Apollinaris of Laodicea — Commentary on Scripture

Daniel 9:24-27

Seventy weeks are determined upon thy people and upon thy holy city, to finish the transgression, and to make an end of sins, and to make reconciliation for iniquity, and to bring in everlasting righteousness, and to seal up the vision and prophecy, and to anoint the most Holy.

On the other hand Apollinarius of Laodicea in his investigation of the problem breaks away from the stream of the past and directs his longing desires towards the future, very unsafely venturing an opinion concerning matters so obscure. And if by any chance those of future generations should not see these predictions of his fulfilled at the time he set, then they will be forced to seek for some other solution and to convict the teacher himself of erroneous interpretation. And so, in order to avoid the appearance of slandering a man as having made a statement he never made, he makes the following assertion - and I translate him word for word: "To the period of four hundred and ninety years the wicked deeds are to be confined as well as all the crimes which shall ensue from those deeds. After these shall come the times of blessing, and the world is to be reconciled unto God at the advent of Christ, His Son. For from the coming forth of the Word, when Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, to the forty-ninth year, that is, the end of the seven weeks, waited for Israel to repent. Thereafter…

On the other hand Apollinarius of Laodicea in his investigation of the problem breaks away from the stream of the past and directs his longing desires towards the future, very unsafely venturing an opinion concerning matters so obscure. And if by any chance those of future generations should not see these predictions of his fulfilled at the time he set, then they will be forced to seek for some other solution and to convict the teacher himself of erroneous interpretation. And so, in order to avoid the appearance of slandering a man as having made a statement he never made, he makes the following assertion - and I translate him word for word: "To the period of four hundred and ninety years the wicked deeds are to be confined as well as all the crimes which shall ensue from those deeds. After these shall come the times of blessing, and the world is to be reconciled unto God at the advent of Christ, His Son. For from the coming forth of the Word, when Christ was born of the Virgin Mary, to the forty-ninth year, that is, the end of the seven weeks, waited for Israel to repent. Thereafter, indeed, from the eighth year of Claudius Caesar onward, the Romans took up arms against the Jews. For it was in His thirtieth year, according to the Evangelist Luke, that the Lord incarnate began His preaching of the Gospel (Luke 1). According to the Evangelist John (John 2 and 11), Christ completed two years over a period of three passovers. The years of Tiberius' reign from that point onward are to be reckoned at six; then there were the four years of the reign of Gaius Caesar, surnamed Caligula, and eight more years in the reign of Claudius. This makes a total of forty-nine years, or the equivalent of seven weeks of years. But when four hundred thirty-four years shall have elapsed after that date, that is to say, the sixty-two weeks, then Jerusalem and the Temple shall be rebuilt during three and a half years within the final week, beginning with the advent of Elias, who according to the dictum of our Lord and Savior (Luke 1) is going to come and turn back the hearts of the fathers towards their children. And then the Antichrist shall come, and according to the Apostle he is going to sit in the temple of God (II Thess. 2) and be slain by the breath of our Lord and Savior after he has waged war against the saints. And thus it shall come to pass that the middle of the week shall mark the confirmation of God's covenant with the saints, and the middle of the week in turn shall mark the issuing of the decree under the authority of Antichrist that no more sacrifices be offered. For the Antichrist shall set up the abomination of desolation, that is, an idol or statue of his own god, within the Temple. Then shall ensue the final devastation and the condemnation of the Jewish people, who after their rejection of Christ's truth shall embrace the lie of the Antichrist." Moreover this same Apollinarius asserts that he conceived this idea about the proper dating from the fact that Africanus, the author of the <i>Tempora</i>... affirms that the final week will occur at the end of the world. Yet, says Apollinarius, it is impossible that periods so linked together be wrenched apart, but rather the time-segments must all be joined together in conformity with Daniel's prophecy.

Matthew 5:6

Blessed are they which do hunger and thirst after righteousness: for they shall be filled.

When Luke mentions these blessed ones, he calls them simply those “who hunger.” But Matthew here defines them as those who willingly and from a longing for the good abstain from fleshly pleasures. Both of them speak in a similar way. Whoever longs for the righteousness of God has found what is truly desirable. But the yearning for righteousness is not satisfied by analogy to the appetite alone. For brotherhood in justice is desired not merely as food. That is only half the total picture. But now he has also represented this yearning as analogous to thirst for something to drink. By the passion of thirst he intends to indicate the heat and burning of intense longing. He says that such a person “will be filled.” But such fulfillment does not produce a turning away but rather an intensification of the desire.

