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Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4
Complete historical editorial footnotes. These notes retain the original edition’s wording; individual note authors are unspecified.
English translation and editorial credits: Rev. Arthur Cushman McGiffert (Ph.D.).
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This person was clearly Eusebius himself (see above, p. 11). Upon the date of this dedicatory service, at which Eusebius delivered the oration given in full in this chapter, see ibid.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-1 · Original source
1. A certain one of those of moderate talent, who had composed a discourse, stepped forward in the presence of many pastors who were assembled as if for a church gathering, and while they attended quietly and decently, he addressed himself as follows to one who was in all things a most excellent bishop and beloved of God, through whose zeal the temple in Tyre, which was the most splendid in Phœnicia, had been erected.
βεσελεήλ, which is the form found in the LXX. The Hebrew is לאֵלְצַבְּ, which the R.V. renders “Bezalel.” See Ex. xxxv. 30 sq.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-5 · Original source
3. one might call thee a new Beseleel, the architect of a divine tabernacle, or Solomon, king of a new and much better Jerusalem, or also a new Zerubabel, who added a much greater glory than the former to the temple of God;—
Eusebius addresses first the assembled clergymen in general, then Paulinus in particular, and finally the people, calling the latter “nurslings,” “habitation,” “school,” “auditory.” The significance of the words as used by him is plain enough, but their collocation is rather remarkable.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-7 · Original source
4. and you also, oh nurslings of the sacred flock of Christ, habitation of good words, school of wisdom, and august and pious auditory of religion:
προσυπακούοντες. Eusebius seems to use this rather peculiar expression because the words of song which he suggests are not the words of the “new song” given by the Psalmist, but are taken from other parts of the book.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-23 · Original source
9. Not only to the faithful, but also to unbelievers, has he confirmed the record of ancient events; he that worketh miracles, he that doeth great things, the Master of all, the Creator of the whole world, the omnipotent, the all-merciful, the one and only God. To him let us sing the new song, supplying in thought, ‘To him who alone doeth great wonders: for his mercy endureth forever’; ‘To him which smote great kings, and slew famous kings: for his mercy endureth forever’; ‘For the Lord remembered us in our low estate and delivered us from our adversaries.’
It is remarked by Valesius that these words are taken from some tragic poet. That they are quoted from an ancient writer is clear enough from the Ionic forms which occur (ὁρῇ, ἀλλοτριῇσι, ξυμφορῇσι), and if a few slight changes be made (καμνόντων to καμόντων, ἕνεκεν to εἵνεκεν, μὲν to τὰ, ἐπ᾽ ἀλλοτριῇσι τε to ἀλλοτριῇσι) the words resolve themselves into iambic trimeters:— τῆς τῶν καμόντων εἵνεκεν σωτηρίας ὁρῇ τὰ δεινὰ, θιγγ€νει δ᾽ ἀηδέων, ἀλλοτριῇσι συμφορῇσιν ἰδίας καρποῦται λύπας. According to Valesius, Gregory Nazianzen in his first Oratio quotes the last verse (καὶ τὸ ἐπ᾽ ἀλλοτρίαις συμφοραῖς ἰδίας καρποῦσθαι λύπας, in which there is no trace of the poetical form) with the remark ὡςžφη τις τῶν παρ᾽ ἐκείνοις σοφῶν; and Valesius adds: “Ad quem locum Elias Cretensis notat verba hæc esse Hippocratis quem Gregorius Nazianzenus sapientis cujusdam nomine designat.” Moreover, Schwegler remarks that the words are taken from Hippocrates. In a note ad locum he says: “Hippocratis medici (cf. Hippocr. de Flat. init. p. 78, ed. Foes) quæ eadem laudantur et ab aliis Scriptoribus, veluti a Luciano in Bis. Accus. c. I. p. 49, ed. Bip. Cf. quæ interpretes adnotaverunt ad Luciani, l.c. Tom. VII. p. 400, ed. Bip.” I have not examined these references, and can therefore form no judgment in the matter.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-27 · Original source
11. For he alone, as the only all-gracious Son of an all-gracious Father, in accordance with the purpose of his Father’s benevolence, has willingly put on the nature of us who lay prostrate in corruption, and like some excellent physician, who for the sake of saving them that are ill, examines their sufferings, handles their foul sores, and reaps pain for himself from the miseries of another, so us who were not only diseased and afflicted with terrible ulcers and wounds already mortified, but were even lying among the dead, he hath saved for himself from the very jaws of death. For none other of those in heaven had such power as without harm to minister to the salvation of so many.
