. [Matt. 18:18] By the rod of iron is represented the authority of preachers; for a rod of iron has straightness without weakness: so are the holy preachers capable neither of sparing themselves nor others when it comes to fighting vices, but they only strive to build the path of justice in themselves and others; whence it is said to Christ: The rod of thy kingdom is a straight rod. [Variant of Ps. 44:7] It is appropriate for believers to be compared to earthen vessels, for they are vessels in that they bear the treasure hidden from eternity, and they are earthen because they are burdened by the decay of the flesh; whence the apostle: We have this treasure in earthen vessels. [2 Cor. 4:7] As for the fact that these vessels are said to be broken when touched by the rod, we should understand here a part of the vessels that is still being destroyed in order to be remoulded for the better. Hence it is said to the potter of mankind: Turn the wicked, and they shall not be, [Prov. 12:7] implying "they shall not be wicked, but good." Now what is meant by the first words, he that shall overcome, and keep my works unto the end? Is no one ruling believers until he triumphs over the Devil by reaching the end? Or maybe he will rule afterwards? Therefore one should know that the Lord, using the future instead of the past, is indicating that those to whom he proclaims he will give power over the nations, have already overcome by the grace of predestination, and have already kept his works unto the end; as if he were saying, "I will rightly give the duty of ruling to the one who I find out for certain is victorious and will continue my works unto the end." This is because for him the future is the present.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 2:28

  And I will give him the morning star. In the sacred Scripture, the morning star in the singular signifies Christ (whence he says later, I am the morning star) [Rev. 22:16] and in the plural it signifies angels. So the Lord will give the morning star to those who overcome, when he remoulds the body of our humility, that is, when all those who are in the graves hear the voice of the Lord and come forth: [John 5:28-29] he will bring them to the perfect day [Prov. 4:18] when he shows them the brightness of his divinity.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:1

  QUESTION: What is meant by what he says to the angel of the church of Sardis, I know thy works, that thou hast the name of being alive: and thou art dead? ANSWER: To yourself you do look alive, but if you are not watchful in the correction of the wicked, you shall soon be counted among the dead, because it is no use for leaders to live a good life themselves if they fail to correct others; which is also why Solomon says, Thou shalt not give sleep to thy eyes, neither slumber to thy eyelids. [Variant of Prov. 6:4]

  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:1-2

  And to the angel of the church of Sardis, write: These things saith he, that hath the seven spirits of God, and the seven stars: I know thy works, that thou hast the name of being alive: but thou art dead. Be watchful and strengthen the things that remain, which were ready to die. The Lord has the seven spirits in a different way from the way he has the stars, for he has the sevenfold Spirit as an entity equal to him in the nature of the divinity, while he has the sevenfold Church as an entity subject to him in his power, as a servant. Now if he indicates that this angel, whether in the preachers or in some of his listeners, has the name of being alive through confession of faith alone, but is dead in works, how is it that he adds in order to warn the same, Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, which were ready to die? One should know therefore that he shows that he is partly dead through his faults, and partly alive through good works. Now how can someone be partly alive if he is dead, even because of one fault, if not because, if he rises again from sin through penance, he does not even lose, once he is alive, the good things he did when he was dead, because those things are themselves brought back to life with him? This is why he hears, Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, which were ready to die, which means, "If you come back to life in that part in which you are dead, you strengthen the other things that are still alive in you, in order that they do not die." Alternatively, there are many people within the bosom of the Church who, keeping their lives from all fault, are considered alive by men, but are regarded as dead by God because their intention is not right, and these are told, Be watchful, and strengthen the things that remain, which were ready to die, as if they were told, "If you want the framework of your merits to be alive, watch the intention behind your works; pride will be alive." For I find not thy works full before my God. That is, since the head, which is intention, has lost its vigor, the limbs, which are the merits, are by no means vigorous, full or plump, but they languish, meagre and almost dead.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:2

  QUESTION: What is meant by for I find not thy works full before my God? ANSWER: A leader's works are not full before God if he does not strive to rouse others as well, however innocent he may seem to people.

