| Incipit epistula Sancti Hieronymi ad Paulinum presbyterum de omnibus Divinæ Historiæ libris. |
Letter of St. Jerome to Paulinus, priest, about all the books of Divine History. |
| Frater Ambrosius tua mihi munuscula perferens detulit et suavissimas litteras, quæ in principio amicitiarum, fidem probatæ jam fidei et veris amicitiæ præferebant, vera enim illa necessitudo est et Christi glutino copulata, quam non utilitas rei familiaris, non præsentia tantum corporum, non subdola et palpans adulatio, sed Dei timor et divinarum scripturarum studia conciliant. Legimus in veteribus historiis quosdam lustrasse provincias, novos adisse populos, maria transisse, ut eos quos ex libris noverant, coram quoque viderent. |
Brother Ambrose, when he brought me your little gifts, also gave me your very kind letter. It testifies to an already longstanding trust, and an old friendship. This surely is that real bond of intimacy, cemented by Christ, and earned by the fear of the Lord and the zeal for Holy Scripture, rather than by the advantage of family affairs, sole physical presence or sly and wheedling fawning. We read in stories about the olden days that there were people who traversed whole provinces, frequented unknown peoples, sailed across the seas, in order to meet in person the men whose books they had read. |
| Sic Pythagoras Memphiticos vates, sic Plato Ægyptum et Archytam Tarentinum eandemque oram Italiæ, quæ quondam Magna Græcia dicebatur, laboriosissime peragravit, ut qui Athenis magister erat et potens cujusque doctrinam Academiæ gymnasia personabant, fieret peregrinus atque discipulus, mallens aliena verecunde discere, quam sua impudenter ingerere. Denique dum litteras quasi toto fugiens orbe persequitur, captus a piratis et venumdatus, etiam tyranno crudelissimo paruit, captivus, vinctus et servus ; tamen, quia philosophus, major emente se fuit. Ad Titum Livium, lacteo eloquentiæ fonte manantem, de ultimis Hispaniæ Galliarumque finibus quosdam venisse nobiles legimus ; et quos ad contemplationem sui Roma non traxerat, unius hominis fama perduxit. Habuit illa ætas inauditum omnibus sæculis celebandumque miraculum, ut urbem tantam |
Such was the case of Pythagoras and the Egyptian oracles ; Plato likewise travelled with much trouble and hardship to Egypt and afterwards went to Lower Italy, which used to be called Magna Græcia, in order to meet Archytes of Tarentinum. It was thus that this instructor and master of Athens, whose teaching resounded in the public schools of the Academy, became a pilgrim and a disciple, preferring modestly to learn something foreign rather than to inflict shamelessly his own theories on others. While he was pursuing scholarship which, so to speak, fled before him across the world, he was captured and sold by pirates, and even went so far as to obey a most cruel tyrant. Even so, captured, bound and enslaved, he showed himself to be greater than the man who had bought him because he was a philosopher. We read in Titus Livius, a man flowing with the milk fountain of eloquence, that certain nobles came from the farthest reaches of Spain and Gaul ; and that the fame of a single man succeeded in attracting to Rome those whom she had failed to draw to see her sights. In those days it was an unheard-of and unprecedented marvel that, after having |
| ingressi, aliud extra urbem quærerent. Apollonius sive ille magus (ut vulgus loquitur), sive philosophus (ut Pythagorici tradunt), intravit Persas, pertransivit Caucasum, Albanos, Scythas, Massagetas, opulentissima Indiæ regna penetravit et ad extremum latissimo Phison amne transmisso perevenit ad Brachmanas, ut Hiarcam in throno sedentem aureo et Tantali fonte potantem, inter paucos discipulos de natura, de motibus ac dierum siderum cursu audiret docentem. Inde per Elamitas, Babylonios, Chaldæos, Medos, Assyrios, Parthos, Syros, Phœnices, Arabes, Palæstinos reversus Alexandriam, perrexit Æthiopiam, ut Gymnosophistas et famosissimam Solis mensam videret in sabulo. Invenit ille vir ubique quod disceret, et semper proficiens, semper se melior fieret. Scripsit super hoc plenissime octo voluminibus Philostratus. |
entered the city, they sought something outside it. Apollonius — whether he be a learned magician, as is generally said, or a philosopher, according to the Pythagoreans — went to the Persians, crossed the Caucasus, Albania, Scythia, Sangania and Mongolia, penetrated into the opulent kingdoms of India and finally, having crossed the great river Phiso, came to the Brahmins. All this to hear Hiarcas, seated on a golden throne and drinking at the fountain of Tantalus, discoursing to a small group of disciples on the movements and course of the stars. Then went back through the territories of the Elamites, Babylonians, Chaldeans, Medes, Assyrians, Parthians, Syrians, Phoenicians, Arabians and Palestinians to Alexandria, then on to Ethiopia in order to visit the Gymnosophists and see the very famous sundial in the sand. He found something to learn everywhere, and making constant progress he continually bettered himself. (Philostrates recounted this at length in eight volumes.) |
| ¿Quid loquar de sæculi hominibus, quum apostolus Paulus, vas electionis et magister gentium — qui de conscientia tanti in se Hospitis loquebatur, “¿An experimentum quæritis ejus, qui in me loquitur Christus?” [Epistula ad Corinthios II, 13,3] — post Damascum Arabiamque lustratam ascenderit Hierosolymam, ut videret Petrum, et manserit apud eum diebus quindecim? Hoc enim mysterio hebdomadis et ogdoadis futurus gentium prædicator instruendus erat, rursumque post annos quattuordecim, assumpto Barnaba et Tito, exposuerit apostolis Evangelium, ne forte in vacuum curreret aut cucurrisset. Habet nescio quid latentis energiæ viva vox actus, et in aures discipuli de auctoris ore transfusa fortius sonat. Unde et Æschinus, quum Rhodi exularet, et legeretur |
