Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
Peter and John, because they preach that Christ has risen, are imprisoned, and being forbidden in the council to preach Christ, steadfastly reply that one must obey God rather than men. Second, in verse 23, having been released and returning to their own, they praise and invoke God, and obtain freedom and strength to preach the Gospel: as a sign of which the place where they were praying was shaken by an earthquake. Finally, in verse 32, it is recounted that the Christians had one heart and one soul, and that there was no needy person among them, but that from the price of the fields and houses, which each one brought to the feet of the Apostles, there was distributed to each one as much as he needed.
Vulgate Text: Acts 4:1-37
1. And as they were speaking to the people, the priests and the magistrate of the temple and the Sadducees came upon them, 2. being grieved that they taught the people and preached in Jesus the resurrection from the dead. 3. And they laid hands upon them and put them in custody until the next day, for it was now evening. 4. But many of them who had heard the word believed, and the number of the men was made five thousand. 5. And it came to pass on the morrow, that their princes and ancients and scribes were gathered together in Jerusalem; 6. and Annas the high priest, and Caiphas, and John, and Alexander, and as many as were of the priestly kindred. 7. And setting them in the midst, they asked: By what power, or by what name, have you done this? 8. Then Peter, filled with the Holy Spirit, said to them: Ye princes of the people and ancients, hear: 9. If we this day are examined concerning the good deed done to the infirm man, by what means he has been made whole, 10. be it known to you all and to all the people of Israel, that by the name of our Lord Jesus Christ of Nazareth, whom you crucified, whom God raised from the dead, even by Him this man stands here before you whole. 11. This is the stone which was rejected by you the builders, which is become the head of the corner; 12. neither is there salvation in any other. For there is no other name under heaven given to men, whereby we must be saved. 13. Now seeing the constancy of Peter and of John, and understanding that they were illiterate and unlearned men, they wondered, and they knew them that they had been with Jesus: 14. seeing the man also who had been healed standing with them, they could say nothing against it. 15. But they commanded them to go aside out of the council; and they conferred among themselves, 16. saying: What shall we do to these men? for indeed a known miracle has been done by them, manifest to all the inhabitants of Jerusalem, and we cannot deny it. 17. But that it may be no farther spread among the people, let us threaten them that they speak no more in this name to any man. 18. And calling them, they charged them not to speak at all, nor teach in the name of Jesus. 19. But Peter and John, answering, said to them: If it be just in the sight of God to hear you rather than God, judge ye: 20. for we cannot but speak the things which we have seen and heard. 21. But they, threatening, sent them away, not finding how they might punish them, because of the people, for all glorified what had been done in that which had come to pass. 22. For the man was above forty years old, in whom that miraculous cure had been wrought. 23. And being let go, they came to their own company and reported all that the chief priests and ancients had said to them. 24. Who having heard it, with one accord lifted up their voice to God and said: Lord, Thou art He who made heaven and earth, the sea, and all things that are in them: 25. who, by the Holy Spirit, by the mouth of our father David, Thy servant, hast said: Why did the gentiles rage, and the people meditate vain things? 26. The kings of the earth stood up, and the princes assembled together against the Lord and against His Christ? 27. For of a truth there assembled together in this city against Thy holy child Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the gentiles and the peoples of Israel, 28. to do what Thy hand and Thy counsel decreed to be done. 29. And now, Lord, behold their threatenings, and grant unto Thy servants that with all confidence they may speak Thy word, 30. by stretching forth Thy hand to cures and signs and wonders to be done by the name of Thy holy Son Jesus. 31. And when they had prayed, the place was moved wherein they were assembled; and they were all filled with the Holy Spirit, and they spoke the word of God with confidence. 32. And the multitude of the believers had but one heart and one soul; neither did anyone say that anything he possessed was his own, but all things were common to them. 33. And with great power did the Apostles give testimony of the resurrection of Jesus Christ our Lord; and great grace was in them all. 34. For neither was there anyone needy among them. For as many as were owners of lands or houses sold them and brought the price of the things they sold, 35. and laid it down before the feet of the Apostles. And distribution was made to every one according as he had need. 36. And Joseph, who by the Apostles was surnamed Barnabas (which is, by interpretation, the son of consolation), a Levite, a Cyprian by birth, 37. having land, sold it and brought the price, and laid it at the feet of the Apostles.
Verse 1: As They Were Speaking
1. And as they were speaking. — Peter alone is said to have spoken, in the preceding chapter, verse 12; but John approved Peter's words as his companion and follower, and so was speaking through Peter. Add that John was not tongue-tied, but full of zeal had asserted and preached the same thing to the crowds surrounding him which Peter had publicly preached.
Came upon. — The Greek epestesan can secondly be translated, "they stood over them"; the Tigurina, "they were present to them"; the Syriac, "they rose up against them."
The magistrate of the temple. — The Tigurina: "prefect of the temple"; Pagninus: "leader of the temple." For in such a great number of Priests, Levites, and people daily flocking to the temple from all of Judaea, indeed from the whole world, lest any disturbances, tumults, or seditions should arise, a magistrate was instituted, as it were a praetor of the temple, says Bede, having his attendants and soldiers, who would keep all in their duty, and lead off to prison those who stirred up disturbances or tumults. Wherefore St. Chrysostom calls this magistrate "the leader of the soldiers of the temple." And this is what the Greek strategos signifies, namely one chosen as the leader of the other soldiers: for it is in the singular number. Hence it is clear that the magistrate was a military officer instituted to apprehend criminals, but not to judge or condemn them. Thus Sigonius, book VII On the Hebrew Republic, chap. XIII. And this is the one who, sending his men and other attendants with Judas the traitor, seized Christ in the garden, Luke XXII, 4. Therefore this man seems to have been one of the priests, having as his companions and soldiers the lower priests and Levites: for to these by God was committed the custody of the temple, Numbers 4. Thus think Arias Montanus, Salmeron, Sigonius, book VII On the Hebrew Republic, chap. XIII, and others. The reason is that the Jews would not have tolerated a Gentile praetor in a sacred place; indeed no Gentile was permitted to enter their temple under penalty of death, as Josephus testifies. Nevertheless, the Romans held and secured with their garrison the Antonia, which was a most ample and most fortified citadel near the temple, as Josephus teaches, book XV Antiquities, chap. XIV; both for the custody of the temple, and lest the Jews should make a citadel of the temple and rebel against the Romans. Thus to this citadel and garrison was set in charge a Roman commander or tribune, who, if a graver tumult arose in the temple, was summoned by the praetor of the temple and ran up with his soldiers and quelled all disturbances. Such seems to have been the Roman tribune who ran up and seized Paul, and led him into the Camp, which was in the Antonia citadel, chap. XXI. And only this much do the arguments of Sanchez prove, who is of the opinion that the praetor of the temple was a Roman, namely the prefect of Antonia, not a Hebrew.
Sadducees. — So called as if they were just, or rather because they boasted themselves to be just (for in Hebrew tsaddic means just), or rather from Sadoc their author, says Epiphanius, heresy 14. This was one of the sects of the Jews, descended from the Samaritans: whence with them they received only the Pentateuch of Moses and taught that there was no resurrection, neither angel nor spirit, Acts XXIII, 8, and consequently that the soul is not immortal; nor that there is any Deity directing human affairs, rewarding the pious, punishing the wicked; but that each one is the maker of his own lot and fortune. These then among the Jews were as it were Epicureans, in fact saying: "Eat, drink, play, after death there is no pleasure." Wherefore, when Christ and the Apostles preached God's judgment and the resurrection of the good to glory and of the evil to torments, they perpetually opposed themselves. See Josephus, book XIII Antiquities, chap. IX, and book XVIII, chap. II.
Verse 2: Being Grieved
2. Being grieved, — diaponoumenoi, the Syriac: "indignant"; the Tigurina and Pagninus: "bearing it ill"; others: "anxious."
In Jesu, — Thus the Greek and the Roman edition read, not "in Jesum." Now first, "in Jesu," that is, in the name of Jesus, through Jesus. Thus the Tigurina and Pagninus. Second, "in Jesu," that is, concerning Jesus. For thus the Hebrews and Greeks often use "in" for "concerning": for properly Peter and John were preaching that Jesus had risen; from this however they were inferring, or leaving to their hearers to infer, that the disciples of Jesus also would rise by His help and power. Hence thirdly, the phrase in Jesu could be explained: "in the manner of Jesus": for often the Hebrew ב, that is "in," is taken for the neighboring כ, that is "as," "in the manner of," for Christ rising again is the cause of our resurrection, both exemplary, and meritorious and efficient.
Verse 3: They Put Them in Custody
3. They put them in custody. — "In custody," namely in prison; the Tigurina: "they gave (sent) into custody." This is St. Peter's first prison, which afterwards many others followed; for the mark of the Apostolate is persecution and prison, no less illustrious and glorious than signs and wonders, as Paul teaches, II Cor. XI, 23, who therefore is wont to exult and glory in his chains. See what I noted on Ephesians III, 1. That the lame man who had been healed was also imprisoned with Peter and John, as the material and object of the charge, will appear in verses 7, 9, and 10.
For it was now evening, — namely after the ninth hour from sunrise: for at the ninth hour Peter had healed the lame man, in the preceding chapter, verses 1 and 7.
Verse 4: Five Thousand Believed
4. Now many who had heard the word, — Peter's preaching, confirmed by the healing of the lame man and by the more fearless and joyful constancy in prison, says St. Chrysostom.
Five thousand. — These five thousand are entirely different from the three thousand converted at Peter's first sermon, chap. II. Wherefore added to those they made the number eight thousand: so many therefore were soon the faithful converted by Peter. Thus St. Jerome on chap. XL of Isaiah; St. Augustine, tract. 39 on John; St. Chrysostom here, Lyranus and Bede, who adds that these five thousand to be converted were typically prefigured by Christ when He commanded the Apostles to feed five thousand men with a few loaves, Matthew XIV, 16. Moreover, these five thousand were "of men," says Luke, to whom if you add the women and children, of whom there is no doubt that many were mixed in among so many men, the number was far greater, for the female sex is wont to be more devout than the male. Behold here is true that saying of St. Chrysostom, hom. On Virtue and Vice: "The small leaven of the Apostles converted a great mass of meal; because the just hold their power not by quantity of number, but by the grace of the Spirit." Now several hundred priests in a city scarcely convert as many hundred citizens, because the spirit of both has grown cold. Finally Sophronius, in the Fragment on the labors of St. Peter and Paul, which is extant in vol. VII of the Library of the Holy Fathers, asserts that St. Peter established a Church of ten thousand men: because, namely, his words were animated by the heavenly Spirit, and as javelins burning with divine fire, struck and inflamed the hearts of his hearers.
