| << | Contents | >> |
Remains of the Second and Third Centuries
Introductory Notice to Remains of the Second and Third Centuries.
[3529] See vol. ii. (p. 125), etc.
[3530] But see Lightfoot, A. F., part ii. vol. i. p. 524.
[3531] On Quadratus and Aristides, consult Routh, R. S., p. 71; also Westcott, On the Canon, p. 92.
[3532] In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iv. 3.
[3533] [Westcott supposes the Diognetus of Mathetes (vol. i. p. 23) may be the work of Quadratus; Canon, p. 96.]
[3534] Routh, R. S., vol. i. p. 93. Westcott, Canon, p. 106. Grabe’s mention. Routh’s discussion, in annotations, is most learned and exhaustive.
[3535] Barchochebas.
[3536] The Jews.
[3537] ῾Υποτυπώσῶς.
[3538] Contra Celsum, iv. 52.
[3539] Οὐκ ἀγεννῶς.
[3540] Routh, R. S., vol. i. p. 113. And see Westcott, Canon, p. 245.
[3541] Lightfoot, A. F., vol. ii. p. 48.
[3542] Ib., vol. i. p. 428.
[3543] Vol. ii. (Stromata) p. 301, this series.
[3544] Vol. i. p. 186, this series.
[3545] Lightfoot, A. F., vol. i. p. 468.
[3546] Lightfoot, A. F., vol. ii.
[3547] Ibid., pp. 446, 494.
[3548] “Which was delivered in the presence…and in which etc.” This appears to be the sense intended, and is that given by M. Renan: “Sermo qui factus est.” Cureton renders, “Who was in the presence, etc.,” and supposes that Melito first saw and conversed with the emperor, and afterwards wrote this discourse. Melito speaks of it more than once as written. This view, however, does not dispose of that fact that Melito is here affirmed to have “exhorted (lit., said to) Cæsar, etc.” It was clearly meant to be understood that the discourse, or speech, was spoken: the references to writing merely show that it was written, either before or after the delivery.
[3549] Cureton: “passion.” The word *** takes both meanings.
[3550] Lit. “sojourn beneath it.”
[3551] Cureton: “act foolishly.”
[3552] Lit. “sight.”
[3553] Comp. Rom. x. 18.
[3554] Cureton: “light without envy.” But the expression resembles the Gk. ἀφθόνως, ungrudgingly, without stint.
[3555] Lit. “to the ditch is his way.” Comp. Matt. xv. 14.
[3556] See vol. i. p. 280, this series, where the following lines are quoted by Justin Martyr from the Sibylline Oracles:—
“But we have strayed from the Immortal’s ways,
And worship with a dull and senseless mind
Idols, the workmanship of our own hands,
And images and figures of dead men.”
[3557] Cureton: “those belonging to the Cæsars.” But the Cæsars themselves are clearly meant.
[3558] Cureton: “sacks full.” The first word is used of a leathern pouch or wallet, as in Luke x. 4 (Peshito) for πήρα.
[3559] Lit., “they became.”
[3560] Cureton, without necessity, reads the word “Dionysius.”
[3561] Cureton renders “originally.” But comp. Judith iv. 3, where the same word answers to προσφάτως.
[3562] Venus.
[3563] Cureton’s conjecture of *** or *** for *** has been adopted.
[3564] Some have identified it with Aphek, Josh. xix. 30. The rites observed here were specially abominable.
[3565] Cureton: “the patrician.” Dr. Payne Smith, Thes. Syr. s.v., regards the word as equivalent to πατὴρ τῆς πόλεως, pater civitatis, “a title of honour found in the Byzantine writers,” and is inclined to think it a term belonging to the dialect of Edessa. A similar use of the same adjective is quoted from Buxtorf, Lex. Chald. Talm., p. 12: “אַבַּיי cognomen R. Nachmanis, qui a celebritate familiæ sic cognominatus est, quasi Patritius.” This view appears to be supported by the similar use of an adjective for a substantive above: “persons of Cæsarean rank,” or “Cæsars.”
