Commentary on the Apocalypse 6.1–20.2
Latin text: CSEL 49 (Latin text: J. Haussleiter (CSEL 49, 1916), digitized by Open Greek and Latin, University of Leipzig (csel-dev), CC BY-SA 4.0).English: Claude (claude-opus-5-5), public domain (CC0). Compare: Ante-Nicene Fathers, vol. 7 (1886).
Chapter 6
6.1CSEL 49:66–70
Resignatio sigillorum, ut diximus, apertio est ueteris testamenti praedicatorum et praenuntiatio in nouissimo tempore futurorum; quae licet scriptura prophetica per singula sigilla dicat, omnibus tamen simul apertis sigillis ordinem suum habet praedicatio. nam aperto primo sigillo cum dicat se uidisse equum album et equitem coronatum habentem arcum — hoc enim in primo factum est —, postquam ascendit in caelis dominus noster, aperuit uniuersa et emisit spiritum sanctum. cuius uerba per praedicatores tamquam sagittae ad cor hominum pergerent et uincerent incredulitatem. corona autem est praedicatoribus super caput promissa per spiritum sanctum. ceteri tres equi: famem, (bella) et pestilentiam in euangelio dominus ostendens praedicata manifeste significat; ideoque ait: unum de animalibus, quia omnia quattuor unum sunt. ueni autem et uide: ueni dicitur inuitato ad fidem et uide dicitur ei qui non uidebat. ergo equus albus uerbum praedicationis cum spiritu sancto in orbem missum: ait enim dominus: praedicabitur hoc euangelium in toto orbe terrarum in testimonium omnibus gentibus et tunc ueniet finis.
The unsealing of the seals, as we have said, is the opening of what the Old Testament proclaimed and the foretelling of what will be in the last time. Although the prophetic Scripture speaks of them seal by seal, yet when all the seals have been opened together the proclamation has its own order. For when the first seal is opened he says he saw a white horse and a crowned rider having a bow — for this happened first: after our Lord ascended into heaven, he opened all things and sent out the Holy Spirit, whose words through the preachers would go like arrows to the hearts of men and conquer unbelief. The crown on the head is promised to the preachers through the Holy Spirit. The other three horses the Lord plainly signifies, pointing in the Gospel to famine, (wars,) and pestilence as foretold; and so he says “one of the living creatures,” because all four are one. “Come and see”: “come” is said to one invited to faith, and “see” to one who did not see. So the white horse is the word of the preaching sent into the world with the Holy Spirit; for the Lord says: “This gospel will be preached in the whole world as a testimony to all nations, and then the end will come.”
Rev 6:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 6:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 24:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 21:11 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 24:14 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The first seal's white horse is the preaching of the Gospel with the Holy Spirit after Christ's ascension; the other horses are famine, war, and pestilence.
- Quotations: Rev 6:1–2; Matt 24:14. Famine, wars, and pestilence: Matt 24:7; Luke 21:10–11. Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (manuscript folio number leaked into the text): gentibus [fol. 11 ] et → gentibus et.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 6.1 (CSEL 49:66–70; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-6-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
6.2CSEL 49:70–72
Equus autem niger famem significat; ait enim dominus: et erit fames per loca. proprie autem extendit se uerbum usque ad Antichristum, id est tempora, quando magna famis est futura quandoque et homines laedentur. Equus rufus et qui sedebat super illum habens gladium: bella sunt, quae futura significat, ut legimus in euangelio: surget enim gens aduersus gentem et regnum aduersus regnum et erit terrae motus magnus. hic est equus rufus.
The black horse signifies famine; for the Lord says: “and there will be famines in various places.” But properly the word extends to the Antichrist, that is, to the times when there will be a great famine at some time and men will be harmed. The red horse and its rider having a sword: these are the wars which he signifies will come, as we read in the Gospel: “For nation will rise against nation and kingdom against kingdom, and there will be a great earthquake.” This is the red horse.
Rev 6:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 6:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 24:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 21:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 21:11 (quotation, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The black horse is famine and the red horse war, both foretold in the Gospel.
- Quotations: Matt 24:7; Luke 21:10–11. Victorinus treats the black horse before the red.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 6.2 (CSEL 49:70–72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-6-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
6.3CSEL 49:72
Equus autem pallidus, et qui sedebat super illum nomen habebat mors. haec eadem quoque inter ceteras clades praedicauerat dominus: uenturas pestes et mortalitates. cum enim dicat: et infernum sequitur illum. id est ut dicat deuorationem animarum multarum impiarum. hic est equus pallidus.
The pale horse, and its rider was named Death. These things too the Lord had foretold among the other calamities: that plagues and mortalities would come. For when he says “and hell follows him,” he means the devouring of many ungodly souls. This is the pale horse.
Rev 6:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Luke 21:11 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The pale horse is plague and death, followed by hell.
- Rev 6:8; compare Luke 21:11.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 6.3 (CSEL 49:72; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-6-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
6.4CSEL 49:72–80
Animas autem occisorum uidisse sub ara id est sub terra. (al a) enim et caelum et terra dicuntur, sicut lex imaginaria ueritatis faciem meditata [ad duas aras, auream intrinsecus (et aeream extrinsecus), fecerat. nos autem intellegimus aram caelum dici a domino nostro nobis testimonium perhibente; ait enim: (cum offeres munus tuum) ad aram — utique munera nostra orationes sunt quas efficere debemus — et ibi recordatus fueris habere aliquid fratrem tuum aduersus te, relinque ibi munus tuum: utique ad caelum ascendunt orationes. sicut ergo caelum intellegitur ara aurea, quae erat interior — nam et sacerdos semel introibat in templum in anno, qui habebat Christi mandatum, ad aram auream; significabat spiritum sanctum hoc esse facturum, id est quod passus est, semel factum est —, sic et aerea terra intellegitur, sub qua est infernum, remota a poenis et ignibus regio, requies sanctorum, in qua quidem uidentur ab impiis et audiuntur iusti, sed neque illi ad illos transire possunt. hos ergo tantos, id est animas occisorum, expectare uindictam sanguinis, idest corporis sui, de habitantibus super terram uoluit nos cognoscere qui omnia uidet. sed quoniam in nouissimo tempore et sanctorum remuneratio perpetua et impiorum uentura. est damnatio, dictum est expectare; et pro corporis sui solatio acceperunt, inquit, stolas albas, id est donum spiritus sancti.
That he saw the souls of the slain under the altar, that is, under the earth. For both heaven and earth are called altars, as the law, rehearsing the image of the truth, had made two altars, a golden one within (and a bronze one without). We understand that heaven is called an altar, since our Lord bears witness to us; for he says: “(When you offer your gift) at the altar” — our gifts, surely, are the prayers we ought to make — “and there remember that your brother has something against you, leave your gift there”; for prayers surely ascend to heaven. As, then, heaven is understood as the golden altar, which was the inner one — for the priest, who bore the figure of Christ, entered the temple once a year to the golden altar; it signified that the Holy Spirit would do this, that is, that what he suffered was done once — so the earth is understood as the bronze altar, under which is the underworld, a region far removed from punishments and fires, the rest of the saints, in which indeed the righteous are seen and heard by the ungodly, but neither can those cross over to these. He who sees all things wished us to know that these great ones, the souls of the slain, await vengeance for their blood, that is, for their body, from those who dwell on the earth. But since in the last time both the everlasting reward of the saints and the damnation of the ungodly are to come, it is said that they wait; and as a consolation for their body they received, he says, white robes, that is, the gift of the Holy Spirit.
Rev 6:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 6:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 6:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Exod 30:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Exod 27:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 5:23 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 5:24 (quotation, high confidence) · Heb 9:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 16:26 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The souls under the altar are the martyrs resting under the earth, awaiting the final judgment, comforted meanwhile by the Spirit.
- Quotations and allusions: Rev 6:9–11; Matt 5:23–24; the two altars: Exod 30:1–6 and 27:1–2; the high priest once a year: Heb 9:7; the separation of righteous and ungodly: Luke 16:26.
- The phrase “qui habebat Christi mandatum” is taken to mean that the priest bore the figure (or commission) of Christ; uncertain.
- An editor's note of the printed edition (on the recension of Jerome and on Tyconius, Primasius, and Beatus), which had leaked into the end of this section, is removed. Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (editor's apparatus note of the printed edition leaked into the text; manuscript folio number leaked into the text; split word): [fol. IP] tuum → tuum; uin dic tam → uindictam; De Victorini editione, quod attinet ad cap. VI, conferantur quae ad pag. 76, 2 adnotauimus. recensionis Hieronymi cap. VI sect. 8, quae in aduersa pagina lin. 6-9 repraesentatur, ex Ticonii commentariis deprompta exstat in Ps.-Augustini homil. in Apocal. VI (XXXV 2427. 2428 bis M), apud Primasium (LXVIII 854 M), apud Beatum p. 357. → .
Topics: Eschatology, Martyrdom
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 6.4 (CSEL 49:72–80; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-6-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
Chapter 7
7.1CSEL 49:80–82
Angelum autem descendentem ab oriente sole: Heliam prophetam dicit, qui anticipaturus est tempora Antichristi ad restituendas ecclesias et stabiliendas ab intolerabili persecutione. haec in apertione libri et ueteris testamenti et nouae praedicationis legimus; ait enim dominus per Malachiam: ecce ego mitto uobis Heliam Thesbiten, conuertere corda patrum ad filios et cor hominis ad proximum suum, id est ad Christum per paenitentiam; conuertere corda patrum ad filios: secundum tempus uocationis Iudeos ad sequentis populi fidem reuocare. et ideo ostendit etiam numerum ex Iudeis crediturum et ex gentibus magnam multitudinem.