Verse 5: Their Princes and Ancients Were Gathered
5. That the princes should be gathered, etc. — This was the great council of 72 men, which in Greek is called sunedrion, and thence in Hebrew and Syriac Sanhedrin, originally instituted by God, Numbers XI, 24 and following, as I said there. It was made up not of men of the tribe of Judah alone, as John Annius and Lucidus in the Breviary of Times would have it, nor of priests alone, as Abulensis would have it, but of twelve princes of the twelve tribes, and of 24 princes of the priests, who presided over the same number of priestly families, instituted by God's command and distributed by David into 24 classes, I Paralip. XV, 6. For the heads of these in the Gospels, Acts, Esdras, etc., are frequently called "Princes of the priests"; and of the other chief men of the people, especially the Scribes and Doctors of the Law. In this council Christ was condemned, with the same high priest Caiphas presiding who is here named, and his father-in-law Annas, Matthew XXVII, 1. Whence it is wonderful that those who recently had been and were so hostile to Christ acted more mildly with His Apostles: but God's hand restrained their fury, and fear of the people, who in great number believed in them, lest they should stir them up against themselves and be stoned by them.
Elders, — who are advanced both in years and rather in maturity of prudence and morals, and therefore venerable to the people, says St. Gregory, book XIX Morals, chap. XIII. Hence from these old men [senibus] the Senate was so called, says Cicero.
Scribes. — Just as the Greeks called their wise men philosophers, the Chaldeans magi, so the Hebrews called them sopherim, from sepher, that is "letter," or "book." The Septuagint calls them grammateis, that is "the lettered ones"; for it was their task to copy out the Sacred Scripture, to teach it, and to interpret it. Thus Epiphanius, heresy 15; Josephus, book II Against Apion, and others. Hence Ezra is called a Scribe. Thus Apion, Philoponus, and others were called Grammatici, that is, lettered and learned, not only in Grammar, but also in Rhetoric, Philosophy, and all literature.
Verse 6: Annas the High Priest
6. And Annas, the high priest. — Therefore it seems that Annas was now the high priest. For he together with Caiphas his son-in-law held the priesthood in alternate years, having bought it, as it seems, from the Romans. You will say: A few weeks before, the high priest was Caiphas, who condemned Christ, John XI, 49; therefore Annas was not then high priest. The Interlinear Gloss, Hugo, and Gagneius reply that after the death of Christ, namely at Passover, Caiphas, having according to custom completed his annual priesthood, yielded it to Annas. For the sacred year (which they used in entering or laying down the priesthood) began among the Jews from Nisan, that is March, and from Passover, as the first and greatest festival; and this by decree of God, Exodus XII, 1. Add that Annas is preferred to Caiphas because he was older and the father-in-law of Caiphas, and so happy and venerable that he saw all his sons, five in number, become high priests, as Josephus testifies, book XX Antiquities, chap. VIII. Some think this Annas to be Jonathan, the son of Annas, who, when Caiphas was removed, was made high priest by the Romans, as Josephus testifies, book XVIII, chap. VI, and they believe him to be also called Annas from his father's name. Whence Nicephorus also, in his Chronology, thus numbers the high priests of this age: Annas, and from another family Ishmael; Eleazar, son of Annas; Simon; Caiphas, son-in-law of Annas; Jonathas and Theophilus, sons of Annas. For the priesthood was then annual. Thus Mariana.
And Caiphas. — Note: A little before Peter, fearful in the house of Caiphas, had three times with an oath denied Christ; now strengthened by the Holy Spirit received at Pentecost, he retracts his denial before the same man, and generously confesses Christ, and thus repairs and makes amends for his earlier fall and scandal. That Caiphas, the Scribes, and the Pharisees gave just penalties to God for their killing of Christ, and that Caiphas, just like Pilate, brought death upon himself, Nicephorus indicates, book II of his History, chap. X; and indeed Clement of Rome, book VIII Constitutions, chap. II, and after him St. Athanasius or rather Anastasius, Bishop of Nicaea, Quaest. XVIII on Scripture.
John. — This man was one of the five sons of Annas, and so a high priest, called by another name Jonathan, fair and right-handed in conducting the priesthood, whence Josephus praises him, book II of the War, chap. XXV.
Alexander. — Josephus relates that this man, renowned for his wealth as well as his virtue and piety, held at Alexandria the office of Halabarch, that is Prefect of salt (for ἁλς in Greek is "salt," ἀρχη "prefect," "prince"), book XX Antiquities, chap. III, and after him Baronius, in the year of Christ 34, who also adds: "This is Alexander Lysimachus, whose father Tiberius adorned the gates of the temple most sumptuously with silver and gold."
As many as were of the priestly kindred, — that is, of the high-priestly, as the Syriac, Tigurina, and Pagninus translate; for this is what the Greek archieratikon signifies. Therefore these were princes of the priests, namely the 24 heads of the priestly families, as I said a little before. For these princes were called pontiffs, over whom presided one supreme pontiff.
Verse 7: By What Power
7. By what power, — dunamei, that is, "by what might." Thus Pagninus and Vatablus.
Have ye done this? — not so much a miracle, as a magical wonder of the lame man being healed; whence with contempt, says Oecumenius, they do not call it a miracle, but "this," namely the commonly-known and famous trick which we behold in the lame man set upright. They wished, namely, to overwhelm the Apostles with their authority and prejudice, so that they would confess that they had not produced a miracle in the name of Christ, but some sort of game by a marvelous or magical art. Thus Chrysostom. Truly Plato in the Theaetetus: "The authority of antiquity is often an evil prejudice." From what has been said, Lyranus infers that the lame man himself had been imprisoned with the Apostles, and led out with them from prison to the tribunal, and stood present before Annas and Caiphas, and this is clear from verse 19. For this presence of his the pronoun "this" seems to suggest, namely a new and wonderful thing, which you see in the lame man walking rightly.
Moreover, that Christ was held by unbelievers to be a magician and teacher of magic, is clear from Luke XI, 14, and John VIII, 48, and St. Augustine testifies the same of his own age, book I On the Consensus of the Gospels, chap. VIII. Whence throughout the Acts of St. Agnes, Lucy, Agatha, and other martyrs, we read that Christians were charged by judges with magic, and therefore condemned to fire: for they reckoned that their miracles, and especially that they came out unharmed from beasts, racks, and other tortures, were the work of magic accomplished by the help, not of God, but of the devil.
Verse 8: Then Peter, Filled with the Holy Spirit
8. Then filled with the Holy Spirit. — This filling of the Holy Spirit is new, distinct from that which he received at Pentecost: for that was habitual, this is actual, namely whereby the Holy Spirit was actually moving, directing, and strengthening Peter, that he might respond freely, constantly, and prudently, and profess the faith of Christ, namely that he had healed the lame man by His invocation and power. This is what Christ had promised to Peter and the Apostles, Luke XII, 11: "When they shall bring you into the synagogues, and to magistrates and powers, be not solicitous how or what you shall answer, or what you shall say; for the Holy Spirit shall teach you in that very hour what you ought to say." In a similar way, as often as Samson was about to perform some work of heroic fortitude, it is first said: "The Spirit of the Lord rushed upon Samson," namely urging him on, animating, and strengthening him both to undertake it and to bring it to completion in deed, Judges XIV, verses 6, 19 and following. For heroic works require not the common and habitual grace, but a new actual grace, greater and more powerful than the common one. For often these works surpass and transcend the present habit of grace.
Verse 9: If We This Day Are Judged
9. If we this day are judged, — anakrinometha, that is, "we are examined," called to question and trial. So the Greek: that is, "we are examined," as the Tigurina and Pagninus translate; hence the Syriac, "if we are called to court." The conditional word "if" depends and is completed by "be it known to you all"; he could have said: "Because we are judged"; but for modesty's sake he says: "If we are judged."
In a good deed. — On account of a benefit, namely on account of the health bestowed upon the lame man. It is a Hebraism: for the Hebrew ב, that is "in," is often an index of price or merit, signifying "on account of," "for the sake of," as if to say: We are summoned for a crime on account of merit; for we did good to the lame man, and we are examined as evildoers. Tacitly therefore he reproves and reproaches the judges of inhumanity and injustice, who rather ought to have celebrated and rewarded this benefit. It is therefore Judaic and Pharisaical to interpret good deeds, even miracles, sinisterly, and to slander them, and to attribute them not to the Holy Spirit, whose proper works they are, but to vice, indeed to Beelzebub and the devil, as the Jews reproached Christ, Matthew XII, 24. The envious do this concerning virtues and good works; which therefore is a sin against the Holy Spirit, as Christ teaches in the place cited.
By what means, — by what reason, how, by what force and power. Thus the Hebrew bamme, that is, "by what," is taken. For this is the meaning of mode or instrument, frequent among the Hebrews.
Verse 10: In the Name of Jesus Christ of Nazareth
10. In the name, — that is, "in the invocation," that is, through the invocation and power of Jesus. See what has been said in chap. II, verse 38.
Of Nazareth, — sprung from the little town of Nazareth, and therefore despised by you, but exalted by God, when in the resurrection He made Him a Nazarene, that is, flourishing in life, immortality, fame, and glory. See what has been said in chap. III, 6.
Whom ye crucified. — Note here the fearless freedom and heroic spirits of Peter, by which in the public Council he charges the judges with the killing of Christ, in order to sting and to prick them with compunction: for the cross of Christ is the only salvation of the world, and therefore was fearlessly preached everywhere by Peter, Paul, Andrew, and the other Apostles.
Morally: learn that the truth, especially of the faith, when one is interrogated juridically and legitimately about it, must be confessed freely and bravely, even at the peril of life. The Scribes asked, verse 7: "By what power, or by what name, have you done this?" Peter replies truly and freely: "In the name of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom you crucified." Thus did all the Martyrs, and therefore were they crowned with martyrdom.
God, — the Father, indeed also God the Son; but this the Scribes and Jews could not yet grasp, who had killed Christ for this reason, because He said He was God and the Son of God; therefore Peter passes over this in silence, and says generically "God." Thus Oecumenius.
Stands. — Therefore the lame man himself was present in the Council, having been brought out from prison with the Apostles, as I said in verse 7.
Verse 11: This Is the Stone
11. This is the stone. — He cites Psalm CXVII, 22: "The stone which the builders rejected, the same is become the head of the corner"; which the Chaldee explains of David, as if to say: David, first rejected by Saul and his followers, then made king, became as it were the cornerstone of the Synagogue, joining to himself Judah and Israel, that is both the two and the ten tribes. But although that psalm alludes to David — for in it there is a solemn congratulation both of David and of the people on David's coronation at Hebron, or rather on the ark being peacefully translated by him to Zion, as is clear from verse 19 — yet through the type of David it describes the glory and kingdom of the resurrected Christ, and the congratulation of the faithful acclaiming Him, verse 17, namely when the crowd on Palm Sunday acclaimed Him as Messiah and king: "Hosanna to the Son of David," Matthew XXI, 9. For just as David, so much more Christ, rejected by the priests and Scribes, who were as it were the architects of the Synagogue, after the resurrection became the cornerstone; as one who contains and joins together the whole edifice of the Church, namely the Jews and the Gentiles, indeed angels and men, as the Apostle explains at length, Ephes. II, 14 and following. See what is said there.
