Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
From this chapter to the end of the book there is such obscurity, and as it were an inexplicable labyrinth of the city and temple, because it is inextricable, that St. Jerome, despairing of understanding and explaining it, would have taken his hand from the tablet here and broken off his commentary, had not St. Eustochium compelled him to continue. Wherefore he begins here thus: "My trepidation in explaining the temple of Ezekiel, indeed my perseverance in keeping silent, your prayers, daughter Eustochium, and the Lord's promises have overcome, when He says: Ask, and you shall receive; seek, and you shall find; knock, and it shall be opened to you. And whereas we used the excuse, at the end of the previous volume, to say: It is better to say nothing than to say little: you have turned it to the contrary, so that you think it better to say at least a little than to say nothing: because in the one case there is a ready will, in the other a despair of the whole work." He adds: "This I declare with all freedom to whoever will read it, that if he desires the truth, let him seek it from others. But what we can conjecture in this most difficult work, we simply confess and set forth." And St. Gregory, at the beginning of book II on Ezekiel: "There are two things," he says, "that trouble my mind in this matter: one, that this same vision is covered with such clouds of obscurity that scarcely anything can be seen in it by the light of the intellect." And below: "It is indeed a very obscure work that we undertake; but let us set it in our mind that we are making a night journey. It remains therefore that we grope our way forward." Let us pray therefore: "Open my eyes, O Lord, and I shall consider the wonders of Your law." For the abyss of our ignorance and misery calls upon the abyss of Your wisdom and blessedness. In this chapter, then, to the end of the book, through nine chapters, Ezekiel saw the plan of the temple and city, and in it the order and duties of the Levites, the rites and sacrifices prescribed by God, and the land of Israel divided among the tribes.
You will ask, what is this structure, what temple, what city? The Rabbis and the Jews, especially those at Rome, take it to be a most august temple and city to be built by the Messiah, whom they await: whence they infer that the Messiah has not yet come, because this third temple has not yet appeared, nor has the new city been rebuilt for them by the Messiah. But that they err completely is clear, first, because Daniel chapter ix, at the end, expressly teaches that the overthrow and desolation of the temple made by Titus and the Romans, on account of Christ slain by the Jews, would last until the end of the world: in vain therefore do they await a Messiah who will rebuild this temple for them. Again, experience proves that the Jews under Julian the Apostate, and at other times,
often wished to rebuild this temple of theirs and were always divinely prohibited and impeded by God from heaven. This is therefore a sign that they have been rejected by God and are hateful to Him, together with their temple and sacrifices. Secondly, because Haggai, ch. II, 8 and 10, predicted that the Desired of all nations, that is the Messiah, would be present in that temple which in Haggai's time was being restored by Zerubbabel, namely that He would teach and work miracles; and consequently the glory of this latter house, that is the temple of Zerubbabel, would be greater than that of the first, namely the temple of Solomon. Therefore the Messiah has long since come, and was present in the temple of Zerubbabel, which was destroyed by Titus. Therefore in vain do the Jews await the Messiah, as if He were still to come, who already came 1,600 years ago.
Thirdly, Ezekiel had this vision of the temple and new city in the fourteenth year after the destruction of Jerusalem and the temple carried out by the Chaldeans, as is clear from verse 1, and this was to console the Jews captive in Babylon with the hope of the restoration of Jerusalem and the temple: therefore he prophesies rather its restoration through Zerubbabel, which was to happen in a few years, than one to happen after two thousand and more years by a Messiah whom they await: for that restoration was near and imminent, which the captives themselves and their children would see and enjoy; but this one, neither they, nor their children, nor grandchildren, nor great-grandchildren up to the twentieth generation would see. For why would the Prophet fly over and omit the restoration of the temple that was imminent under Zerubbabel, which would have been the greatest consolation to the afflicted Jews, and, neglecting that, fly away to a restoration of the temple so remote, obscure, and uncertain, which the afflicted Jews were not going to behold, and therefore would have received little consolation from it?
would they have received joy? It is further the case that Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and other Prophets were accustomed to console the Jews captive in Babylon, promising them a near liberation through Cyrus, and then fly forward to Christ. Therefore Ezekiel does the same here.
Fourthly, that these things cannot be understood of a corporeal and Jewish temple, nor of an earthly Jerusalem, is clear from many considerations. First, because in chapters xlv and xlviii, he teaches that this temple would be outside the city, and distant from it fifteen thousand reeds, that is twenty-seven thousand paces; therefore he is not speaking here of the temple of Jerusalem, since this temple is distant from Jerusalem twenty-seven miles. Secondly, because chapters xlvii and xlviii teach at length that the inhabitants of this new city would be the ten tribes as well as the two, that is Samaritans as well as Jews; yet it is certain that the ten tribes never returned from the Assyrian captivity, nor will they ever return, but only the two, as the Rabbis acknowledge, and all the Jews, to whom the Samaritans have been hateful from of old: therefore these things cannot be understood of the earthly Jerusalem, and of the twelve tribes of carnal Israel. Thirdly, in chapter xlvii, verse 8, Ezekiel teaches that waters flow out from the temple, and they so increase that they cannot be forded, and they enter the Dead Sea and sweeten its saltiness: yet in Jerusalem and the temple these waters have never been seen, indeed they cannot exist: for what waters could sweeten the entire Dead Sea, which in fact the whole Jordan flowing into it cannot sweeten? Similar are the things said in chapter xliv, 2, about the eastern gate always closed, about the trees arranged on both sides along the waters and bearing fruit every month, and very many other things said in these eight chapters, which clearly cannot be taken in a corporeal or literal sense.
Fifthly, that this new city belongs to the New Testament, not the Old, Jeremiah expressly teaches in chapter xxxi, comparing verse 31 with verse 37. Hence Ezekiel too does not call it Jerusalem, but "the name of the city from that day shall be, The Lord is there," he says in chapter xlviii, last verse, which properly and fully belongs to the Christian Church alone.
Sixthly, the very same thing, compelled by these and other reasons, the Rabbis themselves finally acknowledge, and specifically Rabbi Abba, and Rabbi Solomon, as Galatinus attests in book V, ch. xii, and Adrianus Finus, book II of the Scourge of the Jews, ch. viii, who also bring forward a new argument: because, they say, otherwise it would follow that Jerusalem would be larger than the whole world. For such will be this city of Ezekiel. For it is said of it in chapter xlviii, 35, that it will be eighteen thousand, namely leagues, as they and the Jews understand, about which see chapter xlvii, 22, and chapter xlviii, 33.
Finally, the Rabbis everywhere say that the beginning of Ezekiel's prophecy, as well as the end concerning the new temple and city, are mysteries, inexplicable, and understood by no one; hence they forbid their own people the reading of these chapters. How then do they dare to explain these inexplicable things as referring to a material temple to be built by the Messiah? How from an obscure matter, which they confess they do not understand, do they presume to form an argument for their Judaism against Christ? Indeed they are blind, and leaders of the blind: let us therefore leave their blind arguments to the blind. With the Jews thus refuted and rejected:
St. Jerome responds that this temple of Ezekiel is the Church: "Nor is this said," he states, "of that time which certain ignorant Jews maintain, when under Zerubbabel and under Joshua the son of Josedec the high priest the temple was built. For this temple that is now described, and the order of the priesthood, and the division of the land, and its fertility, is much more august than what Solomon had built. But that which was built under Zerubbabel was so small, and in comparison with the former was as nothing, that those who had seen the former temple and then looked upon this one wailed and testified to their grief with tears, and the cry of those lamenting was much louder than the sound of trumpets." And below: "As I read the description of the mystical temple, which the Jews according to the letter think is to be built at the coming of their Christ, whom we prove is not the Antichrist, and we refer to the Church of Christ, and daily see being built in His saints, it happened," etc. And St. Gregory, homily 13 and following, and Maldonatus, Pintus, Dionysius, Isidorus Viegas on the Apocalypse.
chapter xii, Commentary III, section xxii, Barradius book II Prolegomena ch. vi, and Antonius Fernandius, vision XVIII, section iv, where he teaches that by the temple and city of Ezekiel is signified the twofold leadership in the Church of Christ, ecclesiastical and secular.
Hence Alcazar, on Apocalypse iii, verse 12, note 2, page 308, plainly contends that this temple of Ezekiel is different from Solomon's (although it alludes to it) and is mystical and spiritual. For this temple appeared to Ezekiel in chapters xlv and xlviii outside the city at a distance of fifteen thousand reeds, which make twenty-seven thousand paces, and in it the lot of Judah, Benjamin, and other tribes is exchanged. And so he considers that Judea here is the Church: the city that Ezekiel saw in it is Rome, not Jerusalem; whence its name is: "The Lord is there," that is, in His vicar the Roman Pontiff: the temple represents monasteries and religious men, who are separated from Rome not so much by place as by mind, action, and contemplation, so as to consecrate themselves entirely to God.
Nevertheless I respond, and say first, after Jerusalem was captured by the Chaldeans, and the temple of Solomon was burned down, which Ezekiel had hitherto partly predicted and partly already narrated as accomplished, in this chapter and the following he describes that same temple, as is clear from chapter xli, 1, 4 and following: "This," he says, "is the Holy of Holies," etc. Hence this temple of Ezekiel also has the same shape and dimensions (although St. Jerome seems to deny this in chapter xliii) as the temple of Solomon, namely the Holy of Holies in both cases is 20 cubits long, wide, and high; the Holy Place is 20 wide and 40 long; the vestibule is 20 long and 11 wide; the court of the people surrounding on all sides the court of the priests and the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was 500 cubits in length and 500 in breadth — by "court" I mean the outermost wall of the court. Thus the wall of the Court of the Gentiles was 600 cubits. Therefore in chapter xl, 1, he mentions the destruction of the old city, and from it takes the beginning of this prophecy, as if wishing to signify that he is dealing with its restoration. Hence also in the same place, that is on Mount Zion, he situates this temple of his. Finally, he so depicts the city of Jerusalem, the Holy Place, the Holy of Holies, the triple court, the chambers, the treasuries, the priests, the Levites, the offerings, and the sacrifices, and measures them in detail, and this so thoroughly, elaborately, and exactly, that we can recognize nothing other than the temple of Jerusalem here.
Note: Fittingly Ezekiel, as he began with the temple, so he ends with the temple. For he began with the vision of the chariot of the Cherubim: for he saw, in chapter i, God going forth from His heavenly temple, and borne on the Cherubic chariot proceeding to the destruction of the city of Jerusalem and the temple: but here he sees the same God restoring the same things, and founding a new temple, both material through Zerubbabel, and more importantly spiritual and mystical (that is, the Church) through Christ. Therefore the chariot of the Cherubim had the appearance of a temple: for the throne represented the mercy seat with the ark: for God sat upon both; who consequently had before Him the altar
of incense with fire, just as in the temple He had before Him the altar of incense and its fire and incense: the Cherubim are the same in both cases.
This temple of Solomon, therefore, was here shown to Ezekiel for him to describe, first, for this purpose: that he might move the people to repentance, on account of whose sin this temple had been overthrown, as is clear from chapter xliii, verse 40. Secondly, that he might console them in their captivity, afflicted with so many hardships, and raise them up in hope of rebuilding the temple, and consequently of restoring the commonwealth and the Church and religion. Hence he prescribes and restores the Levitical hierarchy, the rites of sacrifices, and the division of Judea, in chapter xliv and following. Thirdly, that he might prescribe the plan of the temple, now completely abolished and destroyed for seventy years (so that no one survived who could retain its form in his mind, so as to outline it clearly and completely for architects), as it were a model from the prototype, as is clear from chapter xliii, 13; which plan Zerubbabel, Haggai, and Zechariah followed when they rebuilt it. That this is so, Ezekiel himself expressly teaches in chapter xliii, where, after he had described the structure of the temple in the three preceding chapters and measured it, he adds in verse 7 that he heard from God dwelling in this temple: "Son of man, this is the place of My throne, and the place of the soles of My feet, where I dwell in the midst of the children of Israel forever; and the house of Israel shall no more defile My holy name." And verse 9: "Now therefore let them put away their fornication, and the ruins of their kings, far from Me; and I will dwell in the midst of them forever. But you, son of man, show the temple to the house of Israel, and let them be confounded at their iniquities, and let them measure the plan (that by rebuilding the temple they may follow it, and by building actually express it): the form of the house, and the exits and entrances of its construction, and its entire description, etc., show these to them, and write them before their eyes, that they may keep (in its rebuilding) all its descriptions." What could be clearer? So the ancient Hebrews, Theodoret, and at length Vilalpando, and Ribera, book I On the Temple, ch. xxvii, and indeed St. Chrysostom, homily 17 on the Epistle to the Hebrews, and Richard of St. Victor, book On the Temple of Ezekiel, likewise Lyranus, Hugo Cardinalis and others, and Torniellus in the Chronology, year of the world 3460.
You will object first: The temple of Zerubbabel was not as grand as Solomon's, as is clear from Haggai ii, 3 and the book of Ezra III, 11. So says St. Jerome. I respond: It was as grand with respect to the plan, arrangement, and structure, which alone are described here, but not with respect to the material of gold, stones, and all the ornamentation.
You will object secondly: Solomon's temple was 120 cubits high, as is clear from II Chronicles iii, 4; but Zerubbabel's was only 60 cubits, as is clear from I Ezra vi, 3. I respond that that was Cyrus's arrangement, and the Jews, fearing to offend him, did not contradict it, and in this respect they did not achieve the plan of Solomon and Ezekiel; nor the ornament, magnificence, and opulence. For Cyrus feared that the Jews might make a fortress out of the temple, and attempt revolution and rebellion. Herod, however, who restored the temple of Zerubbabel, made it 120 cubits in height, as Josephus attests, book XV of the Antiquities, ch. xiv. Lyranus gives another reason at the end of the book: he says that God did not fulfill everything that He prescribes in this plan, because this promise of rebuilding the temple and city was made under a condition, namely this: if the Jews would serve God as they ought; but they did not fulfill this. For many remained in Babylon, unwilling to return to Judea: others married foreign wives, I Ezra ix; others turned aside to idolatry under Antiochus Epiphanes, as is clear from the books of Maccabees. Therefore God likewise did not carry out this perfect construction of His plan. Just as originally under Joshua He did not give the Hebrews the whole promised land, but both on account of their sins and in order to keep them continually exercised in arms, He left in the land promised to them a great many Amorite and Canaanite enemies. Therefore God wished here through Ezekiel to give and describe the perfect plan of the temple, city, and commonwealth of Israel, as Plato did in his books On the Republic, even though He knew that they could not achieve and execute it in all things; because through it He wished to foreshadow and outline symbolically the nobler structure of the Church, in which all these things were to be mystically perfected. Hence:
I say secondly: Although literally, as I have said, the temple of Solomon is here described as to be magnificently restored by Zerubbabel; yet more allegorically it signifies that the Synagogue of the Jews was to be restored through the Church of Christ. For there is one Church, which formerly belonged to the Jews and now belongs to Christians. But this latter is more ample, more august, more elaborate, more glorious, more perfect, more beautiful, more full of grace; because it is supremely perfect, eternal, heavenly, and divine. Hence, to signify this symbolically, God willed that the old temple of Solomon be rebuilt through this same plan of Ezekiel, and stand until the Church was founded by Christ, prefigured by this temple, as St. Chrysostom notes, homily on Psalm xiv, volume I, and Athanasius, oration 3 Against the Arians. But when the Church was founded, the old temple was torn down and its foundations uprooted; indeed the very mountain on which it sat, as Josephus attests, was cut away, so that the Jews would have no hope of rebuilding it. And for this reason certain more august things are said here about this temple than would suit the temple of Solomon or Zerubbabel; for instance, that the temple of Zerubbabel was in the city, but Ezekiel's was outside it, indeed 27 miles away. Similar is what is said about the eastern gate of the temple always being closed: "Because the Lord God of Israel has entered through it," chapter xliv, 2. Again, between the temple and the city the Prophet here in chapter xlviii describes a certain portion of the priests' allotment, and the whole portion of the Levites. And in the same place he distributes the land of Israel among the twelve tribes, though it is certain that only two returned from captivity, while ten remained in it.
In addition, what he says in chapter xlvii, 8, about the waters going forth from the temple and entering the Dead Sea and sweetening its salt waters. Likewise about the most fruitful trees, which bore the most abundant fruit every month, and other similar things. For the Prophets are accustomed to fly from the type to the antitype, from the letter to allegory, and to intermingle them: hence although they deal literally with the type, they nevertheless intermix certain things that suit the antitype better, to signify that they look more to the antitype than to the type; as I said in Canons IV and V. And this is what St. Jerome, Gregory, and others seem to have intended when they deny that the temple of Zerubbabel is being outlined here: because mystically the Church of Christ is more being outlined here than this temple. Moreover, because Ezekiel in chapters xlvii and xlviii separates this temple from the city and its citizens, hence precisely and distinctly by the temple we must understand the priestly state among Christians and its temples: likewise Rome, as Alcazar says, in which is the summit of the priesthood, of temples, and of sacred things. By the city, however, we must understand the state of the lay faithful, and political governance, about which more in chapter xlvi, 6, and chapter xlviii, 45.
Now what is the length of the Church, that is, for how many centuries it will endure in this world: what is its breadth, that is, what regions, nations, and people it will embrace until the end of the world: what is the height of its charity and merits: what the depth of its humility: what the rectitude of its works: what the order of its stones, that is, of pontiffs, kings, and other people: who are to be placed in the upper, who in the lower part of the building; He knows, who is its Architect, and who measures and examines the whole structure with His cord and reed, that is, with His infinite wisdom.
Again allegorically, this rebuilding of the temple signified the resurrection of the dead Christ: for His death was the death of the Synagogue; His resurrection was the resurrection and restoration of the Church, John ii, 19. And thus that passage of Amos ix, 11: "In that day I will raise up the tabernacle of David that has fallen; and I will rebuild the breaches of its walls, and I will restore what had fallen; and I will rebuild it as in the days of old;" is interpreted not only of the Church, but also of Christ by Blessed Cyril, book IV on John, xxxv, Theodoret, and St. Jerome on Amos ix, indeed St. Peter in Acts xv, 16.
Note here that Vitruvius considers the entire art of architecture to have been derived from the symmetry of the human body, as from the most perfect building of nature, and following him Vilalpando, page 471; hence the humanity assumed by the Word is indicated by almost every single measurement of the temple. For if you consider any portico 50 cubits wide and 100 long, and notice that its width is divided into three walkways, and further find that its length is divided into eight intercolumniations or vestibules, you will find all these divisions conforming to the human stature in a wonderful proportion, as Vilalpando displays for viewing in an illustration, page 472. For man, as Vitru-
vius and others say, is six feet tall, and his arms extended reach the same distance. If the arms are folded from the middle of the chest so that the tip of the longest finger of the right hand touches the tip of the middle finger of the left hand, certainly from elbow to elbow a man will be three feet wide: of which the middle foot is assigned to the chest, the remaining ones on each side to the arms from the shoulders to the top of the elbows: by which principle the portico is divided into three equal walkways, corresponding to the chest and the arms. These and more details in Vilalpando at the cited passage.