The angel descending from the rising of the sun: he means the prophet Elijah, who is to come before the times of the Antichrist to restore the churches and to make them firm against an unbearable persecution. We read this in the opening of the book, both of the Old Testament and of the new preaching; for the Lord says through Malachi: “Behold, I send you Elijah the Tishbite, to turn the hearts of the fathers to the children, and the heart of a man to his neighbor,” that is, to Christ through repentance. “To turn the hearts of the fathers to the children”: that is, according to the time of calling, to call back the Jews to the faith of the people that followed. And therefore he also shows the number of the Jews who will believe, and a great multitude from the Gentiles.
Rev 7:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 7:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 7:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Mal 4:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Mal 4:6 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The angel from the east is Elijah, who will come before the Antichrist to restore the churches and turn the Jews to faith.
- The text reads “descending” where Rev 7:2 has “ascending.”
- Quotations and allusions: Rev 7:2, 4, 9; Mal 4:5–6 (Hebrew 3:23–24), with “the Tishbite” as in the LXX.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (manuscript folio number leaked into the text): [fol. 12r conuertere → conuertere.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 7.1 (CSEL 49:80–82; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-7-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
Chapter 8
8.1CSEL 49:82–84
Mitti autem de caelo orationes ecclesiae ab angelo et suscipi eas et contra effundi iram et scotomari regnum Antichristi per angelos sanctos et in euangelio legimus; ait enim: orate, ne incidatis in temptationem. erit enim angustia magna, qualis non fuit ab initio nec ab origine mundi, et nisi dominus breuiasset dies illos, non esset salua ulla caro super terram. hos ergo archangelos magnos VII ad percutiendum regnum Antichristi mittet. nam et ipse dominus dixit in euangelio: tunc filius hominis mittet nuntios suos et colligent electos eius de IIII uentis a finibus caeli usque ad fines eius. et ante ait: tunc erit pax terrae, cum surrexerint in ea VII pastores et octo morsus (hominum) et indagabunt Assur-id est Antichristum — in fossam Nebroth: in damnationem diaboli. et Ecclesiastes similiter dixit: cum commoti fuerint custodes domus. ipse autem dominus sic ait: cum uenissent ad eum operarii et dixerunt ei: domine, nonne bonum semen seminasti in tuo agro? unde ergo ibi lolium? respondit eis: inimicus hoc fecit. qui dixerunt: uis imus eradicamus illud? dicit eis: non, sinite utraque ut crescant usque ad messem, et in tempore. inquit, dicam messoribus colligere lolium et in ignem mitti, triticum autem in horrea recondere. hos messores et operarios hic apocalypsis archangelos esse ostendit.
That the prayers of the church are sent from heaven by an angel and received, and that wrath is poured out in return, and that the kingdom of the Antichrist is darkened by the holy angels, we read in the Gospel too; for he says: “Pray that you may not enter into temptation. For there will be great distress, such as has not been from the beginning or from the origin of the world; and unless the Lord had shortened those days, no flesh would be saved on the earth.” These seven great archangels, then, he will send to strike the kingdom of the Antichrist. For the Lord himself said in the Gospel: “Then the Son of Man will send his messengers, and they will gather his elect from the four winds, from the ends of heaven to its ends.” And before this it says: “Then there will be peace on the earth, when seven shepherds and eight bites (of men) have risen up in it, and they will hunt Assur” — that is, the Antichrist — “into the ditch of Nimrod,” that is, into the damnation of the devil. And Ecclesiastes said likewise: “when the keepers of the house are shaken.” And the Lord himself says: “When the workers came to him and said to him: Lord, did you not sow good seed in your field? Where then did the weeds come from? He answered them: An enemy has done this. They said: Do you want us to go and root them out? He says to them: No; let both grow until the harvest, and at the time,” he says, “I will tell the reapers to gather the weeds and throw them into the fire, but to store the wheat in the barns.” This Apocalypse shows that these reapers and workers are the archangels.
Rev 8:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 8:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 8:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 26:41 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:21 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:22 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 24:31 (quotation, high confidence) · Mic 5:5 (5:4 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Mic 5:6 (5:5 LXX) (quotation, high confidence) · Eccl 12:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:27 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:28 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:29 (quotation, high confidence) · Matt 13:30 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The church's prayers and the seven trumpets mean the archangels sent to strike the Antichrist's kingdom, as the Gospel foretells.
- Quotations: Matt 26:41; Matt 24:21–22 (Mark 13:19–20); Matt 24:31; Mic 5:5–6 (LXX 5:4–5, “eight bites of men,” “the ditch of Nimrod”); Eccl 12:3; Matt 13:27–30.
- “scotomari” is from the Greek σκοτοῦσθαι, “to be darkened.”
- Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (joined words; manuscript folio number leaked into the text): etEcclesiastes → et Ecclesiastes; messoribus [fol. 12VJ colligere → messoribus colligere.
Topics: Eschatology, Prayer
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 8.1 (CSEL 49:82–84; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-8-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
8.2CSEL 49:84–86
Tuba autem uerbum est potestatis; et licet repetat per fialas, non quasi factum esse dicat, sed quoniam semel, quod futurum est ad eos, decretum est eis ut fiat, ideo bis dicitur. quicquid igitur in tubis minus dixit, id in fialis propensius dixit. nec aspiciendus est ordo dictorum, quoniam septiformis spiritus sanctus, ubi ad nouissimum temporis finemque percucurrit, redit rursus ad eadem tempora et supplet quae minus dixit. nec requirendus est ordo in apocalypsi, sed intellectus requirendus; est enim et pseudoprophetia. sunt igitur scripta quae sunt in tubis et in fialis aut plagarum orbi missarum clades aut ipsius Antichristi insania aut populorum detractatio aut plagarum differentia aut spes in regno sanctorum aut ruina ciuitatum aut ruina Babylonis. id est ciuitatis Romanae.
The trumpet is the word of power. And although he repeats it through the bowls, he does not speak as if it happened twice; but since what is to come upon them has been decreed once, that it should happen to them, it is therefore said twice. Whatever, then, he said too briefly in the trumpets, he said more fully in the bowls. Nor should one look to the order of what is said, since the sevenfold Holy Spirit, when it has run through to the last time and the end, returns again to the same times and supplies what it said too briefly. Nor should order be sought in the Apocalypse, but understanding; for there is also false prophecy. What is written in the trumpets and in the bowls, then, is either the calamities of the plagues sent upon the world, or the madness of the Antichrist himself, or the defection of the peoples, or the variety of the plagues, or the hope in the kingdom of the saints, or the ruin of cities, or the ruin of Babylon, that is, of the city of Rome.
Rev 8:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 16:1 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 17:5 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The trumpets and bowls describe the same events twice, since the Spirit recapitulates; one must seek the sense, not the order.
- This is Victorinus's principle of recapitulation: the visions repeat the same period rather than following in sequence.
- “est enim et pseudoprophetia” (“for there is also false prophecy”) is obscure in context; translated literally. “populorum detractatio” may mean the peoples' refusal (defection) or their slander; uncertain.
- Babylon is identified with Rome. The small footnote numerals of the printed edition are removed.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR n for u; footnote number of the printed edition): ant plagarum → aut plagarum; clades1) → clades; insania2) → insania; detractatio 3) → detractatio; differentia4) → differentia; sanctorum5) → sanctorum; ciuitatum Ii) → ciuitatum; Romanae7). → Romanae..
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 8.2 (CSEL 49:84–86; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-8-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
8.3CSEL 49:86–88
Aquila uolans medio caelo: spiritus sanctus significatur in duobus prophetis contestans magnam plagarum iram imminere. si quo modo, quamuis sit nouissimum tempus, aliquis adhuc saluus esse possit.
The eagle flying in mid-heaven signifies the Holy Spirit, testifying in the two prophets that a great wrath of plagues is at hand, if somehow, though it is the last time, someone may still be saved.
Rev 8:13 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The eagle in mid-heaven is the Holy Spirit warning through the two prophets.
- Rev 8:13.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 8.3 (CSEL 49:86–88; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-8-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
Chapter 10
10.1CSEL 49:88–90
Namque angelum fortem. quem dicit descendisse de caelo. amictum nubem - et iris super caput eius et facies eius tamquam sol et pedes eius tamquam columna ignis- et habentem in manu sua librum apertum — et posuit pedes suos supra mare et terram — dominum nostrum significat, sicut superius enarrauimus de facie eius tamquam solis, id est de resurrectione; super caput autem eius irim iudicium, quod factum aut facturus est. liber autem apertus apocalypsis est quam accepit Iohannes. pedes eius et superius diximus conflatos esse apostolos. nam calcari ab eo et mare et terram. omnia pedibus eius subdita significat. angelum illum dicit, id est nuntium patris omnipotentis; uocatur enim magni consilii nuntius. clamasse uoce magna: uox magna est caelestis, omnipotentis dei uerba hominibus nuntiare, quoniam post clausam paenitentiam spes postea futura non est.
