Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
In this chapter the angel openly passes to the last times (and in these he likewise concludes his oracle) of the Antichrist, about whom at chapter 11, verse 36 and following, he had begun to speak covertly under the name of Antiochus. He therefore joins two most distinct times, namely the time of Antiochus and the time of the Antichrist, into one because of their similarity; just as Christ joins the destruction of the city with the destruction of the world, Matthew 24-25, see Canon IV. First therefore, the angel foretells that Michael will help the faithful against the Antichrist: then he teaches the resurrection of the just and the wicked, and finally the glory of the learned. Secondly, at verse 7, he teaches that the monarchy and persecution of the Antichrist will last three and a half years, or 1,290 days.
Vulgate Text: Daniel 12:1-13
1. But at that time Michael the great prince shall arise, who stands for the children of your people: and there shall be a time such as never was from the time that nations began to exist until that time. And at that time your people shall be saved, everyone who shall be found written in the book. 2. And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some unto eternal life, and others unto reproach, that they may see always. 3. But those who are learned shall shine like the splendor of the firmament: and those who instruct many to justice, like stars for all eternity. 4. But you, Daniel, shut up the words, and seal the book, until the appointed time: many shall pass through, and knowledge shall be manifold. 5. And I, Daniel, looked, and behold, there were as it were two others standing: one on this side upon the bank of the river, and another on that side, on the other bank of the river. 6. And I said to the man who was clothed in linen, who stood upon the waters of the river: How long shall be the end of these wonders? 7. And I heard the man who was clothed in linen, who stood upon the waters of the river, when he had lifted up his right hand and his left hand to heaven, and had sworn by Him who lives forever, that it shall be for a time, and times, and half a time. And when the scattering of the power of the holy people shall be accomplished, all these things shall be fulfilled. 8. And I heard, and I did not understand. And I said: My lord, what shall be after these things? 9. And he said: Go, Daniel, because the words are shut up and sealed until the appointed time. 10. Many shall be chosen, and made white, and shall be tried as by fire: and the wicked shall act wickedly, and none of the wicked shall understand, but the learned shall understand. 11. And from the time when the continual sacrifice shall be taken away, and the abomination unto desolation shall be set up, there shall be one thousand two hundred ninety days. 12. Blessed is he who waits, and comes unto one thousand three hundred thirty-five days. 13. But go to the appointed end: and you shall rest, and shall stand in your lot unto the end of the days.
the Lord Jesus will destroy him with the spirit of His mouth, that is, by His command: "Because," he says, "Michael will kill him on the Mount of Olives, whence Christ ascended into heaven." Christ therefore will entrust the execution of His sentence against the Antichrist to Michael, who after Christ is the supreme judge and guardian of divine justice. The heretics, in order to undermine the patronage of the saints and the angels, take Michael to mean Christ; but absurdly, as is clear, for it is certain that the angel here means the same Michael whom he meant in chapter 10, verses 13 and 21; and there he meant Michael the Archangel: for he calls him the prince of the Jews.
Verse 1: But at that time
1. But at that time — in the time of the Antichrist, of whom I have just been speaking. Michael shall arise — that is, Michael shall rise up in battle against the king of the North, that is, against the Antichrist, to protect the faithful and the saints in such great persecutions against him and against Lucifer. See about this battle of Michael and the dragon, that is, of Lucifer, in Revelation 12:1 and following; for there St. John alludes to this passage of Daniel. Whence St. Thomas and others teach that in this battle the Antichrist will be killed by Michael. For thus he explains 2 Thessalonians 2:8: "Whom (the Antichrist) the Lord Jesus will destroy with the spirit of His mouth,"
Michael the Archangel: for he calls him the prince of the Jews. In like manner he designates him here, saying: "Who stands for the children of your people," that is, who presides over and protects the Jews as the faithful, the people of God, and the children of the Patriarchs; and therefore he will ensure that the Jews at the end of the world are converted to Christ and saved. Alcazar in his commentary on Revelation 12, page 645, Polychronius here, and Rabbi Joshua as cited by Aben-Ezra, think that this passage still treats of Antiochus Epiphanes, against whom Michael arose, that is, he says, Mattathias, standing with his sons for his people. But the following words stand against this: "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some unto eternal life, and others unto reproach." That this must be understood literally of the resurrection, not a moral one to the virtue and constancy of their fathers and forefathers, as he understands it, but a natural one to eternal life, is clear, as St. Jerome, Theodoret, and the ancients and moderns generally understand it: and St. Jerome sharply rebuked Porphyry here for having taken these words as referring to Antiochus. So also Theodoret. For the Maccabees, he says, even after their victory were killed and lost the present life: and because they were all pious, they all rose to life, not to reproach.
This passage is abundantly illustrated by Pantaleon, deacon and chartophylax of the Great Church, in his homilies on St. Michael, which are found in Aloysius Lipomanus on the Feast of St. Michael. For in them he attributes to Michael all the most illustrious apparitions of angels that occurred to the patriarchs of old, and first, he applies to Michael that passage of Psalm 33 (34):8: "The angel of the Lord shall encamp around those who fear Him, and shall deliver them" — "shall encamp," that is, set up a guard: for in Hebrew it is chone, that is, he shall make camp, and as St. Jerome translates, he shall surround them in a circle, so that Michael may be set against the demon, who is also said to go about like a roaring lion. And so the Psalmist signifies that Michael marshals and orders the angels like a military camp for the defense of the faithful. That the angels protect us like soldiers in battle array is clear from Genesis 32:2, where when Jacob saw the angels, he said: "This is the camp of God," and from 4 Kings (2 Kings) 6:17: the "mountain was full of horses and chariots of fire around Elisha." And Christ, Matthew 26:53: "Do you think that I cannot ask My Father, and He will presently give Me more than twelve legions of angels?" For the fact that demons also are arranged in a military formation against men is proved by Tertullian, book IV Against Marcion, chapter 20, from Luke 8:30, where the demon, asked by Christ what his name was, answered: "Legion."
Secondly, Michael was the one who guided Adam after his expulsion from paradise, and taught him to till the ground with a hoe, to sow, to reap, and all agriculture. Thirdly, Michael was the one who held back Abraham's sword, lest he kill his son, and in him blessed all nations, Genesis 22. Fourthly, Michael appeared all aflame to the lawgiver Moses as he was pasturing sheep, in the midst of the bush, and burned it but did not consume it; and thus he foreshadowed the childbirth of the Blessed Virgin and the generation of the God-man. Exodus 3. Fifthly, Michael was the one who appeared to Balaam on the road, and rebuked him as he was going to curse Israel, and compelled him to bless, Numbers 22. Sixthly, Michael on behalf of God gave the law to the Hebrews on Sinai, Exodus 20. Wherefore the Turks venerate St. Michael. For in the book titled Doctrina Mahumet (The Doctrine of Muhammad), page 190, it reads thus: Michael, Gabriel, Saraphiel (that is sar, meaning prince, Raphael) Archangels, secretaries of the deity. And Rabanus, book I, On the Cross, chapter 7, thus sings of him: But Michael, prince and leader of those dwelling on high. He reminds you that by the power of God he both rules And protects all the heavens. And the Church on the Feast of St. Michael thus invokes him: "Most glorious Prince, Michael the Archangel, be mindful of us: here and everywhere, always pray for us to the Son of God."
Seventhly, Michael appeared with drawn sword to Joshua, when he was drawing up the battle line against the enemy, and encouraged him for the fight, Joshua 5. Michael is "the commander of the angelic forces," says St. Basil, in his Homily On the Angels. Wherefore what Mars was to the pagans, namely the leader and patron of wars, St. Michael is to Christians. For this reason the temples and chapels which the pagans had formerly dedicated to Mars at Antwerp, Liege, Luneburg, Bonn, Cologne, and elsewhere, Christians, having cast out Mars, dedicated and named in honor of St. Michael, as D. Braunius noted, volume V of the Cities, and from him our Serarius in his commentary on Joshua, chapter 5, Question 14, at the end. Hence St. Michael is called by the Greeks Archistrategus (Commander-in-Chief); and there even exists the standard of the Emperors bearing the image of St. Michael and named after him, according to Curopalata, page 93. Eighthly, Michael appeared to Gideon and was worshipped by him, and extending the staff which he held in his hand, touching the meat which Gideon had offered him, he kindled a fire and consumed it, and ascended to heaven in the flame of fire. He also helped him to rout the innumerable Midianites with three hundred soldiers, Judges 6 and 7. Ninthly, Michael was the one who killed 185 thousand Assyrians in the camp of Sennacherib in a single night, 4 Kings (2 Kings), chapter 19. Tenthly, Michael descended with Azariah and his companions into the furnace, turned the flame into something like dew, and preserved the three boys unharmed, Daniel 3. Eleventhly, Michael preserved Daniel in the den of lions, and restrained the mouths of the lions, Daniel 6 and 14.
