Cornelius a Lapide
Table of Contents
Synopsis of the Chapter
St. John sees a book in the hand of God, sealed with seven seals, written within and without, which no one in heaven or on earth could open; but in verse 7, the slain Lamb alone opens it: wherefore the four living creatures, and the twenty-four elders, and all the heavenly hosts celebrate and glorify both God and the Lamb.
Vulgate Text: Apocalypse 5:1-14
1 And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne, a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals. 2 And I saw a strong angel, proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to open the book, and to loose the seals thereof? 3 And no man was able, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, to open the book, nor to look on it. 4 And I wept much, because no man was found worthy to open the book, nor to see it. 5 And one of the ancients said to me: Weep not; behold the lion of the tribe of Juda, the root of David, hath prevailed to open the book, and to loose the seven seals thereof. 6 And I saw: and behold in the midst of the throne and of the four living creatures, and in the midst of the ancients, a Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes: which are the seven Spirits of God, sent forth into all the earth. 7 And He came and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne. 8 And when He had opened the book, the four living creatures, and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb, having every one of them harps, and golden vials full of odours, which are the prayers of saints: 9 And they sung a new canticle, saying: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book, and to open the seals thereof; because Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God, in Thy blood, out of every tribe, and tongue, and people, and nation: 10 And hast made us to our God a kingdom and priests, and we shall reign on the earth. 11 And I beheld, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne, and the living creatures, and the ancients; and the number of them was thousands of thousands, 12 Saying with a loud voice: The Lamb that was slain is worthy to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom, and strength, and honour, and glory, and benediction. 13 And every creature, which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth, and such as are in the sea, and all that are in them: I heard all saying: To Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, benediction, and honour, and glory, and power, for ever and ever. 14 And the four living creatures said: Amen. And the four and twenty ancients fell down on their faces; and adored Him that liveth for ever and ever.
Verse 1: And I saw in the right hand of Him that sat on the throne, a book written within and without, sealed with seven seals
1. AND I SAW IN THE RIGHT HAND OF HIM THAT SAT UPON THE THRONE, A BOOK WRITTEN WITHIN AND WITHOUT, SEALED WITH SEVEN SEALS. — He alludes to Isaiah 29:11: "And the vision of all shall be unto you as the words of a book that is sealed, which when they shall deliver to one that is learned, he shall say: I cannot; for it is sealed." And still more to Ezekiel 2:10: "Behold, a hand was sent to me, in which was a book rolled up, and He spread it before me, and it was written within and without." Whence it is clear that this book was not like ours, but was rolled up like a folded geographical map, as is now seen depicted in churches at Rome: for such were the books of the ancients, which from their being rolled they called volumes (volumina); and I saw such very ancient Hebrew books of the Bible in the Vatican Library. For the ancients used to write on parchments or skins, on one side only, because it was the cleaner part of the skin; they then rolled it up, bound it together, and sealed it, as wills are sealed. Sometimes, however, they wrote on both sides of the parchment, and then the book was said to be written within and without, that is, on the inner side of the parchment, and at the same time on the outer: such was this one here.
Hence it is clear that John could not have seen this book to be written on both sides, except after its resealing, unrolling, and unfolding. So when He says: "Written within and without," he did not know this then, but afterwards, when the book had been opened and unrolled. There is therefore here a hysterologia: for that is narrated first which happened later. Finally, the seven seals of the cords with which the book was bound and sealed had to be loosed before the book could be opened, seen, and read. Pineda differs, in book V Of the Affairs of Solomon, chapter 13, where he interprets the sealed book in Isaiah 29:11, and in Daniel 8:26, and here in John, as written in secret marks and characters, just as the Egyptians wrote with hieroglyphic signs, and the Chinese still write. So this book was sealed with seven seals, as with seven characters, containing certain secret mysteries, which are explained in chapter 6. But although this is in part true, it cannot be denied that the signs of this book were seals, which closed and sealed the book, so that the book could not be read except by the seals being opened and undone. For this John clearly says here and in chapter 6.
You will ask: Who is this sealed book? First, Ticonius, Ambrose, Rupert, Richard, Andrew, Bede, Haymo, Ansbert, Anselm, Joachim and Hugo here, and Origen, homily 12 on Exodus; Eusebius, book VIII of the Demonstration, chapter II; St. Jerome on Isaiah 29, and the ancients commonly hold that this book is Sacred Scripture, or the prophecies both of the Old and New Testament: for of this it is said in Deuteronomy 33:2: "In His right hand a fiery law." The sense: "written within" as to the New Testament; "without" as to the Old: for this was the veil of the New, says Ansbert and Bede; or "without" as to the literal sense; "within" as to the spiritual and mystical, says Rupert. The seven seals signify that it is full of secret and obscure mysteries: for the number seven is the symbol of multitude and universality. So Primasius and Bede. Now the first seal, says Hugo, is the depth of the meanings of Sacred Scripture; the second, the multiplicity of senses; the third, the variety of figures; the fourth, the incomprehensibility of the things themselves; the fifth, the obscurity of the mysteries; the sixth, the sweetness of the tropologies; the seventh, infallible truth mixed with the unevidentness of things. Christ opened this sealed book when, on going up to heaven, He gave the Apostles understanding of the Scriptures. Of this book Hugo of St. Victor beautifully says in his treatise On the Ark of Noah: "Sacred Scripture is the book of life, whose origin is eternal, essence incorporeal, writing indelible, appearance desirable, teaching easy, knowledge sweet, depth inscrutable, words innumerable, and yet one word is everything." For although the words are innumerable as to sound, yet there is only one as to sense, or rather as to consent.
John once saw one book written within and without, and heard: "Who is worthy to open the book?" Whereupon Rupert says: "That one book is Sacred Scripture: which is therefore called and is one book, because it is written by one Spirit, and is the one treasury and shrine of the word of God." This sense is more general than is fitting. For it suits Ezekiel, Isaiah and other books of Sacred Scripture as well as the Apocalypse and this passage.
Secondly, St. Hilary, in his preface on the Psalms: "This book," he says, "is Christ, because Christ is the matter and subject of this book. Therefore as Xenophon calls the book he wrote about Cyrus the Cyropaedia, so we can also entitle this book Of the Rule, or Sovereignty of Christ, to signify that it deals with Christ Himself. The seven seals," says Hilary, "are the seven principal mysteries of Christ, namely: first, the Incarnation; second, the Nativity; third, the Passion; fourth, the Resurrection; fifth, the Ascension into heaven; sixth, the sending of the Holy Spirit; seventh, His second coming for judgment." And Blessed Peter Damian, in the sermon On St. Luke the Evangelist: "The seven seals of the sealed book are the seven Sacraments, by which the whole order of the Lord's dispensation is fulfilled, namely the Lord's Incarnation, Nativity, Passion, Resurrection, ascent to heaven, then judgment, lastly the kingdom." These Christ alone opens, because He alone perfects and fulfills them. Or, as St. Bernard says, sermon 1 on Easter: The seven seals are the seven mysteries which concealed Christ's divinity and wisdom. The first is the espousal of His mother to Joseph; the second, the weakness of Christ's body; the third, the circumcision; the fourth, the flight into Egypt; the fifth, the temptation of the devil; the sixth, the scandal of the cross; the seventh, the burial. All these seals Christ at His resurrection loosed and opened. Again, Seraphinus of Fermo by the seven seals takes the seven secrets of Christ's Passion: the first is supreme impotence in the Omnipotent; the second, supreme suffering in the Impassible; the third, supreme foolishness before men in Christ, who is divine Wisdom; the fourth, supreme poverty in the God of riches; the fifth, supreme ignominy in supreme majesty; the sixth, supreme abandonment by God in supreme union with Him; the seventh, supreme severity in the supreme love of the Father toward the Son.
But this explanation, like the first, is too universal, and is more accommodative than genuine. For in like manner some apply this sealed book to the Eucharist. For in it the Lamb, that is the Passion and death of Christ, is represented, and Christ Himself, having suffered and been slain, is veiled and concealed by seven seals, so that of Him it can truly be said as in Isaiah 45:15: "Verily, Thou art a hidden God, the God of the Savior." The seven seals which hide Christ in the Eucharist are: odor, taste, color, smallness, lightness, roundness, slenderness of the host — all of which are accidents of the bread, not of Christ's body, so that here the seven senses, namely the four external — sight, smell, taste, and touch — and the three internal, namely common sense, fancy, and estimation, which follow the judgment of the external senses, are deceived and judge it to be bread. Again, the seven seals are the seven greatest miracles which make this Sacrament the secret of God's secrets: the first is transubstantiation, namely that the whole substance of the bread and wine is converted into the substance of the body of Christ; the second, that the accidents of the bread remain and exist without a subject; the third, that the whole six-foot quantity of Christ is circumscribed in a small place, namely the circle of the host; the fourth, that by the force of consecration under the species of bread there is only the body of Christ, but by concomitance the blood, soul, and divinity of Christ are present: in like manner under the species of wine by the force of consecration there is only the blood of Christ, but by concomitance the body, soul, and divinity of Christ follow and are present; the fifth, that the same body in number, and the same Christ, is present at all altars throughout the world simultaneously, when the sacrifice of the Mass is offered; the sixth, that Christ is whole in the whole host, and whole in any part of it, indeed in any point of it; the seventh, that Christ makes Himself the food of all the faithful, in such a way that He transmutes them into Himself, not they Christ into themselves. Again, that Christ is like the manna, which gave to him who tasted it every sweetness of flavor that anyone wished: Christ gives the same, but spiritual, not corporeal. Finally, that by the power of Christ's glorious body, which we eat in the Eucharist, we shall rise to immortal life, as He Himself promised in John 6:51. But all these things are accommodative, not genuine to the scope and purpose of this passage: for here the Sacrament of the Eucharist is not the matter under discussion.
Thirdly, Andrew of Caesarea thinks this book to be the decree and memory of God, in which all men are described; or the inscrutable abyss of God's works and judgments. Hence it is sealed with seven, that is, with many seals. So nearly does Aureolus also: "This book," he says, "is the secret of divine wisdom." And Maldonatus, in the Manuscript Notes which I saw in the Roman College: "The book," he says, "is the knowledge of God, as is understood from the whole of chapter 6. It is written within and without, because the knowledge of God is most perfect, and cannot increase. It is sealed with seven seals, that is altogether, because who hath known the mind of the Lord? or because it contained chiefly seven future things, which no one knew, as is explained in chapter 6. But Christ alone opened it, because in Him are all the treasures of the wisdom and knowledge of God."
Fourthly, others think that this book is the handwriting of Adam's sin, namely the obligation and guilt of sin, by which Adam bound himself and us to God the Avenger. The seven seals are the seven gravest evils which we incurred through this sin: the first is offense against God; the second, the pain of loss; the third, the pain of the fire of hell; the fourth, the necessity of dying; the fifth, the yoke of the devil; the sixth, turning away from God and conversion to creatures; the seventh, concupiscence. All these only Christ was able to loose. But all these things are mystical, not literal.
Fifthly, Ambrose says this book is a chronology of the world, and the seven seals are the seven ages of the world. But thus the Apocalypse would be history, not prophecy: for most of the ages of the world had unfolded and were past in John's time.
Sixthly, Oecumenius, Lyranus and Aureolus think this book is the book of God's foreknowledge, providence and predestination, which is closed to us unless it be revealed to us by God's right hand, or be entrusted to execution. To this is added our Prado, on Ezekiel 2:10, who reduces the seven seals to the greatest calamities of the Church, and says that in the first there shines forth God's power; in the second, His indignation and unsheathed sword; in the third, justice avenging crimes; in the fourth, death which makes faces pale; in the fifth, the avenging of innocent blood; in the sixth, the consummation of the universe; in the seventh, the cataclysm of all evils. But these are too general, and do not indicate particular events of the Church.
