Oecumenius, Commentary on Apocalypse

in you, and no craftsman of any craft will be found in you any more, and the sound of a millstone will not be heard in you any more, and the light of a lamp will not shine in you any more, and the voice of bridegroom and bride will not be heard in you any more; for your merchants were the great ones of the earth, for by your sorcery all the nations were deceived, and in her was found the blood of prophets and of saints, and of all who have been slain on the earth. The merchants and the kings of the earth and all to whom it mattered that the city stood and prospered, will weep for her; but let the heavens rejoice, that is, the angels in heaven and the souls of the just, the former, because vengeance has come from God, the latter, as rejoicing with those who have been avenged. Again, through the delay in the narrative, he emphasizes the suffering of the spiritual Babylon; since these things are clear, there is no need to dwell on what is agreed upon. After this I heard what seemed to be the loud voice of a great multitude in heaven, crying out, "Hallelujah! Salvation and glory and power belong to our God, for his judgments are true and just; for he has judged the great prostitute who corrupted the earth with her fornication, and he has avenged on her the blood of his servants." And a second time they said, 199 "Hallelujah!" And her smoke rises up for ever and ever. And the twenty-four elders and the four living creatures fell down and worshiped God who was seated on the throne, saying, "Amen, Hallelujah!" And from the throne came a voice, saying, "Praise our God, all you his servants, and you who fear him, small and great." As of a great multitude, he says, I heard a voice from heaven; for the orders of the holy angels are innumerable, so that one of the fathers said that the ninety-nine sheep, which were saved and remained unerring, were the angels, while the one that went astray was all of humanity. And they said, he says, "Hallelujah." Hallelujah is a Hebrew word; it means "praise ye, hymn ye God." Therefore, they sing a voice of thanksgiving over the just judgment of the spiritual Babylon. And a second time they raised the same hymn, and still further below he uttered it again, so that by the threefold offering of "Hallelujah," the holy and much-praised Trinity is glorified by them; for this is God. And her smoke, he says, rises up for ever and ever. In the middle, the "Hallelujah" that was sung as praise interrupted the flow of the discourse, since, in fact, this is the sequence of the syntax: "and he has avenged the blood of his servants at her hand; and her smoke rises up for ever and ever." He speaks of smoke, as the city about which he says these things is surely being burned; 200 for smoke is a sign of fire. For the elders and the