Similarly St. Ephrem, in the Oration on the 40 Martyrs, volume III: "Lest the enemy should trouble the martyrs of Christ," he says, "the angels guarded the area of the lake: on this side Gabriel, on that side Michael, and from another point Christ, the overseer of all." There is found in St. Proclus...
of Procopius, who was formerly called Nicias, a history, a remarkable miracle by which he was impelled to Christianity. For when at Scythopolis a distinguished leader was having a golden cross made, on it by divine power without the goldsmith's work or knowledge, three names were engraved: Emmanuel, Michael, Gabriel; but in such a way that Emmanuel held the highest place, and in the lower position like arms, Michael and Gabriel. See Gretser, book 2 On the Cross, chapter 13.
said: "Through these two, he says, Michael and Gabriel, every good gift and every perfect present descends, which is sent from above to the earth by almighty God. For these are the two greatest lanterns of the divinity, of equal importance, which is one and three." These are the praises which, according to Pantaleon's view, are recorded of Michael in Scripture: for Scripture does not expressly attribute them to Michael; although the deeds which other angels performed are rightly attributed to Michael. For thus we attribute the deeds of soldiers to the commander. Pantaleon adds that Saint John the Apostle was a great preacher of Saint Michael in Asia, and that he had a temple built in his honor: just as "the Emperor Justinian erected churches in many places to Michael, the supreme prince of the heavenly army: well knowing that if he won the favor of such a great leader, who had overcome the rebellious angels waging war in heaven, he could have sure and secure confidence of conquering the Vandals," says Procopius, book 1 On the Vandal War.
Twelfthly, Michael seized Habakkuk by the lock of his head, and suddenly carried him with his meal from Judea to Babylon to feed Daniel, and again suddenly returned him to Judea, Daniel 14.
Thirteenthly, Michael was the one who stirred the waters of the Pool of Bethesda, and sanctified them as a figure of baptism: so that whoever first descended into it was cured of every illness, John 5.
Again, Saint Michael appeared to Constantine the Great, indicating that he had once guided the Argonauts to the Golden Fleece, and said to him: "I am Michael, the commander-in-chief of the Lord of Hosts, the guardian of the Christian faith, who have bestowed upon you, waging war against impious tyrants as His faithful and true servant, auxiliary arms." Whence Constantine converted the shrine erected by the Argonauts to the Divinity that had brought them salvation, and thence called Sosthenium, into the Michaelium, that is, the temple of Saint Michael, in which Saint Michael frequently appeared thereafter. So Nicephorus, book 7, chapter 50.
Nicephorus reports, book 7, chapter 50, that Constantine the Great in the place called Sosthenium built two churches in honor of Saint Michael, and there Saint Michael appeared to him and said: "I am Michael, the commander-in-chief of the Lord of Hosts, the guardian of the Christian faith, who have bestowed upon you, waging war against impious tyrants as His faithful and true servant, auxiliary arms;" and so, awakened from sleep, Constantine most beautifully cultivated that region, and having constructed with imperial magnificence and generous liberality on the Eastern side, he rendered that most famous temple to citizens and visitors alike. Moreover, the Archangel wonderfully graced that sacred building with his appearances. For no one beset by any grave misfortune, or inescapable danger, or unknown illness, or incurable disease, who prayed and implored God there, easily failed to find help and assistance. And it is sufficiently believed with certainty that the Lord Michael the Archangel was accustomed to appear there and make the place health-giving: for which reason it was also called Michaelium by the ancients, thus far Nicephorus.
Cromer relates, book 10 of his History, that Leszek, prince of the Poles, having pursued with a small force many thousands of Lithuanians who were ravaging Poland, and when he had rested a little from the toil of the journey, Michael the Archangel stood by him and promised his help, and assured him of victory: and returning victorious, he built a temple at Lublin in honor of that same angel.
Well known is the dedication of the church of Saint Michael, and his apparition on Mount Gargano under Pope Gelasius, which we commemorate on May 8. Shortly after, Pope Boniface dedicated a church built in the name of Saint Michael on September 29 at the summit of the circus, which on account of its height is called Among the Clouds. So Ado and Baronius, in the year of the Lord 531.
Famous also was the temple of Saint Michael at Chonae or Colossae, because Alexius dared to violate it
Fourteenthly, Michael will sound the last trumpet, and by it will raise the dead to come to judgment, 1 Thessalonians chapter 4:16. And of the souls of the dead the Church sings: "May your standard-bearer Saint Michael present them in the holy light, which you once promised to Abraham and to his seed." For which reason Saint Michael is usually depicted with scales, as if weighing souls and their good and evil works. For, as Viegas says on Apocalypse 12: "It is believed that Michael exercises the particular judgment of souls departing from the body; and hence it is that he is depicted with a sword and scales, so that his supreme power and the equality of his justice may be declared in weighing our merits or demerits." John Molanus criticizes this depiction in his book On Pictures, but Serarius defends it in chapter 5 of Joshua, Question 45, page 551. Viegas adds that Michael is called the Standard-bearer, because he will carry before Christ coming to the last judgment the standard or banner of the cross. Eckius teaches the same, Homily 8 On Saint Michael.
Finally Michael is, says Pantaleon, "the one who gladdens the Churches of the faithful peoples, guards the Roman commonwealth, arms the Emperor against the barbarians, renders Christians victorious, frees from the great waves of the sea those who invoke him, provides the fruitfulness of the fruits of the earth, consoles the ministers of chastity, visits the sick, goes surety for sinners, repels the assault of demons, extinguishes the flame of vices." Fur-
the iconoclast, and therefore after a more generous carousal he was slain by a certain priest with his own sword, says Nicetas Choniates, book 3 of the Annals of the Emperor Isaac.
AND THERE SHALL COME A TIME — In Hebrew צרה עת tsara, that is, a time of affliction: for then there will be "great tribulation, such as was not from the beginning of the world," as Christ says Matthew 24:21. How fierce and varied the persecution of the Antichrist will be, I explained in 2 Thessalonians 2:10, Question 5, and Apocalypse 13.
YOUR PEOPLE SHALL BE SAVED — "Your," O Daniel! That is, the Jews at the end of the world will be saved, especially when they see the Antichrist, in whom they had believed, being routed by Christ and cast down into the abyss. He calls the Jews the people of Daniel, because Daniel, a man of desires, was most zealous for their salvation, as if he were their mother. For thus the Apostle says to the Galatians, chapter 4:19: "My little children, whom I am again bringing forth."
EVERYONE WHO SHALL BE FOUND WRITTEN IN THE BOOK — For most of the Jews, after the Antichrist is slain, will be converted to Christ, and so will be saved; because in the brief time that will remain until the day of judgment, they will persist in the faith and grace of Christ, and therefore they are written in the book of God's foreknowledge and predestination to glory. For the Lord knows who are His own. On this book I said much in Exodus 32:32 and Philippians 4:3.
Note: The phrase everyone who shall be found signifies that not all the Jews who will exist at the end of the world are written in the book of life, and consequently not all will be converted and saved; but some will remain in their unbelief and be damned: nevertheless very many will be converted and saved, for this is what the Apostle says in Romans 11:26: "And so all Israel should be saved:" "all," that is, most, and nearly all. So Theodoret and Saint Gregory, Homily 12 on Ezekiel.
Verse 2: AND MANY OF THOSE WHO SLEEP, etc., SHALL AWAKE
2. AND MANY OF THOSE WHO SLEEP, etc., SHALL AWAKE — that is, many of the sleeping, as the Septuagint translates. For the Hebrews use the ablative with a preposition in place of the genitive construction. Now many of the sleeping, that is, many who are sleeping, means all who are sleeping. Yet he says "many" to note that all these will not be few but many, as if to say: All the sleeping, who will be many and nearly innumerable, shall rise again, or the whole multitude of the sleeping, which is very great, shall rise. The sense is that all who have died shall rise. Thus the word many is taken for all, Romans 5:15: "By the offense of one, many died;" and Matthew 26:28: "Which shall be shed for you and for many." So Saint Augustine, City of God 20:21, Theodoret and others. Although therefore some have supposed that not all men will die, and consequently not all will rise from death, namely those who will be living near the day of judgment: for these are to be changed without death, and transferred alive to immortal life, when they will be caught up to meet Christ the Judge in the air, as the Apostle seems to say, 1 Thessalonians 4:16. The same teach Saint Chrysostom, Theophylact, Œcume-
nius, Theodoret, Saint Epiphanius, Heresy 64; Saint Jerome, epistle 148, Question 3; Tertullian, On the Resurrection, chapters 41 and 42; Origen, book 5 Against Celsus: nevertheless these, and all other Fathers and Doctors agree that all who have died will rise from death on the day of judgment. So Saint Jerome to Pammachius, epistle 61, Saint Augustine, Enchiridion 84, Saint Gregory, Morals 14:31, and others throughout. Therefore that all dead men are to rise again is a matter of faith. For Christ expressly asserts this, alluding to this passage of Daniel, John 5:28: "The hour comes, He says, in which all who are in the tombs shall hear the voice of the Son of God: and those who have done good shall come forth to the resurrection of life; but those who have done evil to the resurrection of judgment," that is, of damnation and hell, to which they will be condemned by the just judgment of God. And Saint Paul, 1 Corinthians 15:22: "As in Adam all die, he says, so also in Christ all shall be made alive." And shortly after, verse 51: "We shall all indeed rise again, but we shall not all be changed." Finally, if some shall rise, then all shall. There is no reason why this one should rise and not that one, since the condition of all is the same. When therefore the angel here says: "Many shall awake," he does not deny all, but rather comprehends all.
