476 1 Cor. xii. 28.
473 Literally, "through the beginnings, the means, and the end." These three terms refer to the Prophets, the Apostles, and the Church Catholic.
474 The Latin is "solidam operationem," which we know not how to translate, in accordance with the context, except as above.
475 This seems to be the meaning conveyed by the old Latin, "quemadmodum aspiratio plasmationi."
479 Literally, "who have a foresight of morals"-qui morum providentiam habent. The meaning is very obscure. [Prov. xxii. 3, xxvii. 12.]
480 The text is here very uncertain, but the above seems the probable meaning.
482 Plato, de Leg., iv. and p. 715, 16.
484 The Latin is "collectio eorum;" but what collectio here means, it is not easy to determine. Grabe, with much probability, deems it the representative of sustasij. Harvey prefers enqumhma: but it is difficult to perceive the relevancy of his references to the rhetorical syllogism.
485 See book i. cap. xvi. note.
486 This refers to the first volume only of the original series.
1 [The reader who marvels at the tedious recitals must note this (1) as proof of the author's practical wisdom, and (2) as evidence of his fidelity in what he exhibits.]
4 [The solemnity of the apostolic testimonies against the crop of tares that was to spring up receives great illustration from Irenaeus. 1 John ii. 18.]
6 [Rev. xii. 9. A little essay, Messias and Anti-Messias, by the Rev. C. I. Black, London (Masters, 1847), is commended to those who need light on this very mysterious subject.]
10 Matt. xxiii. 9.
31 This passage is quoted by Augustine, in his treatise on original sin, written to oppose Pelagius (lib. i. c. ii.), about 400 A.D.
34 Ps. cii. 25-28. The cause of the difference in the numbering of the Psalms is that the Septuagint embraces in one psalm-the ninth-the two which form the ninth and tenth in the Hebrew text.
37 [Jer. vii. 4. One of the most powerful arguments in all Scripture is contained in the first twelve verses of this chapter, and it rebukes an inveterate superstition of the human heart. Comp. Rev. ii. 5, and the message to Rome, Rom. xi. 21.]
40 2 Sam. v. 7., where David is described as taking the stronghold of Zion from the Jebusites.
41 The text fluctuates between "legis dationem" and "legis dationis." We have followed the latter.
50 Matt. xxii. 29, etc.; Ex. iii. 6.
51 In the Septuagint and Vulgate versions, this story constitutes the fourteenth chapter of the book of Daniel. It is not extant in Hebrew, and has therefore been removed to the Apocrypha, in the Anglican canon [the Greek and St. Jerome's] of Scripture, under the title of "Bel and the Dragon."
61 Not now to be found in Mark's Gospel.
62 Photius, 125, makes mention of Justin Martyr's work, logoi kata Markiwnoj. See also Eusebius's Ecclesiastical History, book iv. c. 18, where this passage of Irenaeus is quoted. [The vast importance of Justin's startling remark is that it hinges on the words of Christ Himself, concerning His antecedents and notes as set forth in the Scriptures, St. John v. 30-39.]
63 [A most emphatic and pregnant text which Irenaeus here expounds with great beauty. The reference (St. Matt. xi. 27) seems to have been inadvertently omitted in this place where the repetition is desirable.]
64 The ordinary text reads cognoscunt, i.e., do know; but Harvey thinks it should be the future-cognoscent.
67 Singula, which with Massuet we here understand in the sense of singularia.
68 Some, instead of significantibus, read signantibus, "stamping it as true."
69 Matt. xi. 27; Luke x. 22. Harvey observes here, that "it is remarkable that this text, having been correctly quoted a short time previously in accordance with the received Greek text, w ean boulhtaj o uioj apakaluyai, the translator now not only uses the single verb revelaverit, but says pointedly that it was so written by the venerable author." It is probable, therefore, that the previous passage has been made to harmonize with the received text by a later hand; with which, however, the Syriac form agrees.
