Oecumenius, Commentary on Apocalypse

For since the goodness of God is incompatible with and unmixed for lovers of sin and the scornful, leading not to repentance, but to license to sin, it is fitting that God, along with his goodness and beneficence, also has the terrible foreshadowed; whence Paul, knowing the disposition of his disciples 69 needed goads and not gentleness, writing to the Corinthians alone said: "What do you wish? Shall I come to you with a rod, or in love and a spirit of gentleness?" But also one of the saints cried out beforehand, saying, "Gehenna does not frighten you; the kingdom does not persuade you; we are speaking to a heart of stone." Thus the terrible and the astounding was known to be needful for those being instructed. But the sardius is not first with God; rather, the jasper is first. For his nature is goodness itself and love for mankind and gentleness, and he wishes to be our father rather than master. But toward the terrible and the punishing, we, if it is right to say, compel him, and often setting aside his natural gentleness, he is led to what is contrary to nature, severity. And he says there was a rainbow around his throne, in appearance like an emerald. The perceptible rainbow, which the divine scripture calls God's bow, which is formed from the reflection of sunlight when it is intercepted and refracted in the thickness of a cloud, is of a varied and multicolored hue. But that intelligible one, which encircles the divine throne, was of a single form; for it was emerald-green. And this itself prefigures all the holy and ministering spirits around God, which is why he called it a rainbow although it was of a single form, so that from the various colors of the rainbow we might understand the many orders and differences of the divine angels. But all had one color; for all are likewise beneficent and bear an imitation of their own master, the emerald-green color testifying to their providing nature, just as that of the jasper does for God. And let this not be a stumbling block to any of the readers: Why ever is it that 70 the holy orders of the incorporeal beings around God are compared to the more precious stone of the emerald, while God himself is compared to the less precious, the jasper and the sardius? For the discussion now is not about the preciousness of the things seen, but of the things signified by their color. For if someone were to mean-spiritedly seek preciousness, there was nothing to which God could be compared, †or someone might find fault with that†: that the Lord is compared to a stone. For "Behold, I lay in Zion a cornerstone," says Isaiah concerning the Lord. And the prophet