Author Topic: Translation of the Glossa Ordinaria- Revelation  (Read 324 times)

glossa

  • Administrator
  • Newbie
  • *****
  • Posts: 29
    • View Profile
Re: Translation of the Glossa Ordinaria- Revelation
« on: May 15, 2015, 09:06:16 pm »
Chapter 1
1:1 (a)The Apocalypse (b)of (c)Jesus (d)Christ which (e)God gave (f)to him, (g)to make manifest (h)to his servants (i)the things which (j)(k)must be done (l)quickly: and (m)signified, sending by (n)his (o)(p)(q)angel to (r)his servant John,
a.   I.e. the Revelation
b.   Given by the Father to Christ according to his humanity.*
c.   I.e. savior.*
d.   I.e. king.*
e.   God the Father*, as he who owes nothing.
f.   To Christ.*
g.   To make it known by word and by example
h.   Not to the Jews, not to philosophers, but to the brethren.*
i.   Concerning these things.
j.   It is inevitable or useful that they should suffer tribulations.*
k.   In the person of the Church.*
l.   Short labor, hastened glory.
m.   I.e. showed through signs.
n.   Consubstantial with him.*
o.   Sc. having the role of Christ.
p.   Of the great plan.*
q.   He says some things on Christ's behalf, as when he says "I am Alpha and Omega", and some on his own behalf, as when he forbids himself to be adored.*
r.   Humble, not proud.
The Apocalypse of Jesus Christ. He prepares the listeners to be favorable and attentive, as he does also in that place "John to the seven churches which are in Asia".
The letter is as if he were thus warning: Pay attention to this vision, because it is a vision revealed in Jesus Christ. The topic is the state of the church of Asia and of the whole present Church. The pattern is tribulations inside and outside and consolations on the other hand. The point is: short labor, sure rewards. The intention: to endure everything patiently.
Which God gave, etc. He received it as a man from the father, the word united to himself, and the Holy Spirit.1
Quickly. He says this so that they may prepare themselves, so that it may not be heavy to suffer. Labors must end quickly, and rewards be given. 2
And signified. God the Father showed them to the Son, and the Son to John, as it were through signs, under seal, so that there might be no occasion given to thieves to corrupt them, and so that it might be more pleasurable for the faithful if they understood them with effort.

1:2 (a)who has given testimony (b)to the word of God, and the testimony of Jesus Christ, (c)(d)what things soever he has seen.
a.   Who bears witness to the words of Christ himself, both those he spoke concerning the Word, i.e. the divinity, and those he spoke concerning the humanity of Jesus Christ.
b.   I.e. to the Son. The Son is called the Word because through him the Father was manifested and signified in the world.
c.   In these are things that he has seen physically, as, for example, that Jesus suffered, or that he has seen only in mind, as, for example, that he was with the father before everything.
d.   To this, "Do not seal the words of the book" (ref. 22:10).*
e.   He is really blessed, because the labor shall not last long, because the rewards are near.

1:3 (a)Blessed is he (b)that reads and (c)hears the words (d)of this prophecy, and (e)(f)keeps those things which are written in it, (g)for the time is near.
a.   Christ gave this to me, and blessed is he who receives it from me.
b.   Like the educated.
c.   Like laymen who are learning*. By this he means listeners, who are more numerous**.
d.   Of this book.*
e.   Reader and listener.*
f.   i.e. he who does not profane the faith of Christ and of the church, and fears the things threatened and seeks the things promised.
g.   He is really blessed, because the labor shall not last long, because the rewards are near.
Blessed is he that reads and hears, etc. Because this is the Apocalypse of Jesus Christ, etc. 1
He that reads, i.e. tells others what he has heard, because from one person who has read, more people can hear.
They alone are blessed who hear them to keep them in mind, who keep them in mind to fulfill them in deed, and fulfill them in deed to possess eternal life. 2
Keeps those things. So do I say "if he keeps them". For not those who hear the law, but those who act according to it are just. 3