[3566] Lit., “be (or, get to be) with thyself.” Cureton: “enter into thyself.” The meaning appears to be, “think for thyself.”
[3567] Cureton: “Everything cometh through His hands.” It should rather be, “into His hands,” i.e., “He has power to do everything.” See note 7, p. 725.
[3568] Lit., “be running in thy mind.”
[3569] The text has ***, which M. Renan derives from the root *** and translates “commovetur.” This, although correct in grammar, does not suit the sense. The grammars recognise the form as a possible Eshtaphel of ***, “tangere,” but it is not found in actual use. Dr. Payne Smith thinks the right reading to be ***, which gives the required sense.
[3570] Or, “that which is fixed and invariable.” There seems to be a reference to the derivation of *** (truth) from ***, firmus (stabilis) fuit. Cureton has strangely mistranslated ***, by “that which, without having been brought into existence, does exist.” The first *** is nothing but the sign of emphatic denial which is frequently appended to ***, and *** is the infinitive of emphasis belonging to the second ***.
[3571] Cureton: “materials.” The printed text has *** “drugs.” The correct reading, there can hardly be a doubt, is ***.
[3572] Lit., “the property of the gold or silver,” if the word *** is rightly taken. Although no such derivative of *** is found in the lexicons, the form is possible from the Palel of that verb: e.g. *** from ***. See Hoffmann, Gram. Syr., sec. 87, 19.
[3573] Lit. “in one fashion.”
[3574] Or, “of what pertains to it.”
[3575] Lit. “many good things.”
[3576] Lit. “be the beginner.”
[3577] Cureton is probably right in so taking the words, although the construction is not quite the same as in the similar sentence a little below. If so, for *** we must read ***.
[3578] Lit. “hand.”
[3579] Lit. “into an insult of God.” So M. Renan, “in opprobrium Dei.” Cureton, admitting that this may be the sense, renders, “an abomination of God,” and refers to the circumstance that in Scripture an idol is frequently so spoken of. But *** is not used in such passages (it is either ***, or, less frequently, ***), nor does it appear ever to have the meaning which Cureton assigns to it.
[3580] Lit. “he.”
[3581] Lit. “hast made it.”
[3582] Lit. “heart.”
[3583] Lit. “be of opinion.”
[3584] This seems preferable to Cureton’s, “and let thy children also follow after thee.” Had this been the meaning, probably the verb *** would have been used, as in the preceding sentence, not ***.
[3585] So the Sibylline oracle, as quoted by Cureton in the Greek:—
“And, when he would the starry steep of heaven
Ascend, the Sire Immortal did his works
With mighty blasts assail: forthwith the winds
Hurled prostrate from its height the towering pile,
And bitter strife among the builders roused.”
[3586] Lit. “chosen.” The same expression, except that the similar *** is used for ***, occurs Sap. Sol. xiv. 6, as a translation of ὑπερηφάνων γιγάντων, gigantes superbi. See Thes. Syr., s.v. ***.
[3587] The ms. has “Antonius.”
[3588] Cureton, for the last clause, gives “as thou wilt,” remarking that the sense is obscure. The literal rendering is, “if thou wilt,” the consequent clause being unexpressed. “If you please, accept them,” seems what is meant.
II. From the Discourse on Soul and Body.
[3589] By Melito, bishop of Sardis.
[3590] *** seems to be the true reading, not the *** of the printed ms.
[3591] [Such passages sustain the testimony of Jerome and others, that this venerable and learned Father was an eloquent preacher.]
III. From the Discourse on the Cross.
[3592] By the same.
[3593] Or “wove—a body from our material.”
[3594] Lit. “changing.”
[3595] Lit. “He was everything.”
[3596] Of Melito the bishop.
