Oecumenius, Commentary on Apocalypse

many waters he says are the nations, over which she rules and presides, as he himself says further on. with whom he says the kings of the earth have committed fornication. These are they who have ruled among them; for these are the kings of the earth who have shared in her fornication and her idol-madness. And they were made drunk, he says, the inhabitants of the earth, with the wine of her fornication; for the rest, over whom she was ruler, also fell away from God, she compelling some, and leading others. And he carried me away, he says, into the wilderness in the spirit. The wilderness hints at her coming desolation. And I saw, he says, a woman sitting on a scarlet beast. The beast, he says, is the Devil on whom she rested, and by whom she was led; and scarlet because it was stained red with the blood of the saints. The beast was full of names of blasphemy; for the Devil, having appropriated to himself the worship due to God, sins against God. having, he says, seven heads and ten horns. These things he himself interprets further on, saying the heads and the horns are kings, both those who have reigned in her and those who are to reign. And the woman was arrayed in purple and scarlet, purple on account of the kingdom, and scarlet on account of having shed the blood of many saints. decked 185 with gold and precious stone and pearls. As a queen the word reasonably adorns her, with royal adornment. having a golden cup in her hand, full of abominations, golden because of the honor of her rule, yet full of idolatry and pollutions, on which she was nourished and with which she poured libations to her own demons. and the unclean things, he says, of the fornication of the earth; for he also attributes to her the causes of the idolatry of the other nations, as the prime author of evils and idol-madness. And there was also, he says, written on her forehead, as on an inscription, he says, who she was; and that she is Babylon, the mother of harlots, Babylon because of the tumult and confusion in her and the persecutions of the saints; for confusion, as has been said, is what the name of Babylon means; and mother of the fornication and apostasy from God. For how is she not a mother and teacher who persecutes the evangelical word and those who preach it, while persuading the nations to remain in their ancestral error? And I saw the woman drunk with the blood of the martyrs of Jesus. And when I saw her, I marveled with a great amazement; and the angel said to me: Why did you marvel? I will tell you the mystery of the woman and of the beast that carries her, which has the seven heads and the ten horns; The beast that you saw was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction; and those who dwell on the earth will marvel, whose names have not been