Eusebius of Caesarea — Commentary on Scripture

Be ye mindful always of his covenant; the word which he commanded to a thousand generations;

As it has been supposed by some that the book of Psalms merely consists of hymns to God and sacred songs and that we shall look in vain in it for predictions and prophecies of the future, let us realize distinctly that it contains many prophecies, far too many to be quoted now, and it must suffice for proof of what Isaiah to make use of two psalms ascribed to Asaph, written in the time of David. For Asaph was one of the temple musicians then, as is stated in the book of Chronicles, and was inspired by the divine Spirit to speak the psalms inscribed with his name.

1 Chronicles 17:11-13

And it shall come to pass, when thy days be expired that thou must go to be with thy fathers, that I will raise up thy seed after thee, which shall be of thy sons; and I will establish his kingdom.

There is no doubt that Solomon was the son of David and his successor in the kingdom. And he first built the temple of God at Jerusalem, and perhaps the Jews understand him to be the subject of the prophecy. But we may fairly ask them whether the oracle applies to Solomon, which says, “And I will set up his throne for ever,” and also where God swore with the affirmation of an oath by his holy one, “The throne of him that is foretold shall be as the sun and the days of heaven.” For if the years of the reign of Solomon are reckoned, they will be found to be forty and no more. Even if the reigns of all his successors are added up, they do not altogether come to 500 years. And even if we suppose that their line continued down to the final attack on the Jewish nation by the Romans, how can they fulfill a prophecy which says, “Your throne shall remain for ever, and be as the sun and the days of heaven”? And the words, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son,” how can they refer to Solomon? For his history tells us much about him that is foreign and opposed to the adoption o…

There is no doubt that Solomon was the son of David and his successor in the kingdom. And he first built the temple of God at Jerusalem, and perhaps the Jews understand him to be the subject of the prophecy. But we may fairly ask them whether the oracle applies to Solomon, which says, “And I will set up his throne for ever,” and also where God swore with the affirmation of an oath by his holy one, “The throne of him that is foretold shall be as the sun and the days of heaven.” For if the years of the reign of Solomon are reckoned, they will be found to be forty and no more. Even if the reigns of all his successors are added up, they do not altogether come to 500 years. And even if we suppose that their line continued down to the final attack on the Jewish nation by the Romans, how can they fulfill a prophecy which says, “Your throne shall remain for ever, and be as the sun and the days of heaven”? And the words, “I will be to him a father, and he shall be to me a son,” how can they refer to Solomon? For his history tells us much about him that is foreign and opposed to the adoption of God. No. Hear the indictment against him: “And Solomon loved women, and took many strange wives, even the daughter of Pharaoh, Moabites, Ammonites, and Idumaeans, Syrians and Chatteans, and Amorites, from the nations of whom the Lord said to the children of Israel, that they should not go in to them.”And in addition to this: “And his heart was not right with the Lord his God, as was the heart of David his father; and Solomon went after Astarte, the abomination of the Sidonians and after their king, the idol of the sons of Ammon. And Solomon did evil before the Lord.” And again further on he adds, “And the Lord raised Satan against Solomon, Ader the Idumaean.” Now who would venture to call God his father, who lay under such grievous charges, and to call himself the firstborn son of the God of the Universe? Or how could these sayings apply first to David, if you reflect. Therefore we require someone else, here revealed to arise from the seed of David. But there was no other born of him, as is recorded, save only our Lord and Savior Jesus the Christ of God, who alone of the kings of David’s line is called through the whole world the Son of David according to his earthly birth, and whose kingdom continues and will continue, lasting for endless time. It is attacked by many, but always by its divine superhuman power proves itself inspired and invincible as the prophecy foretold.

1 Chronicles 22:9

Behold, a son shall be born to thee, who shall be a man of rest; and I will give him rest from all his enemies round about: for his name shall be Solomon, and I will give peace and quietness unto Israel in his days.

This [passage quoted, 1 Kings 8:26-27] is also found in the same words in Chronicles. God then promised David he would raise up a king from his body and would be his father, so that the offspring of the seed of David should be called the Son of God and should have his throne in an eternal kingdom. This was prophesied to David by Nathan in the Second Book of Kings. … The same is also said in Chronicles, and in the 88th [89th] Psalm. … And so Solomon, being unique in wisdom, understanding this oracle given to his father, and perceiving it to be no slight thing, but something beyond human nature, and more suitable to God than to himself, son of David though he was, and knowing who was meant by God by the Firstborn, and who was clearly foretold as the Son of God, was overjoyed at the message and prayed that the words of the prophecy might be confirmed and that he who was foretold might come, calling him Firstborn and Son of God.