[3597] By Melito, bishop of Attica. [Of this epigraph, which becomes Ittica below, I have never seen a sufficient explanation.]
[3598] Lit. “the Lamb without voice.”
[3599] The Greek γλωσσόκομον.
[3600] [For Phlegon’s testimony, see references, vol. vii. p. 257. But note Lightfoot, Ap. F., part ii. vol. i. p. 512; his remark on Origen, Celsus, vol. iv. p. 437, this series.]
[3601] This is the rendering of ***; but Cureton has “fled,” as though he read ***.
[3602] By the holy Melito, bishop of the city of Ittica. [For Melito, in Lightfoot’s Apost. Fathers, consult part ii. vol. i. pp. 133, 328, 428, 443–446, 468–469, 494. See Lardner, Credib., vol. ii. 157, etc.; Westcott, Canon, p. 246. See Polycrates, infra; on which consult Schaff, History, etc., vol. ii. p. 736. Above all, see Routh, R. S., tom. i. pp. 113–153.]
[3603] The following Fragments of Melito are translated from the Greek, except No. IX., which is taken from the Latin.
I. From the Work on the Passover.
[3604] In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iv. 26. [Melito wrote two books on the Paschal and one On the Lord’s Day (ὁ περὶ κυριακῆς λόγος), according to Eusebius. But is this On the Lord’s Day other than one of the books on the Paschal? It may be doubted. Routh refers us to Barnabas. See vol. i. cap. 15, note 7, p. 147, this series. See also Dionysius of Corinth, infra.]
[3605] He was bishop of Laodicea, and suffered martyrdom during the persecution under M. Aurelius Antonius.—Migne.
[3606] The churches of Asia Minor kept Easter on the fourteenth day from the new moon, whatever day of the week that might be; and hence were called Quartodecimans. Other churches, chiefly those of the West, kept it on the Sunday following the day of the Jewish passover. In the case here referred to, the 14th of the month occurred on the Sunday in question.
[3607] Migne, not so naturally, punctuates otherwise, and renders, “which had happened then to fall at the proper season, and on that occasion this treatise was written.”
II. From the Apology Addressed to Marcus Aurelius Antoninus.
[3608] In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., l. c.
[3609] Migne thinks that by these are meant the orders given by magistrates of cities on their own authority, in distinction from those which issued from emperors or governors of provinces.
[3610] The reference must be to private letters: for in any of the leading cities of Asia a mandate of the emperor would have been made public before the proconsul proceeded to execute it.—Migne.
[3611] ῎Εστω καλῶς γενόμενον seems to be here used in the sense of καλῶς alone. The correctness of Migne’s translation, recte atque ordine facta sunto, is open to doubt.
[3612] The Jews. Porphyry calls the doctrines of the Christians βάρβαρον τόλμημα. See Euseb., Hist. Eccl., vi. 19.—Migne.
[3613] Εὐκταῖος.
[3614] Commodus, who hence appears to have been not yet associated with his father in the empire.—Migne.
[3615] Εὐχάς.
[3616] ’Αφ᾽ ὧν καὶ τὸ τῆς συκοφαντίας ἀλόγῳ συνηθείᾳ περὶ τοῦς τοιούτους ῥυῆναι συμβέβηκε ψεῦδος.
[3617] ᾽Εγγράφως.
[3618] The reading of Valesius, σοῦ τὰ πάντα συνδιοικοῦντος αὐτῷ, is here adopted.
[3619] Περὶ τούτων.
[3620] In the Chronicon Alexandrinum.
[3621] ῎Οντως Θεοῦ Λόγου.
IV. From the Book of Extracts.
[3622] In Eusebius, l. c.
[3623] ᾽Ιησοῦς Ναυῆ.
V. From the Catena on Genesis.
[3624] From Melito of Sardis.
[3625] The Hebrew word סְבָךְ thicket, is not found as a proper name.
[3626] Τὸ ξύλον.
