Fragments

shalt lie in wait for his heel ^A. In this way did some plot against the holy apostles, so as to bring upon them even the death of the flesh. And indeed we say that they suffered such a thing as might befall the foot of a horse that has stumbled and, as it were, slipped backward: for the rider shall be thrown off and, having fallen to the ground, I suppose, he still awaits the Living One, breathing. But the divine disciples have also awaited the time of their own salvation, in which they shall be called into a kingdom undisturbed by any agitation, when Christ shall exclaim to them: Come, ye blessed of my Father 12, and what follows.

And again, if one should not wish to understand some as lying in wait for Dan after the manner of serpents, but rather that Dan himself is plotting for others, we shall say that by that Dan are denoted the Scribes and Pharisees, the hypocrites, who, while they ought to have been judging the people and leading them, ^B set themselves against Christ like serpents, and impiously strove with implanted bites to cause him who was walking on a high and perfectly smooth path to fall. Yet although the Rider fell, having voluntarily undergone the death of the flesh, nevertheless he rose again, having the Father as his helper and restorer to life. For since the Son is the power of God and the Father, he restored his own temple to life. Therefore, he who had undergone danger as a man is affirmed to have been saved by the Father, although in his nature he exists as God, and he himself holds together the entire visible and invisible creation in a good state. Thus, understanding this also, the divine Paul says of him: For though he was crucified out of weakness, yet he lives by the power of God 13.

^C Asher received by lot the regions around Ptolemais and Sidon, and for this reason he says: His bread is rich, and he shall give delicacies to princes. We take this as a figure of our own calling. For that which is rich is luxurious. But what bread is more luxurious than ours? For our bread is the Lord, as he himself says: I am the bread of life 14. And who else shall give food to princes than our Lord Jesus Christ? Not only to those from the nations who believe, but also to those from the circumcision who hold the primacy in faith, that is, to the fathers, and patriarchs, and prophets, and to all who believe in his name and in his passion.

Genes. xlix, 21-26: Naphtali is a spreading stem, giving ^D beauty in its growth. Joseph is an overgrown son, my overgrown, envied son; my youngest son, turn back to me. Against whom they taking counsel cursed, and the lords of the arrows aimed at him. And their bows were broken with power, and the nerves of the arms of their hands were loosened by the hand of the powerful One of Jacob. Thence is he who strengthened Israel by the God of thy father. And my God helped thee, and blessed thee with the blessing of heaven from above, and the blessing of the earth having all things, on account of the bene

benediction of the breasts and the womb, the benediction of thy father and thy mother; it prevailed over the blessings of the everlasting hills, and over the blessings of the eternal hills: these shall be upon the head of Joseph, and upon the crown of those of whom he was the leader.

HIPPOLYTUS: ^A What other son has been increased and envied unto this day, but our Lord Jesus Christ? Indeed, envied, or rather sought after with envy by those who delight to pursue him with hatred, yet not altogether overcome. For although he endured the cross, yet as God he returned to life and trampled upon death, with God and Father himself acclaiming and saying: "Sit thou at my right hand" (Ps. cix, 1), and what follows. For that they too who gave birth to the greatest madness against him have succumbed, he teaches when he says: "Against whom they conspiring even cursed him, the lords of arrows." For by convening synod after synod, the lords of arrows, that is, the princes of the peoples, took bitter counsel. But their bows were broken, and the nerves of their arms were loosened by the hand of the mighty One of Jacob, that is, of God and the Father, who is the Lord of hosts, who also caused the Son to be blessed in heaven and on earth. And he himself is taken as a type of our affairs, as the Gospel declares: "The land of Zabulon and the land of Nephthalim, by the way of sea beyond Jordan" (Matt. iv, 15), and what follows. "And to those sitting in darkness light has sprung up" (ibid. 16). And what other light was this, if not the calling of the Gentiles, which is the shoot, that is, the wood of the Lord, upon which being grafted, it bears fruit? ^B But by the words: "Giving beauty in the shoot," he signifies to us the abundance of the calling. But if the words should be understood as applying also to us—"giving beauty in the shoot"—the argument would not be inconsistent. For as we always progress in virtue and arrive at better things, or, according to the voice of blessed Paul, "stretching forward to the things that are before" (Philipp. iii, 13), we are always striving toward a more splendid beauty; spiritual beauty, I say, so that it may be said to us in turn: "The king has desired thy beauty" (Ps. xliv, 12).

Post nonnulla Apollinarii: HIPPOLYTUS: ^C Again the word of prophecy seeks out Emmanuel himself. Since, I think, there is nothing else signified by it than what he has just said, "giving beauty in the shoot"; for he speaks of him increasing with increments into that which he was from the beginning, and signifies his being carried back to the natural nobility which is in him. This is altogether rightly understood to be what he had assumed. For seeing that the only-begotten Word of God, being God from God, ^D himself according to the...

Scriptures ^A emptied himself, lowering himself voluntarily into what he was not, and put on this lowly flesh, and appeared in the form of a servant, having become obedient to God and the Father unto death; wherefore he is later also said to be superexalted; and as if not possessing it owing to his humanity, he receives, in the manner of a gift, the name which is above every name, according to the words of blessed Paul. But in truth of the matter, the thing was not a gift, as if it were a beginning of things not naturally in him—far from it; but rather it should be considered a return and a resurgence to that which was in him from the beginning, essentially and inseparably. Wherefore also, when he had been clothed in the humility of the flesh by way of economy, he says: Father, glorify me with the glory which I had ^B, and the following. For he was always in divine glory, coexisting with his own Begetter before every age and time and the foundation of the world.

