Oecumenius, Commentary on Apocalypse

others have been created in their place, but that those who now exist have cast off their corruption and have become new, just as if they had taken off an old and filthy garment, the uncleanness in them; for everything is called new which was not so before, but has now come to be. Then creation will become pure of all corruption, which it took on from the transgression of men. And a most trustworthy witness of these things is the divine apostle, writing to the Romans and writing these things concerning creation: For the earnest expectation of the creation waits for the revealing of the sons of God. For the creation was subjected to vanity, not willingly but because of him who subjected it, in hope that the creation itself also will be set free from the bondage of corruption into the freedom of the glory of the children of God. Not only he, but also the divine prophet, singing concerning the heaven and the earth according to the testimony just cited: and they will all grow old like a garment, and you will roll them up like a cloak, and they will be changed. And he says, I saw the holy city, new Jerusalem, coming down out of heaven from God, prepared as a bride adorned for her husband. Through Jerusalem he 233 signifies the blessed portion and tabernacle of the saints, which, having called it Jerusalem tropologically both now and for the future, he has magnificently and beautifully adorned, so that from the things spoken of in a perceptible manner we may refer our mind to the intelligible blessedness and life of the saints. And I heard a great voice from heaven saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his peoples, and God himself will be with them, their God, and he will wipe away every tear from their eyes, and death will be no more; neither will there be mourning nor crying nor pain any more. The former things have passed away.' And he who sat on the throne said, 'Behold, I make all things new.' And he says, 'Write, for these words are faithful and true.' Did I not say well before that the vision calls the portion of the saints and their dwelling there tropologically the intelligible Jerusalem? Behold, now it has revealed the riddle, saying, 'Behold, the tabernacle of God is with men, and he will dwell with them, and they will be his people, and God himself will be with them, their God.' The apostle, declaring this more clearly, said, 'Then we who are alive, who are left, will be caught up in the clouds to meet the Lord in the air; and so we will always be with the Lord.' And he says, 'he will wipe away every tear from their eyes.' And of this, Isaiah the 234 prophet said something similar, saying, 'Death has swallowed up mightily, and again God has taken away every tear from every