Ammonius of Alexandria — Commentary on Scripture

Psalms 3:7

Arise, O LORD; save me, O my God: for thou hast smitten all mine enemies upon the cheek bone; thou hast broken the teeth of the ungodly.

He has struck his adversaries, he has broken the teeth of sinners; indeed, so that he may heal them again: “I will strike [he said], and again I will heal.” He has broken the teeth of sinners, or, in other words, the wicked words and carnal actions, because he desires to destroy them in the inmost parts. Perhaps he has called those same ones adversaries and sinners: since he has broken the teeth of all sinners who turned against Christ, but especially the Jews on account of unfaithfulness; those teeth about which in another psalm he says, “Those who devour my people as bread, and they do not call on the Lord.” He broke these teeth … when he arose from the dead.

Daniel 10:3

I ate no pleasant bread, neither came flesh nor wine in my mouth, neither did I anoint myself at all, till three whole weeks were fulfilled.

The prophet teaches us that fasting is a great virtue and so too is affliction with prayer. Through these things sometimes a person is deemed worthy even of visions.

Daniel 10:5

Then I lifted up mine eyes, and looked, and behold a certain man clothed in linen, whose loins were girded with fine gold of Uphaz:

[The Hebrew word] baddim means an intricately woven cloak, just as believers, whom Christ wears as a robe, are eminent in the weave of virtues. God puts on the faithful and girds them with the precious and pure gospel so that they might believe in the resurrection. For Orphaz means “pure.”

Daniel 10:8

Therefore I was left alone, and saw this great vision, and there remained no strength in me: for my comeliness was turned in me into corruption, and I retained no strength.

“I was left alone.” The unbelievers do not know Christ and flee, while the faithful will see him, since they are illuminated by him, even as faithful Daniel was.

Daniel 10:10

And, behold, an hand touched me, which set me upon my knees and upon the palms of my hands.

The hand indicates partial knowledge of the truth of the gospel. For Christ is the one who will raise the whole human race.

Daniel 10:16

And, behold, one like the similitude of the sons of men touched my lips: then I opened my mouth, and spake, and said unto him that stood before me, O my lord, by the vision my sorrows are turned upon me, and I have retained no strength.

“Like the Son of man.” He foresees the incarnation of the Only Begotten and calls him the Son of man, the one who was to be born of holy Mary and made human. “And my insides churned.” Since life is compared with a wheel, the one who lives among the saints, that is, the soul being directed in this life, ought to leave behind the evils here below and ought to bring up good things, that is, good deeds, from the earthly realm to the sublime and heavenly.

Daniel 10:18

Then there came again and touched me one like the appearance of a man, and he strengthened me,

When the strength of our life fails and we leave behind all earthly glory, so that we are no longer strong in it, then we receive the power from God, as Christ stretches out his hand upon us and says, “Be bold and strong.”

Daniel 10:20

Then said he, Knowest thou wherefore I come unto thee? and now will I return to fight with the prince of Persia: and when I am gone forth, lo, the prince of Grecia shall come.

Each nation has a guardian angel over them, so that they may not be harmed by the demons.… Therefore, the prince of the Greeks was also in the presence of God so that he himself heard the prophecies that were spoken concerning Alexander and those after him who would rule the world.

Daniel 13:63

This is the text of the story, but an allegory can also be drawn from the letter. Hilkiah in fact means “alteration of God” or “praise of God.” Susanna means “their praise” or “apostolic lily.” Joakim, “disposition of the Lord” or “praise of the Lord.” Daniel, “judgment of God” and “God is judge.” When, therefore, the joy of the souls of the church, who are pleasing to God—that is, the apostolic lily, the sweet-smelling flower, the spiritual aroma, the daughter of Hilkiah who learned from her parents to act according to the tradition of the prophets (who are the food and the inheritance of Israel)—unites with Christ, the spiritual spouse, who is Joakim, the spiritual spouse of the church—the one who prepares for the faithful the goods of the world to come, announcing the kingdom of heaven and making them participants of the Holy Spirit (who is worthy of praise forever, amen)—then the godless judges of the people will suddenly arise. If, however, they cannot corrupt her soul with forbidden dogma, killing it (this is in fact the death of the soul), then they give the body over to the s…

This is the text of the story, but an allegory can also be drawn from the letter. Hilkiah in fact means “alteration of God” or “praise of God.” Susanna means “their praise” or “apostolic lily.” Joakim, “disposition of the Lord” or “praise of the Lord.” Daniel, “judgment of God” and “God is judge.” When, therefore, the joy of the souls of the church, who are pleasing to God—that is, the apostolic lily, the sweet-smelling flower, the spiritual aroma, the daughter of Hilkiah who learned from her parents to act according to the tradition of the prophets (who are the food and the inheritance of Israel)—unites with Christ, the spiritual spouse, who is Joakim, the spiritual spouse of the church—the one who prepares for the faithful the goods of the world to come, announcing the kingdom of heaven and making them participants of the Holy Spirit (who is worthy of praise forever, amen)—then the godless judges of the people will suddenly arise. If, however, they cannot corrupt her soul with forbidden dogma, killing it (this is in fact the death of the soul), then they give the body over to the senseless, unreasoning mob to be sacrificed. And if God permits the suffering of the spouse, he places the crown of martyrdom on her. And if instead he frees her from the hands of her enemies, then also he honors her, keeping her near himself. Those who plot against her are in any case condemned to Gehenna by God’s just judgment, pronounced over them by Daniel, whose name is translated “judgment of God.” The old men have no name, like the rich man spoken of by Luke, who did not pity Lazarus’s sores.