For the mighty angel whom he says came down from heaven, clothed with a cloud — with a rainbow over his head, his face like the sun, and his feet like a pillar of fire — and having in his hand an open book — and he set his feet on the sea and on the land —: he signifies our Lord, as we explained above about his face like the sun, that is, about the resurrection; the rainbow above his head is the judgment, which has been done or which he will do. The open book is the Apocalypse which John received. His feet, as we also said above, are the apostles, refined in the furnace. That both sea and land are trodden by him signifies that all things are put under his feet. He calls him an angel, that is, a messenger of the almighty Father; for he is called the messenger of great counsel. That he cried with a loud voice: the loud voice is the heavenly one, to announce the words of almighty God to men, since after repentance has been closed there will afterward be no hope.
Rev 10:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 10:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 10:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Isa 9:6 (9:5 LXX) (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 8:6 (allusion, medium confidence) · 1 Cor 15:27 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The mighty angel with the open book is Christ, the messenger of great counsel, with all things under his feet.
- Quotations and allusions: Rev 10:1–3; Isa 9:6 (LXX 9:5, “angel of great counsel”); all things under his feet: Ps 8:6; 1 Cor 15:27. “Angel” (angelus) means “messenger.”
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (manuscript folio number leaked into the text; repeated syllable): [fol. 13r dominum → dominum; magni ni consilii → magni consilii.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 10.1 (CSEL 49:88–90; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-10-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
10.2CSEL 49:90–92
Septem tonitrua locuta uoces suas: spiritus septiformis uirtutis per prophetas protestatus omnia futura uoce illius in saeculo testimonium reddidit. sed quia dicit se scripturum fuisse, quanta tonitrua locuta fuissent, id est, quaecumque in ueteri testamento erant obscure praedicata, uetatur scribere, sed requirere et relinquere. quia erat apostolus, non oportebat gratiam sequentis gradus in primo uiro collocari, quia tempus iam prope est. apostoli enim uirtutibus signis portentis magnalibus factis uicerunt incredulitatem. post illos iam fide confirmatis ecclesiis datum solatium propheticarum scripturarum interpretandarum, quos interpretes prophetas dixit. ait enim apostolus: et posuit quidem in ecclesia primum apostolos, secundo prophetas, tertio doctores et reliqua. et alio loco ait: prophetae duo uel tres dicant et ceteri aestiment. et dicit: omnis mulier orans aut prophetans non uelato capite deturpat caput suum. cum autem dicat: prophetae duo uel tres dicant, ceteri aestiment, non de catholica prophetia dicit inaudita et incognita, sed iam praedicata; aestiment autem, utrumne interpretatio cum testimoniis congruat dictionis propheticae. constat ergo hoc Iohanni non fuisse necessarium superiori uirtute armato, cum corpus Christi sit ecclesia suis membris ornatum et suo loco respondere debeat.
“The seven thunders spoke their voices”: the Spirit of sevenfold power, having testified through the prophets to all things to come, bore witness by its voice in the world. But since he says he was about to write what the thunders had spoken, that is, whatever had been proclaimed obscurely in the Old Testament, he is forbidden to write, but told to search it out and leave it. Because he was an apostle, the grace of the following rank ought not to be placed in the first man, since the time is already near. For the apostles overcame unbelief by powers, signs, portents, and mighty deeds. After them, when the churches had been confirmed in faith, the comfort of interpreting the prophetic Scriptures was given, and he called those interpreters prophets. For the apostle says: “And he placed in the church first apostles, second prophets, third teachers,” and so on. And in another place he says: “Let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge.” And he says: “Every woman who prays or prophesies with her head unveiled dishonors her head.” When he says, “let two or three prophets speak, and let the others judge,” he is not speaking of catholic prophecy as something unheard and unknown, but as already proclaimed; and they are to judge whether the interpretation agrees with the testimonies of the prophetic word. It is clear, then, that this was not necessary for John, armed with a higher power, since the body of Christ is the church adorned with its members, and each must answer in its own place.
Rev 10:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 10:4 (allusion, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:28 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 14:29 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 11:5 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 12:27 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: John is forbidden to write what the thunders said because interpreting prophecy belongs to the later rank of prophets in the church, not to the apostles.
- Quotations: Rev 10:3–4; 1 Cor 12:28; 1 Cor 14:29; 1 Cor 11:5. The body and its members: 1 Cor 12:12–27.
- Victorinus understands the church's “prophets” as interpreters of the prophetic Scriptures, and “catholic prophecy” as what has already been proclaimed; translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (manuscript folio number leaked into the text): scripturarum [fol. 13v] interpretandarum → scripturarum interpretandarum.
Topics: Scripture and canon, Church office
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 10.2 (CSEL 49:90–92; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-10-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
10.3CSEL 49:92–94
Accipere autem libellum et comedere eum ostensionem significatam memoriae est mandare. dulce esse in ore praedicationis est fructus loquenti et audientibus dulcissimus, sed praedicanti et perseuerantibus in mandatis per passiones amarissimus. oportet, inquit, iterum praedicare, id est prophetare, in populis, linguis et nationibus: hoc est, quoniam, quando hoc uidit Iohannes, erat in insula Pathmos, in metallo damnatus a Caesare Domitiano. ibi ergo uidetur Iohannes apocalypsim conscripsisse et cum iam seniorem se putasset post passionem recipi posse, interfecto Domitiano omnia iudicia eius soluta sunt et Iohannes de metallo dimissus est et sic postea tradidit hanc eandem apocalypsim quam a domino acceperat. hoc est: iterum prophetare oportet.
To take the little book and eat it signifies committing to memory what was shown. That it is sweet in the mouth: the fruit of preaching is most sweet to the speaker and the hearers, but most bitter to the preacher and to those who persevere in the commandments through sufferings. “You must,” he says, “preach again,” that is, prophesy, “among peoples, tongues, and nations.” That is: when John saw this he was on the island of Patmos, condemned to the mines by the Caesar Domitian. There, then, John seems to have written the Apocalypse; and when, already an old man, he thought he would be received into rest after his suffering, Domitian was killed and all his judgments were annulled, and John was released from the mines, and so he afterward handed on this same Apocalypse which he had received from the Lord. This is: “You must prophesy again.”
Rev 10:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 10:10 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 10:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 1:9 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Eating the little book means memorizing the revelation; John, condemned to the mines on Patmos under Domitian, was released and published it.
- Quotations and allusions: Rev 10:9–11; Rev 1:9. The tradition of John's sentence to the mines and release after Domitian's death (AD 96) is Victorinus's report.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (manuscript folio number leaked into the text): apocalypsim [fol. 14r] conscripsisse → apocalypsim conscripsisse.
Topics: Persecution
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 10.3 (CSEL 49:92–94; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-10-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
Chapter 11
11.1CSEL 49:94–96
Accepisse autem illum arundinem similem uirgae, ut metiret templum dei et aram et adorantes in ea, potestatem dicit, quam dimissus postea exhibuit ecclesiis. nam et euangelium postea conscripsit. cum essent enim Valentinus et Cerinthus et Ebion et cetera scola (satanae) sparsa per orbem, conuenerunt ad illum de finitimis ciuitatibus episcopi et compulerunt eum, ut ipse testimonium conscriberet in dominum. (mensura) autem fidei est mandatum domini nostri, patrem confiteri omnipotentem, ut didicimus. et huius filium dominum nostrum Iesum Christum ante originem saeculi spiritaliter apud patrem genitum, factum hominem et morte deuicta in caelis cum corpore a patre receptum, sanctum dominum et pignus inmortalitatis, hunc per prophetas praedicatum. hunc per legem conscriptum, hunc per manum dei et per uerbum patris omnipotentis et conditorem orbis totius mundi. haec est arundo et mensura fidei. ut nemo adoret ad aram sanctam, nisi qui haec confitetur: dominum et Christum eius.
That he received a reed like a rod to measure the temple of God and the altar and those who worship at it means the authority which, after his release, he afterward exercised toward the churches. For he also wrote the Gospel afterward. For when Valentinus and Cerinthus and Ebion and the rest of the school (of Satan) were scattered through the world, the bishops from the neighboring cities came together to him and compelled him to write down his own testimony concerning the Lord. The (measure) of faith is the command of our Lord: to confess the Father almighty, as we have learned, and his Son, our Lord Jesus Christ, spiritually begotten with the Father before the beginning of the world, made man, and, having conquered death, received into heaven with his body by the Father, holy Lord and pledge of immortality; him proclaimed through the prophets, him written of through the law, him the hand of God and the Word of the almighty Father, and founder of the whole world. This is the reed and the measure of faith: that no one worships at the holy altar except one who confesses this: the Lord and his Christ.
Rev 11:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Ps 2:2 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 11:15 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The measuring reed is John's authority, shown when bishops asked him to write his Gospel against the heretics, and the measure is the rule of faith.
- Quotation: Rev 11:1. “The Lord and his Christ”: Ps 2:2; Rev 11:15.
- The phrase “hunc per manum dei et per uerbum patris … et conditorem” is awkward in the Latin; it is translated as a series of titles of Christ.
