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Ambrose of Milan

Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 1,843 passages across 58 books

Commentary

321–340 of 1,843
Exodus 20:17

Thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's house, thou shalt not covet thy neighbour's wife, nor his manservant, nor his maidservant, nor his ox, nor his ass, nor any thing that is thy neighbour's.

Love of money then is an old, an ancient vice, which showed itself even at the declaration of the divine law; for a law was given to check it.
Exodus 21:5

And if the servant shall plainly say, I love my master, my wife, and my children; I will not go out free:

That man is truly free, a true Hebrew, who is entirely God’s. Everything that he possesses shares in freedom. He has nothing in common with the man who rejects freedom and says, “I have loved my master.… I will not go out free.” The man who subjects himself to the world is returned not only to his master but also to his infirmity, because he loves the world or his mind, that is, his nous,the author of this desire. He is returned not only to his wife but even to those pleasures which make him so bound to household matters that he does not care for what is eternal. Thus “at his threshold and door his master shall pierce his ear,” in order that he might remember the decision by which he chose slavery.
Exodus 21:13

And if a man lie not in wait, but God deliver him into his hand; then I will appoint thee a place whither he shall flee.

Even the person who unwittingly committed a murder was still within the ministry of God, since the law makes this statement regarding him: “God delivered him into his hands.” His hands therefore served as an instrument of divine punishment. The Levite is then the minister who remits, whereas the man who (in the example just cited) unwittingly and unwillingly struck another in a homicidal act became in fact an administrator of divine punishment. See to it that Christ is infused into the act of slaying an impious man and that sanctification accompany and be part of your attempt to abolish what is abominable.
Exodus 22:29

Thou shalt not delay to offer the first of thy ripe fruits, and of thy liquors: the firstborn of thy sons shalt thou give unto me.

Those emotions therefore which are morally good are the first fruits of our senses, whereas the others are of common and indifferent stock. This classification was used by Moses, following in that respect the language of the Jews, in his reference to the threshing floor of the law: “The tithes of your threshing floor and of your wine vat you shall not delay to pay: you shall give the firstborn of your sons to me.” All the morally good emotions of your senses are the first fruits of the threshing floor of the soul in such a manner as grain is separated in an actual barn floor.
Exodus 24:18

And Moses went into the midst of the cloud, and gat him up into the mount: and Moses was in the mount forty days and forty nights.

If, then, any one desires to see this Image of God, he must love God, that he may be loved by God; and be no longer a servant but a friend, because he has kept the commandments of God, that he may enter into the cloud where God is.
Exodus 28:21

And the stones shall be with the names of the children of Israel, twelve, according to their names, like the engravings of a signet; every one with his name shall they be according to the twelve tribes.

Of these twelve, as of twelve precious stones, is the pillar of our faith built up. For these are the precious stones—sardius, jasper, smaragd, chrysolite, and the rest—woven into the robe of holy Aaron, even of him who bears the likeness of Christ, that is, of the true Priest. [These] stones [are] set in gold and inscribed with the names of the sons of Israel, twelve stones close joined and fitting one into another, for if any should sunder or separate them, the whole fabric of the faith falls in ruins.
Exodus 31:15

Six days may work be done; but in the seventh is the sabbath of rest, holy to the LORD: whosoever doeth any work in the sabbath day, he shall surely be put to death.

They were also commanded to keep the holiday of the Sabbath one day in the week, so as to be subjected to no burthen, and I would that being thus released from earthly works they had escaped, carrying with them to that perpetual sabbath of future ages the burthen of heavy crimes. But as God knew how prone to fall the people were, He enjoined a part upon the weaker by the observance of one day, He reserved the fulness for the stronger: the Synagogue observes the day, the Church immortality. In the Law therefore is a part, in the Gospel is perfection.
Exodus 32:6

And they rose up early on the morrow, and offered burnt offerings, and brought peace offerings; and the people sat down to eat and to drink, and rose up to play.