Seventhly, Alcazar holds this book to be that part of the Apocalypse which is contained under the seven seals, that is, the mysteries which were revealed to John when these seals were opened, which are contained from chapter 6 to chapter 11 inclusive. For from chapter 11 to chapter 19, he says, the persecution which the Gentiles stirred up against the Church, and the conversion of these same Gentiles, are treated. Now he holds the mysteries of the book, or of the seven seals, to be these: In the first four seals, he says, are uncovered and shown the supreme strength, beneficence, equity, and wisdom of God in the salvation of believing and predestined Jews; in the last three appears in the rejection of the reprobate Jews the greatest patience of God, a terrible threatening, and finally the most severe punishment. And these are the seven spirits of which I spoke in chapter 1, note 5. Moreover this is not a new doctrine, but the same which was foretold by the Prophets in the Old Testament: whence the Fathers commonly say that this sealed book is the prophecies of the Old Testament, namely because by them was foretold the salvation of believing Jews and the reprobation of unbelievers, which John here shows to have been actually fulfilled. This book is said to be written within and without, because the external part corresponded as it were equally to the interior, just as in account books (which once were entire parchments) on the back of the page they wrote the reckoning of what was given, on the front of what was received: so here the mysteries concerning the salvation of believing Jews correspond to the mysteries and plagues inflicted on unbelieving Jews. Therefore this book, written on both sides, signifies how God deals with the pious and the impious, namely, as the Psalmist says, Psalm 17:26: "With the holy, Thou wilt be holy, and with the perverse, Thou wilt be perverse."
Moreover, the distinction that must be made between mystery and seal must be noted, says Alcazar: a mystery is that which lies hidden under a seal; a seal is that which contains the very concealment and difficulty of the mystery. Therefore the first mystery is the great strength of the Messiah; and the difficulty in attaining knowledge of it arises from the external appearance and pretense of His weakness. Thus the first seal represents the appearance of infirmity, under which the first mystery lies hidden, namely the infinite power of Christ in saving the Jews who embraced Him. For Christ's greatest strength shines forth in this, that in such weakness of His flesh, by the cross He accomplished such great salvation and victory: "for strength is made perfect in weakness." Similarly, the second mystery is His immense beneficence toward the same; but the seal is the simulation of severity and tyranny. The third mystery is the supreme equity by which He governs them, hidden under the pretext of iniquity, as under a seal: for the equity of God by which He chose these and neglected and rejected those seems unjust, indeed a respect of persons: yet truly it is most equitable. The fourth is His wonderful wisdom in procuring the happiness of His own; the seal, the appearance of ignorance and folly: for wisdom is wonderfully accomplished under the simulation of folly, "because what is foolish of God is wiser than men," 1 Corinthians 1:23. The fifth is incredible patience toward the rebellious Jews; the seal, the dissimulation of injuries, and as though He cared not: for God wisely veils and covers His patience under the appearance of forgetfulness or connivance. The sixth, serious threatening; but the seal presents no external appearance of threats, but rather permission and license: for often threats and punishments are wisely concealed. The seventh is severe punishment, and the chastisement which He inflicts upon the Jews; but the seal bears the appearance of impunity: or in common evils, He does not put forward the rejection of the Messiah, but other causes of the punishment. Thus far Alcazar speculates subtly, but obscurely.
But many things stand against this exposition. First, that he takes the book to be the very seals and their mysteries, when it is established that the book is distinguished from its seals. Second, that he reckons this book to contain the salvation of the believing Jews and the damnation of the unbelievers, which had already taken place and were public to the whole world: how then are these said to be sealed, so that no one can see or read them? Finally, this whole exposition seems rather an ingenious accommodation than a genuine explanation: just as Proba Falconia accommodated and adapted Virgil's Aeneid to Christ and Christ's deeds; and Eudocia, wife of the Emperor Theodosius the Younger, composed her Homerocentones from Homer about the same subjects.
Eighth and genuinely, this book is the Apocalypse, or the mysteries and oracles of the Apocalypse, contained as it were in the foreknowledge, providence and predestination of God: these mysteries concern the reign and persecution of Antichrist, the constancy of Elijah, Enoch and the faithful resisting him, etc., and the universal judgment, and the happiness and glory of the blessed. The seven seals are the seven visions immediately following, by which, namely, at the opening of each seal a new event and calamity to befall the world is revealed and shown, preceding Antichrist and the end of the world, which is the subject matter and argument of the book itself. Hence the book could not be read and understood unless the seals were first opened, that is, unless those calamities were first seen which must precede the last times of Antichrist and the judgment. Ezekiel saw a similar book, chapter 2, verse 9, in which were written lamentations, song and woe. Thus Pannonius, Prado, Ribera, Pererius, Viegas, who for this opinion cite Andreas, Aretas, Lyranus, Aureolus and Dionysius. Therefore this book is nothing other than the counsel and predetermination of divine providence, by which He has established and decreed within Himself either to do or to permit those things which shall come to pass in the time of Antichrist.
Ribera rightly notes that the seven seals of the book are not to be understood as if, when they were loosed, that would be read in the book which John relates he saw at the loosing of each one, as when at the loosing of the first seal he relates he saw a white horse; at the second, a red; at the third, a black; at the fourth, a pale, etc. For he did not read these things in the book, but at the opening of each seal he saw the things hidden and closed under them unsealed and shown to him. For nothing could be read in the book except after the unsealing of all seven seals: for when all were opened, then at last the book could be opened and read, not before. For the book was rolled up, and thus sealed on the outside with seven seals: therefore what John saw after the unsealing of each seal he saw not in the book, since it was still closed by the other seals, but as it were hidden under the seal itself, and revealed when it was opened. Whence:
Note secondly: The whole Apocalypse is occupied with the description of this book and its seven seals. Therefore there are two parts of the Apocalypse, as I said above: in the first, namely from this chapter to chapter 11, the seals are unsealed and explained; in the other, from chapter 11 to the end, those things are unsealed and read which were written in the book itself. Therefore the book contains those things which are to come in the time of Antichrist: the seven seals contain just as many persecutions of the Church and the Saints, which were to come before the advent of Antichrist: therefore the book cannot be read unless the seals are unsealed, because the times of Antichrist cannot be seen unless these persecutions go before, which are as it were preliminary and forerunners to him, and prepare and pave the way for him. And so since by God's counsel and destination these must precede before that son of perdition comes, whose tyranny and savage persecution are written in the book: hence these very things prevent the book from being read, that is, prevent the things written in it from being seen and revealed. Wherefore most rightly are they called signets, or seals. It is similar to what Paul says concerning the same time of Antichrist, 2 Thessalonians 2:6: "And now you know what restrains him, that he may be revealed in his time (for the mystery of iniquity is already at work), only that he who now holds, may hold, until he be taken out of the way. And then that wicked one shall be revealed," as if to say: Nero and other Roman Emperors who now reign restrain the coming of Antichrist: for he cannot come until the Empire be transferred. So these seals restrain Antichrist from being revealed, who is not to come until these times pass, and in them are accomplished those things which God willed to take place in each of them, and which here, signified and foreshown in the seven seals, John saw as about to come to pass in their own time.
That this is so is clear from the very context and the whole sequence of the Apocalypse. For in the next chapter, namely 6, the seals begin to be opened, and the calamities and plagues contained in them, and then continuously up to chapter 10 each one is opened in its own order; but in chapter 10, when the seals have already been opened, John receives from the angel the book previously sealed, now open, and when he has devoured it, he hears from him in verse 11: "You must prophesy again to the Gentiles," namely because you must prophesy and write down the mysteries contained in the book itself concerning Antichrist, Elijah and Enoch, etc., in chapter 11 and following.
Moreover I shall explain the seals themselves in particular in chapters 6, 7, 8 and 9, each in its own place.
Note thirdly: Just as St. John described Christ's first coming in the Gospel, so here in the Apocalypse he describes the second coming of the same at the end of the world: that book is open, because it is historical; this one is sealed and closed because it is prophetic concerning future events at the day of judgment. For God willed John to describe both comings of Christ, the former as Evangelist, the latter as Prophet.
SCRIPTUM INTUS ET FORIS (Greek ἔσωθεν καὶ ὄπισθεν, that is, within and behind, namely on both sides of the parchment: hence the Syriac translates, written within and behind; the Arabic, written from within and from without, that is interior and exterior), SEALED WITH SEVEN SEALS. — For the books of the ancients were rolled up: for they were rolled around a cylinder or some staff. Hence that passage in chapter 6: "The heaven departed like a scroll rolled up." Therefore in these books the writing was within, that is inside, rolled and wound up; but this book, because it contained very many things, was therefore written not only within, but also without, that is on the back on the outer face, books which Pliny calls opisthographs, that is, written on the back, of which Juvenal also says:
An Orestes written even on the back and not yet finished.
Add: Merchants and others not infrequently used to write on one side of the parchment the account of what had been given, and on the other reverse and opposite side the account of what had been received, or on one the debit, on the other the credit. So here it may be said with Alcazar that since this book contains the different lots of the pious and the impious, of which one is diametrically opposed and contrary to the other, the lot of the pious would have been written on one side, e.g. on the inner face and page; the lot of the impious on the outer or opposite face. With this phrase Pliny says, book II, chapter VII: "In the whole reckoning of mortals fortune alone makes both pages," as if to say: Fortune in life produces both prosperous and adverse affairs. For he himself seems to have been an atheist, and to have denied the divine power and providence, and consequently to have ascribed the outcomes of things not to God's providence but to fortune.
Verse 2: And I saw a strong angel, proclaiming with a loud voice: Who is worthy to open the book?
2. AND I SAW A STRONG ANGEL, — that is, Gabriel, says Lyranus. For Gabriel in Hebrew means the same as the strength of God. Secondly, Dionysius the Carthusian thinks this was the same Angel as the one who revealed these mysteries to John, and painted in his imagination all these symbols of God's throne, the 24 elders, the four living creatures, the sealed book, the slain Lamb, etc. He is called "strong," that is, powerful and mighty. For he seems to have been from among the principal angels: for he was sent on a strong and mighty work, namely to seek a strong man who could unseal the sealed book full of the highest mysteries, whom no angels or men could unseal. Whence with a strong and strained voice he cries: "Who is worthy to open the book?"
Mystically: This Angel, says Rupert, signifies the fathers in limbo eagerly awaiting the Messiah, who, unsealing the bars of limbo, would free them from there. Again, he signifies John the Baptist, says Joachim, who said: I am not worthy to loose the latchet of Christ's sandal; for the latchet of the sandal binds the same thing which the book sealed with its seals closes.
Finally Alcazar reckons that there is here an allusion to Hosea 14:10: "Who is wise, and shall understand these things? Who is prudent, and shall know these things? For the ways of the Lord are right, and the just shall walk in them; but the transgressors shall fall in them." For this book contains the ways both of the pious, who are made blessed by following the Lord's ways, and of the impious, who are damned by spurning them. As to Hosea being called a strong angel, this fits very well with what St. Epiphanius writes in his Life, namely that by the power of his words he split a huge oak into twelve parts. It also accords with the argument of Hosea, who treats of the impious branch, namely the rejection of the Jews; and of the faithful and pious, namely the Gentiles, in their election and salvation. Thus far Alcazar.
WHO IS WORTHY? — Who is able, who has the power to open the book? For this is not granted by God except to him who is worthy.
TO OPEN THE BOOK, AND TO LOOSE THE SEALS. — "And" means "that is," as if to say: Who is worthy to open the book, that is, to loose its seals; or, who is worthy to open the book by loosing its seals? For to open a book closed with seals is nothing other than to loose and unseal its very seals.
