Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
First, he proceeds to marvel at the calling of the Gentiles, and teaches that this mystery, hitherto unknown, has been revealed to the Apostles, namely that the Gentiles equally with the Jews are, through Christ, partakers of the grace, the Church, and the promises of God.
Secondly, at verse 7, he glories that he is the minister of this mystery, namely that he has been appointed by God as teacher of the Gentiles.
Thirdly, at verse 14, he prays God to strengthen the Ephesians in the faith and Spirit of Christ, that, rooted in charity, they may be fully taught in these divine mysteries of Christ, namely that they may comprehend what is the breadth, length, height, and depth, and may also know the charity of Christ which surpasseth knowledge.
Vulgate Text: Ephesians 3:1-21
1. For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, for you Gentiles, 2. if yet you have heard the dispensation of the grace of God, which is given me towards you: 3. how that according to revelation, the mystery has been made known to me, as I have written above in few words: 4. as you reading, may understand my knowledge in the mystery of Christ: 5. which in other generations was not known to the sons of men, as it is now revealed to His holy Apostles and Prophets in the Spirit. 6. That the Gentiles should be fellow-heirs, and of the same body, and co-partners of His promise in Christ Jesus, by the Gospel. 7. Of which I am made a minister, according to the gift of the grace of God, which is given to me according to the operation of His power. 8. To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ, 9. and to enlighten all men, that they may see what is the dispensation of the mystery which hath been hidden from eternity in God, who created all things: 10. That the manifold wisdom of God may be made known to the principalities and powers in heavenly places through the Church, 11. according to the eternal purpose, which He made in Christ Jesus our Lord: 12. in whom we have boldness and access with confidence by the faith of Him. 13. Wherefore I pray you not to faint at my tribulations for you, which is your glory. 14. For this cause I bow my knees to the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ, 15. of whom all paternity in heaven and earth is named, 16. that He would grant you, according to the riches of His glory, to be strengthened by His Spirit with might unto the inward man, 17. that Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts: that being rooted and founded in charity, 18. you may be able to comprehend, with all the saints, what is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth: 19. to know also the charity of Christ which surpasseth knowledge, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God. 20. Now to Him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we ask or understand, according to the power that worketh in us: 21. to Him be glory in the Church, and in Christ Jesus, unto all generations of the world of ages. Amen.
Verse 1: For This Cause, I, Paul, the Prisoner of Christ Jesus, for You Gentiles
1. For this cause, I, Paul, the prisoner. — The verb that would complete the sentence is missing. Hence St. Jerome thinks it is a solecism. Secondly, Erasmus and Anselm supply the verb "am," as if to say: For this cause I am the prisoner; but the article ὁ, when it says ὁ δέσμιος, as if "that prisoner," indicates that he bears it with difficulty. Hence, thirdly, better do Vatablus and Ambrose supply, "I am performing my embassy." But far truer it is that this sentence, after the long parenthesis (which the Apostle, after his manner, inserts from verse 2 to 14, concerning the favor of the calling of the Gentiles, in admiration of which his heart was absorbed, and so full that he kept returning to it again and again, and was constantly bringing it forth in different words), is completed at verse 14; for there, repeating the first words of the chapter, He adds and completes them, saying: "For this cause I bow my knees," etc. For these cohere best with the beginning of this chapter and the end of the preceding; since when he had said there: "In whom you also are built together into an habitation of God in the Holy Spirit," he immediately, after his manner, at the beginning of this chapter turning to the praise of God, thanksgiving, and invocation, adds: "For this cause I, Paul, the prisoner of Christ Jesus, bow my knees," etc. We saw a similar hyperbaton in Rom. V, 12 and 18. See Canon 38.
Prisoner of Christ Jesus, — ὁ δέσμιος is an epithet not of servile condition, but of glory and honor: for Paul glories in his bonds undertaken for Christ, as in the insignia of his apostleship and martyrdom, just as a king glories in his collar or diadem. "To be in bonds for Christ," says Chrysostom here, homily 8, "is more illustrious than to be either Apostle, or teacher, or evangelist. Great is this dignity, and greater than any kingdom or consulship; whoever loves and burns for Christ chooses rather to bear bonds for Christ than to inhabit the heavens: for the head is not made so splendid by an imposed crown shining with pearls, as by an iron chain borne for Christ. So that if anyone should grant me the choice of either the whole heaven or this chain, I would plainly choose this chain; and if I had to stand on high with the angels and those who are near the throne of God, or with the bound Paul, I would absolutely prefer the prison. Nothing more blessed than this chain. I do not call Paul so blessed because he was caught up to paradise, and because he endured bonds: I would rather be afflicted for Christ than honored by Christ. O blessed bonds! O blessed hands which that chain adorned!" He then proceeds to adorn these bonds with examples and miracles, saying: "Thus Peter was bound, and was loosed by an angel. Here if anyone had said to me, Choose which thou wilt: dost thou wish to be the angel loosing Peter, or Peter bound? I would absolutely have preferred to be Peter. This gift of bonds is greater than to stay the sun, or to move the world, or to lord it over demons and cast them out. The prison was shaken when Paul was bound, and all bonds were loosed (Acts XVI). You see the nature of bonds loosing bonds; for as the death of the Lord destroyed death, so the bonds of Paul loosed the bound, and shook the prison, and opened the doors. Therefore Paul, though bound, lords it over the bound. Again, in Acts XXVIII, Paul, while bound, was sailing, and was loosing shipwreck, and was binding the tempest, and could not be hurt by a viper." These and more, Chrysostom, homily 8, and again in his moral commentary. For this reason Babylas, bishop of Antioch and martyr, ending his life in chains after his confession of the faith, ordered his disciples to bury his chains with him, as witnesses of his combat and ornaments of his victory.
Verse 2: If Yet You Have Heard the Dispensation of the Grace of God
2. If yet (this is not the language of one doubting, but of one asserting. Hence more clearly Vatablus, Erasmus, and others render the Greek εἴγε as "since indeed," as if to say: For you Gentiles I am a prisoner, since indeed I am preaching the Gospel for you; and for the Gospel's sake I am bound, as is well known and clear to all, especially to you: since indeed) you have heard the dispensation (Greek οἰκονομίαν, economy, administration) of the grace of God, which (namely dispensation) is given me towards you, — among the Gentiles. Note: By this "dispensation" and "administration" he understands his apostleship, or the office of preaching the Gospel, that is, the office of promulgating the redemption and grace of Christ, set forth and prepared for all who believe in Him.
Verse 3: According to Revelation, the Mystery Has Been Made Known to Me
3. Because (it depends on "you have heard," as if to say: "You have heard because," that is, that) according to revelation the mystery has been made known to me) Greek ἐγνώρισε, "He made known to me," namely God. Our author, with Chrysostom, seems to have read more truly and aptly ἐγνωρίσθη, that is, "it was made known") the sacrament, — Greek τὸ μυστήριον, mystery, namely of Christ, as He explains in verse 4, namely that hidden and great sacrament of piety, which everywhere I preach and marvel at, concerning the incarnation, redemption, predestination, salvation of Christ, and the calling to that salvation, not only of the Jews, but also of the Gentiles: for this calling of the Gentiles is what Paul especially marvels at and celebrates here and elsewhere.
As I have written above — concerning this sacrament and mystery; for if anyone read chapters I and II, he will see that this mystery of Christ, already spoken of, especially concerning the calling of the Gentiles, was clearly and profoundly revealed to Paul. So Jerome.