ἀβλαβῶς. The application of the word is not perfectly clear, but the meaning seems to be “without harm to himself,” “unharmed.” “He is the only one able to minister to our salvation without sinking under the weight of the burden, or suffering from his contact with us.” Eusebius is perhaps thinking especially of Christ’s absolute sinlessness and victory over all temptation; perhaps only in a more general way of the great strength needed for such a task, strength possessed by Christ alone in sufficient measure to prevent his own complete exhaustion under the immense task.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-28 · Original source
11. For he alone, as the only all-gracious Son of an all-gracious Father, in accordance with the purpose of his Father’s benevolence, has willingly put on the nature of us who lay prostrate in corruption, and like some excellent physician, who for the sake of saving them that are ill, examines their sufferings, handles their foul sores, and reaps pain for himself from the miseries of another, so us who were not only diseased and afflicted with terrible ulcers and wounds already mortified, but were even lying among the dead, he hath saved for himself from the very jaws of death. For none other of those in heaven had such power as without harm to minister to the salvation of so many.
This seems to be simply a rhetorical expression of what is recorded in Bk. IX. chap. 9, in regard to the great statue of Constantine with a cross in his hand, erected in Rome after his victory over Maxentius. It is possible that other smaller monuments of a similar kind were erected at the same time.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-31 · Original source
16. And they confess Christ, the Son of God, universal King of all, and proclaim him Saviour on monuments, imperishably recording in imperial letters, in the midst of the city which rules over the earth, his righteous deeds and his victories over the impious. Thus Jesus Christ our Saviour is the only one from all eternity who has been acknowledged, even by those highest in the earth, not as a common king among men, but as a trite son of the universal God, and who has been worshiped as very God, and that rightly.
αὐτοθεόν. The exact sense in which Eusebius uses this word is open to dispute. That it asserts the Son to be possessed per se, in and of himself, of absolute deity,—that is, that he is self-existent,—can hardly be maintained, though Valesius does maintain it. The word admits some latitude of meaning, as Heinichen shows (in his edition of Eusebius, III. p. 736 sq., Melet. XX.), and its use does not forbid a belief in the subordination of the Son. In my opinion it clearly indicates a belief in an essential deity of the Son, but not a full and absolute deity. Stein, in his Eusebius, p. 138, remarks: “Eusebius wendet hier dei platonischen Ausdrücke nach dem Vorbilde des Origenes auf das Wesen des Sohnes an. Nach Origines bezeichnen diese Ausdrücke die Absolutheit des Sohnes, nach den Platonikern jedoch bedeuten sie nicht das höchste Wesen. Es ist nun Zweifelhaft, ob Eusebius mit diesen Begriffen den Sinn des Origenes, oder den der Platoniker verknüpft habe.” There can be little doubt, in my opinion, that Eusebius followed Origen so far as he understood him, but that he never carried the essential deity of the Son so far as to cease to think of some kind of an essential subordination. See the discussion of Eusebius’ position, on p. 11 sq. of this volume. I have translated the word αὐτοθεόν “very God,” because there seems to be no other phrase which does not necessarily express more, or less, than Eusebius means by the word. It must be remembered, however, that in using the phrase which is commonly employed to translate the later Nicene ἀληθινὸν θεόν, I do not use it in the full sense thus ordinarily attached to it.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-32 · Original source
16. And they confess Christ, the Son of God, universal King of all, and proclaim him Saviour on monuments, imperishably recording in imperial letters, in the midst of the city which rules over the earth, his righteous deeds and his victories over the impious. Thus Jesus Christ our Saviour is the only one from all eternity who has been acknowledged, even by those highest in the earth, not as a common king among men, but as a trite son of the universal God, and who has been worshiped as very God, and that rightly.