1 Peter 1:1

Peter, an apostle of Jesus Christ, to the strangers scattered throughout Pontus, Galatia, Cappadocia, Asia, and Bithynia,

Peter seems to have preached in Pontus, Galatia, Bithynia, Cappadocia and Asia to the Jews of the dispersion, and afterwards, having come to Rome, he was crucified head downwards, for he himself had asked to suffer so.

1 Peter 1:24

For all flesh is as grass, and all the glory of man as the flower of grass. The grass withereth, and the flower thereof falleth away:

This is the nature of all flesh, and the portrait of a man made from clay, I mean someone who loves his own body and lives according to the flesh. Like the grass of the field and like beautiful flowers he will soon wither and die.

1 Peter 2:24

Who his own self bare our sins in his own body on the tree, that we, being dead to sins, should live unto righteousness: by whose stripes ye were healed.

He bore the blows and wounds in his body, he was beaten and scourged and thrashed, his head was bruised with a reed. But his wounds became our saviors, for “by his stripes we are healed.” For who are we, but those who were once deceived and who did not recognize him, nor were we aware of who he was?

1 Peter 3:18-19

For Christ also hath once suffered for sins, the just for the unjust, that he might bring us to God, being put to death in the flesh, but quickened by the Spirit:

But tomorrow assemble for me all your citizens, and I will preach in their presence and sow among them the word of God, concerning the coming of Jesus, how he was born; and concerning his mission, for what purpose he was sent by the Father; and concerning the power of his works, and the mysteries which he proclaimed in the world, and by what power he did these things; and concerning his new preaching, and his abasement and humiliation, and how he humbled himself, and died and debased his divinity and was crucified, and descended into Hades, and burst the bars which from eternity had not been broken, and raised the dead; for he descended alone, but rose with many, and thus ascended to his Father.

1 Peter 4:6

For for this cause was the gospel preached also to them that are dead, that they might be judged according to men in the flesh, but live according to God in the spirit.

But tomorrow assemble for me all your citizens, and I will preach in their presence and sow among them the word of God, concerning the coming of Jesus, how he was born; and concerning his mission, for what purpose he was sent by the Father; and concerning the power of his works, and the mysteries which he proclaimed in the world, and by what power he did these things; and concerning his new preaching, and his abasement and humiliation, and how he humbled himself, and died and debased his divinity and was crucified, and descended into Hades, and burst the bars which from eternity had not been broken, and raised the dead; for he descended alone, but rose with many, and thus ascended to his Father.

1 Peter 5:13 · 2 passages

The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, saluteth you; and so doth Marcus my son.

Peter mentions Mark in his first epistle, which they say he composed in Rome itself, and they say that he indicates this by referring to the city metaphorically as Babylon.

And thus when the divine word had made its home among them, the power of Simon was quenched and immediately destroyed, together with the man himself. And so greatly did the splendor of piety illumine the minds of Peter's hearers that they were not satisfied with hearing once only, and were not content with the unwritten teaching of the divine Gospel, but with all sorts of entreaties they besought Mark, a follower of Peter, and the one whose Gospel is extant, that he would leave them a written monument of the doctrine which had been orally communicated to them. Nor did they cease until they had prevailed with the man, and had thus become the occasion of the written Gospel which bears the name of Mark. And they say that Peter — when he had learned, through a revelation of the Spirit, of that which had been done — was pleased with the zeal of the men, and that the work obtained the sanction of his authority for the purpose of being used in the churches. Clement in the eighth book of his Hypotyposes gives this account, and with him agrees the bishop of Hierapolis named Papias. And Peter…

And thus when the divine word had made its home among them, the power of Simon was quenched and immediately destroyed, together with the man himself. And so greatly did the splendor of piety illumine the minds of Peter's hearers that they were not satisfied with hearing once only, and were not content with the unwritten teaching of the divine Gospel, but with all sorts of entreaties they besought Mark, a follower of Peter, and the one whose Gospel is extant, that he would leave them a written monument of the doctrine which had been orally communicated to them. Nor did they cease until they had prevailed with the man, and had thus become the occasion of the written Gospel which bears the name of Mark.