In few words, — ἐν ὀλίγῳ, "in a little," that is, in few and brief words. So Chrysostom and Jerome.
"Of the mysteries of Christ," says Jerome, "the Apostle touches only a modest portion in his speech, not so much bringing forth all that he knew, as showing from a little what he was passing over in silence." Whence follows:
Verse 4: As You Reading May Understand My Knowledge in the Mystery of Christ
4. As you reading (chapters I and II) may understand my knowledge (σύνεσιν, that is, understanding) in the mystery of Christ, — concerning which I have already spoken at verse 3. "For none," says Jerome, "of Paul's epistles contains such great mysteries, nor is wrapped in such hidden meanings, as this one." Properly, however, the Apostle here understands the mystery of the calling of the Gentiles to the faith and grace of Christ, as He explains in the verses immediately following.
Note: Paul often uses as equivalent prudence, wisdom, intelligence, knowledge, science; and that from the Hebrew idiom, in which he imitates the Wise Man, who in Proverbs calls his ethics and precepts concerning morals now wisdom, now prudence, now understanding, now discipline, now erudition, now doctrine, now knowledge: which names, though they are distinguished by connotation, etymology, and proper meaning, as is plain to one who examines them, the Wise Man nevertheless confounds, and uses for the same thing, namely for the ethics already mentioned, and does this for the sake of copiousness.
Verse 5: Which in Other Generations Was Not Known as It Is Now Revealed to the Apostles and Prophets
5. Which in other generations (that is, as Ambrose says, other ages) was not known to the sons of men (that is, to men) as it hath now been revealed to the Apostles and Prophets (namely of the New Testament) in the Spirit, — that is, through the Holy Spirit.
It is asked how this is true: for Isaiah and the other Prophets most clearly prophesied about the calling of the Gentiles to the faith of Christ.
He answers, first, St. Jerome and Chrysostom: that by "sons of men" are understood ordinary and animal men: for the Patriarchs and Prophets are not called "sons of men" but "sons of God"; but this is too subtle and acute, and beside the Apostle's meaning.
Whence, secondly, the same Chrysostom answers that the Prophets did indeed know that the Gentiles were to be called to Christ, but did not know that in calling, faith, and grace they would be equal to the Jews, which the Apostles knew; and this is what the Apostle says, "That the Gentiles are fellow-heirs and of the same body," namely with the Jews. But not even this is plainly true to one who looks at Isaiah, who in this matter very often prefers the Gentiles to the Jews, as is plain from chapters XXXIV, XXXV, XLIX, LIV, LX; indeed, with the Jews being reprobated, he teaches that the Gentiles are to be substituted.
Whence, thirdly, the same Chrysostom, Jerome, St. Thomas, Anselm, and others answer that the calling of the Gentiles to the same Church, grace, and dignity with the Jews was indeed made known to the ancient Prophets, but to few, and obscurely and confusedly: but to the Apostles and Prophets of the New Testament, who were to care for and carry it out, it was clearly and distinctly revealed by God to all. Hence the force is in the word "as," as if to say: This mystery of the calling of the Gentiles was not known to the ancient Prophets so plainly and in particular, as it has been revealed to the Apostles, who foresaw its manner, place, time, order, and other circumstances in particular, with the Spirit of God revealing them, and saw them by experience and in fact, when they converted those same Gentiles: for a thing is more fully discerned when it is completed in deed, than when the future is foreseen afar off in spirit. Whence Paul was caught up into the third heaven, so that he, about to be teacher of the Gentiles, might be fully and particularly taught the manner and practice of converting them, as I said at II Corinthians XII. So also St. Peter, Acts X, knew this mystery far more expressly and particularly than Isaiah or the Prophets, when by the vision of the linen sheet and the eating of unclean animals, and through the legates sent by the Gentile Cornelius, and through the conversion of Cornelius himself with his whole family, he saw it explained and fulfilled.
Verse 6: That the Gentiles Are Fellow-Heirs, of the Same Body, and Co-Partners of His Promise
6. That the Gentiles are fellow-heirs (as if to say: The mystery of which I am speaking is, namely, that the Gentiles are fellow-heirs, that is, equally as the Jews, heirs) of the promise — made to Abraham concerning Christ and Christ's Gospel, salvation, grace, glory; for just as the Gentiles, equally as the Jews, through faith in Christ become spiritual sons of Abraham, who is the father of believers: so also the Gentiles, equally as the Jews, are heirs of the blessing, that is, of the righteousness and salvation promised to Abraham and his seed, that is, to Christ and Christians, concerning which I have spoken at Rom. IV, 17; Galat. III, 7 and 8.
And of the same body, — σύσσωμα, that is, of one and the same body, so that namely the Christian Gentiles, together with the Jews who are converted to Christ, may constitute one mystical body, namely one Church.
And co-partakers of His promise (that the Gentiles, equally as the Jews, may be partakers "of His promise," namely of the Holy Spirit, who was immediately mentioned before, as Ambrose holds; or rather "of His," namely of God, whom He named in verse 2. For all these things hang from verse 2, and explain the grace of God, which He heralded in verse 2: therefore this promise of God is that by which God promised His friendship, remission of sins, salvation, and possession of the kingdom of heaven to Christians who believe and obey Him) in Christ Jesus (that is, through Christ Jesus, who promulgated this promise of God) by (His) Gospel, 7. of which (namely of Christ's Gospel) I am made a minister, — Greek διάκονος, that is, deacon of the sacred ministry and, as it were, of the liturgy, namely of the preaching of the Gospel: for he called this a "liturgy," or sacrifice of the Mass, Rom. XV, 16.
Verse 7: According to the Operation of His Power
According to the gift of the grace of God — that is, through the gift of the grace of God. For thus the Apostle uses the Greek κατά, that is "according to," as if corresponding to the Hebrew pal, takes it amply and variously, now for "according to," now for "through," now for "with." Whence here he adds:
According to the operation (Greek ἐνέργειαν, that is, efficacy, and efficacious operation) of His power (Greek δυνάμεως, might). — As if to say: I did not receive an apostleship that is empty, idle, and void; but such a one as may powerfully and efficaciously work the conversion of even the barbarian Gentiles.
The Apostle here notes two things: first, that he received the office of ministry or apostleship through the gift and grace of God; secondly, that the act, use, and exercise of that office is powerful, and powerfully and efficaciously works the faith and salvation of the Gentiles through that same force, power, and energy of divine grace.
Verse 8: To Me, the Least of All the Saints, Is Given This Grace, to Preach the Unsearchable Riches of Christ
8. To me, of all (not only of the Apostles, says Chrysostom, but also) the saints (that is, Christians) the least. — Jerome: "the lowest," Greek ἐλαχιστοτέρῳ, that is, "more lowest," as if to say: I am lower and more lowly than the lowest, less than the least.
Note here the Apostle's wondrous humility: for he calls himself not only the least or the lowest, but lesser than the least and lower than the lowest. Hence from the superlative he forms a comparative, namely from ἐλάχιστος, ἐλαχιστότερος, just as if from "least" you should form "lesser-est," from "lowest," "lower-est": he calls himself therefore "lower-est," that he may abase and diminish himself further below all; and through this humility Paul deserved to be raised to the apostleship, says Jerome.
You will say: This humility seems feigned and false; for the Apostle knew and saw that more grace and virtues had been given him by God than to the Ephesians and other Christians, whom he himself was converting.