Anagogically, there is here described the glory and wondrous amplitude of the Church triumphant in heaven, where the Blessed, adorned and fortified with the most beautiful ornaments, and most magnificently heaped with heavenly and inexpressible joys, gaze upon God Himself, and enjoy the everlasting vision of God. Ezekiel therefore beholds and describes here the measures of the heavenly Jerusalem and the temple of the Blessed, about which the Apostle says, Ephesians iii, 18: "That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth." That this is so is clear from the fact that his follower, imitator, and interpreter St. John in the Apocalypse thus explains Ezekiel anagogically. For John himself, following Ezekiel, after narrating in chapter xviii the destruction of Babylon, and in chapter xix the slaughter and ruin of Gog, Magog, the Antichrist, and the whole world, concludes in chapters xxi and xxii with a description of the new Jerusalem. Therefore, since he explains it to be heavenly, it follows that Ezekiel too, and most especially, was looking to the anagogical sense. Hence also St. John plainly borrowed that heavenly river of his, planted on both sides with trees of life bearing the sweetest fruits every month, Apocalypse xxii, 1, from Ezekiel chapter xlvii, 5. For this city and temple the Psalmist yearned, saying in Psalm cxxxvi: "How shall we sing the song of the Lord in a foreign land? If I forget you, O Jerusalem, let my right hand be forgotten. Let my tongue cleave to the roof of my mouth, if I do not remember you." And Psalm xli: "I will remember You from the land of Jordan and the Hermons, from the little mountain. These things I remembered, and I poured out my soul within me." Would that in this valley of tears, Your memory would always be before the eyes of my mind! Would that my breast were an oratory, in which You Yourself, O Christ, might engrave Yourself, that Your golden image might be on the earthen altar of my heart, that I might always gaze upon You, and that the force and flame of Your love might be so great as to transform me into You from glory to glory! That at last from this exile You might lead me home to my fatherland, from a lodging to my own home, where I may praise You, love You, enjoy You for all eternity: "How lovely are Your tabernacles, O Lord of hosts! My soul longs and faints for the courts of the Lord."
Tropologically, this temple is the faithful and holy soul. "Those who live chastely and piously are the temple of the Holy Spirit," said St. Lucy to the tyrant. Moreover, in what manner the soul becomes a temple of God, St. Jerome describes thus, in his letter 14 to Celantia: "In every act and word let a quiet and peaceful mind be maintained, and let the presence of God always occur to your thought; let the spirit be humble and meek, and raised up only against vices. Let neither pride exalt it, nor avarice bend it, nor anger cast it down. For nothing ought to be more quiet, nothing purer, nothing finally more beautiful than that mind which is to be prepared as a dwelling place for God; whom not gleaming golden temples, not altars studded with gems delight, but a soul adorned with virtues. Therefore the hearts of the Saints are called the temple of God, as the Apostle affirms, who says I Corinthians chapter iii: If anyone violates the temple of God, God will destroy him. For the temple of God is holy, which you are." See more in St. Bernard, treatise On the Interior House. Therefore St. Chrysostom, in his oration Against the Jews, at the end, teaches that it is not so pleasing to God to raise up a temple greater and more illustrious than Solomon's, as to convert souls and raise them up into a temple of grace for the living God. And St. Gregory here, homily 12, asserts that no sacrifice is more acceptable to God than zeal for souls.
In this chapter xl, therefore, Ezekiel, carried there in spirit, sees and describes an Angel defining with a measuring reed the dimensions of the courts of the temple of Jerusalem, namely the measures of the length, breadth, and height of the gates, chambers, windows, vestibules, rooms, steps, and finally of the entire building. And so the Angel here, first, measures the eastern gate and the other outer gates of the court of the laity. Then from verse 17, having entered the court of the laity, he measures it with its porticoes, chambers, gates, and vestibules, from gate to gate, part by part in detail. Thirdly, having entered the court of the priests at verse 28, he measures it in the same manner. Finally at verse 39, he describes the tables on which the victims were slaughtered, and the chambers of both the laity and the priests.
Note: The Tabernacle of Moses, and the temple which Solomon built after its model, properly had two parts, namely the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. Into the Holy Place only priests entered: into the Holy of Holies only the High Priest, and that only once a year. Before the Holy Place was a court, and it was double: the first, and nearest to the Holy Place, was the court of the priests: in this court was the altar of holocausts: for there under the open sky the victims were slaughtered and burned, so that the smoke might ascend into the air and there vanish. All around this court was a portico (commonly called a gallery) supported on columns, in which were treasuries, or chambers, and pastophoria, that is, rooms for the priests. The other court was that of Israel, that is, of the laity: for this was their temple, and it was vast, being for all Israel; hence it is called the great hall, I Chronicles iv, 9. Moreover, it was separated from the court of the priests by a partition, or wall three cubits high, so that the laity from their court could see the sacrifices that were performed in the court of the priests, but could not enter it. So say Ribera, Abulensis, Azor, Barradius,
Cajetan, Salmeron, and indeed Theodoret and Procopius. But Vilalpando and Pineda, book V On the Affairs of Solomon, ch. v, laugh at this, and demonstrate that the wall surrounding the court of the priests was equal in height and similar to the wall surrounding the court of the laity, and consequently had three courses of hewn stone and a fourth upper course of cedar: for so many did the wall of the court of Israel have. Between the court of the priests and the temple there was an intervening space, or plaza of 20 cubits, as is clear from chapter xli, 10, in which space was the place of prayer for the priests. Therefore the court of the priests, that is the enclosure or wall of the priests' court, was distant from the temple, that is from the vestibule of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, by 20 cubits, and this out of reverence for God and His temple. Both of these courts were enclosed by porticoes, so that under them the Jews might take shelter in time of rain or scorching sun, and cover themselves beneath their vaults. All the porticoes of the inner court were equal to those of the outer. Again, the porticoes were divided into three walkways. Furthermore, the inner court in every dimension had 100 cubits, half of it 50. The square form of the altar was 20 cubits. The altar was placed in the middle of the court. Therefore there remain from the altar to the enclosure, that is the western wall of the court, 40 cubits: between the enclosure and the vestibule of the temple the plaza was 20 cubits wide: from which it follows that the entire space between the vestibule and the altar was 60 cubits, nearly triple what is assigned by the Rabbis in the second temple: for they give it only 22 cubits.
The court of the laity, however, being for the entire people, had five hundred cubits both in length and in breadth. In both courts there were rooms for priests, gatekeepers, singers, and other ministers of the temple, which are called by various names. First, they are called chambers (thalami); secondly, treasuries (gazophylacia), because the gaza, that is the wealth and furnishings of the temple, were kept in them; thirdly, they are called exedrae; not because they were outside the temple (aedes), as some think, but from sitting (sessio), because in them the priests, weary from slaughtering and performing the sacred rites, would sit and rest. For exedra in Greek signifies a session or seat: so Pollux, book I, ch. iv. Hence also Cicero, book III On the Orator, indicates that an exedra is a place where, with a couch placed, they rest at midday; fourthly, they are called pastophoria; for pastos in Greek signifies a bridal chamber, or a veil. For with a veil the priests of the ancients, even of the pagans, covered their heads. Hence Virgil:
And with his head veiled before the altars in Phrygian garb.
Hence the priests were called pastophori, just as they were called pyrophoroi, that is fire-bearers, because they carried fire before others to the sacrifices, as Giraldus attests, Syntagma 17.
It is therefore ridiculous what Abulensis puts forward in book III Kings chapter vi, Question xxi, namely that pastophoria were places set apart for eating, so that in them the priests might eat the portions of the sacrifices allotted to them by the law of God, and hence they are called pastophoria from "pasture" (pastus) and "outside" (foris). In another sense also, pastophoros is corruptly used by Clement of Alexandria, book V of the Stromata, for a priest or temple-keeper, instead of naostophoros, that is, a guardian of the temple, says Nicolas Caussin, Elect. Symbol. page 200.
Finally, in the court of the laity all those things took place that we read about Christ in the Gospels, namely that He taught in the temple, that He drove out the buyers and sellers from it, that He declared it to be the house of God and a place of prayer, etc. For all these things took place in the court of the laity, which was their temple. For Christ could not go further, namely into the court of the priests, since He was not a priest of the tribe of Levi.
Both courts were enclosed by porticoes, so that under them the Jews might take shelter in time of rain or scorching sun, and cover themselves beneath their vaults. All the porticoes of the inner court were equal to those of the outer. Again, the porticoes were divided into three walkways. Furthermore, the inner court in every dimension had 100 cubits, half of it 50.
Moreover, the entire court was paved with precious marble. Ribera, book I On the Temple, ch. xvi, considers that both courts, namely that of the priests as well as that of the people of Israel, were only on the eastern side of the temple, which Josephus supports, book VI On the War, ch. vi: but Cassiodorus, Lyranus, Dionysius, Azor, Vilalpando, and Montanus, whom Pineda cites and follows, book V On the Temple, ch. v, §§ 20 and 21, more correctly judge that both courts surrounded the entire building. For thus the camps of Israel (which this court represented) surrounded the tabernacle on every side toward every quarter of the world, as is clear from Numbers ii, 2. And because it is called "the great round court," because in a circle, that is all around, it surrounded the entire temple, III Kings vii, 12; for otherwise this court was square in shape, not round. But understand these things thus, says Pineda, that since the Holy Place with the Holy of Holies and the court of the priests were much longer than they were wide, on the western side of the priests there was no open area (hypaethra), that is no area under the open sky; but only those "three courses of hewn stone all around," of which III Kings vii, 12 speaks, that is, a triple portico.
In this court there were three gates: Eastern, Southern, and Northern; for there was no gate on the west, because the dignity and reverence of the Holy of Holies required it, which was nearest to that western part, with only a portico intervening. So Josephus, book VI On the War, ch. vi. I have said more about the temple in Exodus xxv and following, and III Kings vii. For here almost only its measurements are described.
For the dimensions and ground plan of these courts, porticoes, and chambers, illustrated in plates for the eye, see Vilalpando, page 144 and following.
Vulgate Text: Ezekiel 40:1-49
1. IN THE TWENTY-FIFTH YEAR OF OUR CAPTIVITY — namely the captivity in which Ezekiel together with King Jehoiachin in the first year, in the third month of his reign, was carried away by Nebuchadnezzar to Babylon. Jehoiachin was succeeded by Zedekiah, in whose eleventh year the city and the kingdom were destroyed; therefore in the fourteenth year after this destruction, Ezekiel saw these things, namely the restoration of the temple and the city recently destroyed. Therefore this vision is 20 years later than the vision of the first chapter, in which in the fifth year of the captivity he saw God angry, threatening and impending destruction upon the city and the temple. Hence the Hebrews, adding these 20 years to the 30 of which chapter i, 1 speaks (which they reckon from the jubilee, as I said there), so that they make 50, judge this year to have been the 50th, that is, a jubilee year: in the jubilee therefore the Prophet saw the construction of the new city and new temple; and this is probable, although others reckon those 30 years of chapter i, 1 differently, as I said there.
Verse 1: In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the
1. In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth day of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck: on this very day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me there. 2. In visions of God He brought me to the land of Israel, and set me down upon a very high mountain: upon which there was, as it were, a building of a city facing toward the South. 3. And He brought me there: and behold a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, and a linen cord was in his hand, and a measuring reed in his hand: and he stood in the gate. 4. And the same man spoke to me: Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all that I shall show you: for you were brought here that these things might be shown to you: declare all that you see to the house of Israel. 5. And behold a wall on the outside of the house all around, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits and a handbreadth: and he measured the breadth of the building, one reed, and the height, also one reed. 6. And he came to the gate which looked toward the east, and went up by its steps: and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed in breadth, that is one threshold, one reed in breadth: 7. and one chamber, one reed in length and one reed in breadth: and between the chambers, five cubits: 8. and the threshold of the gate by the vestibule of the gate within, one reed. 9. And he measured the vestibule of the gate, eight cubits, and its front, two cubits: and the vestibule of the gate was within. 10. And the chambers of the gate toward the east were three on this side and three on that: they were all three of one measure, and the fronts were of one measure on each side. 11. And he measured the breadth of the threshold of the gate, ten cubits: and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits: 12. and the border before the chambers, one cubit: and one cubit was the border on each side. And the chambers were six cubits on this side and six on that. 13. And he measured the gate from the roof of one chamber to the roof of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits: door against door. 14. And he made the fronts sixty cubits: and to the front, the court of the gate all around. 15. And before the face of the gate, which reached to the face of the vestibule of the inner gate, fifty cubits. 16. And oblique windows in the chambers, and in their fronts, which were within the gate on every side: and likewise there were also windows round about within the vestibules, and before the fronts, carvings of palm trees. 17. And he brought me into the outer court, and behold chambers, and a pavement laid with stone in the court all around: thirty chambers around the pavement. 18. And the pavement, in front of the gates, along the length of the gates, was lower. 19. And he measured the breadth from the face of
the lower gate to the front of the inner court outside, a hundred cubits to the East and to the North. 20. He also measured the gate which looked toward the way of the North of the outer court, both in length and in breadth. 21. And its chambers, three on this side and three on that: and its front and its vestibule, according to the measure of the first gate, fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in breadth. 22. And its windows and its vestibule, and the sculptures, according to the measure of the gate which looked toward the East: and the ascent to it was by seven steps, and the vestibule was before it. 23. And the gate of the inner court was opposite the North gate and the Eastern gate: and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits. 24. And he brought me out to the way of the south, and behold a gate which looked toward the South: and he measured its front and its vestibule according to the measures above. 25. And its windows and vestibules all around, like the other windows: fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in breadth. 26. And the ascent to it was by seven steps: and the vestibule before its doors: and there were carved palm trees, one on this side and another on that, on its front. 27. And the gate of the inner court was in the way of the south: and he measured from gate to gate in the way of the south, a hundred cubits. 28. And he brought me into the inner court at the south gate: and he measured the gate according to the measures above. 29. Its chamber and its front and its vestibule, of the same measures: and its windows and its vestibule all around, fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in breadth. 30. And the vestibule round about, twenty-five cubits in length and five cubits in breadth. 31. And its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its front: and the ascent to it was by eight steps. 32. And he brought me into the inner court by the way of the east: and he measured the gate according to the measures above. 33. Its chamber and its front and its vestibule as above: and its windows and its vestibules all around, fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in breadth. 34. And its vestibule, that is of the outer court: and carved palm trees on its front on this side and that: and the ascent to it was by eight steps. 35. And he brought me to the gate which looked toward the North: and he measured it according to the measures above. 36. Its chamber and its front and its vestibule, and its windows all around, fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in breadth. 37. And its vestibule looked toward the outer court: and carvings of palm trees on its front on this side and that: and the ascent to it was by eight steps. 38. And by each chamber was a door in the fronts of the gates: there they washed the burnt offering. 39. And in the vestibule of the gate, two tables on this side and two tables on that: that upon them might be slain the burnt offering, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering. 40. And on the outer side, which goes up to the entrance of the gate that leads to the North, two tables: and on the other side before the vestibule of the gate, two tables. 41. Four tables on this side and four tables on that: on the sides of the gate there were eight tables, upon which they slew the victims. 42. And four tables for the burnt offering, built of hewn stone: a cubit and a half in length, and a cubit and a half in breadth, and one cubit in height: upon which they placed the vessels in which the burnt offering and the sacrifice were slain. 43. And the ledges of them were one handbreadth, turned inward all around: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering. 44. And outside the inner gate were the chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was on the side of the gate looking toward the North: and their front was toward the way of the south, one on the side of the eastern gate, which looked toward the way of the North. 45. And he said to me: This chamber, which looks toward the way of the south, shall be for the priests who keep watch over the custody of the temple. 46. And the chamber which looks toward the way of the North shall be for the priests who keep watch over the ministry of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who from the sons of Levi approach the Lord to minister to Him. 47. And he measured the court, a hundred cubits in length and a hundred cubits in breadth, a square; and the altar was before the face of the temple. 48. And he brought me into the vestibule of the temple: and he measured the vestibule, five cubits on this side.
on the tenth day you shall die." For in that year Narses the exarch, sent by the Emperor, defeated the Goths in battle and killed Totila. See St. Gregory, III Dialogues xii and xiii, and book II, ch. xv.
from the font, was called Copronymus, a sworn enemy of the Blessed Virgin and the holy images, and an exterminator of monks. When he had reigned 33 years in this cruelty, seized by the most burning fevers, he cried out in despair that he had already been handed over alive to unquenchable fire, and he demanded that honor be restored to the Blessed Mother of God (whom he had so often assailed with blasphemies).
Julian the Apostate, enemy of the Galileans (as he called Christians), struck by a heavenly weapon, perished, crying out: "You have conquered, O Galilean, you have conquered."
How great were the calamities that the Arian Vandals and their king Huneric inflicted upon the faithful can be seen in Victor of Utica in the three books he wrote on the persecution of the Vandals. But what was the end? Huneric, long fed on the blood of the Saints, was at last seized by a demon, tore himself with his own bites, as Gregory of Tours relates, and, as Victor of Utica attests, with his body broken open in its more secret parts, swarming with worms, he expired.
Aistulf, king of the Lombards, grievously and for a long time harassed the Church, killed the faithful, destroyed temples, broke his pledged word, threatened to slaughter all the Romans with a single sword; he also threatened Pope Stephen and Pepin, and finally besieged Rome. But what was the end? Hear Anastasius: "The wretched Aistulf," he says, "going out hunting in a certain place, was struck by a divine blow and died" in the year of our Lord 756.
Verse 1: In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the
1. In the twenty-fifth year of our captivity, at the beginning of the year, on the tenth of the month, in the fourteenth year after the city was struck: on this very day the hand of the Lord was upon me, and He brought me there. 2. In visions of God He brought me into the land of Israel, and set me down upon a very high mountain: upon which there was as it were the structure of a city facing toward the south. 3. And He brought me there: and behold a man, whose appearance was like the appearance of bronze, and a linen cord in his hand, and a measuring reed in his hand: and he stood in the gate. 4. And the same man said to me: Son of man, see with your eyes, and hear with your ears, and set your heart upon all the things that I shall show you: for you have been brought here that they may be shown to you: declare all the things that you see to the house of Israel. 5. And behold a wall on the outside all around the house on every side, and in the man's hand a measuring reed of six cubits and a handbreadth: and he measured the breadth of the building, one reed, and the height also one reed. 6. And he came to the gate that looked toward the east, and went up by its steps: and he measured the threshold of the gate, one reed in breadth, that is, one threshold one reed in breadth: 7. and each chamber one reed in length and one reed in breadth: and between the chambers, five cubits: 8. and the threshold of the gate next to the vestibule of the gate within, one reed. 9. And he measured the vestibule of the gate, eight cubits, and its front two cubits: and the vestibule of the gate was within. 10. And the chambers of the gate toward the east were three on this side and three on that side: the three were of one measure, and the fronts were of one measure on each side. 11. And he measured the breadth of the threshold of the gate, ten cubits: and the length of the gate, thirteen cubits: 12. and the border before the chambers, one cubit: and one cubit was the limit on each side. And the chambers were six cubits on this side and on that. 13. And he measured the gate from the roof of one chamber to the roof of the other, a breadth of twenty-five cubits: door against door. 14. And he made the fronts sixty cubits high: and before the front was the court of the gate all around. 15. And before the face of the gate, which reached to the face of the vestibule of the inner gate, fifty cubits. 16. And there were oblique windows in the chambers, and in their fronts, which were within the gate on every side all around: likewise also in the vestibules there were windows round about within, and before the fronts were carved palm trees. 17. And he brought me forth into the outer court, and behold chambers, and a pavement laid with stone in the court all around: thirty chambers in the circuit of the pavement. 18. And the pavement in front of the gates, according to the length of the gates, was lower. 19. And he measured the breadth from the face of
the lower gate to the front of the inner court on the outside, one hundred cubits toward the East, and toward the North. 20. He measured also the gate that looked toward the north of the outer court, both its length and its breadth. 21. And its chambers, three on this side and three on that: and its front and its vestibule according to the measure of the former gate, fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in breadth. 22. And its windows, and its vestibule, and its carvings according to the measure of the gate that looked toward the East: and the ascent to it was by seven steps, and a vestibule was before it. 23. And the gate of the inner court was opposite the gate on the north and on the east: and he measured from gate to gate a hundred cubits. 24. And he brought me out toward the south, and behold a gate that looked toward the South: and he measured its front and its vestibule according to the measures above. 25. And its windows, and its vestibules round about, like the other windows: fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in breadth. 26. And the ascent to it was by seven steps: and a vestibule before its doors: and there were carved palm trees, one on this side and another on that side on its front. 27. And the gate of the inner court was in the south: and he measured from gate to gate in the south, a hundred cubits. 28. And he brought me into the inner court at the south gate: and he measured the gate according to the measures above. 29. Its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule with the same measures: and its windows and its vestibule round about, fifty cubits in length, and twenty-five cubits in breadth. 30. And the vestibule round about was twenty-five cubits in length, and five cubits in breadth. 31. And its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its front: and the ascent to it was by eight steps. 32. And he brought me into the inner court by the way of the east: and he measured the gate according to the measures above. 33. Its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule as above: and its windows and its vestibules round about, fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in breadth. 34. And its vestibule, that is, of the outer court: and carved palm trees on its front on this side and on that: and the ascent to it was by eight steps. 35. And he brought me to the gate that looked toward the North: and he measured it according to the measures above. 36. Its chamber, and its front, and its vestibule, and its windows round about, fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in breadth. 37. And its vestibule looked toward the outer court: and carving of palm trees on its front on this side and on that; and the ascent to it was by eight steps. 38. And by each chamber there was a door in the fronts of the gates: there they washed the holocaust. 39. And in the vestibule of the gate there were two tables on this side and two tables on that side: that upon them the holocaust might be slain, and the sin offering, and the trespass offering. 40. And on the outer side, which goes up to the door of the gate that leads to the North, two tables: and on the other side before the vestibule of the gate, two tables. 41. Four tables on this side, and four tables on that side: by the sides of the gate were eight tables, upon which they slew the victims. 42. And four tables for the holocaust, built of hewn stone: a cubit and a half long, and a cubit and a half broad, and one cubit high: upon which they laid the instruments with which the holocaust and the victim were slain. 43. And the rims thereof were one handbreadth, turned inward round about: and upon the tables was the flesh of the offering. 44. And outside the inner gate were chambers of the singers in the inner court, which was at the side of the gate looking toward the North: and their front was toward the south, one at the side of the east gate which looked toward the north. 45. And he said to me: This chamber which faces the south shall be for the priests who keep watch over the temple. 46. And the chamber that faces toward the north shall be for the priests who keep watch at the ministry of the altar: these are the sons of Zadok, who from among the sons of Levi come near to the Lord to minister to Him. 47. And he measured the court, a hundred cubits in length, and a hundred cubits in breadth, foursquare; and the altar was before the face of the temple. 48. And he brought me into the vestibule of the temple: and he measured the vestibule, five cubits on this side,
and five cubits on that side: and the breadth of the gate was three cubits on this side, and three cubits on that side. 49. And the length of the vestibule was twenty cubits, and the breadth eleven cubits, and the ascent to it was by eight steps. And there were columns in the fronts: one on this side, and another on that side.