1:4 John to the seven churches which are in (a)Asia. (b)Grace to you and (c)peace from (d)him (e)that is, and (f)that was, and (g)that shall come, and from (h)the seven spirits which are (i)in the sight of his throne,
a.   I.e. pride.*
b.   I.e. remission of sins.
c.   I.e. rest from vices.
d.   I.e. Christ.
e.   Sc. incorruptible according to his divinity.
f.   Sc. once born eternally.
g.   Such, even if he does not appear such now.*
h.   I.e. the sevenfold spirit, which is one in nature, but manifold in the distribution of graces.
i.   Angels and holy men are thrones, in whom he now sits and judges, not to judge in the future; in whom God sits, illuminating them.
To the seven churches. God gave it to Christ, Christ to John, and John to the churches; principally to those to which he had been appointed as a master, and to the others through a simile.
Or by seven all the churches are meant, because seven signifies universality, or because they are illumined by a sevenfold spirit.
Ephesus was the metropolitan city or capital of all Asia, where John was exercising superintendence.
In Asia. Asia means pride. So the church is now in the pride of virtues, and1 was formerly in the pride of vices.
This Asia is not the big one (i.e. the one that is said to be the third part of the world), but some province in which there were seven cities, and seven churches with seven bishops.2
Asia Minor is a part of greater Asia; it contains seven cities of which Ephesus is the metropolis. Paul preached the Gospel in this Asia Minor, but afterwards, with the division of the apostles, John was put in charge of it.3
Grace and peace. He prepares the listeners to be favorable and attentive, as he did also in the prologue.
And from the seven spirits. "Spirit" denotes the same as "love"; whence the remission of sins and other gifts, which are gifts of the whole Trinity, are attributed to the Spirit, so that we may understand that the Trinity works out of love alone.
He passes over in silence the person of the Father, because no one had misunderstood what concerns God the Creator; he mentions the person of the Son and of the Holy Spirit, concerning whom the heresies of Marcion and Terebinthus arise in the churches.4

1:5 and from (a)Jesus Christ who is the faithful witness, the first-born of (b)the dead, and (c)the prince of (d)the kings of the earth, who (e)(f)has loved us, and (g)washed us from (h)our (i)sins in (j)his blood.
a.   As he is about to say more, he speaks again about Christ.*
b.   I.e. those who, despairing concerning the death of Christ, said, "But we hoped that it was he that should have redeemed Israel" (Lk.24:21).*
c.   Let this not frighten us, because he has risen again and is impassible. Or the prince of those who mortify themselves, because he has committed no sin.
d.   I.e. those who control earthly matters.*
e.   Especially the preachers*.
f.   I.e. deemed it worthy to die.*
g.   Sc. with love alone.
h.   Not his, because he has not sinned.
i.   Sc. original and actual.
j.   Not that of a calf or of a ram as in the old law.
He commends the person of the Son, who had made this revelation to John through an angel, as if he were saying: believe this revelation1 which Christ has made manifest, he who suffered for us and rose again, who did not deny that he was God even when death was imminent. Or the witness of our works in the day of the judgment, when he says "You saw me hungry and thirsty" (See Matt. 25:35) and "Come, you blessed of my Father, etc." (Matt. 25:34).
Prince of the kings of the earth. The prince of earthly powers, having the power to remove them, and permitting the wicked to serve the interests of his people, or of the saints2.

1:6 And has made us (a)(b)a kingdom and (c)(d)priests to God and (e)his Father, (f)to him be (g)(h)glory and (i)(j)empire forever and ever. Amen.
a.   I.e. capable of resisting vices.
b.   According to the fact that he is a man. (c) According to the fact that he is God.*
c.   I.e. offering ourselves to God for ourselves and for our brethren.
d.   I.e. Creator.*
e.   And therefore.
f.   Sc. for what concerns himself.*
g.   For him to be praised.*
h.   For what concerns other benevolent men.*
i.   So that you should obey him.