Less correctly Alcazar reckons that to open the book and to loose the seals is nothing other than that Christ make available to men the abundance of His Spirit, so that the mysteries concerning the happiness of the Jews who believed in Christ, and the unhappiness of the unbelievers, which are contained in the Apocalypse, they might be able to recognize. And so he himself thinks that these mysteries had already been known to St. John the Apostle, the 24 elders, and the four living creatures: and consequently that John desires not that this book be opened to himself and his own, but to others, both faithful and unfaithful. But that the mysteries of this book were unknown to John himself, the elders, and the four living creatures, is clear from what he adds: "And no one was able, neither in heaven, nor on earth, nor under the earth, to open the book;" nor only this, but "neither to look upon it:" therefore much less to understand it. If "no one in heaven," then neither the 24 elders nor the four living creatures could open the book or inspect it. Whence he also adds: "And I wept much, because no one was found worthy to open the book;" nor only this, but "nor to see it." The Greek adds, οὐδὲ ἀναγνῶναι, that is, nor to read it. So plainly by these words it is signified that no one of men or angels knew the mysteries of the Apocalypse, that is, those things which were to come to pass in future times in the Church, especially under the Antichrist, and concerning the end of the world and the day of judgment, except God and the Son of God, as He Himself says in Mark 13:32; where although He denies that He knows the day on which the judgment will precisely take place, namely so that it would be permitted Him to reveal it to others, He does not however deny that He knows the prior signs which will indicate that day is at hand: for these very things He Himself reveals here to John and to the whole world. Therefore this book remains closed and sealed, so that no one can read it, until Christ unseals and opens it, not to Himself (for He Himself already before knew what was contained in the book), but to John and other faithful ones. Therefore to open the book is the same as to propose it for others to read, that is, to recount to others the mysteries contained in it.
Others refer these things to the execution and fulfillment of the Apocalypse, by which were actually completed those things which are foretold here as to be fulfilled in it: for they think that to open the book is nothing else than actually to complete its prophecies, and to bring it about that those things which are here foretold as future actually come to pass. But thus John would not have seen this book being opened to him now, but would have said that it was to be opened at the end of the world. Therefore the opening of the book does not signify its real execution and fulfillment, but its explanation and revelation. For these things He opened here to John, and to all men, this sealed book.
Verse 3: And no one was able... neither to look upon it
3. NEITHER TO LOOK UPON, — that is, to see, as immediately follows (for in the Greek the same word βλέπειν is used in both places), to inspect, to unroll, to read, to know the book, that is, the things which were written in the book.
Verse 5: Behold the Lion of the tribe of Judah, the Root of David, hath prevailed
5. AND ONE OF THE ELDERS SAID TO ME: WEEP NOT: BEHOLD, THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH, THE ROOT OF DAVID, HAS CONQUERED TO OPEN THE BOOK. — Alcazar judges this elder to have been St. Luke: for he himself thinks there is here an allusion to what Luke wrote in the Acts of the Apostles, namely that Christ imparted His Spirit to many who heard the Apostles' preaching, as in chapter 8, verse 17: "Then they laid hands on them, and they received the Holy Spirit." And chapter 10, verse 44: "While Peter was still speaking... the Holy Spirit fell upon all who heard the word," etc. But that the chief allusion is to the conversion of St. Paul, which Luke recounts that Christ accomplished, in Acts 9. For he describes all these things as effects of the passion and resurrection of Christ, which are Christ's victory over the Jews and Gentiles, which had been written in this sealed book.
But I have shown above that the 24 elders were the twelve Apostles from the New, and twelve principal Saints from the Old Testament, and consequently St. Luke was not among them.
Secondly, Lyranus holds it was St. Peter. For he was the chief of the Apostles, and consequently the master of St. John, and was already blessed and glorious in heaven.
Thirdly, Dionysius the Carthusian thinks it was St. Matthew, because he himself at the end of his Gospel says concerning Christ: "All power is given to me in heaven and on earth;" which is the same as what John here hears from the elder: "Behold, the Lion of the tribe of Judah has conquered."
But these things are said by guessing, and are mere conjectures. For one might just as well say that James the brother of John, or Paul, or any other was among the elders, as Matthew or Peter.
BEHOLD, THE LION OF THE TRIBE OF JUDAH HAS CONQUERED. — Christ appeared here to John in the form of a slain lamb, as is clear from the following verse; therefore He did not appear in the form of a lion: nevertheless He is called a lion by metaphor. "He conquered," that is, He obtained, prevailed, was powerful to open the book thus sealed, Christ. Alcazar adds, "He conquered," that is, He communicated His Spirit to men, that they might understand these prophecies, not only speculatively, but also practically and savorously, namely that they might be made spiritual from them: for this is to "open the book." But this is moral rather than literal.
Note: Christ is here called a lion, soon a slain lamb, because through meekness, innocence, and the weakness of death and the cross He merited and obtained the highest power and dominion, and was made a lion, namely from the conquered the conqueror, from the dead the one alive again, from the slain the giver of life to all the faithful. Whence in the Greek there is a double article, having great emphasis: ὁ λέων, ὁ ὢν ἐκ τῆς φυλῆς Ἰούδα, that is, that illustrious and celebrated lion, who is of the tribe of Judah.
Furthermore, Christ is called a lion, first, because He arose from the tribe of Judah, whose emblem was the lion. For Jacob the patriarch, blessing him, said in Genesis 49:9: "A lion's whelp is Judah; thou hast couched as a lion, and as a lioness: who shall stir him up?"
Secondly, on account of His extraordinary fortitude by which He overcame the devil, death, sin, and hell; therefore Christ suffered, but suffered as a lion, because by suffering He conquered His enemies, and from passion and death soon He arose as a lion. This is what the Apostle says in Colossians 2:15: "Stripping the principalities and powers, He brought them forth confidently in open show, triumphing over them in Himself;" hence in verse 6 He is said to have seven horns.
Thirdly, on account of His royal dignity: for the lion is the king of animals; thus Christ is the King of the world, and the prince of the faithful and of the Saints.
Fourthly, because as a lion is terrifying to the wicked, so He will be on the day of judgment. For a lion by his roar alone so strikes other animals that he as it were stupefies and stuns them, says Ambrose. And St. Hilary in Psalm 131: "The lion," he says, "is a terror to all wild beasts, and he alone through confidence and security sleeps fearless; he is the terror of all when watching:" so also is Christ.
Fifthly, just as the lion alone among animals which have curved claws, as soon as it is born, opens its eyes, and with them sees and discerns: so Christ as soon as He was conceived and incarnate, saw God, and was full of wisdom and grace.
Sixthly, the lion sleeps with open eyes; whence by the ancients it was believed not to sleep: hence the lion is a symbol of vigilance. Thus Christ in His passion, and throughout His whole life, kept open not only the eye of His divinity, but also that of His humanity, through the beatific vision, and through infused knowledge: hence He is said here to have seven eyes.
Seventhly, St. Epiphanius adds, in heresy 78, that the mother of Christ is a lioness. For just as the lioness gives birth only once, so also the Blessed Virgin. Whether this is true concerning the lioness, I have discussed at Ezekiel 19.
Eighthly, the same St. Epiphanius in his Physiologus teaches that the lion, covering its tracks, is a symbol of God who is difficult to know, and of Christ. "When the lion," he says, "wanders on the mountain, and smells the hunter, he covers his own tracks with his tail, lest the hunters following them find his lair and capture him. So Christ the spiritual lion, who conquered from the tribe of Judah, sent by the Father, covered His own tracks, that is, His divinity: for He emptied Himself, and descended into the womb of Mary, that He might save the race deceived by fraud. And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us. Wherefore those who did not know that He had descended from above, said: Who is this King of glory? But the Holy Spirit: The Lord, he says, of hosts, He is the King of glory." He adds that the lion's whelp is born dead and blind, and on the third day, when the father lion breathes upon it, it receives life and sight: so also Christ has vivified and enlightened the Gentiles dead in sin and blind in faith, when on the third day He rose from the dead. But the natural philosophers deny this concerning the lion, nor does it seem probable, unless you say that the lion's whelp is not dead, but sleeping and similar to the dead, and is awakened by the lion.
Finally, on the tomb of brave men a lion used to be carved, as was done for the Thebans who fell in battle against Philip, as Pausanias teaches in his Boeotica. That the originator of this symbol was Hercules is taught by Ptolemaeus Hephaestion, and from him our Nicolaus Causinus, Elect. Symb., page 190. Therefore to the tomb of Christ, who most courageously laid down His life for the salvation of the world, the lion is owed.
ROOT OF DAVID. — The Syriac, that root of David, namely the celebrated and outstanding one, not which produced David, but which was produced and generated from David, as if to say: Christ is the root, that is, the branch and stock, from the root, that is, from the family of David already almost cut down, extinguished, pressed to the ground, and in its root alone as it were lurking under the earth, sprouting up and born, who restored this royal family of David and its kingdom, not temporal but spiritual, indeed effected it far greater and more glorious than it had been under David. It is a metonymy. Whence the Arabic translates, from the tribe of Judah, and from the root of David. That this is the sense is clear from the last chapter, verse 16, where Christ says: "I am the root and the offspring of David." Therefore "root" is the same as offspring, that is, the descendant and son of David. He alludes to Isaiah 11:1: "And there shall come forth a rod from the root of Jesse, and a flower shall rise up from his root." And to Isaiah 53:1 [recte 2]: "And he shall come up as a tender plant before him, and as a root out of a thirsty ground." So Ribera, Alcazar and others. This sense is the genuine one. Hear, however, the interpretations of others as well.
First, Andreas and Rupert: Christ, they say, is called the root of David, as to His divinity, although as to His humanity He Himself was from the root of David. For Christ as man was born from the seed of David; but as God, He was the root, that is, the creator and Lord, of David.
Secondly, as to His humanity, say Aretas and Ansbert, David was as it were the seed from which Christ arose, who is as it were the root sprouting all the faithful, all grace, all glory.
Thirdly, Pererius: David, he says, was the root of Christ as to nature; Christ in turn was the root of David with respect to the outstanding sanctification, exaltation, and glorification of David. For on this account David was so exalted by God, and so heaped with gifts by Him, because Christ was to be born from his stock, and therefore to be called the son of David. Whence St. Bernard, sermon 1 On Easter: "Rightly, holy David, you call your son your Lord, because not you carry the root, but the root carries you." Hence the Poles, Ruthenians, and Muscovites call the Blessed Virgin Bogoritza, that is, the Root of God, because namely from her as from a root was born Christ God and the Son of God.
Verse 6: A Lamb standing as it were slain, having seven horns and seven eyes
6. AND BEHOLD, IN THE MIDST OF THE THRONE AND OF THE FOUR LIVING CREATURES. — "In the midst," that is, between the throne and the four living creatures: for the Lamb was not on the throne itself; for in verse 7 He is said to have come and received the book from the hand of Him who sat on the throne. But He was beside the throne, or near to the throne, so that He was between the throne and the four living creatures and the elders. For the Lamb is here the mediator of God, the angels, and men. This therefore was the order of the whole vision. On the throne sat God, before Him was the Lamb, whom the living creatures followed encircling both the Lamb and the throne from its four sides; after the living creatures followed the 24 elders sitting on their thrones, holding in one hand a vial of aromatic spices, or of incense, and in the other a harp; after the elders followed thousands of thousands of Angels acclaiming: "Worthy art Thou, O Lord," etc. Alcazar represents all these things in a beautiful illustration, page 420.
THE LAMB STANDING. — Christ, who on account of His fortitude was a little earlier called a lion, here on account of His sacrifice, meekness, and innocence is called a lamb. Hence John the Baptist, pointing out Christ with his finger: "Behold," he says, "the Lamb of God, behold He who takes away the sins of the world," John 1. Hear St. Bernard, sermon 1 On Easter: "John had heard a lion, and saw a lamb; the lamb opened the book, and the lion appeared: He is worthy not to lose meekness, but to receive fortitude, that He may remain a lamb and be a lion."