  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:3

  Have in mind therefore in what manner thou hast received and heard: and observe, and do penance. This sentence can be ascribed to both senses. Indeed he had heard, Whosoever shall keep the whole law, but offend in one point, is become guilty of all, [James 2:10] as well as If thy eye be evil thy whole body shall be darksome. [Matt. 6:23] If then thou shalt not watch, I will come to thee as a thief, and thou shalt not know when I will come. To watch is to rise from the sleep of sin to justice through the tears of repentance. The comparison with a thief that is introduced here is a fit one, since when a thief arrives unexpectedly, he massacres everyone he finds asleep and plunders their possessions: so does the heavenly judge kill the unrepentant with a sentence of punishment when he comes to them unexpectedly, and destroy their actions like a very strong robber.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:4

  But I have a few names in Sardis, who have not defiled their garments: and they shall walk with me in white, because they are worthy. Those who do not stain their garments with filth are those who commit no deadly sin after the sacrament of baptism; but since they are rare, it is first said a few names. Where then, Lord, shall they walk with you to? Where from, and where to, if not from you into you? For they walk with you every day, because they follow and observe the footprints of your Passion. You lead the way by giving examples, and they follow by imitating those examples. By worthy he means either "clean" or "wholly deserving my esteem." Now should those who defile their lives after baptism lose hope? No. Let them therefore run to the blood of the Lamb, not so that they may be wetted in it by the water of baptism again, but that they may be washed from the stains of their sins by a fountain of tears; whence there soon follows:

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:5

  He that shall overcome, shall thus be clothed in white garments. That is, he who fights against the enemy to get his garments back, and overcomes, will be clothed in the same garments again and shine in the same way as those who have kept them unstained. This can also apply to the unfaithful, who are exhorted to overcome, that is to believe in Christ; because this is the victory which overcometh the world, our faith. [1 John 5:4] And I will not blot out his name out of the book of life. A great question arises for us in this place: for these words seem to mean that the name of the one who does not overcome is blotted out from the book, while it is well-known that only the elect are kept in heaven's book, written there by the pen of blessed predestination. Then it remains for us to understand the names of the reprobates being blotted out from the book of life as a way of speaking, usual in the sacred Scripture, meaning that, due to reprobation, they are not written at all; in the same way as Pharaoh's heart is said to be hardened by the Lord. [Ex. 4:21; 7:3, 13, 22; 8:19; 9:12, 35; 10:1, 20, 27; 11:10; 14:4, 8] As for this book, it is a kind of divine force which predestined before the ages a certain and determined number of elect to be in glory in the future. So we should take what is said about the victor, I will not blot out his name out of the book of life, as if he were saying, "The one who I know will be victorious, I am already keeping his name written in heaven." And I will confess his name before my Father and his angels. What does it mean for the Son of God to confess the victor's name before the Father and the angels, if not to show that he who has overcome is united to him by his good works? Which will happen principally when he says to the elect, Come, ye blessed of my Father, etc. [Matt. 25:34]

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:7-8

  And to the angel of the church of Philadelphia, write: These things saith the Holy One and the true one, he that hath the key of David; he that openeth, and no man shutteth; shutteth, and no man openeth: Behold, I have given before thee a door opened, which no man can shut. The Lord is called the Holy One and the True One as if he were the only one, because compared to him no one is holy or truthful. It is indeed written, No one is clean from filth, [Variant of Job 14:4, very close to the LXX version.] as well as, Every man is a liar. [Ps. 115:11] We take the key of David to mean our Redeemer's incarnation, which he got from the seed of David. The door, which the same key opens and shuts, is Christ himself, according to this: I am the door, etc. [John 10:9] For he is called the key and the door in the same way as in the Gospel he is called the shepherd as well as both the porter and the door. [Ibid.1-5] So the open door is Christ born according to the flesh, having suffered, and resurrected on the third day; the door however is not open to the incredulous, but to believers. The Jews were trying to shut this door when they scourged the apostles and charged them that they should not speak in the name of Jesus; [Acts 5:40] but since when he opens, no man shuts, they replied immediately, We cannot but speak the things which we have heard. [Acts 4:17-20] As this door was shut to the Asians, the apostles tried to open it; but since when he shuts, no man opens, the spirit of Jesus stopped them. [Acts 16:7] The open door may also be taken to mean the Scripture, through which we come in towards Christ with the steps of faith. So he opens the door with the key of David, and no man shuts, because no one is able, with any veil of the Jews, to cast a shadow in the elect's hearts over the words of the sacred Scripture, which he made his elect understand spiritually by the grace of his incarnation. On the other hand, he shuts it for the unbelieving Jews, and it cannot be opened by anyone. This too can be analyzed symbolically: because thou hast a little strength, and hast kept my word, and hast not denied my name. Here it is no small question that arises: how can someone have only a little strength if they keep the word of God and do not deny his name? We should know therefore that it was said according to the estimation of human weakness, because, while the elect are capable of many things through Christ, they presume that they are capable of little. Indeed Thou hast a little strength is said as if it were said "Thou thinkest that thou hast a little strength."

