Tractates on the Gospel of John (continued)
200 ST. AUGUSTINE you have often heard and know. For the first era is calculated from Adam to Noe, the second from Noe to Abraham, and as the Evangelist Matthew follows and determines the order, the third from Abraham to David, the fourth from David to the banishment to Babylon, the fifth from the banishment to Babylon to John the Baptist, the sixth from then to the end of the world.
(2) And God created man according to [his] image on the sixth day for a purpose; for in that sixth age the renewal of our mind is manifested through the gospel, according to the image of him who created us,^' and water is turned into wine that we may taste the now manifested Christ in the Law and the Prophets. Therefore "there were six water jars there," which he ordered to be filled with water.
(3) And so those six water jars signify the six eras in which prophecy was not lacking. Now these six eras, separated and distinguished by high points, so to speak, would be as empty vessels unless they were filled by Christ. W hy have I said, the eras which would run on uselessly unless the Lord Jesus were preached in them? The prophecies have been fulfilled; the jars are full. But that the water be changed into wine, let
Christ be understood in all that prophecy.
7. What, then does this mean: "They held two or three measures (metretae) each"?^^ That expression especially points out a mystery to us. For he calls certain measures (mensurae) metretae, as if one were to say urns, amphoras, or something of the sort. Metreta is the name of measure (mensura), and this measure takes it name from the word "measure"; for the Greeks call measure (mensura) metron; metretae are derived
19. Cf. Mt 1.17. 20. Cf. Gn 1.27. 21. Cf. Col 3.10.
22. This text and Augustine's interpretation of the term metreta require some clarification. The general term for measure is mensura in Latin and metron in Greek. Metreta in its basic denotation is a specific liquid measure derived from the general Greek term metron; hence it designates a specific amount of liquid, about eight and one half English gallons. But metreta also connotes the container which holds this amount, and the text could be translated, "They held two or three casks each" (understanding that in the ancient Mediterranean area liquid containers were pottery and not made of wood).