Note first: The Psalmist, and after him Peter, uses the metaphor of a stone, when he calls Christ a stone, because he is speaking about the structure of the Church: but a structure rises up from stones. Hence in Hebrew there is an elegant paronomasia between eben, that is "stone," and bana, that is "He built": for from bana, eben is named, as if to say: From eben (stone) bana (he built) binian, that is, "from a stone He built His building," namely from Christ the Church; for this is the structure and house of God, not material, but spiritual.
Second, this stone is harder than marble: whence it can neither be consumed by decay, nor cut by chisels, but remains unharmed for ever: because it sustains the eternal structure, namely the Church which is to last forever, against which no force, even "the gates," that is all the powers of hell, can prevail, as Christ the Rock asserted and promised to Peter His vicar, Matthew XVI.
Third, this stone is approved by God, by the angels, by the whole world, and is precious, as Isaiah says, chap. XXVIII, verse 16, because He Himself is the price and ransom of the world, that is, of all men. Whence St. John, Apoc. XXI, 18, saw the heavenly Jerusalem built upon Him with twelve most precious gems: jasper, emerald, amethyst, etc. For the Church, both militant and especially triumphant, is the most precious palace of God, whose stones are gems — namely the Apostles and the faithful eminent in every virtue; while the cornerstone and chief stone, and therefore the most precious, is Christ. Of these things Zacharias prophesied in chapter IX, 16: "Stones shall be lifted up over the earth." See what is said there.
Verse 12: There Is Salvation in No Other
12. And there is no salvation in any other. — There is none other who saves men, both in the body, as He healed this lame man (so St. Cyprian, book II Against the Jews, chap. XVI), and rather in the soul, by giving it grace, and through it, after this life, eternal glory and salvation. Hence the Syriac renders, "there is no redemption in any other." Wherefore, explaining, he adds:
For there is no other name, — that is, there is no other than Jesus Christ, by whose power or invocation we may be saved. For "Name" is taken for the thing named, or for the person whose name it is — namely, for Christ, whom we invoke by His name, hoping and obtaining salvation from Him. This is a Hebrew metonymy. Thus it is said in Proverbs XVIII, 10: "The name of the Lord is a most strong tower," that is, the Lord invoked by His name. So Scripture everywhere bids us call upon the name of the Lord, that is, God Himself, the Lord of all. Hence theologians weightily teach that, after the promulgation of the Gospel, an explicit faith in Christ is necessary for all men unto salvation — that is, for acquiring justice and eternal happiness — necessary not only by the necessity of precept, but also of means; for "God hath proposed Him as a propitiator through faith in His blood," Romans III, 24. Wherefore pagans and gentiles cannot be saved unless they know and believe in Christ, even if otherwise they live well. So Hugh of St. Victor, the Master of the Sentences, St. Thomas, Bonaventure, Alensis, Albertus, Marsilius, and Gabriel, whom Gregory of Valentia cites and follows, II II, Quaest. II, point 4.
Morally: here learn how reverend, lovable, and desirable the name of Jesus Christ ought to be to every faithful soul, since from Him alone we ought to expect salvation and every good, and how we ought to obey Him and to imitate Him in all things, so far as we can. For "in this name alone consists our salvation." See what I said on chap. III, 6, and Philippians II, 10. Clement of Alexandria splendidly says in his Exhortation to the Gentiles: "This very Word appeared to men, who alone is both God and man, and is for us the cause of all good things, by whom, taught to live rightly, we are conveyed to eternal life." And toward the end he says: "There is no other work of Christ than that man should be saved." And St. Augustine, sermon 1 on Psalm 101: "Christ," he says, "is a pelican in being born, a night-raven in dying, a sparrow in rising again: because He was born in solitude," like the pelican; "He suffered in the darkness of the Jews as in the night, in their transgression as among ruins," like the night-raven; in rising again "He was made like a sparrow flying, that is, ascending alone upon the housetop, that is, into heaven." And He did these three things to save us. The same, sermon 55 on St. John: "The Son of God," he says, "who ever in the Father is truth and life, by assuming man became the way. Walk through man, and you arrive at God. Through Him you go, to Him you go, etc. Walk by morals, not by feet. For many walk well with their feet, and walk badly in their morals." And sermon 54, at the end: "He who possesses Christ in piety possesses all things, because through Him all things were made."
Who is become the head of the corner. — He alludes to the fabric of Jerusalem, restored by Nehemiah, of which it is said in Nehemiah chap. III, 19, "He built, etc., against the ascent of the strongest corner": for Jerusalem was a type of the Church, and Nehemiah of Christ. But properly he cites Psalm CXVII, 22.
Into the head of the corner, — that is, the chief and corner-stone, namely so that He may join in Himself, as in a corner, the two walls, of the Gentiles and of the Jews. Note: "Corner" in Scripture is a symbol of the prince, king, and kingdom, because what the corner is in a building, and the hinge in a door, this the king and prince is in a republic: for he binds and unites all things to himself. Christ therefore is called "corner," because He is king and prince of the Church. See what is said on Isaiah XIX, 13.
You will ask, which is this cornerstone, the topmost or the lowest in the building? Our Villalpandus, in volume II on Ezechiel, page 477, judges it to be the topmost. Christ, he says, was made the head of the corner, that is, the topmost corner — namely, the stone that stands out in the house as a peak and pinnacle, or frontispiece, which the Hebrews and Latins call the pinnacle. Better do others commonly take it as the lowest stone. For alluding to this, Isaias in chapter XXVIII, 16, calls this stone "founded in the foundation"; and St. Paul, Ephesians II, 20, says that all the faithful are built upon this stone, as upon ἀκρογωνιαίῳ, that is, the lowest corner-stone. Christ therefore was made the head of the corner in the foundation, that is, the foundational corner-stone of the Church. For so St. Paul and others commonly call Christ the foundation of the Church, namely the first and lowest, upon which then rest the twelve secondary foundations, namely the twelve Apostles, Apocalypse XXI, 19.
Arrogantly and impiously Calvin appropriates these things to himself, boasting that he is the stone which has been rejected by the Pope and the Roman Church, but has been made by God the foundation and head of the Reformed — that is, the Deformed — Church. Thus that braggart dares to compare himself to Christ, and to make himself head and Pope of the Christian Church, when it is rather Satanic: otherwise let him give the signs by which he may show himself sent by God — namely, miracles, prophecies, Scriptures, etc. — such as Christ gave.
Verse 13: Seeing the Constancy of Peter and John
13. Seeing (θεωροῦντες, that is, "considering," "contemplating") the constancy of Peter, — παρρησίαν, that is, "freedom in speaking." So the Tigurine; Pagninus, "boldness in speaking." For the Apostles, as Chrysostom says: "Not by words alone did they show that they did not care by whom they should be judged, and that the most extreme dangers might be threatened against them; but also by their bearing, and voice, and look, they demonstrated in everything their freedom before the people, by the things they spoke."
Without letters, — ἀγράμματοι, "unlettered," who had not learned letters, being craftsmen and fishermen.
Idiots. — "An idiot is one who, content with his own (for idios means proper) and natural idiom alone, that is, his own language and knowledge, knows not the studies of letters," says Bede. Hence Cicero in his oration against Piso: "You," he says, "more learned than Piso, more prudent than Cotta, more abundant in talent, counsel, and wisdom than Crassus, despise those things which those idiots, as you call them, considered illustrious."
And they knew them, that they had been with Jesus, — they remembered having seen them with Jesus as He walked and preached. Hence Pagninus and the Tigurine render, "they recognized them to have been disciples of Jesus," and therefore that they were preaching and celebrating Him.
Verse 16: What Shall We Do to These Men?
16. What shall we do to these men? — "These words befit the conquered, not the conquerors," says Isidore of Pelusium, book III, epistle 182. For they were being conquered both "by the evidence of the deed," as Lyranus says, and by the constant asseveration of Peter and John, equally as of the lame man, all asserting with one mouth that he had been healed in the name of Jesus Christ: wherefore they saw that they could not justly detain them in prison, much less scourge or kill them; and yet, blinded with malice, they refuse to believe in Christ, nay, they busy themselves to suppress His name, preaching, and memory. This is the impugning of recognized truth, which is the sin against the Holy Spirit. Hence they add:
Verse 17: Let Us Threaten Them
17. Let us threaten. — In Greek, "let us threaten with threats," that is, as the Tigurine has it, "let us threaten menacingly"; Pagninus, "let us forbid menacingly." With dreadful threats, then, they try to strike them and force them to silence.
That they speak no more in this name, — namely, that they no longer preach, invoke the name of Jesus Christ, or work miracles in His name. Behold to what the malice of envy and hatred breaks out, that it refuses to see the truth clearer than light, and grudges it to others; nay, it forbids His benefits and miracles, so salutary and indeed necessary, to the people. Note the Hebraism: To speak in a name is the same as to speak the name, or about the name. So, Psalm CXVIII, it says: "in thy justifications," that is, "thy justifications," namely thy precepts, "teach me."
Verse 18: They Charged Them
18. They charged, — παρήγγειλαν, which means both "to charge" and "to command." Hence the Syriac and Pagninus render "they commanded"; the Tigurine, "they decreed." This denunciation, then, was not a simple admonition, but an imperious command, and a forbidding with threats of beatings and prisons, as preceded.
Verse 19: If It Be Just in the Sight of God
19. If it be just. — The Tigurine and Pagninus: "Whether it be just in the sight of God to hearken to you rather than to God, judge ye." So greatly do they trust in the justice and rightness of their cause that they appoint their enemies as its judges — provided that, laying aside passion and prejudice, they are willing sincerely to judge it by reason and truth, as if standing in the sight of God. For he who seriously considers that he stands before God, and believes Him to be the judge and avenger of his judgments, words, and deeds, this man rightly judges and feels concerning all things. This therefore is to be done by every wise and prudent man in every matter and deliberation: setting aside the affections, before God let him resolve that which, standing at the last judgment before Christ's tribunal, he will wish he had resolved.
Note: The Apostles were not bound in this matter to obey the pontiffs and the Synagogue: first, because they were no longer subject to her, since by the promulgation of the Gospel and the Church the old Synagogue had now ceased and died, and consequently all authority and power of judgment of the pontiffs; second, because the Synagogue in this cause was resisting God who was commanding the Apostles to preach Christ, and confirming this by miracles, so that the Synagogue could not pretend ignorance. "For what?" says St. Bernard, epistle 7, "what man commands, God forbids; and shall I, deaf to God, hearken to man?"
Verse 20: We Cannot But Speak
20. For we cannot but speak the things which we have seen. — As if to say: Christ willed us to be His witnesses, and therefore appointed us His companions and Apostles: therefore what we have seen and heard of Him we cannot lawfully be silent about. Secondly, because, as St. Gregory says, book I on the second book of Kings, chap. I: "Drunken with heavenly wine, they could not contain themselves, and overcome by threats from the fervor of preaching, they would not grow tepid." "'We cannot,' that is, we do not will," says the Gloss.