And they say that Peter — when he had learned, through a revelation of the Spirit, of that which had been done — was pleased with the zeal of the men, and that the work obtained the sanction of his authority for the purpose of being used in the churches. Clement in the eighth book of his Hypotyposes gives this account, and with him agrees the bishop of Hierapolis named Papias. And Peter makes mention of Mark in his first epistle which they say that he wrote in Rome itself, as is indicated by him, when he calls the city, by a figure, Babylon, as he does in the following words: "The church that is at Babylon, elected together with you, salutes you; and so does Marcus my son." [1 Peter 5:13]

1 Samuel 2:10

The adversaries of the LORD shall be broken to pieces; out of heaven shall he thunder upon them: the LORD shall judge the ends of the earth; and he shall give strength unto his king, and exalt the horn of his anointed.

These words refer to the return of Christ or to the return of God to heaven. His teaching [will be] heard like thunder by all, and holy Scripture foretells his future judgment of all afterwards. And after this it is said that the Lord will give strength to our kings. And these would be the apostles of Christ, of whom it is written in Psalm 67: “The Lord will give a word to the preachers of the gospel with much power.” Here, also, he mentions Christ by name, humanly known as our Savior, whose horn he says shall be exalted, meaning his invisible power and kingdom. For it is usual for Scripture to call a kingdom a “horn.” It is found also in Psalm 88: “And in my name shall his horn be exalted.”

1 Timothy 1:3

As I besought thee to abide still at Ephesus, when I went into Macedonia, that thou mightest charge some that they teach no other doctrine,

Paul’s fellow workers and fellow soldiers, as he himself called them, numbered many thousands, the majority of whom he considered worthy of an everlasting memorial, for he has made his testimony to them enduring in his own letters. Moreover, Luke also, as he lists those known to him, makes mention of them by name. So Timothy is recorded as the first one called to oversee the church of Ephesus, just as Titus was for the churches in Crete.

1 Timothy 1:9

Knowing this, that the law is not made for a righteous man, but for the lawless and disobedient, for the ungodly and for sinners, for unholy and profane, for murderers of fathers and murderers of mothers, for manslayers,

You see here that he distinguishes two covenants, the old and the new, and says that the new would not be like the old which was given to the fathers. For the old covenant was given as a law to the Jews, when they had fallen from the religion of their forefathers, and had embraced the manners and life of the Egyptians, and had declined to the errors of polytheism and the idolatrous superstitions of the Gentiles. It was intended to raise up the fallen, and to set on their feet those who were lying on their faces, by suitable teaching. “For the law, it is said, is not for the righteous, but for the unjust and disorderly, for the unrighteous and sinners, and for those like them.”

1 Timothy 6:20

O Timothy, keep that which is committed to thy trust, avoiding profane and vain babblings, and oppositions of science falsely so called:

Besides this, the same man [Hegesippus], when relating the events of these times, adds that until then the church had remained a pure and undefiled virgin, since those who attempted to corrupt the sound rule of the Savior’s preaching, if any did exist, until then lurked somewhere in obscure darkness. But when the sacred band of the apostles had received an end of life in various ways, and the generation of those who were deemed worthy to hear the divine wisdom with their own ears had passed away, then the league of godless error took its beginnings because of the deceit of heretical teachers who, since none of the apostles still remained, attempted henceforth barefacedly to proclaim in opposition to the preaching of truth “the knowledge falsely so-called.”

2 Chronicles 26:16-23

But when he was strong, his heart was lifted up to his destruction: for he transgressed against the LORD his God, and went into the temple of the LORD to burn incense upon the altar of incense.

Uzziah is described as at first having been righteous, and then it is related that he was lifted up in mind and dared to offer sacrifice to God himself, and his face became leprous in consequence. But Josephus carefully studied the additional comments of the expounders as well, and a Hebrew of the Hebrews as he was, hear his description of the events of those times. He tells: “Though the priests urged Uzziah to go out of the temple and not to break the law of God, he angrily threatened them with death unless they held their peace. And meanwhile an earthquake shook the earth, and a bright light shone through a breach in the temple and struck the king’s face, so that at once it became leprous. And before the city at the place called Eroga, the western half of the Mount was split asunder and rolling four stadia stopped at the eastern mountain, so as to block up the royal approach and gardens.” This I take from the work of Josephus on Jewish antiquities. And I found in the beginning of the prophet Amos the statement that he began to prophecy “in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, two yea…