St. Jerome answers that Paul knew that he was holier than they, but nevertheless conducted himself and humbled himself as if he were inferior to them. Just as a prince now and then, for modesty's sake, gives the first place at table, or in walking, to friends and other nobles far inferior to himself.
But this does not satisfy: for Paul is not speaking about external practice and submission in gesture or walk, but about his own inner conviction, saying and truly feeling in his soul that he is the least of all the Saints; otherwise he would be lying and a hypocrite, which God forbid.
I say therefore that the Apostle said this in the sense in which St. Francis used to say that he was the greatest sinner, as if to say: Although I have received a greater grace from God than others, yet if I look at myself, my negligence, infirmity, and malice both present and past, since I was a persecutor of Christ and the Church (for it is to this above all that the Apostle is wont to look when humbling himself), I truly seem to myself the greatest sinner, unworthy of the apostleship, and to be reckoned truly and in fact the least of Christians: for I think that, if God should give to a robber or the greatest sinner that grace which He gave to me, he would cooperate with it more than I, and would be far holier than I. For though this judgment perhaps speculatively might not be true, yet practically it was true; for each man, considering not others but himself and his own infirmity, can and ought thus humbly to think of himself: for this is the dictate of virtue, which prudent humility suggests and persuades, and he who is truly humble so thinks of himself, and so seems to himself, about which there is more at Philip. II, 3, and I Timoth. I, 13.
This grace is given, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable (Greek ἀνεξιχνίαστον, that cannot be traced out, inscrutable, and, as Ambrose says, incomprehensible) riches of Christ. — Thus everywhere the Apostle calls the abundance of graces and goods which Christ brought to us.
Chrysostom notes in his moral homily 6 that Paul received a threefold grace for evangelizing, and brought three things to preaching wonderfully effective for persuasion: first, a soul that was eager, daring, fervent, and undaunted in all things; secondly, a certain heavenly wisdom; thirdly, the power of the spirit with a blameless life.
Verse 9: And to Enlighten All Men, What Is the Dispensation of the Mystery Hidden From Eternity in God
9. And to enlighten all men. — As the offices of the angels are three, says St. Dionysius, namely to enlighten man, to purge him, and to perfect him: so not only Christ but also the Apostles and other Doctors do these three things as if they were certain earthly angels and angelic men; therefore "to enlighten" does not mean to bring forth into light that which was hidden, as the Syriac and Erasmus translate; for thus it would be ineptly said "to enlighten all," as the Greek and Latin have it; rather it means to teach others, to impart to others the light of truth and faith; for just as the sun by its light illuminates dark places, so doctors by their bright teaching illuminate the dark and ignorant minds of men. Whence too they will fittingly be rewarded with singular brightness and splendor in heaven. "They that are learned," says Daniel, ch. XII, "shall shine as the brightness of the firmament; and they that instruct many to justice, as stars for all eternity."
What is the dispensation of the mystery hidden from eternity in God, who created all things. — In place of "dispensation" some Greek texts read κοινωνία, as if to say: What is the communion or communication of the sacrament, namely that this sacrament of the redemption of men has been communicated not only to the Jews but also to the Gentiles. But here we must read, as above at verse 2, οἰκονομία, "what is the dispensation," and thus read the Royal Bibles, our translator, Chrysostom, Theophylact, and the Greeks.
Where note, οἰκονομία, that is, "dispensation," signifies two things: first, the very disposition and ordering of some thing to be done or given; secondly, the dispensation itself of a thing already disposed or ordered, that is, the disbursement, bestowal, distribution. According to the first signification the sense will be: that I may enlighten and teach all how admirable is the economy and eternal disposition of God concerning the calling of the Gentiles through the birth, death, and resurrection of Christ. According to the second, however, the sense here will be — and it is simpler, as I said in chapter I, verse 10 — as if to say: To me has been given the grace to enlighten all the Gentiles, namely to teach them how wisely is dispensed, that is, distributed, and set forth to all at this time by God the sacrament of the redemption of Christ and of the calling of the Gentiles to Christ; or rather by hypallage, "what is the dispensation of the sacrament," that is, what, of what sort, and how great is this sacrament, or mystery, "which" until now through so many ages, indeed from eternity, "was hidden in God," namely in God's mind, counsel, and predestination; but now is dispensed, that is, disbursed, distributed, and set forth and offered to all.
Who (namely God) created all things. — He notes and refutes the dogma of Simon Magus, who taught that the world was made by the angels. The Greek adds διὰ Ἰησοῦ Χριστοῦ, "through Jesus Christ," and thus read Chrysostom, Theophylact, and the Greeks; but Jerome does not have this, nor does Ambrose, nor the ancient Latin codices.
Verse 10: That the Manifold Wisdom of God May Be Made Known to the Principalities and Powers
10. That there may be made known to the principalities (so read the Roman, Greek, and Syriac texts; the Plantinian, however, with Jerome reads "to the princes") and powers, — namely to those orders of angels which are called Principalities, that is princes; and Powers, that is, the mighty ones, as I said in chapter I, verse 21. Under these, by synecdoche, understand the other orders of angels. So Jerome, Chrysostom, Theophylact. Hence, although Ambrose here understands the wicked angels, who dwell in the heavenly places, that is in the air and this aerial heaven, better however do St. Jerome, Chrysostom, and Anselm take it of the good angels: for these are signified by "Principalities" and "Powers" when they are placed absolutely. For when demons are understood, there is wont to be added "princes of darkness," or "of this air," or some similar restrictive and alienating particle. Furthermore, these are properly signified by the phrase "in heavenly," namely places, dwelling.
Through the Church the manifold wisdom of God. — It is asked how this is true: for the angels enlighten the Church and men, and are not themselves enlightened and taught by them.
First, Augustine, book V On Genesis according to the Letter, ch. XIX, vol. III, understands the heavenly Church, which consists of God and the angels, as if to say: To the lower angels this mystery of Christ's redemption and the calling of the Gentiles became known through God's revelation and the illumination of the higher angels, became known, I say, "from ages," that is, from the beginning of ages and of the world; but it is contradicted by what the Apostle says: "That it may now be made known." If "now," then not from the beginning of the world. Secondly, by "Church" he understands not the heavenly but the earthly; this is plain, because He says: To me has been given the grace to evangelize and enlighten all, that the manifold wisdom of God may be made known through the Church, namely to which I evangelize, and which I enlighten.
Secondly, St. Thomas, Part I, Question LVII, article 5, explains thus: "That it may be made known to the Principalities," not absolutely, but by vision and experience, as if to say: That they may see; for what the angels before knew by revelation was to come, they saw being done in the Church when the thing was done and accomplished: but in that case the Apostle would have said: "That they may see," or "That it may appear to the angels," as he said at I Timothy III, 16; not however "that it may be made known": for a thing is said to "be made known" when that becomes known which before was unknown. Whence the Apostle in the preceding verse said that this mystery had previously been hidden in God; therefore it was hidden from the angels.
I say therefore that through the "Church," that is, through the things done by Christ and the Apostles in the Church, and through the graces and gifts of the Church communicated by them, many mysteries of Christ and of Christians have become known to the angels which they previously did not know; for though they knew the mystery of the incarnation and our redemption as to its substance from revelation, from the beginning of their beatitude, they did not yet know all its parts, species, causes, effects, modes, and circumstances, but learned them when they saw these being done, displayed, and accomplished in the Church. Such were the institution of the Sacraments, especially the Eucharist; the manner and reason of justifying sinners; the division and sending of the Apostles into such and such provinces; the hierarchical order of Apostles, Priests, Deacons, and other ministers of the Church; the calling of the Gentiles, of which the Apostle here properly speaks.