Verse 21: All Glorified God
21. Because all glorified, — ἐδόξαζον, that is, "they glorified God." So Pagninus, the Tigurine, and others. Behold the people here is wiser, more sincere, more equitable, and more pious than its rulers, so that "the voice of the people is the voice of God."
Verse 22: The Man Was Above Forty Years Old
22. For the man was above forty years old. — Since he had been lame from the womb, as was said in chap. III, 2, and had remained such for 40 years, it was certain that this lameness was natural to him and turned into nature itself — indeed flowing from a nature originally corrupted — and therefore incurable by the powers of medicine and nature, nay even of magic; and consequently Peter, who had healed him suddenly in one instant, had done this not by the powers of nature nor of magic, but by the powers of God through a miracle.
Verse 23: They Came to Their Own
23. They came to their own. — The Syriac: "to their brethren."
How many things, — ὅσα, the Syriac, Tigurine, and Pagninus: "whatsoever." Our translator more significantly renders "how great things," that is, how great, how grave, and how dreadful things they had said and threatened against them.
Verse 24: With One Mind They Lifted Up Their Voice
24. With one mind. — Not only with one mind, but uttering the same words as if with one mouth, not without great miracle, says Dionysius. For one and the same prayer which follows, all uttered with one and the same voice, doubtless inspired by the Holy Spirit. For they thicken their prayers, and so offer them armed to God, and as it were do violence to Him, that they may obtain from Him strength against the impending persecution, and, so to speak, may extort it, so that He may infatuate the counsels of the persecutors, and either break or soften their spirits and wrath.
Verse 25: Why Did the Gentiles Rage
25. Thy children. — "Thy servants": so the Syriac. It is a Hebraism, for servants are to masters what children are to parents, disciples to masters, young men to elders.
Why did the Gentiles rage (some translate, "gnashed")? — St. Hilary, in Psalm II, takes Gentes (the nations) as the gentile persecutors of Christ and of Christians, especially the Roman emperors, who stirred up against the Church ten almost continuous and most dreadful persecutions over three hundred years up to Constantine; but by populi (the peoples) he understands the Jews — such as the pontiffs and Scribes here were. More simply others judge that gentes is the same as populi. For the Psalmist is wont in the latter hemistich to inculcate and amplify almost the same thing that he said in the former, but with other words. The Gentes therefore are the peoples both of the Jews and of the Gentiles, conspiring in companies and rising up against Christ and Christians. That this is so will be evident at verse 27.
Vain things. — The Hebrew ric can be taken in two ways. First, as a noun, meaning "empty," "vain," and so the Septuagint took it, and from them St. Luke, rendering κενά, that is "vain things." Second, as an adverb, meaning "vainly," "in vain," "emptily" — as if to say: the pontiffs and Scribes are stirring up counsels for overthrowing Christ and the Church, and threaten us with extermination, but vainly and in vain, for they could not overturn Thy counsel and decree concerning her: fulfill therefore what Thou hast decreed, and show by the very deed that their threats and counsels are vain, by dissipating them, as foam is driven and scattered from the sea, and a bubble by the wind.
Verse 26: They Stood Up
26. They stood up. — The Hebrew yitiatsebu, that is, "they set themselves," "raised themselves up"; the Syriac, kamu, that is, "they rose up."
They were gathered together in one. — They were gathered together into a council, or conspired.
Against the Lord. — Because, although they worshipped God as the one Lord of all, yet by persecuting the Messiah — that is, the Christ sent by Him — they were fighting against God: for he who persecutes or injures an ambassador, persecutes and injures the king whose place and person he bears.
Verse 27: They Assembled in This City
27. They assembled, — συνήχθησαν; the Syriac: "they were gathered together."
Truly, — according to the oracle of David, Psalm II, already cited, as if to say: We have now truly and in actual fact seen this fulfilled in us.
Thy servant. — The Syriac, berich, that is, "Thy Son." For so He explains Himself in verse 30.
Whom Thou hast anointed, — with the unction of grace, both hypostatic union and habitual and infused grace, as I said on chap. II, verse 36.
With the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel. — Behold what I said on verse 25, that gentes and populi are the same thing, is here clear. For gentes, or peoples, here are called the Jews: for in this council and assembly of the Jews, no Gentiles were present.
Verse 28: To Do What Thy Hand and Thy Counsel Decreed
28. To do what Thy hand. — "Hand," that is, "power," says St. Chrysostom — for the work of our redemption from the power of death, sin, the devil, and hell, accomplished through Christ's Passion, being a most weak thing, was a work of God's immense power. Second, "hand," that is, "providence and direction": for by the hand we direct all things. The meaning is, says Œcumenius, as if to say: The Jews did not prevail over Christ, nor did they slay Him by their force, nor blot out His name and faith, as they intended; but God moderated all things to His own will and glory, and led all things to the best end, namely to Christ's praise and the propagation of the Church. Third, "hand," that is, "operation": for God effected Christ's Passion, and through it our redemption and the institution of the Church. Fourth, "hand," that is, "grace and beneficence" (for this is done by the hand); for the work of our redemption through Christ was a work of God's supreme grace and beneficence: "that the grace and power of God might be more marvelous, which from such hard souls, such darkened minds, such hostile hearts, made for itself a people faithful, subject, holy," says St. Prosper, book II On the Calling of the Gentiles, chap. XV.
And counsel, — βουλή; the Syriac: "Thy will"; more significantly Our translator renders "counsel." For our redemption, and likewise the Church founded by Christ, was the work of supreme divine wisdom and counsel, as St. Paul teaches, I Corinthians chap. II and elsewhere.
Decreed, — προώρισαν, that is, "predefined."
To be done, — namely, that Christ should suffer, for the salvation and exaltation both of the Church and of Himself. Beza is wrong therefore in putting the active "to do" for the passive "to be done," rendering "the things which Thou hadst determined to do," as if the Jews were driven and impelled by the force of the divine decree to the slaying of Christ, and so God were the first author of so monstrous a work and crime, namely Christicide. For in Greek it is γενέσθαι, that is, "to be done," not "to do." So Pagninus, the Tigurine, and others commonly. Hence the Syriac renders demeheue, that is, "that it should be done"; the Latin interpreter of the Syriac is therefore wrong to render it actively, "things to be done." St. Peter therefore says: God had already from eternity decreed the Passion and death of Christ, but having first foreseen by conditional foreknowledge the perverse wills of the Jews — namely, that the proud, avaricious, and impious pontiffs and Scribes would slay Christ if God placed Him before them rebuking their vices and crimes; and by the force of this decree He commanded Christ to receive this Passion from the Jews, and to suffer the cross and death. Second, God also positively decreed to permit the crimes of the Jews and the violence which they would inflict on Christ, that Christ might suffer, and so redeem the Church — which was the secret counsel of God, unknown to the Jews and indeed to the demons. For God's providence and positive decree not only encompasses and reaches that which is positively decreed by it, that He Himself, either by Himself or through creatures, may do; but also that which is decreed by it, that it be permitted to be done by the impious. St. Leo splendidly declares this in sermon 16 On the Passion, where, citing these words of Luke: "What Thy hand and counsel have decreed to be done": "Did the iniquity of those persecuting Christ," he says, "arise from God's counsel? And did the hand of the divine preparation arm that crime, which was completed by every evil will of the betrayer Judas and the Jews? This certainly is not to be thought concerning the supreme justice, because that which was foreknown in the malignity of the Jews and that which was disposed in the Passion of Christ are very different and very contrary. The will to slay did not proceed from the same source as the willingness to die; nor did the atrocity of the crime and the patience of the Redeemer come from one spirit. For the Lord did not send the impious hands of the raging into Himself, but admitted them; nor by foreknowing what would be done did He compel it to be done, although He had taken flesh that this might be done." And lower down: "Therefore, although the Lord Jesus Christ willed to suffer the fury of those raging, He was in no way the author of their crimes, nor did He cause that they should will these things, but yielded that they might be able to do them; and thus He used the madness of the blinded mob in the same way as He used the perfidy of the traitor, whom He deigned to recall from the savagery of the conceived crime by both kindnesses and words — taking him as a disciple, advancing him to the apostleship, admonishing him by signs, consecrating him in the mysteries — that, to him in whom nothing of kindness was lacking for correction, no occasion might remain for crime."
Tropologically: St. Prosper, in his thirteenth response to the objections of the Gauls, teaches that by God's marvelous providence persecutions turn out for the good of the Church, and so the persecutors fashion crowns for those whom they persecute. "Let there be looked at first," he says, "the very cross of Christ, on which, by the great crime of the Jews, the merciful will of God was fulfilled, that for our redemption His only Son might be slain. Let there be looked at the glorious endurance of the Apostles, who amid the roaring of their persecutors with this unanimous voice cried to God: 'For of a truth there assembled together against Thy holy Son Jesus, whom Thou hast anointed, Herod and Pontius Pilate, with the Gentiles and the peoples of Israel, to do what Thy hand and Thy counsel decreed to be done.' Let there be looked at finally the palms of innumerable Martyrs, by whom a happy victory has been won over the cruelest savagery of unbelievers. Let the Apostle also be heard, instructing the Church of God in perseverance in piety: 'In nothing,' he says, 'be terrified by the adversaries: which to them is a cause of perdition, but to you of salvation, and this from God,'" Philippians chap. I. The same, replying to the extracts of Genoa at doubt 7, teaches from these words of Luke, "that it is in the power of the evil to sin; but that, in sinning, they should do this or that with one or another malice, is not in their power, but of God dividing the darkness and ordering it; so that hence also what they do against the will of God is not fulfilled except by the will of God. For to will evilly is most easy for the evil, and there is no doubt that their damnable will is bounded by the power of God, so that they cannot have the effect of their desire unless He permits it. Moreover, that God uses the wisdom and justice even of the works of the evil, which proceed from their appetite, for fulfilling His counsels and judgments — no one taught even slightly according to piety is ignorant, who sees the best will of God the Father, not sparing His own Son but delivering Him up for us all." The Jews therefore, by persecuting Christ and the Church, exalted them: for by killing Christ they made Him Savior of the world and Founder of the Church; by killing the faithful they made them martyrs, and they themselves and their commonwealth perished; for this reason they were cut off by Titus and the Romans. Thus Haman, by persecuting Mardochai, exalted him and destroyed himself. Thus Joseph's brothers, by selling him, made him prince of Egypt. Behold how powerful, how marvelous, how faithful is God's providence toward His own!
Verse 29: Look upon Their Threats
29. Look upon their threats, — that Thou mayest restrain them and turn them away from us; or that Thou mayest arm and strengthen us against them.
Grant to Thy servants that with all confidence they may speak, — μετὰ παρρησίας, which the Syriac first renders "clearly," "openly," "publicly"; second, Pagninus, "with all boldness" — whence St. Chrysostom says the faithful here ask for an undaunted spirit; third, others, "with all freedom"; fourth, Our translator, "with all confidence": for this involves or brings with it freedom, boldness, fortitude, and constancy. For he who trusts in God is free, bold, intrepid, and constant.