Note: He says here many rather than all, partly for variety of expression, lest he repeat the word all; for he had said: "Everyone who shall be found written in the book;" and partly because of the following distribution, as if to say: Many of the dead shall rise to glory, many to eternal reproach. So Maldonatus. Secondly, he says many because he opposes these many to the few Jews who will then be living and will be saved, as I said in the preceding verse, as if to say: At the end of the world nearly your entire people, O Daniel, that is, nearly all the Jews then living will be converted to Christ, will be saved, and will rise to glory: but all these will be few; but many indeed, nay very many will be those who from every age throughout the whole world have died, who will then rise, some to glory, some to hell. Wherefore Saint John alludes to this, Apocalypse 7. Where having said that 144,000 Jews will be converted and saved at the end of the world, namely 12,000 from each tribe, he adds in verse 9: "After this I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, from all nations, etc., standing before the throne and in the sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands." For what John there says — that 144,000 of the Jews shall be saved — this Daniel here says: "At that time your people shall be saved, everyone who shall be found written in the book." Again, what John there says: "I saw a great multitude which no man could number;" this Daniel here says: "And many of those who sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake: some unto eternal life, others unto reproach." He alludes, I say, not cites: for John speaks only of those to be saved on the day of judgment, but Daniel of both those to be condemned and those to be saved. Again, John opposes to the few Jews to be saved at the end of the world the many nations then like-
wise to be living and saved; but Daniel opposes to the few Jews then to be living and saved the innumerable multitude of all men previously dead, who will then rise.
Hence it is clear that the resurrection of the dead was revealed to the Jews by God and the angels. For the opinion of some Rabbis that the Jews oppressed by Antiochus are here called dead, and their liberation called a resurrection, is absurd: for the Jews did not then rise to eternal life; which however is said of these dead. So also the gentiles recognized through a shadow the immortality of the soul, and the consequent resurrection of bodies. Demosthenes, when he was fleeing from Antipater, replied to Architas who was gently promising him life if he returned: "Far be it that I should prefer to live shamefully rather than die honorably, after having heard Xenocrates and Plato discoursing on the immortality of the soul." So reports Cardinal Bessarion in his Defense of Plato. Trismegistus in the first Dialogue of Poimandres says that among living things only man is of a double nature, mortal on account of the body, immortal on account of the soul: and adds that "the soul of the just man, freed from the movement of harmony, ascends to heaven, where together with the assembly of blessed minds it praises God, whom all there enjoy." The same was the opinion of Cicero in the Dream of Scipio. Hence flowed the opinion of the Elysian Fields which Virgil sings of in Aeneid 6.
That Didymus, a prince among the Brahmans, thus writes to Alexander the Great: "We are not inhabitants of this world, but strangers, nor did we come into the world to desire to remain in it, but to pass through: for we hasten to our ancestral home." I have cited more in Genesis 37:35.
UNTO REPROACH — that is, unto eternal death: for it is opposed to eternal life. This death is called reproach because it will be most shameful as well as most painful. "The gravest of punishments is shame; for the wicked shall rise to shame and eternal reproach," says Saint Chrysostom, Homily 6 on the Epistle to the Ephesians. For if it is an enormous punishment when a commander is convicted of treason before the king; when a convicted thief is publicly driven to the gallows; when a royal wife is publicly beheaded as an adulteress: what will the shame be when the reprobate before the whole world, because they are guilty of offended divine majesty, infamous, impure, traitors, shall be condemned to eternal punishments, to spend an everlasting life with the most foul demons in the prison of hell, in pitch, smoke, and flame? What will that reproach of Christ on the day of judgment to the reprobate be like? I fed you, washed you, clothed you, redeemed you by My blood: you did not feed Me when I was hungry, did not give Me drink when I was thirsty, did not clothe Me when I was naked, did not help Me when I was afflicted, helped Me in nothing; I was scourged, beaten, and slain for you: you again by your crimes scourged, beat, and slew Me; go therefore, accursed ones, into the eternal fire which was prepared for the devil and his angels.
Hear Christ the Judge reproaching in Saint Augustine, Sermon 67 On the Times: "I, O man, made you from clay with My own hands; I breathed spirit into your earthly limbs, I deigned to confer upon you My own image; you, despising the life-giving commandments, preferred to follow the deceiver rather than God. When, expelled from paradise, you were held by the bond of death on account of sin, I assumed flesh, I was laid exposed in a manger and wrapped in swaddling clothes, I endured the insults of infancy and human sorrows, I received the slaps and spittle of mockers, I was beaten with scourges, crowned with thorns, nailed to a cross. Behold the marks of the nails by which I hung fastened. Behold My side pierced with wounds. Why have you thrown away what I suffered for you? Why have you ungratefully rejected the gifts of your redemption? Why have you polluted with the filth of luxury the dwelling which I had consecrated for Myself in you? Why have you afflicted Me with a heavier cross of your crimes than that on which I once hung? For heavier to Me is the cross of your sins, on which I hang unwillingly, than that which I ascended, having mercy on you, to slay your death. And because after all evils you refused to flee to the medicine of penance, you will not deserve to be freed from the evil report: for you despised pardon in your Judge."
Then the wicked will say to the mountains in shame and fear: Fall upon us; and to the hills: Cover us. See also the reproach of Christ the Judge to Elpidophorus, which Muritta the deacon directs against him in Victor of Utica, book 3 of the Vandal Persecution, I quoted it at Romans 6:4. Therefore Rabbi Saadiah errs, who thinks that only the just and holy will rise again; and the Jews, who think that only Jews will be raised by the Messiah.
TO SEE ALWAYS — In Hebrew it is לדראון עולם lediron olam, which the Septuagint, Vatablus, and Pagninus translate as unto eternal contempt; Marinus in his Lexicon, unto eternal reprobation and abomination, so that God, the angels, and the saints may execrate and abominate them forever. The Syriac and Arabic translate: unto the perdition and ignominy of their companions forever, perhaps instead of ראון reon, they read רעים reim, that is, companions or friends. Secondly, others translate, unto the eternal duration of pain, as if diron were compounded from דור dor, that is, duration, and און on, that is, pain. Thirdly, others translate, unto the eternal duration of concupiscence, or of sin, for on signifies not only pain, but also concupiscence and sin (which is the cause of all pain). Fourthly, our translator here and in Isaiah, last chapter, last verse, with the Chaldean translates diron as satiety of vision, as if diron were compounded from די de, i.e. sufficiency, satiety, and ראון raon, i.e. vision: understand vision both active and passive, that is, so that they may see and be seen. Our translator takes the active sense here, as if to say: Some shall rise unto death and reproach, so that they may see, that is, so that they may feel and experience forever the punishments, reproaches, and pains of eternal death, so that they may always be dying, always agonizing, and never be dead. He takes the passive sense in Isaiah, last chapter, verse 24, because there is added "to all flesh." For he says: "They (the damned) shall be unto the satiety of vi-
sion to all flesh," as if to say: They shall be seen, and shall be a reproach and mockery to all men; or, as Forerius, Rabbi David and others say, they shall be a nausea and detestation to all who see them, namely so that people will not even want to look at them because of the multitude of worms with which they will swarm. For Rabbi David thinks that diron is derived from דרא dara, which he interprets as worm. Whence here he translates diron olam as everlasting worm. "For their worm shall not die, and their fire shall not be extinguished," Isaiah 66:24.
Meditating on these things, Blessed Isaiah the Abbot, volume 2 of the Library of the Holy Fathers, Oration 29, thus laments: "Woe to us, who here without fear bind ourselves with sins! for there eternal fire will receive us, and outer darkness, and the worm that does not sleep, and mourning, and gnashing of teeth, and everlasting shame before all the angels and creatures. "Woe to us, whose souls, confused and alienated from repentance, in the resurrection and that dreadful judgment of all nations, having resumed their bodies, shall be cast with weeping and gnashing of teeth into the most bitter and everlasting groans, mourning, and torments! "Woe to us, who in this exile of our pilgrimage pursue detestable pleasures, and forgetting the paradise of delights, despise the kingdom of heaven! "Woe to those who labor for others, and profit not themselves. "Woe to us, who though we feel the constant stings of our reproaching conscience, are not ashamed, nor do we dread the judgment of God, before whom we must render an account of all our actions!"
Verse 3: BUT THOSE WHO ARE LEARNED SHALL SHINE, etc
3. BUT THOSE WHO ARE LEARNED SHALL SHINE, etc. — From this passage the Doctors teach that the bodies of the Blessed will be wholly luminous both externally and internally, so that they will be entirely penetrated by light and will be transparent. For thus light penetrates the firmament and the stars, and makes them entirely and wholly luminous: and this will be an immense joy of the Blessed, that they will be able to see themselves and their inmost parts, as well as those of their companions, so that nothing will be hidden which they cannot see. So teach Saint Thomas, Richard, Paludanus, Soto Major, and others whom Francis Suarez cites and follows, Part 3, volume 2, disputation 48, section 2, and John Salas, I-II Question 5, article 5, tractate 2, disputation 14, section 15. Nor will this light hinder the color of bodies. For thus glass receives various colors and yet is intimately penetrated by light: moreover other thick bodies are both colored and luminous; and are seen by reason of their color in the day, and by reason of their light at night, as is clear from the firefly, the glow-worm, the lantern fly, the lampyris, which is a little worm that glows at night like a pearl, which example Cyril of Jerusalem uses to confirm this matter, Catechesis 8, when he says: "The just shall shine as the sun and as the moon, as also the brightness of the firmament: and God, foreseeing this incredulity of men, gave to small worms a luminous body, so that they might shine, so that from things that appear one might believe what we hope for: for He who could produce the part, will also be able to produce the whole; and He who made a worm to shine with light, will much more make a just man resplendent."