It is also appropriately understood as an "adolescent" or "younger." For he appeared in the last times of the age, and after the glorious and love-worthy choir of the holy prophets, and simply and once to say, after all those who, before the time of the incarnation, were reckoned in the order of sons on account of their virtue. But how the Emmanuel is said to be "envied" is in a way ambiguous. Indeed, he is to be envied or emulated by the saints, who, studying to follow in his footsteps, are fashioned according to his divine beauty and, making him the model of things to be done, ^C carry away the best glory of all. But he might also be understood as "the envied" in another way by those said not to love him; I mean, the leaders of the Jews, that is, the Scribes and Pharisees, who, bearing within themselves a bitter zeal and making his incomparable glory the subject of their envy, sought to entrap him in many ways. For Christ had already recalled to life the dead who were already stinking and corrupt, and performed other divine signs; wherefore it was right for them, being struck with wonder at these things, to believe and no longer to doubt. But they did nothing of the sort; instead, they were vexed by envy and conceived bitter grief in their souls.

After some words of Cyril: ^D HIPPOLYTUS: Who is this other, than as it is demonstrated to us by the Apostle, the second man, the Lord from heaven? And in the Gospel, he said that the last one did the will of the Father. With the words, however, “Turn back to me,”

^A the assumption into heaven to the Father after the Passion is made clear to us. By the words, “Against him they deliberated and reviled,” who else is signified but the Jewish people against our Lord? And, “they kept watch for him;” for who have kept watch for him, and even to this day still keep watch? They are the masters of arrows, who think they have fought against the Lord. For even if they prevailed in putting him to death, yet their bows were crushed with power. It is clearly shown to us that after the resurrection their bows were crushed with power; that is to say, the leaders of the peoples, who, as if in battle array against the Lord, sharpened their arrows to inflict wounds—and all but struck him, because they did what was unlawful, and dared even to rush upon him like wild beasts.

“You prevailed over the blessings of the lasting mountains.” ^B By eternal and most lasting mountains and everlasting hills, he signifies the saints, because they have been removed from earthly things, and desire nothing of falling things, but seek the things that are above, and strive with all their might to reach the sublime heights of virtue; following, therefore, the glory of Christ, are those also who are most notable among the Fathers and who attained to the culmination of virtue. For they were servants; but the Lord is the Son, who supplied to them those qualities by which they themselves became glorious. Wherefore they also profess that, "of his fullness we all have received."

“And may the God of my father help you.” It is clearly shown to us that the help and assistance of the Son is from none other than the Father and our God who is in the heavens. By the words, “My God,” ^C it is shown that the Spirit speaks through Jacob.

"The sinews of the arms." He could not say of the hands or shoulders; but since the broad parts in the middle of a bow are called arms, he properly calls them arms.

“Blessing of the breasts and womb.” By this it is signified to us that the blessing from heaven is the Spirit, having descended through the Word into the flesh. But by the breasts and womb, he denotes the blessings of the Virgin. And the words, “of your father and mother,” ^D this designates the blessing of the Father which we received in the Church through our Lord Jesus Christ.

...the generation through a woman, and that he sucked the breasts. By no means, however, did he become man in appearance only, as some suppose, but as one who is truly what we are, himself following the laws of nature, he even endured nourishment, although he himself gives life to the world. And as regards these words, “the blessing of father and mother,” the generation of the Only-Begotten from God and the Father, and that which took place through the holy Virgin, is clearly and effectively indicated, according to which he is believed and was seen to be man. For existing naturally and truly as Son of God and the Father, for our sake he endured that generation which was through a woman and a womb, and he sucked the breasts. For he was not, as it appears to some, man in appearance; but the same one truly appeared as what we are who follow the laws of nature, and he used nourishment, although he himself gives life to the world.

^A *Gen.* XLIX, 27: *Benjamin lupus rapax; mane comedet adhuc, et ad vesperam dat escam.* It applies entirely to the apostle Paul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin. For when he was young, he was a ravenous wolf; but after he believed, he provided food. This is also declared to us through the grace of our Lord Jesus Christ, that the tribe of Benjamin at the beginning—which is what "morning" signifies—persecutes. For Saul, who was of the tribe of Benjamin, persecuted David, who stood as a type of the Lord.

II.

III.

in Cain while premeditating, in Esau most manifest ^A, and from there he might take a wife from the lineage of Laban, he confesses, also showing the time of the killing: "The days of the passion of my father draw near," he says, "that I may kill my brother." Wherefore Rebecca, that is to say, patience, reported to her husband the snares of the brother; and he, having called Jacob, commanded him that he should go into Mesopotamia to the brother of his mother. How, therefore, the brother, fleeing from deceits, travels to Mesopotamia Jacob; so also Christ, compelled by the incredulity of the Jews, departs into Galilee, thence to take for Himself from the nations a bride, the Church. ^B

IN NUMEROS

From Leontius of Byzantium, book 1, *Against Nestorius and Eutyches*. (From Gallandi. — The same fragment is read in Mai, *Script. Vet.* vol. VII, p. 154.)

From the blessings of Balaam by Saint Hippolytus, bishop and martyr.