Verse 30: By Stretching Forth Thy Hand
30. In this, that Thou stretchest forth Thy hand. — As if to say: Thou wilt give us confidence to preach, if Thou aidest and confirmest our preaching by Thy hand, working through us, at the invocation of Jesus Christ, healings and signs by which Thou mayest bear witness to Him and gain credit for our faith with the hearers.
Verse 31: The Place Was Moved
31. And when they had prayed, the place was moved. — First, that by this sign it might be signified that their prayer had been heard by God, says Chrysostom, Bede, and Lyranus. So when Paul and Silas were praying in the prison, the earth was shaken, chap. XVI, verse 26. Second, that it might be signified that God was present to them, to bring help against all terrors and enemies; for God is wont to show His presence and magnificence by an earthquake, that He may strike fear and reverence of Himself into men. Hence when He descended on Sinai to give the law to Moses and the Hebrews, the earth was moved before the face of the Lord, Psalm CXIII, 6; Exodus XIX, 19. Hence Psalm LXXIV, 4, says: "The earth is melted (before the face of God descending upon it), and all that dwell in it: I have established the pillars thereof." And Psalm CIII, 32: "Who looketh on the earth, and maketh it tremble." See Ecclesiasticus XVI, 18. Third, that it might signify that God would be more terrible to their menacing and terrible enemies, and would shatter all their threats and terrors by inflicting a greater terror. Fourth, that it might indicate the gentile inhabitants of the earth, on hearing the proclamation of the Gospel, with fear and reverence to be shaken and subjected to Him. So Bede and Lyranus: and this is plain from Aggeus II, 7. Fifth, to sharpen the minds of the faithful against the impending persecutions of the Jews. Sixth, the symbol of an earthquake is a sign and incitement of joy: for the earth seems for joy to leap up and applaud the Apostles and servants of God. Thus Arator sings:
Under their footsteps therefore
The earth is moved with joy.
Hence to Christ rising the earth, applauding, trembled and leapt, Matthew chapter last. The same was done by the chamber of St. Paulinus, Bishop of Nola, as he was dying: for the earth rejoiced that it would soon receive into its lap the body of so holy a man, and would send his soul to heaven. As a symbol of this thing, when the people of Israel went out of the land of Egypt and proceeded through the dry bed of the Red Sea into the promised land, which was a type of heaven, "The mountains skipped like rams, and the hills like the lambs of the flock," as if leaping for joy, Psalm CXIII. Seventh, the earthquake was a sign of the Holy Spirit coming upon them, who was about to give them confidence to shake and convert the earthly and hard hearts of men. Hence explaining he adds:
And they were all filled with the Holy Spirit. — They had already been filled with the Holy Spirit at Pentecost, but as it were habitually; now they are filled with the same as it were actually, namely so that in persecution they may speak the word of God with confidence, through the fiery tongues which they had then received. Hence St. Chrysostom: "They were rekindled," he says, "by the Holy Spirit, and the charism was rekindled in them." Wherefore "now they do not fear, because the Holy Spirit changed their heart for them," says St. Gregory on chap. X of the first book of Kings. Hence we learn that the habitual grace of the just man does not suffice to overcome impending fierce temptations and persecutions, but for this there is need of a new and frequent impulse and strength of the Holy Spirit, and that this must be sought and obtained by continual and ardent prayers, as the faithful here did.
Verse 32: One Heart and One Soul
32. And the multitude of believers had one heart and one soul. — Note the word "multitude": for the Christians had already grown to eight thousand and more, as is plain from what has been said. They were however few, if compared with the Jews and Gentiles. But, as Chrysostom rightly says, homily 40 to the people of Antioch: "A multitude consists not in the multitude of number, but in the probity of virtue. Elias was one, but the whole world was not worthy that he should be rebuked by it." Not physically, because each had his own heart and his own soul: for there is no one common soul, as in a Platonic Idea, communicating itself to individual persons; for although Aristotle commonly says that Plato held this, yet Plato's mind was otherwise; nor is there one abstract intellect assisting individuals: for although some think Averroes held this, yet Averroes' mind was very different, as our Dandinus copiously and learnedly explains in book III On the Soul. Therefore the heart of the faithful was one and the soul one, not physically, but morally — as if to say: they were so harmonious in their souls and feelings as if they all had had one and the same heart and one soul.
The reason was, first, because through perfect charity they had a likewise perfect friendship among themselves: and this consists in equality and concord of souls, as if in all there were one and the same soul: as a friend is another self, said Pythagoras. Second, because all had put on Christ, and in Him they were supremely united both with Himself and among themselves: for things which are one with the same third thing are also one with each other. For so they loved Christ and Christ's disciples that they were ready to die for Him whom before they had demanded to be crucified, says St. Leo, sermon 11 On the Passion. Third, because all strove to know and fulfill not their own will, but God's: and God's will is one and the same. Hence St. Gregory, on chap. I of the first book of Kings: "By the intention of reason," he says, "they looked only on the Creator, and by the affection of love they desired to see only His face." Fourth, because all were possessed and ruled by the same Holy Spirit, whom Christ had asked of the Father for them for this purpose, saying: "Holy Father, keep them in Thy name whom Thou hast given Me, that they may be one in will, as We also are one" in essence and substance, John XVII, 11. Hence St. Augustine, tract 14 on John, reads thus: "Of the multitude of believers there was one soul and one heart toward God"; because, namely, the bond of mutual charity was God and the Holy Spirit. Just as on the contrary "nothing is so troublesome to the devil as concord, etc.; hence he most grievously bears to be held on earth, which he could not preserve in heaven," says St. Bernard, chap. XLI On the Manner of Living Well. St. Augustine infers: "If charity," he says, "made of so many souls one soul, and of so many hearts one heart, how great is the charity between the Father and the Son?" Fifth, because all obeyed plainly and fully one Peter, as their Father and Pastor of the Church. For obedience is the mother of union and concord, as is plain in religious orders, where it flourishes. Therefore the one heart and one soul of the first faithful was first perfect friendship and mutual charity; second, the same Christ inhabiting and as it were animating each one; third, the same intention of all toward God and God's will; fourth, the same Spirit acting upon and moving all; fifth, the same obedience and reverence of all toward St. Peter.
Hear Origen, homily On Elkanah: "Why," he says, "are not all said to be one, whose heart and soul is described as being one? They all always meditate one wisdom, taste one thing, feel one thing, venerate one God, confess one Lord Jesus Christ, are filled with the one Spirit of God. Hence deservedly they themselves all are called not only one (neuter), but also one (masculine), as the Apostle indicated, saying: 'All indeed run, but one receives the palm,' I Corinthians chap. IX, verse 24. You see clearly that all these are one."
Moreover this union among the first Christians long flourished. Witness is Tertullian, who lived about the year of Christ 200. He, in Apology XXXIX, writes that the whole evangelical law consists in showing charity to one another, so that the common voice of the Gentiles concerning the Christians was: "See how they love one another, how they are ready to die one for another." And St. Pachomius. For when he was a Gentile and was serving in the army of Constantine the Great, and saw the charity, care, and munificence of Christians toward needy soldiers, he was converted to Christ, became a monk, nay even father and prince of monks, as his Life records. Hence Christians of old called one another brethren. Furthermore, "better," says St. Augustine, sermon 25, or, as others count, 27 (which sermon is also found among the Ambrosian sermons, 9 and 29), On the Words of the Apostle, "than the brotherhood of blood is the brotherhood of Christ: because that is sometimes hostile to itself, but the brotherhood of Christ without intermission is peaceful. That divides things in common among themselves with rivalry: this shares them with congratulation."
This union grew cold as the number of the faithful grew. Hence, for retaining it, monasteries were established, in which there was such union and communion that St. Basil, Monastic Constitutions chap. XIX, marvels that "men sprung from diverse nations and regions, by an exact similarity of manners and discipline, have so coalesced into one, that in many bodies one mind only seems to be present, and in turn many bodies are the instruments of one mind." Hence also St. Gregory, on chap. I of the first book of Kings, teaches that the name of monk signifies not only solitude and union with God, as St. Dionysius says, Ecclesiastical Hierarchy chap. X, but also fraternal union — namely, the unanimous agreement and concord of many in the same worship and obedience to God: for this is the music most pleasing to God. So also St. Augustine, on Psalm CXXXII, expounding the verse: "Behold how good and how pleasant it is for brethren to dwell in unity!" teaches that it was first fulfilled in these first faithful, who had one heart and one soul; and thereafter in the Monks, who from this received their name, namely from μόνος, that is, "one," "alone." "For those who so," he says, "live in unity that they make one man, so that there is in them truly what is written: one soul and one heart; many bodies, but not many souls; many bodies, but not many hearts: are rightly called μόνος, that is, one, alone." Wherefore the sign of flourishing discipline and virtue and religious life in a monastery or college is evident, if in it a great union and charity of souls flourishes. For retaining and increasing this, Cassian, Collation 16, chap. VI, teaches that two things are necessary: first, that all desires of riches and of any earthly thing be eliminated; second, that each one so cut back his own wills as to choose to stand by another's judgment rather than his own. Plato desired this in the idea of his Republic, Dialogue V, but he did not find a way to reduce it to practice among men. "This city, then," he says, "or republic — whether the gods inhabit it somewhere, or the sons of gods many together — surely they are blessed and heaped with every joy." For this reason the Apostle so often commends this union to the faithful, and especially Ephesians IV, 1 and following. See what is said there. Moreover Abbot Anub prescribed for the brethren this manner of living concordantly: "We," he said, "who are seven brothers, if you wish that we remain together, let us become like this statue, which when affected by insults is not disturbed." So it is in the Lives of the Fathers, book V, chap. XV On Humility, number 11. And in book VII, chap. XLII, Abbot Agathon, to a young man asking by what manner he could and ought to dwell with the brethren, replied: "Observe above all that, such as you enter among them on the first day, such you remain the rest of the time, and quietly fulfill your pilgrimage." The same again: "If you dwell," he says, "with a neighbor, be like a stone column, which if it be insulted, is not angry; if it be glorified, is not lifted up." Furthermore, how pleasing this unanimity is to God, learn from this oracle of God. To Blessed Macarius the famous anchorite it was revealed that two women, who were the wives of two brothers, were holier than himself, because they had so concordantly lived in the same house for fifteen years that they had never had any quarrel, nor said a sharper word to one another, as Rufinus reports in the Lives of the Fathers, book III, number 97.
Neither did anyone say that what he possessed was his own. — They therefore renounced ownership and dominion of things, by zeal and vow (as will be plain at chap. V, verse 1) of poverty as well as of charity and common life. The first Christians did this only at Jerusalem (who, being holier than those who were to follow, wished to give them a heroic exemplar of perfect sanctity), not however in other Gentile provinces in which Paul preached. For that these possessed their own things and had their own wealth and estates is plain from the collections which he commands to be made for the poor, I Corinthians XVI, 1, and from the alms to be given to poor Christians, to which he exhorts them, II Corinthians VIII and IX and elsewhere, and St. John's Epistle I, chap. III, verse 17.