Matthew 5:8

Blessed are the pure in heart: for they shall see God.

He calls “pure of heart” here those who have acquired virtue in general. Showing the inadequacy of what he had said before, he adds “for they shall see God.” Why then is it said that “no one has seen God at any time”? We maintain that he is seen and understood by reason. Either we may see God through the holy Scriptures with the eyes of the understanding, or again, through the wisdom visible in the universe it is possible to see, in a conjectural sort of way, him who made it. God is seen in the same way that in objects made by human beings, the maker of a given work is, after a certain manner, seen by the intellect. But what is seen is not the nature of the artificer but only his or her artistic skill. So also, whoever sees God by looking at the creation gains an impression not of the essence but of the wisdom of the One who has made all things. Therefore the Lord tells the truth when proclaiming that God is seen by the pure in heart, while at the same time the Scripture does not lie when it asserts that God has not been seen nor can be seen.

Matthew 5:29

And if thy right eye offend thee, pluck it out, and cast it from thee: for it is profitable for thee that one of thy members should perish, and not that thy whole body should be cast into hell.

He speaks about the numbers of the body but employs hyperbole. It is not that one should literally “cut off one’s members.” Rather, one is called to mortify them and render them useless for sin, as the apostle has said. One should not spare even things thought most necessary, if through them any bad activity threatens to occur.

Matthew 8:17

That it might be fulfilled which was spoken by Esaias the prophet, saying, Himself took our infirmities, and bare our sicknesses.

In this saying Isaiah pointed toward the cross. But why was this saying employed by the Evangelist at this point when he was speaking of his healings? This was to show that it was not in his activity alone but in his passion, his willingness to suffer, that Christ became the source of healing to humanity. By the indignities he endured and by his own death he prepared life for all humanity. He subdued those who were evilly disposed against themselves.

Matthew 10:29

Are not two sparrows sold for a farthing? and one of them shall not fall on the ground without your Father.

However, you must know that the story of the sparrows is figurative, since foresight in matters like these makes no difference at all to God. As the apostle said, “Is it for oxen that God is concerned?” It is for the sake of humanity that he has foresight of sparrows, which he gives to us for our use. The “penny” is symbolic of something seemingly worthless.

Matthew 10:32

Whosoever therefore shall confess me before men, him will I confess also before my Father which is in heaven.

The prize is superior insofar as it comes from God. It is not the same thing to acknowledge in a human manner and to be acknowledged in God’s manner.… The believer then must acknowledge God with both heart and mouth. “For one believes with one’s heart and so is justified, and one confesses with his one’s lips and so is saved.”

Matthew 10:34

Think not that I am come to send peace on earth: I came not to send peace, but a sword.

The unbelievers’ disagreement with the believers will produce a distinction. Now since the unbelievers think that peacemaking is their proper duty, they say, “Do not believe that it is best under all circumstances to be saved, for you owe it as a duty to be at peace with all.” But there are some who are preparing for battle against our peace, and you should not let their false peace rule. For the only true concord is according to God … and this above all is peace.

Matthew 11:14

And if ye will receive it, this is Elias, which was for to come.

He called John Elijah because of Elijah’s power and spirit. And since this statement of Jesus was obscure, he left the understanding of it for those capable of perceiving its meaning. But the angel Gabriel also said this about John: “And he shall go before him in the spirit and power of Elijah,” showing that he was the same as Elijah, even if, as a visible human being, he was other than Elijah.

Matthew 11:30

For my yoke is easy, and my burden is light.

If the yoke is easy and the burden light, why did he call “the way” “narrow”? It is narrow to the careless, for to the zealous the Lord’s tasks are light. For even if they involve bodily suffering for a little while, yet the one who is now nourished with good hopes is the devout one who easily bears these pains.

Matthew 12:19

He shall not strive, nor cry; neither shall any man hear his voice in the streets.

Those who teach “in the streets” do this, not for the sake of helping anyone but out of egotism and to hoodwink the gullible. The result of this is that everyone views them with suspicion and they fail to reach the goal of their teaching. Thus the Savior taught us these lessons not only by word. His way of life also taught us not to scream nor to show off but to lead a public life in respect to virtuous actions. For a talkative disposition would be most harmful for us. It is the opposite that is most useful and beneficial.

Matthew 12:28

But if I cast out devils by the Spirit of God, then the kingdom of God is come unto you.

Again, his ability “to cast out demons” in the Spirit was something which, as man, he had been made able to do, according to the divine economy. And if the work of the Spirit is the kingdom of God, we should in no way regard the Spirit as something added to the Godhead, as if brought in from the servile creation in order to prepare for the divine kingdom.

Matthew 12:46-48

While he yet talked to the people, behold, his mother and his brethren stood without, desiring to speak with him.

That “his brothers” did not yet believe in him we learn from John, while from Mark we have also heard something else: for his own family tried to lay hands on him, as though he were beside himself. On account of their frame of mind, the Lord does not often mention them as his own family. He points instead to those who are obedient. To believers he applies all the terms of family relationship, those, namely, who had been joined to him in the kindred fellowship of obedience. Even if temporarily he had a quarrel with Mary, as Simeon had foretold when he had said “a sword shall pierce through your own soul,” she overcame these things, as was fitting, and the Lord graciously made mention of her at his passion and entrusted her to the beloved disciple.

Matthew 17:5

While he yet spake, behold, a bright cloud overshadowed them: and behold a voice out of the cloud, which said, This is my beloved Son, in whom I am well pleased; hear ye him.

The Father is evidently revealing the Son when the ringing voice from heaven bursts forth so loudly. Through it he reveals to everyone the testimony coming from above. One must not think that the voice of God is audible. Nor can one perceive a bodiless being. Just as no one has ever seen God, so no one has ever heard God. The words “listen to him” have the power of making a necessary distinction. For he says listen to him, rather than to Moses or the prophet who had been introduced, because it was now time to go forward and advance from the introduction to the fulfillment, from the prefiguration to the true reality.

Matthew 17:24

And when they were come to Capernaum, they that received tribute money came to Peter, and said, Doth not your master pay tribute?

This tax of the half-shekel was the law, defined by Moses, who said, “Each will give as redemption of his soul to the Lord, a half shekel.” The Jews collected this from everyone, and the half-shekel was paid as redemption for two souls according to the law. The rich man was not demanded more, nor the poor man less. The half-shekel is sacred, intimating nothing else than the true divine-human Mediator, since everything foreshadowed this. The true redemption was the Lord who had the Father in himself, since his nature is divine. The giving of the half-shekel is a symbol of his self-giving, and the shekel is for the redeemed soul. No one is allowed to pay more than the half, not even if he is rich. Thus it is said, “For in him all the fullness of God was pleased to dwell,” that is, all the fullness of divinity, which is offered in his mediatorial work on the cross, abides in his dual nature as God-man. The richness of his divinity and the poverty of his humanity are fully integrated in one person. The half-shekel is interpreted here as his divinity, under question by the tax collectors.

Matthew 17:27

Notwithstanding, lest we should offend them, go thou to the sea, and cast an hook, and take up the fish that first cometh up; and when thou hast opened his mouth, thou shalt find a piece of money: that take, and give unto them for me and thee.

He establishes himself as lord and master of the sea, of the things in it and of all the elements, as the true Son of God the Father. For this fish provides a type of the church: once [it was] held by the brine of faithlessness and superstition, submerged in the depths of the sea and swamped by the storms and distress of worldly pleasures. But now [it is] raised up by the apostles’ hook of teaching and the fishing nets of the Word to the knowledge of God, of him “who calls us from darkness to his amazing light.”

Matthew 18:14

Even so it is not the will of your Father which is in heaven, that one of these little ones should perish.

The sheep that became lost is the sinner lost from the flock of a hundred. This could refer to the number of the heavenly powers. These powers are capable of speech and reasoning. The one sheep is counted as being among the flock, a part of a great number, as if among “a hundred sheep.” His wandering is the consequence of Adam’s fall. He is searched for. He is of like nature to those who stay at God’s side. He is necessary for their full complement, so that the shepherd may not be deficient and wanting. The summing up of what Paul calls “the whole in Christ” involves the regaining of the deficient part, since the composition of the whole in Christ is not complete because of the deficient and absent one.