1:7 (a)Behold he comes with (b)the clouds, and (c)every eye shall see him, and (d)they that pricked him. And (e)all the tribes of the earth (f)shall bewail themselves upon him. (g)Yes. Amen.
a.   He speaks in the manner of prophets, who saw things to come as if they were present, as "Behold a virgin shall conceive" (Isaias 7:14).*
b.   I.e. the saints.*
c.   The good to be rejoiced, the wicked to be confounded.*
d.   So that they be tormented more. Like the Jews and Pilate.* [HAIMO OF AUXERRE, PL 117.948]
e.   I.e. all the earthly people and those who are given over to vices.*
f.   I.e. they shall grieve when seeing those who are founded above them*, and they shall not grieve as much because of their torment itself as because they are rejected from such a community.
g.   As if he were saying: Surely, this is true.*
Behold he comes. You really ought to preach him and praise him1, because it is he who will come to give rewards with the clouds, i.e. the saints, who were clouds by raining2 upon others, and by doing miracles. Or, just as he ascended in a cloud, he will come in a cloud, by which we understand God's mercy, which is a consolation and an illumination to the good, and a terror and a blinding to the wicked. This is what was signified by the cloud by which the sons of Israel were led out of Egypt: to them it was an illumination, to Pharaoh a terror and a blinding. So in the day of the Judgment will God look like an illumination to the good, and like a terror and a blinding to the wicked3.
And every eye shall see him. Another translation has "all the earth4 shall see him such", as if saying "they shall see him such as the impious did not believe he would come".
They shall bewail themselves, or dash5 themselves upon him, incapable of resisting his power, after the likeness of a stone and earthen vessels6.
Yes. Amen (In the Latin: Etiam. Amen.). By these two adverbs, one of which is Greek - namely etiam7 - the nations are signified; by amen, which is Hebrew, the Jews: all these shall see God in the judgment. 8
The first vision gives a correction; through correction one comes to happiness, through happiness to contemplation, through contemplation to eternal life. 9

1:8 I am (a)Alpha and Omega, the beginning and (b)end, says our (c)Lord God, (d)which is, and which was, and which (e)shall come, the Omnipotent.
a.   Before whom there was no one, or from whom everything started.
b.   After whom there is no one, or in whom everything shall end.
c.   Of the prophets who say that everything shall end in him.*
d.   I, the Lord, say this.*
e.   Sc. in Judgment Day.*
He will really come, because he himself promised he would come. Or, after writing a salutation first, he makes readers attentive, as if he were saying: do not believe that this is said by me, but by Christ himself.

1:9 (a)I John (b)(c)your brother and partaker in tribulation, and (d)the kingdom, and (e)patience in (f)Christ Jesus, was in (g)the island, which is called (h)(i)Patmos, (j)for the word of God and (k)the testimony of Jesus.
a.   From the protagonist.*
b.   The master's humility.*
c.   I.e. in the unity of faith, and having been afflicted for that faith, like others I have patiently endured that through which one can attain the kingdom, by holding Christ as an example in all things.
d.   I.e. in paradise.*
e.   I.e. patient in God.*
f.   I.e. Christ's example.
g.   I.e. the Church.*
h.   I.e. "heat" or "tribulation", in which heavenly things are better revealed to the faithful.
i.   The place.*
j.   The reason.*
k.   Sc. given to his divinity and to his humanity.
I John. As if he were saying: I know that you are afflicted, but that you endure patiently following the example of Christ, so that you may be sharers of his kingdom. And the salutation being finished, he moves on to the narration by mentioning four things: the protagonist, the place, the reason for the place, and the time; things which are useful for the recommendation1 of the revelation itself.
The Church is compared to an island because as an island is beaten by marine storms, so is the church afflicted by the persecutions of marine, i.e. worldly people.

1:10 I was (a)in spirit (b)(c)on the Dominical day, and (d)heard behind me a (e)great (f)voice as it were of a (g)trumpet,
a.   I.e. in an ecstasy of mind. [HAIMO OF AUXERRE, PL 117.939]
b.   The time.*
c.   I.e. placed in hope of resurrection through the resurrection of Christ.
d.   I.e. recognized.*
e.   Because he was about to talk about future things and about great things.
f.   I.e. manifestation. 
g.   Sc. by which one is roused to war.
On the Dominical day. The quality of things is often marked by the time at which they happen, as Abraham, in the fervor of his faith, saw the angels at midday; Adam after midday; Loth, in the destruction of Sodom, in the evening1; Solomon received at night the wisdom he would not keep.
Heard behind me a great voice. He heard it behind him because while, led out of the present matters, he was stretching his power of contemplation to the past2, he was reminded to look back at others as well. Or he heard it behind him because he understood that this same thing had been foretold by the law and the prophets.3