τοῦ παμβασιλέως καὶ πανηγεμόνος καὶ αὐτοῦ θεοῦ λόγου. Valesius translates, Verbi omnium regis ac principis ac per se Dei; Closs, “des Wortes, das der König aller Könige, der oberste Fürst und selbst Gott ist”; Crusè, “The universal King, the universal Prince, and God, the Word himself.” A conception is thus introduced which the clause as it stands, without the repetition of the article with λόγου, seems to me hardly to warrant. At any rate, the rendering which I have adopted seems more accurately to reproduce the original.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-34 · Original source
20. What king prevails to such an extent, and even after death leads on his soldiers, and sets up trophies over his enemies, and fills every place, country and city, Greek and barbarian, with his royal dwellings, even divine temples with their consecrated oblations, like this very temple with its superb adornments and votive offerings, which are themselves so truly great and majestic, worthy of wonder and admiration, and clear signs of the sovereignty of our Saviour? For now, too, ‘he spake, and they were made; he commanded, and they were created.’ For what was there to resist the nod of the universal King and Governor and Word of God himself?
θεολογουμένῳ. The use of the word θεολογέω in the sense of speaking of, or celebrating a person as divine, or attributing divinity to a person, was very common among the Fathers, especially in connection with Christ. See Suicer’s Thesaurus, s.v. II. and Bk. V. chap. 28, § 4, above.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-35 · Original source
21. “A special discourse would be needed accurately to survey and explain all this; and also to describe how great the zeal of the laborers is regarded by him who is celebrated as divine, who looks upon the living temple which we all constitute, and surveys the house, composed of living and moving stones, which is well and surely built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the chief cornerstone being Jesus Christ himself, who has been rejected not only by the builders of that ancient building which no longer stands, but also by the builders—evil architects of evil works—of the structure, which is composed of the mass of men and still endures. But the Father has approved him both then and now, and has made him the head of the corner of this our common church.
Eusebius’ reference to these various buildings is somewhat confusing. He speaks first of the Church of Christ, “the living temple which we all constitute”; then of the Jews, “the builders of that ancient temple which no longer stands”; and finally, as it seems, of the heathen, “builders of the structure which still endures and is composed of the mass of men” (τῶν πολλῶν ἀνθρώπων).
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-36 · Original source
21. “A special discourse would be needed accurately to survey and explain all this; and also to describe how great the zeal of the laborers is regarded by him who is celebrated as divine, who looks upon the living temple which we all constitute, and surveys the house, composed of living and moving stones, which is well and surely built upon the foundation of the apostles and prophets, the chief cornerstone being Jesus Christ himself, who has been rejected not only by the builders of that ancient building which no longer stands, but also by the builders—evil architects of evil works—of the structure, which is composed of the mass of men and still endures. But the Father has approved him both then and now, and has made him the head of the corner of this our common church.
Literally, “the God-fighting, daring deeds of the impious” (ταῖς θεομ€χοις τῶν ἀσεβῶν τόλμαις).
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-43 · Original source
28. For when the Great Shepherd had driven away the wild animals and wolves and every cruel and savage beast, and, as the divine oracles say, ‘had broken the jaws of the lions,’ he thought good to collect again her children in the same place, and in the most righteous manner he set up the fold of her flock, ‘to put to shame the enemy and avenger,’ and to refute the impious daring of the enemies of God.
Diocletian’s first edict included the destruction of the sacred books of the Christians, as well as of their churches. See above, Bk. VIII. chap. 2.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-55 · Original source
33. These things which were prophesied long ago have been recorded in sacred books; but no longer are they transmitted to us by hearsay merely, but in facts. This desert, this dry land, this widowed and deserted one, ‘whose gates they cut down with axes like wood in a forest, whom they broke down with hatchet and hammer,’ whose books also they destroyed, ‘burning with fire the sanctuary of God, and profaning unto the ground the habitation of his name,’ ‘whom all that passed by upon the way plucked, and whose fences they broke down, whom the boar out of the wood ravaged, and on which the savage wild beast fed,’ now by the wonderful power of Christ, when he wills it, has become like a lily. For at that time also she was chastened at his nod as by a careful father; ‘for whom the Lord loveth he chasteneth, and scourgeth every son whom he receiveth.’