- The rule of faith is Victorinus's own summary; translated as written. Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Topics: Heresy, Christology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 11.1 (CSEL 49:94–96; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-11-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
11.2CSEL 49:96–98
Aulam autem interiorem eice foras. aula atrium dicitur, uacua inter parietes area. hos tales non necessarios eici iussit de ecclesia. quia data est, inquit, calcari <a>gentibus, id est huiusmodi homines aut a gentibus aut cum gentibus conculcari. deinde repetit de nouissimi temporis ruina et excidio et ait: et ciuitatem sanctam calcabunt mensibus quadraginta duobus. et dabo duobus testibus meis et praedicabunt amicti cilicio diebus mille CCLX, id est triennio et mensibus sex; dies mille CC(LX faciunt menses) XLII. est igitur illorum praedicatio triennio et mensibus sex et regnum Antichristi alterum tantum. de ore autem illorum prophetarum exire ignem contra aduersarios potestatem uerbi dicit. omnes plagae, quae futurae sunt ab angelis, illorum in uoce mittentur.
“Cast out the inner court.” “Aula” is called a court, the empty space between walls. He ordered such unnecessary people to be cast out of the church. “Because,” he says, “it has been given to be trampled by the nations,” that is, such people are trampled either by the nations or together with the nations. Then he returns to the ruin and destruction of the last time and says: “And they will trample the holy city for forty-two months. And I will give to my two witnesses, and they will preach clothed in sackcloth for one thousand two hundred and sixty days,” that is, three years and six months: one thousand two hundred and sixty days make forty-two months. Their preaching, then, lasts three years and six months, and the reign of the Antichrist as long again. The fire coming out of the mouth of those prophets against their adversaries means the power of the word. All the plagues that are to come from the angels will be sent at their word.
Rev 11:2 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 11:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 11:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 11:6 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The court left to the nations is the useless members of the church; the two witnesses will preach for three and a half years, and the Antichrist will reign as long.
- The text reads “inner” court where Rev 11:2 has “outer.”
- Quotations: Rev 11:2–3, 5. Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (joined words; manuscript folio number leaked into the text; spaced type rendered as separate letters): [fol. 14v] Aulam → Aulam; g e n t i b u s → gentibus; mensibusquadraginta → mensibus quadraginta.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 11.2 (CSEL 49:96–98; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-11-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
11.3CSEL 49:98–100
Multi putant cum Helia esse Heliseum aut Moysen, sed utrique mortui sunt. Hieremiae autem mors non inuenitur. per omnia ueteres nostri tradiderunt illum esse Hieremiam: nam et ipsum uerbum, quod factum est ad illum, testificatur dicens: priusquam te figurarem in utero matris tuae, noui te et prophetam in gentibus posui te. in gentibus autem propheta non fuit, et ideo utroque diuino, quod promisit, necesse habet et exhibere, ut in gentibus sit propheta. hos duo candelabra et duas oliuas dixit: ideo admonuit, ut, si in alio legens non intellexisti, hic intellegas; in Zacharia enim uno ex XII prophetis scriptum est.
Many think that Elisha or Moses is with Elijah, but both of them died. The death of Jeremiah, however, is not found. Our elders have handed down throughout that he is Jeremiah; for the very word that came to him testifies, saying: “Before I formed you in your mother's womb I knew you, and I appointed you a prophet among the nations.” But he was not a prophet among the nations; and therefore, since both are divine, he must also display what he promised, that he may be a prophet among the nations. These he called the two lampstands and the two olive trees; so he admonished that, if you did not understand when reading it elsewhere, you might understand it here; for it is written in Zechariah, one of the twelve prophets.
Jer 1:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Zech 4:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Zech 4:14 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 11:4 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The two witnesses are Elijah and Jeremiah, who did not die and must still fulfill Jeremiah's call to be a prophet to the nations.
- Quotations: Jer 1:5; Zech 4:3, 11–14; Rev 11:4.
- “utroque diuino” is obscure; translated literally. The identification of the second witness as Jeremiah is Victorinus's report of earlier tradition.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 11.3 (CSEL 49:98–100; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-11-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
11.4CSEL 49:100–102
Hi sunt duae oliuae et duo candelabra, qui in conspectu domini terrae stant, id est in paradiso. hos ergo oportet interfici ab Antichristo post multas plagas saeculo infixas, quem dicit ascendisse bestiam de abysso. (de abysso) autem eum ascensurum multa testimonia nobis in hoc capitulo contrahenda sunt. ait enim Esaias: ecce Assur cypressus in monte Libano. «Assul >: deprimens; cypressus excelsus ramosus: id est populus multus; in monte Libano:) in regno regnorum; formosus in germinibus: id est fortis in exercitibus. aqua, inquit, nutriuit illum: id est multa milia hominum, quae subiecta erunt illi. abyssus auxit illum: est ructuauit eundem. nam Ezechiel paene eisdem uerbis loquitur [fuisse]. fuisse autem eum in regno regnorum et fuisse inter Caesares et Paulus contestatus est. ait enim ad Thessalonicenses: si modo tenet, qui uidetur, donec de medio tollatur. et tunc apparebit, cuius est aduentus secundum efficaciam satanae signis et mendaciis. et ut scirent illum esse uenturum, [qui tunc erat uenturus] qui tunc erat princeps, adiecit: arcanum malitiae iam molitur, id est, malitiam quam facturus est, arcane molitur, sed non uirtute sua nec patris (sui) suscitatur sed dei iussu. quare ergo Paulus dixit: idcirco quoniam non ceperunt amorem dei, mittit illis deus spiritum erroris. ut omnes persuadeantur mendacio, qui non sunt persuasi a ueritate. Esaias ait: sustinentibus illis lucem ortae sunt tenebrae.
“These are the two olive trees and the two lampstands, who stand before the Lord of the earth,” that is, in paradise. These, then, must be killed by the Antichrist, after many plagues have been inflicted on the world; he says the Antichrist ascended as a beast from the abyss. That he will ascend (from the abyss), many testimonies must be gathered for us in this chapter. For Isaiah says: “Behold, Assur, a cypress on Mount Lebanon.” (Assur: oppressing; cypress: lofty, branching, that is, a numerous people; on Mount Lebanon:) in the kingdom of kingdoms; “beautiful in its shoots”: that is, strong in armies. “Water,” he says, “nourished him”: that is, many thousands of men who will be subject to him. “The abyss increased him”: that is, belched him forth. For Ezekiel speaks in almost the same words. That he was in the kingdom of kingdoms and was among the Caesars Paul also testifies. For he says to the Thessalonians: “only let him who now holds hold, until he is taken out of the way. And then he will appear whose coming is according to the working of Satan, with signs and lies.” And so that they might know that he who was then ruler was the one who would come, he added: “the mystery of wickedness is already at work,” that is, the wickedness he is going to do he is secretly working at; but he is raised up not by his own power, nor by that of his father, but by God's command. That is why Paul said: “Because they did not receive the love of God, God sends them a spirit of error, so that all may be persuaded by the lie who were not persuaded by the truth.” Isaiah says: “While they waited for light, darkness arose.”
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Rev 11:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 11:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Ezek 31:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Ezek 31:4 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:7 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:8 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:9 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:10 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 59:9 (quotation, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The Antichrist, rising from the abyss, will kill the two witnesses; he was once among the Caesars, as Isaiah, Ezekiel, and Paul show.
- The quotation “Behold, Assur, a cypress on Mount Lebanon … the abyss increased him” is from Ezek 31:3–4 (LXX), though Victorinus names Isaiah first; ANF's text names Ezekiel.
- “was among the Caesars”: Victorinus identifies the Antichrist with a former emperor who will return (compare his comments on Rev 13 and 17, usually taken to mean Nero). Translated as written.
- Other quotations: Rev 11:4, 7; 2 Thess 2:7–11 (freely); Isa 59:9. The editor deletes “fuisse” after “loquitur” and “qui tunc erat uenturus.” Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (joined words): auxitillum → auxit illum.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 11.4 (CSEL 49:100–102; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-11-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
11.5CSEL 49:102–104
Hos prophetas ab eodem interfici manifestat apocalypsis et quarta die resurgere, ne quis aequalis deo inueniatur. Sodomam autem et Aegyptum dici Hierosolymam actus populi persecutoris effecit. diligenter ergo et cum summa sollicitudine sequi oportet propheticam praedicationem et intellegere, quoniam spiritus sanctus sparse praedicat et praeposterat et percurrit usque ad nouissimum tempus. rursus tempora superiora repetit, et quoniam quod facturus est semel, aliquoties quasi factum esse ostendit — quod nisi intellegas aliquoties dictum, non aliquoties futurum, in grandem caliginem incidis —, ergo interpretatio sequentium dictorum in eo constabit, ut non ordo lectionis sed rationis intellegatur.
The Apocalypse shows that these prophets are killed by him and rise on the fourth day, so that no one may be found equal to God. That Jerusalem is called Sodom and Egypt was brought about by the deeds of the persecuting people. One must therefore follow the prophetic preaching carefully and with the greatest attention, and understand that the Holy Spirit proclaims in scattered fashion, puts later things first, and runs through to the last time; then it goes back again to earlier times; and since what he will do once he sometimes shows as if done several times — and unless you understand that it is said several times, not that it will happen several times, you will fall into great darkness — the interpretation of the following sayings will consist in this: that the order not of the reading but of the meaning is to be understood.