Uzziah is described as at first having been righteous, and then it is related that he was lifted up in mind and dared to offer sacrifice to God himself, and his face became leprous in consequence. But Josephus carefully studied the additional comments of the expounders as well, and a Hebrew of the Hebrews as he was, hear his description of the events of those times. He tells: “Though the priests urged Uzziah to go out of the temple and not to break the law of God, he angrily threatened them with death unless they held their peace. And meanwhile an earthquake shook the earth, and a bright light shone through a breach in the temple and struck the king’s face, so that at once it became leprous. And before the city at the place called Eroga, the western half of the Mount was split asunder and rolling four stadia stopped at the eastern mountain, so as to block up the royal approach and gardens.” This I take from the work of Josephus on Jewish antiquities. And I found in the beginning of the prophet Amos the statement that he began to prophecy “in the days of Uzziah, king of Judah, two years before the earthquake.” What earthquake he does not clearly say. But I think the same prophet further on suggests this earthquake when he says, “I saw the Lord standing on the altar. And he said, Strike the altar, and the doors shall be shaken, and strike the heads of all, and the remnant I will slay with the sword.”Here I understand a prediction of the earthquake, and of the destruction of the ancient solemnities of the Jewish race and of the worship practiced by them in Jerusalem, the ruin that should overtake them after the coming of our Savior, when, since they rejected the Christ of God, the true High Priest, leprosy infected their souls, as in the days of Uzziah, when the Lord himself standing on the altar gave leave to him that struck, saying, “Strike the altar.”

2 Corinthians 2:14

Now thanks be unto God, which always causeth us to triumph in Christ, and maketh manifest the savour of his knowledge by us in every place.

A whole band of soldiers, Ammon and Zeno and Ptolemy and Ingenuus, and with them an old man Theophilus, had taken their stand before the tribunal. When a certain man was being tried as a Christian and was inclined toward denying the faith, they, standing by, gnashed their teeth, and made signs with their faces, and stretched out their hands and gestured with their bodies. When the attention of all was directed toward them, before any could otherwise seize them, they rushed up first to the bench, saying that they were Christians, so that the governor and his assessors became fearful. Those who were being tried appeared most courageous in the face of what they were about to suffer, while their judges were afraid. And these paraded from the court and rejoiced in their testimony, as God “led them in triumph gloriously.”

2 Corinthians 5:21

For he hath made him to be sin for us, who knew no sin; that we might be made the righteousness of God in him.

And he, since he understood at once his Father’s divine counsel, and because he discerned better than any other why he was forsaken by the Father, humbled himself even more. He embraced death for us with all willingness and “became a curse for us,” holy and all-blessed though he was.… “He that knew no sin, became sin, that we might become the righteousness of God in him.” Yet more—to wash away our sins he was crucified, suffering what we who were sinful should have suffered, as our sacrifice and ransom, so that we may well say with the prophet, he bears our sins and is pained for us, and he was wounded for our sins and bruised for our iniquities, so that by his stripes we might be healed, for the Lord has given him for our sins. So, as delivered up by the Father, as bruised, as bearing our sins, he was led as a sheep to the slaughter.

2 Peter 3:5

For this they willingly are ignorant of, that by the word of God the heavens were of old, and the earth standing out of the water and in the water:

“In the beginning you, O Lord, laid the foundation of the earth, and the heavens are the works of your hands,” said the psalmist. If you did not know from the beginning, O Lord, who laid the foundation of the earth, and if the heavens were not the work of your hands, it would be impossible for them to be changed or to be transformed into anything else. If they had not been created, they would have to remain incomplete forever. But since you were their maker, you can do whatever you want to with them. They are made of destructible matter and did not exist at all until you made them by your will and power. There is only one that is eternal and can never be removed and that is you, the only maker of everything that exists.

2 Timothy 4:6

For I am now ready to be offered, and the time of my departure is at hand.

He did not add next something like “he will deliver me out of the mouth of the lion,” for he saw in the spirit that his death was all but at hand. So he adds to his words, “And I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.” He says: “The Lord will deliver me from every evil work and will preserve me unto his heavenly kingdom,” indicating his speedy martyrdom, which he foretells even more clearly in the same writing, when he says, “For I am even now ready to be sacrificed, and the time of my dissolution is at hand.”

2 Timothy 4:17

Notwithstanding the Lord stood with me, and strengthened me; that by me the preaching might be fully known, and that all the Gentiles might hear: and I was delivered out of the mouth of the lion.

Story has it that the apostle, after defending himself, was again sent upon the ministry of preaching and coming a second time to the same city met death by martyrdom under Nero. While he was being held in prison, he composed the second epistle to Timothy, at the same time indicating that his first defense had taken place and that martyrdom was at hand.