In Libros Veteris Ac Novi Testamenti Proemia

The Prologues of Saint Isidore, Bishop of Seville, on the Books of the Old and New Testament. Prologue. The fullness of the New and Old Testament, which the Catholic Church receives in the canon, according to the ancient tradition of the fathers, is as follows. In the beginning, namely, the five books of Moses: Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers, Deuteronomy, that is, a recapitulation of the law and, as it were, a second law. To these succeed the books of Joshua son of Nun, of Judges, and the little book whose title is Ruth, which does not pertain to the history of the Judges, as the Hebrews assert, but rather seems to belong to the beginning of the Kings. Next follow the four books of Kings. To these, indeed, the two books of Paralipomenon are attached on the side, because they contain the causes of the same deeds which are known to be in the books of Kings. Although there are also other volumes which, in the following, weave together histories of various times among themselves, such as the books of Job, of Tobias, and of Esther, and of Judith, and of Esdras, and the two books of Maccabees.

But all these, except the book of Job, follow the history of the Kings; thereafter they pursue the annals of the Jews in their respective times, containing the sad or joyful events that befell the Jewish people after the destruction of Jerusalem. From these, indeed, the Hebrews do not receive Tobit, Judith, and Maccabees. The Church, however, enumerates them among the canonical scriptures. Next come the Prophets, among which is the one book of Psalms, and the three books of Solomon, namely Proverbs, Ecclesiastes, and the Song of Songs. There are also those two distinguished little books of holy institution—I mean Wisdom, and another which is called Ecclesiasticus; which, although they are said to have been produced by Jesus son of Sirach, are nevertheless prefixed with the title of Solomon on account of a certain similarity of style. Yet they are known to hold equal authority in the Church with the remaining canonical books. There remain the sixteen books of the prophets, from which...

But all these, except the book of Job, follow the history of the Kings; thereafter they pursue the annals of the Jews in their respective times, containing the sad or joyful events that befell the Jewish people after the captivity. There are four who composed larger volumes, that is, Isaiah, Jeremiah, Ezekiel and Daniel. The remaining twelve are brief and contiguous, and for this reason compressed into one volume, whose names are these: Hosea, Joel, Amos, Obadiah, Jonah, Micah, Nahum, Habakkuk, Zephaniah, Haggai, Zechariah and Malachi. Some, however, separating the Lamentations of Jeremiah, cut them off from his volume, and thus they accept forty-five books of the Old Testament.

Here then occurs the New Testament, whose first books are the four Gospels, namely, Matthew, Mark, Luke, and John. Next follow the fourteen Epistles of the apostle Paul, that is, to the Romans, two to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, two to the Thessalonians, to the Colossians, two to Timothy, and to Titus, and to Philemon, and to the Hebrews, each one. Also the three Epistles of the apostle John, two of Peter, and one each of Jude and James. Moreover, the Acts of the Apostles, and the Apocalypse of John. Therefore, in order, the books of both Testaments number seventy-two. For these are the new and the old, which are brought forth from the treasury of the Lord, from which all the mysteries of the sacraments are revealed. These are the two Seraphim, who, ceaselessly chanting in the confession of the Holy Trinity, burst forth into the Trisagion. These also are the two olive trees in Zechariah, which stand to the right and left of the lampstand, and with the richness and splendor of the Holy Spirit illuminate the whole world with the clarity of doctrine.

These sacred writings, these books, complete in number and authority; nothing else is to be compared with them. Whatever lies outside these is by no means to be received among these holy and divine texts. Therefore, having set forth the order and number of the books of the Old and New Testaments, let us now briefly and cursorily subjoin small prefaces of narratives concerning them. HERE BEGIN THE PREFACES. On Genesis. Genesis, according to the truth of history, describes the making of the world, and the condition of man, the flood, and the division of the earth, also the confusion of tongues, and the deeds of all the patriarchs, up to the entry of Israel into Egypt. On Exodus. Exodus contains the servitude of the Hebrews, and the ten plagues of Egypt, the departure of the people, and the protecting cloud, also the crossing of the Red Sea, and Pharaoh drowned with his chariots, and the singing of the glory, also the entry into the desert, the food of manna by which they were nourished, also the striking of the rock, and the waters turned into sweetness, the battle of Amalek, also the commandments of the Decalogue, and the ark of the Covenant, the dedication of the tabernacle and the offering.

