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Cyril of Jerusalem: Catechetical Lectures
Edwin Hamilton Gifford; NPNF2-07 (1894) · Edition commentary
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Translator and historical edition notes (part 12)
Mic. v. 3.
Hos. ii. 20.
Luke i. 45.
See the story of Pyrrha and Deucalion in Pindar, Ol. ix. 60: ἄτερ δ᾽ εὐνᾶς κτησάσθαν λίθινον γόνον, and in Ovid. Metam i. 260 ff.
Athena was said to have sprung armed from the head of Zeus: Pindar, Ol. vii. 65: κορυφὰν κατ᾽ ἄκραν ἀνορούσαισ᾽ ἀλάλαξεν ὑπερμάκει βοᾷ. Cf. Hes. Theog. 924.
Eurip. Bacchae. 295; Ovid. Metam. iv. 11.
Codd. Mon. i, A: ὁ γὰρ αὐτὸς Θεός. Bened. ὁ γὰρ Θεὸς αὐτός.
Matt. i. 24.
Gen. xxix. 21.
Luke i. 26, 27.
Ib. ii. 4, 5.
Gal. iv. 4.
See above, § 21.
Luke i. 34, 35.
Luke ii. 14.
Ib. ii. 24. In Lev. xii. 8 one pair only of turtles is prescribed, to be offered for the mother, not for the child. But the reading τὰ ζεύγη in Cyril is confirmed by that in St. Luke, τοῦ καθαρισμοῦ αὐτῶν. See the authorities in Tischendorf.
John vii. 19; viii. 40.
Luke xxiv. 39.
σεμνύνεται. Rivet, misled by a double error in the old Latin version, “veneratur,” accused Cyril of approving the worship of the Virgin Mary.
Ps. cxlviii. 12.
ἡ τῶν ἀγαθῶν πρᾶξις, Cod. A.
2 Cor. vi. 16.
Lecture XIII.
Gal. vi. 14.
Cf. Athanas. (de Incarn. § 18, 49).
Rom. v. 17, 18.
1 Tim. ii. 6.
1 Cor. i. 18, 23.
Ex. xii. 23.
John i. 29.
Cf. Cat. i. 3; xvii. 35, 36.
1 Pet. ii. 22, quoted from Isa. liii. 9.
Luke xxiii. 14.
Matt. xxvii. 24.
Luke xxiii. 41. Cf. Cat. xiii. 30, 31. The Benedictine Editor remarks, “We know not whence Cyril took the notion that the two robbers were present at the trial of Jesus.” He may have inferred from the words ἐν τῷ αὐτῷ κρίματι that the sentence of crucifixion was pronounced on them at the same time as on Jesus.
δόκησις. Cf. Ignat. Smyrn. § 2: “He suffered truly, as also He raised Himself truly: not as certain unbelievers say, that He suffered in semblance (τὸ δοκεῖν αὐτὸν πεπονθέναι).” See § 37, below.
φαντασιώδης. Athanas. c. Apollinar. § 3: “Supposing the exhibition and the endurance of the Passion to be a mere show (φαντασίαν).”
Matt. xxvii. 63.
Cf. iv. 10; x. 19.
Matt. v. 28.
1 Pet. ii. 22, 23.
Matt. xvi. 22, 23.
Ib. xxvi. 2.
Ib. xx. 18.
Luke ix. 5.
Ps. xli. 9.
“τὰς εὐλογίας. The word has this meaning in Chrysostom and Cyril of Alexandria also; afterwards it came to signify consecrated bread, distinct from that of the Eucharist. Vid. Bingham, Antiq. xv. 4, § 3.”
(R.W.C.) The custom of sending the bread of the Eucharist was forbidden in the latter part of the 4th century by the Synod of Laodicea, Canon 14: “At Easter the Host shall no more be sent into foreign dioceses as eulogiae.” Bp. Hefele (Councils II. p. 308) says—
“It was a custom in the ancient Church, not indeed to consecrate, but to bless those of the several breads of the same form laid on the altar which were not needed for the Communion, and to employ them partly for the maintenance of the Clergy, and partly for distributing them to those of the faithful who did not communicate at the Mass.”