At The Beginning Of The Year, On The Tenth Day Of The Month
AT THE BEGINNING OF THE YEAR, ON THE TENTH DAY OF THE MONTH — that is on the 10th day of Nisan, on which the Hebrews in Exodus xii are commanded to take a lamb and keep it until the 14th day, so that, having offered it, they might be freed from Egypt: and so here on the same day Ezekiel sees the restoration of the temple and the people from Babylon, on which day the same people were formerly freed from Egypt and its servitude. Thus Christ on the same day, riding on a donkey, like the Paschal lamb entered Jerusalem, about to restore the Church and the people of God. The Hebrews think differently: since they consider the jubilee year to be noted here, they likewise consider the first month to have been the seventh. For from Tishri, that is from the 7th month, the jubilee began.
In The Fourteenth Year
IN THE FOURTEENTH YEAR — from the destruction of the city and temple, as I have already explained.
Mystically, St. Jerome considers that the fourteen generations from David to Christ are signified here, Christ who rebuilt the temple, that is, the Church.
On This Very Day
ON THIS VERY DAY — namely, the tenth day just mentioned; not "on that very day" on which Jerusalem was destroyed, as St. Gregory seems to interpret. For it was destroyed not on the tenth, but on the ninth day of the fourth month, Jeremiah xxxix, 2.
THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS UPON ME.
THE HAND OF THE LORD WAS UPON ME. — "Hand" is called in Hebrew יד (yad), as if an instrument of casting forth, or because it is sent out and flows from the arm: for the root ידא (yada) means to cast, to send out. "Hand" therefore here means virtue, power, efficacy, operation flowing from God into Ezekiel, that is, the spirit of prophecy promising the people liberty and happiness. Or the "hand" is the Holy Spirit, who proceeds from the Father and the Son as a hand and finger (as He is called in Exodus viii, 19), as if to say: The Spirit of God, or the Holy Spirit, carried me away in the spirit to that place, namely to Jerusalem.
Verse 2: IN VISIONS OF GOD.
2. IN VISIONS OF GOD. — He carried me away not bodily, but mentally through a vision, and indeed a sublime, wonderful, and divine one. Theodoret explains "of God" as meaning: In the likeness of God. For just as God, in order to work in some place, does not transfer Himself there, but shows and exercises there the efficacy of His spirit that pervades all things: so also the mind of the Prophets, while existing substantially in one place with the body, was carried to another place through visions by the power of the spirit. For our spirit has a certain participated quasi-immensity from God's spirit; so that just as He is substantially present everywhere, so our spirit intellectually establishes itself as quasi-present everywhere. This is what Christ says in John iii, 8: "The Spirit breathes where He wills; and you do not know whence He comes, or where He goes," as if to say: You do not understand, O Nicodemus, how your mind and spirit in its thought ranges now through Europe, now through Asia, now through the air, now through the heavens, now through the lower regions, and there establishes itself as quasi-present, and then flies away: you do not know these movements and flights of your soul, how in a moment it goes and comes and roams the whole world: it is therefore no wonder that you do not grasp the power and operation of the Holy Spirit, by which He causes the old man to be reborn, and to be entirely renewed in baptism. So Fernandius, vision xxv, section 1.
And He Set Me Down Upon A Mountain
AND HE SET ME DOWN UPON A MOUNTAIN — Moriah, where the temple had once been built, and was now again to be rebuilt. The temple therefore was on a lofty mountain,
this, they say, is Christ, who describes, distributes, and builds the parts of the new Church, just as He was the guardian of the old one, when He drove out the sellers and buyers from it, and did not allow a vessel to be carried through the temple. Hence He stands in the gate: "Because through Him we enter to the Father, and without Him we cannot enter the city of God. He stands therefore in the gate, to receive the worthy and reject the unworthy. In the gate also there is judgment," says St. Jerome; it therefore signifies the judicial power of Christ. Finally "He stands in the gate," because with a joyful and cheerful face He receives all who come, leads them, and introduces them into the Church.
Like The Appearance Of Bronze
LIKE THE APPEARANCE OF BRONZE — namely polished and shining. The beauty and strength of angels is signified, about which chapter i, 7: "For bronze," says St. Jerome, "is the most resonant of all metals, and rings out far with its sound. Hence also in Daniel chapter ii, in the image that was made of gold, silver, bronze, and iron, the kingdom of Alexander and the Greeks is shown in the likeness of bronze, to signify the eloquence of the Greek language." He adds that bronze signifies "that those who do not yet fully know the mysteries of spiritual building still need instruction." Alcazar interprets differently in Apocalypse xxi, 1, page 560: "Bronze," he says, "signifies the strength of Christ, by which He most bravely endured the reed or rod, that is the passion, and the cross of six cubits, that is great and immense; and through this He raised up and measured out the structure of the temple, that is, of His Church."
A Linen Cord
A LINEN CORD — the Septuagint reads: a builder's cord, by which, says Gregory, the evenness or straightness of a rising wall is tested, so that if a stone is too far in, it may be brought out; if it protrudes too far outward, it may be pulled back inward.
Mystically, the builders are the Angels, or the Apostles: for these build the temple, that is the Church of God; says St. Jerome.
A Reed
A REED — in Hebrew קנה (kaneh), that is a measuring rod. A similar vision is found in Zechariah ii, 1, and Apocalypse xxi, 15, in the construction of the new and heavenly Jerusalem.
Mystically, St. Jerome says: "The reed is prophetic grace, about which Psalm xliv says: My tongue is the pen of a scribe writing swiftly."
both because the temple itself was as it were the head of the city, and because it was as it were an earthly heaven, in which the priests and the Israelites were like stars. So Pineda, book V On the Affairs of Solomon, ch. v.
Upon A Very High Mountain
UPON A VERY HIGH MOUNTAIN — upon Zion.
Upon Which Was As It Were The Structure Of A City
UPON WHICH WAS AS IT WERE THE STRUCTURE OF A CITY — namely the city of Jerusalem itself, says Lyranus, or rather the temple itself: for to this Ezekiel was brought. So Fernandius, vision XVIII, section v.
Note: The temple was like a city, because it was surrounded on all sides by walls and gates: it had courts, like squares; treasuries, like houses; hence the Angel showed him as it were the structure of a city, that is, a city as it were already built: or because it was still being built, according to the dimensions of the man who presided over the building, as follows. He says therefore "as it were;" because the new city, or rather the temple, which is being discussed, was not yet built: but only its first outlines and ground plan appeared. He says moreover: "Facing toward the south:" because to Ezekiel coming from the north, namely from Babylon, Judea and the temple were to the south. So Apollinaris. Thus the temple and royal monastery of St. Lawrence near Madrid, Monte Cassino of St. Benedict, Fulda, and many others are like cities.
Symbolically, by this building on the mountain is signified the Church built upon a mountain, that is at the greatest height, by Christ, Matthew v, 14, about which Isaiah, ch. ii, 1 says: "There shall be, etc., a mountain on the summit of mountains." Hence St. Chrysostom, on Matthew v, says the mountain is a sign of divine power, which by its divine force sustains the Church, so that the gates of hell cannot prevail against it.
Secondly, St. Gregory says here: What does the very high mountain signify, if not Christ, who of the new Church
which, dug deep into the earth, have on both sides of those entering the bodies of the buried along the walls; and all things are so dark that nearly that word of the Prophet is fulfilled: Let them go down to hell alive; and rarely is light admitted from above, to temper the horror of the darkness, so that you would think it not so much a window as a hole of admitted light; and again one advances step by step, and to those surrounded by blind night that line of Virgil presents itself:
Horror everywhere terrifies the spirits, and the very silence itself.
Let this be said by me so that the prudent reader may understand what opinion I hold regarding the explanation of the temple of God in Ezekiel, about which it is written: Darkness is His hiding place."
Note: The temple was surrounded by three walls. The first wall was that of the outermost enclosure, described here in verse 5; the second was that of the outer court; the third was that of the inner court. The first wall, which encompassed all the buildings and courts of the temple, signifies the guardianship of God that surrounds the whole Church, according to Psalm cxxiv, 2: "The Lord is round about His people," and therefore, as preceded, "he who dwells in Jerusalem shall not be moved forever." The second wall signifies the guardianship of the angels, about whom it is said in the same place: "Mountains round about it." "Mountains," that is, Angels, says St. Augustine there, who with the mountain-like height of holiness, as St. Jerome says, surround the Church. The third wall represents the guardianship of the priests and the Prelates of the Church, about which it is said in Ezekiel xiii, 5: "You have not set up a wall for the house of Israel." Through these three walls one went to the temple through three gates, facing three quarters of the world, namely East, North, and South: which signifies that from three principal parts people would come to the Church, namely from Asia which is to the East, from Africa which is to the South, from Europe which is to the North in relation to Asia and Africa. The three gates, facing each other in each wall, signify the three grades of those coming to the faith: beginners, those making progress, and the perfect, which St. Bernard beautifully teaches are signified by the three kisses of the Bridegroom in Sermon 4 on the Song of Songs. So Antonius Fernandius, vision XVIII, section viii.
A MEASURING REED OF SIX CUBITS.
A MEASURING REED OF SIX CUBITS. — In Hebrew, six cubits in a cubit, that is in a fixed, just, and true cubit, meaning: six cubits of just measure.
AND A HANDBREADTH.
AND A HANDBREADTH. — Not as though the reed were held by a handbreadth, as Richard of St. Victor thinks. But the handbreadth here is a part of the measure, as is clear from the words and from the very measurement that follows. The handbreadth, which in Greek is called palaiste, says St. Jerome, is the sixth part of a cubit, namely four fingers of the hand joined together. The handbreadth (palmus) therefore differs from the span (palma), which in Greek is called spithame, and is the space that lies between the tip of the thumb and the end of the little finger when the hand is extended and the fingers spread. Moreover the Hebrews, and following them Maldonatus, interpret thus: "Six cubits and a handbreadth," that is, six cubits and additionally six handbreadths; six cubits, with one additional handbreadth added to each cubit, meaning: six sacred cubits. For the common cubit consisted of five handbreadths, the sacred cubit of six, as they relate. For in Hebrew it reads: six cubits in a cubit and a handbreadth, that is, six cubits of those cubits each of which contains a common cubit and a handbreadth. So also the Septuagint and the Chaldean. This is supported by what is said in chapter xlv, 13: "These are the measures of the altar in the truest cubit, which had a cubit and a handbreadth." For he calls the truest cubit the sacred cubit, which exceeds common cubits by one handbreadth. The measuring reed, therefore, which the Angel held in his hand here as an architect, had six sacred cubits, but seven common cubits, and additionally one handbreadth. So St. Jerome, Vatablus, Maldonatus, the Hebrews, and Alcazar, treatise On Measures, proposition ix: "Six cubits and a handbreadth, that is," he says, "six cubits, not of just any kind, but of those which exceed the common cubit by one handbreadth." Vilalpando, however, here in part II, book III, ch. xii, contends that this reed was six cubits and one handbreadth only; but in that case it should rather have been said "and of a handbreadth" (palmi), not "and a handbreadth" (palmo), as Alcazar urges.
Moreover, with this measurement of Vilalpando's reed falling, there likewise falls a great part of his dimensions in the temple, which are measured by this reed.
Tropologically, St. Gregory says: "The six cubits are the active life, because on the sixth day God completed His works. The handbreadth, however, which is above the six cubits, belongs already to the seventh; yet it is not itself a cubit, and signifies the contemplative life, which as it were in the Sabbath rests in the contemplation of God."
Rupert, however, by the six cubits and the handbreadth which is the seventh, understands the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit: "The handbreadth," he says, "is wisdom, the reward as it were of those who rest, while the remaining six are the instruments of those who work."
And He Measured The Breadth And Also The Height, One Reed
AND HE MEASURED THE BREADTH AND ALSO THE HEIGHT, ONE REED — that is, with one reed he measured all the parts of the building, not with several, says H. Pintus. Secondly and better, following the Septuagint, meaning: Both the breadth and the height of this outermost wall, about which verse 5 speaks, was one reed: for it was lower than the other walls. Hence it is called by the Septuagint proteichisma, that is, a rampart and enclosure, that is, a circuit, wall, partition. And so the breadth and height of the outermost wall were equal, namely six cubits, that is 36 handbreadths, says Maldonatus.
Tropologically, St. Gregory says: "Both the breadth and the height of the wall are of one reed; because whatever soul has been broad in love of neighbor, will be equally high in the knowledge of God. For while it expands itself laterally through love, it elevates itself upward through knowledge." And St. Jerome: "The reed," he says, "having six cubits and one handbreadth, signifies that our manner of life is thereby known, which is contained in the six days in which the world was made. And the manner of each individual work is known,"
of individual things, so that one pertains to works and another to the mind; hence the breadth is equal to the height, of which the breadth refers to works, as we have said, and the height refers to the spirit, which hastens to high things.
Verse 6: And He Came To The Gate That Looked Toward The East
6. AND HE CAME TO THE GATE THAT LOOKED TOWARD THE EAST — that is, to the gate of the court of Israel: and the eastern gate at that, as being the noblest, through which the king entered, and from which alone the most pleasing face of the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies was seen. For the face of the house, he says in chapter xlvii, 1, looked toward the East.
You ask: Why does he not first measure the court of the Gentiles, which was entirely outermost? I respond: Because properly he measures here the temple and court of the people of God, that is, of the Jews, not of the Gentiles. The mystical reason is to signify that innumerable Gentiles would come to the Church of Christ, as though this court could not contain them, and is as it were immense. Hence it is said of it in Psalm xxxv, 7: "Men and beasts You will save, O Lord," as St. Augustine explains in the same place.
HE WENT UP BY ITS STEPS.
HE WENT UP BY ITS STEPS. — From this it follows that the area of the court of Israel was higher than the court of the Gentiles: otherwise it would not have been necessary to ascend by steps. Similarly, the court of the priests was higher than the court of Israel, that is, of the people or the Jewish laity. The Septuagint adds that there were seven steps, and this is clear from verse 22, and there were the same number at the other gates: from the court of the Gentiles therefore one ascended to the court of Israel by seven steps. From there to the court of the priests there were eight steps, as is clear from verse 31; from there to the Holy Place there were ten steps. There were therefore 25 steps from the court of the Gentiles to the Holy Place: but up to the court of the priests there were 15, on which they chanted the fifteen Psalms of Ascent, or Gradual Psalms, as the Hebrews, St. Jerome, and others relate.
AND HE MEASURED THE THRESHOLD.
AND HE MEASURED THE THRESHOLD. — In Hebrew סף (saph) signifies both the upper and lower threshold, and the two doorposts which form the gate on both sides: hence Aquila translates prothyron; our Translator, "threshold"; Rabbi David, "doorposts." But the thickness of the doorposts and thresholds seems to have been the same: from the one therefore understand the other.
That Is, One Threshold, One Reed In Breadth
THAT IS, ONE THRESHOLD, ONE REED IN BREADTH — understand consequently: and the other threshold one reed in breadth, that is, as Vatablus says, both the one doorpost of the gate, which was to the south, and the other which was to the north, was one reed thick: for it was as thick as the wall, whose thickness was one reed, as is clear from verse 5. And so each doorpost was 36 handbreadths wide.
Verse 7: And Each Chamber
7. AND EACH CHAMBER — that is, each individual chamber. For there were six, three on one side of the gate and three on the other, as is clear from verse 12. Moreover, the chambers (thalami) here are small rooms in which the temple guards lived, such as we now see in city gates. For in Hebrew they are called תאים (taim), from the root תאח (taa), that is, to designate, define, circumscribe, meaning: an enclosed space designated and circumscribed by its measurement: because these chambers were bounded and supported by doorposts, and hence were of the same measurements as them: for as far as these chambers were from each other, so far were the posts of one from the posts of the other. Now the Septuagint, retaining the Hebrew taim, translated theim, which scribes corrupted into ailam. The chambers at the gate were therefore rooms for the gatekeepers, namely the Levites, so that they might keep away from the temple the unclean and others who were not permitted to enter. Symmachus translates parastades, that is, posts on each side.
And Between The Chambers Five Cubits
AND BETWEEN THE CHAMBERS FIVE CUBITS — that is, between one room and another there was a wall of five cubits. So the Chaldean.
Verse 8: THE THRESHOLD OF THE GATE BY THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE WITHIN.
8. THE THRESHOLD OF THE GATE BY THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE WITHIN. — That is, the inner gate had a threshold of one reed's measure, the same as the outer gate in verse 6. There were therefore two gates covered and joined with a square architrave, just as city gates are joined by an arch. And so this vestibule was between two gates: for it was enclosed between two gates. And in this vestibule there were six chambers, that is rooms for the gatekeepers, namely Levites who guarded the gates, three on one side and three on the other, of which the measure was the same, namely one reed in length and another in breadth, as is said in verse 7. Moreover, a vestibule is that part before a house that is left as a passageway, about which see Vitruvius, book VI, ch. x. The vestibule is so called, says Gellius, book XVI, ch. v, as if a stopping-place or stable for those coming; or, as Servius says, because it clothes (vestiat) the door, like a canopy supported on two columns; or because it was consecrated to Vesta. Hence new brides of old did not touch the threshold. Thus Lucan, book II:
With transplanted foot she forbade touching the threshold.