^B That it might be demonstrated that He holds in Himself the twofold substance, that of God and that of men, just as the Apostle says: "Mediator of God and of men, the man Christ Jesus"; now a mediator is not of one man, but of two; it was necessary, therefore, that Christ, having been made the mediator of God and of men, should receive a certain pledge from both, that He might appear as the mediator of two natures. ^C

IN REGES

Fragment of the Tractate of S. Hippolytus, *On the Engastrimyth (Spirit-medium)*, or *On Saul and the Pythoness*, 1 Kings xxviii. — From the Vatican manuscript cod. cccxxx in Allatius, *De Engastrim.*, edited by Simon DE MAGISTRIS in *Acta Martyrum Ostiensium*, p. 160, Rome 1795, in-folio.

It is asked whether Samuel ascended through the medium being called forth, or not. And if indeed we concede that he ascended, we shall establish falsehoods. For how could a demon recall a soul—I do not say only of a just man, but even of any person whatsoever—the soul which had departed, whose whereabouts he did not know, after its departure from the body? But how, they ask, was the woman deceived, and contrary to custom did she see men ascending? For unless she had seen something contrary to custom, she would not have said: "I see gods ascending from the earth." She called one, and how did many ascend? What then, shall we say that the souls of all who appeared had ascended, and that these were not called by the woman, or was their appearance mere phantoms? But not that either. How, they ask, when ^D since the ancients, when they made mention of the Pythoness, understood none other than this one of Saul. Furthermore, there is no place for doubting when Jerome says that Hippolytus wrote *On Saul and the Pythoness*. But the title seems most appropriate as inscribed on the marble, thus conceived either for the sake of brevity, to which stonecutters are accustomed, or to signify the subject of the work, which ranged more broadly.

did Saul recognize [Samuel], and worship? Yet Saul did not see, but hearing from the woman what he wished, he recognized the figure of one of those who had ascended as Samuel, and he consulted that figure on bended knee. But for the demon, nothing is easier than to present the image of Samuel, which he knew. How then, one might ask, did he foretell the evils that were to befall Saul and Jonathan at the same time? He foretold the end of the war, that Saul ^A would be defeated, guessing this from the wrath of God against him. Just as a physician, who does not possess exact knowledge of his art, seeing a patient in a desperate state, might predict his death, yet be mistaken about the time; so too the demon, from the works of Saul, and from the very crime of consulting the Pythoness, knowing the wrath of God, foretells at once the defeat and the death, though he errs regarding the day of death.

ON THE PSALMS

^B The argument of Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, prefixed to the exposition of the Psalms.

The book of Psalms contains a new doctrine after the law of Moses. For this is the second doctrinal book after the writing of Moses. After the death of Moses and Joshua, and after the judges, David arose, who was held worthy to be called even the father of the Savior; he was the first to hand down to the Hebrews a new method of composing hymns, by which he abolished the things ordained by Moses concerning sacrifices, and introduced a new hymn and a mode of worshiping God with jubilation, and taught many other things that transcend the law of Moses throughout his work.

On Psalm II

^C The exposition of Saint Hippolytus, bishop, on the second Psalm.

He who came into the world was manifested as both God and man; and it is easy to recognize his human nature, when he hungers and grows weary, and thirsts, and in fear flees, and praying suffers distress, and sleeps on a pillow; and when he asks for the cup of passion to be taken away, and in his struggle sweats, and is strengthened by an angel, and is betrayed by Judas, and treated with contumely by Caiaphas, and despised by Herod, and scourged by Pilate, and mocked by the soldiers, and by the Jews...

is nailed to the wood, and crying to the Father commends his spirit, and bowing his head expires, and his side is pierced with a lance, and wound in a linen cloth he is placed in a tomb, and on the third day he is raised by the Father. But his divine nature is not obscurely seen, when he is adored by angels, and looked upon by shepherds, and awaited by Simeon, and adorned by the testimony of Anna, and sought by the Magi, and indicated by a star, and makes wine from water at the marriage feast, and rebukes the sea agitated by the force of the winds, and walks upon the sea, and restores sight to the man blind from birth, and raises Lazarus on the fourth day, and performs various powers, and forgives sins, and gives the power to forgive to his disciples.

In Psalm XXII

^BIdem Theodoretus dialogue primo. Saint Hippolytus, bishop and martyr, in the exposition of the Psalm, "The Lord is my shepherd." The Ark fashioned of incorruptible woods was the Savior himself. For by this was signified that his tabernacle perceived no decay or corruption, that is, producing no putrefaction of sin. For the sinner utters this confession: "My wounds have decayed and are putrefied because of my foolishness." But the Lord was without sin, and was covered as if with the purest gold, being made from woods immune to putrefaction according to humanity—that is, from the Virgin and the Holy Spirit within, and from the Word of God outside.

In Psalm XXIII

^CIdem ibid. The same in the exposition of the Psalm XXIII. He comes to the celestial gates, with angels accompanying him, and the gates of the heavens were closed. For he had not yet ascended into heaven, but then for the first time appeared to the celestial powers flesh ascending. It is said, therefore, to the powers by the angels who were the precursors of the Savior and Lord: "Lift up your gates, O ye princes, and be ye lifted up, O eternal gates, and the King of glory shall enter in."