The description of the church of Tyre which follows is very valuable, as being the oldest detailed description which we have of a Christian basilica. Eusebius mentions other churches in his Vita Constantini, III. 30–39, 41–43, 48, 50, 51–53, 58, IV. 58, and describes some of them at considerable length. We have a number of descriptions from later sources, but rely for our knowledge of early Christian architecture chiefly upon the extant remains of the edifices themselves. For a very full discussion of the present church, which was an excellent example of an ancient Christian basilica, and for a detailed description of its various parts, see Bingham’s Antiquities, Bk. VIII. chap. 3 sq., and compare also the article Basilika in Kraus’ Real-Encyclopädie der Christ. Alterthümer. The literature on the general subject of early Christian architecture is very extensive. See more particularly the works referred to in the articles in Smith and Cheetham’s Dict. of Christ. Antiq. and in the Encyclop. Britannica; and cf. also Schaff’s Ch. Hist. III. p. 538 sq.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-66 · Original source
37. Thus, enclosing a much larger space, he fortified the outer court with a wall surrounding the whole, which should serve as a most secure bulwark for the entire edifice.
Bingham remarks that the ancient basilicas commonly faced the west, and that therefore the position of this church of Tyre was exceptional; but this is a mistake. It is true that from the fifth century on, the altar almost uniformly occupied the east end of the church, but previous to that time the position observed in the present case was almost universally followed, so that the present building was not at all exceptional in its position. See the article Orientierung in Kraus’ Real-Encyclopädie. Although the common custom was to have the church stand east and west, yet the rule was often neglected, and there exist many notable examples of churches standing north and south, or quite out of line with the points of the compass.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-67 · Original source
38. And he raised and spread out a great and lofty vestibule toward the rays of the rising sun, and furnished those standing far without the sacred enclosure a full view of those within, almost turning the eyes of those who were strangers to the faith, to the entrances, so that no one could pass by without being impressed by the memory of the former desolation and of the present incredible transformation. His hope was that such an one being impressed by this might be attracted and be induced to enter by the very sight.
i.e. in the apse, or chancel, not in the middle of the nave, or body of the church.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-70 · Original source
44. Why need I now describe the skillful architectural arrangement and the surpassing beauty of each part, when the testimony of the eye renders instruction through the ear superfluous? For when he had thus completed the temple, he provided it with lofty thrones in honor of those who preside, and in addition with seats arranged in proper order throughout the whole building, and finally placed in the middle the holy of holies, the altar, and, that it might be inaccessible to the multitude, enclosed it with wooden lattice-work, accurately wrought with artistic carving, presenting a wonderful sight to the beholders.
ἐξέδρας καὶ οἴκους. Large basilicas were always provided with additional rooms, and adjacent buildings, such as baptisteries, diaconica, secretaria, &c., which were used for various ecclesiastical purposes, and which were often of considerable size, so that important synods frequently met in one or another of them. Cf. Bingham, ibid. chap. 7.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-71 · Original source
45. And not even the pavement was neglected by him; for this too he adorned with beautiful marble of every variety. Then finally he passed on to the parts without the temple, providing spacious exedræ and buildings on each side, which were joined to the basilica, and communicated with the entrances to the interior of the structure. These were erected by our most peaceful Solomon, the maker of the temple of God, for those who still needed purification and sprinkling by water and the Holy Spirit, so that the prophecy quoted above is no longer a word merely, but a fact; for now it has also come to pass that in truth ‘the latter glory of this house is greater than the former.’
λυθεῖσαν, which may mean also “dissolved, decayed.” Crusè translates “dissolved”; Closs, “schon verwesend.”
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-74 · Original source
46. For it was necessary and fitting that as her shepherd and Lord had once tasted death for her, and after his suffering had changed that vile body which he assumed in her behalf into a splendid and glorious body, leading the very flesh which had been delivered from corruption to incorruption, she too should enjoy the dispensations of the Saviour. For having received from him the promise of much greater things than these, she desires to share uninterruptedly throughout eternity with the choir of the angels of light, in the far greater glory of regeneration, in the resurrection of an incorruptible body, in the palace of God beyond the heavens, with Christ Jesus himself, the universal Benefactor and Saviour.