In Hebrew the vestibule is called אול (ulam), from the root אל (alam), that is, to bind, meaning: a bond, binding, connection of doorposts, that is, everything by which the posts are bound together above, whether it be an arch, or straight beams, or a roof. Hence it not rarely signifies the very series of doorposts and arches, and even the space left under the arch, and at other times the doorposts themselves joined by an arch, wall, or other means. So Vilalpando. Hence also Symmachus translates propylaeum, that is, a place before the house, namely before the door of the house. St. Jerome calls it a roofed court. We see such vestibules in Rome in nearly all the basilicas.
Now in the very vestibule, indeed in the gate, the ancients built rooms crosswise at the sides for gatekeepers and servants, as Vitruvius attests, book VI, ch. x. Hence there were also such rooms in this temple or court of Ezekiel. Hence in Greek they are called thyroréion, that is, the gatekeeper's place.
Finally, this vestibule was a symbol of heaven: for this is what Josephus says, book VI of the War, ch. vi: "It had no doors; for it signified heaven, visible on all sides and widely open." To conceive an idea of these things, know that the temple, that is the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies, was situated to the West: before it was the court, first of the priests, then of the laity. The entrances therefore and the gates of both courts were on the outer sides, namely facing three quarters of the world: East, North, and South (and so the Jews when praying, turned toward the temple, looked West, not East, as Christians do); there were therefore three gates in the court of the priests along three sides and three quarters of the world; and the same number in the court of the laity, directly facing and corresponding to the former. In each there were three chambers, that is rooms for the gatekeepers on the right side, and the same number on the left. These gates had their vestibules: about all of these the text treats here in detail. See the ground plan of the temple, courts, porticoes, gates, chambers, and vestibules in Vilalpando, figure IX.
Mystically, the porticoes signify the helps and as it were the shelters by which God fosters and protects those laboring in the work of the virtues. The chambers, or treasuries, in which the treasures of the house of God are kept and the weekly priests dwell, signify that through these defenses of God and through this protection the treasures of grace and of virtues and gifts are preserved in us, more than by our own industry; and through the same it is effected that we may minister to God, and offer Him through repentance and good works the sacrifice of a contrite and humbled heart. So Ribera, book I On the Temple, ch. xxv.
Verse 9: AND HE MEASURED THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE, EIGHT CUBITS.
9. AND HE MEASURED THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE, EIGHT CUBITS. — You will ask: How could the vestibule be 8 cubits long, when the chamber placed in its middle was one reed long, that is six cubits, as was said above? Vilalpando responds that the posts supporting the vestibule, that is its arch, were distant from each other by eight cubits; but the chambers between the posts in the middle had only a reed, or six cubits of length, because about two cubits were occupied by the posts and their ornaments, namely the pedestals and the projections of the moldings.
AND ITS FRONT.
AND ITS FRONT. — By "front" many understand an appendage that projected above the gate to keep off rain. Others, like Maldonatus, understand by "front" the posts, that is towers in which there was a spiral staircase by which one ascended gradually, and small windows, as is said in verse 16; the wall therefore surrounding the spiral staircase of the tower was two cubits thick. Most correctly, Vilalpando understands by "front" the columns, or rather half-columns, of the vestibule. He says these were two cubits in breadth, or thickness.
Tropologically, the fronts are eminent and strong men who publicly and fearlessly teach the things of salvation, such as the Apostles, Martyrs, and Doctors. Again, the front or face of the Church is charity: for by this the Church and its beauty are recognized, as Cyril of Alexandria teaches, explaining that saying of Christ: "By this all will know that you are My disciples, if you have love for one another," John xiii, 35.
Verse 11: And He Measured The Breadth Of The Threshold Of The Gate
11. AND HE MEASURED THE BREADTH OF THE THRESHOLD OF THE GATE — that is, the breadth of the said vestibule, which was between two doors, which had its beams like thresholds covering the vestibule, that is, the space between the gates. The breadth of this vestibule therefore was 10 cubits. For, as Vilalpando correctly teaches, the Angel measured the breadth of that space which remains between the half-columns that projected from the posts of the chambers, and found there 10 cubits: for the breadth of the gate threshold, which some thought the Angel was measuring here, had already been measured at eight cubits. For since in the threshold of the gate a triple dimension can be observed: the breadth, that is the thickness of the wall, which was one reed, as he said; and the length, namely how far one post was distant from the other, which was 8 cubits; and the height, which he will shortly say was 13 cubits; nothing remains in the gate threshold to be measured by the 10 cubits. We are therefore compelled to say that the Angel went beyond the outer wall, and passing by both walls, measured the space which the Greeks call thyroréion along its breadth, from south to north, and found 10 cubits.
And The Length
AND THE LENGTH (that is, the height) OF THE GATE, THIRTEEN CUBITS. — So Lyranus and Vilalpando.
Verse 12: AND THE BORDER.
12. AND THE BORDER. — In Hebrew גבול (gebul), that is, a boundary. Some think this is the name for a seat that was before the chambers; others for a space for walking: Maldonatus and others better understand by "boundary" the space that was between the gate and one row of chambers, that is rooms, attached on one side, and the other row on the other side, which he says was one cubit.
AND ONE CUBIT WAS THE LIMIT ON EACH SIDE.
AND ONE CUBIT WAS THE LIMIT ON EACH SIDE. — "Limit," that is boundary, meaning: one cubit on each side bounded the chambers, that is the rooms, and separated them from each other. This boundary or border Vilalpando clearly displays for viewing in the ground plan.
And The Chambers Were Six Cubits On This Side And On That
AND THE CHAMBERS WERE SIX CUBITS ON THIS SIDE AND ON THAT — namely three on this side and three on that, that is three on one side and three on the other.
Mystically, St. Jerome says: "This signifies that both the letter and the spirit, and both the understanding of history and of tropology, reach to the mysteries of the Trinity."
Verse 13: AND HE MEASURED THE GATE.
13. AND HE MEASURED THE GATE. — He calls "gate" not only the entrance, as in verse 11, but the entrance and the entire structure that the gate adorned, says Maldonatus, in which both the gate itself and the breadth of the chambers was contained: he asserts that this entire structure from the roof of one chamber, that is from the extremity of one room to the farthest extremity of another room corresponding to it on the opposite side, was twenty-five cubits. For each chamber had six cubits. And so both chambers, namely one on one side and the other on the other side, opposite each other across the gate, had 12 cubits.
The gate itself had ten, and the border and boundary on each side together had two, as he said in verses 11 and 12, which all joined together make 24 cubits. The roof of the chambers, however, seems to have risen three handbreadths, that is half a cubit. And so in two chambers there is one cubit, and altogether there are 25 cubits. So also Vilalpando, chapter xxi: "This measure," he says, "encompasses the chambers, fronts, and entrance of the gate already measured before; yet the measurement of its parts is different from what was already said, as can be seen in the same chapter." The meaning therefore is: from the roof of the chamber that is on the north side of the gate to the roof of the chamber that is on the south side, that is, as follows, the breadth or transverse distance from one side of the roof to the other, he measured 25 cubits.
Door Against Door
DOOR AGAINST DOOR — that is, taking the measurement across, or above, the door of one chamber to the door of the other, which is directly opposite it in a straight line, just as we see in monasteries that the monks' cells and doors are arranged and placed directly opposite each other. So Lyranus.
Verse 14: AND HE MADE THE FRONTS.
14. AND HE MADE THE FRONTS. — "He made," that is, by measuring he designated, and by the very measurement showed that the fronts were 60 cubits in height. He calls "fronts" the columns, or posts and thresholds. So Rabbi Solomon, Vatablus, Isidorus Clarius, and Vilalpando. We see such column fronts here in Rome in the magnificent basilica of St. Peter's in the Vatican, which is truly the wonder of the world, and the new temple of a new Solomon, in which the very columns of the temple of Solomon are seen. Others understand by "fronts" the rooms, about which see the following chapter, verse 1. For around the temple there were rooms of the same length as the temple: and the temple was 60 cubits long. Hence Symmachus translates parastaseis, that is, surroundings; Aquila translates prosópon, that is, face, as does our Translator. Moreover, St. Jerome explains these things thus: "I think," he says, "that between the outer wall of the temple all around, and the temple building itself in the court, that is in the middle, certain things were placed for ornament, which Symmachus calls surroundings, that is certain standing things, erected from the ground up to a height, and these occupied a space of sixty cubits. And again, for those going out from the inner gate to the face of the vestibule that looked toward the outer gate, fifty cubits of space were occupied; in which there were oblique windows, which the Septuagint calls hidden, and Symmachus calls toxikas (arrow-like). And these windows were in the chambers, that is, in each individual room, and in the porticoes that extended before the rooms, occupying fifty cubits. These oblique windows, or toxikai, received their name from arrows because, like arrows, they admit a narrow light into the buildings and widen on the inside, and everything all around was full of such windows. And before the fronts of the porticoes," he says, "was a painting, or carving, of palm trees; by which it is shown that at the entrance of the gate and immediately upon entering the wall, sixty cubits present themselves with various ornaments."
And Before The Front Was The Court Of The Gate All Around
AND BEFORE THE FRONT WAS THE COURT OF THE GATE ALL AROUND — meaning: with an equal front, that is height of columns, the court was surrounded on all sides, that is, the rows of columns surrounding the court were of equal measure.
Verse 15: Before The Face
15. BEFORE THE FACE — that is, from the front face, that is from the anterior face of the gate, to the interior face of the other gate of the vestibule, the entire intervening space was 50 cubits, which Maldonatus computes thus: Between one gate and the other there were three chambers on each side, each of which was six cubits, as was said in verse 7. Three times six is eighteen. Between one chamber and the next was a space of 5 cubits, and there were 4 such spaces: four times five is 20, which if you add to the previous 18, makes 38. Again, each gate had a threshold six cubits wide, as I said in verse 6; these doubled make twelve: which if added to 38, make 50. Vilalpando computes them differently, in chapter xxiii, but more obscurely, and according to his own measurement of the reed, in which he commonly disagrees with others, as I said in verse 3.
Verse 16: AND OBLIQUE WINDOWS.
16. AND OBLIQUE WINDOWS. — About these I said some things a little earlier from St. Jerome; I shall say more in chapter xli, 26.
Then he interprets these posts, chambers, and oblique windows mystically: "These things," he says, "will be referred to the condition of the world, and the Creator is understood from His creatures, and all things running in order and reason display the variety of the world; which among the Greeks received its name kosmos from ornament, and was made in six days, so that through each day individual decades may be reckoned, which perfect number we mentioned above. After this, as we enter the inner court, before the very vestibule of the inner gate, chambers with oblique windows present themselves, occupying a space of fifty cubits, which is also itself a sacred number. And after seven full weeks of festivity and joy, the first day of the eighth period (ogdoad) begins, which is the day of the Resurrection, and introduces us to the vicinity of the temple. For when we have done all things, performing penance for our prior error, then we are made neighbors and close to God; so that in the outer court, the order and constancy of creatures may teach us the knowledge of the Creator; and in the inner court, the true jubilee, in which all debts are forgiven us, may instruct our formation and lead us to the Holy of Holies. It should also be noted that the inner court has many windows, not straight and level, but oblique, narrow on the outside and widening inward; so that through certain small openings we may penetrate to the interior and arrive at the fullness of the most brilliant light that dwells in the temple. Finally, after sixty and fifty cubits, and the chambers, and porticoes, and fronts of the porticoes, many windows all around, the carving or painting of palm trees is shown to us, so that possessing victory over the world, we may be made worthy to see the palms (I think we should read 'palms,' not 'blows') of the virtues."
Verse 17: And He Brought Me Out
17. AND HE BROUGHT ME OUT — that is, having gone out from the gate, he led me into the eastern open area of the outer court: entering which I noticed that it was surrounded on all sides by porticoes with tessellated pavements skillfully crafted, above which treasuries rose, one in each intercolumniation, and there were thirty in all around. Hence it is clear that "all around" refers to the treasuries, not to the pavement. For the meaning is not that the pavement was laid all around; but that the treasuries were all around the court, as is immediately explained.
Treasury
TREASURY — is a chamber (exedra), that is, a place where one sits, or where a person resides and rests. So Pollux, book I, ch. iv. These were rooms where the priests and Levites rested and took shelter, and where they stored the equipment, furnishings, and wealth of the temple. Hence it is called a "treasury and pastophorium," as I said at the beginning of the chapter. So St. Jerome, Ribera, Vilalpando, Maldonatus, and others. Moreover, "before the treasuries were porticoes, and in the fronts of the porticoes were columns in a row supporting the porticoes," says St. Jerome.
Tropologically, the treasury of the Church is the tradition of the Fathers. Again, the treasuries are the memories of the Saints in which the treasures of heavenly things are kept, about which Psalm cxxxv, 7 says: "They shall pour forth the memory of Your abundant sweetness." Such a treasury of the passion of Christ was the memory of the Bride, Song of Songs i, 12, saying: "A bundle of myrrh is my beloved to me, he shall lie between my breasts." Imitating her, St. Bernard in the same place confesses that from his youth he collected a bundle of the sufferings of Christ and stored it away in his mind.
THE PAVEMENT LAID WITH STONE IN THE COURT.
THE PAVEMENT LAID WITH STONE IN THE COURT. — The Hebrew word רצפה (ritspa) signifies coals, and a pavement laid with stone resembling coals, that is, porphyry stone. With this hardest, most polished, and most precious stone therefore the pavement of the court seems to have been paved (just as we see in Rome the pavement of the church of St. Agnes paved with the same and equally precious stones, and certain others: for in the temple of Solomon nothing could be seen except cedar, gold, silver, marble, and precious stones). About this St. Jerome says: "The pavement, which was laid with stones and extended before the porticoes of the court, was lower at the ascent to the porticoes, and had the same length as the structure of the chambers possessed." Then explaining this mystically: "The pavement," he says, "was laid with stone, lest the footsteps be defiled by the mud, earth, and dust of the sinful inhabitants, but so that they might walk upon living stones, from which the temple of God is built." Vilalpando explains this verse in the same way, but more clearly.
Verse 18: IN FRONT OF THE GATES.
18. IN FRONT OF THE GATES. — In Hebrew, at the side of the gates. He means the gates not of the treasuries, but of the outer court itself, that is, of the laity, of which there were two, through which from the outer court one entered the inner court, to which gates one ascended by steps: because since the temple was on a mountain, one had to ascend by steps to all the gates of both the vestibule and the court. This is what he says: "According to the length of the gates it was lower," that is, the pavement was lower in the gate by as much as the height of the steps by which one ascended to the gate. For he calls this height the "length of the gates," as in verse 11 above, says Maldonatus. Better, St. Gregory, homily 18, and Vilalpando take "length" here not as height but properly, and give the meaning: the height of the porticoes that ran on both sides from the sides of the gates was 50 cubits, as great namely as was the length of the gates. But the length of these porticoes was far greater, namely 500 cubits. For they filled the entire breadth of the court of Israel. He measures here the outer court, or court of Israel, that is of the laity, by parts, namely by the various areas that lay between one gate and another; which areas were like small courts, and the porticoes of the whole court, and the portico of Israel, which was vast and immense, being large enough for the entire people.
Verse 19: And He Measured The Breadth
19. AND HE MEASURED THE BREADTH (he calls "breadth" the area or space: for by what other means could one measure breadth toward the East and toward the North? the area, I say, which was, or lay between) FROM THE FACE OF THE LOWER GATE — that is from the beginning of the Eastern gate (which he measured in verse 6), which looked outward: for this he calls the face of the gate. He calls it "lower" in relation to the gate of the second court, which was higher, as was its court itself. For from the first court to the second one ascended by eight steps. — TO THE FRONT OF THE INNER COURT (that is, to the front or beginning of the court of the priests) ON THE OUTSIDE — meaning: he measured outside the inner court the space that was between it and the first Eastern gate, and found its breadth, that is its extent and capacity, both its "length" which runs from West "to the East," and its "breadth" properly so called, which runs from South "to the North," to be 100 cubits. This space of the court was therefore not rectangular, but square, equal and identical on all its sides and edges. So Lyranus and Maldonatus and Vilalpando, who paraphrases this verse 19 thus: "And he measured the breadth of the eastern area of the outer court, from the face of the outer gate just measured, to the front of the inner court, one hundred cubits from East to West, and the length of the same from South to North: and he measured the open area lying between the outer and inner gate, excluding the gates, of one hundred cubits in breadth and length."
Verse 20: And Also The Gate
20. AND ALSO THE GATE — meaning: the Angel led me from the Eastern gate, which he had hitherto shown and measured for me, to the Northern gate of the same outer court, and measured the length and breadth of each of its parts, and found it to be in all respects similar and equal to the Eastern gate, so that
in the following verses, he repeats the same things he had said about the Eastern gate. For here he passes to the measurement of the Northern gate, under which he includes its vestibule and the adjoining chambers.
Verse 23: And The Gate Of The Inner Court
23. AND THE GATE OF THE INNER COURT — that is, corresponding to these two gates of the outer court, the Eastern and the Northern, which I have described, there were directly opposite two other gates in the inner court. And the same must be understood of the other gates. So Maldonatus.
Verse 24: TOWARD THE SOUTH.
24. TOWARD THE SOUTH. — He measures here the Southern gate in exactly the same manner as the other gates already described. He omits here the measurement of the Western gate, because one entered the outer court from outside through only three gates. For the fourth gate, which was on the West, was shared by the outer and inner courts, through which one passed from one to the other.
Verse 28: AND HE BROUGHT ME INTO THE INNER COURT.
28. AND HE BROUGHT ME INTO THE INNER COURT. — He passes from the measurement of the outer court, that is of the laity, which was called the court of Israel, to the measurement of the inner court, that is of the priests, and he measures it with the same plan and measurements as the outer one, up to verse 32.
Verse 29: ITS CHAMBER.
29. ITS CHAMBER. — In Hebrew תאו (taav), that is, its chambers. So the Septuagint; for there were several, as is clear from verse 10.
Verse 30: AND THE VESTIBULE.
30. AND THE VESTIBULE. — In Hebrew אלמו (elammav), that is, its vestibules round about, twenty-five cubits in length and five cubits in breadth. So the Roman text, the Hebrew, St. Jerome, Vatablus, and others generally. Vilalpando therefore reads incorrectly: fifty cubits in length and twenty-five cubits in breadth. You will object: All the vestibules were equal; but the others were 50 cubits long and 25 wide; therefore this one too. St. Jerome responds: "This ambiguity is resolved by what follows: And its vestibule faced the outer court, and palm trees were on its front, so that this court which had twenty-five cubits in length and five in breadth belongs not to the inner but to the outer court, so that the length of the prior court, that is twenty-five cubits, is the length of the outer court, and five cubits is its breadth."
Secondly, Maldonatus says that elammim or ulamoth, that is vestibules, are the name for those four empty spaces that were between the chambers of the great vestibule, each of which had 5 cubits in breadth, as he said in verse 7, but 25 in length; for this was the breadth of the great vestibule. He calls "vestibule" here the space that consisted of two opposite pillars that were between the chambers, one on one side and the other on the other, and besides the empty space of the great vestibule.
Symbolically, for the meaning of these measures and numbers, namely 25, 50, 60, 100, etc., see Ribera, book I On the Temple, ch. xx, and Peter Bongus of Bergamo, book On the Mysteries of Numbers, in which he thoroughly treats the symbols and meanings of individual numbers celebrated in Sacred Scripture.
Verse 32: And He Brought Me Into The Inner Court
32. AND HE BROUGHT ME INTO THE INNER COURT — not into another, but into that same court of the priests, which he had entered a little before after leaving the inner gate, says Vilalpando.
Verse 33: ITS CHAMBER AND ITS FRONT.
33. ITS CHAMBER AND ITS FRONT. — In Hebrew, its chambers and its fronts, as also in verse 29 and verse 36.
Verse 35: And He Brought Me To The Gate
35. AND HE BROUGHT ME TO THE GATE — the Northern gate of the same court. Note: Whatever is measured in one gate is common to all the others. So Vilalpando.