Rev 11:7 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 11:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 11:11 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The witnesses rise on the fourth day, not the third, and Revelation must be read by its sense, since the Spirit repeats and reorders events.
- Rev 11:8–11 speaks of three and a half days; Victorinus says “the fourth day,” so that their resurrection may not equal Christ's on the third day.
- “The persecuting people” are the inhabitants of Jerusalem who persecuted the prophets and Christ (Rev 11:8).
Topics: Eschatology, Scripture and canon
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 11.5 (CSEL 49:102–104; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-11-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
11.6CSEL 49:104
Apertum esse templum dei quod est in caelo: apparitio domini nostri est. templum dei filius ipsius est, sicut ipse ait: soluite templum hoc et in tribus diebus suscitabo illud; et dicentibus Iudeis: quadraginta sex annis aedificatum est, [unde] ait euangelista: ille de templo corporis dicebat. arca testamenti: euangelii praedicatio et indulgentia delictorum et omnia quaecumque (cum) illo aduenerunt, illud dicit apparuisse.
That the temple of God which is in heaven was opened: this is the appearing of our Lord. The temple of God is his Son, as he himself says: “Destroy this temple, and in three days I will raise it up”; and when the Jews said, “It was built in forty-six years,” the evangelist says: “He was speaking of the temple of his body.” “The ark of the testament”: he says that the preaching of the gospel, the forgiveness of sins, and everything that came (with) him appeared.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Rev 11:19 (quotation, high confidence) · John 2:19 (quotation, high confidence) · John 2:20 (quotation, high confidence) · John 2:21 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The opened temple is Christ's appearing, for his body is the temple, and the ark is the Gospel with the forgiveness of sins.
- Quotations: Rev 11:19; John 2:19–21. The editor deletes “unde” before “ait.” Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 11.6 (CSEL 49:104; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-11-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
Chapter 12
12.1CSEL 49:104–106
Mulier autem amicta sole et luna sub pedibus, habens coronam stellarum XII, parturiens in doloribus suis: ecclesia est antiqua patrum et prophetarum et sanctorum apostolorum, quia gemitus et tormenta desiderii sui habuit. usque quo factum est ex plebe sua secundum carnem suam olim promissum [esse]. sole autem amictam: spem resurrectionis significat et gloriae repromissionem. luna uero: casus sanctorum corporum ex debito mortis, quod deficere numquam potest. nam quemadmodum minuitur uita hominibus. sic et augebitur nec in toto extincta est spes dormientium, ut quidam putant, sed habebunt in tenebris lucem sicut lunam. stellarum XII coronam: (coronam) patrum significat secundum carnis natiuitatem, ex quibus erat spiritus carnem sumpturus.
“A woman clothed with the sun, with the moon under her feet, having a crown of twelve stars, in labor with her pains”: this is the ancient church of the fathers and prophets and holy apostles, because it had the groanings and torments of its longing until it came about that what had long been promised to it from its own people according to the flesh was fulfilled. “Clothed with the sun”: this signifies the hope of resurrection and the promise of glory. “The moon”: the fall of the bodies of the saints through the debt of death, which can never fail. For as life wanes for men, so it will also wax again; nor is the hope of those who sleep entirely extinguished, as some think, but they will have light in the darkness like the moon. “A crown of twelve stars”: it signifies the (crown) of the fathers according to birth in the flesh, from whom the Spirit was to take flesh.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Rev 12:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 12:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The woman clothed with the sun is the ancient church of patriarchs, prophets, and apostles, longing for Christ's birth from her people.
- Quotation: Rev 12:1–2. The editor deletes “esse” after “promissum.” Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
- “The Spirit was to take flesh”: Victorinus often uses “spirit” for the divine nature of Christ; translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (manuscript folio number leaked into the text): sanctorum [fol. 16 ] apostolorum → sanctorum apostolorum.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 12.1 (CSEL 49:104–106; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-12-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
12.2CSEL 49:106–108
Draco autem rufus stans expectans, ut cum peperisset mulier filium, deuoraret eum: diabolus est. angelus refuga scilicet, qui omnium hominum interitum per mortem aequalem posse esse opinabatur. sed ille qui non de semine natus erat, nihil morti debebat; propter quod nec deuorare eum potuit, id est in morte destinare. etenim eum temptare accesserat tamquam hominem; sed cum inuenisset non illum esse quem putabat. discessit ab eo, inquit, usque ad tempus.
The red dragon standing and waiting to devour the son as soon as the woman had borne him: this is the devil, that is, the fugitive angel, who supposed that the destruction of all men through death could be the same for all. But he who had not been born of seed owed nothing to death; for this reason the devil could not devour him, that is, hold him fast in death. For he had approached to tempt him as a man; but when he found that he was not what he thought, “he departed from him,” it says, “until a time.”
Rev 12:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 12:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Luke 4:13 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The dragon is the devil, who could not hold Christ in death because Christ, not born of seed, owed nothing to death.
- Quotations and allusions: Rev 12:3–4; Luke 4:13.
Topics: Christology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 12.2 (CSEL 49:106–108; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-12-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
12.3CSEL 49:108–110
Hunc dicit raptum esse ad solium dei. id nos legimus in Actis apostolorum, quemadmodum loquens cum discipulis raptus est in caelis. acturum autem eundem omnes gentes in uirga ferrea: (uirga ferrea) gladius est; omnes enim gentes [et] sub machina Antichristi contra sanctos staturae sunt: gladio, ait, utrumque casurum. Quod autem coloris dixit esse rufi, id est coccinei, operis eius fructus talem dedit illi colorem; ab initio enim fuit homicida et omne genus humanum non tantum debito mortis quantum per uarias clades ubique oppressit. Septem capita: septem reges Romanos, ex quibus et Antichristus, in priore dicemus. cornua X: decem reges in nouissimo tempore; hos eosdem plenius ibi tractabimus.
He says that the child was caught up to the throne of God. We read this in the Acts of the Apostles: how, while speaking with the disciples, he was taken up into heaven. That the same will rule all nations with a rod of iron: (the rod of iron) is the sword; for all nations, under the contrivance of the Antichrist, will stand against the saints; by the sword, he says, both will fall. That he said the dragon was red in color, that is, scarlet: the fruit of his work gave him such a color; for he was a murderer from the beginning, and everywhere he has crushed the whole human race, not so much by the debt of death as by various calamities. The seven heads: the seven Roman kings, of whom the Antichrist too is one, as we shall say below. The ten horns: ten kings in the last time; we shall treat these same more fully there.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Rev 12:5 (allusion, high confidence) · Acts 1:9 (allusion, high confidence) · Ps 2:9 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 12:3 (allusion, high confidence) · John 8:44 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The child caught up to God is Christ's ascension; the red dragon is the devil, a murderer from the beginning, and his heads and horns are kings.
- Quotations and allusions: Rev 12:3, 5; Acts 1:9; Ps 2:9; John 8:44.
- The text reads “in priore” (“in the earlier”), which does not fit; it probably means the later discussion of Rev 17 (section 13.2); translated by sense. The editor deletes “et” after “gentes.” Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (manuscript folio number leaked into the text): [fol. 16v] omnes → omnes.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 12.3 (CSEL 49:108–110; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-12-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
12.4CSEL 49:110–112
Mulierem autem uolasse in deserto auxilio alarum magnae aquilae — duum scilicet prophetarum —: ecclesiam omnem catholicam, in qua nouissimo tempore creditura sunt CXLIIII milia sub Helia propheta. ceterum populum binum inueniet ibi in aduentum domini nostri Iesu Christi. ipse quoque dominus Christus in euangelio ait: tunc qui in Iudea sunt fugiant in montibus, id est, quotquot in Iudea collecti fuerint, eant in illum locum, quem paratum habent, ut nutriantur ibi triennio et mensibus sex a facie diaboli. alae aquilae magnae: duo sunt prophetae, Helias et qui cum illo erit propheta.
That the woman flew into the desert with the help of the wings of the great eagle — namely of the two prophets —: this is the whole catholic church, in which in the last time 144,000 will believe under the prophet Elijah. For the rest, he will find the people there at the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ. The Lord Christ himself also says in the Gospel: “Then let those who are in Judea flee to the mountains,” that is, as many as have been gathered in Judea, let them go to that place which they have prepared, to be nourished there for three years and six months from the face of the devil. The wings of the great eagle are the two prophets, Elijah and the prophet who will be with him.
Rev 12:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 12:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 7:4 (allusion, medium confidence) · Matt 24:16 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The woman's flight on eagle's wings is the church's flight in the last time, aided by Elijah and his fellow prophet, for three and a half years.
- Quotations and allusions: Rev 12:6, 14; Rev 7:4; Matt 24:16.
- “populum binum” is obscure (perhaps “the twofold people,” of Jews and Gentiles); translated by sense as “the people.”
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 12.4 (CSEL 49:110–112; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-12-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
12.5CSEL 49:112–114
Aqua autem quam misit de ore suo serpens: iussu suo exercitum sequi eum significat. aperuisse autem terram (os suum) et deuorasse aquam: uindictam de persecutoribus manifestat. hanc igitur licet parturientem significet et postea partu edito fugientem ostendat, non uno tempore haec contigerunt. Christus enim quod natus sit, scimus tempora intercessisse; ut illa autem fugiat (a facie serpentis) adhuc factum non esse.