In Psalm CIX

^DIdem Theodoretus dialogue secundo. The same in the discourse on the great canticle. He who rescued lost man, fashioned from the earth and held in the bonds of death, from the lowest hell, and coming from above raised to the heights the one lying upon the ground, having become the evangelist of the dead, and the redeemer of souls, and the resurrection of those buried; this one brought aid to the conquered man, having been made like to him, the first-born Word, visiting the first-formed Adam in the virgin

the spiritual one seeking out the earthy in the womb, and always living, [visiting] him who died through disobedience; the heavenly [One] calling the earthly to things above; the noble [One] desiring to grant freedom to the slave through His own obedience; Who turned the man who was decaying into dust and had become food for the serpent, into adamant, and having declared this [man] to be Lord, hanging upon the wood, against the one who had conquered, and thus is found to be conqueror through the wood. ^A

Of the same, from the same discourse: For those who do not recognize the Son of God now in the flesh, will recognize Him as Judge when He arrives in glory, Whom they now treat insolently in a body without glory.

Of the same, from the same discourse: For the apostles, having come to the monument on the third day, did not find the body of Jesus, in the same way that the children of Israel, ascending the mountain, sought the burial place of Moses and did not find it. ^B

On Psalm LXXVII

45: He sent among them the dog-fly, and it devoured them; and the frog, and it destroyed them. 46: And He gave their fruits to the mildew, and their labors to the locust. 47: He slew their vine with hail, and their sycamores with frost.

Just as, through an intemperate diet, a certain destructive and bilious humor collects in the vital parts, which a physician, by his art, draws out through vomiting—he himself, of course, is not the cause for such a morbid humor being produced in the body, which intemperance of food has produced, though medical art has brought it to light: so too, even if it is said that the painful retribution by which those who are perverse of their own will are punished comes from God, it would be reasonable for us to trace back the origins and causes of receiving such evils to ourselves. For to him who has lived without sin, there is no darkness, no worm, no Gehenna, no fire, nor any other of the things and punishments that are to be feared; ^C just as even the Egyptian plagues were not a detriment to the Hebrews: not those tiny gnats inflicting pain with invisible bites, not the dog-fly clinging with a biting, sharp sting, not the storms rushing down from above with stones of hail, not the countryside consumed by locusts, not the air covered in darkness, and other things of this kind. But it is within the power of God to cultivate the true vine and to destroy the Egyptian, while also sparing those who are about to eat the grape of gall and drink the incurable poison of asps.* The Egyptian fig tree is likewise uprooted, but not that one which Zacchaeus climbed, that he might be able to see my Lord. And the fruits of the Egyptians are corrupted, which are the works of the flesh; but not the fruit of the Spirit, ^D love, joy, peace.**

* Deut. XXXII, 33. ** Gal. V, 22.

48. ^A *And He gave up their cattle to the hail, and their possessions to the fire.* ^B Symmachus renders it: *Who gave up their cattle to famine, and their possessions to the birds.* For when they had experienced massive devastation, they provided food for carnivorous birds. But according to the Seventy, it does not say this—that the cattle were destroyed by hail separately, and the fire consumed the other property individually—but that hail, descending miraculously with fire, first of all struck down the vine and the sycamores, as they were utterly unable to withstand the first assault. Then, all the cattle that were grazing in the fields, and afterwards every herb and every plant, were consumed by the fire that was in the hail; and the phenomenon was a wonder, with the fire running through the water and being interwoven with it. For he says the fire was running through the hail; and there was hail and fire flaming within the hail. By "possessions," or wealth, David calls the cattle and the fruit of the trees. ^B It must be noted that, even if the hail is recorded to have destroyed every herb and every tree, nevertheless some things remained, which the locust, coming upon them after the fire-entwined hail, ate; regarding which it is said that it devoured every herb and all the fruit of the trees, which the hail had left behind. According to the allegorical interpretation, there are certain cattle of Christ, and certain cattle of the Egyptians. However, things that were once someone else's property can become His, just as Laban's cattle became Jacob's, and conversely, because Jacob gave to Esau whatever he disapproved of. Be careful, therefore, lest, being found in the sheepfold of Jesus when gifts are sent to Esau, you are chosen, and as a reprobate and unworthy of the spiritual Jacob, you are sent off to Esau. The cattle of Christ are the simpler ones, whom God saves, according to that text: *You will save both men and cattle, O Lord.* The cattle of the Egyptians are those who, deprived of reason, adhere to the impious doctrine of atheism, and who are so struck by the hail. ^C And the Egyptians, indeed, have everything they possess delivered to the fire, but Abraham gave his possessions to Isaac.

49. *He sent upon them the anger of His fury, anger, and wrath, and tribulation, a mission through evil angels.* ^D He called the bitter punishments anger, wrath, and tribulation; for God is without passion. And by "anger" you shall understand the lesser punishments; by "wrath," the greater ones; and by "tribulation," the greatest. As for the "evil angels"—those who are the administrators of wrath—they are neither evil by nature nor by choice, but because they serve in carrying out such things, and inflict hardships and pains, they are called "evil" in relation to the disposition of those who suffer, just as the day of judgment is called a "wicked day," because it is full of constraints and pains for the sinners. Such also is the passage in Isaiah: *I...*

that it is full of calamities and labors against sinners. Similar is that of Isaiah: *I am the Lord, making peace and creating evils* (Isa. XLV, 7); just as if He said, both fostering peace and permitting wars.