Note: Christ is called "the Lamb of God," because by God, that is, by the command and will of God, He was sacrificed for the redemption of men, just as the sacrifice of Abraham is called what Abraham offered, says Theophylactus, Euthymius and Maldonatus. Or, because He was offered and sacrificed to God Himself. Or "of God," that is, divine, on account of the divinity which was in Him. Or, as Clement of Alexandria, book I Paedagogue, chapter 5, and from him Toletus on chapter 1 of St. John, because for us He became a child and infant of the Father; for we call children Lambs. The words of Clement are: "Since Scripture calls children and infants Lambs, God, who is the Word, who for our sake was made man, who wished to be assimilated to us in all things, called Him the Lamb of God, the Son of God, the infant of the Father," as if to say: Christ is the Lamb of God, that is, the Son of God: for the Lamb signifies the Son; just as in Genesis 49, He is called the lion's whelp, that the Son of God may be mystically signified, which many ancients have noted. Thus here he calls Him not a sheep, not an ox, but a Lamb, that he may signify this man to be the Son of God, not the Father, not the Holy Spirit. Furthermore the term "infant of the Father" is used by Clement improperly: for Christ being equal to the Father and coeternal with Him, is not rightly called the infant of the Father, insofar as He is God; but insofar as He is man, this can rightly be said of Him. Our John the Evangelist follows John the Baptist, who repeatedly calls Christ the Lamb, and is wonderfully delighted with the name Lamb, so much so that in the Apocalypse he calls Him Lamb twenty-seven times, as can be seen in the Concordances of the Bibles. St. Augustine beautifully puts it, sermon 50 On the Words of the Lord: "What do You say, O Lord, good Shepherd? For You are the good Shepherd, who is the good lamb: the same Shepherd and pasture, the same lamb and lion."
Hence also St. Peter, looking upon Christ's innocence, says we have been redeemed "with the precious blood as it were of the immaculate Lamb Christ." Therefore on account of these figures and prophecies of the lamb concerning Christ, it was the ancient custom to depict Christ in the form of a lamb, whom the forerunner pointed out with his finger, as the sixth Synod held in Trullo, Canon 82, teaches, where it also commands this custom to be retained and adds the reason: "that through Him (the Lamb)," it says, "comprehending in mind the humiliation of the Word of God, we may also be led to the memory of His conversation in the flesh, of His passion, and of His saving death, and of the redemption of the world which was accomplished by it." And this usage the Roman and Latin Church has always retained, although the Greeks, because of the calumnies of the Iconoclasts, at one time forbade Christ to be painted in any form other than human, for the reason which Gabriel Vasquez gives, book II On Adoration, chapter II; for in Rome and in other Churches of the Latins, "in ancient cemeteries and tombs Christ may be seen depicted in mosaic, or sculpted as a lamb; but also that holy images of lambs were made from sacred wax is found in the Roman Order collected by Gelasius (as is the more constant opinion) from the ancient use of his Church. On the same Sunday after the Whites, that is, on the Octave of Easter, within the City of Rome wax lambs are given by the Archdeacon in the Church after Mass and Communion to the people, etc. These things, indeed observed anciently in the Roman Church, never afterwards interrupted, persist to this day, says Cardinal Baronius," in the year of Christ 692, page 614.
Note here that the use of blessed wax lambs, as customary and ancient, is praised by Gelasius, who lived eleven hundred years ago, namely about the year of Christ 500. Namely the baptized, when they laid aside the white garment received in baptism on the Sunday in Whites, in its place received this wax lamb blessed by the Pontiff, so that they might be reminded to keep continually before their eyes and to preserve the Lamb Christ, and His innocence received in baptism. See Joseph Vicecomes in Observations on the Church.
Finally Pope Sergius, in the year of Christ 701: "He decreed that at the time of the Lord's Body, 'Lamb of God who takest away the sins of the world, have mercy on us,' should be sung by the clergy and people," says Anastasius the Librarian, and from him Baronius. Thus the Church wished continually to set before us the idea, memory, love, worship, and invocation of this Lamb.
Tropologically through this form of the lamb Christ signified how precious and dear to Himself and to God is meekness, and how it is itself strong and invincible: namely Christ, as the firstborn Lamb of God, loves little lambs, loves lambs, loves she-lambs, loves the innocent, loves virgins, loves martyrs, because they are gentle, and through meekness He makes them superior to all enemies, all torments, all temptations. This therefore is the secret which Christ teaches us through the lamb, namely that meekness and patience are the shields of the faithful in defensive warfare, and equally invincible weapons in offensive warfare, by which all adversities and all adversaries are overcome, indeed subjugated. For meekness not only conquers enemies, but also overcomes vices, not only pride, anger, envy, impatience, but also lust and all concupiscence, as Cassian and the early Ascetics teach, and indeed Truth Himself clearly proclaims: "Blessed are the meek, for they shall possess the earth," Matthew chapter 5.
STANDING, — that is, lying, says Alcazar: for there follows: "As if slain;" for slain lambs are wont to lie, not to stand. But the Greek ἑστηκός properly signifies standing, not lying, and so all the Interpreters translate it here: for although this Lamb had once been slain, yet now He was living. For He came and took the book from the hand of Him who sat on the throne, verse 7. Therefore He was standing, not lying. First then, "standing," because Christ rose to immortal life, says the Gloss. Secondly, "standing," as if prepared to complete the work of redemption begun by Himself, says Richard. Thirdly, "standing," to judge, says Pannonius. Fourthly, "standing," to bring help, say Ansbert, Hugo, and others. Fifthly, St. Augustine in the Questions of the New Testament, Question 88: Christ, he says, stands before the throne of God, as our advocate interceding for us.
AS IF SLAIN, — in the past tense (for "slain" is of past time), not in the present, that is, not who was still slain and dead, but who for a brief time, namely for three days, had been slain and dead; for immediately on the third day He rose and lived again: whence here He appeared to John alive and glorious, and was seen to stand, not to lie: so Aretas, Ambrose and Haymo. For Christ's death because of the swiftness of the resurrection, was not so much death, which brings about the corruption of the body and the dissolution of the members, as the image of death and a kind of sleep. Whence the elders in their hymn acclaim Him in verse 9: "For Thou wast slain, and hast redeemed us to God in Thy blood."
Secondly, "as if slain," because Christ rising preserved the scars of the five wounds by which He was slain; whence on account of these He seemed similar to one slain. So Andreas of Caesarea.
Otherwise Aureolus and Lyranus: for they think Christ is called "the Lamb as if slain," on account of the Eucharist, in which Christ is not slain, but as if slain, because the Eucharist represents to us the slaying and death of Christ: so Alcazar. By this whole vision, he says, allusion is made to the temple of Solomon, as I have said at the end of chapter 4. In the Lamb therefore allusion is made to the perpetual sacrifice, namely of the lamb which was daily offered both in the morning and in the evening, as God had commanded in Exodus 29:39. Namely that through it might be perpetually represented this Lamb of God, who is daily immolated in the Eucharist in the Christian Church, to whose perpetual immolation the Church owes the opening of the seven seals, and the perfect penetration of the inmost sanctuaries of heavenly wisdom. Hence for "as if slain," the Greek is ὡς ἐσφαγμένον, that is, as if slaughtered and immolated. For thus the Septuagint usually translates the Hebrew זבח zabach, that is, to sacrifice, to immolate. Therefore the Lamb appeared here to John as if slain, and then rose, and ascended to the throne of the eternal Father, and having received the book from His right hand, opened it, which is just as if it were said: That which Christ accomplished by undergoing death, rising, and gloriously ascending (namely to reconcile us to God, and to show His power and might by rising, and by ascending to the highest place and throne of heaven, and from there sending down His Spirit upon the Apostles and faithful), this very thing is daily renewed, and again brought about and represented in this sacrifice of the Mass; and consequently from this sacrifice the communication of the Holy Spirit flows down into the orthodox Church: which mysteries He unseals and explains of the book closed with seven seals. Hence St. Andrew responded to the proconsul of Aegea forcing him to sacrifice to idols: "I sacrifice daily to the omnipotent God, who is one and true, not the flesh of bulls, nor the blood of goats, but the immaculate Lamb on the altar, whose flesh after all the believing people has eaten, the Lamb, who was sacrificed, perseveres whole and alive."
This sense is elegant and pious, and the Holy Spirit looked upon it and alluded to it here, but mystically rather than literally. For literally John saw Christ here, not in the Eucharist, but in Himself under the form of a Lamb slain and sacrificed on the cross. But, because it is the same Lamb who is daily immolated in the Eucharist, which represents and exhibits the same slain on the cross, hence these things can also symbolically be extended to the Eucharist. For it is the same sacrifice of the cross and of the Eucharist, whether you consider the victim, or the representation, or the fruit and effect.
HAVING SEVEN HORNS, AND SEVEN EYES. — Alcazar quite gracefully depicts these seven horns on the Lamb, in such a way that they encircle the head, namely the top of the forehead, in the manner of a crown: then in the same way he places under each horn an eye, and distributes them at equal intervals: and besides these seven symbolic eyes, he gives Him two natural ones, in the place and manner in which lambs are accustomed to have them.
You will ask, what are these seven horns and seven eyes? First, Viegas: The seven horns, he says, signify the full power, fortitude, and dominion of Christ, which He obtained in His passion, and soon rising showed. To this Alcazar adds: There are signified, he says, here the seven spirits, that is, the gifts of divine providence, concerning which it was said in chapter 1, verse 4, and the sense is, as if to say: God the Father communicated to Christ as man these His seven gifts, and constituted Him monarch of the whole world and universal ruler. For "the Father has given Him (the Son) authority to execute judgment, because He is the Son of Man," John 5:27; whence Isaiah says of Him in chapter 16, verse 1: "Send forth the Lamb, O Lord, the ruler of the earth." Hence these horns were arranged in the manner of a crown, which signifies sovereignty. Whence Alcazar with Rupert infers, that the seven spirits, the seven horns, the seven lamps, the seven eyes, the seven seals of the book — all these, I say, signify one and the same thing. Secondly, Ansbert, Bede and Rupert, by the seven horns and seven eyes, judge that the seven gifts of the Holy Spirit are signified, which are called eyes because of the grace and power of illuminating which they have: and they are called horns because of the excellence of the strength and power which they contain. Thirdly, Joachim takes the seven horns to be the seven angels of the Churches of Asia, of whom in chapters 2 and 3. Fourthly, Ambrose takes the seven horns to be the seven ages of the world from Adam to the end of the world; or rather all the Saints and elect of Christ, who in seven, that is in all ages, namely in every century, have flourished. Fifthly, Dionysius takes the seven horns to be all the kingdoms and empires of the world, which are in Christ's hand and power. Sixthly and best, Pererius and Ribera take the seven horns and seven eyes to be the seven spirits, as John soon explains, namely the seven principal angels presiding over the Church and the whole world, of whom in chapter 1 verse 4 and chapter 4 verse 5. These are said to be horns because they are most strong to overthrow demons, to protect the Church, to perform miracles, for the defense of the just and the vindication of the impious. The same are called eyes because they are most keen-sighted and most vigilant for knowing and fulfilling God's will, for procuring the salvation of the Church and of men: whence it is said of them in Zechariah 4:10: "These seven are the eyes of the Lord, that run to and fro through the whole earth," as also here they are said to be sent into all the earth, which cannot be understood of any others than of these angels.
Moreover that these horns of the Lamb are most strong is clear, because by them He subdued the whole world; whence they are compared to the rhinoceros in Deuteronomy 33:17: "His horns are like the horns of a rhinoceros, with them he shall winnow the nations," which Tertullian, in his book Against the Jews, mystically explains of the horns of Christ's cross, by which He was slain and merited these angelic horns: "Christ," he says, "was signified, whose horns are the extremities of the cross; for by this power of the cross He now winnows all nations through faith, taking them from earth to heaven, and then He shall winnow by judgment." Habakkuk also prophesies of these horns of Christ's cross, chapter 3 verse 4, saying: "Horns are in His hands, there is His strength hidden;" for which the Septuagint translates: Horns are in His hands, and He has set the robust love of His strength; namely: "Therefore," says St. Jerome, "God the Father covered the heavens with glory, and filled the earth with praise, and placed the horns, that is the kingdom, in the hand of His Son, that He might make His Beloved to be loved by men, and loved not lightly, but vehemently and strongly." For strong as death was His love for us, hard as hell His zeal: which therefore casts strong arrows of love into us, by which He wounds and pierces our heart, so that we may love Him back with strong love, and run after Him through crosses, through weapons, through enemies and fires, saying with Paul: "Who shall separate us from the love of Christ? Tribulation, or distress, or famine?" etc.
