TRV
Eusebius of Caesarea
Nicene & Post-Nicene · AD 325–500 · 393 passages across 39 books
Commentary
Psalms 118:22-23
The stone which the builders refused is become the head stone of the corner.
[Christ] ordained that the former law should stand till he came, and he was revealed as the originator of the second law of the new covenant preached to all nations, as being responsible for the law and influence of the two religions, I mean Judaism and Christianity. And it is wonderful that divine prophecy should accord:“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, choice, a cornerstone; precious, and he that believes on him shall not be ashamed.” Who could be the cornerstone but he, the living and precious stone who supports by his teaching two buildings and makes them one? For he set up the Mosaic building, which was to last till his day, and then fitted on to one side of it our building of the gospel. Hence he [Christ] is called the cornerstone. And it is said in the Psalms: “The stone that the builders refused, the same is become the head of the corner. This is of the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.” This oracle too indubitably indicates the Jewish conspiracy against the subject of the prophecy, how he has been set at naught by the builders of the old wall, meaning the scribes and Phar…
[Christ] ordained that the former law should stand till he came, and he was revealed as the originator of the second law of the new covenant preached to all nations, as being responsible for the law and influence of the two religions, I mean Judaism and Christianity. And it is wonderful that divine prophecy should accord:“Behold, I lay in Zion a stone, choice, a cornerstone; precious, and he that believes on him shall not be ashamed.”
Who could be the cornerstone but he, the living and precious stone who supports by his teaching two buildings and makes them one? For he set up the Mosaic building, which was to last till his day, and then fitted on to one side of it our building of the gospel. Hence he [Christ] is called the cornerstone. And it is said in the Psalms:
“The stone that the builders refused, the same is become the head of the corner. This is of the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
This oracle too indubitably indicates the Jewish conspiracy against the subject of the prophecy, how he has been set at naught by the builders of the old wall, meaning the scribes and Pharisees, the high priests and all the rulers of the Jews. And it prophesied that though he should be despised and cast out he would become the head of the corner, regarding him as the originator of a new covenant, according to the preceding proofs.
Who could be the cornerstone but he, the living and precious stone who supports by his teaching two buildings and makes them one? For he set up the Mosaic building, which was to last till his day, and then fitted on to one side of it our building of the gospel. Hence he [Christ] is called the cornerstone. And it is said in the Psalms:
“The stone that the builders refused, the same is become the head of the corner. This is of the Lord, and it is marvelous in our eyes.”
This oracle too indubitably indicates the Jewish conspiracy against the subject of the prophecy, how he has been set at naught by the builders of the old wall, meaning the scribes and Pharisees, the high priests and all the rulers of the Jews. And it prophesied that though he should be despised and cast out he would become the head of the corner, regarding him as the originator of a new covenant, according to the preceding proofs.
Psalms 144:5-7
Bow thy heavens, O LORD, and come down: touch the mountains, and they shall smoke.
I consider this to be connected with my present subject. For in his wonder at the knowledge of God the Word coming to people, the psalmist is astonished beyond measure at the love by which he descends from his divinity, and lessens his natural majesty and reckons the human race worthy of bearing him. So here he prays, saying, “Lord, bow the heavens and descend.” While in the seventeenth psalm [LXX] it is written, “And he bowed the heavens and descended, and it was dark under his feet. And he rode on cherubim and flew, he flew on the wings of the winds,” wherein there is a prophecy of his ascension from earth to heaven. And when there is a fit opportunity I will show that we must understand the descent and ascension of God the Word not as of one moving locally, but in the metaphorical sense that Scripture intends in the use of such conventional terms.
Psalms 146:3-6
Put not your trust in princes, nor in the son of man, in whom there is no help.
To these were added the sons of Maximin, with whom he had already shared imperial honors and whose features he had displayed publicly in portraits. Those who previously had boasted that they were related to the tyrant and tried to lord it over others endured the same sufferings and disgrace, for they did not accept correction or understand the precept in the sacred books:Put not your trust in princes,
In the sons of men who cannot save.
His breath shall depart and he shall return to his earth.
In that day all his thoughts shall perish.
When the impious were thus removed, the rule that belonged to them was preserved secure and undisputed for Constantine and Licinius alone. They had made it their priority to purge the world of hostility to God, and, acknowledging the blessings he had conferred on them, they showed their love of virtue and of God, their devotion and gratitude to the Deity, through their edict in behalf of the Christians.
In the sons of men who cannot save.
His breath shall depart and he shall return to his earth.
In that day all his thoughts shall perish.
When the impious were thus removed, the rule that belonged to them was preserved secure and undisputed for Constantine and Licinius alone. They had made it their priority to purge the world of hostility to God, and, acknowledging the blessings he had conferred on them, they showed their love of virtue and of God, their devotion and gratitude to the Deity, through their edict in behalf of the Christians.
Psalms 147:12-15
Praise the LORD, O Jerusalem; praise thy God, O Zion.
“He that sends his word on earth, until his word runs swiftly.” He that sends is evidently distinct from him that is sent. You have then, here, both the Sender, the almighty God, and also the Word that was sent, who having many names is called by the holy oracles now Wisdom, now Word, now God, and also Lord. And as you know how in a very short time the word of his teaching has filled the whole world, I am sure you will wonder at the fulfillment of the prophecy, “Till his word runs swiftly.”
Revelation 1:5
And from Jesus Christ, who is the faithful witness, and the first begotten of the dead, and the prince of the kings of the earth. Unto him that loved us, and washed us from our sins in his own blood,
They did not proclaim themselves witnesses, nor did they allow us to address them by this name. If any one of us, in letter or conversation, spoke of them as witnesses, they rebuked him sharply. For they conceded cheerfully the appellation of “Witness” to Christ “the faithful and true Witness,” “firstborn of the dead,” and prince of the life of God. They reminded us of the witnesses who had already departed, and said, “They are already witnesses whom Christ has deemed worthy to be taken up in their confession, having sealed their testimony by their departure. But we are lowly and humble confessors.”