written in the 186 book of life from the foundation of the world, when they see the beast, that it is not and will be present; here is the mind that has wisdom. For not only was the harlot sated with the blood of the saints, but she was also made drunk. So much did those who reigned in her variously pour out, I, he says, will tell you what the mystery of the woman and of the beast is; that is, it mystically signifies these things which are written for you as in an image through the revelation. The beast, he says, that you saw, was, and is not, and is about to come up out of the abyss. For the Devil was, before the existence of the sensible world, made by God for good works, just like the other divine angels; but he is not, inasmuch as the things concerning the consummation of the age are shown to the evangelist, in which he will go into the fire prepared for him and for his angels. For to be in these things is not even to be, properly speaking. Then, since the antichrist is about to be revealed as his activity around the days of the end, he says: and he is about to come up out of the abyss and go to destruction. For through the antichrist there will be a rising and, as it were, an increase for the Devil, as the antichrist deceives men and persuades them to worship him according to what has been said before through many things. Or, you will understand the 'was and is not' in this way: the apostle writing to the Philippians says to all the saints in Christ Jesus, those who are in Philippi, being

ὕδατα δὲ πολλὰ τὰ ἔθνη φησίν, ὧν ἄρχει καὶ προκάθηται, ὡς αὐτὸς προϊών φησι. μεθ' ἧς φησιν ἐπόρνευσαν οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς. οἱ δέ εἰσιν οἱ ἐν αὐτοῖς βασιλεύσαντες· οὗτοι γὰρ τῆς γῆς οἱ βασιλεῖς οἳ τῇ πορνείᾳ αὐτῆς καὶ τῇ εἰδωλομανίᾳ κεκοινωνήκασι. καὶ ἐμεθύσθησάν φησιν οἱ κατοικοῦντες τὴν γῆν ἐκ τοῦ οἴνου τῆς πορνείας αὐτῆς· καὶ γὰρ καὶ οἱ λοιποί, ὧν ἦν ἄρχουσα, συναπέστησαν Θεοῦ, ταύτης τὰ μὲν ἀναγκαζούσης, τὰ δὲ ἡγουμένης. καὶ ἀπήνεγκέ μέ φησιν εἰς ἔρημον ἐν πνεύματι. τὴν ἐρήμωσιν αὐτῆς τὴν ἐσομένην ἡ ἔρημος αἰνίττεται. καὶ εἶδόν φησι γυναῖκα καθημένην ἐπὶ θηρίον κόκκινον. θηρίον μέν φησι τὸν ∆ιάβολον ᾧ ἐπανεπαύετο, καὶ παρ' οὗ ἐστρατηγεῖτο· κόκκινον δὲ διὰ τὸ πεφοινίχθαι τῷ αἵματι τῶν ἁγίων. βλασφημίας δὲ ὀνόματα ἔγεμε τὸ θηρίον· ὁ γὰρ ἑαυτῷ ἀνατεθεὶς ∆ιάβολος τὸ τῷ Θεῷ πρέπον σέβας εἰς Θεὸν ἐξαμαρτάνει. ἔχοντά φησι κεφαλὰς ἑπτὰ καὶ κέρατα δέκα. ταῦτα αὐτὸς προϊὼν ἑρμηνεύει, τὰς κεφαλὰς καὶ τὰ κέρατα βασιλέας λέγων τούς τε ἐν αὐτῇ βασιλεύσαντας καὶ βασιλεύειν μέλλοντας. καὶ ἡ γυνὴ ἦν περιβεβλημένη πορφυροῦν καὶ κόκκινον, πορφυροῦν μὲν διὰ τὴν βασιλείαν, κόκκινον δὲ διὰ τὸ πολλῶν ἁγίων αἵματα ἐκχέαι. κεχρυσω 185 μένη χρυσῷ καὶ λίθῳ τιμίῳ καὶ μαργαρίταις. ὡς βασιλίδα εὐλόγως ὁ λόγος κοσμεῖ, κόσμῳ βασιλικῷ. ἔχουσα ποτήριον χρυσοῦν ἐν τῇ χειρὶ αὐτῆς, γέμον