Verse 7: And He came, and took the book out of the right hand of Him that sat on the throne
7. AND HE CAME, AND TOOK THE BOOK FROM THE RIGHT HAND OF HIM WHO SAT UPON THE THRONE. — By this vision and symbol it is signified that Christ has all knowledge, care and providence of the Church and of His elect. Again, that He, from the book of God's decrees, as judge, pronounces and inflicts punishments and torments on the impious, and rewards on the pious.
Alcazar explains it thus, as if to say: The Lamb that lay as if slain suddenly rose up like a lion, namely when on the third day He rose from death and the underworld; and He unsealed the book with the immense astonishment of the whole world, when He manifested to men the mysteries of God and the hidden recesses of His wisdom. But in the preceding verse we heard and saw "the Lamb standing," not lying; unless you say that the Lamb did not lie down with His head fallen to the side on the ground, but lay propped up on bent knees erect, as lambs and sheep are wont while they eat and ruminate, so that He may be said to have stood and lain at the same time, and consequently to have risen and stood up on His feet when He approached God's throne to receive the book from Him. For although He bore the marks and scars of the death He had undergone, and on account of these seemed slain and dead, yet truly He had been alive long since, namely for 63 years (for so many there are from the year of Christ 34, in which He died and rose, to the year of Christ 97, in which John saw and wrote these things), having risen from death.
Moreover the Lamb received and opened the book with His feet; for to a lamb feet serve in place of hands. Thus we see apes and other animals do with their feet what men do with their hands: so also this Lamb used His feet in place of hands: especially because He was symbolic, appearing in vision to John, not real and actual.
Mystically Rupert notes that He is said to have received it "from the right hand," which represents eternal goods, not from the left, which represents transitory goods. "It is much to be noted," he says, "that Christ, coming into this world through the mystery of the Incarnation, took nothing of riches or glory from the left; but only the book, or the fiery law, He received from the right: giving a good example to all His disciples and to those who believe in Him, He willed nothing of riches or of glory, nor sought it in this world."
Verse 8: And when He had opened the book, the four living creatures and the four and twenty ancients fell down before the Lamb
8. AND WHEN HE HAD OPENED THE BOOK. — You will say: The Lamb had not yet unsealed the seals of the book; for He unseals them in chapter 6 and following. How then is He here said to have opened the book, since the book could not be opened unless the seals were first opened? Bede answers first that there is a mystery here: for the fact that the book was opened first, then the seals were opened, signifies that Christ when He rose opened the book, but at Pentecost when He sent the Holy Spirit, then at last He unsealed the mysteries of the book. Hence others say that Christ first opened the book, that is, gave His own faith in the divine mysteries; then unsealed the seals, that is, communicated a clearer understanding of the same. But the mysteries of the book are one thing, the mysteries of the seals are another; nor could the book and its mysteries be opened unless the seals were first opened, as I have already said.
Secondly, others respond that there is a prolepsis, or anticipation. For the opening of the book, which happened later, namely after the seals were unsealed, is here put first. But this prolepsis seems harsher and too much anticipated; especially because in chapter 8, after the seventh and last seal was opened, there is said to have been a great silence in heaven for half an hour; therefore this adoration of the elders and Angels and glorification of God could not have happened then.
I say therefore, "when He had opened," that is, had begun to open, "the book," for He gradually and in order unsealed each of the book's seals, as is clear from chapter 6, verse 1 and following. There is therefore signified here an act begun, not consummated, as also often elsewhere. For when the elders and angels saw that the Lamb could open the book, and indeed that He was opening the first seal, before He had fully opened it, they immediately broke into doxology: hence the Greek has ὅτε ἔλαβε, when He had received the book; and so reads Primasius, Arias and others: although Alcazar says he saw a Greek codex in which was read ἐπεὶ ἤνοιξε, that is, when He had opened; thus also our Translator seems to have read.
Alcazar responds otherwise, namely, that this book was repeatedly opened and again closed. So that the Lamb here first perfectly opened the book and unsealed all its seals, to show His strength and ability: whence presently the elders and angels glorified Him equally with God; which done, the Lamb again closed the book and sealed it with His seals. Finally He opened the same one again, gradually unsealing its seals in chapter 6 and following, in order to set forth more fully and plainly the mysteries of each seal for contemplation. But of this repeated and frequent opening and closing of the book John says nothing: and it seems too trivial, and less in keeping with the gravity of the Lamb.
Note: All these things were not really happening, nor actually being carried on, but only symbolically in vision. For an Angel was painting these symbols in the imagination of St. John, so that he seemed to himself to see the throne, the four living creatures, the elders, the Lamb receiving the book and unsealing its seals.
Symbolically, St. Gregory, homily 16 on Ezekiel: "The sealed book," he says, "only the Lion of the tribe of Judah opened, because He revealed all its mysteries to us in His passion and resurrection. And by this that He bore the evils of our infirmity, He showed us the goods of His power and brightness. For He became flesh, that He might make us spiritual; He benignly stooped down, that He might lift us up; He went out, that He might bring us in; He appeared visibly, that He might show invisible things; He bore scourges, that He might heal; He endured reproaches and mockeries, that He might free us from eternal reproach; He died, that He might give life. Let us therefore give thanks to Him who gives life and who died."
EACH HAVING HARPS. — "Each," namely the 24 elders. Ansbert and Alcazar by the force of "each" also extend it to the four living creatures, by an enallage of the masculine gender, which here also includes the neuter: hence he pictures the four living creatures equally with the elders holding in one hand a harp, in the other a vial of incense, or of thymiama; but in such a way that when they struck the harp, they laid the vial down before themselves.
HARPS AND GOLDEN VIALS FULL OF ODORS. — The harps, says Andreas, signify the harmonious and sweet praise of God; the thymiama signifies the sacrifice which the faithful offer to God by chastity and integrity of morals; the vials are the pious and chaste thoughts, from which this thymiama exhales.
Secondly, Rupert: The harps, he says, are chaste breasts resounding the praises of God with the plectrum of the tongue; the vials are hearts dilated by charity. So Richardus, Bede and Hugo also explain the vials; indeed Ansbert: The vial, he says, is charity; it is golden, that is, precious. So also Viegas.
Thirdly, Richardus again: The harps, he says, which are struck by the hand, signify the good works of the Saints, which by their effects and by their fame as if by sweet, and equally vehement, sounds excite their neighbors to the love of God. So also Pannonius takes the harps to mean a spiritual harmony resulting from the consonance of various virtues, by which the Saints always praise God. For there is in the strings of the harp a sound proper to each, deep, sharp, middle, and one different from others: these the harper modulates and tempers by his art. So the senses in the body are arranged like the strings on a harp: the harper is the wise mind, which, when it commands them, discerns what is discordant, what is harmonious, what is the proper tempering to be applied to each thing, so that nothing be meditated, undertaken, or done which does not correspond to the modes and tones, whence a concordant harmony may be heard. Hence some think that concord (concordia) is so called because various strings (chordae) come together in one harmony: although others prefer that concord be derived from the heart (cor). Thus Cicero in Tusculans 1: "To others," he says, "the heart itself seems to be the soul, whence men are called heartless (excordes), foolish (vecordes), and concordant (concordes)." This sense is illustrious, but moral and tropological. Therefore the harp is a hieroglyphic of a settled and composed soul, indeed also a cause of it. Hence the Spartans drew up their battle lines to the sound of lyre and harp, the trumpets and bugles being set aside, so that they might enter battle with a more settled soul. Whence Homer gave the noise and tumult in the first encounter to the barbarians, while the Greeks advanced into battle gradually and silently. Yet this cool delay in Pompey Caesar reproved, when at Pharsalia, by the ardor of his soldiers, he had emerged victorious. So Pierius, Hieroglyphica 47, chapter 10.
Fourthly, Alcazar: The adoration of the Lamb, he says, is to be referred to the sacrifice of the Mass; for those thanksgivings please Christ our Redeemer above all others which are rendered to Him in the sacrifice of the altar: which is therefore called Eucharist, that is, thanksgiving, and in it thanks are given to Christ because He redeemed us with His blood and heaped on us very many other benefits flowing from that redemption. Hence the adorers say: "Because You have been slain, and have redeemed us to God in Your blood." His reason is that he holds the 24 elders themselves to be priests of the New Testament, whose proper office is to sacrifice and to offer the sacrifice of the Mass: for this is their adoration and their Eucharist, that is, thanksgiving. They therefore have harps, and they pluck them, that is, they rejoice and give thanks to God for the conversion of sinners. For they give thanks to God and Christ that He has communicated His Spirit to hardened men, when He opened the sealed book to them, that is, when He illumined them with the light of His doctrine and Gospel, as He did to Saul, when He made him Paul. For harps signify joy and the delight of gladness. The golden bowls are the golden chalices in which they offer the sacrifice of the Mass: for these chalices spiritually accomplish the same as the bowls or censers in which fragrances are kindled. For priests in the chalice of the Mass offer incense, that is, the contrition and prayers of those who have been led to the knowledge and love of God. Hence in the offering of the chalice it is said: "We offer to You, O Lord, the chalice of salvation, beseeching Your clemency, that in the sight of Your divine majesty it may ascend for our salvation and that of the whole world." But all these things are allegorical and mystical, not literal. Add: the form and use of bowls is one thing, that of chalices another; for chalices are deep and narrow, bowls are wide and flat, as he himself depicts them.
Fifthly therefore, genuinely and plainly according to the letter, by harps understand first, by synecdoche, musical instruments — namely organs, harps, lyres, flutes, etc. — by which the Saints in their glorified bodies will sing and praise God: for St. John here intimates that these will exist in heaven, as also in chapter 14, verse 2, where from heaven he heard a voice and a symphony as of "harpers harping on their harps." For the bodies and ears of the Blessed, as also their other senses, equally with mind and spirit, shall have their own delight in heaven, and that the highest. Now the melody of instruments is greater and sweeter than that of voices; but the supreme melody is fully perfect when organs, harps and lyres harmonize and resound together with voices. If therefore here in churches we praise God not only with voices but also with organs and other musical instruments, why not also in heaven, where this praise and hymnody will be far fuller and more harmonious? Moreover, those heavenly harps and organs are far more precious, more sublime, and more resonant than ours. Hence St. Anselm in his Elucidarium: "Oh, what delight of hearing," he says, "belongs to those for whom the harmonies of the heavens sound unceasingly, and the concords of the angels, the sweetly-sounding organs of all the Saints!" St. Augustine in Meditationes, chapter 25: "Their every work," he says, "is the praise of God without end, without failure, without labor. Happy then, and truly forever happy, shall I be if, after the dissolution of this little body, I shall have deserved to hear those songs of heavenly melody which are sung to the praise of the Eternal King by those citizens of the heavenly homeland." And Clarius, chapter 26 in the Hymn of paradise: "Ever new harmonies," he says, "the melodious voice resounds, and the organs poured forth into jubilation soothe the ears; they who are victors give acclamations to the King."
Finally, in the Lives of the Saints we read that not infrequently they heard music, not only of voices but also of heavenly instruments, as St. Bonaventure relates of St. Francis: that, when he longed to hear heavenly music, with God's assent he heard an angel most skillfully plucking a harp.
Secondly, by harps understand, with Andreas of Caesarea and Aretas, any modulation and hymnody by which with one consonant voice all the Saints uniformly praise God; so that it is a metalepsis, as if to say: These 24 elders together with the four living creatures were ready, prepared, eager and avid to modulate Eucharistic hymns and to resound the praises of God and of the Lamb, doing so concordantly and consonantly as though they were all harpists. For in the concord of many voices, like that of harps and other musical instruments, the admirable charity and concord of the Blessed is elegantly intimated, as is the supreme glory of God and of Christ, which from that concordant consent and common doxology of all shines forth and glistens. For music is the symbol of concord, as not only the sacred writers but also Plato and Cicero have taught. He names harps because they sweetly resound melody. Therefore harps belong to heaven, where there is happy delight; the trumpet to earth, where there are battles.