says of him, "The stone which the builders rejected." And mountains are allegorized as the evil orders of demons; for David himself said that mountains are moved "into the heart of the seas," and "the mountains were shaken by his strength," whose superiority in greatness it is not even possible to find. Around the throne, he says, were 24 thrones; and on the 24 thrones, 24 elders sitting, clothed in white garments, and on their heads crowns of gold. And from the throne proceed lightnings, voices, thunders, and seven lamps of fire burning before the throne, which are the seven spirits of God; and before the throne a sea of glass, like crystal. As for the twenty-four elders sitting on the thrones, God alone, the knower of secrets, would know; and he to whom he himself might reveal it. But as for my own conjecture, they were Abel and Enoch and Noah; Abraham and Isaac and Jacob; Melchizedek and Job; Moses and 71 Aaron; Joshua the son of Nun and Samuel; David, Elijah and Elisha; the twelve minor prophets written in the form of one; Isaiah and Jeremiah; Ezekiel and Daniel; Zechariah and John; James the son of Joseph and Stephen, the witnesses of the new covenant. And one might have said Peter and Paul and James the brother of John, whom Herod killed with the sword, and the rest of the choir of the holy apostles, if they had not had a promise from the Lord, not now, but in the regeneration to sit on twelve thrones, clearly different from the ones mentioned; for thus the Lord spoke to them in the Gospel according to Matthew:

ἐπειδὴ γὰρ ἀσύμφωνος τοῖς φιλαμαρτήμοσι καὶ καταφρονηταῖς καὶ ἄκρατος ἡ χρηστότης τοῦ Θεοῦ, οὐ πρὸς μετάνοιαν ἄγουσα, πρὸς ἄδειαν δὲ τοῦ πλημμελλεῖν, εἰκότως ὁ Θεὸς σὺν τῷ χρηστῷ μετὰ τοῦ εὐεργετικοῦ καὶ τὸ φοβερὸν ἔχει σκιαγραφούμενον· ὅθεν ὁ Παῦλος τὴν ἕξιν εἰδὼς τῶν μαθητευομένων 69 κέντρων δεομένην, καὶ οὐ πραότητος, μόνοις ἐπιστέλλων Κορινθίοις ἔλεγεν· τί θέλετε; ἐν ῥάβδῳ ἔλθω πρὸς ὑμᾶς, ἢ ἐν ἀγάπῃ πνεύματι τε πραότητος; ἀλλὰ καὶ τῶν ἁγίων τίς προανεφώνει λέγων γέεννά σε οὐ πτοεῖ· βασιλεία σε οὐ προτρέπεται· λιθίνῃ καρδίᾳ διαλεγόμεθα. οὕτως ἐγινώσκετο φοβερὸν καὶ καταπληκτικὸν χρειῶδες τοῖς παιδευομένοις. ἀλλ' οὐ πρῶτον παρὰ τῷ Θεῷ τὸ σάρδιον· πρώτη δέ γε ἡ ἴασπις. ἡ μὲν γὰρ φύσις αὐτὸ τὸ ἀγαθὸν καὶ φιλάνθρωπον καὶ ἥμερον, καὶ πατὴρ εἶναι βούλεται μᾶλλον ἢ δεσπότης ἡμῶν. πρὸς δὲ τὸ φοβερὸν καὶ κολαστικὸν ἡμεῖς αὐτόν, εἰ θέμις εἰπεῖν, βιαζόμεθα, καὶ τὸ κατὰ φύσιν ἀφεὶς πολλάκις τὴν ἡμερότητα, ἐπὶ τὸ παρὰ φύσιν ἄγεται τὴν αὐστηρίαν. καὶ ἴρις φησὶν κυκλόθεν τοῦ θρόνου αὐτοῦ, ὁμοία ὁράσει σμαραγδίῳ. ἡ μὲν αἰσθητὴ ἴρις ἣν ἡ θεῖα γραφὴ τόξον καλεῖ Θεοῦ, ἡ ἐκ τῆς ἀντανακλάσεως τοῦ ἡλιακοῦ φωτὸς συνισταμένη, ὅταν