John 1:14

And the Word was made flesh, and dwelt among us, (and we beheld his glory, the glory as of the only begotten of the Father,) full of grace and truth.

How did we behold his glory? We beheld it through the star of the magi, the angels, the shepherds, Anna, Simeon, Gabriel, the miraculous birth of the Virgin, the voice of the Father who witnessed to him, the Spirit descending upon him and many other divine signs and healings.

John 1:50-51

Jesus answered and said unto him, Because I said unto thee, I saw thee under the fig tree, believest thou? thou shalt see greater things than these.

Sometimes our Savior said “amen” once, at other times twice, when he wished to confirm what he was saying. This is a Hebrew manner of speaking, revealing that which was taking place, such as that “you have been found trustworthy” so as to see “the heavens opened,” and so on. He says that it is possible to see the heavens opened not in a manner open to the senses but only by a mind observing the angels coming to serve Jesus. The word amen is used instead of “really and truthfully” and is more fitting here.

John 2:4

Jesus saith unto her, Woman, what have I to do with thee? mine hour is not yet come.

He chides his mother for having importunely reminded God, who has no need to be reminded of anything. It is as if he had said, “Do not regard me only as a man but also as God. Not yet has the time of my manifestation come. Not as yet is it known who I am.”

John 3:6

That which is born of the flesh is flesh; and that which is born of the Spirit is spirit.

As God the Father is Spirit and as God the Son is Spirit, therefore our God and Father begets by the Spirit the one who is Son and God. Therefore Christ is of one substance with the Father according to his divine nature and of one substance with his mother according to his flesh. The one and the same Christ is from both, unchangeably and without confusion [of the two natures]. But according to what is now canonically held concerning the Logos of the Lord, our minds too are then to be transformed by Christ to be completely conformed to that which is spiritual.

John 3:8

The wind bloweth where it listeth, and thou hearest the sound thereof, but canst not tell whence it cometh, and whither it goeth: so is every one that is born of the Spirit.

One hears the voice of the Spirit through the prophets.

John 3:34

For he whom God hath sent speaketh the words of God: for God giveth not the Spirit by measure unto him.

As the fount of the Spirit, [Christ] imparts him. He is speaking of the working of the Spirit, which people receive in some measure. For the Son himself has the full working of the Spirit in its entirety. Truly, the Son has the entire Spirit in essence and not in some measure, as a created being might have. Therefore, he himself imparts the Spirit, and by their petitions the saints make Christ supply the Spirit.

John 3:35

The Father loveth the Son, and hath given all things into his hand.

The Father loves the world too, but not in the same way as he loves the Son, whom he loves exceedingly because of his incarnation as his own Word and Wisdom and Holiness. [His giving all things over to his Son] will be fulfilled at the time of his second coming when “every knee will bow to him,” as everyone rejects the evil to which they are now clinging. Here he calls his power his “hand.” The Son has this power by nature and not just to a certain degree. That is because every good thing really belongs to the Father and the Son is perceived to have this full power. And he will also receive as a man the authority which he had also had before his incarnation.

John 8:12

Then spake Jesus again unto them, saying, I am the light of the world: he that followeth me shall not walk in darkness, but shall have the light of life.

He called himself “the light,” not because “the light is in me”—lest someone split the one Christ into a duality of Sons. Christ, the Son, is one, both before the flesh and after the flesh. He is in truth the one and only Son of God the Father even when he became man since he did not partially embrace the human nature. For his body is his own, and it is blasphemy to divide Christ after his incarnation into two sons or into two beings.

John 8:55

Yet ye have not known him; but I know him: and if I should say, I know him not, I shall be a liar like unto you: but I know him, and keep his saying.

For the Son not only knows the Father fully and by nature but indeed even knows the Trinity.

John 9:6

When he had thus spoken, he spat on the ground, and made clay of the spittle, and he anointed the eyes of the blind man with the clay,

He spat on the ground and made mud out of the saliva and he daubed the mud onto the eyes of the blind man. He wanted to show with the mud that he himself is the one who made Adam from the earth. His statement that “I am the one doing this” seemed to make his hearer hostile to him. But have shown himself to be the one through this work that he did—this, finally, did not give offense. Therefore, he fashioned eyes in that way rather than simply healing them. And he did not only make the eyes or open them but also graced them with the ability to see. This is positive proof that he had also breathed a soul into Adam. For he would never have seen, even if the eye had been completed, unless that life-giving spirit that breathed into Adam was at work.

John 12:31

Now is the judgment of this world: now shall the prince of this world be cast out.

As if in a court of law, it is said to the devil, “Granted, you have killed everyone else in the human race because they were sinners. But why did you kill the Lord?” The time of sojourning on earth is the “judgment of the world,” since Christ is about to justify humanity and to remove the arrogance of the devil. The judgment he speaks of here then is not the condemnation of the human race. Rather, Christ’s death justifies all humanity against the devil, who is the one who is under judgment because he had wronged the world.