Wherefore the heretics erred — called Apostolics from their imitation of the apostolic life — whom in St. Augustine's time Pelagius followed, and now the Anabaptists, in willing this spontaneous resolve of the Jerusalemites to be a precept, not an evangelical counsel. On the other hand Calvin errs, who judges that they retained dominion of their goods, but spontaneously and liberally shared them with the rest of the Christians. For they had nothing of their own, but all things were common to them, as Luke says: therefore they renounced for themselves the dominion, and transferred it to the community, that is, to the whole Church. Add that Ananias and Sapphira, chap. V, were punished with death, because they had previously consecrated to themselves their own things.
You may ask, why did those first faithful at Jerusalem so zealously embrace poverty? I reply: First, because they had heard from Christ and the Apostles that this is the first and highest beatitude: "Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven," Matthew V. Again, Christ established the perfection of virtue and the Christian life in poverty — not formally (for the perfection of this life consists formally in charity, and that of the future life in the vision and enjoyment of God), but causally, namely because poverty strips us of the love of earthly things, so that it may fill us with the love of God and heavenly things. Hear St. Jerome, Epistle 150 to Hedibia, Question I: "Do you wish," he says, "to be perfect, and to stand on the highest pinnacle of dignity? Do what the Apostles did: sell all that you have, and give to the poor, and follow the Savior, so that you may follow the bare and lonely cross naked and alone. Do you not wish to be perfect? But do you wish to hold the second degree of virtue? Give up all that you have, give to your children, give to your kinsfolk." The same to Nepotian: "He is the best dispenser," he says, "who reserves nothing for himself." The same in the Epitaph of Nepotian to Heliodorus: "Nepotian," he says, "having laid aside the military belt and changed his garb, distributed to the poor whatever military savings he had. For he had read: He who wishes to be perfect, let him sell all that he has and give to the poor, and let him follow Me. And again: You cannot serve two masters, God and mammon. Except for a cheap tunic and a covering to match, by which his body was just sheltered enough to keep out the cold, he reserved nothing more for himself. His very garb, following the custom of the province, was conspicuous neither for elegance nor for squalor." And below: "Let them possess wealth under the poor Christ which they had not possessed under the rich devil, and the Church will receive them as rich, whom the world held as beggars before: our Nepotian, trampling gold underfoot, pursues paper documents; and as in the flesh he is a despiser of himself and walks the more adorned in poverty, so does he investigate the whole adornment of the soul." The same to Rusticus, Epistle 4: "Follow the footsteps of those whom the priesthood makes both humbler and poorer: or if you desire perfection, go forth with Abraham from your country and kinsfolk, and proceed where you know not. If you have substance, sell it and give to the poor; if you have it not, you are freed from a great burden: naked, follow the naked Christ: it is hard, great, difficult; but the rewards are great."
Second, because poverty is diametrically opposed to and overturns covetousness, which is the root of every sin and evil. For from riches arise all vices, especially pride and arrogance, and gluttony and lust: for to these wealth supplies arms and fuel. "All that is in the world is the concupiscence of the flesh, and the concupiscence of the eyes, and the pride of life," namely gluttony (and lust), avarice and pride, says St. John, Epistle 1, chap. II, v. 16. But from avarice arise pride and gluttony: therefore avarice itself is the root of all sin. Hear Paul, I Tim. chap. VI: "Having food and wherewith to be covered, with these let us be content. For they that will become rich fall into temptation and into the snare of the devil, and into many useless and hurtful desires, which drown men in destruction and perdition. For covetousness is the root of all evils, which some coveting have erred from the faith, and have entangled themselves in many sorrows."
Third, because poverty frees a man from a thousand distractions and cares, and makes him free and unhindered to give himself to wisdom, contemplation, the Gospel, and divine things. Hence St. Bernard: "Do not," he says, "love (earthly goods) which when possessed are a burden, when loved defile, when lost torment." "Are these not the very things which when desired enflame us, when obtained become worthless, when lost vanish away?" says St. Augustine. And St. Chrysostom, hom. 47 on Matthew: "If," he says, "you should wish to look upon the soul of a man who loves gold, you will find it like a garment gnawed by ten thousand worms, so pierced through on every side by anxieties, and rotten with sins and full of rust. But not such is the soul of the voluntarily poor man; rather it shines like gold, glitters like a gem, blossoms like a rose. There is no moth there, nor thief, nor anxiety about the affairs of this life, but he lives as an angel. He is not subject to demons, he does not stand by a king, but stands by God; he does not war with men, but with angels; he does not have earth as his treasure, but heaven; he needs no servants, but rather has as his servants possessions and thoughts, which lord it over things. What then is better than this poor man? But he has no horses and chariot: yet what need has he of these who must be borne upon a cloud and be with Christ?"
Fourth, because the wages and reward of poverty promised by Christ are heavenly riches, immense and eternal. Therefore as the merchant is wise who buys with one gold piece wares which he afterwards sells for ten, so much more wise is the Christian who buys divine riches with poverty. For poverty makes a man a pilgrim on earth, a citizen of heaven, a companion of angels, a member of God's household: the poor man therefore is poor of the earth, but rich of heaven. Hence St. Augustine in his Sentences, sentence 250: "He is rich," he says, "who is such that he despises in himself whatever it is by which pride is wont to be puffed up; he is the poor of God," and therefore a heavenly man, angelic and divine. For the angels and the Blessed look down from on high and laugh at this tiny point of the earth and at all its wealth and dowries. "For it is the mark of a generous and great soul to admire nothing except God," says St. Cyprian. Wherefore Climacus, in step 17, says truly and excellently: "Poverty," he says, "is the renunciation of worldly cares, the road to God without impediment, the expulsion of all sadness, the foundation of peace, the cleanness of life, which frees us from all cares of this passing life, and makes us perfectly carry out God's commandments." For poverty makes the soul, withdrawn from the love of temporal things, not think that it has here a lasting city remaining here, but with Abraham may always seek the city to come, whose maker and builder is God, Hebrews XI, 10.
Fifth, because poverty makes a man cling wholly to God, and place in Him all his hope and love; wherefore God in turn embraces him as His own with the substitute arms of His providence, and enriches him not only with every grace, but also with all things necessary for life. For this is the hundredfold which Christ promised to the poor, Matthew XIX. And the Psalmist, Psalm LIV, 23: "Cast your care upon the Lord, and He shall sustain you," a verse which St. Francis was wont to give to his brethren as their viaticum. And Psalm XXXIII: "The rich," he says, "have wanted, and have suffered hunger; but they that seek the Lord shall not be deprived of any good." Wherefore St. Bernard, sermon 21 on the Canticles, teaches that what Christ said of Himself: "If I be lifted up from the earth, I will draw all things to Myself," is common to all His brethren, to whom all things are not only added but also made subject, provided they free themselves from earthly things and raise themselves above them. "But if this be so," he says, "let not the rich brothers of Christ in this age think that they possess only heavenly things because they hear Him saying: Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven. Let them not, I say, judge that they possess only heavenly things because these alone they hear in the promise. They possess earthly things also, and indeed as having nothing yet possessing all things, the more truly lords as they are less covetous. Finally, to the faithful man the whole world is of riches. Wholly so, because plainly both adversities and prosperities equally serve him and cooperate for good. Therefore the avaricious man hungers for earthly things like a beggar; the faithful man despises them like a lord. The former while possessing begs, the latter while despising preserves."
Sixth, because Christ the Lord, the Word and Wisdom of the eternal Father, came down from heaven to earth, that He might confirm the value and dignity of poverty not only by word but also by example: "I," He says, "am a beggar and poor," Psalm XXXIX. Wherefore He chose a poor mother, a carpenter for father; and willed to be born not in a house but in a stable; and to be laid not in a cradle but in a manger, and that one not His own. In all His life He possessed nothing of His own, but lived on the alms of others: "The foxes," He says, "have holes, and the birds of heaven have nests; but the Son of Man has nowhere to lay His head," Matthew VIII. He chose as His disciples and Apostles not rich men but fishermen, common and poor. Wherefore in poverty St. Peter, Paul, and all the Apostles and disciples followed Christ, and in later ages the Prelates and Apostolic men, St. Basil, St. Gregory Nazianzen, St. Chrysostom, St. Martin, St. Augustine, St. Gregory, etc.
This zeal for poverty flourished in the peace of the Church under Constantine the Great. For after the age of the Martyrs, which was before Constantine, there followed the age of the Monks and Anchorites, whose leader and standard-bearer was St. Anthony, whose life, written by himself, St. Athanasius brought to Rome, and by it stirred many rich and powerful Romans to imitate the same: among whom the first was St. Marcella, says St. Jerome in her Epitaph. About the same time Gallicanus, the destined spouse of Constantia and son-in-law of Constantine the Great, and Roman Consul, leaving all things, built a hospital at the mouth of the Tiber, in which he himself, a poor man, served the poor and sick; he afterwards, slain by Julian the Apostate, crowned his zeal for poverty with the laurel of martyrdom.
The same zeal a little later was stirred up by the example as well as the word of St. Paulinus, who from a Roman Consul embraced the monastic life and from it was made Bishop of Nola; likewise St. Jerome, when with St. Paula he withdrew to Bethlehem and drew thither the Roman nobility. Moreover St. Paula was so loving of poverty, and so dispensed all her possessions (which were most ample and opulent) to the poor, that she did not leave even a penny for herself, but desired to be buried in another's shroud — which indeed befell her. The mother was followed by her daughter Eustochium, and the rest, and her son-in-law Pammachius, who, made a monk from a Roman Consul, converted his house into a church, which is still seen inscribed with the title of St. Pammachius, and is named St. John and Paul: whom therefore his prompter St. Jerome wonderfully celebrates, in the Epistle to the same Pammachius On the Death of his wife Paulina: "To us," he says, "after the sleep and slumber of Paulina, the Church has borne Pammachius the monk as a posthumous son, a patrician by the nobility both of his father and of his wife, rich in alms, sublime in humility." And presently: "Who would have believed that the great-grandson of Consuls, and the glory of the Furian race, should walk among the purples of Senators clad in a dark tunic, and should not blush at the eyes of his comrades, that he might mock those who mocked him? The pearl shines in the dirt, and the gleam of the purest gem radiates even in the mud." And below: "Now all the Churches of Christ speak of Pammachius, the world admires a poor man whom hitherto it had not known to be rich, etc. We have given up little, and we possess great things. Christ's promises are repaid with hundredfold interest, etc. Crates of Thebes did this, Antisthenes did this: Christ's disciple ought to perform more than the philosopher of the world, that creature of glory and venal slave of popular breeze and rumors. It is not enough for you to despise wealth unless you follow Christ. Christ is sanctification, without which no one shall see God. Christ is redemption, both redeemer and price. Christ is all things, so that he who has given up all things for Christ may find one for all, and may freely proclaim: The Lord is my portion, etc." And a little later: "Whether you read, or write, or watch, or sleep, let love always sound to you as a trumpet in your ears; let this clarion rouse your soul; raging with this love, seek on your bed Him whom your soul desires, and speak confidently: I sleep, and my heart wakes. And when you have found Him, and have held Him, do not let Him go."