living creatures to say "Amen" signifies agreement with the doxology offered by the holy angels; for "Amen," translated into the Greek language from the Hebrew, means "so be it." "Praise our God," he says, "the small and the great;" for he calls those who are greater in sanctification 'small', and the preeminent 'great'. Then I heard what seemed to be the voice of a great multitude, like the roar of many waters and like the sound of mighty peals of thunder, crying out, "Hallelujah! For the Lord our God the Almighty reigns. Let us rejoice and exult and give him the glory, for the marriage of the Lamb has come, and his Bride has made herself ready; it was granted her to clothe herself with fine linen. It is the righteous deeds of the saints. And he said to me, "Write: 'Blessed are those who are invited to the marriage supper of the Lamb.'" And he said to me, "These are the true words of God." Just as the Seraphim in the divine prophet Isaiah, having said "holy" three times, concluded the threefold hymnology in one Lordship, signifying that the three being hymned are distinct in their properties or persons, as one likes to call them, but one in the essence of the Godhead, so also here the divine 201 angels, having uttered "Hallelujah" three times before, and having ascribed worship to each of the three holy hypostases, now sing "Hallelujah" to the Holy Trinity, indicating that in a monadic

σοί, καὶ πᾶς τεχνίτης καὶ πάσης τέχνης οὐ μὴ εὑρεθῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι, καὶ φωνὴ μύλου οὐ μὴ ἀκουσθῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι, καὶ φῶς λύχνου οὐ μὴ φανῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι, καὶ φωνὴ νυμφίου καὶ νύμφης οὐ μὴ ἀκουσθῇ ἐν σοὶ ἔτι· ὅτι οἱ ἔμποροι ἦσαν οἱ μεγιστᾶνες τῆς γῆς, ὅτι ἐν τῇ φαρμακείᾳ σου ἐπλανήθησαν πάντα τὰ ἔθνη, καὶ ἐν αὐτῇ αἷμα προφητῶν καὶ ἁγίων ηὑρέθη πάντων τῶν ἐσφαγμένων ἐπὶ τῆς γῆς. οἱ μὲν ἔμποροι καὶ οἱ βασιλεῖς τῆς γῆς καὶ πάντες οἷς διέφερεν ἡ πόλις ἑστῶσα καὶ εὐθηνουμένη, ἀποκλαύσονται περὶ αὐτῆς· οἱ δέ γε οὐρανοὶ εὐφρανθήτωσαν, τουτέστιν οἱ ἐν οὐρανῷ ἄγγελοι καὶ αἱ τῶν δικαίων ψυχαί, αἱ μέν, ὅτι ἐκδίκησις γέγονε παρὰ Θεοῦ, οἱ δέ, ὡς συνευφραινόμενοι τοῖς ἐκδικηθεῖσι. πάλιν δὲ διὰ τῆς ἐν τῇ διηγήσει διατριβῆς ἐξαίρει τὸ πάθος τῆς νοητῆς Βαβυλῶνος· ὧν σαφῶν ὄντων, οὐ δεῖ τοῖς ὡμολογημένοις ἐμφιλοχωρεῖν. μετὰ ταῦτα ἤκουσα φωνὴν μεγάλην ὄχλου πολλοῦ ἐν τῷ οὐρανῷ λεγόντων ἀλληλούϊα· ἡ σωτηρία καὶ ἡ δόξα καὶ ἡ δύναμις τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡμῶν, ὅτι ἀληθιναὶ καὶ δίκαιαι αἱ κρίσεις αὐτοῦ· ὅτι ἔκρινε τὴν πόρνην τὴν μεγάλην, ἥτις ἔφθειρε τὴν γῆν ἐν τῇ πορνείᾳ αὐτῆς, καὶ ἐξεδίκησε τὸ αἷμα τῶν δούλων αὐτοῦ ἐκ τῆς χειρὸς αὐτῆς· καὶ δεύτερον εἰρήκα 199 σιν ἀλληλούϊα· καὶ ὁ κάπνος αὐτῆς ἀναβαίνει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τῶν αἰώνων, καὶ ἔπεσαν οἱ πρεσβύτεροι οἱ εἴκοσι τέσσαρες καὶ τὰ τέσσαρα ζῶα, καὶ προσεκύνησαν τῷ Θεῶ τῷ καθημένῳ ἐν τῷ θρόνῳ, λέγοντες ἀμήν, ἀλληλούϊα. καὶ φωνὴ ἀπὸ τοῦ θρόνου ἐξῆλθε, λέγουσα· αἰνεῖτε τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, πάντες οἱ δοῦλοι αὐτοῦ, καὶ οἱ φοβούμενοι αὐτόν, οἱ μικροὶ καὶ οἱ μεγάλοι. ὡς ὄχλου πολλοῦ φησιν ἤκουσα φωνὴν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ· ἀμύθητα γὰρ τὰ τάγματα τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων ἐστίν, ὥς τινα τῶν πατέρων εἰπεῖν τὰ ἐνενήκοντα ἐννέα πρόβατα, τὰ διασωζόμενα καὶ ἀπλανῆ μείναντα τοὺς ἀγγέλους εἶναι, τὸ δὲ ἓν τὸ πλανηθὲν πᾶσαν τὴν ἀνθρωπότητα. ἔλεγον δέ φησιν ἀλληλούϊα. τὸ δὲ ἀλληλούϊα Ἑβραία λέξις ἐστί· σημαίνει δὲ αἰνέσατε, ὑμνήσατε τὸν Θεόν. εὐχαριστήριον τοιγαροῦν ἄδουσι φωνὴν ἐπὶ τῇ δικαίᾳ κρίσει τῆς νοητῆς Βαβυλῶνος. καὶ δεύτερον ἀνήγαγον τὸν αὐτὸν ὕμνον, καὶ ἔτι κατωτέρα πάλιν αὐτὸν ἀπεφθέγξατο, ὡς τῇ τρισσῇ τοῦ ἀλληλούϊα ἀναθέσει τὴν ἁγίαν καὶ πολυΰμνητον δοξολογεῖσθαι παρ' αὐτῶν τριάδα· αὐτῆ γὰρ Θεός. καὶ ὁ κάπνος αὐτῆς φησιν ἀναβαίνει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. ἐν μέσῳ τὸ ἀλληλούϊα δοξολογηθὲν διέκοψε τὸν εἱρμὸν τοῦ λόγου, ἐπεὶ τοίγε ἡ ἀκολουθία τῆς συντάξεως αὕτη τυγχάνει· καὶ ἐξεδίκησε τὸ αἷμα τῶν δούλων αὐτοῦ ἐκ χειρὸς αὐτῆς· καὶ ὁ κάπνος αὐτῆς ἀναβαίνει εἰς τὸν αἰῶνα τοῦ αἰῶνος. καπνὸν δέ φησιν ὡς πάντως καιομένης τῆς πόλεως περὶ ἧς ταῦτά φησιν· 200 ὁ γὰρ κάπνος μήνυμα τυγχάνει πυρός. τὸ δὲ εἰπεῖν τοὺς πρεσβυτέρους καὶ τὰ ζῶα ἀμήν, συγκατάθεσιν δηλοῖ τῆς παρὰ τῶν ἁγίων ἀγγέλων προσαχθείσης δοξολογίας· σημαίνει γὰρ τὸ ἀμὴν εἰς τὴν Ἑλληνίδα μεταφερόμενον φωνὴν ἐκ τῆς Ἑβραίων, γένοιτο. αἰνεῖτέ φησι τὸν Θεὸν ἡμῶν, οἱ μικροὶ καὶ οἱ μεγάλοι· μικροὺς γὰρ καλεῖ τοὺς μείζονας κατὰ τὸν ἁγιασμόν, μεγάλους δὲ τοὺς προὔχοντας. καὶ ἤκουσα ὡς φωνὴν ὄχλου πολλοῦ καὶ ὡς φωνὴν ὑδάτων πολλῶν καὶ ὡς φωνὴν βροντῶν ἰσχυρῶν, λεγόντων ἀλλη λούϊα, ὅτι ἐβασίλευσεν Κύριος ὁ Θεὸς ἡμῶν, ὁ παντοκράτωρ. καὶ χαίρομεν καὶ ἀγαλλιῶμεν, καὶ δώσομεν τὴν δόξαν αὐτῷ, ὅτι ἦλθεν ὁ γάμος τοῦ ἀρνίου, καὶ ἡ γυνὴ αὐτοῦ ἡτοί μασεν ἑαυτήν, καὶ ἐδόθη αὐτῇ ἵνα περιβέβληται βύσσινον. τὰ δικαιώματα τῶν ἁγίων ἐστί. καὶ λέγει μοι γράψον· μακάριοι οἱ εἰς τὸ δεῖπνον τοῦ γάμου τοῦ ἀρνίου κεκλημένοι. καὶ λέγει μοι· οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι ἀληθινοὶ τοῦ Θεοῦ εἰσιν. ὥσπερ τὰ Σεραφὶμ παρὰ τῷ θεσπεσίῳ προφήτῃ Ἡσαΐᾳ τρὶς εἰπόντα τὸ ἅγιος εἰς μίαν κυριότητα συνέκλεισαν τὴν τρισσὴν ὑμνολογίαν, σημαίνοντα τὰ τρία μὲν ταῖς ἰδιότησιν εἴ τ' οὖν προσώποις ὅτῳ φίλον καλεῖν εἶναι τὰ ὑμνούμενα, ἓν δὲ τῇ τῆς θεότητος οὐσίᾳ, οὕτω καὶ ἐνταῦθα τρὶς ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν τὸ ἀλληλούϊα φθεγξάμενοι οἱ θεσ 201 πέσιοι ἄγγελοι, καὶ ἑκάστῃ τῶν ἁγίων τριῶν ὑποστάσεων τὸ σέβας ἀνατεθεικότες, νῦν ἐν τῇ Ἁγίᾳ Τριάδι τὸ ἀλληλούϊα προσᾴδουσι, παραδηλοῦντες ὅτι ἐν μοναδικῇ