ON THE PROVERBS

(Mai, *Bibliotheca nova Patrum*, VII, II, 71, Rome 1851, in 4°, from the Vatican MS Catena)

PROVERBS, therefore, are exhortatory sayings that contribute to the regulation of the entire life; for to those who set out on the path to God, they become certain guides and signposts, which refresh those who are weary from the length of the journey. ^B Now these Proverbs are Solomon’s—that is, the "Peaceful One"—namely, of Christ the Savior. But since we know flawlessly that these are the Lord’s sayings, because they are the Lord’s, so that no one may perhaps deceive us by the similarity of names, he adds who wrote these things, and of what nation he was king; so that the authority of the speaker may make the discourse more acceptable and the hearers more attentive. For these are the words of that Solomon to whom the Lord said: *I will give thee a heart wise and understanding; there hath been none like thee before thee, neither after thee shall any arise like unto thee* (III Reg. III, 12); and the rest written concerning him. ^C Now he was wise, born of a wise man; wherefore the name of David is appended, from whom Solomon was born, being trained in the sacred scriptures from childhood, and obtaining the kingdom not by lot or by any force, but by the judgment of the Spirit and the decree of God.

*To understand wisdom and instruction.* He who knows the wisdom of God receives instruction from Him as well, so that he may understand the mysteries of the words. Now those who possess true and heavenly wisdom will easily perceive the sense of the mysteries. Therefore he says: *To receive the subtleties of words.* For those things which were spoken by the Holy Spirit, as it were in inverted words, are made known promptly to those who are endowed with a heart faithful toward God.

^D This he understands concerning the people of the Jews, and the slaughter of Christ; for they thought that He had His conduct on earth only.

*They will not only receive, but they will also inherit.* But the impious, even if they are exalted, it but results in their own greater dishonor. Just as if one should place a deformed and distorted man on a high throne, he does not honor but rather dishonors him, making his ugliness manifest to more people; so also God exalts the impious, that He may make their disgrace public. Pharaoh was also exalted, but only so that he might have the world as his accuser.

It is to be noted that he here calls the gift a good one

on account of him who accepts bribes into his bosom unjustly. He deserts the law, he who transgresses it; the law, moreover, is what he either explicitly names or what he himself has observed.

^A What is "circumcyclethe" [surround/fence in]? Surround it with holy thoughts. For you have great need of a fortification, since many things lie in wait for such a possession. But if it is in our power to surround it, the fortifications will be for us the virtues that exalt the knowledge of God—for instance, asceticism, meditation, and the rest of the choir of virtues; he who holds these honors wisdom; the reward, however, is to be exalted to her and to take delight with her in the heavenly bridal chamber.

The impious are the heterodox, but the sinners are the transgressors of the law; he says that one should not walk in their ways or their actions.

^B He sees rightly who has thoughts free from perturbation and true dogmas, he who is not struck by external phantasies. When he says, "Let your eyes see uprightness," he speaks of the vision of the soul. And when he exhorts, "Eat honey, my son, that your throat may be sweetened," he speaks of honey tropically as divine doctrine, which completes the spiritual knowledge of the soul. But wisdom also touches the soul; for "love her," he says, "that she may embrace you." Now the soul, joined to virtue through an embrace, is filled with holiness and purity. Moreover, the soul also reaches for the scent of Christ's ointments.

^C Virtue holds the middle ground; therefore, he also says that fortitude is midway between audacity and cowardice. Now, however, he calls them "the right," not because they are right by nature—as the virtues are—but because they seem right to you on account of pleasures; and pleasures are not only those of Venus, but also wealth and luxury. The "left," however, are envy, rapine, and things like these. For the north wind, he says, is a harsh wind, yet it is called "the right" in name; for he calls the evil one, that is, the devil, the north wind symbolically, from whom all evils are kindled upon the earth. And this name is "the right," because he is called an angel by a right, that is, a favorable, name. — Do you, he says, turn away from evil, and God will take care of your end; for He will go before you, destroying your enemies, so that you may walk in peace.

^D For he shows, also through the animal [the doe], the innocence of pleasure in marriage; and through the foal, he expresses the alacrity and lovableness of a woman. And because he perceives many things that incite to vice, he counsels cautiously and imposes an indissoluble bond of friendship upon them, securing constancy for them. Otherwise, wisdom, like a doe, is naturally able to drive away and extinguish the serpentine doctrines of the heterodox. Let this, therefore, he says, be with you as a foal, so that it may renew every virtue; and because wisdom is not like a woman, let this rather be your leader. For so shall you beget good thoughts.

Lest you say: "Why is there any harm to the eyes, since there is not necessarily any need for one who sees to be perverted?" he shows you that lust is fire; and the flesh, a garment;

the former is easily captured, the latter is tyrannical. ^A Yet when it is not merely placed there, but also bound fast, it will not go out until it has made an exit for itself; for the one who has looked upon a woman, even if he has escaped, still does not depart pure from desire. But what need is there for affairs, when it is possible to live chastely without involvement? Observe what Job says: I have made a covenant with my eyes, that I should not think upon a strange woman (Job XXXI, 1). He recognized the power of this deception. For this reason also, Paul kept under his body, and brought it into subjection (1 Cor. IX, 27). In a spiritual sense, he who allows an impure thought to linger in his heart is binding fire to his bosom; and he who destroys his own soul by committing sin walks upon coals.

^B The cemphus is a species of gull, which is so unrestrained in its lust that at the time of mating its eyes seem to be filled with blood; and being incautious, it often falls into traps or into the hands of men. To this, therefore, he compares the man addicted to a harlot because of his lechery; or perhaps because of the stupidity of the bird, for it likewise chases after everyone like a fool. They also say that the cemphus takes such delight in foam that if a person sailing should hold foam in his hand, it will alight upon his hand. It also gives birth in pain.