ἐν παχύτητι νέφους ἀποληφθὲν ἀντιφράσσηται, ποικίλη καὶ παντοειδὴς χρόα καθέστηκεν. ἐκείνη δέ γε ἡ νοητή, ἡ τὸν θεῖον κυκλοῦσα θρόνον, μονοειδὴς ἦν· σμαραγδίζουσα γὰρ ἦν. καὶ αὐτὴ δέ γε προδείκνυσι πάντα τὰ περὶ Θεὸν ἅγια καὶ λειτουργικὰ πνεύματα, διὸ καὶ ἴριν κέκληκεν αὐτὴν καίτοι μονοειδῆ τυγχάνουσαν, ἵν' ἐκ τῶν ποικίλων τῆς ἴριδος χρωμάτων τὰς πολλὰς τῶν θείων ἀγγέλων τάξεις καὶ διαφορὰς ἐννοήσωμεν. παντὰ δέ γε μίαν ἧψε χρόαν· ἅπαντα γὰρ ὁμοίως ἐστὶν εὐεργετικὰ καὶ μίμησιν φέροντα τοῦ οἰκείου δεσπότου, τῆς σμαραγδιζούσης χρόας καὶ αὐτοῖς τὸ ποριστικὸν μαρτυρούσης, ὥσπερ τῷ Θεῷ τὸ τῆς ἰάσπιδος. καὶ μή τί τινι προσπταίῃ τῶν ἐντυγχανόντων· τί δή ποτε; τὰ μὲν 70 περὶ Θεοῦ ἅγια τῶν ἀσωμάτων τάγματα τῇ τιμιωτέρᾳ λίθῳ τῆς σμαράγδου παρείκασται, αὐτὸς δέ γε ὁ Θεὸς τῇ ἧττον τιμίᾳ, τῇ ἰάσπιδι καὶ τῷ σαρδίῳ; οὐ γὰρ περὶ τῆς τιμιότητος τῶν ὁραθέντων ὁ λόγος νῦν, ἀλλὰ τῶν ἐκ τῆς χρόας σημαινομένων. εἰ γὰρ τιμιότητά τις μικροπρεπῶς ἐπιζητοίη, οὐδὲ ὑπῆρχέ τι ᾧ παρεικασθείη ὁ Θεὸς, †ἢ κἀκεῖνό τις μέμψοιτο†· ὅτι ὁ μὲν Κύριος λίθῳ παρεικάζεται. ἰδοὺ γὰρ τίθημι ἐν Σιὼν λίθον ἀκρογωνιαῖόν φησι περὶ τοῦ Κυρίου ὁ Ἡσαΐας. καὶ ὁ προφήτης δὲ λίθον ὃν ἀπεδοκίμασαν οἱ οἰκοδομοῦντες περὶ αὐτοῦ λέγει. ὄρη δὲ τὰ πονηρὰ τῶν δαιμόνων ἀλληγορεῖται τάγματα· ὄρη γὰρ μετατίθεσθαι ὁ αὐτὸς ἔφη ∆αυίδ· ἐν καρδίαις θαλασσῶν, καὶ ἐταράχθησαν ὄρη ἐν τῇ κραταιότητι αὐτοῦ, ὧν ὅσον ἐν μεγέθει, τὸ ὑπερέχον οὐδὲ δυνατὸν εὑρεῖν. κυκλόθεν φησὶν τοῦ θρόνου, θρόνους ˉκˉδ· καὶ ἐπὶ τοὺς ˉκˉδ θρόνους, ˉκˉδ πρεσβυτέρους καθημένους καὶ περιβεβλημένους ἐν ἱματίοις λευκοῖς, καὶ ἐπὶ τὰς κεφαλὰς αὐτῶν στεφάνους χρυσοῦς. καὶ ἐκ τοῦ θρόνου ἐκπέμπονται ἀστραπαί, φωναί, βρονταί, καὶ ἑπτὰ λαμπάδες πυρὸς καιόμεναι ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου, ἅ εἰσι τὰ ἑπτὰ πνεύματα τοῦ Θεοῦ· καὶ ἐνώπιον τοῦ θρόνου θάλασσα ὑαλίνη, ὁμοία κρυστάλλῳ. τοὺς εἰκοσιτέσσαρας πρεσβυτέρους τοὺς ἐν τοῖς θρόνοις καθημένους εἰδείη μὲν ἂν μόνος ὁ τῶν κρυφίων γνώστης Θεός· καὶ ᾧ ἂν αὐτὸς ἀποκαλύψῃ, ὅσον δὲ ἐπὶ τῆ ἐμῇ εἰκασίᾳ, ὁ Ἄβελ ἦν καὶ ὁ Ἐνὼχ καὶ Νῶε· Ἁβραὰμ καὶ Ἰσαὰκαὶ Ἰακώβ· ὁ Μελχισεδὲκ καὶ ὁ Ἰώβ· Μωϋσῆς καὶ 71 Ἀαρών· Ἰησοῦς ὁ τοῦ Ναυῆ καὶ Σαμουήλ· ∆αυίδ, Ἠλίαςκαὶ Ἐλισσαῖος· οἱ δώδεκα μικροὶ προφῆται ἐν σχήματι ἑνὸς γραφόμενοι· Ἡσαΐας καὶ Ἱερεμίας· Ἱεζεκιὴλ καὶ ∆ανιήλ· Ζαχαρίας καὶ Ἰωάννης· Ἰάκωβος ὁ τοῦ Ἰωσὴκαὶ Στέφανος, οἱ τῆς καινῆς μάρτυρες διαθήκης. ἦν δὲ ἂν εἰπεῖν Πέτρον καὶ Παῦλον καὶ Ἰάκωβον τὸν ἀδελφὸν Ἰωάννου, ὃν Ἡρώδης ἀνεῖλε μαχαίρᾳ, καὶ τὸν λοιπὸν τῶν ἁγίων ἀποστόλων χορόν, εἰ μὴ ἐπαγγελίαν εἶχον παρὰ τοῦ Κυρίου, οὐ νῦν, ἀλλ' ἐν τῇ παλιγγενεσίᾳ καθήσεσθαι ἐπὶ δώδεκα θρόνους, ἑτέρους δηλονότι παρὰ τοὺς εἰρημένους· οὕτω γὰρ ἔφη πρὸς αὐτοὺς ὁ Κύριος ἐν τῷ κατὰ Ματθαῖον εὐαγγελίῳ·