One may ask whether the just are one group here, and the learned another: whether the brightness of the firmament is one thing and that of the stars another? Firstly, Denis the Carthusian says: The learned, he says, are all the just. For these are the ones who know God, as he said in the preceding chapter, verse 32; and these are taught by the Holy Spirit to live piously and holily; yet often they are not sufficient to teach others: hence in the following half-verse he places the doctors above them. Here applies that saying of Saint Leo, Sermon On the Epiphany: "Whoever, he says, lives piously and chastely in the Church; who savors the things that are above, not the things that are on earth, is in a certain way like a heavenly light. And while he himself preserves the brightness of a holy life, he shows the way to the Lord to many, like a star."
But the word "but" (autem) opposes this, when he says: "But those who are learned," by which he distinguishes the learned from the other just and holy, who all, as was said before, shall awake to eternal life. Whence Saint Jerome to Paulinus: "You see, he says, how much just simplicity and learned justice differ from each other; the former are compared to stars, the latter to the heavens." Hence Averroes also said that a learned man and an unlearned man differ so much that the term man, or the nature of man, is not predicated of them equally.
Secondly, others more correctly think that the learned are here distinguished both from the wise and from the Doctors. For there are three degrees of Saints, unequal in wisdom and merit, and so also in reward. The simple and unlearned saints are therefore like the blue sky, pure and clear: but the learned are like the brightness of the firmament, that is, like the whiteness or white cloud that shines in the blue sky: but the doctors of others shine like stars. For these are three degrees both of light and of Saints. Hear also the Rabbis in Midrash Tehillim, in the Exposition of Psalm 11, on the verse: For the Lord is just, and has loved justice: his countenance has seen equity: "These, they say, are the just, of whom it is said in Daniel 12: And the wise shall shine as the brightness of heaven. For the faces of the just shall shine as the sun, as the moon, as the heavens, as the stars, as lightning, as lilies, as lamps. First, as the sun, as it is said in Judges chapter 5: As the rising of the sun in his strength. Second, as the moon, as it is said in Psalm 88: As the moon prepared forever. Third, as the heavens, as it is said in Daniel 12: As the brightness of heaven. Fourth, as the stars, as it is said in Daniel 12: They shall shine as stars. Fifth, as lightning, as it is said in Nahum 2: They shall run like lightning. Sixth, as lilies, as it is said in Psalm 68: Upon the lilies. Seventh, as lamps, as it is said in Nahum 2: Their appearance is as lamps." Then assigning as many classes of the just to these, he adds: "The first variety (or class) is of those who dwell before the face of the king, and
they gaze upon the king and his face, as it is said: The upright shall dwell before your face. The second is of those of whom it is said: Blessed are those who dwell in your house. The third, of those of whom they say: Who shall ascend the mountain of God? The fourth, of whom it is said: Blessed is he whom you have chosen and drawn near. The fifth, of whom it is said: O God, who shall sojourn in your tabernacle? The sixth, of whom it is said: Who shall dwell on your holy mountain? The seventh, of whom it is said: And who shall rise in his holy place? And each of these varieties has a dwelling prepared for it in the paradise of delights." Opposing to these as many classes of the wicked, he adds: "And on the contrary there are likewise seven dwellings in hell for the wicked. And they are these: Sheol, that is, hell; Abaddon, that is, perdition; Ghe, that is, valley, or the deep; Duma, that is, silence; Zalmaveth, that is, the shadow of death; Erets tachtich, that is, the lower earth; and Erets tzia, that is, the thirsty land. These are the seven dwellings of the wicked, and seven of the just. And to each according to their works is the house of their dwellings." Thus the Rabbis, rabbinically.
Thirdly and genuinely, Saint Jerome, Maldonatus, Pererius and others by the learned understand doctors, so that the same is said in the second half-verse as was said in the first, in the Hebrew manner. This is proved, first, because the Hebrew משכלים maskilim signifies not only the learned, but also those who teach: for it is fitting that rewards be given not to the learned, but to the teachers, says Maldonatus. Secondly, because Daniel plainly alludes to the learned in the time of Antiochus and the Antichrist, of whom he said in chapter 11:33: "And the learned among the people shall instruct many;" for in such great persecution it was the duty of all the learned to teach and confirm others in the true faith; then therefore all the learned were also teachers of others, partly by word, partly by example. Thirdly, because properly the brightness of the firmament is nothing other than that of the stars and from the stars: for a white cloud is not the brightness of the firmament, but light and whiteness. Whence the Septuagint translate: And the wise shall shine as the brightness of the firmament, and from the many just ones as stars forever. This will be more apparent in what follows.
Although the Scholiast in the edition of the Septuagint by Caraffa probably thinks that the Septuagint put τὸ δικαίων, that is, of the just, in place of δικαιζώντων, that is, of those who justify, that is, of those who instruct in justice, as the Hebrew and our Vulgate have.
Note first: The learned or wise, namely those who understand the truth, and the sacred name of God, as Saint Clement says, book 5 of the Apostolic Constitutions, chapter 6, namely God and the law of God, as Turrianus explains; here they are understood not only speculatively, but also practically, which is the knowledge of the Saints, Wisdom 10:10; and the wisdom and prudence of the just, Luke 1:17, which the Wise Man frequently mentions in Proverbs. These learned ones therefore are those who are instructed in the law of God in such a way as to put it into practice and observe it, so that the more learned they are, the holier they also are. These shall shine above other just ones, as the brightness of the firmament shines above the firmament itself. Again, those same ones who by not a single act, but by frequent and continual action instruct many in justice, or, as the Hebrew has it, matsdike, that is, who justify many, that is, who by their teaching and exhortation, as well as by their example, convert sinners and make them just or more just; and particularly those who in temptation and persecution confirm others in faith and justice; whether publicly in schools, as doctors do; or in churches, as preachers and catechists do; or privately in confession, conversation, at table, at home, etc.; these shall shine like stars outshining others and illuminating them, for perpetual eternities.
The angel therefore here does not properly speak of those who teach profane or human laws, philosophy, or theology in merely a speculative and academic manner; but of those who direct these to practice, and by them as bait and nets introduce and implant in the minds of their students the fear of God and piety, as religious men do who teach secular sciences for this purpose. For these, by mixing pious admonitions, lessons, and exhortations with secular subjects, instruct and form their hearers in justice, and make them just and holy as well as learned. For, as Saint Dionysius says: "The most divine of all divine perfections is to be God's co-worker in bringing souls back to their Creator;" and it is an angelic work to purify, illuminate, and perfect others. "For holy simplicity profits only itself, and however much it builds up the Church by the merit of its life, it does equal harm if it does not resist those who would destroy," says Saint Jerome to Paulinus. These therefore are both Cherubim and Seraphim at once. Such was Saint Bonaventure, the Seraphic Doctor: such should all Doctors, Theologians, especially Religious, be. Moreover the Syriac translates: The doers of good and the wise shall shine as the light of the firmament; and those who justify many shall be radiant and standing like stars forever and ever; the Arabic of Antioch: Those who have understanding (reason) shall shine as the light of heaven; and as they justify many, they shall be gleaming like stars, and shall endure forever and ever; the Arabic of Alexandria: The sensible and doers of good shall shine as the light of heaven; and those who have been greatly justified shall have this (light) like stars, and shall endure forever.
The glory and brightness of the holy Doctors therefore will be like that of stars, in which the light is denser and more effective for illuminating other things; for thus these too, since they in a certain way merit through the merits of all whom they instruct in justice: so in the crowns of all of them they too shall be crowned, says Denis the Carthusian. And just as on earth they shone before others like illustrious stars through their wisdom and grace; so in heaven they will likewise shine before those same ones like radiant stars, through their illustrious crown and glory.
Note secondly: The angel here speaks of those who both by word and by example, especially of constancy, in virtue, justice, holiness, and the law of God even unto death and martyrdom teach and strengthen others. For these by their words and deeds teach and show how brief, worthless, and meager are all riches, pleasures, and earthly pomp: namely that they are mere smoke and children's bubbles, which outwardly appear swollen and great, while inwardly they are hollow and empty, and contain nothing but air and wind: for in the same way worldly riches and honors, by their outward show display something great, but inwardly they lack substance, truth, and solidity. These teach that the true, solid, and eternal goods are in heaven, which God has promised to those who despise earthly things. These by their words and deeds of Holy Scripture teach how great a good is virtue and the fear and love of God, and how great an evil is sin and the offense and wrath of the immense God. Finally, these in persecutions actually teach that all torments are brief and slight compared to the greatness of eternal glory, which they certainly expect, and they sound that trumpet call of the Apostle to all, both by bravely enduring all sad and harsh things, and by exhorting: "The sufferings of this present time are not worthy to be compared with the glory to come, which shall be revealed in us; for our momentary and light tribulation works an eternal weight of glory in us."