But why talk about these men of the world when the apostle Paul, that chosen instrument and the instructor of the gentiles, conscious of the great Guest dwelling within him, said, “Do you seek a proof of the Christ who speaks in me?” [Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 13,3] And he, having travelled through Damascus and Arabia, went up to Jerusalem to see Peter and stayed with him fifteen days because it was only fitting that this future preacher to the Gentiles should learn about the hebdomadis and the ogdoadis, the seven and the eight days. And then, fourteen years later, taking with him Barnabas and Titus, he taught his Gospel to the apostles lest he should run or have run in vain. There is some sort of power of movement — I do not know what kind — hidden in the living voice : when it is transfused into the ear of the disciples, it seems to have an even greater echo. This is why when Æschinus, as an exile in Rhodes, was listening to a reading |
| illa Demosthenis oratio quam adversus eum habuerat, mirantibus cunctis atque laudantibus, suspirans ait, “¿Quid si ipsam audissetis bestiam sua verba resonantem?” [Cfr. Ciceronis De Oratore 3,213] |
of the speech made against him by Demosthenes, sighed and said to everyone who was exclaiming in praise and admiration, “What would have been your awe had you heard the beast himself reciting his own words?” [Cf. Cicero, On the Orator 3,213] |
| Nec hoc dico, quod sit aliquid in me tale quod vel possis vel velis discere, sed quo ardor tuus ac discendi studium etiam absque nobis per se probari debeat. Ingenium docile et sine doctore laudabile est. Non quid invenias, sed quid quæreas, consideramus. Mollis cera et ad formandum facilis, etiam si artificis plastæ cessent manus, tamen virtuti totum est quicquid esse potest. Paulus apostolus ad pedes Gamalielis legem Moysi et prophetas didicisse se gloriatur, ut armatus spiritalibus telis postea doceret confidenter : “Arma enim militiæ nostræ non carnalia sunt, sed potentia Dei ad destructionem munitionum, cogitationes destruentes et omnem altitudinem extollentem se adversus scientiam Dei et captivantes omnem intellectum ad obœdiendum Christo, et parati subjugare cunctam inobœdientiam.” [Epistula ad Corinthios II, 10,4f.] Timotheum scribit ab infantia sacris litteris eruditum [Epistula ad Timotheum II, 3,15] et hortatur ad studium lectionis, ne neglegat gratiam quæ data sit ei per impositionem manus presbyterii ; Tito præcipuit ut inter ceteras virtutes episcopi quem brevi sermone depinxit, scientiam quoque in eo legat Scripturarum, “Obtinentem,” inquit, “eum qui secundum doctrinam est fidelem sermonem, ut potens sit exhortari in doctrina sana et contradicentes revincere.” [Epistula ad Titum 1,9] |
And if I am saying all this, it is not because there is anything particularly great that you could or would wish to learn from me, but because your ardor and your zeal for learning are in themselves, independently of myself, something to be approved ; a teachable mind, even without a teacher, is praiseworthy. We shall not be examining what you already know, but what your are seeking to know. Wax, which is soft and easy to mould, even though the hand of the artist, of the moulder, comes to a stop, is potentially whatever it can be. Paul the apostle was proud to have learnt the Law of Moses and the Prophets at the feet of Gamaliel, and it was armed with these spiritual weapons that he could later say confidently, “The weapons of our warfare are not carnal, but powerful before God to the demolishing of strongholds, the destroying of reasoning — yes, of every lofty thing that exalts itself against the knowledge of God, bringing every mind into captivity to the obedience of Christ, and being prepared to subjugate all disobedience.” [Second Epistle to the Corinthians, 10,4f.] He writes Timothy, versed in the Sacred Scriptures from childhood [Epistle to Timothy II, 3,15], and urges him to pursue reading and not to neglect the gift of the priesthood given him by the imposition of hands. He ordered Titus that, with the virtues he had just described and which were to be found in bishops, there should also be, in the man he chose, the knowledge of the Scriptures ; and he told him he should be “Holding fast the faithful word which is in accordance with the teaching, that he may be able both to exhort in sound doctrine and to confute opponents.” [Epistle to Titus 1,9] |
| Sancta quippe rusticitas solum sibi prodest, et quantum ædificat ex vitæ merito Ecclesiam Christi, tantum nocet, si destruentibus non resistat. Malacias propheta, immo per Malachiam Dominus, “Interrogavit sacerdotes legem” [Aggeus Propheta 2,12] ; in tantum sacerdotis officium |
For holy rusticity is useful only to itself : as much as it builds up the Church of Christ by the merit of its life, so just as much is it harmful if it cannot withstand those who tear down the Church. The prophet Malachi, or rather the Lord through Malachi, said, “Ask the priests the Law” [The Prophecy of Aggeus, 2,12] ; it is part of the priestly function, |
| est interrogatum respondere de lege ; in Deuteronomio legimus : “Interroga patrem tuum et annuntiabit tibi ; seniores tuos et dicent tibi” [Deuteronmium 32,7] ; in psalmo quoque centesimo octavo decimo : “Cantabiles erant justificationes tuæ in loco peregrinationis meæ” [Psalmus 118,54] ; et in descriptione justi viri, quum eum arbori vitæ David, quæ est in Paradiso, compararet, inter ceteras virtutes etiam hoc intulit : “In lege ejus meditabitur die ac nocte.” [Psalmus 1,2] Daniel in fine sacratissimæ visionis justos ait fulgere quasi stellas et intellegentes — id est doctos — quasi firmamentum. |
then, to reply when questioned about the Law. In Deuteronomy we read : “Ask thy father, and he will declare to thee.” [Deuteronmy 32,7] And in Psalm 118 : “Thy justifications were the subject of my song, in the place of my pilgrimage.” [Psalm 118,54] ; And in the description of the righteous man, having likened him to the tree of life in Paradise, David includes this among his virtues : “On his law he shall meditate day and night.” [Psalmus 1,2] Daniel, at the end of his very sacred vision, says that the righteous will shine like stars, and the intelligent — that is, the learned — like the firmament. |
