Oecumenius, Commentary on Apocalypse

of life and enter by the gates into the city. Do not seal, he says, these words, that is, do not keep them to yourself, nor shut them away and guard them in 252 the storeroom of your mind, but reveal them to all. For the time, he says, is near. He says something like this: The time for them is not very far off, as it was then. But it is not that they do not now need to be heard; for it is not a private matter, so that the exhortation from them would be superfluous. For what need of exhortation is there for those who are henceforth experiencing evil or good? For it is untimely to teach with words those who are learning by deed. But what does it mean that he says it is near, that it is neither long in coming, nor already present? He who is unjust, he says, let him be unjust still, and he who is filthy, let him be filthy still. This is not the voice of one commanding and ordering to be unjust or to be filthy, but he says this: Still a little time is lavished upon men; let each one therefore do what is pleasing to him, and use his own free will as he wishes, whether for evil or for good. Therefore he adds, and he who is righteous, let him do righteousness still, and he who is holy, let him be holy still. Behold, I am coming quickly, and my reward is with me, to give to each one as his work will be. I am coming, says the Lord, in the second coming, bringing with myself what must be given to each, whether good or evil. I am, he says, the Alpha and the Omega, the first and the last, the beginning and the end. These things have been sufficiently spoken of before; therefore, pass over them now. Blessed, he says, are those who wash their robes, that their authority may be over the tree of life. By robes he says he means their bodies. Blessed, therefore, are those who live well and cleanse themselves from every stain of sin; for those who have lived thus will have authority 253 to lean upon the tree of life and to rest upon it, and the tree of life is the Lord, as was said before. and by the gates they might enter into the city. And through the gates, that is, the apostolic dogmas and teachings, they become partakers of the life and blessedness of the saints. Outside are the dogs and the sorcerers and the fornicators and the murderers and the idolaters, and everyone who loves and makes a lie. I, Jesus, have sent my angel to you to testify these things in the churches. I am the root and the offspring of David, the bright and morning star. And the bride says, Come. And let him who hears say, Come. And let him who is thirsty come. Let him who wishes take the water of life freely. I testify to everyone who hears the words of the prophecy of this book: If anyone adds to them, God will add to him the plagues that are written in this book; and if anyone