The word “not” is omitted in the Hebrew (and consequently in our English versions), but is found in the LXX.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-79 · Original source
49. In these words she exults. And in similar words the heavenly bridegroom, the Word Jesus Christ himself, answers her. Hear the Lord saying, ‘Fear not because thou hast been put to shame, neither be thou confounded because thou hast been rebuked; for thou shalt forget the former shame, and the reproach of thy widowhood shalt thou remember no more.’ ‘Not as a woman deserted and faint-hearted hath the Lord called thee, nor as a woman hated from her youth, saith thy God. For a small moment have I forsaken thee, but with great mercy will I have mercy upon thee; in a little wrath I hid my face from thee, but with everlasting mercy will I have mercy upon thee, saith the Lord that hath redeemed thee.’
Heinichen, followed by Closs, reads τοὺς μὲν…τοὺς δέ: “Some of them he supports by pillars…others of them he illumines by windows.” But all the mss. read τοὺς μὲn…τοῖς δὲ, which, in view of the general character of Eusebius’ style throughout this oration, we are hardly justified in changing. I have therefore followed Valesius, Burton, and Crusè in retaining the reading of the mss.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-90 · Original source
64. Taking from among these the pure souls that have been cleansed like gold by divine washing, he then supports them by pillars, much better than those without, made from the inner and mystic teachings of the Scripture, and illumines them by windows.
Valesius remarks, “Sic Hieronymus seu quis alius de ordinibus ecclesiæ: in illis esse partes et membra virtutem, in episcopo plenitudinem divinitatis habitare.” From what source the quotation comes I do not know.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-94 · Original source
67. But in the leader of all it is reasonable to suppose that Christ himself dwells in his fullness, and in those that occupy the second rank after him, in proportion as each is able to contain the power of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. And the souls of some of those, namely, who are committed to each of them for instruction and care—may be seats for angels.
Paulinus, bishop of Tyre. See above, chap. 1, note 1.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-2 · Original source
1. A certain one of those of moderate talent, who had composed a discourse, stepped forward in the presence of many pastors who were assembled as if for a church gathering, and while they attended quietly and decently, he addressed himself as follows to one who was in all things a most excellent bishop and beloved of God, through whose zeal the temple in Tyre, which was the most splendid in Phœnicia, had been erected.
Literally, “it says” (φησί), i.e. “the Scripture says.”
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-37 · Original source
25. As to our first and great High Priest, it is said, ‘Whatsoever he seeth the Father doing those things likewise the Son also doeth.’ So also this one, looking up to him as to the first teacher, with pure eyes of the mind, using as archetypes whatsoever things he seeth him doing, produceth images of them, making them so far as is possible in the same likeness, in nothing inferior to that Beseleel, whom God himself ‘filled with the spirit of wisdom and understanding’ and with other technical and scientific knowledge, and called to be the maker of the temple constructed after heavenly types given in symbols.
Psa. lviii. 6. Eusebius agrees with the LXX, which reads τὰς μύλας τῶν λεόντων.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-41 · Original source
28. For when the Great Shepherd had driven away the wild animals and wolves and every cruel and savage beast, and, as the divine oracles say, ‘had broken the jaws of the lions,’ he thought good to collect again her children in the same place, and in the most righteous manner he set up the fold of her flock, ‘to put to shame the enemy and avenger,’ and to refute the impious daring of the enemies of God.
Psa. viii. 2. The LXX has καταλῦσαι instead of Eusebius’ καταισχῦναι
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-42 · Original source
28. For when the Great Shepherd had driven away the wild animals and wolves and every cruel and savage beast, and, as the divine oracles say, ‘had broken the jaws of the lions,’ he thought good to collect again her children in the same place, and in the most righteous manner he set up the fold of her flock, ‘to put to shame the enemy and avenger,’ and to refute the impious daring of the enemies of God.
Psa. ix. 6. Eusebius agrees with the LXX in reading μετ᾽ ἤχου: “with a sound.”
