Annotationes Ad Quaedam Evangeliorum Loca

Annotations on Certain Gospel Passages. Testimony of Gilbert Cognatus, Who wrongly attributes these annotations to Arnobius the African. This little work will be commended by the antiquity of the archetype from which these Annotations of Arnobius on the Evangelist Luke were taken, and then by the excellent fidelity in describing a book of great difficulty, written in obsolete characters, and so closely connected throughout that it is laborious, even for one accustomed, to separate not only sentence from sentence but word from word. The same Arnobius’s Commentaries on the Psalms of David, already published, are extant; as are the other seven books of the celebrated work Against the Gentiles, which the blessed Jerome mentions in his catalogue of illustrious writers. FROM JOHN. CHAPTER I. In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God; this was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him, and without him nothing was made that was made.

The beginning is God, who willed to be the beginning of all things. In this beginning, therefore, was the Word, that is, Christ: of whom it is said, "The Word was with God, and the Word was God." It shows that Christ proceeded from God, of whom also in Psalm 44 the paternal voice said: "My heart has brought forth a good Word": that is, Christ, through whom all things were made, except idols, which were made without Christ's authority, of which the Apostle says: "We know that an idol is nothing." CHAPTER II. On the Wedding. On the third day a wedding was taking place in Cana of Galilee; and the mother of Jesus was there. Jesus and his disciples were also invited to the wedding; and they had no wine, etc. All these things happened, but they have a spiritual meaning. The wedding, namely, is the union of Christ and the Church, that is, of the new law of tradition. The seven stone water jars, moreover, signify the seven churches founded upon the rock. "Full of water," it says: that is, the grace of baptism. As for what it says: "Holding two measures," these are those who are joined in marriage. Those holding three measures, however, are the spiritual and continent ones, who are filled with the virtues of the Trinity. The master of the feast, moreover, is Moses; the new bridegroom is Christ; the water turned into wine demonstrates the blood of the passion.

CHAPTER III. On the Blind Man. And Jesus, having left the temple, while walking saw a man blind from birth. And his disciples asked him, saying, "Rabbi, who sinned, this man or his parents, that he was born blind?" Jesus answered them, saying, "Neither did he sin, nor his parents, but so that the works of God might be manifested in him." Saying this, he spat on the ground, and made mud from the spittle, and smeared the man's eyes with the mud, and said to him, "Go to the pool of Siloam, and wash your eyes." So he went, and washed, and returned having received sight. The "blind man" he mentioned signifies the race of gentile men, who from birth were wandering in blindness. "Siloam," moreover, is interpreted as the fountain of light: which is baptism, whereby we illuminate the eyes of the heart. CHAPTER IV. On Lazarus. Now there was a certain sick man, named Lazarus, from the town of Mary and Martha, his sister. This is the Mary who had anointed the Lord with ointment, and had wiped his feet with her hair, whose brother was sick, etc.

All these things happened, but they have a spiritual meaning; for Lazarus represents the human race, which was sleeping in death before Christ came. Martha and Mary, however, are understood as the Church and faith, beseeching Christ to raise Lazarus. And with the stone rolled away from the tomb, that is, the hardness of men removed from the heart. Moreover, the fourth day on which he was raised demonstrates the figure of the Gospels, which drives away the hardness of our heart. And when it said, "Jesus wept," this was on account of the faithlessness, namely, of the Jews. CHAPTER V. Walk while you have light, lest the darkness overtake you; for he who walks in the darkness does not know where he is going. Therefore, when you have light, believe in the light, so that you may be able to become children of light. What it calls light is the law of God, in which we ought to walk. But what it calls darkness is ignorance. Christ is light, but the darkness is the Antichrist. CHAPTER VI. On the Vine and the Shoot.

I am," he says, "the true vine, and my Father is the farmer: every branch on me that does not bear fruit he will cut off and cast into the fire." Rightly is Christ the vine, who brought us life; rightly is his Father the farmer, because he is the governor of the world, who administers rains and seasons like a good cultivator. But when he said "fruit-bearing branch," he signifies our people. The unfruitful one, however, is a figure of the heretics, whom fire awaits. CHAPTER VII. Concerning Abraham. Abraham, your father, waited to see my day, and he saw it, and rejoiced. Before Christ came, Abraham died two thousand years earlier; how then did the Lord say, "Abraham saw my day, and rejoiced"? At that time, namely, when Isaac was carrying wood for the sacrifice, and he gave a ram worthy of the sacrifice, and joyfully received his son back, then he exulted, because he saw the wood of the cross and recognized that Christ would suffer.