^C You have known its damage; beware, therefore, lest you admit desire; for its end is immortal. Otherwise, it wounds with words, that is, with thoughts, but it kills those who indulge themselves with sins. For many kinds of wickedness lead the foolish to hell. The chambers of death, or the depth, or its riches. Who, then, shall escape?

He calls the New Jerusalem the holy flesh. By the seven columns, he indicated the sevenfold gift of the holy Spirit resting upon it; just as Isaiah witnesses, saying: He has slaughtered his own sacrifices (Isa. XXVIII, 14).

Mark that it is necessary for a wise man to be useful to many; for he who is useful only to himself would not be wise. For there is a great reproach to wisdom if it restricts its power to the one who possesses it. Just as poison is not harmful to another body, but only to the one receiving it; so he who becomes wicked harms himself, not another. For no one endowed with virtue is harmed by the wicked.

^D The fruit of righteousness and the tree of life is Christ; who, insofar as he was a man, fulfilled all righteousness; and as self-life, he put forth the fruits of knowledge and virtue like a tree, from which those who eat shall receive eternal life, and will enjoy the tree of life of paradise, with Adam and all the righteous; but the souls of the lawless are snatched away prematurely from the face of God, because He is to abandon them in the fire of torment.

He should find grace not from men, but from God.

This man inquires after wisdom, he who seeks to know what the

^A truth is. Showing himself ignorant of the thing he came to learn, he will appear prudent. If someone inquires about wisdom, wishing to know a portion of it, but another keeps silent, not only wishing to learn nothing from wisdom but also deterring others from the study of it; without doubt, the former will be esteemed more prudent than the latter.

^B "To the leech." There were three daughters dearly beloved by sin: fornication, murder, and idolatry. Yet these three do not satisfy it, for it is insatiable. For by these acts, sin always destroys man, never being altered, but perpetually increasing. For the fourth, it says, never said: "It is enough"; signifying by the fourth, universal concupiscence. For just as one is the body, but it has many members; so also sin, being one, has within itself many and various concupiscences, through which it lays snares for man. Wishing to demonstrate this, it uses the examples of Hades, and the love of women, and Tartarus, and the earth never filled with rain. And water, and fire, will never say: "It is enough." For in no way does Hades cease receiving the souls of lawless men. Nor does the love of sin, as that of a woman, cease from committing fornication, having become a traitor to his own soul. And just as Tartarus, being always in a mournful and dark place, is not reached by a ray of light, so also is everyone who serves sin in any passion of the flesh. Like the earth ^C never filled with waters, he is never able to come to confession and the laver of regeneration, as water and fire, without saying: "It is enough."

"For in the same way that a serpent cannot leave a track upon a rock, so also the devil could not find sin in the body of Christ." For the Lord says: "Behold, the prince of this world is coming, and he will find nothing in me." For just as a ship sailing through the sea leaves no tracks or paths behind it, so neither does the Church, living in the world as in a sea, leave her hope behind on the earth, having her life laid up in the heavens; passing briefly through it, she does not leave footprints of her passage on the way. The Church not abandoning her hope in the world—the incarnation of Christ, which bears all things—makes no path of death in Hades. Of whom, if not of him who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin? Who, renewing the perfect man in the world, performed signs, taking his beginning from the baptism of John, as the evangelist also testifies. "And Jesus was beginning as of thirty years." Therefore, in this young and flourishing age, traversing cities and regions, he was healing the diseases and infirmities of men.

^D "The eye that mocks his father, and despises the old age of his mother." Truly, the eye that blasphemes God, and disdains the mother of Christ, the Wisdom of God, let it be plucked out.

FRAGMENTA IN PROVERBIA

^A and let the ravens from the valleys pluck it out, that is, the impure and evil spirits, the eye that is the observer of joy; and let the young of eagles devour it, and it shall be trodden under the feet of the saints.

There are three things I cannot understand, and the fourth I do not know at all: the track of an eagle flying, that is, the ascension of Christ. And the paths of a serpent upon a rock; for the devil found no footprint of sin in the body of Christ. And the tracks of a ship sailing the sea, that is, the Church fluctuating in the ocean of this world, and for the sake of her hope in Christ, steered by the cross as if by a rudder. And the ways of a man in his youth, that is, of Him who was born of the Holy Spirit and the Virgin; for behold, says the Scripture, a man, whose name is the Orient.

Such is the way of an adulterous woman, who when she has committed the act, wiping herself, says she has done no evil. Clearly, the Church acted in this way; having once committed fornication with idols, she renounced them and the devil, and having washed away her sins and obtained forgiveness, she declares herself no longer subject to any wickedness. ^B

The earth is moved by three: that is, by the Father, the Son, and the Holy Spirit. And the fourth it cannot sustain, that is, the final coming of Christ. — *If a servant should reign.* Israel, who was a servant in Egypt, and reigned in the promised land. — *And a fool filled with food.* One who, having easily acquired land, and having eaten and been filled, has kicked away. — *And if a handmaid should cast out her mistress.* The synagogue, the slayer of the Lord, which fastened the flesh of Christ to the cross.