71 The text has oculorum, probably by mistake for populorum.
73 Luke iil 8.
82 Massuet here observes, that the fathers called the Holy Spirit the similitude of the Son.
87 Harvey prefers the singular-"hypocrite."
89 The text here is rather uncertain. Harvey's conjectural reading of et jam for etiam has been followed.
91 This clause is differently quoted by Antonius Melissa and John Damascenus, thus: Paj basileuj dikaioj eiratikhn exei tacin, i.e., Every righteous king possesses a priestly order. Comp. 1 Pet. ii. 5, 9. [And with St. Peter's testimony to the priesthood of the laity, compare the same under the law. Ex. xix. 6. The Western Church has recognised the "Episcopate ab extra" of sovereigns; while, in the East, it has grown into Caesaropapism.]
96 Literally, "the Lord's Levitical substance"-Domini Leviticam substantiam.
97 Literally, "to take food from seeds."
105 Isa. xlii. 10, quoted from memory.
109 These words of Scripture are quoted by memory from Phil. iii. 12, 1 Cor. iv. 4, and xiii. 9, 10. It is remarkable that the second is incorporated with the preceding in a similar way, in the ancient Italic version known as the St. Germain copy.
114 This is in accordance with Harvey's text-"Maturescere profectum salutis." Grabe, however, reads, "Maturescere prefectum salutis;" making this equivalent to "ad prefectam salutem." In most mss.MSS; . "profectum" and "prefectum" would be written alike. The same word ("profectus") occurs again almost immediately, with an evident reference to and comparison with this clause.
117 Another variation from the textus receptus borne out by the Codex Bezae, and some ancient versions.
121 See Gen. xviii. 13 and xxxi. 11, etc. There is an allusion here to a favourite notion among the Fathers, derived from Philo the Jew, that the name Israel was compounded from the three Hebrew words l) h)r #$y)
, i.e., "the man seeing God."
123 Feuardent infers with great probability from this passage, that Irenaeus, like Tertullian and others of the Fathers, connected the word Pascha with pasxein, to suffer. [The LXX. constantly giving colour to early Christian ideas in this manner, they concluded, perhaps, that such coincidences were designed. The LXX. were credited with a sort of inspiration, as we learn from our author.]
124 Latin, "et extremitatem temporum."
126 The Latin is, "laetifici oculi ejus a vino," the Hebrew method of indicating comparison being evidently imitated.
129 Deut. xxviii. 66. Tertullian, Cyprian, and other early Fathers, agree with Irenaeus in his exposition of this text.
130 Deut. xxxii. 6. "Owned thee," i.e., following the meaning of the Hebrew, "owned thee by generation."
135 Or, "all those who were in the way of David"-omnes qui erant in via David, in dolore animae cognoverunt suum regem.
137 The Latin text is ambiguous: "dominabantur eorum, quibus ratio non constabat." The rendering may be, "and ruled over those things with respect to which it was not right that they should do so."
138 Matt. xxi. 16; Ps. viii. 3.
144 Matt. xxiii. 2-4.
149 Harvey here remarks: "In a theological point of view, it should be observed, that no saving merit is ascribed to almsgiving: it is spoken of here as the negation of the vice of covetousness, which is wholly inconsistent with the state of salvation to which we are called."
151 That is, as Harvey observes, the natural man, as described in Rom. ii. 27.
174 [Acts vi. 3-7. It is evident that the laity elected, and the apostles ordained.]
176 In accordance with the Codex Bezae.
185 [Note this stout assertion of the freedom of human actions.]
190 Deut. x. 16, LXX. version.
191 The Latin text here is : "Sabbata autem perseverantiam totius diei erga Deum deservitionis edocebant;" which might be rendered, "The Sabbaths taught that we should continue the whole day in the service of God;" but Harvey conceives the original Greek to have been, thn kaqhmerinhn diamonhn thj peri ton Qeon latreiaj.