The water which the serpent sent from his mouth signifies that an army follows him at his command. That the earth opened (its mouth) and swallowed the water shows vengeance on the persecutors. Now although it signifies her as giving birth and afterward shows her fleeing once the child is born, these things did not happen at one time. For we know that times have intervened since Christ was born; but her flight (from the face of the serpent) has not yet happened.
Rev 12:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 12:16 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The serpent's flood is the Antichrist's army; the woman's childbirth is past, but her flight is still to come.
- Rev 12:15–16. Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (backslashes in the digital text for a closing bracket; manuscript folio number leaked into the text): partu [fol. 17r edito → partu edito; serpentis\\ adhuc → serpentis) adhuc.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 12.5 (CSEL 49:112–114; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-12-5). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
12.6CSEL 49:114–116
Deinde ait: factum est in caelo bellum: Michael et nuntii eius pugnauerunt cum dracone, et draco pugnauit et nuntii eius, nemo est inuentus ei locus in caelo. et iactatus est draco magnus, anguis antiquus, recidit in terram. hoc est initium aduentus Antichristi. ante tamen oportet praedicare Heliam et pacifica tempora esse, et sic postea consummato triennio et mensibus sex praedicationis Heliae iactari Antichristum de caelo, ubi habuit potestatem ascendendi usque ad illud tempus, et angelos refugas uniuersos. sic Antichristum de inferno suscitari, hoc et Paulus apostolus ait: nisi prius uenerit peccati, filius perditionis, aduersarius, qui se eleuabit super omne quod nominatur deus aut colitur.
Then he says: “There was war in heaven: Michael and his messengers fought with the dragon, and the dragon and his messengers fought, and no place was found for him in heaven. And the great dragon, the ancient serpent, was cast out and fell back to the earth.” This is the beginning of the Antichrist's coming. Yet first Elijah must preach and there must be times of peace; and so afterward, when the three years and six months of Elijah's preaching are completed, the Antichrist is cast out of heaven, where he had the power of ascending until that time, together with all the fugitive angels. That the Antichrist is thus raised up from the underworld the apostle Paul also says: “unless there first comes the man of sin, the son of perdition, the adversary, who will exalt himself above everything that is called god or is worshiped.”
Rev 12:7 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 12:8 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 12:9 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:3 (quotation, high confidence) · 2 Thess 2:4 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The war in heaven marks the beginning of the Antichrist's coming, after Elijah's three and a half years of preaching.
- Quotations: Rev 12:7–9; 2 Thess 2:3–4. The Latin lacks the noun (“homo,” man) before “peccati”; supplied in translation.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 12.6 (CSEL 49:114–116; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-12-6). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
12.7CSEL 49:116
Quod autem dicit draconis caudam traxisse tertiam partem stellarum, bifarie hoc accipitur. multi autem hoc arbitrantur, tertiam partem hominum credentium posse eum seducere; sed quod uerius intellegi debet, angelorum sibi subditorum, cum adhuc princeps esset, cum descenderet a constitutione. ergo (quod) superius dicebamus, ait apocalypsis: stetit super arenam maris.
As for his saying that the dragon's tail drew a third part of the stars, this is taken in two ways. Many think it means that he can seduce a third part of believing people; but what should more truly be understood is the angels subject to him when he was still a prince, when he fell from his appointed station. Therefore, as we were saying above, the Apocalypse says: “He stood on the sand of the sea.”
Rev 12:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 12:17 (quotation, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The third of the stars drawn by the dragon's tail are the angels who fell with him.
- Rev 12:4; “he stood on the sand of the sea”: Rev 12:17 in English Bibles (12:18 or 13:1 in some editions). Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 12.7 (CSEL 49:116; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-12-7). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
Chapter 13
13.1CSEL 49:116–118
Et uidi de mare ascendentem bestiam similem pardo: regnum illius temporis regnum Antichristi cum uarietate gentium et populorum commixtum significat. pedes eius tamquam pedes ursi, fortis et spurcissimae bestiae; duces autem eius pedes eius dixit. os autem eius tamquam ora leonum, id est ab sanguine madente armatum. os enim iussio illius est et lingua eius, quae ad nihil aliud processura est nisi ad sanguinem effundendum.
“And I saw a beast rising out of the sea, like a leopard”: it signifies the kingdom of that time, the kingdom of the Antichrist, mixed with a variety of nations and peoples. “Its feet like the feet of a bear,” a strong and most filthy beast; he called its leaders its feet. “Its mouth like the mouths of lions,” that is, armed and dripping with blood. For the mouth is its command, and its tongue, which will proceed to nothing but the shedding of blood.
Rev 13:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 13:2 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The leopard-like beast from the sea is the Antichrist's kingdom of mixed peoples, bloodthirsty in its commands.
- Quotations: Rev 13:1–2.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (manuscript folio number leaked into the text): uarietate [fol. 17v gentium → uarietate gentium.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 13.1 (CSEL 49:116–118; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-13-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
13.2CSEL 49:118–120
Capita VII VII montes, super quos mulier sedet: id est ciuitas Romana: et reges VII sunt: V ceciderunt, unus est, et alius nondum uenit; et cum uenerit, breui tempore erit. et bestia quam uidisti de VII est et octaua est. intellegi igitur oportet (tempus), quo scribitur apocalypsis, quoniam tunc erat Caesar Domitianus. ante illum autem fuerat Titus frater ipsius et Vespasianus pater ipsorum, Otho, Vitellius et Galba. hi sunt V qui ceciderunt; unus est, ait, sub quo scripta apocalypsis dicitur, scilicet Domitianus. alius nondum uenit: Neruam dicit. qui cum uenerit, breui tempore erit; biennium enim non impleuit. et bestiam quam uidisti, inquit, de VII est: quoniam ante istos reges Nero regnauit. et octaua est, ait, modo illa cum aduenerit, computans loco octauo. et quoniam in illo fiet consummatio, adiecit: et in interitum uadit. nam decem reges accepisse regalem potestatem; cum ille mouerit ab oriente, mittentur ab urbe Romana cum exercitibus suis. haec cornua X dicit et (X zadematas. et Danihel ostendit: tria eradicabuntur de prioribus, hoc est, tres duces primarios ab Antichristo interfici. ceteros septem dare illi gloriam et honorem et solium et potestatem, de quibus ait: hi odient meretricem — urbem scilicet dicit —, et carnes eius comburentur igni.
The seven heads are the seven hills on which the woman sits, that is, the city of Rome; “and there are seven kings: five have fallen, one is, and the other has not yet come; and when he comes, he will remain a short time. And the beast which you saw is of the seven, and it is the eighth.” One must therefore understand (the time) when the Apocalypse was written, since Domitian was then Caesar. Before him had been Titus his brother and Vespasian their father, Otho, Vitellius, and Galba. These are the five who have fallen. “One is,” he says, under whom the Apocalypse is said to have been written, namely Domitian. “The other has not yet come”: he means Nerva; “who, when he comes, will remain a short time”; for he did not complete two years. “And the beast which you saw,” he says, “is of the seven,” since Nero reigned before those kings. “And it is the eighth,” he says, when it comes again, counting it in the eighth place. And since the end will come in him, he added: “and it goes to destruction.” For the ten kings have received royal power; when he moves from the east, they will be sent from the city of Rome with their armies. These he calls the ten horns and ten diadems. And Daniel shows that three of the first will be uprooted, that is, three principal leaders will be killed by the Antichrist. The other seven will give him glory and honor and throne and power, of whom he says: “These will hate the harlot” — he means the city — “and her flesh will be burned with fire.”
Rev 17:9 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 17:10 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 17:11 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 17:12 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 17:16 (quotation, high confidence) · Dan 7:8 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 7:24 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The seven heads are Rome's hills and the emperors from Galba to Nerva; the beast, of the seven and the eighth, is Nero returning as Antichrist.
- Quotations: Rev 17:9–12, 16 (freely); Dan 7:8, 24.
- Victorinus counts the emperors from Galba to Nerva and expects Nero to return as the Antichrist (the “Nero redivivus” legend). Translated as written.
- “X zadematas” is left as printed (for “diadems”).