Thus did Saints Sebastian, Vincent, Laurence, and the first Roman Pontiffs: for this is the true doctrine and wisdom of the Saints. For the angel alludes to the Levite Maccabees and other doctors and martyrs who lived in the time of Antiochus and will live in the time of the Antichrist, of whom he said in the preceding chapter, verse 33: "And the learned among the people shall instruct many, and they shall fall by the sword and by flame;" and verse 35 (for in both places the same Hebrew word appears as here, namely maskilim): "And some of the learned shall fall, that they may be refined, and chosen, and made white." For these are divine doctors, and therefore they will shine as stars forever. Indeed some, like Alcazar cited above, hold that this refers only to them, namely to Mattathias and the Maccabees: and Maldonatus by these learned ones and doctors understands those who teach others by their example, especially martyrs. This is what Christ decrees and says of them, Matthew 5:19: "He who shall do and teach (the law and commandments of God), he shall be called great in the kingdom of heaven." For of the others, who teach by word but unteach by their life, He says in the same place: "He who shall break one of these least commandments, and shall so teach men, shall be called the least in the kingdom of heaven."
Note thirdly: These learned and doctors will have greater glory than the common, unrefined, and unlearned, not only accidental but also essential glory. The reason is that this teaching of theirs, since it is practical and affectionate, involves greater charity, grace, and spirit; for impelled by this they teach others, and imbue them with the same, namely the knowledge and love of God and heavenly things: but to greater grace and charity a greater reward has been promised by God, namely beatitude and essential glory. Otherwise, if some commoner and unlearned person, for example a peasant, were endowed with grea-
ter grace and charity than the doctor and preacher (which is not rarely the case with those who devote themselves entirely to dry speculation, or to the elegance and embellishments of words), he will likewise obtain greater essential glory than the doctor, even though he will not obtain the accidental laurel of the doctor. These learned and doctors of Daniel therefore will shine: first, with a greater light of glory in the soul; secondly, with greater glory of the body; thirdly, with their own aureole. For there are three aureoles, namely of Doctors, Virgins, and Martyrs, as the Doctors teach. Moreover this aureole will be a special glory of soul and body, a beauty and crown like a star: and it is probable that in the martyrs there will be, as Saint Augustine says, Sermon 1 On All Saints, a crown on the head, and, as Dominic Soto teaches in book 4, disputation 29, at the end, in Martyrs the brightness throughout the whole body will be somewhat red and purple like roses; in Virgins the brightness will be white like lilies; in Doctors the brightness will be starlike and green like laurel. For there will be, says Dominic Soto, in the bodies of the Saints a luminous color and a colored light. The gift of brightness of Virgins therefore will be white, of Martyrs red, of Doctors green. The same teaches Joseph Angles, Question On Beatitude, article 6, at the end. Similar things about these aureoles teach Paludanus, in book 4, distinction 49, Question 8, article 4; Saint Antoninus, Part 3, title 30, chapter 8; Henriquez, tractate On the End of Man, chapter 27, section 8; Bonaventure in the Breviloquium, last chapter; Major, in book 4, distinction 49, Question 23, at the end. Soto adds: And perhaps Virgins will bear lilies, Martyrs palms, Doctors laurels or green branches. For, as Saint Augustine says, Sermon 1 On All Saints: "In the flowers of heaven neither roses nor lilies are lacking. Let each one strive to receive the dignity of both most ample honors and crowns, whether white ones of virginity, or purple ones of suffering: in the heavenly camps both peace and battle have their flowers," but more excellent than ours and unknown to us, "with which the soldiers of Christ are crowned." And Saint Ambrose, on chapter 12 of Saint Luke: "Where, he says, there is integrity, where chastity, where religion, where faithful knowledge of sacred things, where the brightness of angels is; there are the violets of Confessors, the lilies of Virgins, the roses of Martyrs: for thorns belong to roses, because torments belong to martyrs."
For this reason blessed Virgins with lilies, and Martyrs with roses have often appeared. Thus Saint Agatha appeared to Saint Digna, and offering her a rose and a lily, invited her to martyrdom and the prize of virginity. Hear Eulogius, and from him Baronius, in the year of the Lord 853. When the Saracens were raging against the Church of Cordoba, among the other martyrs a certain young maiden, worthy both in merit and in name — Digna — by God's revelation and encouragement, went forth to the palm of martyrdom. For shortly before her martyrdom she sees in a dream a maiden standing beside her, adorned in angelic garb and beauty, bearing roses and lilies in her hand. When she asked her name and the reason for her coming: "I am, she said,
Agatha, once worn down by cruel tortures for Christ's sake, and now I have come to bestow upon you a share of this purple gift: receive the offering willingly, and act manfully in the Lord. For the remaining roses and lilies which I keep in my hand, I shall give after you to those departing from this place." Illuminated by such a vision and gift, the holy maiden, as she received a rose from the right hand of her interlocutor, humbled herself all the more, and said with tears: "Do not call me Digna (Worthy), but rather unworthy, because I ought to be distinguished by a name matching my merit." And since from the day of her revelation, pricked by love of martyrdom, she frequently pondered in silent thought by what signs she might aspire to it; having silently opened the gates of the convent, when she had learned that the blessed martyrs were already hanging, she hastened with quick step to the judge, and with fearless assertion demanded why he had slaughtered her brothers, the heralds of justice: "Is it because, she said, we are worshippers of God, and faithfully honor the Holy Trinity, confessing the Father, and the Son, and the Holy Spirit, one and true God; and everything that dissents from this belief we not only deny, but also detest — are we cursed and confounded and therefore pierced through for this reason?" As the maiden was saying these and similar things with her holy and immaculate mouth, the judge without hesitation handed her over to the executioners to be beheaded, who soon brought the blade to her delicate neck. Without delay, falling with her limbs prostrate, she was hung upside down on the rack, and was joined to the others across the river. For in this order these three advocates — Anastasius the priest, Felix the monk, and the blessed virgin Digna — fell on the same day in different ways. Thus far Eulogius.
About the year of the Lord 304, Saint Dorothy, virgin and martyr, suffered at Caesarea in Cappadocia: to whom, as she was being led to execution, Theophilus, the advocate of the governor, said mockingly: "Come, you bride of Christ, send me roses from the paradise of your spouse." And Dorothy replied: "I shall certainly do so." When she had come to the blow of the executioner, she asked the executioner to allow her briefly to pray: and when she had finished her prayer, behold a boy appeared before her carrying in a cloth three most beautiful roses (it was winter; for she suffered on February 6). To whom she said: "I beg you to bring these to Theophilus, and tell him: Behold what you asked of me, that I should send you from the paradise of my spouse." She herself, struck by the sword, went to Christ. Meanwhile the boy brought the roses to Theophilus, saying: "Behold, just as the virgin Dorothy promised, she sends you these from the paradise of her spouse." Receiving them, Theophilus exclaimed: "Truly Christ is God, and there is no pretense in Him." Whereupon he was arrested, tortured on the rack, and struck down by the sword, and as a martyr flew to Dorothy in paradise. So the Life of Saint Dorothy has it.
Similarly an angel, offering to Saint Cecilia and Valerian her spouse two crowns woven of roses and lilies, invited them to virginity and to martyrdom, as the Acts of Cecilia relate.
Do you want examples of these stars? Take these: first, Christ, the Teacher of teachers, now in glory says of Himself, Apocalypse 22:16: "I am the bright and morning star." Secondly, the Church, which is the pillar and firmament of truth, appeared to Saint John, Apocalypse 12:1, as a woman having on her head a crown of "twelve stars," namely the twelve Apostles, who as doctors of the Church shone and will shine forever like stars. Hear Saint Chrysostom, Homily On Pentecost, near the end of volume 3: "What stars, he says, are like the Apostles? Stars are in heaven, the Apostles above the heavens. Mind the things that are above, says the Apostle, where Christ sits at the right hand of the Father. Stars are of insensible fire (according to the opinion of the Platonists, following which the Poet says: You eternal fires), the Apostles of intelligible fire. Stars shine at night, in the day they are obscured: the Apostles in day and night shine with their rays, that is, their virtues. Stars, when the sun rises, are obscured: the Apostles, when the Sun of Justice shines, grow bright with their own brilliance. Stars in the resurrection will fall like leaves: the Apostles in the resurrection will be caught up in the air by clouds; and among those stars one is called Antifer, another Lucifer; but among the Apostles there is no Antifer, all are Lucifers. And therefore the Apostles are greater than stars: and whoever calls them lights of the world will not err; not only while they were in the body, but even more now when they have departed from life."