195 Massuet remarks here that Irenaeus makes a reference to the apocryphal book of Enoch, in which this history is contained. It was the belief of the later Jews, followed by the Christian fathers, that "the sons of God" (Gen. vi. 2) who took wives of the daughters of men, were the apostate angels. The LXX. translation of that passage accords with this view. See the articles "Enoch," "Enoch, Book of," in Smith's Dictionary of the Bible. [See Paradise Lost, b. i. 323-431.]
198 [Hearts and souls; i.e., moral and mental natures. For a correct view of the patristic conceptions of the Gentiles before the law, this is valuable.]
199 i.e., the letters of the Decalogue on the two tables of stone.
204 [Most noteworthy among primitive testimonies to the catholic reception of the Decalogue.]
211 Latin, "aures autem perfecisti mihi;" a reading agreeable to neither the Hebrew nor Septuagint version, as quoted by St. Paul in Heb. x. 9. Harvey, however, is of opinion that the text of the old Latin translation was originally "perforasti;" indicating thus an entire concurrence with the Hebrew, as now read in this passage. [Both readings illustrated by their apparent reference to Ex. xxi. 6, compared with Heb. v. 7, 8, 9.]
214 Or, "the beauty," species.
218 This passage is not now found in holy Scripture. Harvey conjectures that it may have been taken from the apocryphal Gospel according to the Egyptians. It is remarkable that we find the same words quoted also by Clement of Alexandria. [But he (possibly with this place in view) merely quotes it as a saying, in close connection with Ps. li. 19, which is here paritally cited. See Clement, Paedagogue, v. iii. cap. xii.]
232 Grabe has a long and important note on this passage and what follows, which may be seen in Harvey, in loc. See, on the other side, and in connection with the whole of the following chapter, Massuet's third dissertation on the doctrine of Irenaeus, art. vii., reprinted in Migne's edition.
235 [One marvels that there should be any critical difficulty here as to our author's teaching. Creatures of bread and wine are the body and the blood; materially one thing, mystically another. See. cap. xviii. 5 below.]
236 Rev. v. 8. [Material incense seems to be always disclaimed by the primitive writers.]
239 The text of this passage is doubtful in some words.
240 Luke xxi. 4. [The law of tithes abrogated; the law of Acts. ii. 44, 45, morally binding. This seems to be our author's view.]
242 The Latin text is: "ne per assimulatam operationem, magis autem peccatum, ipsum sibi homicidam faciat hominem."
251 The text here fluctuates between quod offertur Deo, and per quod offertur Deo. Massuet adopts the former, and Harvey the latter. If the first reading be chosen, the translation will be, "the Word who is offered to God," implying, according to Massuet, that the body of Christ is really offered as a sacrifice in the Eucharist; if the second reading be followed, the translation will be as above. [Massuet's idea is no more to be found, even in his text, than Luther's or Calvin's. The crucial point is, how offered? One may answer "figuratively," "corporally," "mystically," or otherwise. Irenaeus gives no answer in this place. But see below.]
252 Comp. Massuet and Harvey respectively for the meaning to be attached to these words.
254 "Either let them acknowledge that the earth is the Lord's, and the fulness thereof, or let them cease to offer to God those elements that they deny to be vouchsafed by Him."-Harvey.
255 That is, according to Harvey, "while we offer to Him His own creatures of bread and wine, we tell forth the fellowship of flesh with spirit; i.e., that the flesh of every child of man is receptive of the Spirit." The words kai omologountej . . . egersin, which here occur in the Greek text, are rejected as an interpolation by Grabe and Harvey, but defended as genuine by Massuet.
256 See Harvey's long note on this passage, and what immediately follows. [But, note, we are only asking what Irenaeus teaches. Could words be plainer,-"two realities,"-(i.) bread, (ii.) spiritual food? Bread-but not "common bread;" matter and grace, flesh and Spirit. In the Eucharist, an earthly and a heavenly part.]
257 The text fluctuates between dominationi and donationi.
260 [The Sursum Corda seems here in mind. The object of Eucharistic adoration is the Creator, our "great High Priest, passed into the heavens," and in bodily substance there enthroned, according to our author.]