William of Paris, Book II On the Universe, Part II, fol. 166, col. 2, says: "The mouth of every glorified person shall be like a harp of innumerable strings and of innumerable pipes; and there shall be a sonority from the mouth of every glorified man, a concord of innumerable voices or sounds, harmonizing with one another with a sweetness here marvelous and inconceivable to us, and audible together to the ears of that perfection." This is what the Psalmist says, Psalm 149, verse 5: "The saints shall exult in glory; they shall rejoice on their beds: the high praises of God in their throat." Where St. Basil says: "By 'high praises' he means hymnodies and psalmodies." Therefore these harps signify, first, the supreme joy and jubilation of the Blessed; secondly, the supreme praise of God; thirdly, the supreme concord and consonance among them.
Mystically and tropologically, Primasius takes the harp to mean the cross of the Lamb, that is, of Christ (for these elders, attendants and followers of the Lamb, bear His insignia), and the imitation of His passion and mortification. So also Bede, Rupert, Ansbert and Hugo by harps understand the mortification of the flesh, by which the 24 elders and other Saints came to heaven and to these heavenly harps and thrones; and this firstly because, as in a harp the strings, so in mortification the members are stretched and tortured. Such harps, sweetly resounding melody in God's ears, were the Martyrs stretched out and racked on the rack, like St. Romanus, whose voice is recorded by Prudentius in the Hymn:
You think me miserable, that I hang with arms twisted back and stretched, that my feet are torn loose, that the joint sounds with cracking sinews.
And again: Hear all of you, I cry far and proclaim, I send forth my voice loftier from the rack.
On this harp the Guardian of the Friars Minor of Canterbury sang his swan-song, who together with his Religious, condemned to the gallows by Henry VIII, King of England, in the year of Christ 1537, as he was climbing the ladder, was chanting: "I will freely sacrifice to You, and I will confess Your name, because it is good," as the English Martyrologies relate.
Secondly, because, as Ansbert says, in a harp some strings are stretched more, others less, so that some giving forth a sharp sound and others a low one make harmony: so too in the Church, some undertake more mortification, others less but devote themselves more to works of charity and mercy, and from all of them arises a beautiful consonance by which God is praised.
Thirdly, as St. Gregory says, Book III of the Moralia, chapter 3, just as in a harp the string, if it be less stretched, does not sound; if too much, it sounds harsh: so mortification, if it is too light or stricter than just, does not sound in God's ears, nor does it please Him.
Fourthly, as the harp sounds from its lower part, so mortification, by subduing the lower powers of the soul and the flesh, makes them resound and praise God. So St. Augustine on Psalm 42: "I will praise You on the harp, O God, my God;" to which St. John here alludes.
Again, our Viegas and others by harps understand the preaching of the Gospel and of the Word of God, and the heralds themselves of it, of whom Isaiah mystically says, chapter 16: "My belly shall sound like a harp for Moab." Where St. Jerome teaches that the preacher, like a harp, ought to excel by the consonance of all virtues. So Clement of Alexandria in his Exhortation to the Gentiles says that Christ was a kind of new harper who by the new sweetness of His music drew all things to Himself like Amphion, of whom it is said: "Amphion moved stones by his singing." And like Orpheus, who by song alone is fabled by the Poets to have drawn wild beasts, woods, and rocks. "For thus," he says, "Christ drew to Himself the Gentiles, who were as wolves, indeed stones and rocks, because they worshipped stones and rocks, and transformed them into men. See how powerful was that new song, which made men out of stones and beasts." So Alexander the monk in the Life of St. Barnabas: "Barnabas," he says, "the great orator of the Church, the trumpet of evangelical preaching, the great voice of Christ, the harp of the Holy Spirit, the plectrum of divine grace, the pearl of virginity," etc. To this belongs the verse customarily sung by the Spartans, which Plutarch cites, Book II On the Fortune of Alexander:
It inclines toward the deadly sword, to sing pleasingly on the harp.
By which they meant that by certain modes and modulations of the harp the motions of souls are calmed, while other hearers are roused to battle. When Alexander the Great heard Antigenidas playing on the flute the modes called Harmatian, he was so inflamed that, rising up with his weapons, he laid hands on those sitting next to him. The ancients excelled in these musical tones, so that by varying tone and modulation at will, now to laughter, soon to weeping, and then suddenly to anger, they would rouse their hearers, so that their affections seemed to be in their hand and power. Such even now are some, especially in Italy. Such let the preacher be. For truly St. Augustine said, in Book X of the Confessions, chapter 33, and from him St. Thomas, II II, Question 91, art. 2, at the end: "All the affections of our spirit, in their diversity, have their proper modes in voice and song, by whose secret familiarity they are aroused." And this is the reason why in Italy, especially in Apulia, we see those who are seized with lethargy from the bite of tarantulas being aroused by a certain tone of music, and by dancing and sweating shaking off the venom.
In the union, therefore, of voices and harps, is signified the perfect preaching of the Gospel, in which the example of holy life must be joined and associated with the sound doctrine of the voice. For with the mouth one sings, while the harp is plucked with the hands. Such were the Apostles, and such even now are Apostolic men, who, moving their hand as well as their tongue in praise of God, are like divine Orpheuses and Amphions, who have drawn and still draw wild beasts, woods, and rocks — that is, savage, rude, hard and barbarous men — to the faith of Christ and to holiness. These, as if heavenly sages, orators and musicians, Ecclesiasticus praising, chapter 39, verse 17, exhorts and incites, saying: "Hearken to me, divine fruits," that is, as in Greek, υἱοὶ ὅσιοι, holy sons, "flourish," that is, produce, "flowers" as the lily, "and give forth an odor, and put forth leaves in grace," that is, with grace and graciously, as if to say: Preach God with the odor of sanctity and of holy reputation, and at the same time with the grace of Christian eloquence, that with Paul you may be the good odor of Christ to the whole world unto life. "Give to His name magnificence in the songs of your lips and on harps;" as if to say: Join your lips with your hands, sound forth with the plectrum of lips and of hands alike the praises of Christ and of His Gospel: by this harmony you will soothe even the hardest hearts and entice them to the love and praise of God; and so through yourselves and through those converted by you, you will magnificently celebrate the grace and glory of God and of Christ. This sense is pious and elegant, but mystical, not literal, as its authors maintain. For the voices and melody of these who play the harp in this chapter, taken literally, are not directed to the people, but to God and the Lamb, whom they glorify with a Eucharistic hymn. There is therefore here a doxology of God and of the Lamb, but not a sermon to the people, nor a preaching of the Gospel.
AND GOLDEN BOWLS FULL OF FRAGRANCES, WHICH ARE THE PRAYERS OF THE SAINTS. — Bowls are here employed symbolically (for in truth in heaven the Saints have no need of bowls to offer to God the prayers of the saints), and they were seen by John; because in bowls incense is wont to be offered in the temple of Solomon, on the altar of incense, to which allusion is here made. For the incense was composed of fragrances, namely of galbanum, stacte, onycha and frankincense, the literal and moral explanation of which I have given on Exodus chapter 30, verse 34.
Note: The prayers of the Saints are here compared not to the smoke of just any thing, but of fragrances. First, because prayer ascends upward like incense. Hence the Psalmist says, Psalm 140, verse 2: "Let my prayer be directed as incense in Your sight." Secondly, because as frankincense is fragrant, so the prayers of the Saints delight God and His subtle and divine nostrils. Hence of Noah's sacrifice and prayers it is said, Genesis 8:21: "And the Lord smelled a sweet odor, and said: Never again will I curse the earth." Thirdly, as frankincense drives away stench, so prayer drives away sin, and mitigates God's wrath. Fourthly, the incense was burned and consumed in the fire: so prayer blazes in the fire of tribulations. Fifthly, the incense was made from pounded aromatics; so prayer must proceed from a mortified and humble soul. Hence St. Gregory, homily 22 on Ezekiel, explaining Canticle 3:6, Who is this that ascends through the desert, like a wand of smoke from the aromatics of myrrh and frankincense and of every dust of the perfumer?: "The smoke," he says, "from aromatics is the compunction of prayer conceived from the virtues of love; which prayer is yet called a wand of smoke because, while it asks only the heavenly secrets, it advances so as to be turned not at all to seeking earthly things. There is added, Of myrrh and frankincense, because frankincense is burned in sacrifice, and with myrrh dead bodies are embalmed lest they be corrupted by worms. Therefore those offer a sacrifice of myrrh and frankincense who afflict the flesh lest the vices of corruption rule over them, and who burn a victim of their love fragrant in the sight of the Lord."
Viegas adds that the fire by which the incense in the Holy Place was kindled used to be brought from the altar of holocausts which was in the courtyard, to the altar of incense which was in the Holy Place; namely because the fervor of prayers arises from perfect mortification, from which one must never cease, because of the constant motions of concupiscence rebelling against the spirit; for this is signified by the fire which by God's law had to be continually fed on the altar of holocausts, Leviticus 6:12. He therefore who endeavors to give himself to prayer without applying himself to mortification acts just as if one were to wish to burn incense without fire. Hence Canticle 5:1 it is said: "I have reaped my myrrh with my aromatics," because indeed both must be joined together, namely the myrrh of mortification and the aromatics of prayer. And Canticle 4:6, it is said: "I will go to the mountain of myrrh and to the hill of frankincense;" which are the words of the spouse, as if to say: I will visit those who are occupied in the arduous works of mortification, as on mountains; and those who rest in the sweetness of prayer, as on hills flowing from that mountain. For prayer is as it were a hill which extends out from the mountain of mortification: for mountains are wont to end in hills. Finally, many have beautiful harps, that is, external voices by which they sing God's praises, but they are destitute of golden bowls full of fragrances, that is, of internal devotion of the heart, which is most required in this harping.
Note here, against Vigilantius, Luther, Calvin and the other Hagiomachi (haters of the Saints), that the Saints pray for us and offer our prayers to God. The Angels do the same, chapter 8, verse 3. Furthermore, this most especially belongs to the Apostles and Prelates, such as were these 24 elders: for it pertains to them to offer to God the prayers and needs of the faithful subject to them.
Verse 9: And they sang a new canticle: Thou art worthy, O Lord, to take the book
9. AND THEY WERE SINGING A NEW SONG. — In Greek ᾄδουσι, that is, they sing constantly and continually. You will ask why this song is called new? I answer, because the singers were new, namely the Apostles and Patriarchs, renewed not only by grace, but also by glory in heaven.
Secondly, because the matter of the song was new, namely the new incarnation, passion, and redemption of Christ; His new and heavenly doctrine, new benefits, new miracles, new Sacraments, new law, new promises, new grace, new glory; properly, however, here was the new opening of the new book filled with so many mysteries and so sealed up, in which the new victory of Christ and the Church over their enemies, and especially over Antichrist, is described: therefore here they sing a new song of triumph to Christ, the new conqueror. Hear Rupert: "It is called a new song," he says, "because it was new for the Son of God to become man and to undergo the death of the cross; it was new to rise and to ascend into heaven; new for sins to be forgiven and for men to be visibly sealed with the Holy Spirit; new to receive the priesthood of sacred observance and to await the kingdom of immense promise."
Hence thirdly, this song is called "new," that is, singular, exquisite, exceptional, most delightful, ever affecting the soul with new gladness and soothing it, and therefore to be repeated again and again, indeed a thousand and infinite times without weariness. So it is said in Jeremiah 31:22: "The Lord has created a new thing," that is, a singular, exceptional, unheard-of thing, "upon the earth," namely "a woman shall encompass a man," that is, a virgin shall conceive Christ.