But he who has engulfed and plunged himself in such wallowing places, falls also into the snare of unbelief; for the people sat down to eat and to drink, and required that gods should be made for them. Hereby the Lord teaches us that he who gives up his soul to these two kinds of vices, is stript of the garment, not of a woollen vest, but of living virtue; that clothing which is not temporal but eternal.
Exodus 32:20

And he took the calf which they had made, and burnt it in the fire, and ground it to powder, and strawed it upon the water, and made the children of Israel drink of it.

Moses ground the head of the golden calf to powder, and cast it into water, and made the people drink of it; for their heart was hardened by the greatness of their perfidy, and he did thus that it might be softened and made refined by faith. Lastly, that woman who grinds meal well and fine shall be taken, but she who grinds ill shall be left.
Exodus 32:32 · 2 passages

Yet now, if thou wilt forgive their sin--; and if not, blot me, I pray thee, out of thy book which thou hast written.

What reproaches Moses had to bear from his people! But when the Lord would have avenged him on those who reviled him, he often used to offer himself for the people that he might save them from the divine anger. What gentle words he used to address the people, even after he was wronged! He comforted them in their labors, consoled them by his prophetic declarations of the future and encouraged them by his works. And though he often spoke with God, yet he was inclined to address men gently and pleasantly. Worthily was he considered to stand above all men. For they could not even look on his face and refused to believe that his sepulcher was found. He had captivated the minds of all the people to such an extent that they loved him even more for his gentleness than they admired him for his deeds.
The greater the sin, the more worthy must be the prayers that are sought. For it was not any one of the common people who prayed for the Jewish people, but Moses, when forgetful of their covenant they worshiped the head of a calf. Was Moses wrong? Certainly he was not wrong in praying, who both merited and obtained that for which he asked. For what should such love not obtain as that of his when he offered himself for the people and said, “And now, if you will forgive their sin, forgive; but if not, blot me out of the book of life.” We see that he does not think of himself, like a man full of fancies and scruples, whether he may incur the risk of some offense, as Novatian says he dreads that he might. But rather, thinking of all and forgetful of himself, he was not afraid lest he should offend, so that he might rescue and free the people from danger and offense.
Exodus 33:7

And Moses took the tabernacle, and pitched it without the camp, afar off from the camp, and called it the Tabernacle of the congregation. And it came to pass, that every one which sought the LORD went out unto the tabernacle of the congregation, which was without the camp.

Therefore did Jesus go forth out of the city, that you going out of this world may be above the world. Moses alone, who saw God, had his tabernacle without the camp when he talked with God; and the blood indeed of the victims which were offered for sin, was brought to the altar, but the bodies were burnt without the camp; for no one placed amidst the evil of this world can lay aside sin, nor is his blood accepted of God, except he go forth from the defilement of this body.
Exodus 33:20

And he said, Thou canst not see my face: for there shall no man see me, and live.

“Who shall see my face and live?” Scripture said, and rightly so. For our eyes cannot bear the sun’s rays, and whoever turns too long in its direction is generally blinded, so they say. Now if one creature cannot look upon another creature without loss and harm to himself, how can he see the dazzling face of his eternal Creator while covered with the clothing that is this body? For who is justified in the sight of God, when the infant of but one day cannot be clean from sin and no one can glory in his uprightness and purity of heart?

DEATH AS A GOOD 11.49

Ezekiel 1:5-10

Also out of the midst thereof came the likeness of four living creatures. And this was their appearance; they had the likeness of a man.

Now, in every sort of person, the astute Greeks have said, are to be found logisticon, thymeticon, epithymeticon, dioraticon; in Latin these are prudence, fortitude, temperance and justice. Prudence concerns the human reason. Fortitude bestows a certain power of fierce strength and contempt for death. Temperance, when it contemplates the heavenly mysteries and is retrained by consecrated chastity, cares nothing for bodily pleasures. And justice, from a certain high position of revelation, sees and searches out anything produced for others rather than itself; justice does not examine its own conveniences as much as what benefits society. It is appropriate that the soul that has acted with justice is symbolized by an eagle. It should fly away from earthly things and be totally intent on the divine mystery of the sublime resurrection. It struggles for and attains glory insofar as it is impartial.
Ezekiel 1:15

Now as I beheld the living creatures, behold one wheel upon the earth by the living creatures, with his four faces.