On Leviticus. In Leviticus, however, the law of sacrifices, the diversity of offerings, the vestments of the high priests, and the ministries of the Levites are described; also the distinction of foods, and the various purifications of sinners, or the arrangement of sacrifices. On Numbers. In Numbers, indeed, the tribes that came out of Egypt are enumerated, and their journeys; a computation of the perfect age of the men who came out of Egypt is inserted; the prophecy of Balaam; also the sacraments of the forty-two encampments through the wilderness are signified. On Deuteronomy. In Deuteronomy, however, which is the second law, those things are narrated which were spoken to the people by Moses between Pharan and Tophel, and Laban and Naseroth, up to Cades Barne: namely, commandments and promises, curses of sinners, and promises of blessedness. There Moses sings the canticle. There he gives the blessing to the sons of Israel; and there, having beheld the promised land, he dies and is buried.

Some of the Hebrews, however, count only four books of the Law, that is, Genesis, Exodus, Leviticus, Numbers. They say that Deuteronomy is a repetition of those same books and, as it were, a kind of meditation on the Law. This is for the sole reason that those four contain the specific causes of the events, while this one contains all of them. On Joshua. In the book of Joshua, the sons of Israel, under the leadership of Joshua, cross the Jordan and are circumcised a second time; and after the Canaanite peoples are overthrown, they receive the lots of the inheritance by the division of their land. On the Book of Judges. In the book of Judges are contained the sins and servitudes of Israel, the outcries of the people, and the mercies of God. The successes and adversities of wars are described. On the Book of Ruth. The book of Ruth covers the history of the same Moabitess, from whose lineage the family of David descends. The Hebrews attach this little book to the book of Judges, because they record that the things written in it happened in the days of the Judges; but the Latins, on the other hand, because it reveals the lineage of King David, arising from the same Moabitess Ruth, contend that it more truly belongs to the body of the book of Kings.

Concerning the Book of Kings. The book of Kings, although among the Latins it has been divided into four parts on account of its length, is nevertheless divided into two volumes among the Hebrews. The first of these, Samuel, records that the ark of the Lord passed from the Jews to the Gentiles, and that the priesthood of Eli was mystically transferred to Samuel, and the kingdom of King Saul to David. Malachim, however, sets forth the kings of Judah and of the Israelite people, and their deeds in order of time; it also relates that Israel itself, on account of the error of idolatry, was deported among the Assyrians; finally, it teaches that Nebuchadnezzar came to Jerusalem, led away the prince and the people captive, and overthrew the city and the temple. Concerning the Book of Chronicles. The book of Chronicles is contained among the Hebrews in a single volume, and is called by them Dibrehaiamin, that is, “Words of the Days”; among us, however, on account of its length, it has been divided into two parts. This is a history containing the order of generations and times. In it, indeed, is contained no small erudition of the holy Scriptures.

For in the history of the Old Testament, in their proper places, these things are either entirely omitted or perhaps not fully set forth; in this book they are summarily and briefly explained, whose sequence indeed proceeds from the side of the Law, or of the Kings, attached, reaching up to that time when the text of the Kings is concluded. For beginning from the beginning of the construction of the world, it extends through the order of events up to the destruction of Jerusalem, in three thousand seventy-two years, through seventy-two generations. Concerning the Book of Job. The book of Job contains the losses, deaths, or scourges of that same holy man, and the insulting words of those who console him, also his laments, in which he deplores the misery of the whole world; also the consolations of God to him through the whirlwind, and his twofold reward of goods in the end. Moreover, this man, through his sufferings and words, expressed the image of Christ; his wife, however, designates the type of the carnal, who, placed within the Church, scandalize the spiritual life by their own customs.

His friends, however, presented the appearance of heretics and the figure of perverse doctrines. Moreover, Elihu, who presses against Job with severe reproach, signifies those who within the holy Church preach arrogantly and, through swelling of heart and pride of knowledge, display whatever they utter as examples of haughtiness. Concerning the Psalter. The Book of Psalms, although contained in a single volume, was not, however, produced by one and the same author. For there are ten prophets who wrote them at different times, that is, Moses, David, Solomon, Asaph, Heman, Ethan, Idithun, and the sons of Korah—Assir, Elkanah, Abiasaph—or Ezra. Some are also thought to be by Haggai and Zechariah. Concerning those, moreover, which are without titles, the tradition of the ancients is such that, whichever author's inscription has preceded, the rest which follow without a title are believed to be his. This book, however, is marked with allegorical and typical sacraments; but specifically, that Christ was born, that he suffered, that he rose again—nearly the whole instrument of the psalms resounds with this.