Fourthly, "new," because it regards and sings the renewal and glorification both of the Lamb and of His spouse, namely the Church and the Saints, the joy and glory both of soul and of body. So it is said in Psalm 149, verse 1: "Sing to the Lord a new song." Which Abbot Gilbert, in sermon 4 among those which he added to St. Bernard's sermons on the Canticle, explains: "Truly," he says, "new, whose matter knows no antiquity, whose grace knows no weariness, because it is ever fresh in love, fresher in use. For truly that is new which renews the souls of men to eternal beatitude. Moreover it is read: Remember not the former things, nor regard the things of old: for behold I do new things. Justly new, which are by no means confined within the laws of the nature anciently in motion." And St. Augustine on Psalm 149, verse 1: "Old man," he says, "old song; new man, new song. Old testament, old song; new testament, new song. Whoever loves earthly things sings the old song. Who wishes to sing the new song, let him love eternal things. Love itself is new and eternal. Therefore always new, because it never grows old." And below: "All therefore who are renewed in Christ, that they may begin to belong to eternal life, sing the new song; and this song is the song of peace, this song is the song of charity. Whoever separates himself from the company of the saints does not sing the new song: for he has followed old animosity, not new charity." So mystically and morally St. Augustine.
In a similar manner and for like cause Christ says in John 13:34: "A new commandment I give to you, that you love one another as I have loved you." For the commandment of love, although it was ancient, being of the law of nature, was nevertheless made new by Christ both in word and deed, by reason of its new object and cause. For when Christ, who is the head of the Church, was incarnate, a singular communication and union of the members of the Church was effected, both with one another and with Christ their head now made homogeneous with them: a union, I say, by nature, by grace, and most of all by the sacrament of the Eucharist, by which Christ gives Himself as food to all, that He may unite all to Himself and to one another; which union is the foundation of a more singular obligation and a closer love of God, of Christ, and of Christians. For by this we are bodily united to God the Word and to the whole Holy Trinity, and therefore we are bound to love it the more in return, and to love those more closely joined to it, namely our neighbors. Christ intimates this sense when He adds: "That you love one another as I have loved you," as if to say: I have loved you in a new way, that I might bind you to Me and to one another by a new love, and might suggest to you a new cause and obligation of love; therefore it is fitting that you love one another with a new and more ardent love than before. For I require only this of you, that you love one another as I have loved you: this is the reward of My love that I demand of you, this is the example of new love that I suggest, that, roused by it, you may love one another as I have loved you: love Me in return who so love you, not so much in Myself (who have no need of this love and aid of yours), as in My members, who are your brethren. And that you may do this, I breathe upon you My grace and Spirit, not of fear but of love, and in a new way I send you the Holy Spirit; for Christ properly gave this new precept to Christians, not to all men, as Toletus there rightly notes. For He commands that Christians love one another not only as neighbors for God's sake, but as brothers and members of the one body of Christ for Christ's sake. Wherefore Christians are more obliged to the duties and acts of this love than other men. Consequently they are obliged to sing a new song to God, to a new thanksgiving, on account of this new gift of love and precept received from Him.
Otherwise Alcazar: for he holds, from his preconceived scope and end, that by this song thanks are rendered to God for the new conversion to Christ of the Jews who had hitherto been rebellious and assailing the Church, and especially of St. Paul. But I have shown above that the matter is not properly treated of here.
WORTHY ARE YOU, O LORD, TO RECEIVE THE BOOK AND TO OPEN ITS SEALS, BECAUSE YOU WERE SLAIN. — Note the "because": for it signifies a meritorious cause. Whence it is clear that Christ, by the merit of His passion and death, received from God the power of revealing to whom He wished future things concerning the rule and propagation of His Church, especially those that will happen in the times of Antichrist and at His second coming to judgment.
AND YOU HAVE REDEEMED US TO GOD. — This song belongs to the four living creatures, that is, to the chief angels, as well as to the 24 elders: not that the angels were redeemed by Christ; but that they themselves speak together with the 24 elders, who represent all men. With them, therefore, and for them, as for their clients, of whom they are the angels and guardians, they say: "You have redeemed us," not for themselves. Rupert adds that the angels were redeemed through Christ, because through Him their ruin caused by the fall of the demons was repaired, and the number of the Blessed and of the Church Triumphant was filled up. For "you have redeemed" the Greek is ἠγόρασας, that is, You have purchased us; we are therefore Christ's bought slaves: this is what Paul says: "You have been bought at a great price; glorify and bear God in your body," 1 Corinthians 6:20.
OUT OF EVERY TRIBE AND TONGUE AND PEOPLE. — Two senses are here: The first, You have redeemed and chosen for Yourself us few out of all the Gentiles, as a singular people. As of old You chose for Yourself Israel out of all the nations of the world, that it might be Your people and Your Church, Deuteronomy 4:34. For Christ by His passion merited to receive the power of taking to Himself a people, and of choosing whomever He willed, and of applying to them the merit of His blood, not only as to sufficiency (for thus He applied it to all men), but also as to efficacy. So Alcazar explains.
The second sense, as if to say: You have redeemed us Christians, Lord, out of every nation. For Christianity is spread through all nations: for although these 24 elders were few, and from few nations, and almost selected from the Jews, yet they represent all Christians, both present and future, just as a senate represents the whole people. Therefore in the voice and name of the whole Christian people they speak, and say that they have been redeemed by Christ from every nation, and called by Him to the grace and salvation of Christianity. This is what is more expressly said in chapter 7, verse 9: "After these things I saw a great multitude, which no man could number, of all nations, and tribes, and peoples, and tongues, standing before the throne, and in sight of the Lamb, clothed with white robes, and palms in their hands; and they cried out with a loud voice, saying: Salvation to our God, who sits upon the throne, and to the Lamb." For this is the new canticle, by which they celebrate the new benefit of the redemption of the world, that is of all nations, made through Christ, by which Christ merited the power of unsealing this sealed book, as I said a little before; namely, that He might be able to reveal and explain it and its mysteries to John, and through John to all Christians of all nations, as those redeemed by Him and chosen for Himself. So this sense is no less apt than the first. Therefore the meaning will be complete if you join both, as if to say: You have redeemed us Christians, Lord, and chosen and sanctified us for Yourself, not from the Jews alone, as of old, but from every nation: I say, You chose us, for You left many others from every nation in their unbelief or sins.
Verse 10: And we shall reign upon the earth
AND HAVE MADE US TO OUR GOD A KINGDOM, AND PRIESTS. — For the Church is a priestly kingdom, and a royal priesthood of God and of Christ: consequently the holy Christians are kings and priests. See what was said on chapter 1, verse 6. They add this because it was fitting that this sealed book containing the future mysteries of the Church should be revealed to such; for it is fitting that priests, equally with kings, be aware of these things. Truly St. Augustine in his Sentences, Sentence 242: "He is not without royal power, he says, who has known how to command his body rationally. For he is truly lord of the earth who rules his flesh by the laws of discipline." Whence follows:
AND WE SHALL REIGN UPON THE EARTH, — both upon this earth of those who die: for in this earth Christians reign and rule over the flesh, the world, and the devil; and upon that earth of those who live in heaven, when we shall be transferred to it, as these elders had been transferred. For Christians who still live here have dominion over the earth and earthly things; but when through martyrdom or death they pass to God, they have dominion and reign with Christ in heaven: they are therefore lords and kings of heaven and earth. He alludes to what God promised the Church, Isaiah 62:3, saying: "You shall be a crown of glory in the hand of the Lord, and a royal diadem in the hand of your God." See what was said there.
Hence Rupert notes that it is not said "on the earth," but "above the earth," because the saints, he says, are by condition on the earth, but by life and conversation are above the earth, and hold sovereignty over their own earthly members.
How all the Blessed in heaven are kings St. Anselm explains thus, epistle 2 to Hugh: "So great will be the love between God and those who shall be there, and among themselves, that all will love one another as themselves, but all will love God more than themselves. And because of this no one will there will anything except what God wills; and what one wills, this all will will; and what one or all will will, this same God will will. Wherefore whatever each one wills, this shall be both concerning himself, and concerning all others, and concerning the whole creation, and concerning God Himself. And thus the individuals shall be perfect kings, because what each shall will, that shall be; and all together with God one king, and as it were one man, because all shall will one thing, and what they will, shall be." And further down, when he had said that the price by which this kingdom is purchased is love, he adds: "Finally, since to reign in heaven is nothing other than to be thus glued to God, and to all the holy angels and men through love into one will, so that all use together one power: love God more than yourself, and already you begin to hold what there you wish to have perfectly. Be in concord with God and with men, if only they themselves do not disagree with God, and you already begin to reign with God and with all His Saints. For according as you shall now be in concord with God, and with men in their will, then God and all the Saints shall be in concord with you in your will. If therefore you wish to be a king in heaven, love God and men as you ought, and you shall deserve to be what you desire."
Verse 11: And I saw, and I heard the voice of many angels round about the throne
11. AND I SAW, AND I HEARD THE VOICE OF MANY ANGELS, — as if to say: I saw innumerable angels and heard their voice; for with one consonant voice they were crying out: "Worthy is the Lamb, who was slain, to receive power;" etc. Literally he speaks not of monks and Religious, whom Nazianzen calls earthly angels; but of true and heavenly angels, who are innumerable. Whence follows:
AND THE NUMBER OF THEM WAS THOUSANDS OF THOUSANDS. — The Complutensian Greek reads, μυριάδες μυριάδων, καὶ χιλιάδες χιλιάδων, that is myriads of myriads, and thousands of thousands. Now myriads of myriads are ten thousand times ten thousand. He alludes to Daniel 7:10: "Thousands of thousands ministered to Him, and ten thousand times a hundred thousand stood before Him." Alcazar takes these things literally of the sacrifice of the Mass, which the 24 elders, that is, priests, were celebrating; for it is proper to angels to assist at the sacrifice of the Mass, and to accompany with veneration the most holy body of Christ. But I have taught above that all these things were not in heaven, not on earth, and that they signify the glory of the heavenly, not of the earthly.
Verse 12: Worthy is the Lamb that was slain, to receive power, and divinity, and wisdom
12. SAYING WITH A LOUD VOICE. — The loud voice indicates the immense affection and ardor of soul for glorifying God and the Lamb, because He had revealed to men God's sealed book; for the angels marvelously rejoice over the benefits and salvation of men, and therefore with them and for them they marvelously praise God. "A cry in God's ears is vehement desire," says St. Bernard, sermon 16 on Psalm 90. For "with God it is not a great cry that prevails, but a great love." Whence St. Augustine in a sermon: "When you pray, he says, cry out not with your voice, but with your mind; for God also hears those who are silent."
WORTHY IS THE LAMB WHO WAS SLAIN, TO RECEIVE POWER AND DIVINITY. — "To receive," namely from all men, or "to receive," not in Himself, but in the mind and mouth of men, namely so that all men may acknowledge and praise the Lamb's power, in Greek δύναμιν, that is, strength and divinity, and transfer it from their idols to Christ, to whom it truly belongs. For otherwise Christ could not have merited divinity, inasmuch as it preceded in Christ His existence and merit, and was the cause and reason which gave to His works infinite value and meritorious power, as St. Thomas teaches, Part III, Question 19, art. 3, Suarez and others. Let Photinus therefore depart, who taught that Christ was a mere man, and through the merits of His holy life merited to receive divinity. For Christ from the beginning of His conception was the Son of God, nor had He any other hypostasis than that of the Son of God. For this is what Gabriel foretold of Him to the Blessed Virgin: "What shall be born of you, holy, shall be called the Son of God," Luke 1. Much more let the Nestorians depart, and our Socinians, who reckon that Christ was neither from the beginning of His incarnation nor afterward God, but by His own sanctity merited to be called God, that is, a divine man, in the way that judges are called Gods, Psalm 81: "I said: You are gods, and all sons of the Most High." For in vain do they try to prove this from this passage, since they themselves equally confess that nothing else is said here than that Christ merited divinity, that is, the name, fame and glory of divinity; namely, that He should be honored and worshiped by men, not only as a divine man, but truly as God, as we see Him worshiped and adored throughout the whole world. But He merited a true name, and true fame and glory, not false, not feigned; therefore truly He had divinity in Himself, and was God. This is what the Apostle says, Philippians chapter 2, verse 5, of Christ: "Who, being in the form of God, thought it not robbery to be equal to God, but emptied Himself, taking the form of a servant, etc. He humbled Himself, becoming obedient unto death, even the death of the cross; wherefore God also has exalted Him, and given Him a name which is above every name: that at the name of Jesus every knee shall bow, of those in heaven, on earth, and under the earth; and every tongue shall confess that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father." Behold, this was for the Lamb to receive divinity. Thus Lyranus, St. Thomas, Pererius and others. So elsewhere we are often bidden to give to God glory, honor, holiness, blessing, not in Himself (for since His glory and holiness in Himself is immense, we can add nothing to it), but among men, namely by making men know, worship and praise God's holiness and glory.