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (joined words; manuscript folio number leaked into the text): estetoctaua → est et octaua; [fol. 18 ] haec → haec.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 13.2 (CSEL 49:118–120; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-13-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
13.3CSEL 49:120–126
Unum autem de capitibus occisum in mortem et plaga mortis eius curata est: Neronem dicit. constat enim, cum eundem insequeretur equitatus missus a senatu, ipsum sibi gulam succidisse. hunc ergo deus suscitatum mittere regem dignum dignis, Iudeis et persecutoribus Christi, (et Christum) talem em, qualem em meruerunt persecutores et Iudei. et quoniam alium nomen afferturus est, aliam etiam uitam institurus est, ut sic eundem tamquam Christum excipiant. ait enim Danihel: desiderium mulierum non cognoscet — cum sit ipse spurcissimus — et nullum deum patrum suorum cognoscet. non enim poterit seducere populum ad circumcisionem, nisi legis sit uindictor. denique sanctos non ad aliud compellet nisi ad circumcisionem accipiendam, si quos poterit seducere. ita demum fidem faciet sibi, ut ab eis Christus esse appelletur. de inferno autem illum resurgere et supra diximus uerbis Esaiae: aqua, inquit, nutriuit illum et abyssus auxit illum. qui tamen licet nomine mutato ueniat, ait spiritus sanctus: numerus illius DCLXVI; ad literam grecam hunc numerum explebit. [numerus enim hominis est, et numerus eius sic habet ex litteris grecis computatus — in compluribus inueniuntur numeri DCLXVI —; quantum enim attinet ad litteram grecam, hunc numerum nomenque explebit. interpretatur enim Teitan, quem gentiles Solem Phoebumque appellant, computaturque grece sic: tau CCC, e breue V, iota X, tau CCC, alfa I, ni L, qui simul ducti fiunt DCLXVI. quod nomen si uelis in latinum conuertere, erit Diclux: D quippe quingentos figurat, unum, C centum, L quinquaginta, V quinque, X decem, qui computati fiunt similiter DCLXVI. id enim quod sonat Teitan grece, si uelis interpretatum dicere, latine Diclux, quo nomine per antiphrasin expressum intellegimus Antichristum; qui cum a luce superna priuatus sit atque abscisus, transfigurat tamen se in angelum lucis, audens se dicere lucem.l
“One of its heads slain to death, and its mortal wound was healed”: he means Nero. For it is well known that when the cavalry sent by the senate was pursuing him, he cut his own throat. God will therefore raise him and send him as a king worthy of those who are worthy of him, the Jews and the persecutors of Christ, (and as a Christ) such as the persecutors and the Jews have deserved. And since he will bear another name and also set up another way of life, they will receive him as if he were the Christ. For Daniel says: “He will not know the desire of women” — though he himself is most filthy — “and he will know no god of his fathers.” For he will not be able to seduce the people to circumcision unless he is a champion of the law. Finally, he will compel the saints to nothing else but to receive circumcision, if he can seduce any. So at last he will win their trust, so that he is called Christ by them. That he rises from the underworld we have also said above, in the words of Isaiah: “Water,” he says, “nourished him, and the abyss increased him.” Yet although he comes with a changed name, the Holy Spirit says: “His number is 666”; he will fill up this number in Greek letters.
Textual problem in this passage: see the notes.
Rev 13:3 (quotation, high confidence) · Dan 11:37 (quotation, high confidence) · Ezek 31:4 (quotation, medium confidence) · Rev 13:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The head healed of its mortal wound is Nero, who will return under another name as a false Christ to the Jews, with the number 666.
- The editor deletes, as a later addition, the passage that follows (from “numerus enim hominis est” to the end), which explains 666 by the Greek name Teitan (the sun) and its Latin equivalent Diclux, read by antiphrasis of the Antichrist, who disguises himself as an angel of light (2 Cor 11:14).
- Quotations and allusions: Rev 13:3, 18; Dan 11:37; the words attributed to Isaiah are from Ezek 31:4 (see section 11.4). Nero's suicide in AD 68 when pursued on the senate's orders is historical.
- The Latin “talem em, qualem em” is corrupt; translated by sense. The statements about the Jews are Victorinus's own; translated as written. Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 13.3 (CSEL 49:120–126; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-13-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
13.4CSEL 49:126–130
Aliam bestiam magnam de terra: falsum prophetam, qui facturus (est) signa et portenta et mendacia ante illum (in conspectu hominum; quem dicit habentem cornua quasi agnum — id est speciem quasi iusti hominis-, loquentem quasi draconem: diaboli malitia plenus. hic enim facturus est (in conspectu hominum, ut mortui surgere uideantur — namque in conspectu hominum haec etiam magi faciunt per angelos refugas —, et hoc etiam faciet, ut imago aurea Antichristi in templo Hierosolymis ponatur et intret ibi angelus refuga; et deinde uoces et sortes reddet. faciet etiam ipse, ut serui et liberi accipiant notam in frontibus aut in manu dextera — numerum nominis eius —, ne quis emat uel uendat, nisi qui notam habuerit. de hac autem euersione hominum, aspernatione dei et exsecratione Danihel ante dixerat: et statuet, inquit, in templo suo inter montem maris et duo maria, id est Hierosolymis; et imaginem auream, sicut fecerat rex Nabochodonosor, tunc hic statuet. hoc dominus recolens ad omnes ecclesias de nouissimis temporibus ait: cum uideritis aspernationem euersionis, quod dictum est per Danihel prophetam. stantem in loco sancto, ubi non licet, qui legit intellegat. aspernatio dicitur, quando exasperatur deus, quod idola colantur; euersio autem, quod instabiles homines (signis) falsis et portentis euertantur seducti de salute.
Another great beast from the earth: the false prophet, who (is) to do signs and portents and lies before him (in the sight of men); he says it has horns like a lamb — that is, the appearance of a righteous man — and speaks like a dragon, full of the devil's malice. For he will bring it about (in the sight of men) that the dead seem to rise — for magicians too do these things in the sight of men through fugitive angels — and he will also bring it about that a golden image of the Antichrist is set up in the temple at Jerusalem and that a fugitive angel enters it, which will then give out voices and oracles. He will also bring it about that slaves and free receive a mark on their foreheads or on their right hand — the number of his name — so that no one may buy or sell except one who has the mark. Of this overthrow of men, this contempt of God and abomination, Daniel had spoken beforehand: “And he will set up,” he says, “in his temple, between the mountain of the sea and the two seas,” that is, at Jerusalem; and he will then set up a golden image, as King Nebuchadnezzar had done. Recalling this, the Lord says to all the churches about the last times: “When you see the abomination of desolation, which was spoken of through the prophet Daniel, standing in the holy place where it ought not, let the reader understand.” It is called “abomination” because God is provoked when idols are worshiped; “desolation” (literally, overthrow), because unstable people are overthrown by false (signs) and portents, led astray from salvation.
Rev 13:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 13:13 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 13:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 13:15 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 13:16 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 13:17 (allusion, high confidence) · Dan 11:45 (quotation, high confidence) · Dan 3:1 (allusion, high confidence) · Matt 24:15 (quotation, high confidence) · Mark 13:14 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The beast from the earth is the false prophet, who will work false wonders, set up the Antichrist's image in the Jerusalem temple, and impose his mark.
- Quotations and allusions: Rev 13:11–17; Dan 11:45; Dan 3:1; Matt 24:15; Mark 13:14.
- Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (joined words; manuscript folio number leaked into the text): prophetam [fol. 18v], qui → prophetam, qui; autinmanu → aut in manu.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 13.4 (CSEL 49:126–130; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-13-4). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
Chapter 14
14.1CSEL 49:130
Angelum autem uolantem medio caelo, quem dicit se uidisse, et supra tractauimus eundem esse Heliam, qui anticipat regnum Antichristi. alium autem angelum sequentem eundem comitem praedicationis suae prophetam significat. sed quia, ut diximus, composito consilio duces illius ciuitatem hanc magnam Babylonem sunt expugnaturi. ruinam illius est testatus.
The angel flying in mid-heaven whom he says he saw: we have explained above that he is Elijah, who comes before the kingdom of the Antichrist. Another angel following him signifies the prophet who is the companion of his preaching. But since, as we have said, the Antichrist's leaders, by a concerted plan, are to storm this great city Babylon, he testified to its ruin.
Rev 14:6 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 14:8 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The angels flying in mid-heaven are Elijah and his companion prophet; the fall of Babylon is foretold.
- Rev 14:6, 8.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (manuscript folio number leaked into the text; stray letter): [fol. 19r] Angelum → Angelum; alium autem a angelum → alium autem angelum.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 14.1 (CSEL 49:130; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-14-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
14.2CSEL 49:130–132
Ait enim: ueni, ostendam tibi damnationem meretricis, quae sedet super aquas multas. et uidi, inquit, mulierem ebriam de sanctorum sanguine et de sanguine testium Iesu Christi. omnes enim passiones sanctorum ex decreto senatus illius semper sunt consummatae, et omne contra fidei praedicationem iam lata indulgentia ipsa dedit decretum in uniuersis gentibus. Sedere autem mulierem super bestiam roseam, actricem homicidiorum, zabuli habet imaginem. ibi etiam capita haec, de quibus meminimus et tractauimus. hanc quidem Babylonem propter diffusionem populorum dicit in apocalypsi et in Esaia, Ezechiel autem Sor nominauit. denique autem si compares, quae de Sor dicta sunt et quae de Babylone Esaias et apocalypsis dixit, unum omnia esse inuenies.
For he says: “Come, I will show you the condemnation of the harlot who sits on many waters.” “And I saw,” he says, “a woman drunk with the blood of the saints and with the blood of the witnesses of Jesus Christ.” For all the sufferings of the saints have always been brought about by the decree of that senate; and though an indulgence had already been granted, it itself issued every decree against the preaching of the faith among all nations. That the woman sits on a scarlet beast, a perpetrator of murders, bears the image of the devil. There too are these heads which we have mentioned and treated. This city he calls Babylon, because of the spreading out of peoples, both in the Apocalypse and in Isaiah; Ezekiel, however, named it Tyre. And indeed, if you compare what is said of Tyre with what Isaiah and the Apocalypse said of Babylon, you will find that it is all one.
Rev 17:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 17:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 17:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Isa 47:1 (allusion, low confidence) · Ezek 27:3 (allusion, low confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The harlot drunk with the blood of the saints is Rome, whose senate decreed the persecutions; Babylon in Isaiah and Tyre in Ezekiel are the same city.