CHAPTER VIII. On Peter's Sword. Simon Peter, therefore, having a sword, drew it and struck the servant of the chief of the priests, and cut off his right ear, and the rest that follows. Since the Lord had previously commanded his disciples not even to carry a staff on the road, how then did Peter draw a sword and cut off the ear of the priest's servant? And the Lord said to him: "Put your sword back into its sheath." The sword is, of course, the Holy Spirit, as the apostle Paul mentions to the Ephesians; the ear that was cut off is the hearing of the Jews, as Isaiah said: "Lord, who believed our hearing?" The sheath, however, was Peter, in whom the Spirit of God lay hidden. FROM MATTHEW. CHAPTER I. Opening, it says, their treasures, they offered him gifts: gold, frankincense, and myrrh; and they were warned in a dream by a response not to return to Herod, but they went back by another road. At that time, of course, the magi, by a prophetic spirit, brought gifts to Christ: gold, namely, as to a king; frankincense, as to a god, or because they signified the sacrifice of the passion; myrrh, moreover, showed the sign of burial. The magi themselves were a type of the believers. Herod, however, signifies the figure of the devil. And that it was said to the magi not to return to Herod means that those who come from the Gentiles to Christ should not return again to the devil.

CHAPTER II. The voice of one crying in the desert: Prepare the way of the Lord, make straight the paths of our God; every valley will be filled, and every mountain and hill will be humbled, and the crooked will become straight. When it said "valley," it signifies this world, filled with the teaching of Christ. But the mountains and hills humbled are the hatreds of the devil, so to speak, and the worship of idols, which were humbled and cast down at the coming of Christ. And when it said, "The crooked will become straight," it spoke of the perversity of the Gentiles, who now walk on straight paths. CHAPTER III. On the Food of John. Now the food of John was locusts and wild honey. The "locusts" it mentioned signify a figure of many peoples, who came to John. But the "honey" signifies the fruit of their sweetness, by whose belief and faith John was nourished. CHAPTER IV. On the Winnowing Shovel and the Threshing Floor. Having, it says, a winnowing shovel in his hand, he will cleanse his threshing floor, and will gather the grain into the granaries, but he will burn the chaff with an unquenchable fire.

He said "threshing-floor," meaning this world. But "grain" which he said means the saints and the faithful. "Chaff," however, indicates the cross. "Barn," moreover, is paradise, where the saints are gathered; but "chaff" are the light and lost men, who are sent into gehenna and are burned by fire. CHAPTER V. On fasting and the temple. And when Jesus had fasted, afterwards he became hungry, and the tempter said to him: If you are the Son of God, let these stones become loaves. But he said to him: Man does not live by bread alone, but by every word of God. Then the devil took him up and placed him on the pinnacle of the temple, and said to him: If you are the Son of God, throw yourself down from here, and angels will catch you, lest you strike your foot against a stone. Christ, by fasting, was hungry for us, whom justice will satisfy; but we were the stones, who had hardness of heart. "Temple," moreover, demonstrates Christian men, the apostle Paul saying: You are the temple of God. The "gable" of the temple, however, is charity, through which Christ ascends in Christians; but what the devil said to Christ, "Throw yourself down from the temple here," this is: he was persuading Christ to descend from our charity. "Lest," he says, "you strike your foot against a stone"; this is, as if we who were unbelievers had hardness like stones. Thus he was casting our offense in Christ's teeth.

CHAPTER VI. Be kind to your adversary quickly, while you are with him on the road, lest the adversary hand you over to the judge, and the judge to his ministers, and you be thrown into prison. What he called "adversary" signifies the outer man, that is, the carnal man, with whom we have made the journey. The "road," moreover, signifies the passage of this mirror. Therefore let us be kind to this adversary, that is, let us live chastely with him, lest on account of unlawful acts committed he hand us over to the judge, that is, to Christ. And the judge (he says) to the ministers, that is, to the angels; and the angels hand us over to prison, that is, to Gehenna. CHAPTER VII. Let not your left hand know, he says, what your right hand does, so that your almsgiving may be hidden. We are the right hand, because we worship Christ, who sits at the right hand of the Father. The left hand, however, are the Jews and heretics. Therefore let the left part not know what the right part does. CHAPTER VIII. Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth, where moth and consumption destroy, and where thieves dig up and steal. But store up for yourselves treasures in heaven, where thieves do not dig up nor steal, etc.