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:9

  Behold, I will bring of the synagogue of Satan, who say they are Jews, and are not, but do lie. Behold, I will make them to come and adore before thy feet. And they shall know that I have loved thee. In this passage is foretold the faith of the Jews, according to this: until the fullness of the Gentiles should come in, and so all Israel should be saved. [Rom. 11:25-26] Now they say they are Jews, but are not, because they have lost on the inside spiritually the name they bear on the outside literally; for the expression of the name of Jews is the confession of Christ. However, when Elijah and Enoch are preaching, they will come to adore before the Church's feet, because they will venerate it by following the examples of its action.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:10

  Because thou hast kept the word of my patience, etc. The word of patience is what the Lord showed in example when he prayed on the cross for his persecutors, [Luke 23:34] and taught in words, saying, In your patience you shall possess your souls. [Luke 21:19] As for what follows, I will also keep thee from the hour of the temptation, which shall come upon the whole world to try them that dwell upon the earth, it should be taken as referring to the times of the Antichrist, under whom there will be so great a tribulation as has never been from the beginning of the world. [Matt. 24:21] For bodily wounds will be hard, but more grievous will be the miracles of the enemies. But the saints will be preserved from the trial of deception, because they will not be provoked to the negation of Christ.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:11

  I come quickly: hold fast that which thou hast. The Lord says he will come quickly, so that no one should give up in the struggle. For everything that passes happens quickly. What he tells him to hold fast is the conduct of heavenly life, and he gives the reason, adding, that no other man take thy crown. In this phrase we see that the certain and determined number of the elect is embraced, and we contemplate with an absolutely amazing thought the fact that no one can be added to or subtracted from it.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:12-13

  He that shall overcome, I will make him a pillar in the temple of my God. God's temple is the Church, according to this: The temple of God is holy, which you are. [1 Cor. 3:17] Since not only the preachers, but also the good listeners triumph over the old enemy, and in this verse everyone who overcomes is said to become a pillar in God's temple, we are forced to confess that a pillar is the same as the temple, that is the universal Church. In what follows, and he shall go out no more, it is openly shown that the Church, in the younger brother, had once passed from the unity of faith and work it kept in the prophets under the law to the error of perfidy and perverse work; but it was recovered through the killing of the fatted calf. [Luke 15:11-31] Alternatively, all of us, Jews as well as Gentiles, went out in Adam; but after we have been brought in victorious to the second Adam, we are made into a pillar of God's temple, because, overcoming the temptations of the old enemy through the blood of that same Mediator of ours, we are established in the heavenly glory of the saints by that steadfastness in the commandments which we are demonstrated to have lost in the first Adam. But we shall never go out again, because no incitements of the enemy shall tear us away from that common happiness of the heavenly fatherland. Note also that he says he has a God as he speaks according to his humanity. And I will write upon him the name of my God, and the name of the city of my God, the new Jerusalem, which cometh down out of heaven from my God, and my new name. He that hath ears, let him hear what the Spirit saith to the churches. The name of the Father being written on the one who overcomes means that he becomes his Son by adoption of the Spirit. Indeed, with what pen is it written, if not with the grace of the Spirit of both? Whence the apostle: The Spirit himself giveth testimony to our spirit, that we are the sons of God. [Rom. 8:16] As for Jerusalem, it translates to "sight of peace." It is said to come down out of heaven from God because the Church of the elect, which directs its course towards the sight of heavenly peace with the steps of love, went down, as it was predestined to, into the womb of the Virgin together with the Lord, whose body it is; or it is because its number increases every day through heavenly grace. It is called new because, through baptism and love, it is stripped of the oldness of the earthly man and clothed in heavenly newness; whence this: The old things are passed away, and behold all things are made new. [2 Cor. 5:17] So the name of Jerusalem is written on the victor when he joins the number of the saints. As for where we get all this from, it is revealed when it is added and my new name (implying I will write) namely the one that was given in time to the same Mediator, that is "Christ." This is where our dignity and high position comes from, this is the cause of our being called sons of God, New Jerusalem, and Christians. Therefore, where we hear the sum of all salvation, let us at last put a due end to this book.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:14

  And to the angel of the church of Laodicea, write: These things saith the Amen, the faithful and true witness, who is the beginning of the creation of God. Amen translates to "true," which we should take as referring to that Truth which said about itself, I am the truth. [John 14:6] Although the Lord has many faithful and true witnesses, it is appropriate for him to be called the faithful and true one as if he were the only one, because compared to him no one is faithful and truthful: for he is faithful, truthful, and good by nature, whereas we are so because he shares those qualities with us. As for how it is that the Son alone is called the witness when there are three that give testimony, [1 John 5:7] it has already been explained in the first book. Finally, the Son is called the beginning of the creation of God because it is from him that all things have got the beginning of existence; for, as it is written, All things were made by him. [John 1:3]

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:15

  QUESTION: What is meant by what he says to the angel of Laodicea, I know thy works, that thou art neither cold, nor hot? ANSWER: You are neither ardent in faith nor completely unfaithful. If you were still unfaithful, there would be some hope left for you to convert; but now, since you know the Lord's will and do not do it, you are thrown out of the inside of my Church. (3:19) THERE FOLLOWS: Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise. ANSWER: Do not shrink from suffering adversity, since it is a specific sign of being loved by the Lord.