| ¿Vides quantum inter se distent justa rusticitas et docta justitia? Alii stellis, alii cælo comparantur ; quanquam juxta Hebraicam veritatem utrumque de eruditis possit intellegi ; ita enim apud eos legimus : “Qui autem docti fuerint fulgebunt quasi splendor firmamenti, et qui ad justitiam erudiunt multos, quasi stellæ in perpetuas æternitates.” ¿Cur Paulus apostolus vas electionis? Nempe quia vas Legis et Scripturarum Sanctarum armarium. Pharisæi stupent ad doctrinam Domini et mirantur in Petro et Johanne, quomodo Legem sciant, quum litteras non didicerint. Quicquid enim aliis exercitatio et quotidiana in lege meditatio tribuere solet, illis Spriritus Sanctus suggerebat et erant juxta quod scriptum est, docibiles Deo. Duodecim annos Salvator impleverat et in templo sedens de quæstionibus Legis interrogans, magis docet dum prudenter interrogat ; nisi forte rusticum Petrum, rusticum dicimus Johannem, quorum uterque dicere poterat : “Etsi imperitus sermone, non tamen scientia.” ¿Johannes rusticus, piscator indoctus? Et unde illa vox, obsecro, “In principio erat Verbum, et Verbum erat apud Deum, et Deus erat Verbum?” [Evangelium secundum Johannem 1,1] Logos Græce multa |
Can you see now the difference between learned righteousness and rustic ignorance? The former are likened to stars, the latter to heaven itself — though according to the authentic Hebrew, both meanings are possible, for this is what we read there : “The learned will shine like the brightness of the firmament and those who shall have instructed many in the ways of righteousness shall be like stars for unending eternities.” Why is Paul a vessel of the Law and the container of Holy Scriptures? The Pharisees marvelled at the Lord’s teaching and they wondered how Peter and John could know the Law since they were illiterate. For what others usually had through asceticism and daily meditation on the Law, the Holy Spirit suggested to them, and they were, as it is written, taught by God. The Savior was twelve years old when he questioned the elders in the Temple about the Law, and by his sagacious questions he taught them more than questioned them. Unless perhaps we would take Peter and John to be a couple of bumpkins even though both could claim, “Though I am unskilled in speaking, I am not so in knowledge.” John, a bumpkin, a fisherman, ignorant? Whence, then, may I ask, did he get this: “In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God?” [John 1,1] The Greek term logos has many meanings : |
| significat ; nam et verbum est et ratio et supputatio et causa uniuscujusque rei, per quam sunt singula quæ subsistunt ; quæ universa recte intellegimus in Christo. |
word, reason, reasoning power, cause of everything — that by which all things subsist. All that we understand easily, correctly. |
| Hoc doctus Plato nescivit, hoc Demosthenes eloquens ignoravit. “Perdam, inquit, sapientiam sapientium et prudentiam prudentium reprobabo.” [Epistula ad Corinthios I 1,19 << Isaias Propheta 29,14] Vera sapientia perdet falsam sapientiam ; et quanquam stultitia prædicationis in cruce sit, tamen Paulus “sapientiam loquitur inter perfectos, sapientiam autem non sæculi istius qui destruuntur principum, sed loquimur Dei sapientiam in mysterio absconditam, quam prædestinavit Deus ante sæcula.” [Epistula ad Corinthios I 2,6] Dei sapientia Christus est, Christus enim Dei virtus et Dei sapientia. Hæc sapientia in mysterio abscondita est ; de qua et noni Psalmi titulus prænotatur “Pro occultis filii” [Psalmus 9,1], in quo sunt omnes thesauri sapientiæ et scientiæ Dei absconditi. Et qui in mysterio absconditus erat, prædestinatus est ante sæcula ; prædestinatus autem et præfiguratus in Lege et in Prophetis ; unde et Prophetæ appellabantur videntes, quia videbant eum quem ceteri non videbant. Abraham vidit diem ejus et lætatus est ; aperiebantur cæli Ezechieli, qui populo peccatori clausi erant. “Revela”, inquit David, “oculos meos et considerabo mirabilia de lege tua.” [Psalmus 118,18] Lex enim spiritalis est et revelatione opus est, ut intellegatur ac revelata facie Domini gloriam contemplemur. Liber in Apocalypsi [Apocalypsis Johannis Apostoli 5,1; 6,1] septem sigillis ostenditur ; quem si dederis homini scienti litteras, ut legat, respondebit tibi : “Non possum ; signatus est enim.” [Isaias Propheta 29,11] ¿Quanti hodie putant se nosse litteras, tenent signatum librum nec aperire possunt, nisi ille reseraverit, qui habet clavem David, qui aperit et nemo claudit, qui claudit et nemo aperit? In Actibus |
The educated Plato did not know it, nor did the eloquent Demosthenes. It has been said, “I will destroy the wisdom of the wise, and the prudence of the prudent I will reject.” [First Epistle to the Corinthians 1,19 << The Prophecy of Isaias 29,14] True wisdom destroys false wisdom. And though there is a folly in the preaching of the cross, even so Paul spoke wisdom when he said, “Wisdom, however, we speak among those who are matue, yet not a wisdom of this world nor of the rulers of this world, who are passing away. But we speak the wisdom of God, myserious, hidden, which God foreordained before the world.” [First Epistle to the Corinthians 2,6] The wisdom of God is Christ, for Christ is the force of God and the wisdom of God. This wisdom is hidden in mysery and it is that which is meant by the title of Psalm 9 : “For the hidden things of the Son” [Psalm 9,1], in whom are hidden all the treasures of wisdom and knowledge and who, himself hidden in the Mystery, was predestined before all ages, predestined and prefigured in the Law and the Prophets. This is why the prophets are called seers, for they saw him when others failed to do so. Abraham say his day and rejoiced. The heavens were opened to Ezekiel but left closed for sinful people. David said, “Open thou my eyes, and I will consider the wondrous things of thy Law.” [Psalm 118,18] For the Law is spiritual, and requires unveiling to be understood, and so that we too, with unveiled face, may behold the glory of God. In the Apocalypse [The Apocalypse of St. John the Apostle 5,1; 6,1] a book with seven seals is displayed. If you give it to a man of letters to read, he will answer you, “I cannot, for it is sealed.” [The Prophecy of Isaias 29,11] How many today there are who consider themselves to be lettered and who have a sealed book in their hands, but which they cannot open unless it be opened by the one who has the key of David, who opens and one one shall shut, who shuts and no one opens. In the Acts |