It should be known, however, that among the Hebrews all the psalms were mixed and disordered, which Ezra first gathered into one volume, and arranged in order and number, and by the hidden mystery of the sacrament he placed some before others in order, while they appear later in time. For according to the course of history, the third psalm is later than the fiftieth, but on account of the mystery it is prior in order. Thus also the clergy are held, because the Holy Spirit preordained them as he wished. Concerning the Books of Solomon. Solomon published three volumes: the first of these is the book of Proverbs; the second, which is called Ecclesiastes; the third, whose title is the Song of Songs. In these three books he indeed composed the disciplines of three kinds, by which one arrives at the knowledge of things. In the first, namely, ethics, that is, moral; after this, physics, which comprehends the quality of nature; finally, theory, that is, contemplative. For in Proverbs, teaching moral things, he set forth a higher understanding through a certain common manner of speaking, and he adapted the observance of commandments and the institution of heavenly doctrine in concise verses and brief sentences.

Proverbs, however, are sayings that explain or signify one thing by means of other words, which are understood otherwise than they are spoken, more in the force of the meanings than in the sound of the words, which the Greeks call paroimiai. In Ecclesiastes, however, discussing the nature of things, he [the author] reprehends all things in the world as fleeting and vain, and, having perceived the fragility of all things, he admonishes one to renounce the world. In the Song of Songs, however, having transcended visible things and contemplating those which are celestial or divine, under the figure of the bridegroom and bride, he declares the unity of Christ and the Church, and, rousing the soul to the love of celestial things, he summons it to be advanced to union with God. Moreover, that should not be omitted which is handed down by our teachers, that among the Hebrews this was the practice: that they would permit no one to read this book unless he were a man of already perfect knowledge and tested faith, lest, through the weakness of inexperience and the lack of faith, the knowledge might not so much instruct unstable minds as rather turn them to bodily desires.

For it is customary for all the Scriptures to be handed down by their teachers to boys, even those which they call deuteroseis. Only these four are reserved for last: that is, the beginning of Genesis concerning the creation of the world, also the beginnings of Ezekiel, in which he wrote about the cherubim, and its end, in which the description of the temple is contained, and the Song of Songs. Concerning the Book of Wisdom. The Book of Wisdom, which is called Panarelon, announces the coming of Christ, who is the wisdom of God the Father, and his passion with open manifestation. This was published by Jesus, son of Sirach, in which he also composed some precepts for living. Concerning Ecclesiasticus. Ecclesiasticus, however, wrote abundantly and copiously the discipline of almost all morals and the conduct of holy religion. It is called Ecclesiasticus because it was delivered in the midst of an assembly of the people, that is, before the church. For this book, because of the great similarity of sense and parity of eloquence, is prefaced with the title of Solomon. It is established that this book also was published by Jesus, son of Sirach, and that it was held in equal veneration among the remaining books of the sacred Scriptures.

Concerning Isaiah. The prophet Isaiah, which is interpreted as 'salvation of the Lord,' after a coal from the altar purified his lips, becomes worthy of the prophecy of the Holy Spirit. And he beholds two seraphim in the figure of the two Testaments, with twelve wings, that is, the apostles, who by their preaching traverse the whole world with swiftness of a bird, covering the face and feet of the one sitting on the throne of God, that is, concealing those things which either were before the beginnings of the age or which will be after the completed figure of this world. Yet here, after the vision of Judah and Jerusalem against the other nations which are around it, he turns his prophetic speech, and according to the quality of the places and the diversity of life, he announces what evils would come to them. For after the captivity of Jerusalem, he threatens the ruin of Babylon. Then the slaughter of the Philistines, the devastation of Moab, the destruction of Damascus, and the disturbance of Egypt, and the desolation of the desert sea, also the siege of Edom, the flight and destruction of Arabia, the ruin of the valley of Zion, also the overthrow of Tyre, or of four-footed beasts. But figuratively, in the vision of Judah the Synagogue is cast out, and the Church is joined to the Lord. In the ruin of Babylon the confusion of the whole world and its pride are rebuked, and its end is shown. In the devastation of Moab the error of secular knowledge is changed into silence and mourning.

In the overthrow of Egypt, the idolatry of the whole world is destroyed, and the building of the Lord's temple is proclaimed. In the crushing of the Philistines, their mourning is shown, who cast off the yoke of Christ and raise themselves up against the knowledge of God. Moreover, through Damascus, the preaching to the Gentiles and the ruin of the people of the Jews is shown. Through the burden of the sea of the desert, the temptation of this world is declared, and what things are to come to it are shown. Through Idumea, the sun of justice rises for the Gentiles, and darkness comes upon the people of the Jews. Through Arabia, the water of baptism is proclaimed to be provided to those who have fled the errors of the Gentiles, or their blasphemies. Through the valley of Zion, the destruction of Jerusalem is proclaimed, and of the heretics who have fallen from the height of the Church. Through Tyre, it is proclaimed to the Gentiles that, having laid aside the error of the world, they should be converted to the Lord Christ. The rest of his work, however, is either concerning Christ, or concerning the Church of the Gentiles, or concerning the end of the world. He prophesied for about seventy years, under four kings of Judah succeeding one another in order and lineage, that is, Uzziah, Jotham, Ahaz, and finally Hezekiah: under whom a great part of his volume is woven up to the end of the prophecy.