Matthew 18:34

And his lord was wroth, and delivered him to the tormentors, till he should pay all that was due unto him.

When they do not tolerate our wickedness, our fellow servants are angels who accuse us before God. They do not accuse to God as to one who does not know of our sins but because of their anger at those who break the laws of human love. By “jailers” he means the angels entrusted with our punishment. “Till he should pay all his debts” means in effect that he has handed him over to be punished for all time. For he could never pay it back. For when he corrects a person in the present life, God hands him over to bonds, sickness and tortures, but in the future he hands him over to anguish without remission for all time. He did not say, “So also will your Father do to you,” but “my Father.” For such people are unworthy to be called sons of God. So the parable describes in summary the indescribable love of God. Anyone who does not imitate this love as far as he can will suffer severe punishment from the just Judge. Even though it has been said, “Not to be regretted are God’s blessings,” yet wickedness is so strong that it blocks out these words. So the story demands two things of us: to remem…

When they do not tolerate our wickedness, our fellow servants are angels who accuse us before God. They do not accuse to God as to one who does not know of our sins but because of their anger at those who break the laws of human love. By “jailers” he means the angels entrusted with our punishment. “Till he should pay all his debts” means in effect that he has handed him over to be punished for all time. For he could never pay it back. For when he corrects a person in the present life, God hands him over to bonds, sickness and tortures, but in the future he hands him over to anguish without remission for all time. He did not say, “So also will your Father do to you,” but “my Father.” For such people are unworthy to be called sons of God. So the parable describes in summary the indescribable love of God. Anyone who does not imitate this love as far as he can will suffer severe punishment from the just Judge. Even though it has been said, “Not to be regretted are God’s blessings,” yet wickedness is so strong that it blocks out these words. So the story demands two things of us: to remember our own faults and not to bear a grudge on one who stumbles.

Matthew 19:9

And I say unto you, Whosoever shall put away his wife, except it be for fornication, and shall marry another, committeth adultery: and whoso marrieth her which is put away doth commit adultery.

To commit adultery is to have relations with a woman who is not one’s proper spouse. A man commits adultery if he brings another woman in, instead of the one to whom he was lawfully bound. The law forbade obvious adultery, which is when another man seduces the woman in the house. But the Savior includes also that adultery that has not become known to everyone or that has not been proven as having occurred physically, because it is still adultery. Moreover, Christ agrees that the unfaithful wife has rebelled because she herself has destroyed the natural yoking and is no longer treated as a wife by her husband.

Matthew 19:15

And he laid his hands on them, and departed thence.

Only the wickedness and corruption of the creature stands in the way of our approaching the Creator. Lack of wisdom should not prevent it. He seeks completeness, and your approach is welcome to him for this completeness. Therefore the words “For to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” are accurate. He did not say “of these” but “to such,” since lack of wisdom is a property of children. For the same reason the apostle said, “Do not be children in your thinking; be babes in evil.” And Mark also examines the cause, speaking and interpreting as follows: “To such belongs the kingdom of heaven” and “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Luke also said the same as Matthew above: “Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” For those qualities which the child has by nature, God wishes us to have by choice: simplicity, forgetfulness of wrongs done to us, love of our parents, even if struck by them. He laid his hands on the children because the laying on of hands signifies the arming of God’s…

Only the wickedness and corruption of the creature stands in the way of our approaching the Creator. Lack of wisdom should not prevent it. He seeks completeness, and your approach is welcome to him for this completeness. Therefore the words “For to such belongs the kingdom of heaven” are accurate. He did not say “of these” but “to such,” since lack of wisdom is a property of children. For the same reason the apostle said, “Do not be children in your thinking; be babes in evil.” And Mark also examines the cause, speaking and interpreting as follows: “To such belongs the kingdom of heaven” and “Truly I say to you, whoever does not receive the kingdom of God like a child shall not enter it.” Luke also said the same as Matthew above: “Whoever humbles himself like this child, he is the greatest in the kingdom of heaven.” For those qualities which the child has by nature, God wishes us to have by choice: simplicity, forgetfulness of wrongs done to us, love of our parents, even if struck by them. He laid his hands on the children because the laying on of hands signifies the arming of God’s power.