| Apostolorum sanctus eunuchus, immo vir — sic enim eum Scriptura cognominat — quum legeret Isaiam Prophetam, interrogatus a Philippo, “¿Putasne intellegis quæ legis?” Responditque : “¿Quomodo possum, nisi me aliquis docuerit?” [Actus Apostolorum 8,27ff.] Ego, ut de me interim loquar, nec sanctior sum hoc eunucho nec studiosior, qui de Æthiopia, id est qui de extremis mundi finibus venit ad templum, reliquit aulam regiam et tantus amator Legis divinæ scientiæ fuit, ut etiam in vehiculo Sacras Litteras legeret ; et tamen quum librum teneret et verba Domini cogitatione conciperet, lingua volveret, labiis personaret, ignorabat eum quem in libro nesciens venerabatur. Venit Philippus, ostendit ei Jesum, qui clausus latebat in littera. Et, o mira doctoris virtus, eadem hora credit eunuchus, baptizatur, fidelis et sanctus est ac magister de discipulo plus in deserto fonte Ecclesiæ, quam in aurato Synagogæ templo reperit. |
of the Apostles, he holy eunuch or, rather, the man — for that is what Scripture calls him — when he was reading Isaiah and Philip asked him, “Dost thou then understand what thou are reading?” And he answered, “Why, how can I, unless someone shows me?” [Acts of the Apostles 8,27ff.] And as for myself — if I may a moment speak of myself — I am neither more holy nor more studious than the eunuch who came to the temple from Ethiopia — that is, from the ends of the earth — leaving behind him the royal palace. And such was his love for the Sacred Scriptures that he read them even while in his chariot. Yet when he had the book in his hands and ruminated in his mind the words of the Lord, uttering them with his tongue, pronouncing them with his lips, he did not recognize him who, unawares, he venerated in the book. Philip came ; he showed him Jesus who was lying hidden, locked up in the letter and — oh! the marvellous power of the teacher — he believed at that very hour, was baptizd, became faithful and holy, and the disciple became a teacher. He found more in the desert wells of the Church than in the golden temple of the Synagogue. |
| Hæc a me perstricta sunt breviter (neque enim epistolaris angustia evagari longius patiebatur), ut intellegeres te in Scripturis Sacris sine prævio et monstrante semitam non posse ingredi. Taceo de grammaticis, rhetoribus, philosophis, geometris, dialecticis, musicis, astronomis, astrologis, medicis, quorum scientia mortalibus satis vel utilissima est et in tres partes scinditur : in doctrinam, rationem et usum. Ad minores artes veniam et quæ non tam lingua quam manu administrantur. Agricolæ, cæmentarii, fabri metallorum, lignorumque cæsores, lanarii quoque et fullones et ceteri, qui variam supellectilem et vilia opuscula fabricantur, absque doctore non possunt esse, quod cupiunt. Quod medicorum est, promittunt medici ; tractant fabrilia fabri : sola Scripturarum ars est, |
I have summed all that up briefly because the limits of a letter do not allow me to ample on at greater length. But at least you will understand that you cannot get into Holy Scripture without a guide showing you the way. I say nothing about grammarians, rheoreticians, philosophers, geometricians, dialecticians, musicians, astronomers, astrologists and physicians whose knowledge, greatly useful to us mortals, is divided into three branches : theory, method and experiment. As for the lesser arts which are pursued more by the hand than by the mind, we see that whoever they may be — farmers, masons, smiths, metal or wood workers, wool workers and fullers, and all the others who make all sorts of household goods and the lowliest of articles —, need an instructor if they are to become what they aim at. Indeed, medicine is for the physicians and workmanship for artificers. There is only one art |
quam sibi omnes vindicant. Scribimus indocti doctique poëmata passim. Hanc garrula anus, hanc delirus senex, hanc sophista verbosus, hanc universi præsumunt, lacerant, docent, antequam discant. Alii, adducto supercilio, grandia verba trutinantes, inter mulierculas de Sacris Litteris philosophantur, alii discunt (proh pudor) a feminis quod viros doceant ; et ne parum hoc sit, quadam facilitate verborum, immo audacia, edisserunt aliis quod ipsi non intellegunt. Taceo de meis similibus, qui si forte ad Scripturas Sanctas post sæculares litteras venerint et, sermone composito, aures populi mulserint, quicquid dixerint, hoc legem Dei putant, nec scire dignantur quid Prophetæ, quid Apostoli senserint, sed ad sensum suum incongrua aptant testimonia, quasi grande sit et non vitiosissimum docendi genus, depravare sententias et ad voluntatem suam Scripturam trahere repugnantem. Quasi non legerimus Homerocentones et Virgiliocentones, ac non sic etiam Maronem sine Christo possimus dicere Christianum, quia scripserit :
- Jam redit et Virgo, redeunt Saturnia regna ;
jam nova progenies cælo demittitur alto.
Et Patrem loquentem ad Filium : Nate ; meæ vires, mea magna potentia solus. Et post verba Salvatoris in cruce : - Talia perstabat memorans, fixusque manebat.
Puerilia sunt hæc et circulatorum ludo similia, docere quod ignores, immo — ut cum stomacho loquar — ne hoc quidem scire quod nescias. |
that everyone heedlessly claims to practice : Wise and fools alike, we all heedlessly write poems. The garrulous old woman, the doting old man, the long-winded dialectics-speaker : they all pretend to know something about Scripture, mangling it and teaching it before ever having learned. Others, with supercilious airs, bellow out big words, play the philosopher and prate about Sacred Scripture to feeble females. Others — shame on them — learn from women what they teach to men. And, as though this were not enough, having a certain gift of the gab or, more correctly, impudence, they hold forth to others about things they do not understand. I say nothing about my colleagues who, when they chance to come to Holy Scripture after frequenting secular literature and tickling the ears of the crowd with fancy talk, think that whatever they say is God’s law. They never stoop to find out the opinions of prophets and apostles, but just fit to their own frame of mind incosistent evidence as though they were saying something sublime, whereas in fact it is just rubbish when they distort the sentences and adapt Scripture at will even though they have to force things. Reading the cantos of Homer and Virgil, can we say that Maro is a Christian without Christ simply because he wrote :
- Now does the virgin return, and the reign of Saturn ;
from on high new birth is sent?
Or are we to see the Father speaking to the Son when we read : You alone are my son, my strength, my mighty force? Or attribute to the Savior onthe cross these words : He lingered over the memory of all this and was still for evermore.