Concerning Jeremiah Jeremiah the prophet, whose name means "the Most High of the Lord," is simple in speech and easy to understand; he in all his sayings and sufferings bore the image of our Redeemer. He, after in the type of Christ he destroyed the kingdoms of the devil and built up the empire of justice and faith, is commanded to prophesy against all nations, namely Egypt and the Philistines, Moab and Ammon, Edom and Damascus, and Cedar, and against the kingdoms of Assur, and also against Elam and Babylonia. Among these things, however, he sees the vigilant rod of divine correction and power. Also a burning torch, that is, the Jewish people burning with the fire of carnal desires. He also looks upon two baskets of figs in prefiguration of two peoples. He also goes down into the potter's house, and sees the diminution of the former vessel and the restoration of the new, to signify the failure of the former people and the succession of the future. He also takes the cup of punishment and offers it to all nations. He also takes a loincloth after the example of the Jewish people, and, having rotted, casts it into dispersion across the rivers of the nations. He also shows the golden cup of Babylon, by which the world was intoxicated with the deadly draught of idolatry.

He is ordered to throw a volume bound to a stone into the Euphrates, to demonstrate the destruction of Babylon, or figuratively, of the whole world. He also rebukes the delinquents and calls them to conversion. Finally, he laments the ruin of Jerusalem, the destruction of the temple, and the dispersion of the people; things which he not only foretold but also saw present. He began in the twelfth year of Josiah, king of Judah, at which time also the woman Olda prophesied; and his prophecy extended through four kings: under Josiah, Eliakim, Jehoiakim, and Zedekiah, under whom Jerusalem was overthrown. He prophesied for seventy-two years and three months, except for that time when, after the overthrow of Jerusalem, he was in Egypt with the people. Concerning Ezekiel. Ezekiel, which is translated into Latin as "Fortitude of God," figuratively typifying Christ, stands by the river of the world and beholds the glorious mysteries. He sees the likeness of the glory of God, and four animals in the likeness of the Gospels, and wheels containing each other in the type of the testaments. He also sees a charioteer, that is, Christ, below with the fire of judgment, above with electrum, that is, gleaming with the splendor of divinity. He also eats the book of the divine law, in which is written the lament of the penitents, and the song of the just, and the woe of those who after sin did not do penance.

After this, he receives a brick on which the picture of besieged Jerusalem is described, or on which, under the type of Christ, the mysteries of that same Jerusalem—that is, of the safer Church, which is formed from the side of Christ—are described. The prophet also here takes up a dream of the left side, under the type of the death of sinners, who will suffer eternal punishments on the left; and finally he is ordered to sleep from the left to the right side, because of the hope of those who, through a change of their ways, will obtain the glory of the resurrection. Meanwhile, he also sees two rods joined together, in the likeness of circumcision and the Gentiles, or an eagle under Nebuchadnezzar, as a figure of Antichrist, with great wings and with swiftness of a bird occupying the empires of the whole world. Moreover, he laments under the appearance of the prince of Tyre the blessedness of the devil, which he lost, and bewails his great ruin with lamentation. At last, carrying a reed or a measuring line, he measures Jerusalem mystically under the figure of the saints.

Among these mystical matters, he introduces certain moral teachings, denounces false prophets, and commands the watchmen not to conceal wickedness. He also proclaims four punishments for sinners and prophesies that souls will return to their bodies. He further shows that each person will render an account to the Lord for himself, and that the stain of a father's sin can no longer be spread to his offspring. In this context, under the names Oholah and Oholibah, he rebukes every foulness of Samaria and Jerusalem, and he reproaches their shameful origin. He also frequently calls captive peoples to repentance, and after their transgression, he urges the people to return, converted. He prophesied here, in the thirty-fifth year of his age and the fifth year of the captivity, while in exile in Chaldea, and there he completed his prophecy. Concerning Daniel. Daniel, which means "judgment of God," is also the most explicit of all the prophets concerning Christ. Indeed, he not only foretold the coming, as the others did, but also defined the time of the incarnation and passion by the order of kings and the number of years, so that he seems not so much to predict the future as to narrate past events. He frequently beholds visions of four kingdoms and introduces their differences under various images.