He then adds about the hospice of Pammachius: "I hear that you have built a hospice at the Roman port, and have planted a branch from Abraham's tree on the Ausonian shore: the first among monks in the first city, you follow the first Patriarch. I admonish these things, dearest brother, with the affection by which I love you, that you may offer not only money but also yourself to Christ as a living victim, holy, pleasing to God, and imitate the Son of man, who came not to be ministered unto, but to minister. However much you cast yourself down, you will not be humbler than Christ. Even if you walk barefoot, are clothed in a dark tunic, equal yourself to the poor, deign to enter the cells of the needy, yourself carry water, cut wood, build a fire; where are the chains? where the slaps? where the spittings? where the scourges? where the gibbet? where death? And when you have done all these things, you will be surpassed by your Eustochium and Paula, if not in deed, certainly in sex." These and more things scattered throughout St. Jerome.
These were followed in the institute of poverty by St. Benedict, St. Bernard, St. Dominic, St. Francis, who so loved poverty that he espoused her as a bride to himself and his followers. Hence often asked by the Brothers, "what virtue most commends us to Christ and makes us pleasing?" he answered with rejoicing: "Poverty; for this is the way of salvation, the kindling of humility, the root of perfection, which produces the noblest fruits and many of them, though hidden and known to few." Wherefore he himself at Rome at the sepulchre of St. Peter and Paul, supplicating with tears that they might furnish him from the treasure of poverty, deserved to see them, who, greeting him with a kiss, said: "St. Francis, because you ask this which Christ and the Apostles observed, we make you certain that your desire is heard: behold, the treasure of holy poverty is fully granted to you and your followers; and whoever shall take hold of it shall be secure of the kingdom of blessedness and blessed by the Lord." Hence he was wont to say: "The poor man is the type of Christ, who became poor for us, that He might make us rich by His poverty; therefore whoever curses a poor man curses Christ. On the contrary, money to the servants of God is nothing other than the devil and a venomous serpent." His disciple and daughter in the Religious institute, St. Clare, since she was noble and wealthy, distributed all her goods to the poor, founded the Order of poor Religious women, and openly professed that this college of hers would be stable and pleasing to God so long as it was wealthy in poverty. For which reason she sought from Pope Innocent III a new and hitherto unheard-of privilege of poverty, and obtained it; which the Pope wrote out with his own hand. When afterward Pope Gregory IX urged her to admit possessions into the Order, and was himself willing in fact to absolve her from her vow contrary to them, she replied: "I do not wish, Holy Father, to be absolved in perpetuity from the following of Christ." Moreover she rarely went before others by example: for though for twenty-eight years she was afflicted with a grave illness, yet she was clothed in a simple little tunic and rough cloth, she perpetually used a stiff hairshirt of swine-bristles next to her bare flesh, she went barefoot, ate cheap and sparing food, did not lie in a bed but on the ground or on planks. These and more things her Life records.
Finally, so great and varied and illustrious are the goods of poverty that even Gentile philosophers and princes courted her, whether to give themselves wholly to wisdom or to the helm of the republic, and by this they became most renowned. Hence St. Chrysostom, book II Against the Vituperators of the Monastic Life, compares the poor with wealthy kings — Diogenes with Alexander, Plato with Dionysius, Socrates with Archelaus — and teaches that the former were more glorious in their poverty than the latter in their kingdoms. He also praises Epaminondas, prince of Thebes, who being summoned to an assembly and unable to come because he had washed his garment and had no other, was more conspicuous and illustrious to all the eminent men who came than they themselves. Crates of Thebes, says St. Jerome in epist. 13, threw a great weight of gold into the sea, saying that he, being rich, could not philosophize well enough: "I will sink you," he said, "lest I be sunk by you." Seneca, the great praiser of poverty and frugal life, in epist. 17: "If you wish," he says, "to be free in mind, you must either be poor, or like a poor man. Salutary study cannot be made without care for frugality." Apuleius, in his Apology: "Poverty," he says, "is among the Greeks just in Aristides, kind in Phocion, strenuous in Epaminondas, wise in Socrates, eloquent in Homer."
But hear Aelian briefly recounting their heroic deeds of poverty, truly memorable, in book XI of the Various History, chap. IX: Aristides, he says, son of Lysimachus, who did many distinguished things at home and in war and laid tribute on the Greeks, did not leave so much after his death that there was the cost for celebrating his funeral; Phocion also was poor; yet when Alexander sent him a hundred talents, he asked: "For what reason does he give me these?" When they replied: "Because he judges you alone of all the Athenians a good and honest man," — "Then," he said, "let him allow me to remain such." Epaminondas too, son of Polymnis, was poor. When Jason sent him fifty gold pieces, "You begin," he said, "to do me injury." And having borrowed fifty drachmas from a citizen for travel money, he set out for the Peloponnese. When word was brought that his armor-bearer had received money from some captive: "Give me," he said, "the shield. But buy yourself a tavern in which to live. For you will no longer wish to face dangers, having become rich." Pelopidas, when his friends rebuked him because he took no care for money to support his life, said: "By Hercules, the matter is useful, but to this Nicomedes," pointing his finger at a certain lame and maimed man. Scipio, having measured out 54 years of life, neither bought nor sold anything; with so few things had he been content. When someone showed him a shield elegantly made, he is reported to have said: "But it is fitting for a Roman citizen to place his hope in his right hand, not in his left," namely in the sword which is borne by the right hand, not in the shield which is borne by the left. Ephialtes, son of Sophonides, was very poor; yet though his friends gave him ten talents as a gift, he did not accept them: "These," he said, "would compel me — if indeed I held you in reverence, to grant something beyond what is right; if otherwise, to seem most ungrateful." So Aelian.
Equally memorable are the things Antoninus recounts in his Melissa, part I, sermon 33: Democritus, he says, hearing someone complaining of his poverty, said: "If you would not desire much, the few things would seem many to you. For desire restrained makes poverty equivalent to riches." He also used to say, "The condition of the poor man is much more blessed than that of the rich. For the poor are not assailed by the greatest evils, such as ambushes, hatred, envy, to which the rich are exposed daily." Aristides, to a rich man taunting him with poverty, said: "Poverty will bring me no evil, but riches will bring you not a few troubles." Aristotle used to say, "Poverty is in need of many things, but insatiability of all things." Cato used to say that honorable poverty was far to be preferred to impious riches; for the latter is wont to be a cause of reproach, the former of pity. So Antoninus.
Such too are the things Stobaeus relates in sermon 95. Socrates, when Archelaus wished to enrich him, ordered the offer to be refused: "Because four choenices of meal sold for an obol at Athens, and the springs poured forth water. For if my own resources do not suffice for me, I suffice for them, and so they also suffice for me." Diogenes answered one taunting him with poverty: "Wretch, what do you say? I have seen no one wield tyranny because of poverty, but all because of wealth." The same called poverty a self-taught virtue, that is, learned of itself. The rich need many precepts to live frugally, to exercise the body, not to gape after pomps, etc., all which poverty teaches herself: she therefore compels to virtue. So Stobaeus. The same Diogenes used to glory that he was ἄοικος, ἄπολις, ἀπάτρις, ἀχρήματος, ἄσιτος, καὶ ἐφημερόβιος, that is, lacking home, city, country, money, having no fixed seat, but a wanderer, and living from day to day. So Laertius, book VI.
So in our own age we have heard Henry IV, afterward king of France, jesting about himself: that he was a king without a kingdom, a husband without a wife, and a leader of war without money. Plutarch, in his Laconica, relates that Lycurgus when asked "how Sparta could stand safe and invincible against her enemies?" answered: "If you shall be poor, and one shall not require more than another. For the hope of plunder invites an enemy against the wealthy, nor can he easily escape who is delayed by baggage and impediments. Besides, those are safer from enemy incursion among whom there is equality, and from equality concord." These things they saw by the light of nature, and they did them for the sake of the republic, philosophy, and praise: but to Evangelical poverty, which brings in the community of goods, and which is undertaken from love of the one God and of eternal life, they were not able to rise. To this rose those first Christians, whose life therefore was an interpretation of the Gospel and the doctrine of Christ, as St. Augustine teaches, book On Lying, chap. XV: "The Divine Scriptures," he says, "contain not only precepts, but also the life and morals of the just; so that, if perchance it be hidden how that which is commanded (or counseled) is to be received, it may be understood in the deeds of the just."
All things were common unto them. — Because they had made what was their own common. They therefore possessed all things in common, and thus each one in place of the one thing previously his own, by contributing it to the common stock, possessed all the goods of the others in common. This is more convenient and more profitable, and yet detracts nothing from poverty and perfection, as is plain among most modern Religious, who possess goods in common: although some, by greater zeal of resignation and trust in God, wish to have nothing at all, not even in common, but to live by daily begging. Now this community of goods was born from the community of souls, "so that those who were held by the same fellowship of religion might enjoy the same fellowship of life; that those whose faith was one might have one substance; for those to whom Christ was common, the means of livelihood also might be common. Charity seeks not the things that are her own," says St. Augustine, sermon 27 On the Words of the Apostle, who in book VI of the Confessions, chap. XIV, relates that before his conversion he had discussed with his companions a plan of entering on a common life, that withdrawn from crowds they might live in leisure: "That," he says, "we might make one common household out of all; that through the sincerity of friendship there might not be one thing of this man and another of that, but what came from all might become one, and the whole belong to each, and all things to all. And it had pleased us that two annually, as it were magistrates, should manage all necessary things, the rest being at rest. But after one of our companions, Romanianus, began to think whether the little wives, whom some of our number already had and which we wished to have, would allow this, all that decision, which we were well establishing, fell apart in our hands, and was shattered. Thence we turned to sighs and groans, and our steps to following the broad and trodden ways of the world."
Verse 33: With Great Power
33. And with great power. — In Greek, δυνάμει, that is, "power," "strength." So the Syriac, the Zurich version, and Pagninus. This strength consisted both in confidence and boldness in preaching Christ, and in working miracles, as they had asked of God in verse 29.
They made return. — As though restoring a deposit committed to them by Christ. For this is ἀπεδίδουν. So Chrysostom.
Verse 34: Great Grace Was upon Them All
And great grace was upon them all. — Both "because they had grace with all the people," as he said in chap. II, verse 47, that is, they were lovable and pleasing to all the people; and because God heaped them with His grace and spiritual gifts, which shone forth in their countenance, words, and every action: hence Pagninus translates, "great grace was upon all of them"; and properly so, because the faithful showed in their mutual converse great grace, goodwill, and beneficence, so that they appeared to be brothers, indeed angels and sons of graces. Hence the Zurich version translates, "and great grace (the Syriac says goodness) was upon all of them." That this is the sense is plain from the reason which he subjoins: "For neither was anyone needy among them," etc.