Note: Just as there were seven seals of the sealed book, which contained seven illustrious effects of divine providence, so here seven praises are given to the slain Lamb who unsealed them, by which He is praised and celebrated with sevenfold praise, namely "power, divinity, wisdom, strength, honor, glory and blessing." So also in chapter 7, verse 12, to God, because He freed His own from the seven plagues, a sevenfold doxology is given by the four living creatures and the 24 elders, namely: "Blessing, and brightness, and wisdom, and thanksgiving, honor, and power, and strength to our God." Therefore by sevenfold praise and hymn they celebrate the sevenfold providence of God.
Note secondly, for "divinity" the Greek has πλοῦτον, that is, riches, and so read here Andreas, Aretas, Ticonius and Primasius. But others throughout read "divinity;" whence so it seems to have been originally in the Greek: although Alcazar thinks that "riches" in the Greek is put for divinity. For the discourse is, he says, about the showing of riches in their communication, which is proper to divinity, namely to be rich in mercy and beneficence, and this seems truer. For between πλοῦτον and θειότητα there is no affinity of letters, so that πλοῦτον does not seem to have crept in for θειότητα.
Furthermore, God takes His name from πλοῦτος, that is riches, both among the Latins, and the Greeks and Hebrews: for in Latin He is called Deus, because nothing is lacking to Him, or because He gives all good things to men. Again they have called God "Dis," as if "Dives" (rich). Hear Cicero, On the Nature of the Gods: "But all earthly force and nature is dedicated to Father Dis, who is rich, as among the Greeks Πλούτων, because all things both fall back into the earth, and arise out of the earth." Among the Greeks Πλούτων, that is Pluto, or Plutus a god, takes its name from πλοῦτος, that is riches. In Hebrew He is called שדי saddai, as if שדי sche dai, that is, He to whom there is sufficiency, abundance, the cornucopia of all things: for this is what dai signifies; whence many derive the Latin Deus and the Greek Δίς, the name of Jove. So also in the Illyric tongue God has His name from riches; for in Illyric Bogh is God, Bogath, rich, Bogaztuo, riches. For deity consists in this, that He is rich and abounding in all wisdom, goodness, justice, and in all graces, attributes, perfections, and every good. Hence the Apostle says of God that He is "rich unto all that call upon Him," Romans 10:12. And of Christ: "For your sakes He became poor, when He was rich," 2 Corinthians 8:9. And: "But God, who is rich in mercy," Ephesians 2:4. And: "O the depth of the riches of the wisdom and knowledge of God!" Romans 11:33.
AND WISDOM, — namely, full and perfect, that is, the knowledge of all things, says the Gloss. Hence Ludovicus Molina, in part I, Question 12, article 8, disputation 1, member 7, proves from this passage that Christ as man sees in the Word all things past, present, and future, and therefore sees infinite things; because it is fitting that His actual knowledge extend at the very least as widely as His own dominion and power extends. Now this latter extends to all the things already mentioned. Therefore, etc.
Verse 13: And every creature, which is in heaven, and on the earth, and under the earth
13. AND EVERY CREATURE. — As in the preceding verse the angels, so here all the other creatures were seen in vision by John praising the Lamb, on account of the sealed book opened by Him: by which, through prosopopoeia, it is signified that the Lamb's benefit in opening the book was admirable, on account of which all angels and men rejoice, so that heaven and earth and all irrational creatures seem to exult, and would in fact exult, if they were endowed with sense and reason. For they rejoice together with men as with their lords: for they were created by God to serve man; whence also, together with man, they await their own renewal, Romans 8:19. Rupert adds: They rejoice, he says, not because they have been redeemed, but because they have been created, and therefore they praise God not by rational or vocal confession, but by a certain natural display of their state.
WHICH IS IN HEAVEN, — namely, the sun, moon, and stars. So Ambrose, Rupert and Pererius. Alcazar otherwise: for he refers "to be in heaven" to Christians; "to be upon the earth," to the Jews; "to be under the earth," to demons and the damned; "to be in the sea," to the Gentiles, as if to say: All Christians, Jews, pagans and demons, though unwilling, glorify the Lamb. But this is mystical, not literal.
AND UNDER THE EARTH. — These are the souls existing in Purgatory; for those, although they are in punishments, nevertheless love and praise God and the Lamb, from whom they shortly hope for liberation, salvation, and glory. So Francis Suarez, Ribera and others everywhere. Again, there are the damned and demons, who are compelled to acknowledge and revere God and Christ, not by voluntary confession, but by forced concession, says Rupert and St. Gregory, Dialogues IV, chapter 42.
You will say: In Psalm 113, the next-to-last verse, and Baruch 2:17, it is said: "The dead shall not praise Thee, O Lord, nor any who go down into hell." I reply: The sense is this: The dead shall not praise Thee, O Lord, namely in that manner and way in which we, the living, praise, that is to say with a common and public voice in the presence of the living. See what is said on Baruch 2:17.
AND THOSE THAT ARE IN THE SEA, — namely, fishes, pearls and gems, etc.
AND THOSE WHICH ARE IN IT, — namely "the sea." The Greek now has τὰ ἐν αὐτοῖς, which are in them, namely in heaven, earth, and sea. He repeats the phrase "in the sea," adding "and those which are in it," in order to signify that the creatures existing in the sea are further removed from the glorification of God and the Lamb, and yet truly do glorify God and the Lamb. The phrase "and those which are in it," therefore, is a confirmation of what preceded, "And those that are in the sea." Otherwise Ribera: for he refers "in it" by force to the Greek κτίσμα, that is, creature, which is neuter, as if to say: All things which are in this creature of heaven, earth and sea.
Note: This doxology of all creatures signifies that all creatures are under Christ's dominion and rule, equally as under God's, and that they will most especially come to know it, venerate it, and assist it at the last judgment, when the mysteries of this sealed book — namely, the universal judgment of the whole world, and Christ Himself the judge — will appear gloriously to the whole world. For then all the tribes of the earth shall mourn, and the world shall fight for Christ against the senseless; for every creature shall see that He is the judge of the living and the dead: wherefore it shall worship and adore Him as such.
SAYING, — with a mute voice, by which the joyful creatures, in their own manner, praise God their creator. To this belongs that passage of Philo, in the book On the Planting of Noah, a little before the end: "There is told, he says, a story handed down by wise men to posterity. It is as follows. Once, when the Maker was completing the whole world, He asked one of the Prophets whether there was anything he desired not yet created, whether on earth or in water, or in air and heaven? He replied that everything indeed was perfect and full everywhere, but he required one thing, a herald of words to praise these things, who in all things, even in what seems the least and most obscure, would not so much praise as recount; for the very recounting of the works of God is the most sufficient praise, needing no addition. This answer is said to have pleased the Father of all; and not long after there arose a tuneful and musical race, born of one of the virgin divine powers, Memory, whom they call Mnemosyne. This is the tale of the ancients: from whose authority we learn that nothing is more proper to God than to do good, and nothing more proper to the creature than to give thanks, since besides this it can repay nothing."
Morally, we learn here from the angels and the heavenly beings various acts of congratulation, love, praise and jubilation, by which we ought frequently to celebrate God and the Lamb on account of His supreme majesty, wisdom, holiness, and on account of the benefits of creation, preservation, governance, etc., but most of all of the Incarnation of the Word and of our redemption. The first is the very knowledge, consideration, and profession of Him, by which we profess that He Himself is an immense ocean of essence, goodness, holiness, perfection, beatitude, and glory, from whom as from a fountain all angels, men, and creatures beg and partake a tiny drop of their being, wisdom, and virtue. For He is the beginning of all things, the end of all things, the founder of all things, indeed the creator from nothing, the sustainer of all things, the place of all things, the age, duration, termination, ordering, preservation, concord, and consummation of all things, especially through the grace and glory which He communicates to us through Christ. He is every good of angels and men, and of all nature, both that which is and that which is not, but exists, and can be created by Him. From this act follows the second, namely the highest reverence and admiration of Him; for considering this immense excellence of His divinity, and on the other hand our own vileness and abyss of nothingness, we revere and admire it supremely, and supremely abase and humble ourselves beneath it, just as the Seraphim, out of reverence, veil their faces before it, Isaiah 6:2. The third is an act of the love of concupiscence, by which we supremely love Him as the author of all our good, and say to Him: Thou art my God and my all, "the God of my heart, and my portion God forever." The fourth is an act of the love of friendship, by which we love Him with the purest charity and benevolence, because on account of His infinite excellence and dignity He is infinitely worthy of all love, all glory, all praise, all worship, all veneration, all obedience and submission. For in Him is every good, everything beautiful, everything delightful, all sweetness, all rest, all riches, all nobility, all majesty, all wisdom, all power, all glory, and whatever the mind can conceive, indeed infinitely more. Wherefore the mind loving this immense good disdains all created goods, as shadows, a dream, and a thin picture of that highest Good.
Furthermore St. Bernard, St. Bonaventure and Richard of St. Victor, in the treatise On the Grades of Charity, assign to this love various both degrees and effects and endowments. The first is that the love is inseparable, so that the soul can say with the Apostle: "Who shall separate us from the charity of Christ?" The second, that it is insatiable; for fire never says: It is enough. The third, that it is unconquered, for "love is strong as death; and many waters could not extinguish charity." The fourth, that it is delightful, so that the soul, drunk with this love, says: "The king hath brought me into his storerooms; stay me up with flowers, compass me about with apples, because I languish with love." The fifth, that it wounds the soul with burning desires, and with very many things by which it wishes and procures, as far as it can, that all may know, fear, love, worship, and praise Him. The sixth, that it always thirsts for God, always has Him present; in every creature it ascends to Him and contemplates Him. The seventh, that it desires to be dissolved and to be with Christ, not from weariness of life, but in order to enjoy its Beloved.
From this love follows the fifth act, of supreme joy, by which the mind rejoices over the immense attributes and perfections of God its Creator, Lord, Father and Redeemer, namely that our God is best, most powerful, most holy, most glorious, and overflows with all goods on every side. From joy follows the sixth act, of congratulation, by which we congratulate Him, as our God, on so great a majesty, so great riches, so great felicity, saying: In Thee is all glory and dignity, all riches and treasures, all pleasures and consolations, all delights, all joys, all beatitudes. To Thee all these are owed, and if anything were lacking to them, or if I could add anything to them, I would most liberally spend all that is mine on it. For Thou art most worthy of them: these things befit Thy divinity. To Thee therefore I congratulate them, with Thee I rejoice. From congratulation follows the seventh act, of jubilation, by which, exulting with the Blessed over so great a glory of our God, we sing for joy and say: "To Him that sitteth on the throne, and to the Lamb, blessing, and honor, and glory, and power, forever and ever." For the mind jubilates in Him who is infinitely more than all things that are, and that can exist in infinite worlds; who is worthy of infinite love and jubilation: and so it pours out into Him its whole heart in praising and exulting, and would wish, if it were possible, for infinite hearts with which to celebrate Him with infinite loves and praises; finally it invites all angels, all men, all the heavens, all living things, all created things, to jubilate with it to Him, and says: "Bless the Lord, all you works of the Lord, praise and exalt Him above all forever."