[3627] Μετὰ σπουδῆς. Migne: Cum festinatione.
VI. Two Scholia on Genesis XXII. 13.
[3628] In the edition of the LXX. published by Card. Caraffe, 1581.
[3629] κρεμάμενος. The Hebrew is נאחז, the Syriac ***, both meaning simply “caught.”
[3630] See note on the fragment just before.
[3631] ἀφεσις.
[3632] ὄρθιος.
[3633] Lit. “when translated.”
[3634] ἐπηρμένος.
[3635] In Anastasius of Sinai, The Guide, ch. 13.
[3636] Or, according to Migne’s punctuation, “His soul, and the body of His human nature.” The words are, τὸ ἀληθὲς καὶ ἀφάνταστον τῆς ψυχῆς αὐτοῦ καὶ τοῦ σώματος τῆς καθ᾽ ἡμᾶς ἀνθρωπινῆς φύσεως.
[3637] Οὐσίας. [Comp. note 13, infra.]
[3638] Τὸ ἀτέλες.
VIII. From the Oration on Our Lord’s Passion.
[3639] Anastasius, Guide, ch. 12.
[3640] [῾Ο Θεος πεπονθεν ὑπὸ δεξίας ᾽Ισραηλίτιδος. Compare Tatian, vol. ii. p. 71, note 2; also Origen, vol. iv. p. 480, note 4, this series. And see Routh, R. S., i. p. 148. So “God put to death,” p. 757, supra.]
[3641] From The Key.
[3642] Dan. vii. 9, 13, 22.
[3662] Sap. viii. 1.
[3665] Ipsa regnandi potestas.
[3674] Gressus.
[3679] Nescire Dei.
[3683] Rerum mutatio.
[3690] 1 Thess. iv. 15. [The above has been shown to have no claim to be the work of Melito. It is a compilation of the sixth century, in all probability.]
[3691] Westcott, Canon, p. 228.
[3692] Routh, Rel. Sac., vol. i. pp. 205–219. Lightfoot is culpably lax in calling Rome “the Papal throne” (temp. Anicet.), and mistaking alike the testimony of Irenæus and of our author. Ap. F., part ii. vol. i. p. 435.
Fragments from His Five Books of Commentaries on the Acts of the Church.
[3693] In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., ii. 23. [Comp. Isa. iii. 10, Sept.]
[3694] Σίκερα.
[3695] Τὰ ἅγια.
[3696] The reference appears to be to the Hebrew word עׂפֶּל, a rising ground, which was applied as a proper name to a fortified ridge of Mount Zion. See 2 Chron. xxvii. 3. It has been proposed to read ἐκαλεῖτο Σαδδὶκ καὶ ᾽Ωζλιὰμ, ὅ ἐστιν δίκαιος καὶ περιοχὴ τοῦ λαοῦ. The text, in which not only a Hebrew word but also a Greek (Δίκαιος) is explained in Greek, can hardly give the correct reading. [The translator suggests ᾽Ωβλίας as the probable reading of the LXX., though it is corrupted as above.]
[3697] Πτερύγιον. [Matt. iv. 5.]
[3698] Also in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iii. 20.
[3699] Τὰ ἐπιτηδεύματα αὐτοῦ.
[3700] ῾Ηγήσασθαι.
[3701] Also in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iii. 32.
[3702] ῾Υπατικοῦ. [St. John died a few years before.]
[3703] Τοῦ σωτηρίου κηρυγματος.
[3704] Also in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iv. 22.
[3705] ᾽Εν τῷ ὀρθῷ λόγῳ.
[3706] [Elucidation, p. 785.]
[3707] ᾽Ακοαῖς ματαίαις.
[3708] ᾽Εμέρισαν τὴν ενωσιν τῆς ἐκκλησίας. [Acts xx. 29-31.]
[3709] Book iv. cap. 24, from which these Fragments are collected. See Westcott, On the Canon, p. 206.