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-45 · Original source
30. ‘The wicked have drawn out the sword, they have bent their bow, to slay the righteous in heart; let their sword enter into their own heart and their bows be broken.’ And again: ‘Their memorial is perished with a sound’ and ‘their name hast thou blotted out forever and ever’; for when they also were in trouble they ‘cried out and there was none to save: unto the Lord, and he heard them not.’ But ‘their feet were bound together, and they fell, but we have arisen and stand upright.’ And that which was announced beforehand in these words,—‘O Lord, in thy city thou shalt set at naught their image,’—has been shown to be true to the eyes of all.
Cf. Bk. I. chap. 2, § 19, above, and the note on that passage.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-50 · Original source
31. But having waged war like the giants against God, they died in this way. But she that was desolate and rejected by men received the consummation which we behold in consequence of her patience toward God, so that the prophecy of Isaiah was spoken of her:
The name Solomon (Heb. הׁמׁלשְׁ) means “peaceful.”
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-72 · Original source
45. And not even the pavement was neglected by him; for this too he adorned with beautiful marble of every variety. Then finally he passed on to the parts without the temple, providing spacious exedræ and buildings on each side, which were joined to the basilica, and communicated with the entrances to the interior of the structure. These were erected by our most peaceful Solomon, the maker of the temple of God, for those who still needed purification and sprinkling by water and the Holy Spirit, so that the prophecy quoted above is no longer a word merely, but a fact; for now it has also come to pass that in truth ‘the latter glory of this house is greater than the former.’
ταῖς πληκτικαῖς τῶν μαθημ€των διδασκαλίας
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-87 · Original source
60. Having won over first the souls of the highest rulers, he purified, through the agency of those most divinely favored princes, the whole earth from all the impious destroyers, and from the terrible and God-hating tyrants themselves. Then bringing out into the light those who were his friends, who had long before been consecrated to him for life, but in the midst, as it were, of a storm of evils, had been concealed under his shelter, he honored them worthily with the great gifts of the Spirit. And again, by means of them, he cleared out and cleaned with spades and mattocks—the admonitory words of doctrine—the souls which a little while before had been covered with filth and burdened with every kind of matter and rubbish of impious ordinances.
εἰς τοὺς σύμπαντας αἰ& 242·νας τῶν αἰ& 240·νων.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-101 · Original source
72. Rekindling these thoughts in our memories, both now and during all time to come, and contemplating in our mind night and day, in every hour and with every breath, so to speak, the Author and Ruler of the present festival, and of this bright and most splendid day, let us love and adore him with every power of the soul. And now rising, let us beseech him with loud voice to shelter and preserve us to the end in his fold, granting his unbroken and unshaken peace forever, in Christ Jesus our Saviour; through whom be the glory unto him forever and ever. Amen.”
Cf. Ex. vi. 6, et al.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-9 · Original source
6. But now as we no longer perceive the lofty arm and the celestial right hand of our all-gracious God and universal King by hearsay merely or report, but observe so to speak in very deed and with our own eyes that the declarations recorded long ago are faithful and true, it is permitted us to raise a second hymn of triumph and to sing with loud voice, and say, ‘As we have heard, so have we seen; in the city of the Lord of hosts, in the city of our God.’
1 Sam. ii. 8. (Psa. cxiii. 7).
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-20 · Original source
8. And let us not only one by one, but all together, with one spirit and one soul, honor him and cry aloud, saying, ‘Great is the Lord and greatly to be praised in the city of our God, in his holy mountain.’ For he is truly great, and great is his house, lofty and spacious and ‘comely in beauty above the sons of men.’ ‘Great is the Lord who alone doeth wonderful things’; ‘great is he who doeth great things and things past finding out, glorious and marvelous things which cannot be numbered’; great is he ‘who changeth times and seasons, who exalteth and debaseth kings’; ‘who raiseth up the poor from the earth and lifteth up the needy from the dunghill.’ ‘He hath put down princes from their thrones and hath exalted them of low degree from the earth. The hungry he hath filled with good things and the arms of the proud he hath broken.’