It is childish, a quack’s game to teach what you do not know or — if I may give vent to my feelings — not even to know what you do not know. |
| Videlicet manifestissima est Genesis, in qua de creatura mundi, de exordio generis humani, de divisione terræ, de confusione linguarum et gentium usque ad exitum scribitur Hebræorum. Patet Exodus cum decem plagis, cum Decalogo, cum mysticis divinisque præceptis. In promptu est Leviticus |
Genesis is quite clear : it narrates the creation of the world, the orgin of the human race, the dividing up of the earth, the confusion of tongues and it tells us about the Hebrews up to their exit. Exodus is clear with its ten plagues, the Decalogue and the mystical commandments of God. The Book of Leviticus |
| liber in quo singula sacrificia, immo singulæ pæne syllabæ et vestes Aaron et totus ordo Leviicus inspirant cælestia sacramenta. |
is easy. In it each sacrifice, almost every syllable, the priestly robes of Aaron and the whole order of Levites breathe forth heavenly mysteries. |
| ¿Numeri vero nonne totius arithmeticæ et prophetiæ Balaam et quadraginta duarum per eremum mansionum mysteria continent? ¿Deuteronomium quoque, secunda lex et Evangelicæ legis præfiguratio, nonne sic ea habet quæ priora sunt, ut tamen nova sint omnia de veteribus? Hucusque Moyses hucusque Pentateuchus ; quibus quinque verbis loqui se velle Apostolus in Ecclesia gloriatur. |
As for the Book of Numbers, we find there everything concerning sacred numbers, the prophecy of Balaam, and the forty-two encampments in the desert. Deuteronomy — a second law and the prefiguration of the Gospel law — also contains the first law so that everything new may be seen to flow from the old. So far all these books were written by Moses : they form the Pentateuch. It was these five discourses that the Apostle Paul gloried in preaching to the Church. |
| ¿Job exemplar patientiæ, quæ non mysteria suo sermone complectitur? Prosa incipit, versu labitur pedestri sermone finitur ; omnesque leges dialecticæ propositione, assumptione, confirmatione, conclusione determinat. Singula in eo verba plena sunt sensibus ; et ut de ceteris sileam, resurrectionem corporum sice prophetat, ut nullus de ea vel manifestius vel cautius scripserit : “Scio,” inquit, “quod redemptor meus vivit, et in novissimo die de terra surrecturus sim et rursum circumdabor pelle mea et in carne mea videbo Deum, quem visurus sum ego ipse, et oculi mei conspecturi sunt et non alius. Reposita est hæc spes mea in sinu meo.” [Liber Job 19,25ff.] |
That model of patience, Job, has his story wrapped up in mysteries. He begins in prose, lapses into verse and ends up with plain, straightforward language. He fixes the rules of dialectics using the proposition, the minor proposition, the proofs and the conclusion, each word is full of sense. And, to mention just this, Job spoke of the resurrection of the body so clearly and with such circumspection that he outdoes everyone else on the subject : “For I know that my Redeemer liveth, and in the last day I shall rise up out of the earth. And I shall be clothed again with my skin, and in my flesh I shall see my God. Whom I myself shall see, and my eyes shall behold, and not another : this my hope is laid up in my bosom.” [The Book of Job 19,25ff.] |
| Veniam ad Jesum Nave, typum Domini non solum in gestis, verum et in nomine : transit Jordanem, hostium regna subvertit, dividit terram victori populo et per singulas urbes, viculos, montes, flumina, torrentes atque confinia, ecclesiæ cælestisque Hierusalem spiritalia regna describit. |
Now I come to Jesus, the son of Nave, a figure of the Lord not only by his deeds, but also in name : he crossed the Jordan, overthrew enemy kingdoms, divided the land among the victorious and for each city, hamlet and mountain, river, torrent or boundary, described spiritual kingdoms and the heavenly Jerusalem. |
| In Judicum libro quo principes populi tot figuræ sunt. Ruth Moabitis Isaiæ explet vaticinium dicentis : “Emitte agnum, Domine, dominatorem terræ, de Petra deserti ad montem filiæ Sion.” [Isaias Propheta 16,1] Samuhel in Heli mortuo et in occisione Saul, veterem Legem abolitam monstrat ; porro in Sadoc atque David |
In the Book of Judges the so many princes of the people are so many types. Ruth, the Moabie woman, accomplished he prophecy of Isaias which says, “Send forth, O Lord, the lamb, the ruler of the earth, from Petra of the desert, to the mount of the daughter of Sion.” [The Prophecy of Isaias 16,1] Samuel, on the death of Heli and the slaying of Saul, declared that the old law was abolished but that in Sadoc and David |
| novi sacerdotii novique imperii sacramenta testatur. Malachim, id est tertius et quartus Regum liber, a Salomone usque ad Jechoniam et a Hieroboam filio Nabat usque ad Osee, qui ductus es in Assyrios, regnum Juda et regnum describit Israhel. Si historiam respicias, verba simplica sunt, sin in litteris sensum latentem, Ecclesiæ paucitas et hæreticorum contra ecclesiam bella narrantur. |
lies the mystery of a new priesthood and a new empire. Malachim, the Third and Fourth Book of Kings, describes the history of the kingdom of Judah and the kingdom of Israel from Solomon to Jechonias, from Jeroboam, he son of Nabat, to Hosea who was led away to the Assyrians. If you consider the story, the words are simple ; if you go into the hidden meaning of the letter you discover that it tells of the low membership of the Church and of the warring of heretics against the Church. |
| Duodecim Prophetæ in unius voluminis angustias coartati, multo aliud quam sonant in littera præfigurant. Osee crebro nominat Ephraim, Samariam, Joseph, Jezrahel et uxorem fornicariam et fornicationis filios et adulteram cubiculo clausam mariti, multo tempore sedere viduam, et sub veste lugubri præstolari viri ad se reditum. |
The Twelve Prophets are squeezed into the limited space of one volume. They prefigure much more than what the words say. Hosea frequently mentions Ephraim, Samaria, Joseph, Israel ; then the adulterous wife and her illegitimate offspring ; the adulterous woman who lay shut up in her husband’s room and lived a long time as a widow : clothed in vestments of mourning, she awaited her husband’s return. |
| Joel filius Phatuel describit terram duodecim tribuum, eruca, brucho, locusta, rubigine vastante consumptam ; et post eversionem prioris populi, effusum iri Spiritum Sanctum super servos Dei et ancillas, id est, super centum viginti credentium nomina, et effusum iri in cenaculo Sion. Qui centum viginti ab uno usque ad quindecim paulatim et per incrementa surgentes, quindecim graduum numerum effciunt, qui in Psalterio mystice continentur. |