See Eusebius (Hist. Eccles. V. 24), with the note thereon in this Series.
Matt. xxvi. 25.
John xii. 23.
See Cat. ii. 14, note 4.
John xiii. 31.
Ib. xvii. 5.
Ib. x. 18.
There is so close a resemblance between the remainder of this Lecture and the explanation of the same Article of the Creed by Rufinus, that “I have no doubt,” says the Benedictine Editor, “that Rufinus drew from Cyril’s fountains.” Cf. Rufin. de Symbolo, § 19, sqq.
Isa. lii. 15.
Cf. Acts ii. 9: Parthians and Medes and Elamites. These Jewish converts of the day of Pentecost would naturally be the first heralds of the Gospel in their respective countries. On the dispersion of the Apostles, “Parthia, according to tradition, was allotted to Thomas as his field of labour” (Euseb. Hist. Eccl. III. 1; cf. I. 13). An earlier notice of the tradition is found in the Clementine Recognitions, L. IX. c. 29, where the Pseudo-Clement professes to have received a letter from “Thomas, who is preaching the Gospel among them.”
Rom. xv. 21, quoted from Isaiah, u s.
Gal. iv. 25.
Lam. iv. 20: The breath of our nostrils, the anointed of the Lord, was taken in their pits.
Ibid.
1 Cor. ii. 4. The simple style of the New Testament is defended by Origen, c. Celsum, iii. 68, and in many other passages.
Cyril alludes to the same proverb in the Homily on the Paralytic, c. 14: “Word resists word, but a deed is irresistible.” The Jerusalem Editor refers to Gregory Nazianzen (Tom. II. p. 596): Δόγῳ παλαίει πᾶς λόγος.
1 Cor. i. 23.
Ecclus. iv. 31: Let not thine hand be stretched out to receive, and shut when thou shouldest repay. The passage is quoted in the Didaché, c. iv., Barnab. Epist. c. xix., and Constit. Apost. VII. 11.
James i. 5.
Ps. lxxvii. 19. The Benedictine Editor, with no authority but the Latin version by Grodecq, inserts a quotation of Job ix. 8: Who walketh on the sea, as on a pavement. Cf. xi. 23.
Ps. xxxviii. 11.
Ib. lv. 21.
Matt. xxvi. 49.
Luke xxii. 48.
Cf. Phil. Jud. de Plantatione Noë, II § 33: “And his name was called Judah, which being interpreted is “confession to the Lord.” In Gen. xlix. 8 the name is differently interpreted: “Judah, thou art he whom thy brethren shall praise.” The root has both senses “to confess,” and “to praise,” which are closely allied since to “confess” is to “give God the glory” (Josh. vii. 19).
Ps. cix. 1–3.
Ps. lix. 6. The exposition was probably given in a sermon preached to the whole congregation, not in these Lectures.
Zech. xi. 12.
Ib.
Ib. xi. 13.
Matt. xxvii. 3, 5.
Matt. xxvii. 3, 7.
Ib. v. 4.
Ib. v. 6.
Isa. iii. 9: (R.V.) they have rewarded evil unto themselves. Say ye of the righteous, that it shall be well with him/ In the Septuagint, from which Cyril quotes, there is an evident interpolation of Wisdom ii. 12: Let us lie in wait for the righteous; because he is not for our turn (δύσχρηστος, as in Cyril).
Ps. ii. 3.
Isa. iii. 14.
Deut. xxxii. 6.
Isa. liii. 1.
Ibid.
Isa. l. 6.; Matt. xxvii. 26.
John xii. 25.