Concerning the Antichrist, he also shows that he is the little horn, that is, about to reign for a short time, and, after ten kings have been subjugated, about to reign alone in the last times. He writes much about the destruction of Jerusalem or the world, as well as about the day of judgment and the kingdom of the saints. At the end of his volume of prophecy, he places the story of Susanna and the fables of Bel and the Dragon. This book among the Hebrews is written in Hebrew letters, but in the Chaldean language. He prophesied in Babylon, at the same time as Ezekiel. Concerning Hosea. The prophet Hosea, who is understood as "savior," is the first of the twelve prophets, deeper than the rest in his sayings, and more laborious in understanding. He speaks to those tribes which are called Ephraim and Samaria, the house of Joseph and Israel, but through Ephraim he rebukes heretics, who, withdrawing from the unity of the Church, have become partakers with idols. Through Samaria, however, he demonstrates the figure of those same heretics, who falsely claim to be guardians of God's commandments and, under the pretext of truth, worship falsehood. He historically declared that the Jews would believe in Christ at the last time. He also foretold the third day of the Lord's resurrection. He prophesied in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, or Jeroboam, king of Israel, at the same time as Isaiah.

Concerning Joel. Joel the prophet, whose name means "beginning." He, delivering a prophecy only to Judah and Jerusalem, at the beginning of his book, after voluptuous feasts, calls Jerusalem to mourning and proclaims its destruction. He also foretells the calling of the Gentiles and the Holy Spirit about to come upon the gathered believers. He prophesied under King Joatham of Judah, at the same time as Micah. Concerning Amos. Amos, whose name means "burden," prophesied in Samaria and Jerusalem, describing three and four crimes of the nations under the figure of the whole world. The first crime, therefore, is that all sinned in Adam. The second, that, forgetful of reason, they did not understand the law implanted in nature. The third, also, of those who did not obey the given law. The fourth, inexpiable, of those who did not believe in Christ, for which crimes the Lord thunders fire, that is, about to bring the sentence of eternal judgment.

But he proclaims the coming of Christ under the Lord's voice thus: I, firming the thunder, and creating the spirit, and announcing Christ among men. The remaining things, however, which he speaks concerning Amaziah and Jeroboam, or Israel, are to be referred tropologically to heretics. He prophesied under King Uzziah, at the same time as Hosea and Isaiah. Concerning Obadiah. Obadiah, who is interpreted as "servant of the Lord," among all the prophets is shorter in number of words, but equal in the grace of mysteries. He, speaking against Idumea, mystically rebukes the pride of Edom, namely the audacity of the former people, because it killed his brother Jacob, that is, Christ created from the stock of the Hebrews. On Mount Zion, which is Jerusalem, he announces future salvation and the Holy One, who is Christ, and on Mount Esau, through which the church of the Gentiles is figured, he thunders the future kingdom for the Lord. He prophesied under King Josiah of Judah, at the same time as Micah.

Concerning Jonah. Jonah, who is interpreted as "dove," by both his speech and his shipwreck prefigures the passion, death, and resurrection of Christ, whether because he was cast from the ship into the sea, as from the cross into the earth, or because, received into the belly of the whale, he was hidden as if in the sepulcher of the earth for three days and three nights, or because in the figure of Nineveh he foretold repentance to the world. In the following matters, however, he bears the type of the Jews, who not only were unwilling for the salvation of the Gentiles to come, but when it came, they were envious. Nineveh also signifies the species of the Gentiles, but Jonah in this place signifies that of the Jews. For just as the salvation of the Ninevites provoked Jonah to rivalry, so the redemption of the Gentiles was a scandal to the Jews. And rightly is he read to have sat against the east of the city under the shade of an ivy, because that same people, separating themselves from the salvation of the Church, withered with grief, strives to move its tongue against Christ, that is, the East of the Church, sitting under the shade of the law, which shade was dried up by a worm, because, with Christ coming, the old things passed away, and behold, all things were made new. He prophesied under King Uzziah of Judah, when also Hosea, Amos, and Isaiah prophesied.