Verse 38: AND IN EACH TREASURY THERE WAS A DOOR IN THE FRONTS OF THE GATES:
38. AND IN EACH TREASURY THERE WAS A DOOR IN THE FRONTS OF THE GATES: THERE THEY WASHED THE HOLOCAUST — that is, at the six doors (for so many were the doors of the chambers) that were between the inner fronts of the gates, the holocausts were washed. So Vilalpando, meaning: Each chamber or treasury had its own door, through which the victims to be sacrificed were brought in from the court, so that in them their entrails and flesh might be washed before their offering and burning. For to this end these treasuries had been built.
Verse 39: And In The
39. AND IN THE (INNER) VESTIBULE OF THE GATE, TWO TABLES ON THIS SIDE AND TWO TABLES ON THAT. — He calls it the "vestibule of the gate" because it was covered by the eminence of the gate; and it was double, one inner and one outer: in each there were four tables, that is eight in all, as verse 41 says, meaning: In the inner vestibule of the gate there were two tables here at the two posts, and two tables there at the same number of similar posts: upon which the spread-out animals were slaughtered for a holocaust, or for sin, or for a trespass offering of ignorance. So Vilalpando.
Verse 40: And On The Outer Side
40. AND ON THE OUTER SIDE (of the vestibule), WHICH GOES UP TO THE DOOR OF THE GATE THAT LEADS TO THE NORTH — meaning: as soon as a person, having ascended the steps, enters the door of the outer vestibule through the Northern gate, there were two tables on one side and two on the other, that is 4 in all, just as in the inner vestibule, as I said in the preceding verse; hence he adds:
Verse 41: Four Tables On This Side
41. FOUR TABLES ON THIS SIDE (that is, inside the gate of the vestibule) AND FOUR ON THAT — namely outside the gate, so that in total there were eight tables, upon which the victims were slaughtered.
Verse 42: And Four Tables For The Holocaust
42. AND FOUR TABLES FOR THE HOLOCAUST (not different ones, but the same already mentioned: for he said in verse 39 that the former ones were also for holocausts. He therefore repeats these tables to describe their material and size, namely that they were) BUILT OF HEWN STONE, A CUBIT AND A HALF IN LENGTH, AND A CUBIT AND A HALF IN BREADTH, AND ONE CUBIT IN HEIGHT. — Explaining this mystically, St. Jerome says: The length has a cubit and a half, and likewise the breadth, "which joined together make three cubits: which three cubits have in height one cubit, so that the mysteries of the Trinity may preserve the measure of one cubit, that is, of the divine Majesty, as the Lord says: Go, baptize all nations in the name of the Father, and of the Son, and of the Holy Spirit. The name of God is, as it were, one cubit of height, which embraces three properties, and always accepts the holocausts of our offerings."
Upon the tables, moreover, are placed the vessels in which the holocaust of the martyrs is offered, about whom it is said: Precious in the sight of the Lord is the death of His saints: and their sacrifices, who by continence and bodily holiness offer their souls to the Lord; and the names of these tables I think are contained in the Apostles Matthew, Luke, Mark, and John." Square tables signify the firm resolutions of conceived and mentally determined virtue, about which St. Augustine says in Psalm lxxxvi: "In every good work make yourselves foursquare, prepared for all temptations, so that whatever may strike you does not overthrow you." Such was the foursquare charity of Christ in Paul, when he said, Romans viii, 35: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? etc. I am sure that neither death, nor life," etc.
Upon Which They Placed The Instruments With Which
UPON WHICH THEY PLACED THE INSTRUMENTS WITH WHICH (that is, by which: for the Hebrew beth, meaning "in," is used instrumentally) THE HOLOCAUST WAS SLAIN. — Such instruments were knives, bowls in which the blood of the victims was caught; vinegar-dishes and plates, on which frankincense, fine flour, and salt, with which the victim was to be sprinkled, were placed, about which I spoke in Exodus xxv, 29.
Verse 43: AND THE RIMS OF THEM.
43. AND THE RIMS OF THEM. — He reads שפתים (sephataim), with sin, that is "lips" (rims): but now they read schephataim with shin, and translate it as tripods on which pots are placed: so Rabbi David, or iron hooks on which meats are usually hung. So the Chaldean, Rabbi Solomon, Pagninus, Pineda, book V On the Affairs of Solomon, ch. x, and Maldonatus. Hence Vatablus translates: And flat palm-sized pegs had been driven in that building all around. But our Translator more correctly reads with sin, and translates "lips" (rims). For the Septuagint also translated it thus: and he calls the "lips" (rims) the cymatia of the tables, that is their additions and upper ornaments, which were therefore curved. For these were one handbreadth. So Vilalpando. They are called cymatia from the Greek κῦμα (kyma), that is "wave": for these ornaments had the appearance of waves.
Verse 44: Outside The Inner Gate
44. OUTSIDE THE INNER GATE (that is, of the inner court, as if to say: Having entered the inner court, I saw) TREASURIES (that is rooms) OF THE SINGERS. — In each court there were three gates, besides the Western one, through which there was entrance to the Sanctuary. At each of these three gates there were ten treasuries, that is rooms, five on one side and five on the other, so that in all there were 30, as he said in verse 17. In these the Levites and other ministers of the temple lived, according to each one's rank, order, and office. In those therefore which were to the North, he says the singers lived.
ONE ON THE SIDE OF THE GATE.
ONE ON THE SIDE OF THE GATE. — In Hebrew אחד (echad), that is, "one," namely one row of rooms was toward that side of the Eastern gate which faces North: but the other row of rooms was toward the West. This one therefore faced the Eastern gate, that one the Western gate. So Maldonatus.
Verse 45: This Is The Treasury
45. THIS IS THE TREASURY — that is, this is the other row of rooms which faces North: this shall be for the dwelling of the priests who guard
and take care of the matters of the altar, namely those who offer sacrifice.
Verse 46: THE TREASURY THAT FACES TOWARD THE NORTH SHALL BE FOR THE PRIESTS WHO
46. THE TREASURY THAT FACES TOWARD THE NORTH SHALL BE FOR THE PRIESTS WHO KEEP WATCH AT THE MINISTRY OF THE ALTAR. — In Hebrew, who guard the altar, namely the perpetual fire of the altar. From this the deluded ancient world borrowed its watch of the Vestal fire through the Vestal Virgins, as priestesses of Vesta; about which Virgil says, Aeneid iv:
And she had consecrated a watchful fire, Eternal vigils of the gods.
THESE ARE THE SONS OF ZADOK — who was the illustrious High Priest in the time of Solomon, and was the first to offer sacrifice in his temple, and discharged the sacred duties, and anointed and consecrated Solomon as king.
Who Come Near From Among The Sons Of Levi
WHO COME NEAR FROM AMONG THE SONS OF LEVI — that is, who are Levites, or descendants of Levi, whom God chose for Himself to approach the ministries of the temple, and in them to serve and minister to Him.
Verse 47: And He Measured The Court
47. AND HE MEASURED THE COURT (the inner court, which he had entered a little before after leaving the inner gate, says Vilalpando) A HUNDRED CUBITS IN LENGTH AND A HUNDRED IN BREADTH — This court of the priests was therefore not rectangular but square, equal on all sides. Hear St. Gregory, homily 22, describing this court: "In the upper part (he says) three gates have been described, namely of the East, the South, and the North: and then the gate of the inner court was mentioned, in which tables built of hewn stone are recorded: and the gate which looked toward the North, in which there were tables for sacrifice, not for holocaust, etc. But when these things are completed, the Prophet again begins to describe the inner gate, and three other gates, of the North, South, and East, and he declares that in their inner court, which was outside the inner gate, there are treasuries, singers, priests, the temple, the altar, and sacrifices." So says St. Gregory, who, enumerating only six gates, three outer and three inner, although Scripture seems to enumerate more, teaches that the same ones are repeated. The court therefore that was situated between the three inner gates, the Angel now measures, one hundred cubits in length and one hundred cubits in breadth, making a square.
Hear also St. Jerome: "This man," he says, "who brought Ezekiel into the inner court and, so to speak, to the Holy of Holies, measured the court itself, in which there were two chambers, or treasuries, assigned as dwellings for the guards of the temple or the altar: and he found it to be one hundred cubits in length and breadth, making a square, so that the priests serving the ministry of God, who had entered by the strait and narrow way, might have the widest walkways, and might dwell in the perfect and consummated number of the virtues."
AND THE ALTAR BEFORE THE FACE OF THE TEMPLE.
AND THE ALTAR BEFORE THE FACE OF THE TEMPLE. — Take "temple" here in the proper sense, namely of the priests, not of the laity, that is the Holy Place and the Holy of Holies. For before the Holy Place, in the court of the priests, under the open sky was the altar of holocausts. Hence about it he adds:
Verse 48: AND HE BROUGHT ME INTO THE VESTIBULE OF THE TEMPLE.
48. AND HE BROUGHT ME INTO THE VESTIBULE OF THE TEMPLE. — He passes from the court to the building, namely to the temple; hence here he begins its measurements from the vestibule, which Symmachus calls propylaeon, and Vitruvius pronaon. For it was before the doors of the temple, and roofed above, so that those leaving the temple could remain there, safe from rain, hail, heat, etc., such vestibules as we see in Rome in most temples.
Note: Between the court of the priests and the temple there was a plaza of 20 cubits, which surrounded the temple closely on all sides, about which see chapter xli, 10. After this plaza was the vestibule, or portico of the temple, directly attached to the temple and its door, so that when it was opened there was immediate entrance into the temple. The discussion here concerns this, so that having measured it, he may begin to measure the temple itself, as he does in the following chapter. The vestibule here therefore does not mean the open area or the court of the priests, as elsewhere; but the inner parts of the temple itself, namely the place before the temple roofed above, so that it appears to be a part and the beginning of the temple itself. Into this vestibule, as into the temple, no layperson was permitted to enter, but only priests. Into this vestibule therefore Christ never entered, nor the Apostles, because they were not Levitical priests. I said more about the vestibule in verse 8. For there I measured the vestibule of the court, just as here the vestibule of the temple is measured.
AND HE MEASURED THE VESTIBULE, FIVE CUBITS.
AND HE MEASURED THE VESTIBULE, FIVE CUBITS. — "Vestibule" here does not mean the whole and entire vestibule: for this was twenty cubits long and eleven wide, as follows: but the wall by which the vestibule was enclosed on each side, which Vilalpando calls the post of the vestibule; the Chaldean and Rabbi David, the front of the vestibule. He describes here the thickness of this wall on each side, namely that it was five cubits thick on each side.
AND THE BREADTH OF THE GATE.
AND THE BREADTH OF THE GATE. — Thus he calls the sides after the gate, which had three cubits on each side, that is six in all: which if you subtract from the twenty cubits of the vestibule's length, as follows, fourteen cubits remain, which was the width of the gate. So Rabbi David and Vilalpando.
Verse 49: AND THE LENGTH OF THE VESTIBULE WAS TWENTY CUBITS.
49. AND THE LENGTH OF THE VESTIBULE WAS TWENTY CUBITS. — Note: The breadth of the temple was twenty cubits; the length of the temple ran from East to West: this vestibule, or portico, was situated on the eastern side of the temple, and was 20 cubits long, as much as was the breadth of the house: so that it corresponded equally to the length of the vestibule of the house, which the just proportion of the building required. So Vilalpando.
Of the same measure was the portico of the temple of Solomon, after whose plan this structure of the temple of Ezekiel was made. For about it we read in III Kings vi, 3: "And the portico was before the temple, twenty cubits in length." But the difficulty lies in what follows there: "And it had ten cubits of breadth before the face of the temple." For this of Ezekiel is said here to have had not 10 but 11 cubits. Vilalpando responds, part II, book III, ch. xlvi, that it was precisely 10 and a half cubits; hence it was free for the writer either to name from the smaller number, as the historian did in III Kings by writing ten; or from the larger, as Ezekiel did by counting eleven, since it is equally distant from both.
Moreover, the breadth of the portico was one hundred and twenty cubits, as Scripture asserts, II Chronicles iii, 4, and Josephus, book VIII of the Antiquities, ch. ii. This portico was different from the one called in the Gospel the Portico of Solomon, in which Christ and the Apostles taught, Acts v, 12, about which see Vilalpando and Pineda, book V On the Affairs of Solomon, ch. v, § 19. For into this portico only the Aaronic priests entered.
Mystically, the twenty cubits of length signify the long-suffering and patience of the elect: it corresponded to the breadth of the temple, in which the breadth of charity is designated: because as great as the breadth of charity, which extends to friends and enemies alike, so great must be the long-suffering and patience in the works of penance and other virtues, so that it embraces both pleasant and unpleasant things, and at no time fails, and is overcome by no difficulty, according to that saying: "Let patience have its perfect work." So Ribera, book I, ch. xx.
And There Were Columns In The Fronts
AND THERE WERE COLUMNS IN THE FRONTS — similar to those two bronze ones that Solomon made, and named Boaz and Jachin, that is "strength" and "firmness," or "direction," as if to say: May God preserve, direct, and confirm this temple for the longest time! Moreover, Vilalpando teaches that each of these columns was six cubits in circumference and twenty in height; and the capitals, that is the architraves, friezes, and cornices, taken together were five cubits high.
Mystically, these two columns, one on the right and the other on the left, signify fortitude and perseverance both in prosperity and in adversity. See what I said about these columns in III Kings vii, 15.
Mystical Exposition of Chapter XL, from St. Gregory.
St. Gregory wrote on this chapter the entire Book II on Ezekiel, namely from Homily XIII to XXII, the last one; ten homilies, in which he copiously and beautifully explains these things in the moral sense. I shall compress his words into a few, but in such a way that I use his own words; thus he speaks as follows:
Synopsis of Homily XIII.
Verse 1: THE HAND OF THE LORD CAME UPON ME.
1. THE HAND OF THE LORD CAME UPON ME. — "The hand in vision is power in contemplation."
2. He set me down upon a very high mountain. — "This mountain is Christ, the mediator of God and men: He is lofty, because He is God and man; because even though He is of the earth through the substance of humility, He is nevertheless incomprehensible by reason of the height of His divinity."
UPON WHICH THERE WAS AS IT WERE THE STRUCTURE OF A CITY FACING TOWARD THE SOUTH. — "He says 'as it were,' because He directs the heart of His hearers toward a spiritual building, of which Psalm 121 says: 'Jerusalem, which is built as a city.' For already that vision of inward peace is constructed from the congregation of holy citizens; the heavenly Jerusalem is built as a city. Yet this city, while in this land of pilgrimage it is struck by scourges and beaten by tribulations, its stones are daily squared. And this city is the holy Church herself, which, destined to reign in heaven, still labors on earth. To whose citizens Peter says: 'And you, as living stones, are built up.' And Paul says: 'You are God's field, God's building.' This city indeed already has here in the conduct of the saints a great building of its own: for in a building one stone bears another, because stone is placed upon stone; and he who bears another is borne by another. Thus, even so in the holy Church each one both bears another and is borne by another. For neighbors mutually tolerate one another, so that through them the building of charity may rise. Hence Paul admonishes, saying: 'Bear one another's burdens, and so you will fulfill the law of Christ.' Declaring the power of this law, he says: 'The fullness of the law is charity.' For if I neglect to bear you in my conduct, and you disdain to tolerate me in your conduct, whence does the building of charity rise among us, whom mutual love does not join through patience? Moreover, the foundation bears all the weight of the building, and is itself not borne by others; because our Redeemer tolerates all our burdens, but in Him there was no evil that needed to be tolerated."
Upon The Mountain
UPON THE MOUNTAIN ("that is, upon Christ") THERE WAS AS IT WERE THE STRUCTURE OF A CITY — "because He alone sustains our conduct and our faults, who bears the building of the Church. And it should be noted that he saw the city facing toward the south. For the south wind is a symbol of the Holy Spirit, the north wind of the devil, because the former loosens with warmth and the latter constricts with cold; of the former it is said in Psalm 125: 'Turn again, O Lord, our captivity, like a torrent in the south.' For our captivity, which had remained sluggish from the cold of torpor in following God, is loosened by the warmth of the Holy Spirit, so that it may run toward the love of God. Hence also the contemplative, kindled with mighty love, said: 'My soul has exulted in the Lord; it will delight in His salvation;' because he had conceived joy in his mind from the very source where he ardently burned through love. Therefore that former city, namely the Synagogue, in its unfaithful members stood toward the north, because it hardened in the cold of faithlessness. But the holy Church, because it conceived the charity of faith, inclines toward the south through its warmth, and as it were leans upon a warm wind, because it rejoices not in its own confidence, but in the gift of spiritual grace."
Verse 3: AND HE BROUGHT ME IN THERE.
3. AND HE BROUGHT ME IN THERE. — "He enters the building of the heavenly city who in the holy Church considers the ways of the good by imitating them, for example, the married person who is content with his own possessions, and bestows whatever he can upon the needy, and does not neglect to weep for the sins without which the daily life of marriage cannot be led. But he has already abandoned all things of the world who feeds on the exercise of contemplation alone, who rejoices with tears in the hope of heavenly rewards, who transcends present things, who seeks to have a daily secret conversation with the Lord, whose mind is disturbed by no care for the passing world, who always expands his mind in the expectation of heavenly joys."
AND BEHOLD A MAN, WHOSE APPEARANCE WAS LIKE THE APPEARANCE OF BRONZE.
AND BEHOLD A MAN, WHOSE APPEARANCE WAS LIKE THE APPEARANCE OF BRONZE. — "He Himself is signified by the man, who is figured in the mountain (namely Christ), because He both arranges all things within the holy Church by judging, and He Himself bears it, and by bearing it lifts it up to heavenly things. He has the appearance of bronze, which is durable and resonant; because taking the form of a servant, He turned our frailty with the burden of human nature, through the glory of His resurrection, into eternity; because in it His flesh was made henceforth enduring without end, and through it the glory of His majesty resounded to all, because God became known to the world through flesh. For He alone, as Isaiah says (chapter 63), trod the winepress in which He was trampled, who by His patience overcame the passion which He endured."
Synopsis of Homily XIV.
SON OF MAN, SEE WITH YOUR EYES, AND HEAR WITH YOUR EARS.
SON OF MAN, SEE WITH YOUR EYES, AND HEAR WITH YOUR EARS. — "The prophet is called 'son of man' so that he may always remember what he is by reason of his weakness, lest he be puffed up by the greatness of contemplation. Hence after contemplation and compunction, temptation often follows, so that temptation may weigh him down, lest contemplation puff him up; and in turn contemplation lifts him up, lest temptation drown him. Thus by a wondrous dispensation the soul is balanced in a kind of middle state, so that it neither grows proud in good things nor falls in evil things. Hence also through blessed Job it is said: 'And He weighs the waters in a balance.'"
Announce all things that you see. — "Because whoever advances by seeing spiritual things must also share these things with others by speaking."
Verse 5: AND BEHOLD A WALL ON THE OUTSIDE ALL AROUND THE HOUSE ON EVERY SIDE.
5. AND BEHOLD A WALL ON THE OUTSIDE ALL AROUND THE HOUSE ON EVERY SIDE. — "The wall is Christ, who surrounds us on every side by guarding us, and He is on the outside; for the wall within us is God, but the wall without is God made man; and this all around, because He who above is the firmness of the angels, below became the redemption of men, who in order to guard us perfectly, displayed everything that He taught, namely He taught us to despise transitory goods and not to fear temporal evils. He accepted death, so that we would not fear to die; He showed the resurrection, so that we would believe we can rise again."
AND IN THE MAN'S HAND A MEASURING REED OF SIX CUBITS AND A
AND IN THE MAN'S HAND A MEASURING REED OF SIX CUBITS AND A HANDBREADTH. — "The measuring reed is Sacred Scripture, because in it we measure every action of our life, so that we may see how much we advance, or how far we stand from progress. It is in the man's hand, that is, in the power of Christ, who fulfilled by His deeds what He willed to be written. By the six cubits, what else is expressed but the active life? Because on the sixth day God completed all His works. The contemplative life is signified by the handbreadth, because even when we stretch our heart toward it, we can scarcely attain a small portion of it. Of the seventh cubit, therefore, we touch only a handbreadth, we who, placed in this life, taste only the beginnings of intimate contemplation; it is therefore begun here, so that it may be perfected in the heavenly homeland."