There are four things that are least on earth, and these are wiser than the wise: the ants, a weak race, that prepare their food in the harvest. In like manner, the nations, through faith in Christ, prepare for themselves eternal life by good works. And the rock badgers, a people equally weak, who make their homes in the rocks. The nations have been built upon the spiritual rock, Christ, who has become the head of the corner. The lizard, which is supported by its hands and is easily captured, yet dwells in the fortresses of kings. The thief, leaning on the cross with hands extended and resting upon Christ, dwells in paradise, which is the fortress of the three kings, Father, Son, and Holy Spirit. ^C

The locust has no king, and yet it proceeds in orderly fashion as if by the command of one. The nations were without a king, because they were subjected to sin; but now, believing in God, they exercise a heavenly warfare. — There are three that move well, and the fourth that proceeds prosperously. The angels in the heavens, the saints on the earth, the souls of the righteous under the earth. The fourth, namely, the Word of God incarnate, passed successfully through the womb of the Virgin; and having reformed Adam, He passed through the gate of heaven, having become the first-fruits of resurrection and likewise of ascension. ^D

The lion's whelp, mightiest of beasts. Christ in

^A Jude, foretold by Jacob. — A cock walking briskly among the hens. Paul in the Churches fearlessly preaching the doctrine of Christ, the God of all. — A goat leading the flock. The same Christ, sacrificed for the sins of the world. — And a king haranguing in the midst of the people. Christ, reigning over the nations, proclaims through prophets and apostles the doctrine of the truth.

^B Established in iniquity. But says the Apostle, "Them that sin rebuke before all." Or, easily led astray. — Who are the conies, if not we, who once were like swine, and wallowed in all the filth of this world? But now, after we have believed in Christ, we build our houses upon the holy flesh of Christ, as upon a rock.

^C An earthquake signifies a change of things in the world. Sin, therefore, which is by nature servile, reigned in the mortal body of men, once indeed at the time of the flood; a second time among the Sodomites, who, not content with the fertility of the earth, also offered violence to their guests; thirdly, in hateful Egypt, which, having obtained Joseph as a man to distribute grain to all that they might not perish of hunger, did not bear its good fortune wisely, but afflicted the sons of Israel with injury. — And a maidservant casting out her mistress: the Church from the Gentiles is that which, when she was a maidservant and a stranger to the promises, cast out the noble and mistress Synagogue, and became the mistress and bride of Christ. — The whole earth is shaken by the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit. It cannot bear the fourth, for the first came through the lawgivers; the second, through the prophets; the third, through the Gospel, showing Himself openly. The fourth will come as judge of the living and the dead, whose glory the whole creation shall not be able to endure.

Another fragment.

^D

Of St. Hippolytus, Pope of Rome, on that text "Wisdom hath built herself a house."

the Spirit of God[69]. Others say that the seven columns are the seven divine orders by which the creature is sustained through His holy and divinely inspired teaching, that is, the prophets, apostles, martyrs, hierarchs or priests, ascetics, saints, and the just. And as for the expression, "she has immolated her victims," it denotes the prophets and martyrs, whom the unbelievers in every city and region slaughter daily like sheep for the sake of the truth, and who cry out: "For Your sake we are being killed all the day long; we were accounted as sheep for the slaughter"[70]. And "she mixed her wine in a cup": by uniting His own divinity with flesh in the Virgin as pure and unmixed wine, the Savior was born of her as God and man without confusion. And "she prepared her own table": that is, the promised knowledge of the holy Trinity, and His own precious and immaculate Body and Blood, which are performed and sacrificed daily at the mystical and divine table in memory of that never-to-be-forgotten and first divine and secret supper. Furthermore, as to the expression, "Wisdom sent out her servants," it refers to Christ, summoning with a loud proclamation: "Whoever is foolish, let him turn aside to me," she cries—referring clearly to the holy apostles, who traversed the whole world and called the nations to the knowledge of Him by their own sublime and divine preaching. And by addressing those who are "lacking in understanding"—those, that is, who have not yet attained the grace of the Holy Spirit—saying, "Come, eat of my bread and drink the wine which I have mixed for you," He says that He has given us His divine flesh and precious blood to eat and drink for the remission of sins.

ON THE CANTICLE OF CANTICLES

I.

Simon de Magistris, *Acta mart. Ostiens.*, p. 274, from a Vatican parchment codex, provides the following fragment in Syriac and Latin, with these introductory remarks: "Hippolytus wrote on the Canticle of Solomon, and he shows that the Word of God sought His delights long ago in the Church gathered from the Gentiles, but especially in His own mother, the most holy Virgin; and therefore the Syrians, boasting of the Virgin as born among them, translated Hippolytus's commentary from Greek into their native tongue in ancient times, of which some parts still survive, as in the passage: 'Arise, O North wind, and come, O South; blow upon my garden, and let its aromatics flow.' When Joseph was delighted with these aromatics, he is designated as the Son of the King by God. When the Virgin Mary was anointed with these, she conceived the Word in her womb; then she demonstrates new mysteries, new truth, and a new kingdom, and also great and inexplicable secrets."

II.