Concerning Micah. Micah the prophet is interpreted as "Who is like this?" He threatens Samaria with the wrath of the Lord on account of the worship of idols, and he announces the destruction that will come upon the people of Israel. He also shows the place where Christ would be born. He prophesied under Josiah, at the same time as Zephaniah. Concerning Nahum. Nahum, who is the comforter, declares that the idols of the nations will be destroyed, and he also proclaims the city of blood, Jerusalem, after whose destruction the feet of the one announcing peace, that is, the coming of the Saviour, arrive. Concerning Habakkuk. Habakkuk, embracing, or the strong wrestler, at the beginning of his book describes the devil with his members and his ways; at the end, however, he foretells the coming and passion of the Saviour. Concerning Zephaniah. Zephaniah, the watcher of the mysteries of the Lord, and the one who hides, sees the future captivity of the city of Jerusalem by the Romans, through the voice of a cry from the Fish Gate, and through the crushing of the hills, that is, of Mount Sion, which is the hill of Jerusalem; he also predicts the overthrow of other nations, and thunders the terror of divine judgment.

He also speaks against Moab and Ammon, but through them, as neighboring peoples to the people of God and close to Catholic sacraments, heretics are rebuked. This prophet foretells the third day of Christ's resurrection and announces that at Christ's coming the whole world will serve under one yoke of the Lord. He prophesied under Josiah, at the same time as Jeremiah. Concerning Haggai. Haggai, who is interpreted as "solemn." In the text of his prophecy, he commanded that the temple of the Lord be restored, he proclaims the destruction of the nations, or predicts the upheaval of the whole world, and under the figure of Zerubbabel he prophesies the coming of Christ. He prophesied in the seventieth year of the captivity of the people, preceding Zechariah in his prophecy by only two months. Concerning Zechariah. Zechariah, who is named "memory of the Lord," after he had already prophesied to the fathers of the Lord, saw a man sitting on a red horse, in the figure of the body of Christ, the rosy color of the blood of the passion, or myrtle branches, signifying the people of the nations; he also beholds four horns, or craftsmen, in the figure of the nations, which, scattering Judah and Israel, oppressed them with a heavy burden.

He likewise beholds Jesus, clothed in the filth of the flesh and mortality, from which, once removed, he is invested with immortality and glory. He also sees the stone, which is Christ, having seven eyes, that is, the fullness of the sevenfold spirit. Among these things he beholds a burnt stick and an extinguished firebrand, that is, the devil. He sees a candelabrum in the figure of Christ with seven lamps, which are the Churches; and also two olive trees, placed to the right and left of the candelabrum, signifying the type of the two Testaments. He likewise takes up two rods of cord and ornament in the type of the Jews and the Gentiles. Then he looks upon two women, that is, the peoples of heretics, or of the Jews, raising on their wings an amphora, that is, diabolical doctrine, and a mass of lead, which is the most grievous weight of sin, or a flying volume, in which the sins of men and their punishments are described. He also sees four chariots, running under one yoke of evangelical preaching. After this he beholds horses sent for the preaching of the world: the first red, with the passion of martyrdom; the second black, with the squalor of penance; the third white, with the brightness of baptism; the fourth dappled, with the exposition and teaching of the faith. He also perceives trumpets, bearing the figure of the saints, through which the Lord sings to the world, and a corner, in which two opposing peoples are joined together, or a peg, figuratively Christ, fixed in the hearts of peoples; and he describes a shepherd, the Antichrist, having his work and intention on the left.

A horse likewise in the figure of the heretical people, and its rider the devil. He also proclaims a fountain in the house of the true David, lying open in the laver of regeneration. Whatever else he writes is either about the coming of the Lord, or about his passion, or about the end of the world, or judgment. He prophesied, however, in the second year of Darius, king of the Medes, at the same times as Haggai, in the seventieth year of the desolation of the temple and the captivity of the people. Concerning Malachi. Malachi, which is interpreted “angel of the Lord,” at the beginning of his prophecy shows the hatred of the Jews toward Esau, and the love of the younger people for Jacob. In what follows, however, he reproves the old sacrifices of the Jews. And he announces that the sacrifice is transferred to the Gentiles. At the end, indeed, the coming of the Lord, also the day of judgment, and the rewards of the just, and the punishments of the impious. He also proclaims John sent before the first coming of the Lord, and announces that Elijah is to be sent before the second coming.

Among these matters he explains many moral precepts and things suitable for discipline, in which he rebukes the people, as well as priests who despise the name of the Lord and violate his sacraments with polluted offerings and sacrifices. He also warns that bishops ought to be learned and without stain, and that they should instruct the people in the truth without regard to persons; he likewise reproves those who are discordant, and he commands that tithes and firstfruits be rendered to the preachers by the peoples of the Church. He also rebukes those who despise their own spouses and are entangled in love for others. Similarly, he rebukes those who, lamenting their own misery, praise the happiness of those who enjoy the prosperities of this world. He prophesied last in Babylon, at the time when Haggai and Zechariah were active. Concerning Ezra. Ezra writes that the people, after the time of captivity was completed, under the rule of Cyrus, king of the Persians, returned to Jerusalem; and under Zerubbabel and Joshua son of Josedech, the high priest, as well as Nehemiah, the walls of Jerusalem, the temple, and the altar were renewed, the rights of the priests were restored, and the worship of the holy religion was adorned with many riches and gifts from the princes of the nations and the Persians.