Earth" which he spoke signifies the dwelling-place of our body. "Treasure," however, is faith. Therefore: "Do not store up treasures for yourselves on earth," that is, do not hoard in the flesh, where (he says) the moth eats, that is, avarice or lust; and thieves dig up, that is, the devil, who steals faith. But: "Store up," he says, "treasures in heaven," that is, in the spirit, which is understood as heaven; just as the apostle Paul said: "He who sows in the flesh will reap corruption from the flesh; but he who sows from the spirit will reap eternal life from the spirit." CHAPTER IX. "You see a speck in your brother's eye, but you do not consider the beam in your own eye." He said this to the heretics, who dare to dispute with the Jews, thinking they remove the speck from their eyes, that is, the splinters of that crown of thorns, so that they do not feel the beam in their own eyes, that is, the offense of the cross.

CHAPTER X Do they not gather grapes from thorns, or figs from thistles? Thus every good tree produces good fruit; but a bad tree produces bad fruit. The thorns and thistles which he spoke of are understood as heresies, from which no one gathers the fruit of righteousness, that is, no one remembers martyrs from among heretics. Moreover, the bad tree is the old man, who produces bad fruit, that is, sins, lusts, and avarice; but the good tree is the cross, which brought forth the fruit of life for believers. CHAPTER XI Everyone who hears my words and does them, I will liken him to a wise man who built his house upon a rock. Rain came down, rivers arrived, winds blew, and they struck against that house, and it did not fall; for it was founded upon a rock. And everyone who hears my words and does not do them, I will liken him to a foolish man who built his house upon sand. Rain came down, winds blew, they struck against that house, and it fell, and its ruin was great.

The rock is of course Christ, the author of the apostles. But the house of which he spoke is the dwelling-place of our body. On this rock, therefore, that is, Christ, let us build our house, that is, let us sanctify our body, so that when the rivers and the wind come, that is, the onslaught of persecution and storms, we may be pushed but not fall. The sand, however, is understood as nothing other than heresies, which are tossed about by every tempest. Therefore, whoever builds his house upon this sand, that is, heresy, is foolish. For as soon as the rivers and winds come, that is, the onslaught of persecution, it will immediately fall. CHAPTER XII They cannot, he says, the sons of the bridegroom fast, as long as the bridegroom is with them. But the days will come, the bridegroom will be taken away from them, and then they will fast on those days. No one, however, sews a patch of new cloth into an old garment, for it takes away the fullness of the garment, and a greater tear is made; nor do they put new wine into old wineskins, otherwise the wine bursts the wineskins, and both the wine and the wineskins are lost. But they put new wine into new wineskins, and both are preserved.

The bridegroom is Christ; but the sons of the bridegroom are we. Therefore, if anyone persists in the reading, he does not fast, because the bridegroom is with him, who is Christ, who said: I am the bread of life; and then they begin to fast. Moreover, the new garment demonstrates the new man, while the old garment signifies the old man. Therefore, if anyone joins the inner man, that is, the spiritual, with the outer, that is, the carnal, he makes a greater tear. The new wine, of course, is the sacrament. The old wineskins are the Jews. But the new wineskins are we, who drink from this must. CHAPTER. Behold, a woman had a flow of blood for twelve years, and she came up behind him and touched his garment; for she said within herself: If I only touch his garment, I will be saved. But he said to his disciples: Who touched me? For I felt that power had gone out from me. But when that woman who had touched his garment saw that it could not be hidden, she fell at his feet, saying: I, Lord, touched you, because I was afflicted with a flux. But he said to her: Daughter, your faith has made you whole.