265 The Latin is, "et universum eum decurrerint." Harvey imagines that this last word corresponds to katatrexwsi, but it is difficult to fit such a meaning into the context.
268 This quotation is taken from the Shepherd of Hermas, book ii. sim. 1.
276 Prov. viii. 22-25. [This is one of the favourite Messianic quotations of the Fathers, and is considered as the base of the first chapter of St. John's Gospel.]
282 Some read "in filium" instead of "in filio," as above.
283 A part of the original Greek text is preserved here, and has been followed, as it makes the better sense.
291 Ex. xxxiv. 6, 7.
300 "This text, as quoted a short time ago, indicated `the only-begotten Son;_0' but the agreement of the Syriac version induces the belief that the present reading was that expressed by Irenaeus, and that the previous quotation has been corrected to suit the Vulgate. The former reading, however, occurs in book iii. c. xi. 5."-Harvey.
311 1 Cor. vii. 14. [But Hosea himself says (xii. 10), "I have used similitudes;" and this history may be fairly referred to prophetic vision. Dr. Pusey, in his Minor Prophets, in loc., argues against this view, however; and his reasons deserve consideration.]
314 The text is here uncertain; and while the general meaning of the sentence is plain, its syntax is confused and obscure.
315 Irenaeus seems here to have written "three" for "two" from a lapse of memory.
317 Gal. iii. 5-9; Gen. xii. 3.
318 Massuet would cancel these words.
319 Rom. ix. 10-13; Gen. xxv. 23.
325 The text of this sentence is in great confusion, and we can give only a doubtful translation.
326 [Leah's eyes were weak, according to the LXX.; and Irenaeus infers that Rachel's were "beautiful exceedingly." Canticles, i. 15]
329 This spurious quotation has been introduced before. See book iii. 20. 4.
331 So Harvey understands the obscure Latin text, "id quod erat inoperatum conditionis."
338 Acts. viii. 27; Isa. liii. 7.
341 [A clear note of recognition on the part of our author, that St. Paul's mission was world-wide, while St. Peter's was limited.]
346 [Note, the Gentile Church was the old religion and was Catholic; in Christ it became Catholic again: the Mosaic system was a parenthetical thing of fifteen hundred years only. Such is the luminous and clarifying scheme of Irenaeus, expounding St. Paul (Gal. iii. 14-20). Inferences: (1) They who speak as if the Mosaic system covered the whole Old Testament darken the divine counsels. (2) The God of Scripture was never the God of the Jews only.]
350 Jer. ix. 2. [A "remote dwelling-place" rather (staqmon esxaton according to LXX.) to square with the argument.]
351 [The touching words which conclude the former paragraph are illustrated by the noble sentence which begins this paragraph. The childlike spirit of these Fathers recognises Christ everywhere, in the Old Testament, prefigured by countless images and tokens in paternal and legal (ceremonial) forms.]
354 Harvey cancels "non," and reads the sentence interrogatively.
357 The Latin is "a multis justis," corresponding to the Greek version of the Hebrew text. If the translation be supposes as corresponding to the Hebrew comparative, the English equivalent will be, "and above (more than) many righteous."
359 The text and punctuation are here in great uncertainty, and very different views of both are taken by the editors.
360 Luke xxiv. 26, 47. [The walk to Emmaus is the fountain-head of Scriptural exposition, and the forty days (Acts i. 3) is the river that came forth like that which went out of Eden. Ecclesiasticus iv. 31.]
361 Matt. xiii. 52. [I must express my delight in the great principle of exposition here unfolded. The Old Scriptures are a night-bound wilderness, till Christ rises and illuminates them, glorying alike hill and dale, and, as this author supposes, every shrub and flower, also, making the smallest leaf with its dewdrops glitter like the rainbow.]
362 Lev. x. 1, 2.
366 Ibid. ver. 52, etc.; Ex. xxiii. 7.
367 Matt. xxiv. 48, etc.; Luke xii. 45.
368 [Contrast this spirit of a primitve Father, with the state of things which Wiclif rose up to purify, five hundred years ago.]