Hosea x. 6: (R.V.) It also shall be carried unto Assyria for a present to king Jareb. This passage is applied in the same manner to Luke xxiii. 7 by Justin M. (Tryph. § 103), Tertullian (c. Marcion. iv. 42), and Rufinus (de Symbolo, § 21), who adds,—“And rightly does the Prophet add the name ‘Jarim,’ which means ‘a wild vine,’ for Herod was…a wild vine, i.e. of an alien stock.” For the various interpretations of the name see the Commentaries on Hosea v. 13, and x. 6; Schrader, Cuneijorm Inscriptions, II. § 439, Driver, Introduction to O. T. Literature, p. 283.
Luke xxiii. 6, 7.
Ibid. xxiii. 12.
Job xii. 24: (R.V.) He taketh away the heart of the chiefs of the people of the earth. The rendering “who reconciles” (ὁ διαλλάσσων, Sept.) is forbidden by the context.
Some mss. have ἠνεσχετο or ἠνείχετο, “He submitted to stand.”
Josh. xix. 15.
Isa. lvii. 4.
Jer. xii. 8.
Ibid. v. 7.
Matt. xxvii. 13.
Ps. xxxviii. 14.
Ibid. v. 13.
“Perhaps in some Homily” (Ben. Ed.).
Ps. cix. 25.
Cant. iii. 11.
Gen. iii. 17, 18. By mistaking one letter in the Hebrew, the Seventy give the meaning “in thy labours” instead of “for thy sake.”
Mark xi. 1.
Gen. iii. 8.
Jer. xi. 19: I was like a tame (R.V. gentle) lamb that is led to the slaughter; and I knew not that they had devised devices against me. Cyril’s interrogative rendering is not admissible.
Matt. xxvi. 2.
John i. 29.
Jer. xi. 19.
Ibid. R.V. Let us destroy the tree with the fruit thereof. The word rendered fruit is literally bread. The phrase is evidently proverbial. The Hebrew word which means “destroy” is misinterpreted by ἐμβάλωμεν in the Greek. Hence arose the fanciful application of the passage to the cross laid on the body of Christ to be borne by Him. Justin M. (Tryph. lxxii.) charges the Jews with having recently cut out the passage because of the supposed reference to Christ. Tertullian (adv. Judæos, c. 10) writes: “Of course on His body that ‘wood’ was put; for so Christ has revealed, calling His body ‘bread.’” He gives the same interpretation elsewhere (adv. Marcion. III. 19; IV. 40). Cf. Cyprian (Testimonia ad Quirinum, Lib. II. 15); Athanas. (de Incarn. § 33).
Ps. lxxii. 17.
Deut. xxviii. 66.
Num. xxi. 9; John iii. 14. The Jerusalem Editor asks,
“How did Moses complete the figure by fixing the serpent to a cross? First he set up the wood and fixed it in the earth as a post: then by putting the brazen serpent athwart (πλαγίως, he formed a figure of the Cross.”
Cf. Barnab. Epist. c. xii.; Justin M. (Apol. i. c. 60); Iren. (Hæres. IV. c. 2); Tertull. adv. Judæos, c. 10).
Matt. xxvii. 24, 25.
John xix. 34. Cf. Cat. iii. 10. Origen (In Lib. Judic. Hom. vii. § 2): “It is the Baptism of blood alone that can render us purer than the Baptism of water has done.” Cf. Origen (in Ev. Matt. Tom. xvi. 6):
“If Baptism promises remission of sins, as we have received concerning Baptism in water and the Spirit, and if one who has endured the Baptism of Martyrdom receives remission of sins, then with good reason martyrdom may be called a Baptism.”
For a summary of the “Patristic Interpretation” of the passage, see Bp. Westcott, Speaker’s Commentary.)
Matt. xxviii. 5.
Col. i. 15, 18.
1 Cor. xi. 3.
Col. ii. 10.
1 Cor. xi. 3.
John xviii. 18.
Matt. xxvii. 45.
Zech. xiv. 6, 7.
Ps. cxviii. 24.
Gen. i. 5.
Zech. xiv. 7. Cf. Euseb. (Dem. Evang. x. 7): “It was not day, because of the noon-tide darkness: and again it was not night, because of the day which followed upon it, which he represented by a sign in saying, at evening time there shall be light.