βδελυγμάτων, χρυσοῦν μὲν διὰ τὸ τῆς ἡγεμονίας ἔντιμον, γέμον δὲ ὅμως εἰδωλολατρείας καὶ μιασμάτων, οἷς ἐτρέφετο καὶ ᾧτινι τοῖς ἰδίοις ἔσπενδε δαίμοσιν. καὶ τὰ ἀκάθαρτά φησι τῆς πορνείας τῆς γῆς· καὶ γὰρ καὶ τῶν λοιπῶν ἐθνῶν τῆς εἰδωλολατρείας αὐτῇ τὰς αἰτίας ἀνατίθησιν, ὡς πρωτουργῷ τῶν κακῶν καὶ τῆς εἰδωλομανίας. ἦν δέ φησι καὶ γεγραμμένον ἐπὶ τῷ μετώπῳ αὐτῆς, ὥσπερ ἐν στηλογραφίᾳ τινί φησι, τίς εἴη· καὶ ὅτι Βαβυλών ἐστιν, ἡ μήτηρ τῶν πόρνων, Βαβυλὼν μὲν διὰ τὴν ἐν αὐτῇ ταραχὴν καὶ σύγχυσιν καὶ τῶν ἁγίων τοὺς διωγμούς· σύγχυσις γάρ, ὡς εἴρηται, σημαίνει τὸ τῆς Βαβυλῶνος ὄνομα· μήτηρ δὲ τῆς ἀπὸ Θεοῦ πορνείας καὶ ἀποστασίας. πῶς γὰρ οὐ μήτηρ καὶ διδάσκαλος ἡ τὸν εὐαγγελικὸν διώκουσα λόγον καὶ τοὺς τοῦτον κηρύσσοντας, πείθουσα δὲ τὰ ἔθνη προσμένειν τῇ πατροπαραδότῳ πλάνῃ; καὶ εἶδον τὴν γυναῖκα μεθύουσαν τοῦ αἵματος τῶν μαρτύ ρων Ἰησοῦ. καὶ ἐθαύμασα ἰδὼν αὐτὴν θαῦμα μέγα· καὶ εἶπέ μοι ὁ ἄγγελος· διὰ τί ἐθαύμασας; ἐγὼ ἐρῶ σοι τὸ μυστήριον τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ τοῦ θηρίου τοῦ βαστάζοντος αὐτήν, τοῦ ἔχοντος τὰς ἑπτὰ κεφαλὰς καὶ τὰ δέκα κέρατα· τὸ θηρίον ὃ εἶδες, ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστι, καὶ μέλλει ἀναβαίνειν ἐκ τῆς ἀβύσσου, καὶ εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὑπάγει· καὶ θαυμάσονται οἱ κατοικοῦντες ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς, ὧν οὐ γέγραπται τὸ ὄνομα ἐπὶ τὸ 186 βιβλίον τῆς ζωῆς ἀπὸ καταβολῆς κόσμου, βλεπόντων τὸ θηρίον ὅτι οὐκ ἔστι καὶ παρέσται· ὧδε ὁ νοῦς ὁ ἔχων σοφίαν. οὐ μόνον γὰρ ἐκορέσθη τοῦ αἵματος τῶν ἁγίων ἡ πόρνη, ἀλλὰ καὶ ἐμεθύσθη. τοσοῦτον ἔχεαν διαφορῶς οἱ ἐν αὐτῇ βασιλεύσαντες, ἐγώ σοί φησι ἐρῶ τί ἐστι τὸ μυστήριον τῆς γυναικὸς καὶ τοῦ θηρίου· τουτέστι, μυστικῶς δηλοῖ ταῦτα τὰ ὡς ἐν εἰκόνι γραφόμενά σοι διὰ τῆς ἀποκαλύψεως. τὸ θηρίον φησὶν ὁ εἶδες, ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστι, καὶ μέλλει ἀναβαίνειν ἐκ τῆς ἀβύσσου. ἦν μὲν γὰρ ὁ ∆ιάβολος πρὸ τῆς ὑπάρξεως τοῦ αἰσθητοῦ κόσμου γεγονὼς ὑπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἐπ' ἔργοις ἀγαθοῖς, ὥσπερ καὶ οἱ λοιποὶ θεσπέσιοι ἄγγελοι· οὐκ ἔστι δὲ καθὸ καὶ τὰ ἀμφὶ τὴν συντέλειαν τοῦ αἰῶνος δείκνυται τῷ εὐαγγελιστῇ, ἐν ᾗ πορεύσεται εἰς τὸ πῦρ τὸ ἡτοιμασμένον αὐτῷ καὶ τοῖς ἀγγέλοις αὐτοῦ. τὸ γὰρ ἐν τούτοις εἶναι οὐδὲ εἶναί ἐστι κυρίως. εἶτα ἐπειδὴ ἐνεργεία αὐτοῦ μέλλει περὶ τὰς τοῦ τέλους ἡμέρας ἀναδείκνυσθαι ὁ ἀντίχριστός φησι· καὶ μέλλει ἀναβαίνειν ἐκ τῆς ἀβύσσου καὶ εἰς ἀπώλειαν ὑπάγει. διὰ γὰρ τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου ἄνοδος καὶ οἷον αὔξησις γενήσεται τῷ ∆ιαβόλῳ, πλανῶντος τοὺς ἀνθρώπους τοῦ ἀντιχρίστου καὶ πείθοντος αὐτῷ προσκυνεῖν κατὰ τὰ πρόσθεν διὰ πολλῶν εἰρημένα. ἤ, τό, ἦν καὶ οὐκ ἔστιν οὕτω νοήσεις· ὁ ἀπόστολος γράφων Φιλιππησίοις φησὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ἁγίοις ἐν Χριστῷ Ἰησοῦ, τοῖς οὖσιν ἐν Φιλίπποις, ὄντας