376 [Note the limitation; not the succession only, but with it (1) pure morality and holiness and (2) unadulterated testimony. No catholicity apart from these.]
377 Polycarp, Papias, Pothinus, and others, have been suggested as probably here referred to, but the point is involved in utter uncertainty. [Surely this testimony is a precious intimation of the apostle's meaning (Rom. ii. 12-16), and the whole chapter is radiant with the purity of the Gospel.]
386 Rom. iii. 23. [Another testimony to the mercy of God in the judgment of the unevangelized. There must have been some reason for the secrecy with which "that presbyter's" name is guarded. Irenaeus may have scrupled to draw the wrath of the Gnostics upon any name but his own.]
387 Rom. iii. 23. [Another testimony to the mercy of God in the judgment of the unevangelized. There must have been some reason for the secrecy with which "that presbyter's" name is guarded. Irenaeus may have scrupled to draw the wrath of the Gnostics upon any name but his own.]
404 [Eph. v. 4. Even from the eutrapelia which might signify a bon-mot, literally, and which certainly is not "scurrility," unless the apostle was ironical, reflecting on jokes with heathen considered "good."]
409 [Jonah iv. 11. The tenderness of our author constantly asserts itself, as in this reference to children.]
412 Matt. xiii. 11-16; Isa. vi. 10.
417 Ex. iii. 22, xi. 2. [Our English translation "borrow" is a gratuitous injury to the text. As "King of kings" the Lord enjoins a just tax, which any earthly sovereign might have imposed uprightly. Our author argues well.]
419 This perplexed sentence is pointed by Harvey interrogatively, but we prefer the above.
420 [A touching tribute to the imperial law, at a moment when Christians were "dying daily" and "as sheep for the slaughter." So powerfully worked the divine command, Luke vi. 29.]
422 This is, if he inveighs against the Israelites for spoiling the Egyptians; the former being a type of the Christian Church in relation to the Gentiles.
427 As Harvey remarks, this is "a strange translation for ekliphte" of the text. rec., and he adds that "possibly the translator read ektraphte."
429 We here follow the punctuation of Massuet in preference to that of Harvey.
430 [The Fathers regarded the whole Mosaic system, and the history of the faithful under it, as one great allegory. In everything they saw "similitudes," as we do in the Faery Queen of Spenser, or the Pilgrim's Progress. The ancients may have carried this principle too far, but as a principle it receives countenance from our Lord Himself and His apostles. To us there is often a barren bush, where the Fathers saw a bush that burned with fire.]
432 [Thus far we have a most edifying instruction. The reader will be less edified with what follows, but it is a very striking example of what is written: "to the pure all things are pure." Ti. i. 15.]
434 Gen. xix. 35.
435 "Id est duae synagogue," referring to the Jews and Gentiles. Some regard the words as a marginal gloss which has crept into the text.
437 Deut. xxxii. 6, LXX. [Let us reflect that this effort to spiritualize this awful passage in the history of Lot is an innocent but unsuccessful attempt to imitate St. Paul's allegory, Gal. iv. 24.]
441 Comp. Clem. Rom., chap. xi. Josephus (Antiq., i. 11, 4) testifies that he had himself seen this pillar.
442 The Latin is "per naturalia," which words, according to Harvey, correspond to di emmhnorroiaj. There is a poem entitled Sodoma preserved among the works of Tertullian and Cyprian which contains the following lines: -"
Dicitur et vivens, alio jam corpore, sexusMunificos solito dispungere sanguine menses."
444 The poem just referred to also says in reference to this pillar: -"
Ipsaque imago sibi formam sine corpore servansDurat adhuc, et enim nuda statione sub aethramNec pluviis dilapsa situ, nec diruta ventis.Quin etiam si quis mutilaverit advena formam,Protinus ex sese suggestu vulnera complet."[That a pillar of salt is still to be seen in this vicinity, is now confirmed by many modern travellers (report of Lieut. Lynch, United States Navy), which accounts for the natural inference of Josephus and others on whom our author relied. The coincidence is noteworthy.]