Revelation 20:2
And he laid hold on the dragon, that old serpent, which is the Devil, and Satan, and bound him a thousand years,
St. Papias gives accounts which he says came to him through unwritten tradition...To these belong his statement that there will be a period of some thousand years after the resurrection of the dead, and that the kingdom of Christ will be set up in material form on this very earth. I suppose he got these ideas through a misunderstanding of the apostolic accounts, not perceiving that the things said by them were spoken mystically in figures. For he appears to have been of very limited understanding, as one can see from his discourses. But it was due to him that so many of the Church Fathers after him adopted a like opinion, urging in their own support the antiquity of the man; as for instance Irenæus and any one else that may have proclaimed similar views. (Church History 3.39.13)
Revelation 20:4-6
And I saw thrones, and they sat upon them, and judgment was given unto them: and I saw the souls of them that were beheaded for the witness of Jesus, and for the word of God, and which had not worshipped the beast, neither his image, neither had received his mark upon their foreheads, or in their hands; and they lived and reigned with Christ a thousand years.
To these belong his [Papias] statement that there will be a period of some thousand years after the resurrection of the dead, and that the kingdom of Christ will be set up in material form on this very earth. I suppose he got these ideas through a misunderstanding of the apostolic accounts, not perceiving that the things said by them were spoken mystically in figures.
For he appears to have been of very limited understanding, as one can see from his discourses. But it was due to him that so many of the Church Fathers after him adopted a like opinion, urging in their own support the antiquity of the man; as for instance Irenæus and any one else that may have proclaimed similar views.
For he appears to have been of very limited understanding, as one can see from his discourses. But it was due to him that so many of the Church Fathers after him adopted a like opinion, urging in their own support the antiquity of the man; as for instance Irenæus and any one else that may have proclaimed similar views.
Revelation 22:11
He that is unjust, let him be unjust still: and he which is filthy, let him be filthy still: and he that is righteous, let him be righteous still: and he that is holy, let him be holy still.
The blessed Blandina … rejoiced in her death as though she had been invited to a bridal banquet instead of being a victim of the beasts. After the scourges, the animals and the hot griddle, she was at last tossed into a net and exposed to a bull. After being tossed a good deal by the animal, she no longer perceived what was happening because of the hope and possession of all she believed in and because of her intimacy with Christ. Thus she too was offered in sacrifice.… But not even this was enough to satisfy their madness and their viciousness toward the Christians. For these wild and barbarous people once stirred up by the wild beast were difficult to satisfy, and their wickedness found another special form in what they did to the bodies of the dead. The [pagans] were not humiliated by their defeat, because they lacked human comprehension; rather, it enflamed their bestial anger, so that both the governor and the populace showed toward us the same undeserved hatred, that the Scriptures might be fulfilled: “Let the wicked be wicked and the righteous perform righteousness.”
Romans 5:12
Wherefore, as by one man sin entered into the world, and death by sin; and so death passed upon all men, for that all have sinned:
Since the apostle said: “By man death entered into the world,” it was surely essential that the victory over death should be achieved by man as well, and the body of death be shown to be the body of life, and the reign of sin that before ruled in the mortal body be destroyed so that it should no longer serve sin but righteousness.
Romans 8:3
For what the law could not do, in that it was weak through the flesh, God sending his own Son in the likeness of sinful flesh, and for sin, condemned sin in the flesh:
Because God has done what the law could not do, we reject Jewish customs on the ground that they were not meant for us and that it is impossible to accommodate them to the needs of the Gentiles, while we gladly accept that the Jewish prophecies contain predictions about ourselves.
Romans 11:5
Even so then at this present time also there is a remnant according to the election of grace.
The remnant of the Jews has proclaimed the sign of the Lord to all the Gentiles and has joined to God in one people, drawn to him, the souls of the Gentiles which are brought out of destruction to the knowledge of the Lord.
Song of Solomon 1:3
Because of the savour of thy good ointments thy name is as ointment poured forth, therefore do the virgins love thee.
And as we are examining his name, the seal of all we have said may be found in the oracle of Solomon the wisest of the wise, where he says in the Song of Songs: “Your name is as ointment poured forth.” Solomon, being supplied with divine wisdom, and thought worthy of more mystical revelations about Christ and his church, and speaking of him as heavenly bridegroom and her as bride, speaks as if to [Christ] and says, “Your name, O Bridegroom, is ointment,” and not simply ointment, but “ointment poured forth.” And what name could be more suggestive of ointment poured forth than the name of Christ? For there could be no Christ, and no name of Christ, unless ointment had been poured forth. And in what has gone before I have shown of what nature the ointment was with which Christ was anointed.
Zechariah 14:2
For I will gather all nations against Jerusalem to battle; and the city shall be taken, and the houses rifled, and the women ravished; and half of the city shall go forth into captivity, and the residue of the people shall not be cut off from the city.
And we can see this with our own eyes. For though many have afflicted the word of Christ and are even now contending with it, yet it is lifted above them and become stronger than them all. Yes, truly, the hand of Christ is raised against all that afflicted him, and all his enemies who from time to time rise up against his church are said to be “utterly destroyed.” The fulfillment of this also agrees with the passages quoted on the destruction of the whole Jewish race, which came on them after the coming of Christ. For Zechariah writes this prophecy after the return from Babylon, foretelling the final siege of the people by the Romans, through which the whole Jewish race was to become subject to their enemies. He says that only the remnant of the people shall be saved, exactly describing the apostles of our Savior.