Hippolytus of Rome

In his own words on Isaiah

• Isaiah 1:1

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

  Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments

• Isaiah 1:1

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

  Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments

• Isaiah 1:7-8

  What therefore? Have these things not come to be? Have the things announced by you not come to fruition? Is not their land, Judah, desolate? Is the holy place not burned? Are their ways not thrown down? Are their cities not laid waste? Do strangers not devour their lands? Do the Romans not rule over their land?

  ON THE ANTICHRIST 30

• Isaiah 1:16

  Beloved, see how the prophet predicted the washing of baptism. For the person who comes to the washing of regeneration with faith, renounces the devil, joins himself to Christ, denies the enemy, confesses that Christ is God, puts off the bondage and puts on the adoption is the one who emerges from the baptism "as bright as the sun," shining with beams of righteousness and, most importantly, returns a child of God and a joint heir with Christ.

  ON THE THEOPHANY 10

• Isaiah 8:7

  [Isaiah] uses the "king of Assyria" as a symbol for the Antichrist.

  ON THE ANTICHRIST 57:15-16

• Isaiah 11:14

  He [the Antichrist] shall be proclaimed king by them, and shall be magnified by all, and shall prove himself an abomination of desolation to the world.

  FRAGMENTS FROM COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 2:40

• Isaiah 14:4

  We will show in what follows that these things are not said of someone else but of that tyrant, the one without shame, the enemy of God, as Isaiah says.

  ON THE ANTICHRIST 15

• Isaiah 18:1-2

  The word of Isaiah: "Woe to the wings of the vessels of the land, beyond the rivers of Ethiopia: (woe to him) who sends sureties by the sea, and letters of papyrus [on the water; for nimble messengers will go] to a nation anxious and expectant, and a people strange and bitter against them; a nation hopeless and trodden down."But we who hope for the Son of God are persecuted and trodden down by those unbelievers. For the "wings of the vessels" are the churches; and the sea is the world, in which the church is set like a ship tossed in the deep but not destroyed. For she has with her the skilled pilot, Christ. And she bears in her midst also the trophy over death, for she carries with her the cross of the Lord. For her prow is the east, and her stern is the west, and her hold is the south, and her tillers are the two Testaments. And the ropes that stretch around her are the love of Christ, which binds the church. And the net which she bears with her is the layer of the regeneration which renews the believing from which also come these glories. As the wind, the Spirit from heaven is present by whom those who believe are sealed. She has also anchors of iron accompanying her, that is, the holy commandments of Christ himself, which are strong as iron. She also has mariners on the right and on the left, assessors like the holy angels by whom the church is always governed and defended. The ladder in her leading up to the sail-yard is an emblem of the passion of Christ, which brings the faithful to the ascent of heaven. And the topsails aloft on the yard are the company of prophets, martyrs and apostles, who have entered into their rest in the kingdom of Christ.

  ON THE ANTICHRIST 58-59

• Isaiah 19:1

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

  Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments

• Isaiah 29:11

  And that the things spoken of old by the law and the prophets were all sealed, and that they were unknown to people, Isaiah declares when he says, "And they will deliver the book that is sealed to one that is learned, and will say to him, 'Read this;' and he will say, 'I cannot read it, for it is sealed.' " It was right and necessary that the things spoken of old by the prophets should be sealed to the unbelieving Pharisees, who thought that they understood the letter of the law, and be opened to the believing. The things, therefore, which of old were sealed, are now by the grace of God the Lord all open to the saints.

  FRAGMENTS FROM COMMENTARY ON DANIEL 2:19

• Isaiah 33:17

  Two advents of our Lord and Savior are indicated in the Scriptures. The one [is] his first advent in the flesh, which took place without honor by reason of his being set at nothing, as Isaiah spoke of him in the past, saying, "We saw him, and he had no form nor comeliness, but his form was despised (and) rejected above all men; a man smitten and familiar with bearing infirmity (for his face was turned away); he was despised, and esteemed not." But his second advent is announced as glorious, when he shall come from heaven with the host of angels and the glory of his Father, as the prophet says, "You shall see the King in glory"; and, "I saw one like the Son of man coming with the clouds of heaven; and he came to the Ancient of Days, and he was brought to him. And there were given him dominion, and honor, and glory, and the kingdom; all tribes and languages shall serve him: his dominion is an everlasting dominion, which shall not pass away."

  ON THE ANTICHRIST 44

• Isaiah 38:5

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

  Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments

• Isaiah 38:8

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

  Hippolytus Exegetical Fragments

• Isaiah 40:12

  That Man, however, he says, is of no reputation in the world, but of illustrious fame in heaven, being betrayed by those who are ignorant (of his perfections) to those who know him not, being accounted as a drop from a cask. We, however, he says, are spiritual, who, from the life-giving water of Euphrates, which flows through the midst of Babylon, choose our own peculiar quality as we pass through the true gate, which is the blessed Jesus.

  THE REFUTATION OF ALL HERESIES 5:4

• Isaiah 42:1

  As the Word shows his compassion and his denial of all preferential treatment among all the saints, he enlightens them and adapts them to that which is advantageous for them. He is like a skillful physician, understanding the weakness of each one. The ignorant he loves to teach. The erring he turns again to his own true way. By those who live by faith he is easily found. To those of pure eye and holy heart, who desire to knock at the door, he opens immediately. For he casts away none of his servants as unworthy of the divine mysteries. He does not esteem the rich person more highly than the poor, nor does he despise the poor person for his poverty. He does not disdain the barbarian, nor does he set the eunuch aside as no man. He does not hate the female on account of the woman's act of disobedience in the beginning, nor does he reject the male on account of the man's transgression. But he seeks all and desires to save all, wishing to make all the children of God and calling all the saints to one perfect human person. For there is one Son (or Servant) of God, by whom we too, receiving the regeneration through the Holy Spirit, desiring to come all into one perfect and heavenly human person.

  ON THE ANTICHRIST 3

• Isaiah 53:9

  David alone of the prophets prophesied with an instrument, called by the Greeks the "psaltery." … But this psaltery has the source of its musical numbers above, in order that we, too, may practice seeking things above and not suffer ourselves to be borne down by the pleasure of melody to the passions of the flesh. And I think that this truth, too, was signified deeply and clearly to us in a prophetic way in the construction of the instrument, namely, that those who have souls well ordered and trained have the way ready to things above. And again, an instrument having the source of its melodious sound in its upper parts may be taken as like the body of Christ and his saints—the only instrument that maintains rectitude; "for he did no sin, neither was guile found in his mouth." This is indeed an instrument, harmonious, melodious, well-ordered, that took in no human discord and did nothing out of measure but maintained in all things, as it were, harmony toward the Father; for, as he says, "he that is of the earth is earthly and speaks of the earth; he that comes from heaven testifies of what he has seen and heard."

  FRAGMENTS ON THE PSALMS 1:6