AND HE MEASURED THE WIDTH OF THE BUILDING, ONE REED; THE HEIGHT ALSO, ONE REED. — "First, God, who is neither stretched in great things nor confined in small things, speaks thus of the whole Church as if He were speaking of a single soul. The width therefore pertains to love of neighbor. For nothing is broader than to receive all in the embrace of love and to endure no narrowness of hatred. The height pertains to the understanding of contemplation. But the width and height of the building are measured by one reed: because each soul, as much as it is broad in love of neighbor, so much will it also be lofty in the knowledge of God. Second, the height is the angelic nature, the width the human; because the latter still dwells in lowly places, while the former remains in sublime ones. But both are measured by one reed, because the humility of men will one day be brought to the equality of the angels."
AND A LINEN CORD IN HIS HAND.
AND A LINEN CORD IN HIS HAND. — "The Septuagint has: 'A cord of chamberlains.' What else do we understand by chamberlains than holy teachers, who by speaking spiritual things compose living stones, that is, the souls of the elect, into the heavenly building? The linen cord is subtle preaching, which binds not only external works, as the Jewish law did, but also the mind of the hearer, lest it dissolve itself even in wretched thoughts. The cord in the hand is preaching in action; for He Himself showed everything that He taught. For Jesus began to do and to teach."
AND A MEASURING REED IN HIS HAND. — "Through this reed we recognize that His dispositions are hidden. For by His incomprehensible judgment, one is sent among the measure of the elect, and another is left outside. For our Redeemer leads some out from their iniquities and leaves others in their iniquity. The measuring reed can also be understood as Sacred Scripture, insofar as whoever reads it measures himself in it, how much he advances or falls short in spiritual virtue."
AND HE WAS STANDING IN THE GATE.
AND HE WAS STANDING IN THE GATE. — "Because our Redeemer, incarnate, appeared visible through His humanity, and kept Himself invisible through His divinity. For he who stands in a gate is seen from one side as outside, and from another as inside. Hence it is said of Him (Song of Songs 2): 'Behold, He stands behind our wall,' because He displayed the nature of humanity which He assumed, and concealed the nature of divinity from human eyes. Looking through the window, gazing through the lattice, so that as God He might appear through miracles, and be hidden through sufferings: and be perceived as man through sufferings; yet be recognized as beyond man through miracles. Therefore He stood in the gate with His face inward and His back outward, whose eyes always behold His building; because they unceasingly observe how much each person advances in virtues. The prophet indeed looks toward the gate, because whoever hears the words of God must always fix the eyes of his heart upon his departure, and ceaselessly meditate how he may leave the present life and reach eternal joys. For we do not have here a lasting city, but we seek the one that is to come."
Verse 4: AND THE SAME MAN SPOKE TO ME.
4. AND THE SAME MAN SPOKE TO ME. — "For Christ, even in the very time of His passion, gave precepts of life to His disciples, so that those who believe in Him would always look toward the gate, and weighing His passion with attentive consideration, would not turn away the eyes of their mind from their own departure; because when we desire to pass from temporal sacraments to eternal things, we have as it were already turned our backs on the present life, and we hold the face of our heart in the desire of our departure. Therefore he who beholds the joys of his true freedom fixes his attention on the gate, and desires to go out, but is not yet able. For we stand where we fix the eyes of our mind. Hence Elijah says: 'The Lord lives, in whose sight I stand.' He was standing, indeed, where he had fixed his heart."
Synopsis of Homily XV.
Verse 6: AND HE CAME TO THE GATE THAT LOOKED TOWARD THE EAST.
6. AND HE CAME TO THE GATE THAT LOOKED TOWARD THE EAST. — "Christ is the man, and He is also the gate. For He Himself, in His members (the faithful), is the one who enters; He is also the head to which the entering members come. For He Himself is the way for us, who says: 'I am the way, the truth, and the life.' He is also the eastern way, of which it is written (Zechariah 6): 'Behold the man, whose name is the East.' The gate therefore looks toward the east, because it signifies Him who made for us a path to the rising of the light. By the name of gate, every preacher can also be understood: because whoever opens for us the door of the heavenly kingdom with his mouth is a gate."
AND HE WENT UP BY ITS STEPS. — "What are the steps of the gate, if not the merits and growths of virtues? of which it is said in Psalm 83: 'They shall walk from virtue to virtue.' For the beginnings of virtue are one thing, progress another, perfection another. Christ therefore ascends in us; because He is shown to us as more sublime in proportion as our mind is separated from lowly things."
AND HE MEASURED THE THRESHOLD OF THE GATE, ONE REED IN WIDTH.
AND HE MEASURED THE THRESHOLD OF THE GATE, ONE REED IN WIDTH. — "If the gate is the Lord, who is the threshold of this gate, if not those ancient fathers, from whose lineage the Lord deigned to become incarnate? Because therefore their life was made sublime in the unity of faith by both perfect action and the beginnings of contemplation, the measure of the threshold was in one reed."
7. AND A CHAMBER, ONE REED IN LENGTH AND ONE REED IN WIDTH. — "What are the chambers in the holy Church, if not the hearts of those in which souls are joined to the invisible Bridegroom through love, so that the mind burns with desire for Him, no longer covets the things of this world, regards the length of the present life as a punishment, hastens to depart, and longs to rest in the embrace of love in the vision of the heavenly Bridegroom? The length pertains to the long-suffering of expectation, and the width to the amplitude of charity; because as much love as one has had for gathering one's neighbor, so much long-suffering does one show in waiting for God, and patiently bears the delays of length: because the amplitude of charity expands itself in the progress of one's neighbor; because as broad as the mind has been through love, so much will it also be patient through long-suffering."
AND BETWEEN THE CHAMBERS, FIVE CUBITS. — "Because those who do not yet rise to mystical understanding, while they are among those who burn with the spirit of love, as if remaining between the chambers, advance in the construction of faith, and are not separated from the measure of the heavenly building: because they are animated by the warmth of charity. This is what is said in Song of Songs 3: 'King Solomon made himself a litter, etc., with a purple ascent;' because a very great multitude of the faithful at the beginning of the rising Church arrived at the kingdom through martyrdom. But because we are not a purple ascent, 'he paved the middle with charity.' Have charity, therefore, and you undoubtedly belong there where the silver pillar is raised and the purple ascent is maintained."
Verse 8: AND THE THRESHOLD OF THE GATE NEXT TO THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE ON
8. AND THE THRESHOLD OF THE GATE NEXT TO THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE ON THE INSIDE, ONE REED. — "The two thresholds, namely the outer and the inner, are the fathers of the Old and the fathers of the New Testament: because those who merited to preach Christ and to hope in Him opened the entrance of faith to all coming to Him. But if by the gate you understand Sacred Scripture, the outer threshold is the letter, the inner the allegory. The threshold therefore is measured by one reed: but the reed extends to six cubits and a handbreadth: because in Sacred Scripture the teaching of perfect action and the beginning of heavenly contemplation are found. But if by the gate in this place every preacher is understood, the outer threshold at the gate is the active life, and the inner threshold the contemplative life. Through the former one walks in faith, through the latter one hastens to vision."
Synopsis of Homily XVI.
Verse 9: AND HE MEASURED THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE, EIGHT CUBITS, AND ITS
9. AND HE MEASURED THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE, EIGHT CUBITS, AND ITS FRONT, TWO CUBITS: AND THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE WAS ON THE INSIDE. — "What is signified by the inner vestibule, if not the breadth of eternal life? To the atrium (that is, the vestibule) therefore one proceeds through the gate, because from the narrowness of confession one reaches the breadth of the feast. The vestibule is said to have been measured at eight cubits. For there all are to be received who now labor in the exercise of works, and sigh for eternal joys through the grace of contemplation: because all of time unfolds in seven days. For the eternal day, which follows after the completion of the succession of seven days, is the eighth. For Christ suffered on the sixth day, rested in the tomb on the sabbath, and rose from death on the Lord's Day. The present life therefore is still for us the sixth day, because it is led in sorrows and tortured in anguish. But on the sabbath we rest as in the tomb; because we find rest of soul after the body. But on the Lord's Day, namely the third from the passion, the eighth from creation, we shall now rise in body from death, and shall rejoice in the glory of the soul together with the flesh. What therefore our Savior wonderfully accomplished in Himself, He truly signified in us, so that sorrow may receive us on the sixth day, rest on the seventh, and glory on the eighth. The vestibule is therefore measured at eight cubits on the inside; because through the light that follows after the seven days, the breadth of eternity is opened to us."
AND ITS FRONT, TWO CUBITS.
AND ITS FRONT, TWO CUBITS. — "The front of the gate is the merit of good in the present life. The front of the gate is therefore measured at two cubits: because whoever has striven here to preserve the love of God and neighbor, he himself will reach the atrium of eternity."
10. AND THE CHAMBERS OF THE GATE TOWARD THE EAST WERE THREE ON THIS SIDE AND THREE ON THAT SIDE, AND ONE MEASURE FOR THE THREE. — "First, the chambers next to the eastern way are the hearts of those burning with love of God, as if to say: While the Lord deigned to become incarnate between the old and new fathers, the eastern way appeared as it were in the midst of the chambers, which chambers are adorned with the knowledge of the true vision from the Most Holy Trinity.
Second, the three chambers are the three virtues: faith, hope, and charity, as if to say: The same faith, hope, and charity existed in the ancient fathers as in the new teachers. Third, the three chambers are the three states of the faithful, namely of preachers, of the continent, and of the married (whom Noah, Daniel, and Job represented, as I said in chapter 14), both those who served God in the Old and in the New Testament. One measure for the three, because even though there is a great diversity of merits among them, there is no distance in the faith toward which they strive: or certainly because in the final recompense, although the same rank will not belong to all, there will nevertheless be one life of blessedness for all. For even though the merit of individuals will be unequal, there will be no diversity of joys: because even though one rejoices less and another more, nevertheless one joy from the vision of their Creator gladdens all."
AND ONE MEASURE FOR THE FRONTS. — "Because our fathers, whether coming formerly from the Old or now from the New Testament, meet in the one faith of the Mediator. Who, because they are full of charity, tame their flesh by abstinence, illuminate the hearts of their hearers with the light of preaching, work signs, and accomplish virtues. By the fact that their good deeds become known to us externally, they are not undeservedly called the fronts of this heavenly building."
Verse 11: AND HE MEASURED THE WIDTH OF THE THRESHOLD OF THE GATE, TEN CUBITS
11. AND HE MEASURED THE WIDTH OF THE THRESHOLD OF THE GATE, TEN CUBITS, AND THE LENGTH OF THE GATE, THIRTEEN CUBITS. — "The length of the gate is called the height: the width was the law of the Old Testament, the length was the grace of the New Testament, as if to say: That harsh Jewish people held only the Decalogue in faith, serving in the breadth of the commandments, and not knowing the law of the Most Holy Trinity: but through the New Testament, in the heart of the faithful people, the knowledge of the Most Holy Trinity grew upon the commandments of the Decalogue, which they more truly observe. Because the more the world is drawn toward its end, the more generously the entrance to eternal knowledge is opened to us."
12. AND A BORDER BEFORE THE CHAMBERS, OF ONE CUBIT. — "The border before the chambers is faith before the ardor of charity: because unless you believe what you hear, you will in no way be inflamed with love for what you have heard. The border is of one cubit: because faith then unites the hearts of hearers in love, when it is not divided through diverse errors and schisms, but endures in unity."
AND ONE CUBIT THE BOUNDARY ON EACH SIDE. — "Because Christ, whom the law foretold, appeared in the flesh, and He Himself, of whom the New Testament now speaks, will appear in the glory of His majesty. And then there will be an end for both, when, seen in the presence of His divinity, He will have fulfilled all things that were foretold. For the vision of divinity, which is one in the Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, is as it were the vision of one cubit. So also the ark of Genesis 6, that is, the Church, because it is gathered to one man (Christ) who is without sin, is as it were completed in one cubit, toward whom all advance who know themselves to be sinners. Therefore one cubit is the boundary on each side: because the vision of the one Lord and Savior ends faith in His elect and perfects charity."
Synopsis of Homily XVII.
BUT THE CHAMBERS WERE OF SIX CUBITS.
BUT THE CHAMBERS WERE OF SIX CUBITS. — "The handbreadth is missing here, which above was said to be present in the measure of the reed (for the reed contained six cubits and a handbreadth). Therefore the chambers are measured by the reed, that is, the faithful are so perfect in love that they possess six cubits of action and a handbreadth of contemplation. Others lack the handbreadth, that is, they do not know how to contemplate. These have six cubits but do not have the handbreadth; because they are joined to God through love, but separated from contemplation," on this side and that, "that is, gathered from Jews and Gentiles."
13. AND HE MEASURED THE GATE FROM THE ROOF OF ONE CHAMBER TO THE ROOF OF ANOTHER, A WIDTH OF TWENTY-FIVE CUBITS. — "The gate can be taken as either faith, or Christ, or Sacred Scripture. Therefore the chamber has a roof, because all of Scripture was indeed written for our sake, but it is not entirely understood by us, so that we may advance more in humility than in understanding. For the heavenly things that are spoken in it lie open only to the citizens of heaven above; yet in those things to which we attain by understanding, we must be expanded through good works, so that we may reach the breadth of 25 cubits, because in the manifold operation of the five external senses (for five multiplied by itself, that is by five, makes 25) it is proved and known what generosity of goodness exists within. The gate can also be understood as the entrance of the heavenly kingdom. Now the chamber has a roof, and the gate also has a roof; because both how great our charity between God and neighbor is remains unknown, and when we shall be introduced from this world into the rest of eternal life is unknown. For our Creator willed that the day of our death be unknown to us, so that, while it is always unknown, it may always be believed to be near, and one may be the more fervent in action in proportion as one is uncertain about one's calling."
DOOR OPPOSITE DOOR. — "Because through the entrance of faith the entrance of the vision of God is opened. Second, because the soul, ascending from knowledge of itself and transcending all senses and sensible things, reaches toward the knowledge of God, of whom the Psalmist says, Psalm 138: 'Your knowledge has become wonderful from me.' For the soul in the body is the life of the flesh: but God, who gives life to all things, is the life of souls."
Verse 14: AND HE MADE FRONTS OF SIXTY CUBITS, AND BEFORE THE FRONT AN ATRIUM OF
14. AND HE MADE FRONTS OF SIXTY CUBITS, AND BEFORE THE FRONT AN ATRIUM OF THE GATE ON EVERY SIDE ALL AROUND. — "The number six is perfect, not because (as the arithmeticians hold) it is completed when counted in its own order, so that when one, two, three are said, six is filled: or because it is divided into three parts, that is, a sixth, a third, and a half, namely into one, two, and three; but because on the sixth day God completed His works, Genesis 1. Since indeed He gave to sinful man a law written in ten precepts, and six multiplied by ten rises to sixty, rightly by sixty cubits the perfection of good works is designated. Hence in the parable of the sower, Matthew chapter 13, one yielded thirty, one sixty, and one a hundred; namely thirty, when the mind has conceived the perfection of faith, which is in the Trinity: sixty, when it has perfectly produced the works of a good life: a hundred, when it has advanced to the contemplation of eternal life. Therefore he made fronts of sixty cubits. For what is designated by the number sixty, if not perfection; what by the fronts of the building, if not the works themselves that are seen externally? For to bestow the word of preaching, to give food to the hungry, clothing to the cold, and to patiently endure adversities for the sake of good works, what else are these but the fronts of the heavenly building? Because the beauty of external works adorns the dwelling of God, which still lies hidden within. But these fronts have an atrium on every side all around; because works are great in this: if the amplitude of charity expands them in the mind, of which it is written in Psalm 118: 'Your commandment is exceedingly broad.' For the way of God is narrow for beginners, as Christ says, Matthew 7, but for those who advance and love it becomes broad, so that for love of Him even persecution is pleasing, and every affliction for Him comes with sweetness of mind, since the soul knows that for temporal pains it receives eternal joys, and so it begins to love what afflicts it: and this on every side all around, so that a person in everything he does may always expand himself in the amplitude of charity, lest either fear or worldly joys narrow it. If therefore someone speaks the word of God and does not preserve in his mind the charity that he preaches, he has the front of the building, but he does not have the atrium before the front. So too is the one who bears insults inflicted by his neighbor, but keeps pain in his mind and does not love the one whom he endures. For true patience is that which loves even the one whom it bears, and seeks to win over to the tranquility of meekness even the very person who had acted wrongly. For to tolerate but to hate is not the virtue of meekness but a covering for fury. This is called the atrium of the gate, because to the extent that anyone loves God and neighbor, to that extent he draws near to the entrance of the heavenly kingdom; which, although we cannot yet reach it, we already enter through desire."
Verse 15: AND BEFORE THE FACE OF THE GATE, WHICH EXTENDED TO THE FACE OF THE
15. AND BEFORE THE FACE OF THE GATE, WHICH EXTENDED TO THE FACE OF THE VESTIBULE OF THE INNER GATE, FIFTY CUBITS. — "By this place our hope is signified, which, while it seeks eternal rest (for this is what the number fifty signifies: for this is the year of jubilee), leads the mind to the vestibule of the inner gate: let the gate therefore signify faith, the atrium charity, and the place leading to the vestibule hope; because through desires and sighs it introduces the soul to the secret joys of rest."
Verse 16: And oblique windows in the chambers.
16. And oblique windows in the chambers. — "Because what the minds of contemplatives see of eternity is very small, but from that very small amount the bosom of their minds is expanded in the increase of fervor and love. And they are ample within themselves from the very source from which they admit the light of truth to themselves, as if through narrow openings."
AND IN THEIR FRONTS, WHICH WERE WITHIN THE GATE ON EVERY SIDE ALL AROUND — "namely these oblique windows were there: because whoever has a heart within, he too receives the light of contemplation: for while only visible things are thought about, the invisible light is not admitted to the mind. Again, 'oblique' signifies that one devoted to contemplation ought to be humble. For through oblique windows light enters, but a thief does not enter: because those who are true contemplatives always press their understanding down in humility, and into their minds the intelligence of contemplation enters, but the boasting of pride does not enter. And so the windows are both open and fortified, and this all around, because the grace of contemplation is often received by the highest, often by the lowest, more often by the recluse, and sometimes even by the married, so that no one may glory in it as if it were a private gift, since often the richer one is he who does not think he has any good in himself."
AND LIKEWISE IN THE VESTIBULES THERE WERE WINDOWS ALL AROUND ON THE
AND LIKEWISE IN THE VESTIBULES THERE WERE WINDOWS ALL AROUND ON THE INSIDE. — "The windows in the vestibules are the gift of contemplation in the faithful, who appear despised by human eyes, but within themselves devote themselves to the pursuits of wisdom, yearn for heavenly things, and to the extent they can, consider what the eternal joys are. And it is well said 'all around,' because the saints survey life and all things on every side, so that they may advance in conduct."
AND BEFORE THE FRONTS, A PAINTING OF PALMS. — "What is designated by palms, if not the rewards of victory? Hence of those who had conquered the ancient enemy in the contest of martyrdom, it is written in Apocalypse 7: 'And palms in their hands.' To hold palms in the hands is to have held victories in action. But it is called a painting of palms, not palms themselves, because we observe holy men doing wondrous things, cleansing lepers, casting out demons, predicting the future. But all these things are not yet palms, but a painting of palms. For these things are sometimes given even to the reprobate. But the one true sign of election is the gift of charity alone: for the wonders that the elect do out of charity, the reprobate strive to do through pride. In this life, therefore, palms are not given to the saints, but a painting and showing of palms, which they will receive from God in the future. For there will be a palm for them where there will no longer be a struggle with death, when the word that is written will come to pass: 'Death is swallowed up in victory. Where is your victory, O death? Where is your sting, O death?' 1 Corinthians 15."