Thirdly, Moses, the lawgiver and teacher of the Old Testament, shone like a star, when his face received from God rays and as it were horns of light, Exodus 34:29. Fourthly, of Simeon, the son of Onias, a distinguished teacher and high priest, Ecclesiasticus chapter 50:6 says: "Like the morning star in the midst of a cloud, and like the full moon in its days it shines, and like the sun shining, so he shone in the temple of God." Fifthly, Apocalypse 1:20: "The seven stars are the angels (that is, the doctors and Bishops) of the seven Churches" of Asia. Sixthly, Saint Dominic appeared to a certain noble matron in a vision bearing a brilliant star on his forehead, by whose excessive splendor the whole world was illuminated, as his Life has it, book 1, chapter 1, and the last chapter at the end. Seventhly, Saint Nicholas of Tolentino, who by his word and his holy and austere life instructed many unto salvation, while sleeping in his cell saw a most radiant star: and while awake he saw a star that every day preceded him in a straight path to the altar; then this star after his death was seen each year on the very day of his death at his tomb. The same, six months before his death, every night before the nocturnal prayers heard angels singing most sweetly, and inviting him to their fellowship in heaven; so that he, aspiring to them, would say: I desire to be dissolved and to be with Christ. Indeed the angels love doctors, inasmuch as they discharge the office of angels among men. Eighthly, Abbot Polychronius in the Spiritual Meadow, chapter 6, narrates of a certain holy monk, above whose dead head a star, like a companion of the journey, did not cease to appear
until they committed him to burial, and in chapter 104, relates that Abbot Theodosius saw a most brilliant star above the head of Nonnus the priest. Another there saw the same Nonnus praying with his hands extended to heaven: "And his hands shone like torches of fire." Ninthly, at the death of Saint Thomas Aquinas, a certain religious man saw a star hovering over the monastery, which was ascending into heaven as he breathed his last soul: whence he, although absent, recognized both the death and the glory of Saint Thomas. So reports Ferdinand Castiglione in the History of the Dominican Order, Part 1, book 3, chapter 33. See what was said on Numbers 24:46: "A star shall rise out of Jacob."
Tenthly, the Blessed Virgin Mary, that is, lady, teacher of virgins, and star of the sea, indeed of the world, is allegorically the woman clothed with the sun and crowned with twelve stars, Apocalypse chapter 12, and with her whole body and whole soul she sparkles with innumerable gifts both of glory and of grace, like the most brilliant stars, so that the Poet truly sang of her: As many are your gifts, O Virgin, as there are stars in heaven.
Finally, the stars signify that doctors and pastors are the eyes of the Church, just as a general is the eye of the army, and a star is the eye of heaven. Hence Demas, the distinguished orator, when Alexander the Great, the teacher and leader of the Macedonians, had died, compared their army to the Cyclops whose eye had been gouged out. Again, a heavenly star signifies that they are taught, led, and governed from heaven by God, and moved by His impulse and spirit, so that they may illuminate, convert, and justify the hearts of their hearers: for human power is not sufficient for this, but divine power is required.
FOR PERPETUAL ETERNITIES — In Hebrew it is, forever and beyond, that is, for all eternity and beyond it, if anything could exist or be imagined beyond. See what was said on Exodus 15:18. Behold how slight the labor, how slight the suffering, what a great weight of glory it produces. Because doctors are "sowers of blessed eternity," as Saint Hilary says; hence they will also be its harvesters. For the greatest blindness and ignorance which men draw from Adam is that they prefer present goods — cheap, fleeting, and brief — to true, solid, and eternal ones: for they only look at the outward show and appearance of things, not the things themselves, like children who blow bubbles from soap and water and chase after them, which, swollen with wind, soon vanish into thin air: and like Aesop's dog, who holding meat in his mouth and seeing its shadow larger, dropped the meat to seize the shadow: thus men chase bubbles and shadows of things, not the things themselves, and consequently lose both. Saint Augustine says excellently, Sermon 39 On the Times: "The whole series of Scriptures, he says, exhorts us to be raised from earthly to heavenly things, where true and everlasting beatitude is, which it is most certain that no one can reach except through the faith of Catholic peace, with the cooperation of the love of God and neighbor." O how glorious is the kingdom in which with Christ, the Teacher of teachers, all the Saints reign, all
doctors shine as stars, as suns, for perpetual eternities! O Israel! How great, how enduring is the house of God! How immense the place of His possession, who counts the multitude of the stars, and calls them all by name! O eternal wisdom, Jesus, our love! Teach us, grant that we too may teach others unto justice, and at last lead us into the Holy of Holies, that there we may shine like stars forever and ever.
Verse 4: SHUT UP THE WORDS AND SEAL THE BOOK
4. SHUT UP THE WORDS AND SEAL THE BOOK — This closing and sealing signifies, first, the remoteness of the prophecy, namely that the things predicted in it will come to pass after many ages: for this reason the angel ordered it to be sealed in chapter 8:26. Thus among the ancients a sealed book was a hieroglyphic of antiquity, says Pierius from Horus, Hieroglyphics 47, chapter 36, because in it either the ancient teachings of the wise, or deeds done, are committed to the memory of a long posterity, and thus the book, as Horace says: "may prolong a long age for its writer." Secondly, the same means its obscurity: for things that are closed are obscure and impenetrable. For this reason Saint John saw these same things in a book sealed with seven seals, Apocalypse chapter 5:1. Thirdly, the same means its certainty: for things that are sealed are held as certain, as is clear from chapter 8:26, as if to say: O Daniel! All these things which from the tenth chapter up to now I have revealed to you are equally obscure, remote, and certain: therefore sign and seal them under figures, that is, write them enigmatically, so that readers may not understand, as if to say: These things will not be well known before "the appointed time," namely of the new law, says Theodoret, in which Christ will open the mysteries of Sacred Scripture: nor fully before "the appointed time" when the things prophesied here will actually be fulfilled, especially those things predicted here about the resurrection of the good and evil, and the glory of the Doctors, which are to come to pass at the end of the world.
Whence Pagninus translates: Until the time of the end; the Septuagint: Until the time of consummation. Wherefore at first very many will pass through and read these prophecies, and will bring a manifold knowledge, that is, interpretation of them. For when Daniel was writing these things, no one understood them: after the time of Antiochus, those things began to be understood which pertain to him and his predecessors: but those things which are said of the Antichrist are not yet understood; they will be understood, however, in the time of the Antichrist. So Maldonatus. For as Saint Irenaeus says: "Every prophecy before it is fulfilled is an enigma; but when it has been fulfilled, it has a manifest exposition and understanding."
Thus the ancient Egyptians used to paint sphinxes at the entrances of their temples, to signify that divine doctrines, oracles, and mysteries are hidden and concealed; and are to be treated in secret only among the wise worshippers of religion: and because Augustus Caesar was most fond of silence regarding sacred matters, hence he carried a sphinx carved on the ring with which he sealed letters. For the sphinx was a monster, with the head and hands of a maiden, the body of a dog, the wings of a bird,
the claws of a lion, the tail of a dragon, the voice of a man; which was said to waylay passersby with difficult and inextricable questions. So Pierius, Hieroglyphics 1 and 7. Morally, God here teaches that maxim of Ptolemy at the beginning of the Almagest: "Do not entrust your counsel except to him who will keep it secret," namely to the wise and just. "For the hearts of the just are the repositories of secrets," as Ptolemy says in the same place.
Verse 5: AND BEHOLD, AS IT WERE TWO OTHERS STOOD
5. AND BEHOLD, AS IT WERE TWO OTHERS STOOD — Saint Jerome thinks these two men standing opposite on each bank of the river were two angels, namely the prince of the kingdom of the Greeks and the prince of the kingdom of the Persians, who were opposing the liberation of the Jews, as the angel said in chapter 10:13 and 20; and that the third standing with them on the bank was the angel of the Hebrews, who has been speaking with Daniel from chapter 10 until now, whom it is probable was Gabriel, as may be gathered from chapter 8, verse 16.
Otherwise Alcazar in Apocalypse 10:1, note 2; for he thinks these two men standing on the bank signify the kings of the South and of the North, that is, of Egypt and of Syria, who were going to cast the people of God, caught on both sides, into the greatest dangers, calamities, and hardships by the tumult of wars, as we heard in the preceding chapter. These two oppose the angel standing over the waters, preventing him from reaching either bank, that is, they oppose the Jews (for their angel represents them), preventing them from escaping from this crossroads of wars into the hands of either side. But these things pertain to the times of the Antichrist, as is clear from the course of the prophecy.
Verse 6: AND I SAID (namely I, Daniel: so also the Septuagint; but the
6. AND I SAID (namely I, Daniel: so also the Septuagint; but the Hebrew text now has ויאמר vaiomer, and he said, namely the other of the two angels standing on the bank) TO THE MAN WHO WAS CLOTHED IN LINEN (that is, to the angel of the Hebrews, who was speaking with Daniel, as is clear from chapter 10:9), WHO STOOD UPON THE WATERS OF THE RIVER — namely the Tigris, as is clear from chapter 10:4: for Daniel was dwelling there; and this to indicate, first, that all empires pass away most swiftly, as the Tigris flows most swiftly; secondly, that the Jews, his nation, are tossed by the waves of water, that is, by the afflictions of tribulations and persecutions.