  QUESTIONS AND ANSWERS MANUAL ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:15-16

  I know thy works, that thou art neither cold, nor hot. I would thou wert cold, or hot. But because thou art lukewarm, and neither cold, nor hot, I will begin to vomit thee out of my mouth. The cold ones are those whom either the perfidy of the Jews or the error of the Gentiles keeps bound, because the one who said, I will sit in the sides of the North, [Is. 14:13] binds them with his ice. On the other hand, the hot ones are those whose hearts the South wind, that is the Holy Spirit, comes to and touches with the heat of faith, so that, the hardness of incredulity being softened and the cold of error being lost, they emanate the heat of good works. Both someone cold and someone hot often become lukewarm: someone cold becomes lukewarm when they turn away from the cold of iniquity but do not pass to the perfect heat of justice, and someone hot becomes lukewarm if they come down from the heat of justice to the inactivity of sluggishness. Then, we have all learned from experience that something cold or hot easily passes into our body, but something lukewarm provokes nausea and is thrown right out of the mouth. So can teachers more easily attract an unfaithful person to faith or a perverted Christian to fervor for good work, than they can a lukewarm person; and so they forsake him, as a farmer leaves an unfruitful land and cultivates the one from which he has already plucked out the thorns and which is fruitful, or the one which, albeit still full of thorns, seems to promise it will be fruitful.

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:17

  Because thou sayest: I am rich, and made wealthy, and have need of nothing: and knowest not, that thou art wretched, and miserable, and poor, and blind. Whoever boasts of being rich on account of the confession of the right faith, if he does not cease to do evil, is not rich, but poor; and any one of the lukewarm, since he does not understand this, can rightly be blamed by the Lord as wretched, miserable, poor, naked, and blind: wretched, because he is deceiving himself; miserable, because he does not realize he is fooling himself; poor and naked, because he is void of true virtues; but in an even worse manner because he is not even conscious of it, whence he is also deservedly called blind. But since divine kindness calls some of the lukewarm to the heat of justice, it is suitably said after that:

  COMMENTARY ON REVELATION

• Revelation 3:18

  I counsel thee to buy gold fire-tried, that thou mayest be made rich. Gold in this passage is taken to mean God's wisdom incarnate, concerning which it is said elsewhere, Take wisdom as gold. [Variant of Prov. 16:16] It is right for this gold to be called fire-tried, because our Redeemer was tested by the fire of the Passion. The meaning is: If you want to be rich in virtues, take me as an example, so that you too may become gold melted by fire. Now what price shall a poor person give for this gold but a pious state of mind in his prayer? To him it is said in addition: and mayest be clothed in white garments, that the shame of thy nakedness may not appear. Someone is clothed in white garments to cover the shame of their nakedness when they buy gold fire-tried, convert to a new life to avoid the shame of lukewarmness, and deserve, thanks to their imitation of him, to be connected with the new and heavenly man. And anoint thy eyes with eye salve, that thou mayest see. As if it were saying: Apply the divine commandments to your blind mind, so that you may see the nakedness in virtues you are suffering from and hurry to cover it. Indeed, if the divine commandments were not eye salve, the Psalmist would not say, The commandment of the Lord is lightsome, enlightening the eyes. [Ps. 18:9] Eye salve, which is made from earth and removes the dust of the earth from the eyes, may represent the temporal poverty our Redeemer assumed for us. Therefore let him who has his eyes blinded with dust put eye salve on them to recover sight, that is, let him who gets lost due to earthly pleasures bring back to his mind his Redeemer's temporal poverty, so that he may contemplate with his inward eyes the future rewards of the saints.

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• Revelation 3:19

  Such as I love, I rebuke and chastise. Rebuke is about words, chastisement is about whips. There is nothing more that needs explaining in this sentence, but it just needs to be embraced willingly. Be zealous therefore, and do penance. As if he were saying, "If you do not take whip blows temporarily here with them, you shall be subjected to eternal torments without them."

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