All these things happened, but they have a spiritual meaning. For the woman who turned to a flow of blood is the Church; in whose image Maccabaea was already being slaughtered at that time, whose blood flowed in the image of the Church. But when Christ came, his blood was no longer turned to a flow, but was translated into martyrdom. Moreover, the garment that she touched is the body of Christ: which we also touch and are healed; and the twelve years indicate the number of the apostles. CHAPTER XIV "Behold," he says, "I send you like eggs among wolves." "Be," he says, "as prudent as serpents, and as simple as doves." The wolves he spoke of are our persecutors. We, however, are the sheep, who in time of persecution are restrained by wolves. But "be," he says, "as cunning as serpents, and as simple as doves": that is, just as the serpent in the necessity of death hides its head but gives up its body to death, so we too should cherish our head, that is, Christ, by confessing him; but give up our body to the wolves. The dove, moreover, is the Church, whose children, whenever they are killed for the name of Christ, rejoice and exult.

CHAPTER XV Do not two sparrows sell for an as? And does not one of them fall to the ground without the will of your Father who is in heaven? The two sparrows of which he spoke are understood as the spirit and the soul, as he said in the psalm: "Our soul, like a sparrow, was snatched from the snare of the hunters." The "as" of which he spoke is the denarius of faith, from which we come. The "ground," however, is man himself, who without the Father's will can receive neither soul nor spirit. CHAPTER XVI Jesus, it says, came into the synagogue and found there a man with a withered hand, and Jesus said to him: "Stretch out your hand." And he stretched out his hand, and it became as sound as the other. All these things happened, but they have a spiritual meaning. For he called the hand "withered" to show the person of the unfruitful man. Therefore the Lord said to him: "Stretch out your hand," so that we may extend alms with mercy, stretching out our hand to the poor.

CHAPTER XVII He says, "The kingdom of heaven is like a treasure hidden in a field, which the man who finds it hidden will go and sell everything he has and buy that field." This field is the world; the treasure hidden in the field is Christ, who lay hidden during that three-day passion; or this field is paradise: the treasure is eternal life. Therefore, let us sell whatever we have in this world, so that we may reach that field. CHAPTER XVIII And he compelled the disciples to board the ship and to proceed across the sea until he dismissed the crowds. But the ship was already in the middle of the sea, troubled by the waves, for the wind was contrary. And at the fourth watch of the night he went to them, walking on the sea, and when they saw him, they were troubled. Then Simon Peter said: "Lord, if it is you, bid me come to you upon the waters." And he said: "Come"; and Peter, descending, walked upon the water to come to Jesus. But when Peter saw a great wave coming toward him, he was afraid, and when he began to sink, he cried out, saying: "Lord, save me," etc.

The sea, of course, is the world; the ship, however, into which the apostles ascended, is the Church. And when it said, "was troubled by the waves," this means that the Church is shaken by persecution. The contrary wind is the devil, who is contrary to the Church. And when it said, "at the fourth watch of the night he came to them, walking upon the sea," this means that he brought us the light of the Gospel, who were lying in the ignorance of night. And when it said, "Peter was troubled at the sight of the storm," this means that he was troubled at the passion of Christ, so that even his faith, by denying, was submerged. CHAPTER XIX. Jesus, however, said to his disciples: "Amen, I say to you, that a rich man will enter the kingdom of heaven with difficulty. Again I say to you: it is easier for a camel to pass through the eye of a needle than for a rich man to enter the kingdom of God." He called the Jewish people "rich," who went out from Egypt with riches, concerning which he said in the psalm, "The rich were in need and hungered." But we were the camel, who had nothing straight in us, who have now set down the burden of sins, and have entered through the eye of a needle, that is, through the narrow and strait way which leads to life. For Judas Iscariot was rich, from the price for which he betrayed Christ, but he did not enter the kingdom of heaven.

CHAPTER 20 The kingdom of heaven is like a man, a householder, who went out early in the morning to the forum to hire workers for his vineyard, and he agreed with each of the workers on a daily denarius. And he went out around the sixth and the ninth hour, and did the same; but also around the eleventh hour he went out, and found others standing, and said to them: Why are you standing here idle? And they answered: Because no one hired us; and he said to them: Go, you also, into the vineyard. When evening came, however, the master said to his steward: Call the workers, and pay them their wages, beginning from the last to the first. So when those who had been called around the eleventh hour came, they each received a denarius. But those who came earlier also came, hoping to receive more, and when they had each received a denarius, they began to murmur against the householder, saying: These last ones worked for one hour, and you have made them equal to us, who endured the labor of the whole day.