Concerning the Maccabees. The books of the Maccabees, although they are not held in the Hebrew canon, are nevertheless numbered by the Church among the histories of the divine volumes. They set forth the battles between the leaders of the Hebrews and the Persian peoples, also the battle of the Sabbaths, and the noble triumphs of the Maccabees, likewise the treaty of friendship with the Roman leaders, and the acts of the embassies. Concerning the Four Gospels. The preaching of the Gospels, although it is fourfold, is nevertheless one, because it proceeded from one and the same mouth of the Divinity. For these are the four rivers, flowing from one fountain of paradise, which run together in a fourfold union, and throughout the whole world administer the streams of heavenly preaching, and pour forth the verdure of grace and faith. This is that chariot of the Lord in Zechariah, in which, borne throughout the whole world, with a gentle yoke it subdues the necks of all nations to itself. These are also those whom a prophetic vision described under the form of four living creatures, that is, of a man, a lion, an ox, and an eagle.

For the first, namely Matthew, as a man, designates the order of human birth. The second, namely Mark, like a roaring lion, immediately at his beginning thunders the strength of divine power. The third, namely Luke, setting forth the sacrifice of a priest, suggests the death of a calf, as it were. The fourth, namely John, like an eagle gazing at the sky, swiftly flies over the earth, and penetrates the birth of the Word with the hidden understanding of mystery. But of these, those three animals which walk on the earth, following the active life, have pursued only those things which the man Christ temporally performed on earth. The fourth, however, with the keenness of contemplation, inspects heavenly things, and has set forth few works, but many sacraments of the divinity. Matthew, therefore, at the beginning following the royal lineage of Christ, and yet thereafter rather following moral discipline, composed few signs and more precepts for living. Likewise Mark, the abbreviator of Matthew, has rapidly written down those things which Peter taught on the journey for the regulation of life, walking equally between Luke and Matthew, yet he records more from Matthew, preserving not only the order of things but also of words.

Luke, however, holding more to the order of history, sets forth the virtues of Christ’s deeds more copiously than the others. Finally John, explaining the divine nature, flew across the heavens and the angels, and found the Word of God, and announced that it was in the beginning. Of these, the first and the last preached what they heard from the mouth of Christ, or what they knew to have been done or performed by him. The remaining two in the middle only what they learned from the apostles: of whom indeed Matthew first wrote his Gospel in Judea, then Mark in Italy, third Luke in Achaia, last John in Asia. Of these, only Matthew set forth the history of his preaching in the Hebrew style. The rest, however, published it in the eloquence of the Greek language. Concerning the Epistles of Paul. The apostle Paul set forth the style of his preaching in fourteen epistles. Of these, he wrote some to seven churches, according to the type of the sevenfold Church, preserving rather than exceeding the number of the sacrament on account of the sevenfold efficacy of the Holy Spirit. He wrote, moreover, to the Romans, to the Corinthians, to the Galatians, to the Ephesians, to the Philippians, to the Colossians, to the Thessalonians, to the Hebrews; the remaining ones he later published to individual persons, so as again to convert that same sevenfold number to the sacrament of unity.

The arguments of these same Epistles are as follows: first, he praises the faith of the Roman people; he corrects the Corinthians with twin doctrine; among the Galatians, through the grace of faith, he excludes the works of the law; he magnifies the Ephesians in the faith which they received; he praises the Colossians for having persevered in the faith; he congratulates the Philippians for having kept the Gospel; he glorifies the Thessalonians, in the first Epistle, for having grown in faith and works, and in the second, for having bravely endured persecutions. He also instructs the Churches through Timothy and Titus. He asks Philemon about the reformed slave Onesimus. Finally, he strengthens the Hebrews, who believed in Christ and afterwards, terrified by Jewish persecutions, withdrew from the faith, and he recalls them to the grace of the Gospel. Concerning the Epistles of the Blessed Peter. The apostle Peter wrote two Epistles, which are called canonical. He wrote them to those who, believing from the circumcision, were in the dispersion of the nations; these Epistles indeed seem to some to be plainer, while they are filled with such profound meanings that through them, those who can scrutinize the sense of divine science, as if through a certain brief receptacle, behold great sentences and great mysteries revealed to them.