Where note that, although Chrysostom and Theophylact say the angels were ignorant that the Gentiles were to be called to Christianity until they saw them being called by Paul and the Apostles, nevertheless it does not seem doubtful that the angels knew this in general; for if Isaiah and the Prophets knew it, therefore so did the angels, who either revealed this to the Prophets, or easily understood it from the so-clear oracles of the Prophets. So when the Apostle here says they did not know it, understand this in the same manner as in verse 5, when he denied that the Prophets knew it, namely in particular, clearly and distinctly, e.g. how the Gentiles were to be called, whether together with the Jews, or in place of the Jews, when these had rejected the Gospel and had been rejected by God; in what order, through whom, by what manners and means: for the Apostles knew this before the angels everywhere, from the revelation of God, especially Paul, both from the beginning of his conversion, when he was chosen by God before the other Apostles and declared teacher of the Gentiles (Acts IX, 15); and rather and more fully, when, on the point of being sent to the Gentiles, he was caught up to the third heaven, as I said at II Corinthians XII. So Jerome, Ambrose, Anselm, Theophylact, Chrysostom. "Paul," says Chrysostom, "the Evangelist of the angels, here enlightened them"; and St. Thomas, Opusculum I, ch. XXVI, from Cyril teaches that, when Paul was preaching, the angels learned the circumstances of the Gospel and of the calling of the Gentiles.
Note secondly, that these things are said against Simon Magus, who, attributing too much to the angels, taught that they ought to be adored as if they themselves had been conscious of and mediators of the mystery of our redemption, concerning which see Coloss. II, 18.
The manifold wisdom of God. — πολυποίκιλος, that is, manifold-varied, or greatly and in many ways varied. Others read παμποίκιλος, all-varied, the most varied wisdom of God; so that it is not only varied, but distinguished by much variety. Thus Jerome: "Look," he says, "at the cradle of Christ, see likewise the heaven also. Behold the infant wailing in the manger, but at the same time hear the angels giving praise. Herod persecutes, but the Magi adore. The Pharisees are ignorant, but the star shows. He is baptized by a servant, but the voice of God thundering from above is heard. He is plunged in the waters, but a dove descends, nay, the Spirit in a dove. He comes to the passion, and fears to suffer, yet wishes the chalice to pass; and rebukes Peter because Peter feared the chalice. What is more prudent than this folly, more distinct in variety, more obscure in wisdom, than what God has wrought in Christ Jesus our Lord?" Thus far Jerome. Properly, however, the Apostle has in view the wisdom of God, which He showed in various ways in the calling of the Gentiles, the reprobation of the Jews, and the manner and order of calling them, as I said in the preceding § and in chapter I, verse 11.
Verse 11: According to the Eternal Purpose Which He Made in Christ Jesus
11. According to the eternal purpose of the ages, — κατὰ πρόθεσιν, that is, as Jerome says, according to the proposal of the ages, that is, enacted from the ages, or before the ages — as if to say: According to the eternal decree by which God had proposed, decreed, and predetermined to do and accomplish this. Hence the Syriac translates: which was to come from the age, but was accomplished in Jeshua our Lord.
Secondly, "according to the eternal purpose of the ages," that is, which He made concerning the ages to come, concerning the series of the ages, and concerning the men who in any age from the first to the last were to be — namely, predetermining the age of the state of innocence, then the age of the law of nature, third the age of the law of Moses, fourth the age of the law of Christ and grace, and decreeing and predetermining in it to call successively all the peoples and nations of all those times to faith and salvation through Christ; and this is what He says: "Which He made in Christ Jesus." Again, predetermining in the first age of the law of nature to call to Himself all the Gentiles, secondly through Moses only the Jews with the Gentiles being left aside, thirdly through Christ almost only the Gentiles, whom hitherto He had neglected to call, and conversely to neglect the unbelieving Jews: for this was the circle and conversion of the ages with respect to faith, grace, and salvation, and as it were the secular and circular year of God. Thus Chrysostom and Theophylact. This second sense is more beautiful and apter; for in it the manifold and varied wisdom of God is properly considered. From this multitude and variety of knowledge and wisdom, Christ Himself is called πολυόφθαλμος, that is, many-eyed, and Cherubim, says Anastasius of Sinai, in book I of the Hexameron.
Which He made in Christ Jesus. — The pronoun "which" can refer first to "the Church"; second to "wisdom," as Jerome takes it; third and most plainly to "predetermination," as if to say: This predetermination of the ages just spoken of was made through Christ and πρωτομοιχάλωτος, that is, through the merits of Christ. From this it is clear, as I said in chapter I, that not only faith and grace, but eternal predestination itself, which is in the mind of God (for this is the predetermination of which the Apostle here speaks), was made on the basis of the foreseen merits of Christ — as if the Apostle were saying: That in the first age all the Gentiles should be called to salvation, in the second the Jews, in the third the Gentiles, this was done on the basis of the foreseen merits of Christ, for the sake of which God decreed from eternity to predestine, call, justify, and glorify those believing in Christ, whether Jews or Gentiles, in any age.
Verse 12: In Whom We Have Boldness and Access With Confidence by the Faith of Him
12. In whom (through whom, namely Christ) we have boldness (in Greek παρρησίαν, that is, according to the Syriac, boldness of speaking freely, the freedom of evangelizing — as if to say: by whose, namely Christ's, help I evangelize boldly, freely, and fearlessly. Secondly and better, our translator here renders it "confidence," by which the soul, expiated of sins through Christ, and now living innocently, well aware in itself, trusts that it is in the grace and friendship of God. Hence, when He had said, "In whom we have confidence," He adds the effect of this confidence) and access in confidence, — namely that we may approach God the Father confidently as friends, indeed as sons, and say: "Abba, Father."
By the faith of Him. — Refer this not only to "in confidence," as if to say: in the confidence whose principle and origin is faith in Christ; but rather to "boldness and access," as if to say: We have boldness and confident access to the Father through faith in Christ, by which, having obtained remission of sins and justification, we trust that we are in the grace and favor of God, and confidently approach God as a most loving father: for faith begets this trust and confidence. Thus Chrysostom, Theophylact, and the Greeks.
Verse 13: Wherefore I Pray You Not to Faint at My Tribulations for You, Which Is Your Glory
13. Wherefore, — namely, because we have this confidence and access to God our Father, who is most powerful, that He may strengthen us in all tribulations and drive them away.
I ask that you faint not in my tribulations (in Greek μὴ ἐγκακεῖν, that is, not to fail, not to grow weary, not to slacken; which first can refer to the first person, as if Paul were speaking of himself: I ask and pray God that I may not fail in tribulations, that I may not be overcome and yield to them. Thus Jerome and the Syriac. Secondly, our Translator refers it to the second person: that you, namely, O Ephesians, may not fail and lose heart, seeing me afflicted and bound) for you, — namely because I evangelize Christ and salvation to you and to others. This second version is the truer one: for the Apostle feared more for the Ephesians, who were small and new in the faith during the persecution, lest they should fall in spirit, than for himself, who as a generous fighter and athlete of Christ is wont to glory in it. Note: "I ask" — not from God, but from you: for in Greek it is αἰτοῦμαι, that is, I ask, demand, require. Hence St. Augustine, sermon 7 on these words of the Apostle: "I ask," he says, "of you because of the freedom of the will; but because this is weak, I beseech God to give you the same through the aid of His majesty." Hence the Apostle adds: "For this cause, I bend my knees to the Father."