ἐξέλιπεν. See Cat. x. 19, note 2. Acta Pilati. c. xi.
Amos viii. 9. Cf. Euseb. (Dem. Ev. x. 6).
Amos viii. 10.
Synod of Laodicea, Can. xvi. 15: “Besides the appointed singers, who mount the ambo and sing from the book, others shall not sing in the Church.” Hefele thinks that this was not intended to forbid the laity to take any part in the Church music, but only to forbid those who were not cantors to take the lead. See Bingham, Antiquities, III. c. 7; XIV. c. 1.
Ps. xxii. 18, quoted in John xix. 24.
κλῆρος δὲ ἦν ὁ λαχμός. Bishop Hall, Contemplations, Book IV. 32, speaks of the soldiers’ “barbarous sortitions.” The technical term is “sortilege.” Cf. Evang. Pet. § 4; Justin M. Dial. 97.
Isa. lxiii. 1, 2.
Bozrah means a “sheepfold,” and is the name of a city in Idumea. Cyril’s interpretation rests on a false derivation.
Isa. lxv. 2. “It is a commonplace in patristic literature that the Crucifixion was prefigured by Isa. lxv. 2.” (Dr. C. Taylor, Hermas and the Four Gospels, p. 49.) Cf. Barnab. Epist. c. xii.; Didache xvi.; Justin M. (Apolog. I. c. 35; Tryph. cc. 97, 114); Tertull. (contra Jud. xii); Irenæ. IV. xxxiii. 12.
Ps. lxxiv. 12. The passage does not refer to Palestine especially: “in the midst of the earth” is equivalent to “in the sight of all nations.” Cf. Orac. Sibyll. viii. 302: “He shall spread out His hands, and span the whole world,” quoted by Dr. Taylor, “The Teaching,” p. 103.
Rom. v. 12, 17.
John x. 18.
Ib. ix. 28.
Deut. xxxii. 32.
Ps. lxix. 21.
Mark xv. 23.
Isa. v. 1, 2.
Ib. v. 6. Cf. Tertull. adv. Marcion. III. c. 23; contra Jud. c. 13:
“The clouds being celestial benefits which were commanded not to be forthcoming to the house of Israel; for it ‘had borne thorns,’ whereof that house of Israel had wrought a crown for Christ.”
Constitt. Apost. VI. § 5: “He has taken away from them the Holy Spirit and the prophetic rain, and has replenished His Church with spiritual grace.”
1 Cor. xiv. 29.
Eph. iv. 11.
Isa. liii. 12.
Ps. cix. 25.
Luke xxiii. 40. ff.
θάρσει. An addition to the text of Luke xxiii. 43 in Codex Bezae.
Ps. xcv. 7, 8.
Gen. ii. 17.
Luke x. 18.
Gen. iii. 24. S. Ambrose (Ps. cxix. Serm. xx. § 12):
“All who desire to return to Paradise must be tried by fire: for not in vain the Scripture saith that when Adam and Eve were driven out of their abode in Paradise, God placed at the gate of Eden a flaming sword which turned every way.”
Cf. Iren. V. c. 5, § 1; Athan. (Expos. Fid. c. i.): “He shewed us.…an entrance into Paradise from which Adam was cast out, and into which he entered again by means of the thief.” S. Leo (de Pass. Dom. Serm. II. c. 1): “Excedit humanam conditionem ista promissio: nec tam de ligno Crucis, quam de throno editur potestatis.”
Rom. v. 20.
Matt. xx. 12 ff.
Cant. vi. 3.
Luke xv. 5, 6.
Ps. cxix. 176.
Cant. v. 1.
John xix. 41.
Ib. 30.
Heb. ix. 11.
Ib. x. 19.
Matt. xxvii. 51.
Ib. xxiii. 38.
Col. i. 20.
1 Pet. ii. 24.
Luke xxiii. 46.