In the first Epistle, however, he writes of the power of regeneration, and of the prophets who foretold the future endurance of the Church in its sufferings. He then admonishes the pontiffs to live in chastity, and, like little ones, to remain without guile. He also shows that the saints are living stones, and the people of the acquisition, and the royal priesthood. Among these things, he establishes for the laity an order for living well; he exhorts women to be submissive, not to go about in costly attire, and men likewise to cleave but little to their wives, to frequent prayer, and to live in harmony with all. Moreover, he writes of the mystery of the ark, or the sacrament of baptism, by which a man is freed from the deeds of the world. And he commands the faithful to obey only the precepts of the divine will, and no longer to serve the desires of the flesh. He also teaches that the clergy and the people should minister to each other in turn, and that no one should fear the passions of Christ; and that judgment should begin from the house of God, and that the saints should be crowned; he likewise admonishes them to observe mutual gentleness and humility, and to guard against the snares of the devil with all diligence, adding that every good work begun through God is brought to completion.

In the second Epistle, however, he addresses the faithful as though they were slain in this world, and exhorts all to pass from worse things to better. He also writes that the memories of the just should be renewed, and recalls the false prophets of both Testaments, who are masters of falsehood. Then he introduces the example of the flood to signify the destruction of the impious, and of those who, ensnared by pleasures and sins, have become slaves of corruption. He also writes that in the last times mockers abound, and proclaims that with God a thousand years are counted as one day. Among these things, he speaks of the resurrection of the elements and the renewal of heaven and earth. Finally, he discusses the Epistles of Paul, which, when certain unlearned men do not understand, they pervert with a distorted meaning. Concerning the Epistle of the Blessed James. James, the brother of the Lord, wrote one Epistle, pertaining to the edification of the Church, whose sentences seem to pour forth an immense clarity of knowledge upon those who read them.

Concerning the Epistles of the Blessed John. John the apostle wrote three Epistles, of which the first, commending the duty of charity, is wholly occupied with the love of God and fraternal affection. The second also, which he wrote to the Lady Electa, urges the pursuit of love; it also points out seducers, and warns that heretics must be shunned. But the third he writes to Gaius, in which he praises him in the pursuit of truth and the work of mercy; then he points out the insolence of a certain Diotrephes, and bears witness to the truth concerning Demetrius. Concerning the Epistle of Saint Jude the Apostle. Jude’s Epistle rebukes those blaspheming against Christ, and certain shameless persons by the example of the impious, who through pride and lust have been consigned to eternal fires, on whose account he warns the Church to reprove them and to exhort them to penance. Concerning the Acts of the Apostles. The history of the Apostles describes the faith and work of the nascent Church, whose writer is indeed shown to be Luke the evangelist. It contains, moreover, those things which in Judea or among the Gentiles through the grace of the Holy Spirit, both by Peter and by the other apostles, and especially by Paul, were wrought or accomplished.

Concerning the Apocalypse. John, after he is commanded to write to the seven churches, beholds the Son of Man sitting on a throne, and the twenty-four elders, and the four living creatures proceeding before the throne; also, on the right of the one seated, a book sealed with seven seals, in which war, famine, death, the cry of the slain, and also the end of the world and of the age are recorded. He then describes twelve thousand servants of God, who are marked on their foreheads; there seven angels sound trumpets, followed by hail and fire mingled with blood upon the earth. A third part of the earth is there burned up, and a third part of the sea becomes blood; the very stars, shining, lose a third part of their brightness; there, from the smoke of the pit, locusts of demons are produced, receiving the power to harm those who are not marked with the blood of the Lamb. Moreover, the Evangelist eats the book of the Testament, most sweet in the preaching of the mouth and bitter in the difficulty of the work. And he measures the heavenly temple, and describes the words of the twenty-four elders, as well as the ark of the Testament, and the woman clothed with the sun, and the battle in the heavens of Michael with the dragon, and the dragon’s fall. He also beholds the figure of the Antichrist, having seven heads of the kingdom, and horns of power, and the number of his name.

Among these things it also relates the canticle of the New Testament, and beholds angels carrying bowls, and likewise perceives the destruction of the beast, and the blessedness of those who have kept the garments of their body pure without the pleasure of the flesh. It then sets forth the destruction of the harlot Babylon, and the marriage of the Lamb, the coming of judgment, and the destruction of Antichrist, and the eternal punishment of the devil. Finally, it recounts the resurrection of the dead, the newness of heaven and earth, and the description of Jerusalem, also the river of baptism cleansing, and the tree of life, the Lord Jesus Christ.