[3710] See Lightfoot, Ap. Fathers, part ii. vol. i. p. 555, where he corrects the reading και Πολύκαρπος.
[3711] [Routh (also on Pinytus and Soter), R. S., p. 177. This series, vol. vi. p. 102, note 3. Note also Lightfoot, A. F., part ii. vol. ii. p. 192, note 1; and Westcott, Canon, p. 206.]
[3712] [Comp. p. 758, note 8, supra. Also Ignatius, vol. i. p. 63, at note 2, this series.]
[3713] mss. “planted.”
[3714] The text is evidently corrupt.
[3715] [For the reply of Pinytus, and what is said by Eusebius of seven other epistles, see Routh, R. S., vol. i. pp. 181–184.]
[3716] i.e., of such importance or of such a character.
[3717] In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., v. 13.
[3718] Or Rhodo.
[3719] Vol. vii. pp. 333–338, this series, where I neglected to insert a reference to Routh, Rel. Sac., vol. ii. pp. 183–217.
[3720] H. E., book v. cap. 13.
[3721] Vol. ii. p. 62, this series.
[3722] See Origen, vol. iv. p. 567, this series.
[3723] Rel. Sac., vol. i. pp. 437–446.
[3724] The Marcionites.
[3725] Πολιτείᾳ. See Migne’s note.
[3726] ᾽Αρχήν. [See vol. vii. p. 365, this series.]
[3727] Δαιμονώσης.
[3728] Some copies have “Marcion the sailor,” and so Tertullian (de Præscriptionibus) speaks of him. [Vol. iii. cap. 30, p. 257, this series.]
[3729] Τὸν λόγον.
[3730] A fact which gave rise to a controversy, on which consult Routh, Rel. Sac., vol. ii. p. 78.
[3731] See vol. vi. p. 358, etc., this series, where I have spoken of Maximus as the original of the Dialogue ascribed to Methodius.
[3732] Routh, Rel. Sac., vol. ii. p. 85. See pp. 77–121, devoted to this author.
[3733] In Eusebius, Præp. Evang., vii. 22.
[3734] Χωρητὸν, the reading of onems., instead of χωρητικόν.
[3735] For εἰ δὲ μέρος αὐτῆς, ὅλον ἐχώρησεν αὐτόν, Migne reads, εἴ γε (or εἰ δὴ) μέρος αὐτῆς ὅλον, κ.τ.λ.
[3736] Συστολήν τινα.
[3737] Τῶν γινομένων (ἐν) αὐτῷ, Migne.
[3738] This word, ἀγέννητον, is added from Migne’s conjecture.
[3739] ᾽Εκ τῶν ὑποστάντων γενητῶν.
[3740] ᾽Εκ τοῦ ὕλην αὐτὸν ὑποτιθέναι.
[3741] ᾽Εξ οὐκ ὄντων. [Note this phrase. Comp. vol. vi. p. 292, n. 3.]
[3742] ῾Υποκειμένων.
[3743] For συλλελόγισται ὡς οὐκ ἀδύνατον εἶναι δοξάζειν, Migne reads, ὡς συλλελόγισται ἀδύνατον εἶναι δοξάζειν.
[3744] Lit. “in something.” Whether the materials or the art is meant is not very clear. Possibly there is a play of words in the use of the two prepositions, ἐκ and ἐν.
[3745] Migne, instead of παραστῆναι, conjectures παραστῆσαι, which, however, would not suit what appears to be the meaning.
[3746] Οὐσίας τινάς.
[3747] Σωματικήν τινα σύστασιν.
[3748] Τὴν σύστασιν ἔχει.
[3749] Migne reads οὐσίας for αἰτίας.
[3750] ᾽Ανάρχως.
[3751] Reading, with Migne, εἰ ὅ τι for εἴ τι.
[3752] Or “indifferent:” ἀδιάφοροι.