face.' For if, according to the divine apostle, in that blessed Life of the Saints, pain and grief and groaning have fled, what tear will then remain, when these have fled? He says, 'The former things have passed away.' He says the suffering of the saints has come to an end. Now the rewards for their labors are provided. He says, 'Behold, I make all things new.' For if the heaven and the earth and the sea are new, and still also men and the new things of their joy and glory, not interrupted by tears or mourning or disgrace, then all things will be new. 'But do not think,' he says, 'O John, that by the excess of their greatness the things said and shown to you have some fantasy or falsehood; all are faithful and true; therefore write them.' And he said to me, 'They have come to pass. I am the ˉα and the ˉω, the beginning and the end. To the thirsty I will give from the spring of the water of life without payment. He who overcomes will inherit these things, and I will be his God, and he will be my son. But for the rest and the unbelieving and the abominable and murderers and fornicators and sorcerers and idolaters and all liars, their part will be in the lake that burns with fire and sulfur, which is the second death.' 'They have come to pass,' he says. What has come to pass? These things, that is, the things that have been said, and there is nothing false in them. He has put 'they have come to pass' instead of 'they will come to pass'. 'I am,' he says, 'the ˉα and the ˉω, the beginning 235 and the end.' Since he takes up again the things previously said by him, and

ἄλλοι ἀντ' αὐτῶν γεγένηνται, ἀλλ' ὅτι ἀποβεβλήκασιν αὐτῶν οἱ νῦν ὄντες τὴν φθορὰν καὶ καινοὶ γεγένηνται, ὥσπερ ἱμάτιον παλαιὸν καὶ πιναρὸν ἀπαμφιασάμενοι τὸν ἐν αὐτοῖς ῥύπον· καινὸν γὰρ ἅπαν καλεῖται τὸ μὴ ὂν μὲν τοιοῦτον πρότερον, νῦν δὲ γενόμενον. τότε δὲ γενήσεται ἡ κτίσις καθαρὰ φθορᾶς ἁπάσης, ἣν ἀνεμάξατο τῇ παραβάσει τῶν ἀνθρώπων. καὶ μάρτυς τούτων ἀξιοπιστότατος ὁ θεῖος ἀπόστολος Ῥωμαίοις ἐπιστέλλων καὶ τάδε γράφων περὶ τῆς κτίσεως ἡ γὰρ ἀποκαραδοκία τῆς κτίσεως τὴν ἀποκάλυψιν τῶν υἱῶν τοῦ Θεοῦ ἀπεκδέχεται· τῇ γὰρ ματαιότητι ἡ κτίσις ὑπετάγη, οὐχ ἑκοῦσα ἀλλὰ διὰ τὸν ὑποτάξαντα ἐπ' ἐλπίσιν ὅτι καὶ αὐτὴ ἡ κτίσις ἐλευθερωθήσεται ἀπὸ τῆς δουλείας τῆς φθορᾶς εἰς τὴν ἐλευθερίαν τῆς δόξης τῶν τέκνων τοῦ Θεοῦ. οὐ μόνον δὲ αὐτὸς ἀλλὰ καὶ ὁ θεσπέσιος προφήτης ψάλλων περὶ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ καὶ τῆς γῆς κατὰ τὴν ἀρτίως παρατεθεῖσαν μαρτυρίαν· καὶ πάντες ὡς ἱμάτιον παλαιωθήσονται καὶ ὡσεὶ περιβόλαιον ἑλίξεις αὐτοὺς καὶ ἀλλαγήσονται. καὶ τὴν πόλιν φησὶ τὴν ἁγίαν Ἱερουσαλὴμ καινὴν εἶδον καταβαίνουσαν ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ Θεοῦ ἡτοιμασμένην, ὡς νύμφην κεκοσμημένην τῷ ἀνδρὶ αὐτῆς. διὰ τῆς Ἱερουσαλὴμ τὴν 233 μακαρίαν λῆξιν καὶ κατασκήνωσιν τῶν ἁγίων αἰνίττεται, ἥντινα καλέσας Ἱερουσαλὴμ τροπικῶς καὶ νῦν καὶ ἐπὶ τοῖς ἔπειτα, μεγαλοπρεπῶς καὶ εὐπρεπῶς κεκόσμηκεν, ἵνα ἐκ τῶν αἰσθητῶς λεγομένων εἰς τὴν νοητὴν τῶν ἁγίων μακαριότητα καὶ διαγωγὴν τὸν νοῦν παραπέμψωμεν τὸν ἡμέτερον. καὶ ἤκουσα φωνῆς μεγάλης ἐκ τοῦ οὐρανοῦ λεγούσης· ἰδοὺ ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων, καὶ σκηνώσει μετ' αὐ τῶν, καὶ αὐτοὶ λαοὶ αὐτοῦ ἔσονται, καὶ αὐτὸς ὁ Θεὸς μετ' αὐτῶν ἔσται αὐτῶν ὁ Θεός, καὶ ἐξαλείψει πᾶν δάκρυον ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν, καὶ ὁ θάνατος οὐκέτι ἔσται· οὔτε πένθος οὔτε κραυγὴ οὔτε πόνος οὐκ ἔσται ἔτι. τὰ πρῶτα ἀπῆλθε. καὶ εἶπεν ὁ καθήμενος ἐπὶ τῷ θρόνῳ· ἰδοὺ καινὰ ποιῶ πάντα. καὶ λέγει· γράψον, ὅτι οὗτοι οἱ λόγοι πι στοὶ καὶ ἀληθινοί εἰσιν. οὐ καλῶς ἔλεγον ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ὅτι τὴν τῶν ἁγίων λῆξιν καὶ τὴν ἐκεῖ κατοικίαν τροπικῶς νοητὴν Ἱερουσαλὴμ ἡ θεωρία καλεῖ; ἰδοὺ νῦν ἀπεκάλυψε τὸ αἴνιγμα, εἰποῦσα ἰδοὺ ἡ σκηνὴ τοῦ Θεοῦ μετὰ τῶν ἀνθρώπων καὶ σκηνώσει μετ' αὐτῶν, καὶ αὐτοὶ λαὸς αὐτοῦ ἔσονται, καὶ αὐτὸς Θεὸς μετ' αὐτῶν ἔσται αὐτῶν Θεός. τοῦτο σαφέστερον ὁ ἀπόστολος δηλῶν ἔλεγεν ἔπειτα ἡμεῖς οἱ ζῶντες οἱ περιλειπόμενοι ἁρπαγησόμεθα ἐν νεφέλαις εἰς ἁπάντησιν τοῦ Κυρίου εἰς ἀέρα· καὶ πάντοτε σὺν Κυρίῳ ἐσόμεθα. καὶ ἐξαλείψει φησὶ πᾶν δάκρυον ἀπὸ τῶν ὀφθαλμῶν αὐτῶν. καὶ τούτου ὅμοιον ἔφη Ἡσαΐας ὁ 234 προφήτης, εἰπὼν κατέπιεν ὁ θάνατος ἰσχύσας, καὶ πάλιν ἀφεῖλεν ὁ Θεὸς πᾶν δάκρυον ἀπὸ παντὸς προσώπου. εἰ γὰρ κατὰ τὸν θεῖον ἀπόστολον ἐν τῇ μακαρίᾳ ἐκείνῃ Τῶν Ἁγίων Ζωῇ ἀπέδρα ὀδύνη καὶ λύπη καὶ στεναγμὸς, ποῖον ἔσται λοιπὸν δάκρυον, τούτων ἀποδράντων; τὰ πρῶτά φησιν ἀπῆλθεν. πέρας φησὶν ἔσχεν ἡ τῶν ἁγίων κακοπάθεια. νῦν αἱ ἀμοιβαὶ τῶν πόνων παρέχονται. ἰδού φησι καινὰ ποιῶ πάντα. εἰ γὰρ ὁ οὐρανὸς καὶ ἡ γῆ καὶ ἡ θάλασσα καινοί, ἔτι δὲ καὶ οἱ ἄνθρωποι καὶ καινὰ τὰ τῆς χαρᾶς αὐτῶν καὶ δόξης, δακρύοις ἢ πένθεσιν ἢ ἀδοξίαις οὐ διακοπτόμενα, ἄρα πάντα ἔσται καινά. μὴ νόμιζε δέ φησιν, ὦ Ἰωάννη, τῇ τοῦ μεγέθους ὑπερβολῇ φαντασίαν ἔχειν τινὰ ἢ ψεῦδος τὰ λεγόμενα καὶ δεικνύμενά σοι· πάντα πιστά ἐστιν καὶ ἀληθῆ· διὸ γράψον αὐτά· καὶ εἶπέ μοι γεγόνασιν· ἐγώ εἰμι τὸ ˉα καὶ τὸ ˉω· ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος. ἐγὼ διψῶντι δώσω ἐκ τῆς πηγῆς τοῦ ὕδατος τῆς ζωῆς δωρεάν. ὁ νικῶν κληρονομήσει ταῦτα, καὶ ἔσομαι αὐτῷ Θεός, καὶ αὐτός μοι υἱός. τοῖς δὲ λοιποῖς καὶ ἀπί στοις καὶ ἐβδελυγμένοις καὶ φονεῦσι καὶ πόρνοις καὶ φαρμα κοῖς καὶ εἰδωλολάτραις καὶ πᾶσι τοῖς ψευδέσι· τὸ μέρος αὐτῶν ἐν τῇ λίμνῃ τῇ καιομένῃ πυρὶ καὶ θείῳ, ὅ ἐστιν ὁ θάνατος ὁ δεύτερος. γεγόνασί φησι. τί γεγόνασιν; ταῦτα, τουτέστι τὰ εἰρημένα, καὶ οὐδὲν ἐπ' αὐτοῖς ψευδές. τὸ γεγόνασιν ἀντὶ τοῦ γενήσονται τέθεικεν. ἐγώ εἰμί φησι τὸ ˉα καὶ τὸ ˉω· ἡ ἀρχὴ 235 καὶ τὸ τέλος. ἐπειδὴ τὰ πρότερον αὐτῷ εἰρημένα πάλιν ἀναλαμβάνει, καὶ