Which is your glory. — As if to say: That I, your Apostle and teacher, am worthy to suffer so much for Christ and for your salvation, you ought not to be troubled, not to lose heart, but to exult and glory. Thus Chrysostom. For these sufferings are the stigmata and ensigns of Christ, Galatians 6:17, and they are the preludes of martyrdom.
Verse 14: For This Cause I Bow My Knees to the Father
14. For this cause. — He returns, after a long hyperbaton (by which from the second verse up to here he had been carried away into the worthiness of God and the benefit of the calling of the Gentiles), to the first verse, as I said there.
I bend my knees to the Father, — with knees bent as a sign of reverence and humility, I pray and beseech God the Father. It is a metalepsis.
Verse 15: Of Whom All Paternity in Heaven and on Earth Is Named
15. From whom all fatherhood in heaven and on earth is named. — Note: just as in Greek from πατήρ comes πατριά, and in Syriac from אב (ab) comes אבהותא (abahuta), so in Latin from pater, paternitas (fatherhood) is called and derived. Hence rightly — whatever Erasmus and Beza may quibble — our Translator renders the new name πατριά by the new Latin name paternitas; and thus St. Jerome, Damascene (book I On the Faith, chapter IX), the Syriac, the translator of Theophylact, and others who were most skilled in the Greek language translated it.
Hence first, Damascene explains it thus: "The name of fatherhood has been transferred from divine to human fathers." Understand this metonymically: "name," that is, the thing signified by the name of fatherhood, or fatherhood itself which is in men and creatures, descends from God the Father, who as the first uncreated and immense Father communicated His fatherhood to them, that they too should become and be called fathers; for the name of father itself was first imposed on men by men, and from there they transferred the same to the divine and to God the Father: for from human things, as being more familiar to themselves, men have imposed names on divine things, as other Fathers and Doctors teach throughout. Therefore Damascene must be understood not of the name "Father," but of the thing signified by this name. And this is what St. Thomas and the Scholastics teach, that all created fatherhood is derived from the uncreated, which is in God the Father. To this is added St. Jerome: "Just as," he says, "only the good (God) makes things good, and only the immortal bestows immortality, and only the true gives the name of truth: so only the Father, because He is the creator of all and the cause of the substance of all things, grants to others to be called fathers. Let us contemplate heavenly things from earthly. Adam, whom God first formed, and whose creator and father He was, certainly knows that he owes to God the Father his standing. Again, those who were born from Adam recognize him as the father from whom they sprang. Whence in Luke 3, Scripture says: The sons of Seth, the sons of Adam, the sons of God — that it might show the term of fatherhood on earth first arose from God." And below: "From this, that God the Father of our Lord Jesus Christ is Father according to substance, and the only-begotten is the Son not by adoption but by nature, the rest of the creatures also have merited the name of fatherhood by adoption." St. Jerome adds that it is said: "From whom all fatherhood is named, not indeed begotten. For it is one thing to merit the appellation of fatherhood, another to have natural fellowship," — as if to say: The very uncreated and divine fatherhood of God cannot be communicated to us, just as neither can His essence itself: for thus we should truly and properly be gods; but only a certain slight participation of the same, from which it comes that we are called fathers as God is, but analogically and by participation. Therefore from the lengthy discourse of St. Jerome and the others, gather this opinion: Fatherhood, he says, in the heavens is the generation of the Son, fatherhood on earth is the generation of men and animals, all of which flows from the fatherhood of God: for all from Him have the power of generating, that they may be and be called fathers.
You will say: in the heavens there is no fatherhood that descends from the fatherhood of God. St. Jerome answers that the angels, equally with men, have princes of their kind whom they delight to call fathers: for a prince is and is called the father of his subjects, and principality is a kind of fatherhood. Thus the servants of Naaman call him father, that is, lord and prince, in 4 Kings (2 Kings) 5:13. Thus among the Latins senators are called fathers — indeed the Romans scarcely addressed them by any other name than Patres conscripti (Conscript Fathers). This sense is fitting, but not proper and adequate.
Hence secondly: Note with Jerome that St. Paul received the Greek πατριά, which our Translator renders paternitas, from the Septuagint, who customarily translate by this name the Hebrew משפחה (mispacha), that is, family, or tribe (these tribes the Septuagint elsewhere customarily call φυλή), which descends from one head and parent: for because the twelve sons of Jacob were among the Jews the heads and fathers of the twelve families and tribes descending from them, hence the Septuagint call a tribe descending from any such father πατριά, and from πατριά they call Patriarchs the very fathers and first progenitors of the tribes, that is τῆς πατριάς ἀρχάς, that is, the beginnings of the tribe. Therefore πατριά, or paternitas, or, as the translator of Chrysostom renders it, paterna cognatio (paternal kindred), is a family, or tribe or nation, which is born from one common father, which Jerome against Helvidius calls parentela (kinship), and so Vatablus translates here. Thus our Translator, retaining the Greek πατριά in Psalm 95:7, translates: "Bring to the Lord, ye families," that is, the families, tribes, stocks, "of the nations, bring to the Lord glory and honor." Therefore paternitas is not taken here for the relation of father in the abstract, which the Philosophers call fatherhood: for this in Greek, on the testimony of Damascene in the place cited, ought rather to be called πατρότης than πατριά; but metonymically, paternitas here is the same as parentela (kinship), which descends from the same father or fatherhood. For father or fatherhood and parentela are as it were correlative, and the one includes the other; for a father is the father of a kindred, and a kindred is a father's kindred, as if to say (the Apostle says): God the Father is the Father not only of Christ, but of all — both of men and of angels — so that, with God as their common parent, Jews and Gentiles, men and angels, are all akin: for He Himself is the Father of all families, not only of bodily ones, but also of spiritual ones, namely the Seraphim, Cherubim, Thrones, and the other orders. For although these families have their own proper and distinct fathers and princes, yet all have God as their common father and prince, from whom all descend: and therefore not only eternal fatherhood and generation, with respect to His Son, belongs to God the Father, but also temporal fatherhood through creation, extending to all heavenly and earthly tribes and kinships; and consequently He is to be named, celebrated (as I said in chapter I, verse 21), worshiped, and loved in return by all in heaven and on earth as Father. Thus Chrysostom, Theophylact, Theodoret, Oecumenius, and indeed St. Jerome.
Note thirdly: The Apostle opposes the one God the Father to the many principles and gods of Simon Magus and Hesiod (who composed his Theogony, that is, the generation of the gods), and of other Gentile poets and philosophers. Again, lest the Jews boast that the true God is their God, not the God of the Gentiles, and that the Gentiles must seek another God, the Apostle, refuting them, says that God is the common Father of all, both of Gentiles and of Jews; and therefore the Jews ought not to wonder if the Gentiles, equally with the Jews, are now called by their common parent to salvation through Christ and Christ's Apostles, and conversely the Gentiles, equally with the Jews, ought confidently to approach Christ and God as their common parent.