[3753] Migne reads ἐπ᾽ εὐεργεσίᾳ for ἐστὶν εὐεργεσία.
[3754] The text has, σύνθετος δὲ ὁ κόσμος; which Migne changes to, πῶς δὴ σύνθετός ἐστιν ὁ κόσμος;
Claudius Apollinaris, Bishop of Hierapolis, and Apologist.
[3755] Westcott, Canon, p. 248.
[3756] See vol. i. p. 187, this series, and references in my note (II.) on same page. The incident occurred during the war against the Quadi, a.d. 174.
[3757] Part ii. vol. i. pp. 469–476.
[3758] See p. 766, note 3, supra; also vol. vii., this series, p. 338.
[3759] Rel. Sac., tom. ii. p. 196; and Ibid., tom. i. pp. 157–174.
[3760] Rel. Sac., tom. i. p. 173.
[3761] Ap. Fathers, part ii. vol. i. p. 428.
[3762] See p. 775, infra.
[3763] [See vol. i. p. 187, note 2.]
[3764] This extract and the following are taken from the preface to the Chronicon Paschale.
[3765] [Routh, R. S., vol. i. p. 160.]
[3766] Πάλιν καθάρσια, qu. παλινκαθάρσια ="re-purifiers.”
Polycrates, Bishop of Ephesus.
[3767] Westcott, Canon, p. 432, note 1; Lightfoot, Ap. Fathers, pp. 379, etc., 494.
[3768] See Lardner, Credib., vol. ii. cap. 23, p. 259.
[3769] They cannot be satisfactorily answered, it seems to me, save by the appeal to John 20.19,26; Acts 20.7; 1 Cor. 16.2; Rev. 1.10, for “the Lord’s day,” and to the Council of Jerusalem (Acts xv. 28; Col. ii. 16) for the repeal of Sabbatical ordinances; and to the great laws (Matt. xvi. 19; John xiv. 26; Matt. xxviii. 20) of plenary authority given by Christ Himself to His Apostles.
[3770] 1 Cor. v. 7, 8, and margin of Revised Version; also Acts 12.4,12.
[3771] Acts ii. 1, xx. 16; 1 Cor. xvi. 8.
[3772] In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., v. 24.
[3773] ᾽Αῤῥαδιούργητον ἄγομεν τὴν ἡμέραν.
[3774] Στοιχεῖα.
[3775] [See vol. vii. p. 500, n. 6. Great confusions adhere to this name.]
[3776] Δύο θυγατέρες αὐτοῦ γεγηρακυῖαι παρθένοι.
[3777] Πολιτευσαμένη. [Phil. iii. 20, Greek.]
[3778] Πέταλον. [Probably the ornament of the high priest; Exod. xxviii. 35, 36.]
[3779] [i.e., spiritually; embracing a chaste celibacy in deference to Christ. Matt. xix. 12.]
[3780] ᾽Επισκοπην.
[3781] ̓́῞Ηρνυε. Some read ἠρτυε.
[3783] Τον μικρόν.
Theophilus, Bishop of Cæsarea in Palestine.
[3784] See (Polycrates) p. 773, supra, and Eusebius, H. E., book v. cap. xxiii., etc., pp. 222–226.
[3785] In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., v. 25.
[3786] [Note, the authority of Alexandria is quoted, not that of Rome.]
[3787] Westcott, Canon, p. 444. Lardner, Credib., ii. 264, 417.
[3788] In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., v. 19.
[3789] Ψευδοῦς τάξεως.
[3790] In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., v. 12.
[3791] The reading of Migne, ὀνόματι, is adopted instead of ὁνόματα.
[3792] Τὰ τοιαῦτα οὐ παρελάβομεν.
[3793] Δοκοῦν.
[3794] Αἱρέσει τινὶ ὁ νοῦς αὐτῶν ἐνεφώλευεν.
[3795] The construction is not again resumed.
[3796] Routh, Rel. Sac., vol. i. pp. 465–485.