Joel, son of Bethuel, described the land of the twelve tribes eaten up by caterpillars, crickets and locusts and devastated by mildew. He foretold that after the destruction of the first chosen people, the Holy Spirit would be poured out on the servants and on the handmaids of Gods, that is to say, on believers, and that he would be poured out in the cenacle of Zion. These one hundred and twenty believers, if we count gradually in progression from one to fifteen, form the fifteen degrees mystically contained in the Psalter. |
| Amos pastor et rusticus et ruborum mora distringens, paucis verbis explicari non potest. ¿Quis enim digne exprimat tria et quattuor scelera Damasci et Gazæ, Tyri, Idumææ, filiorum Ammon et Moab et in septimo octavoque gradu Judæ et Israhel? Hic loquitur ad vaccas pingues, quæ sunt in monte Samariæ et ruituram domum majorem minoremque testatur. Ipse cernit Fictorem locustæ et stantem Dominum super murum litum vel adamantinum et uncinum pomorum attrahentem supplicia peccatoribus, et famem in terra : non famem panis nec sitim aquæ, |
Amos, herdsman and peasant, plucked wild figs, and cannto be explained briefly. Who can correctly describe in brief the three and four crimes of Damascus, Gaza, Tyre, Idumea, and he sons of Amon and Moab, and the seventh and eighth degree of Juda and Israel? He addresses the fat cattle in the hills of Samaria and tells them that great and small houses alike will fall to ruin. He sees the Maker of locusts ; he sees the Lord standing on the plastered — or metal — wall, and the hook which pulled down the fruit, bringing suffering to sinners, hunger on earth : neither hunger for bread nor thirst for water, |
| sed audiendi verbum Dei. Abdias, qui interpretatur servus Domini, pertonat contra Edom sanguineum terrenumque, fratris quoque Jacob semper æmulum hasta percutit spiritali. |
but hunger for the word of God. Obadiah, which means servant of the Lord, fulminated against Edom, and speared with the spear of the spirit this bloody and earthly people, envious of their brother Jacob. |
| Jonas, columba pulcherrima, naufragio suo passionem Domini præfigurans, mundum ad pænitentiam revocat et sub nomine Nineve salutem gentibus nuntiat. |
Jonah, that most beautiful of doves, prefigured in his shipwreck the passion of the Lord. He calls the world to repentance and in Niniveh announces salvation to the Gentiles. |
| Michæas de Morasthi coheres Christi, vastationem annuntiat filiæ latronis et obsidionem ponit contra eam, quia maxillam percusserit judicis Israhel. Nahum, consolator orbis, increpat civitatem sanguinum et post eversionem illius loquitur : “Ecce super montes pedes evangelizantis, et annuntiantis pacem.” [Prophetia Nahum 1,15] |
Micah of Moresheth, co-heir with Christ, announces the devastation of the thief’s daughter and besieges her because she slapped a judge on the jaw in Israel. Nahum, consoler of the world, reproaches the city of blood and after it was destroyed said, “Behold upon the mountains the feet of him that bringeth good tidings, and that preacheth peace.” [The Prophecy of Nahum 1,15] |
| Habacuc, luctator fortis et rigidus, stat super custodiam suam et figit gradum super munitionem, ut Christum in cruce contempletur dicat : “Operuit cælos gloria ejus et laudis ejus plena est terra ; splendor ejus ut lux erit, cornua in manibus ejus, ibi abscondita est fortitudo ejus.” [Prophetia Habacuc 3,3f] |
Habakkuk, a strong and mighty warrior, stands on his guard and stops on his round to contemplate Christ on the cross, saying, “His glory covered the heavens, and the earth is full of his praise. His brightnes shall be as light : horns are in his hands : there is his strength hid.” [The Prophecy of Habacuc 3,3f] |
| Sophonias speculator et arcanorum Domini cognitor, audit clamorem a porta piscium et ejulatum a secunda et contritionem a collibus. Indicit quoque ululatum habitatoribus pilæ, quia conticuit omnis populus Chanaan, disperierunt universi, qui involuti erant argento. |
Zephaniah, the Watchman of the Lord, who knew the secrets of the Lord, heard a cry from the first gate and a howling from the second and a great destruction from the hills. And he utters a lamentation against the inhabitants of the Morter Valley, because the whole population of Canaan is silent ; all who were clothed in silver have perished. |
| Aggæus festivus et lætus, qui seminavit in lacrimis, ut in gaudio meteret, destructum templum ædificat Deumque Patrem inducit loquentem : “Adhuc unum modicumque, et ego commovebo cælum et terram et mare et aridam et movebo omnes gentes et veniet desideratus cunctis gentibus.” [Prophetia Aggæi 2,7f.] |
Haggai, festive and happy, who has sown in tears in order to reap in joy, rebuilds the demolished Temple and attributes to God the Father these words : “Yet one little while, and I will move the heaven and the earth, and the sea, and the dry land. And I will move all the nations and the desired of all nations shall come.” [The Prophecy of Aggeus 2,7f.] |
| Zacharias, memor Domini sui, multiplex in prophetia, Jesum vestibus sordidis et lapidem oculorum candelabrumque aureum cum totidem lucernis quot oculis, duas quoque olivas a sinistris lampadis cernit et |
Zechariah, bearing in his mind his Lord, complex in his prophecy, sees Jesus robed in dirty vestments, and the stone with seven eyes, and the golden candlestick with as many lamps as eyes. He also sees two olive trees to the left of the candlestick |
| a dextris, ut post equos rufos, varios, albos et dissipatas quadrigas ex Ephraim et equum de Hierusalem, pauperum regem vaticinetur et prædicet, sedentem super pullum, filium asinæ subjugalis. |
and to its right ; he speaks of horses — red, dappled, white and black — the broken chariots of Ephraim and the horse of Jerusalem ; prophesies a poor king and foretells that he will ride upon a colt, the foal of an attached ass. |
| Malachias aperte et in fine omnium prophetarum de abjectione Israhel et vocatione gentium : “Non est mihi, ait, voluntas in vobis dicit Dominus exercituum ; et munus non suscipiam de manu vestra ; ab ortu enim solis usque ad occasum, magnum est nomen meum in gentibus, et in omni loco sacrificatur et offertur nomini meo oblatio munda.” [Prophetia Malachiæ 1,10] |
Malachi, straightforward and the last of the prophets, says in connection with the reprobation of Israel and the calling of the Gentiles, “I have no pleasure in you, saith the Lord of hosts : and I will not receive a gift from your hand. For from the rising of the sun even to the going down, my name is great among the Gentiles, and in every place there is sacrifice, and there is offered to my name a clean oblation.” [The Prophecy of Malachias 1,10] |
¿Esaiam, Hieremiam, Ezechihelem et Danihelem quis potest vel intellegere vel exponere?
- Quorum primus
- non prophetiam mihi videtur texere, sed Evangelium ;
- secundus
- virgam nuceam et ollam succensam a facie aquilonis et pardum expoliatum suis coloribus et quadruplex diversis metris nectit alphabetum ;
- tertius
- principia et finem tantis habet obscuritatibus involuta, ut apud Hebræos istæ partes cum exordio Geneseos ante annos triginta non legantur ;
- quartus vero, qui et extremus inter quattuor prophetas, temporum conscius et totius mundi philohistoricus,
- lapidem præcisum de monte sine manibus et regna omnia subvertentem claro sermone pronuntiat.
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As for Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel, who can either understand or explain them? In my opinion,
- Isaiah
- seems to weave a Gospel more than a prophecy.
- Jeremiah
- brings together the branch of almond blossom, the cauldron boiling in the north and the leopard changing his spots ; and to this he adds four alphabetic poems in varied metrical verse.
- Ezekiel
- has a beginning and an end which are obscure and involved, so much so that the Hebrews do not allow them to be read before the age of thirty, along with the beginning of Genesis.
- As for Daniel, who is also the last of the four prophets, knowing something about the state of the times and being cultivated in matters concerning general history,
- he announced clearly the stone hewn from the rock without human hands and which was to overthrow all kingdoms.
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- David, Simonides noster, Pindarus et Alcæus, flaccus quoque, Catullus atque serenus,
- Christum lyra personat et in decachordo Psalterio ab inferis suscitat resurgentem.
- Salomon pacificus et amabilis Domini,
- mores corrigit, naturam docet, Ecclesiam jungit et Christum sanctarumque nuptiarum dulce canit epithalamium.
- Hesther in Ecclesiæ typo
- populum liberat de periculo interfecto Aman, qui interpretatur iniquitas, partes convivii et diem celebrem mittit in posteros.
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- David is for us, all at once, Simonides, Pindarus, and Alcaeus, Flaccus, Catullus and Serenus.
- He sang Christ in lyric poems and on the ten-stringed harp he hailed the risen Lord.
- Solomon the pacific, the Lord’s beloved,
- corrects the manners of men, teaches about nature, weds Christ and the Church, and sings the sweet marriage song of holy espousals.
- Esther is a type of the Church and delivers her people from danger.
- After the slaying of Haman — a name which means ‘evil’ — she handed down to posterity a share in her feast and a day of public rejoicing.
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| Paralipomenon liber, id est instrumenti veteris epitome, tantus ac talis est, ut absque illo si quis scientiam Scripturarum sibi volverit arrogare, seipsum irrideat. Per singula quippe nomina juncturasque verborum, et prætermissæ in Regum libris tanguntur historiæ, et innumerabiles explicantur Evangelii quæstiones. |
The Book of Chronicles is an epitome of the old record and is of such value and importance that without it anyone who pretends to know Scripture is making a fool of himself. The nouns and he compounding of the words allow us to refer to the narratives left out by the Books of Kings and also explain numerous Gospel matters. |
| Hesdras et Nehemias, adjutor videlicet et consolator a Domino in unum volumen coartantur ; instaurant templum, muros extruunt civitatis omnisque illa urba populi redeuntis in patriam et descriptio sacerdotum, Levitarum, Israhelis, proselytorum ac per singulas familias murorum ac turrium opera divisa, aliud in cortice præferunt, aliud retinent in medulla. Cernis me Scripturarum amore raptum excessisse modum epistolæ et tamen non implesse quod volui. Audivimus tantum quid nosse, quid cupire debeamus, ut et nos quoque possimus dicere : “Concupivit anima mea desiderare justificationes tuas in omni tempore.” [Psalmus 118,20] Ceterum, Socraticum illud impletur in nobis : hoc tantum scio, quod nescio. |
Ezra and Nehemiah, whose names mean ‘help’ and ‘consoler from the Lord,’ are pressed into a single volume. They restore the Temple and build up the city walls. They crowd of people streaming back to the homeland, the divisions of the priests, Levites, Israelites, proselytes and the work of the building up of the walls and towers allotted to the different families, all that has two very different meanings : one in the outer rind, the other in the inner marrow. As you see, through love of the Scriptures I have gone beyond the length of a letter and yet I have not done what I set out to do. All that we have done is to hear about what we already know and about what we should long to know, so that we too may be able to say, “My soul hath coveted to long for thy justifications at all times.” [Psalm 118,20] For the rest, the saying of Socrates is only too true of us : I know only this : that I know nothing. |
| Tangam et Novum breviter Testamentum. Mattheus, Marcus, Lucas et Johannes, quadriga Domini et verum Cherubim, quod interpretatur scientiæ multitudo, per totum corpus oculati sunt, scintillæ emicant, discurrunt fulgura, pedes habent rectos et in sublime tendentes, terga pennata et ubique volantia, tenent se mutuo sibique perplexi sunt et quasi rota in rota volvuntur et pergunt quocumque eos flatus Sancti Spiritus duxerit. |
I will touch briefly on the New Testament. Matthew, Mark, Luke and John are the Lord’s four-horse chariot and true Cherubim, which signifies great knowledge. They have eyes all over their body, shine like sparks, dart hither and thither like flashes of lightning. Their steps are rightly directed, tending on high, and they fly everywhere in their winged flight. Being intertwined, they hold together and turn so to speak wheel within wheel, going wherever the wind of the Holy Spirit leads. |
| Paulus apostolus ad septem scribit ecclesias ; octava enim ad Hebræos, a plerisque extra numerum ponitur ; Timotheum instruit ac Titum, Philemonem pro fugitivo famulo deprecatur. Super quo tacere melius quam pauca scribere. Actus Apostolorum nudam quidem videntur historiam, et nascentis Ecclesiæ infantiam texere, sed si noverimus scriptorem eorum Lucam esse medicum, cujus laus est in Evangelio, animadvertemus pariter omnia verba illius animæ languentis esse medicinam. |