Is named, — that is, exists, has its being and its origin, is derived and descends; so that rightly the family, tribe, or kinship can take its name from God the Father and be named by Him as God's, namely such as has God for its father, from whom, as from the first exemplar and efficient cause, all families and kindreds, and all fathers and heads of families, and finally all power of generating, fruitfulness, and fatherhood, flow forth and emanate as from the great and universal father of all: for thus the Hebrews metonymically take "to be called" or "to be named" for "to be." Thus in Isaiah 7:14, Christ is said to be called Emmanuel, that is, He will be Emmanuel, because God will be with us, which is what Emmanuel means. Thus in Isaiah 8:3, Christ is said to be called "Hasten to take away the spoils, make haste to plunder," that is, He will be the swift despoiler of demons and of His enemies, and their hasty plunderer. For we do not anywhere read that these two names were imposed on Christ, nor that Christ was so named; but it is most well known that the thing signified by both names befits Christ.
Verse 16: That He Would Grant You to Be Strengthened by His Spirit With Might Unto the Inward Man
16. That He would grant you according to the riches of His glory (that is, of His glorious grace), to be strengthened with might (in Greek δυνάμει, that is, with strength, constancy, and firmness of spirit against all persecutions and temptations) (namely, that you may be strengthened in the weakness of your nature) by His Spirit in the inner man, — so that the inner man, that is, the mind regenerated by the grace and Spirit of God (for this is called by the Apostle the inner man, as I said on Romans 7:22), may grow in the same grace and strength of spirit.
Note: The preposition in (into) with the accusative signifies increase. Thus we are said to go from virtue into virtue; thus the righteousness of God is said in the Gospel to be revealed from faith into faith. See what was said on Romans 1:17. The Royal Bible, however, and certain others read "in the inner man" (ablative); and thus the Greek εἰς with the accusative is often taken for ἐν, that is, in, with the ablative. And then the sense is plain, namely that he wishes them to be strengthened in the inner man, that is, in the mind, intellect, will, and the other inner powers and faculties of the soul: for these, or rather the man, insofar as he consists of these and lives by these, is called the inner man: just as on the contrary the same man is called outer, insofar as he consists of and lives by his outward senses and members, and works through them and indulges them. In this sense, then, outer and inner man is taken naturally; in the former sense it is taken supernaturally. See what was said on 2 Corinthians 4:16.
Verse 17: That Christ May Dwell by Faith in Your Hearts; Rooted and Founded in Charity
17. That Christ may dwell (repeat: "that He would grant you," God the Father, that Christ may dwell) by faith, etc. Rooted and founded in charity, — supply: "that you may be"; otherwise it would have to be said "to those rooted and founded." But the Roman edition and Anselm join these to what follows thus: "Rooted and founded in charity, that you may be able to comprehend," etc.
Verse 18: That You May Be Able to Comprehend What Is the Breadth, and Length, and Height, and Depth
18. That you may be able to comprehend (that is, to conceive in mind and understand) with all the saints, — that is, the Apostles, says Ambrose, the Prophets, and Christians, both those still militant here, and rather those triumphant in heaven and blessed with the vision of God.
What is the breadth, and length, and height, and depth. — Note first, that the Apostle here joins together with dimensions the differences of positions: for there are only three dimensions: length, breadth, thickness; but height and depth correspond to up and down, which are differences of position; therefore thickness is here resolved into height and depth, as it were into its extremes. So these four must be joined and distinguished not as they are in a body, but as they are in a house, where the depth is the foundations, the height is the roof, the length is the longer side or wall, the breadth is the shorter side.
Note secondly, that the Apostle seems to be touching on the fables of the heretics and poets, such as the βάθος (depth) of the gods of Hesiod, and the dimensions falsely attributed to Christ by Elxai, of which Epiphanius treats in book I, chapter 19 and 30: "Elxai," he says, "describes Christ as being a certain power, of the measure of twenty-four schoeni in length, that is, ninety-six miles; six schoeni in breadth, that is, twenty-four miles; and measures the thickness similarly, and the feet, and the rest of his fabulous concoctions." Such also were the thirty Aeons of Valentinus — as if the Apostle were saying: The poets, Valentinus and the heretics boast of the βάθος of their gods, that is, the depth, their πλήρωμα, that is, the fullness, length, breadth, height; but fabulously: but I declare and demonstrate that these very things exist in Christ, the God of Christians.
Note thirdly, that the Scriptures are to be taken in the most general way, because their author, the Holy Spirit, just as He has the most ample understanding and conception, so also the most ample mode of speech. Hence He intends various senses, even literal ones, if they fit the subject and the place, especially if they are subordinated and connected, and all conspire and are directed as it were to one single end. Thus St. Augustine, in Confessions book 12, chapter 30. Whence the Apostle speaks generally and indeterminately: "What is the breadth, length, height, and depth," not explaining nor determining of what thing he understands the length, breadth, etc. Therefore the Fathers explain this place in very varied and manifold ways, all probably. See here the fruitfulness of Holy Scripture.
I say therefore first: The Apostle here speaks of the benefit of the economy and redemption of Christ, by which He called not only the Jews but all the Gentiles to salvation, grace, and beatitude, and by this phrase he wishes to signify how great was this mystery of Christ, and how complete in all its numbers and parts; for it follows: "To know also the surpassing charity of the knowledge of Christ." Therefore he here describes the dimensions of Christ, or of the charity of Christ. The same is clear from the preceding verses 3, 4, 6, 8, 11 and the rest, in which he does nothing else than proclaim and admire this sacrament and mystery of Christ. Hence it is clear that this sense is genuine and properly intended by the Apostle. Thus Chrysostom, Theophylact, Theodoret, Oecumenius. If you wish to adapt each to each, you may do so thus: "What is the breadth," that is, how widely this mystery, the charity and beneficence of Christ extends, namely to all peoples and men who before the law, under the law, and after the law, have been, are, and will be; "what the length," that is, how far back this mystery was predefined, namely from eternity; "what the depth," that is, how deeply, namely to the lower regions, the power of Christ extends; "what the height," that is, how loftily, namely above all the heavens, Christ has raised our first-fruits into Himself and will raise us. Thus Oecumenius.
Secondly, these dimensions can be taken of Christ as He is God; whence it follows: "That you may be filled unto all the fullness of God," where in Greek it is πλήρωμα (pleroma), which was one of the Aeons or gods of Valentinus, against whom the Apostle sets the true πλήρωμα, that is, the fullness of God. For although all dimensions in God are one — one immensity, namely — and God is as it were a certain intelligible sphere without dimensions, as Ambrose explains; whence also Empedocles, when asked what God was, answered: He is a circle whose center is everywhere, the circumference nowhere; namely because God is wholly everywhere, yet is enclosed by no compass of heaven or earth, but above the heavens, through those immense empty spaces, His immensity stretches out into immensity. Hence Job rightly describes Him in chapter 11:8: "He is higher than heaven, and what wilt thou do? deeper than hell, and how wilt thou know? The measure of him is longer than the earth, and broader than the sea." And thus Ambrose here by length, breadth, height, depth understands the immensity of God. Yet we can distinguish these dimensions in God by analogy and similitude to creatures, namely as those are distinguished in creatures: and thus God's length is eternity; breadth is omnipotence, as St. Thomas takes it, or, as Bernard and Gregory, is charity; height is the majesty of God; depth is the abyss of the judgments and wisdom of God. Thus Anselm, St. Thomas, Cajetan. And most beautifully St. Bernard in book V On Consideration, at the end: "The divine essence," he says, "although one thing, is yet length on account of eternity, breadth on account of charity, height on account of majesty, depth on account of wisdom; this is God's four-horse chariot; we comprehend it with two arms, of fear and of love; fear corresponds to the height and depth, love to the length and breadth; or by four virtues: for we hold and comprehend length by perseverance, breadth by charity, majesty by veneration and adoration, wisdom and the abyss of judgments by fear and humility. To these also correspond four species of contemplation: for length is comprehended by the meditation of promises, breadth by the recollection of benefits, height by the contemplation of majesty, depth by the inspection of judgments." Thus Bernard. A little differently, St. Gregory in book 11 Morals, chapter 10 and 11, on that text "He is higher than heaven," etc., understands by breadth the charity of God; by length, longanimity; by height, the incomprehensibility of God, by which by the Saints in heaven, though most clearly seen, He cannot be comprehended; by depth, the incomprehensibility of the judgments of God in punishing the damned.