HOW LONG SHALL IT BE TO THE END OF THESE WONDERS — when will these wonderful things which you have foretold come to pass? Secondly and rather, as if to say: How long will that fierce persecution of the Antichrist last, and when will it end, which you have described so laboriously and dreadfully? For to this question the angel soon responds saying: "Unto a time, and times, and half a time." For the brevity of tribulation, if known in advance, greatly alleviates it: whence for the sake of the elect God will shorten the day of the Antichrist's persecution, lest they succumb, Matthew 24.
Verse 7: WHEN HE HAD LIFTED UP HIS RIGHT HAND AND HIS LEFT
7. WHEN HE HAD LIFTED UP HIS RIGHT HAND AND HIS LEFT — when, having raised his right and left hand, he had sworn. With the right hand raised we customarily swear: but here the angel also raises his left hand both because of the gravity of the matter and for the confirmation of the oath. This oath therefore signifies that God's decree concerning these oracles and future events is immutable and irrevocable.
THAT IT SHALL BE UNTO A TIME — Refer these words to I heard, as if to say: I heard the angel when he had sworn, saying: "That unto a time, and times, and half a time," that is, for one year, and two years, and half a year, that is, for three and a half years the persecution of the Antichrist will last, about which you inquire.
Alcazar in Apocalypse 11:2, note 2, thinks this refers literally to the persecution of Antiochus: for although the profanation of the temple committed by him lasted only three years, as is said in 1 Maccabees 4:52, and as Josephus testifies in book 12 of the Antiquities, chapter 10, or 11, nevertheless the profanation of the city of Jerusalem lasted three and a half years. For he occupied the city and the citadel of Zion for that long, and suppressed the divine worship, as Josephus expressly teaches in the Prologue of his book On the War, and in chapter 1. Consequently what is said in this chapter, verse 12: "Blessed is he who waits and comes unto a thousand three hundred thirty-five days," he refers to the restoration of the citadel of Zion, which was purified for the greater protection and defense of the temple, as is clear from 1 Maccabees 4:60, and in Josephus book 12, chapter 10, or 11. But Catholics generally, both modern and ancient, refer these things to the persecution of the Antichrist, and I have demonstrated this at length in chapter 7:25.
AND WHEN THE SCATTERING OF THE POWER OF THE HOLY PEOPLE SHALL BE ACCOMPLISHED — "Power" (manus), that is, of the multitude: because he was speaking of war, he used a military term, as if to say: When very many Christians shall be scattered into deserts and caves, to yield to the fury of the Antichrist, Apocalypse 12:6, then the things I here predict will be fulfilled; and then God's elect will be made white in tribulation as in fire, as he said in chapter 11, and again says here in verse 10. Theodoret reads: When the dissipation of the sanctified people shall have been completed, they will recognize the holy one, namely Elijah the prophet, he says, who will comfort the faithful fleeing the Antichrist.
Verse 8: AND I HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD NOT (especially what I asked in verse...
8. AND I HEARD AND UNDERSTOOD NOT (especially what I asked in verse 6, and what I ask again here): WHAT SHALL BE AFTER THESE THINGS? — That is, What shall be the end of these wonders? So the Hebrew and Theodotion. Whence there follows:
Verse 9: THE WORDS ARE SHUT UP AND SEALED UNTIL THE APPOINTED TIME
9. THE WORDS ARE SHUT UP AND SEALED UNTIL THE APPOINTED TIME — as if to say: No one will fully understand these things until the time foreordained by God arrives, when they will actually come to pass. See what was said on verse 4.
Verse 10: AND NONE OF THE WICKED SHALL UNDERSTAND
10. AND NONE OF THE WICKED SHALL UNDERSTAND — The wicked and anti-Christians will not understand this prophecy, even when they see the things said here coming to pass; because they will attribute prosperous events to the power of the Antichrist and to human counsels; and adverse events to chance, fortune, and other natural causes.
BUT THE LEARNED SHALL UNDERSTAND — as if to say: Pious and wise Christians will understand the mysteries of this prophecy when they see them being fulfilled; because then, recognizing the providence of God, they will lift up their heads and know that their redemption draws near, and that Daniel's prophecy is being fulfilled, just as they were warned by Christ in a similar situation, Matthew 24:15.
Verse 11: FROM THE TIME WHEN THE CONTINUAL SACRIFICE SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY, etc
11. FROM THE TIME WHEN THE CONTINUAL SACRIFICE SHALL BE TAKEN AWAY, etc. — The Syriac translates: From the time when the offering (sacrifice) shall pass, there shall be given a profanation (abomination) unto corruption (of desolation), a thousand two hundred ninety days; the Arabic of Antioch: And from the time in which the sacrifice is changed, it shall be given unto uncleanness, unto desolation, a thousand two hundred ninety days; the Arabic of Alexandria: They will consider in the time when the offering passes away, and the malicious one will make uncleanness and correction, a thousand two hundred ninety days.
FROM THE TIME — Porphyry and some Catholics understood these words of the time of Antiochus, who abolished Jewish sacred rites. Another person thinks that the time is indicated here when the war of the Romans against the Jews lasted: for if you count the time from the 13th year of Nero, when this war began, to the second year of Vespasian, when the city was conquered and captured, and all of Judea, you will find three and a half years. But from verse 2, it is clear that this refers to the end of the world.
Just as therefore in chapter 9:27, Daniel predicts that there will be the abomination of desolation in the temple, in the destruction by Titus, and again in chapter 11:13, in the destruction by Antiochus Epiphanes: so here he says that the same will occur a third time in the destruction by the Antichrist, of which those two former ones were the type and prelude. Therefore this abomination of desolation is threefold, or thrice repeated in Daniel: first under Antiochus, secondly under Titus, thirdly under the Antichrist.
I say therefore that by the continual sacrifice is here understood the sacrifice of the Eucharist. For this is the continual sacrifice, because in the Mass it is offered daily throughout the whole world in the Church of Christ, just as formerly the continual sacrifice of the lamb was offered daily, Exodus 29:28. Whence the Greek has ἐνδελεχισμόν, that is, continuity, or continual worship of God. It signifies therefore that the Antichrist, when he shall be the complete monarch, will take away the sacrifice of the Eucharist, so that no one will dare to do this publicly: and consequently he will abolish all public worship of God. So Saint Jerome, Theodoret, Irenaeus, book 5; Primasius on Apocalypse chapter 11 and Hippolytus, treatise On the Consummation of the Age. Whence it is clear whose forerunners our heretical Sacramentarians are, who strive to abolish and overturn not only the use of the sacrifice of the Mass, but also its substance and truth. Moreover, the Antichrist will do this firstly because he will want to be worshipped alone with sacrifices, prayers, etc. Secondly, to abolish the richest memorial of Christ's passion and redemption; for this is the Eucharist. Thirdly, to deprive the faithful of this spiritual food, which wonderfully strengthens the faithful in temptation and persecution; and thus to cast them down and subject them to himself: therefore the faithful will then celebrate the Eucharist privately in caves and hidden places, and will fortify themselves with it against the Antichrist, and will say that verse of Psalm 22:5: "You have prepared a table before me against those who afflict me," as they formerly did under Decius and Diocletian.
AND THE ABOMINATION UNTO DESOLATION SHALL BE SET UP — "Abomination," that is, an idol, namely the Antichrist himself, who in place of Christ will want to be worshipped as God, and that unto, that is, for "desolation," namely so that he may destroy and desolate all goods. From this time therefore and beginning, until the end of the persecution of the Antichrist, there will be a thousand two hundred ninety days, that is, three years and a half (as I said in chapter 7, verse 25); for these precisely make 1278 days, but the persecution will further increase by twelve days, namely up to 1290 days. Whence also Saint John, Apocalypse 11:2, teaches that the Antichrist will reign for 42 months, which make three and a half years. So Theodoret and Jerome, likewise Primasius, Bede, Anselm, Aretas, Richard, Rupert and others on Apocalypse 11, about which I said more in that place.
Moreover, Saint Ambrose, book 10 on Luke, Nazianzen in the Scholia on certain passages of Scripture, Damascene, book 4, 27, and others assert that what Julian the Apostate once attempted out of hatred for Christ, the Antichrist will bring to completion, namely, to rebuild the temple of Solomon, and to set up in it a throne of deity for himself, and there to be adored by all as king of the world, as Christ the savior of men, as ultimately the God of all. But whether he does this in this temple or in another, it is clear and certain that he will do it. For the Apostle says of him, 2 Thessalonians chapter 2:4: "Who opposes and is lifted up above all that is called God, or that is worshipped: so that he sits in the temple of God, showing himself as if he were God." See what was said there.
Note: God has appointed a brief time for this persecution, lest He should allow His faithful to be pressed and oppressed too long by so great a temptation: for it will be monstrous, and so great "that even the elect, if it were possible, would be led into error," Matthew 24:24.
Some think the entire time of the Gospel law is called 1290 days, or three and a half years, that is, half a week, because, as Saint John says, it is now the last hour, since the fullness of times has already come, and there is no other law, other Church, other Christ to be expected by us, as if to say: From the abomination of desolation, that is, from the destruction of the temple by Titus, until the end of the world, there will be 1290 days, that is, the last half-week of those 70 about which I spoke in chapter 9:24 will be completed. But this interpretation seems new, foreign, and gaping, both because the angel here treats of the time of the Antichrist and the end of the world; and because this opinion tears the half-week away from the other 70 and makes it far greater than all of them; and because according to it the angel should have said not 1290 days, but half a week.