μέγας ἀρχιστρ€τηγος; cf. Josh. v. 13.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-30 · Original source
14. But when malignant envy and the evil-loving demon well-nigh burst with anger at such grace and kindness, and turned against us all his death-dealing forces, and when, at first, like a dog gone mad which gnashes his teeth at the stones thrown at him, and pours out his rage against his assailants upon the inanimate missiles, he leveled his ferocious madness at the stones of the sanctuaries and at the lifeless material of the houses, and desolated the churches,—at least as he supposed,—and then emitted terrible hissings and snake-like sounds, now by the threats of impious tyrants, and again by the blasphemous edicts of profane rulers, vomiting forth death, moreover, and infecting with his deleterious and soul-destroying poisons the souls captured by him, and almost slaying them by his death-fraught sacrifices of dead idols, and causing every beast in the form of man and every kind of savage to assault us—then, indeed, the ‘Angel of the great Council,’ the great Captain of God after the mightiest soldiers of his kingdom had displayed sufficient exercise through patience and endurance in everything, suddenly appeared anew, and blotted out and annihilated his enemies and foes, so that they seemed never to have had even a name.
Psa. xxxvii. 14, 15.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-44 · Original source
30. ‘The wicked have drawn out the sword, they have bent their bow, to slay the righteous in heart; let their sword enter into their own heart and their bows be broken.’ And again: ‘Their memorial is perished with a sound’ and ‘their name hast thou blotted out forever and ever’; for when they also were in trouble they ‘cried out and there was none to save: unto the Lord, and he heard them not.’ But ‘their feet were bound together, and they fell, but we have arisen and stand upright.’ And that which was announced beforehand in these words,—‘O Lord, in thy city thou shalt set at naught their image,’—has been shown to be true to the eyes of all.
τὴν οἰκείαν ποίμνην.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-63 · Original source
34. Then after being chastened in a measure, according to the necessities of the case, she is commanded to rejoice anew; and she blossoms as a lily and exhales her divine odor among all men. ‘For,’ it is said, ‘water hath broken out in the wilderness,’ the fountain of the saving bath of divine regeneration. And now she, who a little before was a desert, ‘has become watered meadows, and springs of water have gushed forth in a thirsty land.’ The hands which before were ‘weak’ have become ‘truly strong’; and these works are great and convincing proofs of strong hands. The knees, also, which before were ‘feeble and infirm,’ recovering their wonted strength, are moving straight forward in the path of divine knowledge, and hastening to the kindred flock of the all-gracious Shepherd.
αἴθριον, the Latin atrium.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-68 · Original source
39. But when one comes within the gates he does not permit him to enter the sanctuary immediately, with impure and unwashed feet; but leaving as large a space as possible between the temple and the outer entrance, he has surrounded and adorned it with four transverse cloisters, making a quadrangular space with pillars rising on every side, which he has joined with lattice-work screens of wood, rising to a suitable height; and he has left an open space in the middle, so that the sky can be seen, and the free air bright in the rays of the sun.
νυμφοστόλος, referring to Paulinus.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-85 · Original source
54. For when the bridegroom, the Word, addressed such language to his own bride, the sacred and holy Church, this bridesman,—when she was desolate and lying like a corpse, bereft of hope in the eyes of men,—in accordance with the united prayers of all of you, as was proper, stretched out your hands and aroused and raised her up at the command of God, the universal King, and at the manifestation of the power of Jesus Christ; and having raised her he established her as he had learned from the description given in the sacred oracles.
θεί& 251· λουτρῷ; i.e. baptism.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-89 · Original source
64. Taking from among these the pure souls that have been cleansed like gold by divine washing, he then supports them by pillars, much better than those without, made from the inner and mystic teachings of the Scripture, and illumines them by windows.
αὐτὸς ὅλος ἐγκ€θηται χριστός.
Editorial footnote · Book X, Chapter IV.—Panegyric on the Splendor of Affairs.; original source section: Chapter 4, editorial note cite_note-93 · Original source
67. But in the leader of all it is reasonable to suppose that Christ himself dwells in his fullness, and in those that occupy the second rank after him, in proportion as each is able to contain the power of Christ and of the Holy Spirit. And the souls of some of those, namely, who are committed to each of them for instruction and care—may be seats for angels.