Thirdly, this place can be taken of the dimensions of the cross: for the cross was the instrument of Christ's redemption. Where note: There can be only three straight lines that intersect each other perpendicularly, that is, at right angles, namely two lying in a plane, and a third standing on them, and at their intersection penetrating into the depth, or downward. And these three lines make a threefold cross: for the other lines besides these three lateral ones, when they intersect each other, make angles that are not right but acute. And from this the Mathematicians have collected the three dimensions, or species of quantity: long, broad, thick or deep — which the Apostle has here, as our Clavius rightly noted on Euclid book I; these dimensions, then, are made by means of a threefold cross. Hence here too they can fitly be taken of the cross of Christ and explained of it.
On this point note again: Gregory of Nyssa, in Oration 1 On the Resurrection, holds that the Apostle alludes to the four horns of the cross, the highest horn being called the height, the lowest called the depth, and one transverse called the length, the other the breadth. Basil, Damascene, and Sedulius (cited in Jacobus Gretser, On the Cross, book I, chapter 3) add the reason why the cross had these four dimensions and horns: namely, that it might be signified that the four quarters of the world and the whole orb of the earth either belong or are called to the cross. Wherefore Nyssen calls the cross the bond of the universe. Hence second, Sedulius: "The top of the cross, or the height," he says, "is the East; the depth or the bottom is the West; the right horn is the North; the left, the South." Third and best: the length is the shaft of the cross; the breadth is the lesser transverse beam for the arms; the height is added when you raise the cross (for height is the summit of the erected cross); the depth is the bottom of the cross sunk into the ground. So almost Augustine in Psalm 103 and Epistle 102: "There was," he says, "breadth, in which the hands were stretched out; length rising from the ground, in which the body was fixed; height from that overhang upward which projects (in this point only Augustine differs slightly from us); depth, where the cross was fixed, and there is all the hope of our life." Therefore St. Jerome, Nyssen, Bede, Anselm, and most beautifully Augustine in Sermon 7 On the Words of the Apostle, take this passage of the Apostle of the cross.
And this first, literally, according to the genuine sense which I gave in the first place: that the length of the cross is its eternal predestination; the breadth is its power and virtue, which extends to all men of all times; the depth is that the power of the cross descended to hell, when it freed the souls of the fathers from limbo and Purgatory; the height is that it raised these same souls and many others up to heaven.
Again, according to the second sense given of Christ as God, we can adapt the same things I said there to the cross — namely, that we may consider the communication of idioms of God in Christ as Man crucified, and admire in the cross of God the length, that is, the eternal decree; the breadth, that is, charity and power; the height, that is, majesty; the depth, that is, wisdom — or all these things as it were affixed to the cross, because they were crucified together with God. Moreover, that God communicated to His cross its length, that is, eternity, so that the power of the cross might be eternal, and (as many hold) that the cross of Christ might endure as a trophy in the heavens forever, and so God as it were eternalized His cross; that likewise God communicated to the cross its breadth, that is, power, because through the weakness of the cross and of death He overcame and crushed the most powerful enemies; that He communicated its height, that is, majesty, namely that the cross might be adored by all; that He communicated its depth, that is, wisdom, because not by power, but by the highest equity, with wonderful art and wisdom devised — namely, by undergoing the cross and death in the flesh assumed — Christ satisfied God for our offense, and thus redeemed man through the cross: that he who conquered by wood, might also be conquered by wood.
Secondly, these dimensions can properly be taken of the cross as cross; for since in verse 13 the Apostle had said to the Ephesians, "Faint not in my tribulations," but in verse 16 He says, "Be strengthened with might," hence he adds a stimulus to them by setting before them the example of Christ — as if to say: I pray God that in your cross and tribulation He may grant you to think and to comprehend with your mind the cross of Christ (that you may be consoled and encouraged thereby): the depth, that is, the intensity of the sorrows and the ignominies of Christ crucified; and the length, that is, that for the thirty-four years in which He lived, He suffered this cross, these sorrows, whether in body, soul, or spirit, foreseeing them as imminent upon Him; and the breadth, that is, that Christ suffered in all His members and in the powers of His soul, from every kind of man, indeed from God and the angels, by whom He was forsaken, and underwent every kind of penalty, and was despoiled of all good things — of fortune, fame, honor, and life; and the height, that is, that Christ crucified, with sublime consideration and most perfect knowledge of God offended, of the gravity of our offense, of the cross, of the punishments inflicted or to be inflicted on Himself and on His person, and of the many to be damned — for whom all His sorrows would be useless — most grievously suffered and tortured Himself, not only on the cross but throughout His whole life.
Hence tropologically, applying these things to us, Anselm in his book On the Measure of the Cross, near the end: "The cross," he says, "is the torment of the heart that we do not serve God better. We ought therefore to have the torment that we are not as humbled, O Lord, as we ought to be — and this is the depth of the cross; that we do not praise and love You as much as Your goodness requires — and this is the height; that we are not so faithful as to draw others to Your praise — and this is the breadth; that we do not always continue Your praise — and this is the length."
Thirdly, these dimensions of the cross can morally be taken with St. Augustine, so that the length of the cross — both of Christ and of ours — is perseverance; the breadth is charity; the height is religion, hope, love, prayer, and every communication and union with God; the depth is the secret of predestination, why the cross profits one and not another: from which arises fear and profound humility. These three expositions about the cross can be applied in like manner to the other two expositions already given, and to the two following — namely the fourth and fifth, now to be spoken of.
Therefore this passage can fourthly be taken of the dimensions of the spiritual edifice, that is, of the fourfold perfection both of the Church of Christ, and of every Christian soul, and of charity, and consequently of every Christian virtue: for there preceded: "Rooted and founded in charity, that you may be able to comprehend." And: "That Christ may dwell by faith in your hearts," — namely so that these dimensions may be referred to that. Whence about this edifice he said in the preceding chapter, verse 20: "Built upon the foundation of the Apostles," etc., and again He treats of the same in the following chapter, verses 12 and 16. So St. Jerome, Augustine, Anselm, Gregory, Homily 6 on Ezekiel at the end. The dimensions of the Church are therefore these: its height is heaven, or the heavenly and blessed Jerusalem; its depth is hell: for this is the prison of the Church, of which limbo and Purgatory are parts; the length of the Church is that it is of all times and ages; its breadth is that it is of all lands and peoples. Or mathematically, as St. Jerome, the length of the Church is its diffusion from East to West; its breadth, from South to North.