[3797] Westcott, Canon, p. 433.
[3798] In Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., v. 18.
[3799] ἀξιόπιστον.
[3800] κατηχεῖν.
[3801] συναγωνίζεσθαι τοῖς τῆς καινοφωνίας λόγοις.
[3802] Or, “whom many of them (the Montanists—reading αὐτῶν for αὐτῷ, worship.”
[3803] ὀπισθόδομός, a chamber at the back of the temple of Minerva, in which public money was kept.
[3806] παραβάτης, here meaning an apostate.
[3807] This is explained by Rufinus to mean: “When certain brethren who had influence with the judge interceded for him, he pretended that he was suffering for the name of Christ, and by this means he was released.”
[3808] παροικια.
[3809] ὐπόστασιν, from ὐφίστημι, probably in the sense of substituting one thing for another.
[3810] τάβλαις καὶ κύβοις.
Pantænus, the Alexandrian Philosopher.
[3811] Vol. ii. p. 342; Westcott, Canon, pp. 90, 381; Routh, R. S., vol. i. pp. 375–379.
[3812] Vol. ii. pp. 165, etc., and p. 301, note 9; also p. 342, Elucid. II., this series.
[3813] Vol. vi. p. 236. St. Luke, in the company of Apollos, may have met a catechumen of his in that “excellent Theophilus” of his writings (St. Luke i. 4, Greek), whose history shows that catechetical teaching was already part of the Christian system.
[3814] In Extracts from the Prophets, written probably by Theodotus, and collected by Clement of Alexandria or some other writer.
[3816] Φασὶ τὸ σῶμα τοῦ Κυρίου ἐν τῷ ἡλίῳ αὐτὸν ἀποτίθεσθαι.
[3817] In the Scholia of Maximus on St. Gregory the Divine.
[3818] Θελήματα.
[3819] Οἱ περὶ Πάνταινον. [Vol. ii. pp. 165–167, this series.]
[3820] Τὴν ἔξω παίδευσιν.
[3821] Τὰ ὄντα.
[3822] ῾Ως ἴδια θελήματα.
[3823] Vol. iv. p. 125, this series. Compare Lightfoot, Ap. Fathers, part ii. vol. i. pp. 499, etc., 510, etc.
[3824] Ap. Fathers, part ii. vol. i. p. 499.
[3825] This letter has come down to us in fragments quoted by Eusebius. We have used the translation of Lord Hailes as the basis of ours. [Compare Vol. i. p. 309, this series, and note the adhesion of the primitive Gallican Church to the East,—to the land of Polycarp and Pothinus. Concerning Pothinus, see Routh, Rel. Sac., i. p. 328, and the correction by Lightfoot, Ap. F., part ii. vol. i. p. 430, etc. The Gallican Church may yet arise from the dust, and restore the primitive primacy of Lyons. God grant it!]
[3826] We have translated μάρτυρες “witnesses” and μαρτυρία “testimony” throughout.
[3827] Houses of friends and relatives. Olshausen takes them to be public buildings.
[3828] Rom. viii. 18. [On quotations from Scripture, etc., see Westcott, Canon, p. 378, ed. 1855.]
[3829] By “confinements” in this passage evidently is meant that the populace prevented them from resorting to public places, and thus shut them up in their own houses.
[3831] From the heathen judge.
[3833] The writer refers to St. John’s Gospel (John 15.13): “Greater love hath no man than this, that a man lay down his life for his friends.”
[3835] This expression seems to refer to what took place in athletic combats. The athletes were tested before fighting, and those in every way qualified were permitted to fight, while the others were rejected. This testing, Valesius supposes, was called διάκρισις.
[3837] The words here admit of two meanings: that something blasphemous might be uttered by them—such as speaking against Christ and swearing by Cæsar: or that some accusation against the Christians might be uttered by them—confirming, for instance, the reports of infanticide and incest prevalent against the Christians. The latter in this passage seems unquestionably to be the meaning.