The householder is Christ, who hires workers, that is, who gathers believers so that they may receive a reward. The vineyard, moreover, is the cultivation of the law. The denarius, however, is eternal life. Those whom he said worked at the first hour are virgins, who say that they have endured the labor of the body and the heat of the flesh. The forum is understood to be this world; those who came to the work late are the abstinent. And what he said, that they received their reward in the evening, means that in the coming of Christ the chaste receive the reward of their labor. CHAPTER 21 And they brought a colt of a donkey, and he sat upon it; and they were laying down their garments in the road, while others were cutting branches from the trees and throwing them before him. And the crowds were preceding him, saying: Hosanna to the Son of David. The colt of a donkey which he mentioned signifies the new people; that is, our people, who have also recognized the manger of their Lord, that is, the altar, where we gather the provisions. The crowd which he said was casting off their garments means that the multitude of believers, stripping off the old man, cast themselves down. The trees are the same men. And the branches cut from the trees are the sins which were flourishing in us.

CHAPTER XXII. “Hear another parable,” he says. There was a certain householder who planted a vineyard, and surrounded it with a hedge, and dug a pit in it, and built a tower, and leased it to tenants, and himself set out on a journey. When the time of the harvest drew near, he sent his servants to those cultivators, to receive some of their fruits. But the tenants, having seized the servants, beat one, stoned another, and beheaded another. Again he sent other servants, more numerous than the first, and they did likewise to them. Finally, however, he sent them his only son, saying: “Perhaps they will fear my son,” whom they also seized and beat. The householder of whom he spoke represents the likeness of the Father. The vineyard which he said he had newly planted is the new law. The tower, moreover, is the Church. The pit is baptism. The tenants, however, are the Jews. The hedge, indeed, is faith; the servants whom he said were killed are understood to be the prophets. The later ones whom he said were sent are the apostles, of whom one, John, was beheaded. Finally, they killed the Son, namely Christ.

CHAPTER XXIII. “Render,” he says, “unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, and unto God what is God’s.” We are commanded in persecution to render unto Caesar what is Caesar’s, that is, the body over which he has power; to render unto God what is God’s, namely, the spirit and the faith. CHAPTER XXIV. “There were,” he says, “among us seven brothers. The first of them, having taken a wife, died without leaving children, and left his wife to his brother. Likewise the second, and the third, and the fourth, up to the seventh; but finally the woman also died. In the resurrection, therefore, whose wife will she be? For all seven had her as wife.” The seven brothers of whom he spoke signify the seven patriarchs, who are the seven books of Moses. Their wife, however, is the Synagogue. And when those seven patriarchs, coming together, poured in the seed of the name of Christ, she never conceived the faith. CHAPTER XXV. “But kingdom will rise against kingdom, and nation against nation, and there will be famines and earthquakes in every place. But all these things will be the beginnings of groaning and sorrow. Then they will deliver you to death. Then many will be scandalized, and will deliver one another to death, and many false prophets will arise and will seduce many, and because of the abundance of crimes the charity of many will grow cold; but he who perseveres to the end, this one will be saved.

The kingdom upon kingdom that is spoken of, that is, that the devil dares to raise up heresies over the kingdom of Christ. But "famine" and "earthquake," that is, that some men, who are understood as earth, suffer famine, that is, having neither the Spirit of God nor understanding, are moved to heresies, and will deliver themselves, he says, into death; and false prophets, he says, will arise, such as Arnobius, who deceived many. CHAPTER XXVI. Then, he says, those who are in Judea flee to the mountains; and he who is in the field does not turn back for his garment. But woe to those who are pregnant and nursing in those days. But pray that your flight not be in winter or on the Sabbath. Judea, that is, the holy land, that is, chaste men who have sanctified their flesh. They flee, he says, to the mountains, that is, to the teaching of the apostles. And he who is in the field does not turn back for his garment; that is: he who is in the world does not turn back to the old man. But woe to those who are pregnant and nursing, that is, if any of the brothers or priests has conceived avarice, as if pregnant, woe to him. The nursing one will be he who has not rightly taught the commandments of Christ; he has given not food, but milk. But what he said about winter shows the time for capturing men; likewise that it is not permitted for Jews to flee on the Sabbath. But it does not permit them to depart from the city. So also let us pray that we may be able to flee the world, lest we be forestalled by the Antichrist, as if by winter or the Sabbath.