Again, as Anselm has it, the length of the spiritual Church is hope longanimous; its breadth is charity; its height is the heavenly life among the angels: for our conversation is in the heavens; the depth is faith, baptism, and the other Sacraments of the Church. In like proportion the soul's length is faith, breadth is hope, height is charity, depth is humility. Or secondly, length is perseverance, breadth charity, height is hope of heaven, depth is fear of God's judgments. Whence St. Augustine, volume 10, homily 3 of the 50: "I," he says, "am accustomed to understand these words of Paul thus: in the breadth, the good works of charity; in the length, perseverance to the end; in the height, the hope of heavenly rewards; in the depth, the inscrutable judgments of God, whence this grace of God comes upon men" — from which arise fear, humility, and solidity of any virtue whatever.
Here too can be referred Jerome's other exposition concerning the last things: "The height," he says, "is heaven; the depth is hell; the middle, length and breadth, is the way of approach to one or the other."
Finally, these things can be applied to charity; for of it the Apostle premised: "Rooted in charity," and immediately adds about the same: "To know also the surpassing charity of the knowledge of Christ," namely that which Christ has in Himself and communicates to His Christians. Hence Vatablus explains this thus: "What is the length," etc., that is, how long, broad, deep, and sublime is the goodness of God. The length of charity, then, is its continuation and constant perseverance; its breadth is the extension by which charity extends itself to all, both angels and men, both enemies and friends, and to all creatures; its depth is its intensity and fervor; its height is its excellence and heroic acts, e.g., martyrdom, which is as it were the summit of charity; or its height is its object and elevation, by which charity raises itself to the one God whom it loves, and beneath Him despises all things. Apply all these in like manner to any other Christian virtue.
Fifthly, this place can be taken with Anselm, as it were anagogically (for the preceding was as it were tropology: but in such a way that both — namely both this anagogy and that tropology — are literal) of the dimensions of the heavenly city and beatitude, of which it is said in Apocalypse 21:16: "Its length and breadth and height are equal." Under "height" understand also "depth": for the length signifies the eternity of the joys; the breadth, extension; the height, sublimity; the depth, intensity and immersion in the abyss of the divinity. These are equal, because they last always with equal tenor. Whence the Apostle says here: "That you may be able to comprehend with all the saints." For this belongs to the Blessed; and these dimensions of the joys of heaven aptly correspond to the dimensions of the sorrows of the cross of Christ, of which we spoke in the third sense. For from the cross, charity, and merits of Christ all the dimensions just spoken of flow. Wherefore Christ's cross and merits are the measure of these same things, by which that great edifice is measured. Wherefore he who would have a clear knowledge of the works and merits of Christ, as Paul had, would rightly comprehend this manifold breadth, length, height, and depth. This Paul intimates when he said in verse 8: "To me, the least of all the saints, is given this grace, to preach among the Gentiles the unsearchable riches of Christ." For the riches of Christ are His merits, by which He merited for us all these dimensions of grace and glory, as Alcazar rightly noted on Apocalypse chapter 21, verse 15.
All these senses are true, all seem fittingly appropriate to this passage and to the indeterminate proposition of the Apostle. Hence all seem intended by the Holy Spirit and suggested to the various Fathers: yet the first seems most especially the genuine one. Thus then briefly and in order embrace them all and gather them into one, that the sense may be — and that the Apostle may speak — of the dimensions of Christ, both as God and as man, and especially of His cross, and likewise of its fruit and the conformity to it in us, both in this life and in the future: for the dimensions of Christ and of the Church are the same — dimensions which by Christ have been communicated to the Church and to every faithful and holy soul in the Church.
Verse 19: To Know Also the Charity of Christ Which Surpasses Knowledge, That You May Be Filled Unto All the Fullness of God
19. To know also the supereminent charity of Christ. — St. Augustine in Epistle 120 and St. Ambrose read: "to know the supereminent knowledge of the charity of Christ"; but the Greek and Latin Bibles have "of knowledge," not "knowledge."
Secondly, St. Jerome, Erasmus, and Vatablus take "of knowledge" in the genitive, as if to say: I pray God that He may give us an excellent love of cognition and knowledge, that you may eagerly desire to know and recognize the mysteries of the Christian faith.
Thirdly and better, others throughout take "of knowledge" in the dative; for it is governed by "supereminent," as if to say: charity, which supereminates and excels knowledge. Hence St. Augustine in his book On Grace and Free Will, chapter 19: "Since," he says, "the Apostle says: 'The supereminent love of Christ which surpasses knowledge' — what is more insane than to think that knowledge, which must be subordinated to charity, is from God, and that charity, which transcends knowledge, is from men?" There St. Augustine explains this passage about knowledge and charity in general, as if to say: The Apostle teaches that charity far surpasses all knowledge, as he taught more fully in 1 Corinthians XIII. But because the Apostle does not speak of charity absolutely, but qualifies it by adding: "the charity of Christ," and because throughout this whole chapter he has extolled the charity shown to us in Christ, hence in the fourth and simplest sense, by "the charity of Christ" — that is, the charity which Christ has shown us — he calls it "supereminent over knowledge," that is, greater than what can be known, understood, and comprehended, as if to say: The charity of Christ is so great that it surpasses all human cognition and knowledge. So Theophylact, Œcumenius, and Ambrose, who says: "After the infinite and incomprehensible knowledge of God the Father, and His ineffable mercy, He also wishes us to acknowledge the charity of Christ, which is supereminent over knowledge: for who can grasp the reason of this mystery of charity — that God should be born a man for man's sake, then die for men, the Lord for slaves, the Creator for creatures, the holy One for the impious?"
That you may be filled unto all the fullness of God. — First, some commentators in Theophylact and Œcumenius say: The fullness of God is the sacred Trinity: Father, Son, and Holy Spirit, as if to say: That you may fully know, love, adore, and please the Most Holy Trinity, its attributes, and the dimensions just mentioned. Secondly and better, Theophylact and others, as if to say: That you may be full of all wisdom, virtue, and perfection, especially of that charity with which God is full; or, that you may be filled with the knowledge of God, with love, and with the fullness of all divine goods.
Verse 20: Now to Him Who Is Able to Do All Things More Abundantly Than We Ask or Understand
20. Now to Him who is able to do all things more abundantly than we ask or understand. — In Greek the sense is clearer and the force more effective: τῷ καὶ δυναμένῳ ὑπὲρ πάντα ποιῆσαι ὑπερεκπερισσοῦ ὧν αἰτούμεθα ἢ νοοῦμεν, that is, to Him who is able above all things to do superabundantly beyond what we ask or understand — that is, who is able to do all things in an extraordinary manner, better, more amply, and more abundantly than we may ask or understand. As if to say: I hope that God, who is so liberal that He surpasses our wishes, will also fulfill and surpass this very wish of mine, that you may be filled unto all the fullness of God; and that He may fulfill and surpass it I tacitly beg and beseech Him. Note the meiosis: "is able" — that is, He can, and in fact does, and is wont to do. Similar is 2 Corinthians ch. IX, v. 8, as I said there.
According to the power which works in us. — κατὰ τὴν δύναμιν, according to the strength and power, that is, the grace and spirit, which powerfully drives us to the arduous works of the virtues, as if to say: That God is able — nay, that He wills — to do more than I may ask or understand, is evident from the great strength and power of His grace, which He actually gives, and which day by day we experience beyond all our hope and thought.
Verse 21: To Him Be Glory in the Church, and in Christ Jesus
21. To Him be glory in the Church, and in Christ Jesus. — The Greek does not have the conjunction "and," and so the sense is fuller, as if to say: Let God be glorified in your Church through Christ Jesus, from whom you have received such great goods and such great graces.