And so, I recognize more clearly what I read: For the wheel runs within the wheel and is not hindered (Ezek. 1:16-17). For he passes his life without any offense in any passion, and even within these things the wheel runs. The Law runs within grace, and obedience to the Law is within the course of divine mercy: for the more it turns, the more it is proven.
Ezekiel 1:16

The appearance of the wheels and their work was like unto the colour of a beryl: and they four had one likeness: and their appearance and their work was as it were a wheel in the middle of a wheel.

The wheel within a wheel is life under the law, life under grace; inasmuch as Jews are within the church, the law is included in grace. For one is within the church who is a Jew secretly; and circumcision of the heart is a sacrament within the church. But that Jewish people are within the church of which it is written: “In Judah is God known”; therefore as wheel runs within wheel, in the same way the wings were still and the wings were flying.
Ezekiel 3:17

Son of man, I have made thee a watchman unto the house of Israel: therefore hear the word at my mouth, and give them warning from me.

An emperor ought not to deny freedom of speech, and a bishop ought not to conceal his opinions. Nothing so much commends an emperor to the love of his people as the encouragement of liberty in those who are subject to him by the obligation of public service. Indeed, the love of liberty or of slavery is what distinguishes good emperors from bad, while in a bishop there is nothing so perilous before God or so disgraceful before people as not to speak his thoughts freely. For it is written, “I spoke of your testimonies before kings and was not ashamed,” and in another place, “Son of man, if I have made you a watchman for the house of Israel, to the intent (it says) that if a righteous person turns from his righteousness and commits iniquity because you have not given him warning (that is, not told him what to guard against), his righteousness shall not be remembered, and I will require his blood at your hand. Nevertheless, if you warn the righteous person not to sin and he does not, then the righteous shall surely live because you have warned him, and you shall deliver your soul.”
Ezekiel 13:10

Because, even because they have seduced my people, saying, Peace; and there was no peace; and one built up a wall, and, lo, others daubed it with untempered morter:

For there is a peace that does not have an offense, and there is one that has it: which is from love, it does not have an offense; which is from deceit, it has. Therefore, the Prophet also says: Peace, peace; but where is peace (Ezekiel 12:10)? Therefore, let us seek the refuge of peace for sinners; for they conspire against the innocent, they gather together to oppress the righteous, to destroy the widow, or to assault her modesty.
Ezekiel 13:18

And say, Thus saith the Lord GOD; Woe to the women that sew pillows to all armholes, and make kerchiefs upon the head of every stature to hunt souls! Will ye hunt the souls of my people, and will ye save the souls alive that come unto you?

The Holy Spirit poured out upon the prophet lamenting the misfortune of our frailty, which neither had rest in this life nor retained anything in the sudden encounter with death, that humanity would not rise again until the one came who did not patch the new onto the old nor put a new piece of cloth on an old garment; but rather made all things new, as he himself said: Behold, I make all things new. For he is the resurrection, he is the firstborn from the dead, in whom we have indeed received a foretaste of the future resurrection, yet he alone has already risen with eternal resurrection.
Ezekiel 18:4

Behold, all souls are mine; as the soul of the father, so also the soul of the son is mine: the soul that sinneth, it shall die.

There are three kinds of death. One is the death due to sin, concerning which it was written, the soul that sins shall itself die.” Another death is the mystical, when someone dies to sin and lives to God; concerning this the apostle likewise says, or we were buried with him by means of baptism into death. The third is the death by which we complete our lifespan with its functions—I mean the separation of the soul and body. Thus we perceive that the one death is an evil, if we die on account of sins, but the other, in which the deceased has been justified of sin, is a good, while the third stands in between, for it seems good to the just and fearful to most people; although it gives release to all, it gives pleasure to few.

DEATH AS A GOOD 2:3

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