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“And divine naming”: By divine naming he means either their always doing everything in the name of God, or when those named from God, that is, from Christ, happen to live according to him, and are themselves called gods.

“The sun of the Gospel”: He rightly calls the divine John this sun of the Gospel. He says, therefore: That I, rightly accusing and blaming those who think to confine you, the sun of the Gospel, in a place, nevertheless pray that they may return to their senses and run to you, so that they may be saved, having been enlightened. For just as one who thinks to enclose this sun in a place is mad, so too are these mad, thinking to confine the light of your Gospel with you on the island of Patmos.

“But us not even the contrary”: Instead of, nor for you to be further away. But note that the great Dionysius also prophesied, clearly saying that it was revealed to him from God, as also to Saint John, that within a very short time he would be recalled from his exile on Patmos, which indeed happened. For as we have said, for a short time around the last year of the reign of Domitian he was banished to Patmos, Domitian having initiated a persecution; then around the death of the emperor this greatest evangelist John sees the divine Revelation.

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«Καί θεωνυμία»: Θεωνυμίαν φησίν ἤ τό πάντοτε ἐν τῷ ὀνόματι τοῦ Θεοῦ πάντα πράττειν αὐτούς, ἤ ὅταν τούς ἀπό τοῦ Θεοῦ, ἤγουν τοῦ Χριστοῦ, ὀνομαζομένους, κατ' αὐτόν πολιτεύεσθαι ὑπάρχῃ, καί αὐτούς λεγομένους θεούς.

«Τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου τόν ἥλιον»: Τόν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ἥλιον τοῦτον τόν θεῖον Ἰωάννην ὀνομάζει δικαίως. Φησίν οὖν· Ὅτι ἐγώ, εἰκότως αἰτιώμενος καί μεμφόμενος τούς νομίζοντάς σε τόν τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου ἥλιον περιορίζειν ἐν τόπῳ, εὔχομαι ὅμως ἀνανῆψαι καί προσδραμεῖν σοι, ἵνα σωθῶσι φωτισθέντες. Ὥσπερ γάρ μέμηνεν ὁ οἰόμενος τόν ἥλιον τοῦτον περικλείειν τόπω, οὕτω καί οὗτοι μεμήνασι, νομίζοντες τό φῶς τοῦ Εὐαγγελίου σου περιορίζειν σύν σοί ἐν Πάτμω τῇ νήσῳ.

«Ἡμᾶς δέ οὐδέ τοὐναντίον»: Ἀντί τοῦ, οὐδέ τό πορρωτέρω σε γενέσθαι. Σημείωσαι δέ ὅτι καί προεφήτευσεν ὁ μέγας ∆ιονύσιος, σαφῶς εἰπών ἐκ Θεοῦ ἀποκαλυφθῆναι αὐτῷ, ὡς καί τῷ ἁγίῳ Ἰωάννῃ, ὅτι εἴσω βραχυτάτου χρόνου ἀνακληθήσεται τῆς ἐν Πάτμῳ ἐξορίας, ὅ δή καί γέγονεν. Ὡς γάρ ἔφημεν, πρός βραχέος περί τό τελευταῖον ἔτος τῆς ∆ομετιανοῦ βασιλείας εἰς τήν Πάτμον ἐφυγαδεύθη, διωγμόν κινήσαντος τοῦ ∆ομετιανοῦ· εἶτα περί τήν τελευτήν τοῦ βασιλέως ὁρᾷ τήν θείαν Ἀποκάλυψιν ὁ μέγιστος οὗτος εὐαγγελιστής Ἰωάννης.