CHAPTER XXVII Then, he says, the kingdom of heaven will be compared to ten virgins, who took their lamps and went out to meet the bridegroom and the bride. But five of them were foolish, and five were prudent: the foolish, having taken their lamps, did not bring oil with them in their vessels. The prudent, however, brought it in their vessels, along with their lamps. The ten virgins of which he spoke, we call by the names of the five wise ones, that is, hope, faith, charity, chastity, and almsgiving. Their vessels are their dwelling places, that is, the men in whom they dwell. Full of oil, he says, that is, spiritual grace. The lamps are the vigilance of the spirit. Going to meet the bridegroom, that is, Christ. The foolish ones, however, are the opposites of these: those who hope in what they see. The second is faithlessness, the third is without charity, the fourth is carnal, and the fifth is unfruitful: their lamps are also extinguished, because they have no oil, that is, spiritual grace.

FROM LUKE. CHAPTER I. Therefore a son will be born to you; you will call his name John; and many will rejoice at his birth; and he will not drink wine or strong drink. The wine that is forbidden to John signifies luxury. Strong drink, however, is the juice of the date; by which he understands nothing other than the sweetness of the flesh. Hence, spiritual men flee from this kind of drink. CHAPTER II. Do not say, We have Abraham as our father. But I say to you that God is able to raise up sons of Abraham from these stones. Already the axe is placed at the roots of the trees. Therefore every tree that does not bear good fruit will be cut down and thrown into the fire. The stones of which he spoke are understood to be the Jews, on account of their hardness and unbelief: from them he raised up sons of Abraham, that is, the apostles; or the hardness of the Gentiles, from whom he crowned martyrs. The trees, however, are understood to be men, at whom the axe is placed, that is, the edge of both Testaments, whose handle is understood to be the cross.

CHAPTER III. "No one," he says, "will light a lamp and place it under a bushel or under a vessel. But he will place it upon a candlestick, so that all who enter may see." The lamp is Christ, who said, "I am the light of this world"; or his commandments, which illuminate our hearts. The vessel, however, is understood as this world. The bushel, namely, as heresies. The candlestick, moreover, is the truth which displays the light. Therefore, let us not hide this lamp, that is, the commandments of Christ, from the world, but let us place it upon the candlestick, so that it may shine, he says, for all who enter into the house, that is, into the Church. CHAPTER IV. And Jesus went up onto a mountain to pray; and while he prays, the appearance of his face became changed: and his garment became white, shining like snow. And behold, two men were conversing with him: they were Moses and Elijah, appearing in glory. And they were speaking of his departure, which he was about to complete in Jerusalem. But Peter, and those who were with him, were weighed down by sleep, and waking, they saw his glory, and the two men who were standing with him, and they said to Jesus: "Master, it is good for us to be here, and let us make three tabernacles, one for you, and one for Moses, and one for Elijah," not knowing what they were saying.

Christ on the high mountain of wisdom, through the exercise of spiritual words, is understood, believed, and worshipped as God the Word, according to the form of God. His garment, which was made shining like snow, is the discourses and letters of the Gospels, with which Jesus is clothed. Moses, that is, the Law, and Elijah, that is, the prophets, conversing with Jesus. But if anyone understands the spiritual law that is in harmony with the discourses of Jesus, and the wisdom hidden in mystery in the prophets, that person sees Moses and Elijah in glory, when he sees them as one with Jesus. For if Christ, the Law, and the prophets are one, then Christ is proven to be the Son of God, and the Law and the prophets are found to have prophesied truly, since the Law and the prophets bore witness concerning Christ, foretelling those things that were to come about Christ; and Christ bore witness to the Law and the prophets, that they prophesied truly, fulfilling their prophecy by the very events themselves. It is good for us to be here, and let us do the three things, etc., that is, let us cleave to these three joined together, namely, Christ, Moses, and the prophets. For in the mouth of these three stands all judgment. Those who strive to separate them will be ignorant of what they are saying.