Verse 12: UNTO A THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE DAYS
12. UNTO A THOUSAND THREE HUNDRED THIRTY-FIVE DAYS — Some Jews take a day for a year, and thus explain it, as if to say: From the time when either by Antiochus or by the Emperor Hadrian an idol was placed in the temple, 1335 years will flow, at the completion of which the Messiah will come. But chronology refutes this fiction: for from Antiochus to the present more than 1770 years have passed; and from Hadrian more than 1480 years: and yet their Messiah has not yet appeared.
Secondly, some Catholics think the angel indicates three times by the three numbers, namely by 1290 days indicates the whole time from Christ to the Antichrist; by thirty indicates the whole time during which the Antichrist will reign; by the last five indicates the possession of the blessed life, and whatever will come after the end of time. But this new interpretation seems either mystical or fictitious.
Thirdly, Theodoret supposes that during these days, after the Antichrist has already been slain, Elijah will preach and convert those who fell away under the Antichrist. But he is mistaken: for Elijah will be killed by the Antichrist, as is clear from Apocalypse 11:7.
Thomas Malvenda comes close to this, book 11 On the Antichrist, chapter 19, who thinks that so many days, namely 1335, will remain after the death of the Antichrist until the day of judgment; and thus explains it, as if to say: Blessed will be he who after the death of the Antichrist, and after the elapsed 1290 days of the tyranny of the Antichrist, shall survive another 1335 days: for he will see the Lord coming in majesty for judgment; so that the angel here reveals and signifies to Daniel that from the death of the Antichrist and the restoration of the continual sacrifice until the day of judgment, precisely 1335 days will flow, that is, three years and seven and a half months. This sense is not improbable, but it is new, and does not sufficiently connect and combine these days with the immediately preceding 1290; which however the angel seems to do.
I say therefore that the angel looks back to the 1290 days, verse 11, during which the Antichrist will reign and persecute the faithful, and to the end of the persecution, namely the death of the Antichrist, adds 45 days, as if to say: Blessed and happy will be those who shall live after the death of the Antichrist: for they will be given some rest, and some time in which they may conveniently seek the salvation of their soul, and, if they fell away under the Antichrist, repent; and aspire to God and heavenly glory. So Lyranus, the Carthusian, Pererius and others.
Hence therefore it is not established whether from the death of the Antichrist to the day of judgment and the end of the world there will be precisely only 45 days: for, as Saint Jerome says, Daniel says that after the death of the Antichrist there will be silence and peace for 45 days; but he does not deny that there will be more days, especially since Ezekiel, 39:9, after the slaughter of Gog and Magog, who will be slain together with the Antichrist, posits seven years. Whence the Sibyl, book 3 of the Oracles, predicted that after the Antichrist a widowed woman would reign, who would cast gold, silver, bronze, and iron into the sea, and then the end of the world and the day of judgment would follow. See what was said on Ezekiel. For this reason some take the 45 days to mean 45 years, which they think will be given after the Antichrist until the day of judgment, so that those who fell away under him may come to their senses. For if after Christ was slain by the Jews, forty years were given to them to repent, namely until Titus and Vespasian; why should not as many and more be given to the whole world at the end of the world? So they say. But since in verse 11 the 1290 days are properly taken as days, not as years: therefore here too.
the same are extended to 1335 days; moreover 45 days are not sufficient for converting the fallen, for instructing unbelievers, for restoring or founding churches throughout the world. "Blessed" therefore will be he who shall have reached day 1290, not in the sense that precisely on day 1290 the final judgment will occur, at which Christ will beatify His Saints and elect, as Saint Jerome seems to say. For in that case the day of judgment could be known with certainty and determinacy, and that immediately from the beginning of the Antichrist's reign and persecution; namely by counting from that point that the judgment would be precisely on day 1290. But this contradicts that saying of Christ: "But of that day and hour no one knows, not even the angels of heaven, but the Father alone," Matthew chapter 24. But "blessed" he will be, because then priests and preachers, coming forth from their hiding places, will gather the faithful and preach publicly, and will restore to the Church through penance those who fell under the Antichrist; and they will urge unbelievers to embrace the faith of Christ, inasmuch as they will then see that they had been deceived by the Antichrist. Around day 1290, therefore, the Church will flourish again, and public worship of God; therefore "blessed" will be he who lives at that time, because without fear he will be able to worship God and be reconciled with Him. For shortly before, namely immediately after the death of the Antichrist, before day 1290, there will be everywhere great fear and dread holding men back from professing the faith and religion of Christ; either because of the many plagues, massacres, and recent disasters upon men, which will so stun the survivors that they will seem dazed and out of their minds: or because they will fear that the Antichrist's princes and followers may survive, who might continue and renew his persecution: or because the minds of all will be in suspense, for they will not know what the condition or change of religion, the Church, and the state will be: who and of what sort the governors and princes of the state will be; which way the state of affairs will lean. Hence they will not dare to reveal or profess their faith or their convictions: but when they see the impious clearly bowing their heads and the Bishops and Doctors raising their necks, and publicly and fearlessly preaching the true faith, and the public exercise of the Christian faith being restored by them (which will happen around the 45th day after the death of the Antichrist); then laying aside dread and fear, they will begin to think about God and their salvation, and will easily attain it through zealous preachers and priests whom God will then send. See what was said on Ezekiel 39:9.
If anyone prefers to follow the exposition of Saint Jerome, and say that from the death of the Antichrist to the day of judgment and resurrection there will be precisely 45 days, he can indeed aptly explain the word blessed, because on the completion of the 43rd day, the following day, which will be Easter, Christ will beatify and glorify His elect who stood firm in the persecution, or who having fallen did penance. And from this you will deduce something mysterious and wonderful, namely that the Antichrist is to be slain at the end of Carnival on the first day of Lent, and then the remaining days of Lent (for they are precisely 45) are to be given to the fallen to repent and prepare themselves
for the last Easter at which they will rise, be judged, and be beatified. For Lactantius, book 7, chapter 19, Anselm in the Elucidarium, and others whom I will cite in Apocalypse 19 at the end, teach that we will rise on the same day on which Christ rose, namely Easter.
Verse 13: BUT YOU (Daniel), GO TO THE END APPOINTED (Go to the death...
13. BUT YOU (Daniel), GO TO THE END APPOINTED (Go to the death appointed for all, as if to say: You will die, O Daniel! before these things come to pass, but in due time you will rise again); AND YOU SHALL STAND IN YOUR LOT — of the elect and predestined. Secondly, "in your lot," that is, in your order and degree, namely in that degree of glory which will be given to you in proportion to the measure of your merits; which Paul says: "Each one in his own order." For as one is the brightness of the sun, another of the stars: so it will be also of the Blessed, 1 Corinthians 15:23 and 41, and this "in the end," that is, near the end; or, as Vatablus translates, at the end of the days, namely at the end of the world, in the general resurrection and the day of judgment. So Theodoret, Vatablus, and others. Some explain it thus, as if to say: Go, O Daniel! and until the appointed time bear with a calm and patient mind your ignorance of this prophecy: for when the appointed time shall have ended, you will be one of those who will reach the 1335 days, that is, who will be blessed. But this sense, like the others brought forward above at verses 11 and 12, seems rather far-fetched.
Moreover the Syriac and Arabic translate: And you, O Daniel! go to the end, and rest, and you shall rise in your time at the end of the days.
Note: The angel calls the heavenly homeland a lot (sortem), because he alludes to its type, namely to the land of Canaan promised to the Jews, which was distributed to them by lot.
for the last Easter when they will rise again, be judged, and be blessed. For Lactantius, book VII, chapter 19, Anselmus in the Elucidarium, and others whom I will cite on Revelation 19 at the end, teach that we will likewise rise again on the same day on which Christ rose, namely Easter.
13. BUT YOU (Daniel), GO TO THE APPOINTED END (Go to the death appointed for all, as if to say: You will die, O Daniel! before these things come to pass, but in due time you will rise again); AND YOU SHALL STAND IN YOUR LOT — of the elect and predestined. Second, "in your lot," that is, in your order and rank, namely in the degree of glory that will be given to you according to the measure of your merits; which Paul says: "Each one in his own order." For as there is one brightness of the sun, another of the stars: so also will it be of the Blessed, 1 Corinthians 15:23 and 41, and this "at the end," that is, toward the end; or, as Vatablus translates, at the end of days, namely at the end of the world, in the general resurrection, and on the day of judgment. So Theodoret, Vatablus, and others.
Some explain it thus, as if to say: Go, O Daniel! and until the appointed time, bear with an equal and patient mind your ignorance of this prophecy: for when the time has ended, you will be one of those who will reach the 1335 days, that is, who will be blessed. But this sense, just like the others brought forward above in verses 11 and 12, seems rather remote.
Moreover, the Syriac and Arabic translate: And you, O Daniel! go to the end, and rest, and you shall rise in your time at the end of days.
Note: The angel calls the heavenly homeland a "lot," because he alludes to its type, namely to the land of Canaan promised to the Jews, which was distributed to them by lot.