- Quotations: Rev 17:1, 3, 6. Babylon in Isaiah: Isa 13–14, 47; Tyre in Ezekiel: Ezek 26–28.
- The clause “omne contra fidei praedicationem iam lata indulgentia ipsa dedit decretum” is obscure; the “indulgence” may refer to an imperial grant of toleration (perhaps Gallienus's in 260). Translated by sense. The text reads “roseam” (“rose-colored”) for the beast.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (supplement markers rendered as letters and joined words): AIAitenim: → Ait enim:.
Topics: Persecution, Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 14.2 (CSEL 49:130–132; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-14-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
14.3CSEL 49:132–136
Quod autem ait: mitte falcem acutam et uindemia botros uuae, de gentibus perituris in aduentum domini dicit; et quidem pluribus speciebus hic illud ostendit, sed semel in aduentum domini, consummationem regni Antichristi et adapertionem regni sanctorum.
As for his saying, “Send in your sharp sickle and gather the clusters of the vine,” he is speaking of the nations that will perish at the Lord's coming; and indeed he shows it here under several figures, but it happens once, at the Lord's coming: the end of the kingdom of the Antichrist and the opening of the kingdom of the saints.
Rev 14:18 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 14:19 (allusion, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The vintage of the earth is the destruction of the nations at Christ's coming, which ends the Antichrist's kingdom and opens that of the saints.
- Quotation: Rev 14:18.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (repeated point; stray marks): ,B) Quod → Quod; sanctorum.. → sanctorum..
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 14.3 (CSEL 49:132–136; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-14-3). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
Chapter 19
19.1CSEL 49:136–138
Equum autem album et sedentem super eum dominum nostrum cum exercitu caelesti aduenientem ad regnandum ostendit, cuius in aduentu omnes colligentur gentes et gladio cadent. ceterae autem, quae fuerint nobiliores, seruabuntur in seruitutem sanctorum, quas et ipsas quidem oportet in nouissimo tempore consummato regno sanctorum ante iudicium rursus dimisso diabolo interfici. de his omnibus prophetae simili modo concinunt.
The white horse and the one sitting on it show our Lord coming with the heavenly army to reign; at his coming all the nations will be gathered and will fall by the sword. But the others, which are nobler, will be kept to serve the saints; and these too must be killed in the last time, when the kingdom of the saints has been completed, before the judgment, when the devil has been released again. Of all these things the prophets sing in the same way.
Rev 19:11 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 19:14 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 19:21 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 20:7 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The rider on the white horse is Christ coming to reign; the nations fall, some being kept to serve the saints until the devil's final release.
- Rev 19:11–21; Rev 20:7–9. Victorinus's millenarian scheme (an earthly reign of the saints before the final judgment) is translated as written.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 19.1 (CSEL 49:136–138; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-19-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
Chapter 20
20.1CSEL 49:138–140
Coccineum autem zabulum includi et omnes angelos eius refugas in tartarum gehennae in aduentum domini nemo ignoret (et) post mille annos dimitti propter gentes, quae seruiuerint Antichristo, ut ipsae solae pereant, quia sic meruerunt; dein fieri catholice iudicium. ideo ait: et uixerunt, inquit, mortui scripti in libro uitae et regnauerunt cum Christo mille annos. haec resurrectio prima. beatus et sanctus, qui habet partem in resurrectione prima: ad hunc mors secunda non habet potestatem. de hac resurrectione inquit: et uidi agnum stantem et cum eo CXLIIII milia, id est cum Christo stantes, eos scilicet, qui ex Iudeis in nouissimo tempore sunt credituri per praedicationem Heliae, quos non solum testatur spiritus corpore uirgineo sed et lingua. ideo superius meminit maiores natu XXIIII dixisse: gratias agimus tibi, domine deus, qui regnasti; et gentes indignatae sunt.
Let no one be unaware that the scarlet devil and all his fugitive angels are shut up in the Tartarus of Gehenna at the Lord's coming, (and) are released after a thousand years because of the nations that served the Antichrist, so that they alone may perish, since they have so deserved; and that then the universal judgment takes place. Therefore he says: “And the dead who are written in the book of life lived,” he says, “and reigned with Christ a thousand years. This is the first resurrection. Blessed and holy is he who has a part in the first resurrection: over him the second death has no power.” Of this resurrection he says: “And I saw the Lamb standing, and with him 144,000,” that is, standing with Christ, namely those from the Jews who will believe in the last time through the preaching of Elijah, whom the Spirit testifies to be virgins not only in body but also in tongue. Therefore above he recalled that the twenty-four elders said: “We give you thanks, Lord God, who have reigned; and the nations were angry.”
Rev 20:2 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 20:3 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 20:4 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 20:5 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 20:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 14:1 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 14:4 (allusion, high confidence) · Rev 14:5 (allusion, medium confidence) · Rev 11:17 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 11:18 (quotation, high confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: The devil is bound for the thousand years in which the saints of the first resurrection reign with Christ, then released before the universal judgment.
- Quotations: Rev 20:2–6 (freely); Rev 14:1, 4–5; Rev 11:17–18.
- Victorinus reads the thousand years literally, as an earthly reign of the saints; this millenarian view was later set aside by many (Jerome revised this commentary to remove it). Translated as written, without comment.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (OCR c for e; stray point): cum co CXLIIII → cum eo CXLIIII; qui. regnasti → qui regnasti.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 20.1 (CSEL 49:138–140; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-20-1). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.
20.2CSEL 49:140–146
In hac eadem prima resurrectione et ciuitas futura et speciosa per hanc scripturam expressa est. hanc primam resurrectionem et Paulus ad ecclesiam Macedoniam ita dixit: hoc enim uobis ita dicimus, inquit, in uerbo dei, quia ipse dominus suscitaturus in tuba dei descendet de caelo; et mortui in Christo stabunt primi, deinde nos, qui uiuimus, simul rapiemur cum eis in nubibus in obuiam domino (in aera et ita semper cum domino) erimus. audiuimus dici tubam; obseruandum est: alio loco apostolus aliam tubam nominat. ait ergo ad Corinthios: in nouissima tuba mortui surgent — inmortales fient — et nos mutabimur. mortuos quidem inmortales ad poenas sustinendas surgituros dixit, nos autem mutari et gloria contegi manifestum est. ubi esse ergo audiuimus nouissimam tubam, intellegere debemus et primam; haec autem sunt duae resurrectiones. quotquot ergo non anticipauerint surgere in prima resurrectione et regnare cum Christo super orbem — super gentes uniuersas —, surgent in nouissima tuba post annos mille, id est in nouissima resurrectione, inter impios et peccatores et uarii generis commissores. merito adiecit dicendo: beatus et sanctus, qui habet partem in prima anastase: ad hunc mors secunda non habet potestatem. mors autem secunda castigatio est in infernum.
In this same first resurrection the future and beautiful city is also described by this Scripture. Of this first resurrection Paul too spoke to the church of Macedonia thus: “For this we say to you,” he says, “by the word of God, that the Lord himself will descend from heaven with the trumpet of God to raise them; and the dead in Christ will stand first; then we who are alive will be caught up together with them in the clouds to meet the Lord (in the air, and so we will) be (always with the Lord).” We have heard a trumpet mentioned; it must be observed that in another place the apostle names another trumpet. For he says to the Corinthians: “At the last trumpet the dead will rise — they will become immortal — and we will be changed.” He said that the dead would rise immortal to undergo punishments, while it is plain that we are changed and clothed with glory. Where, then, we hear of a last trumpet, we ought to understand a first one as well; and these are the two resurrections. As many, then, as have not been the first to rise in the first resurrection and to reign with Christ over the world — over all the nations — will rise at the last trumpet after a thousand years, that is, in the last resurrection, among the ungodly and sinners and offenders of every kind. Rightly he added, saying: “Blessed and holy is he who has a part in the first resurrection: over him the second death has no power.” The second death is punishment in hell.
1 Thess 4:15 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Thess 4:16 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Thess 4:17 (quotation, high confidence) · 1 Cor 15:52 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 20:6 (quotation, high confidence) · Rev 20:14 (allusion, medium confidence)
Notes and citation
Summary: Paul's trumpet in Thessalonians is the first resurrection of the saints, and his last trumpet in Corinthians the resurrection of the rest after a thousand years.
- Quotations: 1 Thess 4:15–17; 1 Cor 15:52; Rev 20:6 (“anastase” is Greek for “resurrection”). Round brackets are the editor's supplements.
- The distinction of two trumpets and two resurrections belongs to Victorinus's millenarian reading; translated as written.
Notes on the original text
- Digital text corrected (manuscript folio number inside the word; manuscript folio number leaked into the text): resur[fol. 20T]rectione → resurrectione; non habet [fol. 20v] potestatem → non habet potestatem.
Topics: Eschatology
Cite (SBL): Victorinus, Comm. Apoc. 20.2 (CSEL 49:140–146; trans. Sophia Scriptura, https://sophiascriptura.com/fathers/victorinus-apocalypsin/6-1/#p-20-2). (abbreviation not yet checked)
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Translation: Translated by Claude from the Latin text of CSEL 49; made independently of existing English translations and compared afterwards with ANF where it has the work.