From Galland, out of Anastasius Sinaita, *Quaest.* 41, p. 320. Hippolytus on the Canticle of Canticles. ^D And where is that most copious knowledge? And where are those mysteries? And where are the books? There exist only the Proverbs ^A seven spirits of God. Others say ^B there are seven columns, the seven divine orders that sustain the creature through His holy and divinely inspired teaching, namely, the prophets, the apostles, the martyrs, the hierarchs, the ascetics, the holy, and the just. And as for "she has immolated her victims," he means the prophets and martyrs who in every city and region are slain by the unbelievers like sheep for the sake of the truth, and who cry out: "For Your sake we are being killed all the day long. We were accounted as sheep for the slaughter." And "she mixed her wine in a cup," by uniting to the Virgin His own divinity with the flesh like pure wine, the Savior was born of her without confusion as God and man. And "she prepared her own table," that is, the knowledge of the holy Trinity promised [by Him]; and His precious and immaculate Body and Blood, which are performed in the mystical and divine table daily, being sacrificed in memory of that ever-memorable and first table of the mystical divine supper. ^C And as for "Wisdom sent her servants," it is Christ, obviously, calling together with a loud proclamation. "Whoever is foolish, let him turn aside to me," He says, meaning the holy apostles, who ran through the whole world and called the nations to the knowledge of Him, truly by their sublime and divine preaching. And what He said to those lacking in understanding—to those not yet possessing the power of the Holy Spirit, that is—"Come, eat my bread, and drink the wine which I have mixed for you," He says that He has given us His divine flesh and His precious blood to eat and drink for the remission of sins. Hippolytus, from the [work] on the Canticle of Canticles (26). And where is all this rich knowledge? And where are these mysteries? And where are the books? They are referred to the Canticle of Canticles.

rum; and Wisdom, and Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. What then? Does Scripture speak falsely? Far from it. But there was indeed a great abundance and diversity in the matter of what he wrote; and this is what he indicates by saying “the Song of songs”: for he signifies that he has comprised in this one [book] that which was contained in three thousand odes or canticles. Yet in the days of Hezekiah, some books were selected, while others were overlooked. Whence Scripture says: “These are the proverbs of Solomon, the ones not before divided, which the friends of king Hezekiah wrote down.” Whence could they have selected them, if not from the books that were there among the three thousand proverbs and five thousand odes or canticles? From these very ones, therefore, the friends of Hezekiah, being wise men, selected those things which pertained to the edification of the Church. But the books of Solomon on the Parables and [the] Songs, in which he had written concerning the nature of plants and every kind of animal—land animals, birds, and water creatures—and concerning the healing of diseases, these Hezekiah caused to disappear, because the people were thence seeking remedies for diseases, and were neglecting to seek their healings from God.

ON THE PROPHET ISAIAH.

I. Hippolytus, Bishop of Rome, on Hezekiah. ^C While Hezekiah, king of Judea, was still sick and weeping, an angel came and said to him: “I have seen your tears and have heard your voice. Behold, I add fifteen years to your lifespan. And let this be your sign from the Lord: Behold, I turn back the shadow of the degrees ^D of your father’s house which the sun has gone down, the ten degrees which the shadow has descended, so that that day might become thirty-two hours long.” For when the sun had already run to the tenth hour, it retreated again. Just as when Joshua the son of Nun was warring against the Amorites, with the sun already leaning toward its setting and the war pressing on heavily, Joshua, fearing lest the foreigners should escape under the cover of night, cried out, saying: “Let the sun stand over Gibeon, and the moon over the valley of Ajalon, until I have vanquished this people.” And the sun and the moon stood in their station, so that that day became twenty-four hours long. And under Hezekiah, the moon also receded with the sun, so that the two elements of heaven would not collide, clashing against each other in disorder. And then Marodachon the Chaldean, king of Babylon, was struck with awe, because he cultivated the art of astrology and measured the course of the stars accurately, and when the cause was known, [he sent] an epistle

and sent gifts to Hezekiah; just as the Magi from the East did for Christ. ^A

II. Theodoret in *'Atrepton* [or] *Immutabilis*, dialog. I.

From the sermon of Saint Hippolytus on the beginning of Isaiah:

III.

We find in the commentaries that were edited by the elders ^B that that day lasted thirty-two hours. For when the sun had completed its course and reached the tenth hour, and the shadow had descended ten steps in the house of the temple, the sun turned back again ten steps according to the word of the Lord, and there were twenty hours. And then, once the sun had finished its proper course in the customary manner, it departed into the sunset. There were, therefore, thirty-two hours.

ON JEREMIAH AND EZEKIEL.

That Hippolytus wrote on Jeremiah is not recorded by any of the ancients, so far as I know. For the things of his that are referred to in the *Catena of the Greek Fathers* on Jer. xvii, 11, are taken from the book *On the Antichrist*, c. 55. Rufinus, in his translation of Eusebius' *Ecclesiastical History* (vi, 22), records that Hippolytus wrote on a certain part of the prophet Ezekiel, namely on those chapters which contain the description of the Jerusalem temple, and from that commentary these things have been preserved (DE MAG. supra, ap. Anastas. Sinait., quæst. 41, al. 44, from Bodleian manuscripts).

What was the size of Solomon's temple? ^C The length was forty cubits, the height twenty. Moreover, it was not turned toward the east, so that those praying might not worship the rising sun, but the Lord of the sun. Let no one be surprised if, when Scripture said the length was forty cubits, I said sixty; for a little later it mentions another twenty, describing the Holy of Holies, which it also names *Dabir*. Therefore, the length of the temple was indeed forty cubits, and the Holy of Holies was another twenty. Josephus says that the temple was of two stories, and that the total height was one hundred and twenty cubits. Thus also the book of Chronicles indicated, saying: *And Solomon began to build the house of the God.* The length in cubits, the first measurement [is] sixty, and... ^D