takes away from the words of the book of this prophecy, God will take away his part from the tree of life and from the holy city, which are written in this book. Outside, he says, are the dogs. It is the custom of the divine Scripture to call those who have prostituted themselves 'dogs' because of their shamelessness and uncleanness. For in Deuteronomy, the law of Moses the hierophant says, You shall not bring the wages of a prostitute or the price of a dog into the house of the Lord your God for any vow. 254 And that such people are like dogs in their shamelessness; one of the pagan sages also testifies, saying thus, 'Flee every murder and the adulterous bed of a woman; and the oaths of the blessed and the shameless beds of boys'. Outside the holy city, therefore, and the company of the righteous are the dogs, both these and those. For what do they have in common with the righteous of God? And everyone who loves and makes a lie, he says, will be outside. A lie is everything that is contrary to nature; for since virtue is according to nature, because the Creator from the beginning has also cast a seed of virtue into our creatureliness, vice is contrary to nature. For just as in bodies health is according to nature, but sickness is contrary to nature, and seeing and hearing are according to nature, but maiming and deafness are contrary to nature, so also in souls virtue is according to nature, but vice is contrary to nature; for health is analogous to virtue, and vice to sickness; and in this respect also vice is a lie, because it often pretends to be virtue; for recklessness is fashioned to be courage, and malice prudence, and sluggishness self-control, and indeed

τῆς ζωῆς καὶ τοῖς πυλῶσιν εἰσέλθωσιν εἰς τὴν πόλιν. μὴ σφραγίσῃς φησὶ τοὺς λόγους τούτους, τουτέστι, μὴ σχοίης αὐτοὺς παρὰ σαυτῷ, μηδὲ ἀποκλείσας φυλάξῃς ἐν 252 τῷ τῆς διανοίας ταμιείῳ, ἀλλὰ φανέρωσον ἅπασιν. ὁ γὰρ καιρός φησιν ἐγγύς ἐστι. τοιοῦτον τι λέγει· οὔτε πλεῖστον ὁ καιρὸς αὐτῶν ἀπέχει, ὡς τότε. ἀλλὰ μὴ νῦν χρείαν ἔχειν αὐτοὺς ἀκουσθῆναι· οὔτε γάρ ἐστιν ἴδιος, ὡς περίττην εἶναι τὴν ἐξ αὐτῶν παραίτησιν. τίς γὰρ χρεία παραινέσεως τοῖς λοιπὸν πειρωμένοις τῶν κακῶν ἤτοι τῶν ἀγαθῶν; τοὺς γὰρ ἔργῳ μανθάνοντας ἄωρον λόγῳ παιδεύειν. ἀλλὰ τί ἐγγύς φησίν ἐστιν, οὔτε πολὺ μέλλει, οὔτε ἤδη πάρεστιν; ὁ ἀδικῶν φησιν ἀδικησάτω ἔτι καὶ ὁ ῥυπαρὸς ῥυπαρευθήτω ἔτι. οὐ κεκελευσμένου καὶ προστάσσοντός ἐστι τὸ ἀδικεῖν ἢ ῥυπαρευθῆναι, ἀλλὰ τοῦτό φησιν· ἔτι μικρὸς ἐνδαψιλεύεται χρόνος τοῖς ἀνθρώποις· ἕκαστος τοινῦν τὸ αὐτῷ φίλον πραττέτω, καὶ τῷ οἰκείῳ αὐτεξουσίῳ ὡς βούλεται κεχρήσθω, εἴτε εἰς κακὸν εἴτε εἰς ἀγαθόν. διὸ ἐπάγει καὶ ὁ δίκαιος δικαιοσύνην ποιησάτω ἔτι, καὶ ὁ ἅγιος ἁγιασθήτω ἔτι. ἰδοὺ ἔρχομαι ταχύ, καὶ ὁ μισθός μου μετ' ἐμοῦ, ἀποδοῦναι ἑκάστῳ ὡς τὸ ἔργον ἔσται αὐτοῦ. ἔρχομαί φησιν ὁ Κύριος ἐν τῇ δευτέρᾳ παρουσίᾳ, ἄγων