Synopsis of Homily XVIII.
Verse 17: AND BEHOLD TREASURIES, AND A PAVEMENT LAID WITH STONE IN THE COURT
17. AND BEHOLD TREASURIES, AND A PAVEMENT LAID WITH STONE IN THE COURT ALL AROUND. — "Because in Greek 'to guard' is said to be 'cultivas,' and in Persian riches are called 'gaza,' the place in which riches are stored is usually called a 'treasury.' What therefore is designated by treasuries, if not the hearts of teachers, full of the riches of wisdom and knowledge? Whoever therefore lives well and preaches prudently is a treasury of the spiritual building: because from his mouth heavenly riches are dispensed, according to the saying of Proverbs 21: 'A desirable treasure rests in the mouth of the wise.' These treasuries have a pavement all around, because the humility of the hearers clings to them and lies beneath them: which pavement is rightly said to be laid with stone in the court, because in the breadth of charity faithful souls are mutually joined to one another: they are called stones on account of the strength of their faith, and they are laid in the pavement in the bond of humility."
THIRTY TREASURIES AROUND THE PAVEMENT. — "The number ten signifies perfection, because in the ten precepts the observance of the law, and both the active and contemplative life, are contained. Therefore there are thirty treasuries, so that when ten is multiplied by three, the life and speech of the teacher may be established in the faith of the Most Holy Trinity. Around the pavement. The treasuries therefore were between the pavement, and in turn the pavement between the treasuries. For the pavement has treasuries all around; because the speech of the teachers daily instructs and guards the life of their hearers. But the treasuries themselves also have the pavement all around; because often even the heart of teachers is touched by temptations of vices — pride, anger, etc.; but a great safeguard for them is the venerable life of their hearers: because they are ashamed not to resist the vices that assail them, they who have armed others against vices."
Verse 18: AND THE PAVEMENT IN FRONT OF THE GATES ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE GATES
18. AND THE PAVEMENT IN FRONT OF THE GATES ALONG THE LENGTH OF THE GATES WAS LOWER. — "What does it mean that the pavement was similarly long with the gates, but was not equal to them, except that the life of the people is far distant from the life of teachers? Because even if those tending toward the heavenly kingdom have the same long-suffering of hope, they nevertheless do not have the same pursuits of life. For the pavement lies lower, so that all hearers may recognize that their preachers far surpass them in merits. Again, the pavement lies as far below as each gate rises in height: because the holier the life of the teacher, the more humble becomes the perception of the hearer."
Verse 19: AND HE MEASURED THE WIDTH FROM THE FACE OF THE LOWER GATE TO THE
19. AND HE MEASURED THE WIDTH FROM THE FACE OF THE LOWER GATE TO THE FRONT OF THE INNER COURT ON THE OUTSIDE, ONE HUNDRED CUBITS TOWARD THE EAST AND TOWARD THE NORTH. — "The lower gate is faith, and the inner court is contemplation: by the number one hundred, great perfection is designated. He says therefore: He measured the width, etc. Because our Redeemer daily, through masters and teachers, measures the life of the faithful in the measure of perfection, either in the form of good work through faith, or in holy desires through contemplation. He therefore who uses his good work with right intention is measured at one hundred cubits. For there are some who abstain from food and afflict the flesh; but if they are examined, they are found to be yearning for the glory of the world. These show the front of the inner court, but they are not measured by one hundred cubits. Moreover, the gate is measured from the outside, because through what we see, we recognize the spirit and perfection of the one working, which we do not see. For when we observe others giving alms, coming to the aid of the afflicted, helping the oppressed, seeking no glory in this world, yearning for no advantages of this world: and we see others taming the flesh, persevering in tears, occupied with heavenly words, desiring no transitory honor, what else ought we to do but believe them to be perfect, and esteem them as holy?"
TOWARD THE EAST AND TOWARD THE NORTH. — "That is, from the Jews (for there the sun of justice, Christ, arose), and from the Gentiles: for these were the north, who long lay torpid in the cold of their faithlessness. Or the East represents the just, the North the sinners, whom God's mercy calls back to repentance, washes with compunction and tears, enriches with virtues, and raises up even to the glory of perfection."
Synopsis of Homily XIX.
Verse 20: HE ALSO MEASURED THE GATE THAT LOOKED TOWARD THE NORTH IN THE OUTER
20. HE ALSO MEASURED THE GATE THAT LOOKED TOWARD THE NORTH IN THE OUTER COURT, BOTH IN LENGTH AND IN WIDTH. — "The gate looks toward the north when every preacher recognizes the way of the sinner (for this is toward the north, because the sinner lies torpid in the cold of sin), and opens to him the inner things of life through the word of preaching. For the outer court is the present life, in which everything that is done bodily is also seen bodily, which is measured both in length and in width: because when a sinner is led to faith, it is necessary that his teacher consider how much he advances in length of hope, or how much in breadth of charity from his admonition. For when any convert patiently hopes for the joys of eternal life, bears the troubles of neighbors with charity, and scorns to covet what he does not have, the gate has length and width, because the glory of the preacher is the progress of the hearer."
21. AND ITS CHAMBERS, THREE ON THIS SIDE AND THREE ON THAT SIDE. — "Because everything that the Creator speaks about the Trinity through the New Testament, He also shows from the Old Testament. And He perfects the heart of the hearers in love of the heavenly homeland, so that the soul clinging to God may sit, as it were, like a bride with a bridegroom in a kind of chamber, and turn itself utterly away from earthly desires. Therefore when the preacher summons the hearer to the heavenly homeland, he shows that both the new and the old fathers yearned with heavenly desire."
AND ITS FRONT AND VESTIBULE. — "The gate has a front, because there are in the preacher's life open works that are seen. Hence also a vestibule before the front: because before he promotes good works, he preaches faith, through which the soul, coming humbly, may be raised up to the height of good deeds."
FIFTY CUBITS IN LENGTH.
FIFTY CUBITS IN LENGTH. — "Because one cannot arrive at the fiftieth of the jubilee, that is, at eternal rest, unless one is able now to direct one's hope toward it with patience."
AND TWENTY-FIVE CUBITS IN WIDTH. — "All good works are performed through the five senses. And five multiplied by itself arrives at 25, as if to say: When good works begin to be done, they rouse the mind through fervor to increase, and they multiply through themselves: hence they also create breadth in the mind, so that it is not narrow through lukewarmness, but expanded in good deeds through charity. For all the torpor of lukewarmness is narrowness; but all the kindness of charity is great breadth. For even if the things to be given to a needy neighbor are lacking, the substance of a good will is ample."
Verse 22: AND ITS WINDOWS, AND VESTIBULE, AND SCULPTURES, ACCORDING TO THE
22. AND ITS WINDOWS, AND VESTIBULE, AND SCULPTURES, ACCORDING TO THE MEASURE OF THE GATE THAT LOOKED TOWARD THE EAST. — "The gate toward the north is said to have all the same things as the gate toward the east: namely windows of contemplation, the vestibule of humility, and the sculpture of good works. For the innocent have their gate toward the east, the penitent toward the north: because for them also, even after the cold of sin, the entrance of the kingdom lies open through mercy."
ITS ASCENT WAS OF SEVEN STEPS, AND THERE WAS A VESTIBULE BEFORE IT. — "Because through the sevenfold grace the entrance of the heavenly kingdom is opened to us. For in our mind the first step of ascent to heavenly things is the fear of the Lord, the second piety, the third knowledge, the fourth fortitude, the fifth counsel, the sixth understanding, the seventh wisdom, Isaiah 11:2. The vestibule before the steps is faith: for no one can do good works unless he first believes. For through faith a person comes to works, but through works he is strengthened in faith."
Verse 23: And The Gate Of The Inner Court Was Opposite
23. AND THE GATE OF THE INNER COURT WAS OPPOSITE (that is, directly facing and leading straight to) THE GATE OF THE NORTH AND THE EAST. — "Because not only to those who remain in innocence (who belong to the East), but also to sinners (whom the North denotes) condemning their sins through repentance, the joys of the inner court are opened, so that they may know the ineffable mysteries of the heavenly homeland, and knowing them thirst, and thirsting run, and running arrive. He who said: 'My soul thirsted for the living God: when shall I come and appear before the face of God?' had known these secrets of eternal joy. The preacher of the nations was yearning for this entrance of the heavenly kingdom when he said: 'I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ.' What then remains, except that all who know those joys of the heavenly homeland should direct themselves to the course of a more perfect life?"
AND HE MEASURED FROM GATE TO GATE, ONE HUNDRED CUBITS. — "The number one hundred, because it is produced by ten multiplied by ten, denotes perfection. Therefore he who sees the entrance of the inner court must certainly run the way of perfection, and arrive from the gate of beginning to the entrance of consummation. For there are many who have already entered the door of the outer gate through the seven steps — humble through the fear of God, merciful through the pursuit of piety, discerning through knowledge, free through strength of mind, cautious through counsel, provident through understanding, mature through wisdom; but still bound by certain necessities, they serve the cares of this world, though unwillingly: they are not permitted to love the true joys they have come to know as much as they would wish. These for the most part shake the neck of their mind free from the yoke of the world, abandon everything, lay down the burdens of earthly care, and in order to open the bosom of their soul more widely to heavenly desire, they seek a life of retirement, and in it, intent on holy prayers and sacred meditations, they afflict themselves with daily weeping, and melt the oldness of their heart in the fire of love, and by kindling themselves toward heavenly joy they are renewed. These, for the most part, kindled in their very desire, now desire to depart from the flesh, and do not wish to return to the present life after their weeping: but they are nonetheless delayed, so that their deferred love may profit from its very deferral, and what is denied may grow through ardent desire. To whom it often happens that, when they see themselves touched by a great gift of heavenly grace, they now think themselves perfect and consider themselves obedient; but because there is no one to impose hard commands, they believe themselves patient; because no one strikes them with insults and adversities. And it frequently happens that they take up a spiritual ministry, even unwillingly, and are brought to the governance of the faithful. When they have been battered on all sides by great tribulations, disturbed in mind, they find themselves imperfect — they who, when not tested, had believed themselves perfect. From which it comes about that they gather themselves back to themselves, and blush within themselves at the reproach of their weakness, and strengthened by their very confusion, they oppose patience against adversities, and profit from tribulation, who formerly in their leisure lay torpid from their very security. And they truly begin to be what they had vainly thought themselves to be before. For to be perfected in mind through daily desires is, as it were, for the inner court to be measured at one hundred cubits."
Verse 24: AND HE LED ME TOWARD THE SOUTH: AND BEHOLD A GATE THAT LOOKED TOWARD
24. AND HE LED ME TOWARD THE SOUTH: AND BEHOLD A GATE THAT LOOKED TOWARD THE SOUTH, etc. — "All these things have already been said regarding the gate of the East and the North. Toward the East are the innocent; toward the North the penitent; toward the South those fervent in spirit. Again, the gate in the East is faith, because through it the true law is born in the mind. The gate toward the North is hope, because everyone placed in sins, if he has despaired of pardon, perishes utterly; but through hope of mercy he comes back to life. The gate toward the South is charity, because it burns with the fire of love. Through three gates therefore one proceeds to the inner court: because through faith, hope, and charity one arrives at the secret joys."
Verse 26: AND THERE WERE CARVED PALMS, ONE ON THIS SIDE AND ANOTHER ON THAT
26. AND THERE WERE CARVED PALMS, ONE ON THIS SIDE AND ANOTHER ON THAT SIDE, ON ITS FRONT. — "Those who show that holy works are impressed upon their lives have carved palms on their front: because how great a victory will follow them afterward, they already now display in their holy works. In the gate of the East there is a painting; in the North and South there is a carving of palms: because the sign of victory, which is shown to beginners, is held more solidly and more firmly in those returning from sin and in those who are fervent."
ONE ON THIS SIDE AND ANOTHER ON THAT. — "On the right he has a palm whom prosperity does not puff up: on the left, whom adversity does not cast down. Paul was carrying a palm, as it were, on both sides, when he said: 'Through the weapons of justice on the right and on the left; through glory and dishonor; through ill repute and good repute; as deceivers yet truthful;' because he remained both strong in adversity and humble in prosperity. Therefore, in order that a palm may be carried on the front on both sides, there must always be present in our minds both confidence in adversity and fear in prosperity. Hence the same distinguished preacher said: 'I know how to be humbled, and I know how to abound.' He therefore whom neither abundance lifts up to pride, nor necessity provokes to greed, knows how to abound and knows how to suffer want. For if we love eternity, we possess all temporal things in use, not in affection. So St. Job, lying with wounds of the flesh, standing with strength of mind, against the impulse of despair recalled to memory the good he had done: 'I was,' he says, 'an eye to the blind, and a foot to the lame,' etc. And he who had been humble in prosperity, recalling his good deeds to memory, remained unbroken in adversity. Thus is fulfilled what is written in Ecclesiasticus 11: 'In the day of good things, do not be unmindful of evil things, and in the day of evil things, do not be unmindful of good things.'"
AND IT WAS ASCENDED TO BY SEVEN STEPS.
AND IT WAS ASCENDED TO BY SEVEN STEPS. — "Because through eight steps they have the vestibule of the inner gate, which is measured at twenty-five cubits in length. For if we multiply eight by three, we arrive at twenty-four: to which one is added, so that we hold twenty-five. For good hearers, who are as it were certain vestibules of the gates, hold the long-suffering of eternal hope, and sustain the eighth day in the faith of the Trinity. Because the Trinity is one God, they indeed multiply eight by three, but are strengthened in the confession of the one God. The vestibules are level, because the hearts of good hearers are humble. They have length, because they persevere in the long-suffering of hope. Therefore they have twenty-five cubits in length, because they believe in the resurrection of the flesh on the eighth day through the Trinity, and confess that the same Trinity is one God. They also have five cubits in width, because through the simple life that is led by the five senses, they are expanded in love of neighbor. Therefore they are inwardly in the spiritual building through love, and as it were look outward through simplicity."
Synopsis of Homily XX.
Verse 27: And the gate of the court, etc.
27. And the gate of the court, etc. — "All these things have been explained above. For in the following verse the inner court is measured at the gate of the South, and in verse 23 the same at the gate of the East, and in verse 35 the same at the gate of the North, each with the same measure. Preachers are gates for us, both outer and inner: because they both instruct us in the first entrance of faith, hope, and charity; and when they preach the mysteries of the heavenly kingdom to those who are already advancing, they lead us to the interior through a more subtle understanding. Hence the ascent to them is first described by seven steps, and afterward by eight. For the seven steps are: because they preach the fear of the Lord, and piety, and knowledge, and fortitude, and counsel, and understanding, and wisdom to their hearers. But when they command them to let go, when they admonish them to love nothing in this world, to hold nothing by affection, to direct the force of contemplation toward the heavenly homeland, and to persuade them to take delight in its mysteries; they add a step and cross over to the interior. This step is shown by Christ to the young man keeping the commandments, Matthew 19, when it is said to him: 'One thing is still lacking to you. If you wish to be perfect, go, sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and you will have treasure in heaven: and come, follow Me.'
Again, by the number eight both the day of eternal judgment and the resurrection of the flesh are designated. Moreover, the inner gates have vestibules, which are measured at twenty-five cubits in length. For if we multiply eight by three, we arrive at twenty-four: to which one is added, so that we hold twenty-five. For good hearers, who are as it were vestibules of the gates, hold the long-suffering of eternal hope, and sustain the eighth day in the faith of the Trinity. Because the Trinity is one God, they multiply eight by three, but are strengthened in the confession of the one God. The vestibules are level, because the hearts of good hearers are humble. They have length, because they persevere in the long-suffering of hope. Therefore they have twenty-five cubits in length, because they believe in the resurrection of the flesh on the eighth day through the Trinity, and confess that the same Trinity is one God. They also have five cubits in width, because through the simple life that is led by the five senses, they are expanded in love of neighbor. Therefore they are inwardly in the spiritual building through love, and as it were look outward through simplicity."
38. AND AT EACH TREASURY THERE WAS A DOOR IN THE FRONTS OF THE GATES. — "The treasuries are the hearts of teachers, which store the riches of knowledge. The fronts of the gates are the works and words of preachers, by which we recognize them externally, how they live within themselves internally. There is a door through each treasury in the fronts of the gates; because each teacher opens understanding in the heart of the hearer through the sayings and deeds of the fathers."
THERE THEY WASHED THE BURNT OFFERING.
THERE THEY WASHED THE BURNT OFFERING. — "Those who have devoted themselves to the Lord through faith in holy conversion have become a burnt offering to the Lord, for example, someone vowed to be patient for the fear of the Lord, to return no insult for insult, to bear all things with equanimity; and yet when an insult from the mouth of a neighbor strikes him, he is disturbed, and perhaps says something that he ought not to have said. Certainly this one is already a burnt offering, but still unclean. Perhaps against the insults inflicted he displayed patience and remained silent; but nonetheless he is touched by pain against those same insults which he bears, and his soul is wounded in its charity. This man therefore judges himself in his thoughts, reproaches himself because he grieves, yet cannot prevail upon himself not to grieve. Already therefore by his good will he is a burnt offering, but nonetheless by the pain that touches him, still unclean.
Another resolved to give everything to the needy; perhaps the thought arose: 'Where will you live if you give everything away?' And yet he does not stop giving; but what he had begun to give joyfully, he afterward offers sadly. What is this person's mind, if not a burnt offering of mercy? But still defiled by the sadness of thought. For either he ought not to have deliberated about the supreme thing, or after deliberation ought in no way to have doubted. Another, despising the pride of the world, seeks the last place among men; but when he suddenly recognizes that he is despised by his neighbor, he is indignant at why he is despised. He wishes indeed to be in a humble place, but he does not wish to be regarded as contemptible. Devotion now lifts him up, but weakness still weighs him down; he is a burnt offering, but unclean. These people, however, when through the words of teachers they understand the sayings of the Fathers, and recognize how great the fault in which they lie, and afflict themselves with lamentations of penance, they wash the burnt offering at the door of the gates.
Furthermore, it is a sacrifice when someone vows something to God but does not vow everything; gives something to the poor but keeps something for himself. But those are a burnt offering who reserve nothing for themselves, but immolate their mind, tongue, life, and substance, which they have received, to almighty God. The richness is devotion and compunction, of which the Psalmist says in Psalm 65: 'I will offer You rich burnt offerings.' For he who works good deeds, and already yearns for the vision of his Creator, and hastens to arrive at the eternal joys of contemplation, and slays himself in tears from the love by which he is kindled, has given the Lord rich burnt offerings. When therefore we recognize that something of malice or depraved pleasure is mixed with our good work, let us return to tears, let us wash the burnt offering. There are, however, some who have devoted themselves to the Lord in great actions, and arrive at such perfection that they are never bent by any difficulty. For when the flesh assails through suggestion, it is not permitted to rise, because it is trampled by the vigor of judgment. In the resolve of patience, no disordered word issues from the mouth, nor does silent grief oppress the mind; in the generosity of almsgiving, no suspicion of want generates sadness; in the resolve of humility, no contempt stings the mind. But when they now show themselves strong in those things which they rightly vowed, they nonetheless recall to memory and bewail their former sins, which were committed by them before their good resolution. Through the life they hold, they are a burnt offering, but through the life they held before, an unclean one. Let them therefore also wash their burnt offering with lamentations. For great is the embrace of our Creator's mercy for receiving the tears of the humble."
Synopsis of Homily XXI.
Verse 39: AND IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE THERE WERE TWO TABLES ON THIS SIDE
39. AND IN THE VESTIBULE OF THE GATE THERE WERE TWO TABLES ON THIS SIDE AND TWO TABLES ON THAT SIDE, THAT THE OFFERING MIGHT BE SLAIN UPON THEM. — "The two tables on which we immolate good works are the love of God and the love of neighbor; because in the love of God faith and life must necessarily be held, and in the love of neighbor patience and kindness must be especially guarded. 'For charity is patient, is kind,' etc., 1 Corinthians 13. Patient, namely, to bear with equanimity evils inflicted by neighbors: kind, to bestow its own goods upon neighbors with eager generosity. Again, in the old law the fathers had two tables: doctrine and prophecy; the people, circumcision and sacrifice. They were toward the north, because the law under the fear of death constricts the hearts of the cold Jewish people."