Verse 35: They Laid Them at the Feet of the Apostles
35. And they laid them down before the feet of the Apostles. — Both from zeal of humility and reverence toward the Apostles: hence Hugh and the Gloss judge that they offered their goods to the Apostles on bended knee; and to show contempt for wealth, as though it were not to be handled with the hands but trodden underfoot; whence Arator:
They teach gold should be trodden, which they cast beneath their steps,
From which earthly cares come to the breast;
and to show that they were not so much conferring favor as receiving it from the Apostles. Hear St. Chrysostom, on I Corinthians chap. XI: "They considered it more that they were received by them, than that gifts were given; for this is most of all to despise wealth, this is to feed a hungry Christ, if you do it without arrogance and pride, and so give as if you were rather giving more benefits to yourself than to him to whom you appear to be giving." For you give earth, indeed a particle of earth, and receive heaven.
Finally St. Chrysostom here, in homily 11, attempts to persuade his fellow citizens of Constantinople of this devotion of the first faithful and the community of goods, that they should bring together all their possessions and live in common, promising them a like blessing from God, so that nothing should be lacking to anyone, but all things necessary for life would abundantly be at hand: but in so great a multitude of citizens (for there were in the city at least one hundred thousand Christians, as he himself says) he could not persuade the rich and wealthy of this. Wherefore this community and equality of life lasted only among the first faithful at Jerusalem for a short time; then it passed from them to the priests and clerics; from these it forthwith went over to the Monks and Religious, who alone retain and preserve it.
Moreover, from this reverence of the first faithful toward the Apostles seems to have flowed the ancient custom of casting oneself at the feet not only of the Pontiff, but also of Bishops and holy men, according to the oracle of Isaiah XLIX, 23: "With faces cast down to the earth they shall adore you, and they shall lick the dust of your feet." See what was said there. So St. Domna, a most illustrious and most beautiful woman, set in charge at age 24 of the gentile sacrifices of the gods, reading the Acts of the Apostles, was converted to Christ, and instructed by Cyril, Bishop of Nicomedia: thence, because she had read that the first faithful in the Acts of the Apostles did this, whatever she had — gems, treasures, precious garments — she brought to the feet of Cyril to be distributed to the poor. Therefore being accused and thrust into prison, after a long contest she was crowned with martyrdom in the time of the Emperor Maximian: so Baronius from the Acts of the Martyrs of Nicomedia, vol. II, in the year of Christ 293.
Verse 36: Joseph, Surnamed Barnabas
36. And Joseph. — St. Luke sets forth the example of this one man, both because he was an illustrious man and chief among the faithful; and because hereafter he will make frequent and magnificent mention of him: for he himself was the companion of St. Paul, destined by the Holy Spirit to evangelize the Gentiles in every direction; and because this offering and gift of his was outstanding; for Alexander the monk in the Life of St. Barnabas relates that he, being very rich, sold not some small field, but a vast estate adorned with magnificent buildings, for Christ's sake, and offered the price at the feet of the Apostles; and by this means he disposed himself to the apostolate, and merited to be raised to it, of which see chap. XIII.
Who by the Apostles was surnamed Barnabas. — He is therefore other than Barsabas, who was paired with St. Matthias and ranked after him in the apostolate, chap. I. Although both were called Joseph. So St. Chrysostom.
Which is interpreted, son of consolation. — That is, wholly consolatory, full of consolation, a mighty consoler, bringing consolation to all. He gives the reason why the Apostles changed his name, or rather gave to Joseph the surname Barnabas, namely because Barnabas is the same as "son of consolation." Such was Joseph: First, because by this distinguished example of his offering he brought consolation to the Apostles and edification to all, who therefore vied in imitating him. Second, because by reason of his outstanding meekness, cheerfulness, sweet speech, grace, and sanctity, he was strong in the gift of consoling the afflicted and miserable. So Alexander in his Life. Third, because he consoled the poor with his alms. So Oecumenius.
Note: This interpretation seems to some not to have been added by St. Luke, but by an Interpreter and inserted into St. Luke — both because Luke does not usually interpret etymologies, and because this interpretation does not seem to agree with the etymology. But it is certain that St. Luke inserted it, because it is found not only in the translation and Latin Bibles, but in the very Greek autograph of Luke's text, and even in the Syriac. For Luke wished to give the reason why Joseph was surnamed Barnabas, namely because he was full of consolation, which is what Barnabas signifies in Hebrew. So the name Elymas is interpreted as magus, chap. XIII, 8.
You may ask: How does Barnabas signify in Hebrew "son of consolation"? First, Erasmus and some others derive the name Barnabas from bar, that is "son," and naphas, that is "breathed," as if to say: "Son of breathing and refreshment," namely of consolation in the heat of temptations and tribulations: for from naphas comes nephesh, that is "soul," "spirit," "breath," the breathing that refreshes and consoles the heart; just as among the Greeks ψυχή ("soul") is named from ψύχω ("I refresh"), as Plato says in the Cratylus. But it stands against this that Barnabas is spelled with a "b," while naphas is with a "p," unless you say that these two letters, being labials and almost of the same sound, are interchangeable, as the Germans interchange them when they say "p" for "b." Instead of "Barnabas" they say "Barnapas." Erasmus adds that he is doubtful whether instead of "Barnabas" should be read "Barnachum," that is, "son of consolation"; for nacham properly means "to console." But all the copies have Barnabas, not Barnachum, and so hereafter we shall hear him called in the apostolate and company of Paul.
Second, "Barnabas" is properly said as if bar nabi, that is, "son of a Prophet": for he is called a Prophet who exhorts and consoles (whence in Greek he is called son of παράκλησις, that is, both of exhortation and of consolation). For this is his office, as Paul says, I Corinthians XIV, 31. Hence in chap. XV, 32, Luke says: "Judas and Silas, since they themselves also were Prophets, with much speech consoled the brethren, and confirmed them." Hence also Isaiah, prince of the Prophets, "consoled those who mourned in Sion," says Ecclesiasticus, chap. XLVIII, 27. Whence Isaiah, chap. XL, 1, proclaims: "Be consoled, be consoled, my people, says your God: speak to the heart of Jerusalem"; and chap. LXI in the person of Christ: "The Spirit of the Lord is upon Me, etc., that I might console all that mourn, and might appoint to those who mourn in Sion, and give them a crown for ashes, the oil of joy for mourning, the garment of joy for the spirit of grief."
Third, Pagninus, in his Hebrew Names, derives Barnabas from bar and naba, that is, "he belched out," "flowed forth," "gushed," "bubbled up," "spoke forth." Hence mabbia is "a vein," "fount," "source," "springs," "bubblings up," as if "Son of bubbling-up and of welling speech," that is, of flowing discourse, that is, "a consoler." For the eloquent and those flowing in words, in whose mouth speech as it were bubbles, are wont to be strong in the gift of consoling and gladdening. For they are like veins and fountains continually pouring forth the sweet waters of soft and pleasant eloquence, by which the straitened heart is refreshed, restored, and consoled.
Perhaps also the root naba in the age of St. Luke properly signified "to console." For now the Hebrew and Syriac tongues are very much restricted, and therefore we are ignorant of many words and meanings of words of that age. The text of Luke in this place seems to require this. It supports this that from naba, by aphaeresis of the letter nun, the modern Syriac baia, that is "to console," seems to be derived; whence buino among our Syrians is "consolation." Hence also the Syriac Lexicon says: Barnabas is the same as "son of consolation," or "son of refuge"; but it does not indicate the etymology, perhaps because it was foreign, e.g. ancient Cypriot, for Barnabas was a Cypriot.
Or rather the etymology is the Syriac already mentioned, namely baia, that is "he consoled," "gladdened"; whence mebaita is "consoler" — that this is so is plain from the Syriac translator, who interprets Barnabas in this place bera debviaa, that is, "son of consolation."
A Levite. — For although the Levites, Numbers XVIII, 20, are forbidden to possess fields in Judaea, yet not outside it; indeed not even in Judaea, if these be merely pasture lands for raising cattle, as is plain from Numbers XXXV, 3. Hence Hugh judges this field of Barnabas to have been in Cyprus; but Alexander, in the Life of St. Barnabas, says it was in Judaea.
By birth a Cypriot. — For the Jews after so many captivities had been scattered throughout the whole world, and had everywhere among the nations fixed their homes, as they have even now. Alexander adds that Barnabas, born in Cyprus, lived at Jerusalem, and there along with Stephen and Saul was instructed in sacred Letters by Gamaliel; and at length came to Christ together with his cousin John, surnamed Mark, in whose house this new Church of Christ began to coalesce, as I said in chap. I. Hence St. Epiphanius, haeres. 1; Eusebius, book III of his History, chap. XXXIII, and others, hand down that Barnabas was one of the 72 disciples of Christ.
Moreover Sophronius, Patriarch of Jerusalem, in the Fragment on the labors of St. Peter and Paul, which is extant in volume VII of the Library of the Holy Fathers, hands down that the wife of St. Peter was the daughter of Aristobulus, brother of Barnabas, from whom he received a son and a daughter. With Sophronius agrees Helecas, Bishop of Saragossa, in his Additions to the Chronicle of Lucius Dexter and M. Maximus, which was discovered and edited at Saragossa in the year of the Lord 1393. For he writes thus: "St. Peter is held in honor in the Spains, and his wife Concordia suffered at Rome under Nero, not long before he himself suffered. She was (as M. Maximus teaches in the epistle of St. Peter) the daughter of Aristobulus, that is, of Zebedee, and of Salome, the mother-in-law of St. Andrew, who married the other sister of Concordia, and the mother-in-law of James and John. Now Aristobulus, surnamed Zebedee, was the brother of Barnabas the Apostle of the Lord. The same Zebedee and Barnabas were cousins of John, surnamed Mark, and grandsons of Mary, where Christ celebrated the Last Supper, and where the Holy Spirit came upon the Apostles." Thus therefore according to Helecas, Barnabas was the brother of Aristobulus, who by another name was called Zebedee, and was the father of Sts. James and John the Apostles, of whom therefore Barnabas was the paternal uncle, just as also of the wives of St. Peter and St. Andrew: wherefore these chief Apostles were blood-relations or in-laws. Furthermore, concerning Zebedee, the brother of Barnabas, Helecas adds this: "In Britain there is famous memory of many Martyrs, especially St. Aristobulus, one of the seventy-two disciples, who is also called Zebedee, father of James and John, husband of Mary Salome, who went with Peter to Rome: thence, having left his household, sent as Bishop into England, he fell as a martyr in the second year of Nero." And below, concerning his wife: "Celebrated," he says, "is the memory among the Spaniards of S. Mary Salome, mother of S. James and wife of Zebedee, who, having reached her ninetieth year in the year of Christ 42, under James the son of Alphaeus, Bishop of Jerusalem, on the 24th of May most holily passed to heaven in Italy, and is said to rest at Veroli, and her death has been ennobled by many miracles." The same is reported by the people of Veroli. As for the rest, being new and not transmitted by others, let the credit rest with Helecas and Sophronius.