445 Harvey remarks here, that this can hardly be the same presbyter mentioned before, "who was only a hearer of those who had heard the apostles. Irenaeus may here mean the venerable martyr Polycarp, bishop of Smyrna."
446 "Quassum et futile." The text varies much in the mss.MSS; .
452 We here read "secundum quos" with Massuet, instead of usual "secundum quod."
453 "Concurvans," corresponding to sugkamptwn, which, says Harvey, "would be expressive of those who were brought under the law, as the neck of the steer is bent to the yoke."
454 The Latin is, "per proprium visum."
455 [If this and the former chapter seem to us superfluous, we must reflect that such testimony, from the beginning, has established the unity of Holy Scripture, and preserved to us-The Bible.]
456 1 Cor. ii. 14. [The argument of this chapter hinges on Ps. xxv. 14, and expounds a difficult text of St. Paul. A man who has the mind of God's Spirit is the only judge of spiritual things. Worldly men are incompetent critics of Scripture and of Christian exposition.
468 Matt. iii. 12; Luke iii. 17.
469 Harvey points this sentence interrogatively.
470 "Temperamentum calicis:" on which Harvey remarks that "the mixture of water with the wine in the holy Eucharist was the universal practice of antiquity . . . the wine signifying the mystical Head of the Church, the water the body." [Whatever the significance, it harmonizes with the Paschal chalice, and with 1 John v. 6, and St. John's Gospel, xix. 34, 35.]
472 This sentence is very obscure in the Latin text.
474 The text is obscure, and the construction doubtful.
475 The Latin here is, "quae est ex virgine per fidem regenerationem." According to Massuet, "virgine" here refers not to Mary, but to the Church. Grabe suspects that some words have been lost.
478 Matt. xxii. 29; Luke xi. 21, 22.
479 Literally, "who was strong against men."
480 In fine; lit. "in the end."
481 In semetipsum: lit. "unto Himself."
482 We here follow the reading "proferant:" the passage is difficult and obscure, but the meaning is as above.
484 The Greek text here is skhnobatoun (lit. "to tabernacle:" comp. eskhnwsen, John i. 14) kaq ekasthn genean en toij anqrwpoij: the Latin is, "Secundum quas (dispositiones) aderat generi humano." We have endeavoured to express the meaning of both.
485 The following section is an important one, but very difficult to translate with undoubted accuracy. The editors differ considerably both as to the construction and the interpretation. We have done our best to represent the meaning in English, but may not have been altogether successful.
486 The Greek is susthma: the Latin text has "status."
487 The Latin is, "character corporis."
488 The text here is, "custodita sine fictione scripturarum;" some prefer joining "scripturarum" to the following words.
489 We follow Harvey's text, "tractatione;" others read "tractatio." According to Harvey, the creed of the Church is denoted by "tractatione;" but Massuet rrenders the clause thus: ["True knowledge consists in a very complete tractatio of the Scriptures, which has come down to us by being preserved (`custoditione_0' being read instead of `custodita_0') without falsification."
490 Comp. 2 Cor. viii. 1; 1 Cor. xiii.
498 Luke xviii. 8. There is nothing to correspond with "putas" in the received text.
506 Jer. xvii. 9 (Sept.). Harvey here remarks: "The LXX. read #$wn)
instead of #$n)
. Thus, from a text that teaches us that the heart is deceitful above all things, the Fathers extract a proof of the manhood of Christ."
507 Isa. viii. 3, ix. 6, vii. 14. [A confusion of texts.]
514 Isa. xxvi. 19.
526 Comp. book iii. cap. 4 and book iv. cap xxii. 1.
535 Isa. l. 8, 9 (loosely quoted).
543 "Ex alia et alia substantia fuisse prophetias."
549 Isa. ii. 3, 4; Mic. iv. 2, 3.