μεθ' ἑαυτοῦ ἃ δεῖ ἑκάστῳ ἀποδοῦναι, εἴτε ἀγαθὸν εἴτε κακόν. ἐγώ φησι τὸ ˉα καὶ τὸ ˉω, πρῶτος καὶ ἔσχατος, ἀρχὴ καὶ τέλος. ταῦτα ἐν τοῖς ἔμπροσθεν ἱκανῶς εἴρηται· διὸ νῦν ὑπέρβηθι. μακάριοί φησιν οἱ πλύνοντες τὰς στολὰς αὐτῶν, ἵνα ἔσται ἡ ἐξουσία αὐτῶν ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον τῆς ζωῆς. στολὰς λέγει τὰ σώματα. μακάριοι οὖν οἱ εὖ βιοῦντες καὶ ἑαυτοὺς ἐκκαθαίροντες ἀπὸ παντὸς ἁμαρτίας ῥύπου· οἱ γὰρ οὕτως βιοτεύσαντες ἐξου 253 σίαν σχήσουσιν ἐπὶ τὸ ξύλον ἐπερείδεσθαι τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ἐπ' αὐτῷ ἐπαναπαύεσθαι, ξύλον δὲ ζωῆς ὁ Κύριος, ὡς πρόσθεν εἴρηται. καὶ τοῖς πυλῶσιν εἰσέλθωσιν εἰς τὴν πόλιν. καὶ διὰ τῶν πυλώνων, τουτέστι τῶν ἀποστολικῶν δογμάτων καὶ διδαγμάτων, μέτοχοι γίνονται τῆς τῶν ἁγίων διαγωγῆς καὶ μακαριότητος. ἔξω οἱ κύνες καὶ οἱ φαρμακοὶ καὶ οἱ πόρνοι καὶ οἱ φονεῖς καὶ οἱ εἰδωλολάτραι, καὶ πᾶς φιλῶν καὶ ποιῶν ψεῦδος. ἐγὼ Ἰησοῦς ἔπεμψα τὸν ἄγγελόν μου μαρτυρῆσαι ὑμῖν ταῦτα ἐπὶ ταῖς ἐκκλησίαις. ἐγώ εἰμι ἡ ῥίζα καὶ τὸ γένος ∆αυίδ, ὁ ἀστὴρ ὁ λαμπρός, ὁ πρωϊνός. καὶ ἡ νύμφη λέγουσα· ἔρχου· καὶ ὁ ἀκούων εἰπάτω ἔρχου· καὶ ὁ διψῶν ἐρχέσθω· ὁ θέλων λαβέτω ὕδωρ ζωῆς δωρεάν. μαρτυρῶ ἐγὼ παντὶ τῷ ἀκούοντι τοὺς λόγους τῆς προφητείας τοῦ βιβλίου τούτου· ἐάν τις ἐπιθῇ ἐπ' αὐτόν, ἐπιθήσει ὁ Θεὸς ἐπ' αὐτὸν τὰς πληγὰς τὰς γεγραμμένας ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ· καὶ ἐάν τις ἀφέλῃ ἀπὸ τῶν λόγων τοῦ βιβλίου τῆς προφητείας ταύτης, ἀφελεῖ ὁ Θεὸς τὸ μέρος αὐτοῦ ἀπὸ τοῦ ξύλου τῆς ζωῆς καὶ ἐκ τῆς πόλεως τῆς ἁγίας τῶν γεγραμμένων ἐν τῷ βιβλίῳ τούτῳ. ἔξω φησὶν οἱ κύνες. κύνας καλεῖν ἔθος τῇ θείᾳ γραφῇ, τοὺς ἡταιρηκότας διὰ τὸ ἀναιδὲς αὐτῶν καὶ ἀκάθαρτον. καὶ γάρ φησιν ἐν ∆ευτερονομίῳ ὁ Μωϋσέως τοῦ ἱεροφάντου νόμος οὐ προσοίσεις μίσθωμα πόρνης καὶ ἄλλαγμα κυνὸς εἰς τὸν οἶκον Κυρίου τοῦ Θεοῦ σου πρὸς πᾶσαν εὐχήν σου. 254 ὅτι δέ γε ὅμοιοι τοῖς κυσὶ κατὰ τὴν ἀναίδειαν οἱ τοιοῦτοι· μαρτυρεῖ τις καὶ τῶν ἔξω σοφῶν, οὕτως εἰπών, φεῦγε δὲ πάντα φόνον καὶ μοιχεία λέκτρα γυναικός· καὶ δ' ὅρκους μακάρων καὶ ἀναιδέα δέμνια κούρων. ἔξω οὖν τῆς ἁγίας πόλεως καὶ τῆς μετὰ τῶν δικαίων διαγωγῆς οἱ κύνες, καὶ οἵδε καὶ οἵδε. τί γὰρ κοινὸν αὐτοῖς καὶ τοῖς δικαίοις τοῦ Θεοῦ; καὶ πᾶς φιλῶν καὶ ποιῶν ψεῦδος ἔξω φησὶν ἔσται. ψεῦδός ἐστιν ἅπαν τὸ παρὰ φύσιν· τῆς γὰρ ἀρετῆς κατὰ φύσιν οὔσης, ἐπεὶ καὶ καταβέβληκεν ἡμῶν τῷ πλάσματι σπέρμα ἀρετῆς ὁ δημιουργὸς ἐξ ἀρχῆς, ἡ κακία παρὰ φύσιν ἐστίν. ὥσπερ γὰρ ἐν τοῖς σώμασιν ἡ ὑγεία κατὰ φύσιν ἐστί, παρὰ φύσιν δὲ ἡ νόσος, καὶ τὸ βλέπειν καὶ ἀκούειν κατὰ φύσιν, ἡ δὲ πήρωσις καὶ ἡ κώφωσις παρὰ φύσιν, οὕτως καὶ ἐν ταῖς ψυχαῖς ἡ ἀρετὴ κατὰ φύσιν, παρὰ φύσιν δὲ ἡ κακία· ἀνάλογος γάρ ἐστιν ὑγεία τῇ ἀρετῇ, τῇ δέ γε νόσῳ ἡ κακία· καὶ κατὰ τοῦτο δὲ ψεῦδος ἡ κακία, ὅτι καὶ ψεύδεται πολλάκις εἶναι ἀρετή· πλάττεται γὰρ ἡ μὲν θρασύτης εἶναι ἀνδρία, ἡ δὲ κακουργία φρόνησις, ἡ δὲ ἀκινησία σωφροσύνη, ἡ δέ γε