The Apostle Paul writes to the seven churches — for many do not count the eighth, the letter to the Hebrews, in his register. He instructs Timothy and Titus, and pleads with Philemon for his runaway slave. But better to say nothing about him than too little. The Acts of the Apostles appear to be a straightforward account narrating the beginnings of the early Church. But when we know that their author, Luke, was a physician, whose praise is in the Gospel, we perceive that everything he says is a healing remedy for sick souls. |
| Jacobus, Petrus, Johannes, Judas apostoli septem epistolas ediderunt tam mysticas quam succinctas, et breves pariter et longas — breves in verbis, longas in sententiis, ut rarus quis non in earum lectione cæcutiat. |
James, Peter, John and Jude wrote seven letters between them which are as mystical as they are concise, at once short and far-reaching ; short in words, far-reaching in sense, so that they are rarely read insightfully. |
| Apocalypsis Johannis tot habet sacramenta quot verba. Parum dixi, et pro merito voluminis, laus omnis inferior est. In verbis singulis multiplices latent intelligentiæ. |
The Book of Revelation by John contains as many mysteries as it has words. And I am putting it mildly. Any praise is unworthy of the merits of this book. A multiplicity of meanings lies hidden in each word. |
| Oro te, frater carissime, inter hæc vivere, ista meditari, nihil aliud nosse, nihil quærere. ¿Nonne tibi videtur jam hic in terris regni cælestis habitaculum? |
Tell me now, my dearest brother, to live with all these texts, to meditate on them, to know nothing else, to seek nothing else — does this not seem to be already here below the dwelling-place of the kingdom of heaven? |
| Nolo offendaris in Scripturis Sanctis simplicitate et quasi vilitate verborum, quæ vel vitio interpretum vel de industria sic prolata sunt, ut rusticam contionem facilius instruerent et in una eademque sententia aliter doctus, aliter audiret indoctus. Non sum tam petulans aut hebes, ut hæc me nosse pollicear et eorum fructus capere, quorum radices in cælo fixæ sunt ; sed velle fateor, sedenti me præfero ; magistrum renuens, comitem spondeo. Petenti datur, pulsanti aperitur, quærens invenit. Discamus in terris, quorum nobis scientia perseveret in cælo. Obviis te manibus excipiam et (ut inepte aliquid ac de Hermagoræ tumiditate effutiam) quicquid quæsieris tecum scire conabor. |
Do not be scandalized by the simplicity and, as it were, the ordinariness of the words. Either by the fault, or even by intent of translators, they are couched in such way that they may the more easily instruct a public without learning, and so that the selfsame sentence should be understood in one way by the learned and in another way by the unlearned. I am not so impudent or so stupid as to promise to know all that and to pretend to pluck on earth the fruits from trees rooted in heaven. But I confess that I would like to, and I prefer my own condition to someone just sitting there. I refuse to be your master, but promise to be your companion. Ask and it will be given ; knock and it shall be opened ; seek and you shall find. Let us learn on earth the knowledge that will last forever in heaven. I welcome you with outstretched hands, and (if I may say something inept and pompous along the lines of Hermagoras) I will endeavor to learn with you as you search. |
| Habes hic amantissimum tui fratrem Eusebium, qui litterarum tuarum mihi gratiam duplicavit, referens honestatem morum tuorum, contemptum sæculi, fidem amicitiæ, amorem Christi. Nam prudentiam et |
You have here brother Eusebius, who loves you very much. He doubled the pleasure I got from your letter by telling me of the honesty of your life, your distaste for the world, the fidelity of your friendship, your love for Christ. As for the refinement and elegant skill of your style, |
| eloquii venustatem etiam absque illo ipsa epistola præferebat. Festina, quæso te, et hærentis in salo naviculæ funem magis præcide quam solve. Nemo renuntiaturus sæculo bene potest vendere quæ contempsit ut venderet. Quicquid in sumptus de tuo tuleris, pro lucro computa. Antiquum dictum est : Avaro tam deest quod habet quam quod non habet. Credenti totus mundus divitiarum est : infidelis autem etiam obolo indiget. Sic vivamus quasi nihil habentes et omnia possidentes. Victus atque vestitus divitiæ Christianorum. Si habes in potestate rem tuam, vende ; si non habes, projice. Tollenti tunicam, et pallium relinquendum est ; scilicet nisi tu semper recrastinans et diem de die trahens, caute et pedetemptim tuas possessiunculas vendideris, non habet Christus, unde alat pauperes suos. Totum Deo dedit, qui seipsum obtulit. Apostoli navem tantum et retia reliquerunt. Vidua duo æra misit ad gazophylacium et præfertur Crœsi divitiis. Facile contemnit omnia, qui se semper cogitat esse moriturum. |
the letter speaks for itself. Hasten now, I beg you : do not simply loosen the rope of your skiff listing in the shallows : cut it clean. No one giving up the world should try to get a good price for goods he disdains to the point of selling them. Whatever money you have from your belongings, count it as profit. As the old saying goes : The miser is wanting as much in what he has as in what he does not have. For the man of faith, the whole world is a fortune. But the man without faith needs every penny. For us let it be : Having nothing, we possess all things. Food and clothing are riches enough for the Christian. If your things are yorus, sell them. If they are not, fling them away. To the man who takes your tunic you must also leave your cloak. That is to say, if you go on delaying from day to day, dallying in cautious, step-by-step selling, it is all so much more time during which Christ does not have the necessaries for clothing his poor. He who gives himself to God, gives everything. The apostles left only boats and nets. The widow put two copper coins into the treasury, but they were of more value than all the wealth of Croesus. The man who is ever mindful of his death readily esteems all things as being of little worth. |
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