[3839] Heinichen construes differently. He makes the “torturers astonished that Blandina gave her testimony that one kind of torture was sufficient to deprive her of life.” Perhaps the right construction is to make ὅτι mean “because” or “for:” “They were astonished as Blandina bearing her testimony, for one kind of torture was sufficient to have killed her.”
[3840] The words ὑπερβεβλημένως καὶ ὑπὲρ πάντα ἄνθρωπον naturally go with ὑπομένων, and therefore intimate that Sanctus’ endurance was greater than human; but we doubt if this is intended by the writer.
[3841] John vii. 38: “He that believeth on me, as the Scripture hath said, out of his bosom shall flow rivers of living water.”
[3842] The holes were placed in a line, so that the further the hole in which one leg was put from the hole in which the other leg was put, the more nearly would the two legs form a straight line, and the greater would be the pain.
[3843] The dispensation is, that those who denied were not set free, but confined with the others; and that this harsh treatment and sad state of mind confirmed the resolution of those not yet apprehended to confess Christ. Various other explanations have been given, but this seems the most reasonable.
[3846] Of Christian.
[3847] We have adopted here an emendation of Routh’s. The literal version of the common text is: “The testimonies of their departure were divided into every form.”
[3848] The Greek is εἰς τὸ δημόσιον, was led “to the public building” to the wild beasts. The public building is taken to be the amphitheatre.
[3849] The words “several times” are represented in Greek by διὰ πλειόνων κλήρων, lit. “through several lots.” When there were several athletes to contend, the pairs were determined by lot. After the first contest the victors were again formed into pairs by lot, until finally there should be but one pair left. See the process at the Olympic games described in Lucian Hermotimus, c. xl. p. 782.
[3850] The bestiarii, before fighting with wild beasts, had to run the gauntlet.
[3851] Rufinus translates jugulati sunt. Probably, “killed with the sword.” The term may have been a technical one, being applied to the gladiators or bestiarii, whose death may have been looked on as a sacrifice to a god or a dead-hero.
[3852] Blandina was a slave: hence the mode of punishment. On this matter see Lipsius, De Cruce. [And my note, p. 784.]
[3853] Lord Hailes remarks that this alludes to Isa. xxvii. 1.
[3855] Heinichen renders “the bride’s garment,” and explains in the following manner. The bride is the Church, the garment Christ, and the sons of perdition had no ideas what garment the Church of Christ should wear, had no idea that they should be clothed with Christ, and be filled with His Spirit. It is generally taken to be the marriage garment of Matt. xxii. 12.
[3856] She may have been his sister by birth, as some have supposed, but the term “sister” would have been applied had she been connected by no other tie than that of a common faith.
[3857] Rev. xxii. 11. Lardner thinks the passage is quoted from Dan. xii. 10. Credib., part ii. c. 16.
[3858] παλιγγενεσία. The term refers here to the new state of affairs at the end of the world.
[3861] The Greek is τὴν πρὸς τοὺς ἀδελφοὺς τῶν μαρτύρων προσηγορίαν, generally translated, “offered to them by their brethren.”
[3863] The Greek is, πᾶσι μὲν ἀπελογοῦντο. Rufinus translated, “Placabant omnes, neminem accusabant.” Valesius thought that the words ought to be translated, “They rendered an account of their faith to all;” or, “They defended themselves before all.” Heinichen has justified the translation in the text by an appeal to a passage in Eusebius, Hist. Eccl., iv. 15.
[3866] Ap. Fathers, part ii. vol. i. p. 435; and the same laxity, p. 384, coincident with his theory as to a virtual post-Apostolic development of episcopacy.
[3867] Compare vol. i. pp. 415, 460, and vol. v. Elucid. VI.; also Elucid. XI. pp. 157–159, this series.
Search Comments
This page has been visited 0020 times.
| << | Contents | >> |
10 per page