Verse 41: FOUR TABLES ON THIS SIDE AND FOUR TABLES ON THAT SIDE, ALONG THE
41. FOUR TABLES ON THIS SIDE AND FOUR TABLES ON THAT SIDE, ALONG THE SIDES OF THE GATE. — "For when life, faith, doctrine, and prophecy are guarded in the minds of the good, our gate, that is, the understanding of sacred speech, has four tables on one side. And when in advancing peoples the holy preaching preserves patience and kindness, which formerly in carnal men preserved circumcision and sacrifice, four tables are also shown as if from the other side."
42. AND FOUR TABLES FOR THE BURNT OFFERING, BUILT OF SQUARED STONES. — "Because faith and life, patience and kindness, built of squared stones, that is, from the life of the saints, have been given as an example to the following peoples, so that the vestibule may now have tables, that is, may hold the virtues of the people's life, upon which to kindle the sacrifice of prayer to God upon the altar of one's heart. For whatever holy person is not puffed up in prosperity, not broken in adversity, not drawn to evil by persuasion, not recalled from good work by reproaches, is a squared stone. And he has stability, as it were, on every side, who has no fall in any change of fortune. Such a squared stone was he who said: 'For me to live is Christ, and to die is gain.' Do you wish to know his life? 'The world is crucified to me, and I to the world.' Do you wish to hear his patience? 'Even to this hour we hunger and thirst and are buffeted,' etc.; 'we are cursed, and we bless; we suffer persecution, and we endure it.' Do you wish to know his kindness? 'I will most gladly spend and be spent for your souls, even though loving you more, I be loved less.'"
"Again, the words of Sacred Scripture are squared stones, which stand everywhere, because they are found to be blameless from every side. From these are built the tables for the burnt offering; because those who always meditate on the words of God slay themselves for the Lord from carnal life in their thoughts."
ONE AND A HALF CUBITS IN LENGTH AND ONE AND A HALF CUBITS IN WIDTH. — "The length pertains to the long-suffering of hope, the width to the amplitude of charity. Let the hearts of the saints therefore be extended in the long-suffering of hope, let them be extended in the perfection they have by one cubit. But because they cannot yet fully see where they cast the eye of hope, what they have beyond one cubit is cut back to half a cubit, so that in this life they may always see themselves as imperfect, and run more ardently toward perfection. They also have a width of one and a half cubits; because the hearts of the saints, expanded in the amplitude of charity, by perfectly loving the neighbor whom they see, have one cubit; but God, whom they love from the depths and follow, they cannot love as much as they ought, because they are not yet able to see Him whom they love; and the measure of love is less where the measure of knowledge is still less. Therefore beyond the one cubit of love of neighbor, they have half a cubit of love of God."
OF ONE CUBIT IN HEIGHT.
OF ONE CUBIT IN HEIGHT. — "For what is the height of the saints, if not faith in invisible things? For through faith what is not seen is believed, and therefore through it the table of the just is raised to a height, so that it may despise all visible things on earth and follow the invisible things it hears of in heaven. But the height of the table has one cubit, because there is unity of faith in the hearts of all the saints."
UPON WHICH THEY PLACE THE VESSELS IN WHICH THE OFFERING IS IMMOLATED. — "For what are the souls of the faithful, if not holy vessels, which receive the words of piety, so that from their minds the burnt offering of life and prayer may be immolated? So Christ said of Paul: 'He is a vessel of election to Me.' And it is said to the pastors: 'Be clean, you who bear the vessels of the Lord.'"
BURNT OFFERING AND VICTIM. — "Because both the perfect (for they are the burnt offering), when they abandon all things, kindle their whole heart in love of the Lord; and the imperfect (who are a simple victim) offer the sacrifice that they have partially vowed."
Verse 43: AND THEIR EDGES WERE OF ONE HANDBREADTH, TURNED INWARD ALL AROUND.
43. AND THEIR EDGES WERE OF ONE HANDBREADTH, TURNED INWARD ALL AROUND. — "What does it mean that the edges are measured by a handbreadth, except that in the handbreadth the hand is stretched out, and holy fathers and teachers preach those things in which the works of hearers are stretched? For we as it were extend our hand when we expand our works. Therefore the teacher, while he stretches the heart of the hearer toward good works, shows that he has a handbreadth on his lips. In the handbreadth the greatest and the smallest finger are extended, by which the greatest and smallest action are designated. For the hearer should so perform the great works that he has heard and learned, that he does not omit doing the smallest ones also; and should be so attentive to the smallest, that he is not lazy in performing the greater. Hence through the Gospel the Truth says: 'Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees! Because you tithe mint, dill, and cumin, and neglect the weightier matters of the law: judgment, mercy, and faith. These you ought to have done, without omitting the others.'"
OF ONE HANDBREADTH. — "Because from the preaching of teachers, just as unity is held in faith, so also unity of minds must be preserved in works, lest through the good work that one does, another break out into the evil of discord. For we must perform good works in such a way that through these also we preserve unanimity, rightly as far as we can, with those with whom we live, that is, not by abandoning what we do, but by anticipating with good persuasions the evil of discord that we fear."
Turned inward all around. — "For then the edges of the tables are turned inward, when teachers recall to their conscience in silent thought everything they say, when they subtly examine themselves whether they do everything they preach; lest, if while preaching good things they neglect to practice them, they become destroyers of themselves while cultivators of others.
O teacher! Behold, you are now a table, you now carry vessels, you now bear in faithful vessels the weight of burnt offering and victim; but turn the edge inward, that is, recall the sermon to your heart; hear what you say, practice what you preach. For if you neglect to fulfill what you teach, you sow a harvest for others, and you yourself fast from participation in the grain. A man's learning is known through his patience; therefore one is shown to be as learned as he has been patient. Yet even if he sees that certain things are lacking to him, let him not grow silent from preaching. For often what we do not know by living, we learn by speaking the doctrine when compelled to speak; so that, while from the laziness of our thought guilt arises in the mind, a sudden compunction may pierce that same mind, and roused by its own voice, it may awaken to action, which formerly lay torpid in idleness without a voice."
AND UPON THE TABLES, THE FLESH OF THE OFFERING.
AND UPON THE TABLES, THE FLESH OF THE OFFERING. — "For when holy teachers pour out prayers to God for penitent sinners who confess, by the fact that they petition for pardon for their carnal life, the tables of the Lord bear the flesh of the offering. As often as they do this and intercede for the sins of others, they all the more wipe their own eyes with weeping; because they justify themselves by that very charity with which, in wondrous piety, they slay themselves in lamentations for the iniquities of others. Nor should it be laborious for a teacher to shed tears for converted sinners, when He Himself, who created all things, made man, shed His blood on the cross for our iniquities."
Synopsis of Homily XXII.
Verse 44: AND OUTSIDE THE INNER GATE, TREASURIES OF SINGERS IN THE INNER COURT.
44. AND OUTSIDE THE INNER GATE, TREASURIES OF SINGERS IN THE INNER COURT. — "This inner court was interior with respect to the outer gates by which it was enclosed. The same was exterior with respect to the court and gates of the innermost part. For the holy Church has two lives: one by which it labors on earth, another by which it is rewarded in heaven; and in both it offers sacrifice: here the sacrifice of compunction, and there the sacrifice of praise. In both, flesh is offered; because here the offering of flesh is the mortification of the body, there the offering of flesh is the glory of the resurrection in the praise of God. For then, as it were, flesh is offered as a burnt offering, when, changed into eternal incorruption, it will have had nothing of contradiction, nothing of mortality; because entirely kindled at once by the fires of His love, it will remain in praise without end. But what are the treasuries of singers, if not the holy desires of those who love? Who guard the divine precepts, like certain riches, in their mind, which they preserve by singing; because they will fulfill the commandments of God not from fear but from love. Do you wish greatly to hear the heart of the just as a treasury of a kind of singer? 'Your justifications were the subject of my songs in the place of my sojourning,' Psalm 118. Hear another: 'For I am even now being poured out, and the time of my dissolution is at hand. I have fought the good fight, I have finished the course, I have kept the faith; for the rest, there is laid up for me a crown of justice, which the Lord, the just judge, will render to me in that day,' 2 Timothy, chapter 4. Is not that saying fulfilled here: 'Mercy and judgment I will sing to You, O Lord'?
Therefore the hearts of those who love the coming of the just Judge are treasuries of singers, because through their confidence of grace and life, through the virtues of holy desire, they sing the just judgment that all the unjust fear. These treasuries are said to be between the gate of the East and the North, and to look toward the southern way; because the hearts of the saints, placed between faith and hope, look toward the southern way, since they burn with the fires of holy charity. The gate of the East looks toward the way of the North, since our life, having received faith, still to some extent lies torpid in the cold of sin. For in many things we all offend. Therefore let us direct our faces toward the southern way, let us exercise ourselves in the ardor of charity, and let us fix the eyes of our heart there, where we may be kindled by the fires of love. Was he not burning, as it were, with the heat of midday fervor, who was aflame, saying: 'As the deer longs for the springs of water, so my soul longs for You, O God. My soul thirsted for the strong, living God; when shall I come and appear before the face of God?' He also had been kindled with this ardor, who said: 'Now You dismiss Your servant, O Lord, according to Your word, in peace: because my eyes have seen Your salvation.'
Let the holy treasuries therefore have on this side the gate of the East, and on that side the gate of the North; because among the very mysteries of their redemption, which follow, and certain carnal people whom they tolerate even within the holy Church, many advance in strong love toward God, grow in virtues, seek the coming of the eternal Judge, and among the things they love and the things they bear, they preserve, like certain treasuries, the riches of the spirit in their mind. Nor do they fail between the sacraments they cherish and the contrary things they now bear, because they direct their faces toward the southern way. For what do we suffer that our fathers did not previously endure for the love of the Lord? Again, by the gate toward the North can be understood the Gentiles, by the gate toward the South the Jews, by the Eastern gate Christ, whose name is the East, as if to say: The way is one both for those who are from the South and for those who look from the gate of the North; because for the elect Jews and Gentiles, our Lord and Redeemer, having dispelled the punishment of fear, has become the path of love to the Father, and the aid of arrival."
Verse 45: THIS IS THE TREASURY THAT LOOKS TOWARD THE SOUTH; IT SHALL BELONG TO
45. THIS IS THE TREASURY THAT LOOKS TOWARD THE SOUTH; IT SHALL BELONG TO THE PRIESTS WHO WATCH IN THE KEEPING OF THE TEMPLE. — "Who are the priests who guard the temple of God, if not those who by praying, preaching, and keeping vigil in spiritual acts defend the holy Church from the assaults of evil spirits, from the persuasions of the wicked, and from the errors of heretics? Was he not a guardian of the temple, who enumerating the labors of his suffering says: 'In labor and hardship, in many vigils, in hunger and thirst,' etc. 'Besides those things that are external, my daily pressing concern, the care of all the churches'? He labors, he mourns, he hungers, he thirsts, he is cold, he fasts, he keeps vigil; and yet while keeping vigil he thinks about the care of all the churches. To search out and restrain, lest anyone fall into faithlessness, lest anyone into pride, lest anyone into robbery or impurity — this is to guard the temple of God, that is, the Church. There are also priests of a lesser order, who keep watch at the ministry of the altar, verse 46, who namely with the help of those greater than them subtly investigate the sins of wrongdoers, and correct the life of the carnal, and lead them to the lamentations of penance. Through these the flesh is, as it were, burned upon the altar, so that in the sight of God the sacrifice may give off a sweet odor from the very place where the fault formerly displeased.
Furthermore, the treasury of the priests of the greater order, who keep watch over the temple, looks only toward the southern way: because these, occupied solely with spiritual pursuits, always attentively direct themselves to those things that pertain to the love of God. But the priests of the lesser order, who preside over the examination of the sins of wrongdoers, also turn their eyes toward the way of the North, so that in the minds of sinners they may see what are the works of cold, and by leading these through words of correction to the groans of penance, they may, as it were, burn flesh upon the altar of the Lord. They also look, together with the greater priests, toward the southern way: because as far as concerns themselves, they burn with the fire of charity and are kindled with the flames of the love of God."
Verse 46: THESE ARE THE SONS OF ZADOK, WHO FROM AMONG THE SONS OF LEVI APPROACH
46. THESE ARE THE SONS OF ZADOK, WHO FROM AMONG THE SONS OF LEVI APPROACH THE LORD TO MINISTER TO HIM. — "'Zadok' in Latin means 'just.' But who is just, if not He to whom it is said: 'You are just, O Lord, and Your judgment is right'? And who are the sons of the just, if not those of whom it is written: 'But to as many as believed in Him, He gave the power to become sons of God'? 'Levi' moreover is interpreted as 'assumed' or 'taken up.' But who is taken up, if not the faithful people, who through the sacraments of faith have been separated from the faithless? Therefore all who, persevering, devote themselves to spiritual acts are sons of the Just One. And from the sons of the assumed people they approach the Lord to minister to Him: because from among the faithful themselves, those are chosen who come to the ministry of God and devote themselves to heavenly pursuits for the instruction of the people. But who are those who minister to the Lord? Of whom the Lord says through the Psalmist, Psalm 100: 'He who walks in the way without blemish, he ministered to Me.' For he has a blemish in the way who, in the good work he does, proposes to himself the reward of earthly glory; because he defiles the appearance of good work through the blemish of a depraved intention. Perhaps someone, intent on the pursuit of discipline, cuts away the faults of wrongdoers: yet if he is driven to this not by the love of God, but by his own zeal, he ministers to himself in these things, not to the Lord. Another, lest he appear harsh, tolerantly permits much that is wrongly done. This man therefore, because he does not wish to appear strict on the Lord's behalf, through the pursuit of his own leniency ministers to himself and not to the Lord. It remains therefore that, whether we weary ourselves in God's ministry, or bestow our goods upon the needy, or tame the flesh through abstinence, or are moved by zeal, or through patience
sometimes leniently tolerate wicked deeds: we must especially examine our intention, so that everything we do, we may do not from our own zeal, but from God's, lest in the things we do we minister to ourselves rather than to the Lord. For, as Paul says: 'All seek their own interests, not those of Jesus Christ.' The same Paul indeed, with his heavenly brothers, hastened to minister not to himself but to the Lord, both in living and in dying, saying: 'None of us lives to himself, and none of us dies to himself. For whether we live, we live to the Lord; or whether we die, we are the Lord's.' For the saints neither live nor die to themselves. They do not live to themselves, because through everything they do they yearn for spiritual gains; and by praying, preaching, and persisting in holy works, they desire to multiply the citizens of the heavenly homeland. They in no way die to themselves, because in the sight of men they glorify God by their death, toward whom they hasten to arrive even by dying."
Verse 47: AND HE MEASURED THE COURT, ONE HUNDRED CUBITS IN LENGTH AND ONE
47. AND HE MEASURED THE COURT, ONE HUNDRED CUBITS IN LENGTH AND ONE HUNDRED CUBITS IN WIDTH, SQUARE. — "What is the court of the spiritual building, if not the breadth of the faithful peoples? The long-suffering of hope and the breadth of charity are not empty in the hearts of the faithful. For through faith, whatever it can, it works. If therefore in the life of the faithful, in a certain manner, the long-suffering of hope is perfect in each one, the breadth of charity is perfect, the certitude of faith is perfect, the zeal of operation is perfect, the court of the temple has one hundred cubits square. For the number one hundred is a symbol of perfection. Let the faithful peoples therefore measure their virtues in a square; because each one believes as much as he hopes and loves; and works as much as he believes, loves, and hopes. Because therefore the peoples of the holy Church are many, and strong through faith, and long-suffering through hope, and ample through charity, and effective through work, the court of the temple is measured at one hundred cubits square. Again, the square of the faithful consists of prudence, justice, fortitude, and temperance; which must be so arranged in a square that one does not exceed another. For great indeed is prudence: but if it is less temperate from pleasures, if it is overcome by delight, if less strong in dangers, if less just in works, it is certainly less prudent. Great is temperance: but if it understands less well what it restrains itself from, if it is less able to sustain adversity through fortitude, and casts down the spirit in fear, if through its own precept it sometimes breaks out into works of injustice, it is less temperate. The same applies to fortitude and justice. Therefore let the life of the perfect be measured in a square: and let one side of the spiritual building be as great as each of the other sides, because each one is as prudent as he is temperate; and as just as he has been prudent, temperate, and strong."
AND THE ALTAR BEFORE THE FACE OF THE TEMPLE.
AND THE ALTAR BEFORE THE FACE OF THE TEMPLE. — "What is the temple, if not the faithful people? What is the altar of God, if not the mind of those who live well? where from compunction fire burns, and the flesh is consumed. The altar is therefore before the face of the temple, when many are set before the sight of the holy Church who, mindful of the eternal judgment, daily slay themselves as a sacrifice to God in the lamentation of compunction, because they chastise their bodies, in order to fulfill what the teacher of the nations said: 'That you may present your bodies as a living sacrifice, holy, pleasing to God.' For a victim is slain that it may be offered; but a living victim is a body afflicted for the Lord; which is called both a victim and living; because it lives in virtues and is slain from vices: it lives therefore, because it works all the good that it can. There were two altars, one golden before the ark, another bronze in the court. On this one flesh is burned, on that incense is kindled, because there are two kinds of compunction. For some, through fear, mindful of their sins, while they dread eternal punishments, bewail carnal works and afflict themselves with daily tears. But others, free from carnal vices, or already secure through long weeping, are kindled by the flame of love in the tears of compunction, gaze with the eyes of the heart upon the rewards of the heavenly homeland, and desire to be numbered among the citizens above. The length of their pilgrimage appears to them as hard servitude. They desire to see the King in His beauty, and they do not cease to weep daily from love of Him. What are these, if not the golden altar? This altar is before the ark and its veil, because the hearts of the saints, which are kindled with great virtues in the love of God, burn with holy desire for Him whom they cannot yet see with face unveiled. For the ark within the veil is our Redeemer in heaven. Such was the bride of whom it is said in Song of Songs 3: 'Who is she that goes up through the desert, like a column of smoke from the spices of myrrh and frankincense, and of every powder of the perfumer?' For the holy Church, while from this world in holy prayers she raises herself with burning love, ascends through the desert which she leaves behind. The smoke from spices is the compunction of prayer, conceived from the virtues of love: which prayer is nonetheless called a small column of smoke, because while it asks for heavenly things alone, it proceeds so directly that it is not at all bent aside to seek earthly things; and it is called not a rod but a small rod, because at times in the ardor of compunction, the power of love is of such subtlety that the mind itself cannot grasp it. They offer the sacrifice of myrrh and frankincense who both afflict their flesh, lest the vices of corruption dominate them, and kindle the fragrant offering of their love in the sight of the Lord, and present themselves to God in holy virtues.
The powder of the perfumer is the virtue of one who works well. But let no one reproach me if I cease after this discourse, because, as you see, we are surrounded on all sides by swords. Some return to us with their hands cut off, others are reported captured, others slain. Already I am compelled to hold back my tongue from exposition, because my soul is weary of my life. My harp has been turned to mourning, and my organ into the voice of those who weep. What then remains, except that amid the scourges which we suffer from our iniquities, we give thanks with tears? May glory therefore be to our Almighty Lord Jesus Christ, who lives and reigns with the Father, in the unity of the Holy Spirit, God, through all ages of ages. Amen."
Thus far St. Gregory, almost word for word.
Here therefore he himself, groaning on account of the devastations of the Lombards and the siege of Rome threatening from them, lifted his hand from the writing-tablet and stayed his pen and his tongue.
I shall present another more particular, and more distinct and distributed explanation of the individual parts of the temple from Lyranus at the end of chapter 42.