Lucius Caecilius Firmianus Lactantius — Commentary on Scripture

Numbers 24:17

I shall see him, but not now: I shall behold him, but not nigh: there shall come a Star out of Jacob, and a Sceptre shall rise out of Israel, and shall smite the corners of Moab, and destroy all the children of Sheth.

Moses himself [wrote] in the book of Numbers: “There shall come a star out of Jacob, and a man shall arise out of Israel.” For this cause, therefore, being God, he took upon him flesh, that, becoming a mediator between God and man, having overcome death, he might by his guidance lead man to God.

Joshua 1:1-2

Now after the death of Moses the servant of the LORD it came to pass, that the LORD spake unto Joshua the son of Nun, Moses' minister, saying,

For the prophet does not speak this way: “And the Lord said to me,” but to Jesus [Joshua], in order to show that he was not speaking of himself but of Christ to whom God was then speaking. For that Jesus [Joshua] was a figure of Christ. Although he was first called Hoshea, Moses, foreseeing the future, ordered him to be called Joshua (or Jesus), so that, since he was selected leader of the soldiery against Amalek who was attacking the children of Israel, he might overcome the adversary through the figure of his name and lead the people into the land of promise. And for this reason also he succeeded Moses, to show that the new law given through Jesus Christ would succeed the old law which was given through Moses.

Joshua 5:2-3

At that time the LORD said unto Joshua, Make thee sharp knives, and circumcise again the children of Israel the second time.

Also Moses himself: “In the last days the Lord God will circumcise your heart that you may love the Lord your God.” And in like manner in Jesus [Joshua], the son of Nun, the successor of Moses, we note: “And the Lord said to Jesus [Joshua]: Make for yourself knives of stone exceedingly sharp and sit and circumcise a second time the children of Israel.” He said that this second circumcision would not be of the flesh as was the first, which the Jews still practice, but of the heart and spirit, which Christ, who was the true Jesus, gave.

1 Samuel 16:1

And the LORD said unto Samuel, How long wilt thou mourn for Saul, seeing I have rejected him from reigning over Israel? fill thine horn with oil, and go, I will send thee to Jesse the Bethlehemite: for I have provided me a king among his sons.

The Jews had before been directed to compose a sacred oil, with which those who were called to the priesthood or to the kingdom might be anointed. And as now the robe of purple is a sign of the assumption of royal dignity among the Romans, so with them the anointing with the holy oil conferred the title and power of king. But since the ancient Greeks used the word chriesthai to express the art of anointing, which they now express by anleiphesthai, as the verse of Homer shows, “But the attendants washed, and anointed them with oil”; on this account we call him Christ, that is, the Anointed, who in Hebrew is called the Messiah.

1 Kings 9:7-9

Then will I cut off Israel out of the land which I have given them; and this house, which I have hallowed for my name, will I cast out of my sight; and Israel shall be a proverb and a byword among all people:

After a short time the emperor Vespasian subdued the Jews and laid waste their lands with the sword and fire, besieged and reduced them by famine, overthrew Jerusalem, led the captives in triumph and prohibited the others who were left from ever returning to their native land. And these things were done by God on account of that crucifixion of Christ, as he before declared this to Solomon in their Scriptures, saying, “And Israel shall be for perdition and a reproach to the people, and this house shall be desolate; and every one that shall pass by shall be astonished, and shall say, ‘Why has God done these evils to this land, and to this house?’ And they shall say, ‘Because they forsook the Lord their God and persecuted their King, who was dearly beloved by God, and crucified him with great degradation; therefore has God brought on them these evils.’ ” For what would they not deserve who put to death their Lord, who had come for their salvation?

Psalms 4:4

Stand in awe, and sin not: commune with your own heart upon your bed, and be still. Selah.

When he enjoined us to be angry and yet not to sin, it is plain that he did not tear up anger by the roots but restrained it, that in every correction we might preserve moderation and justice.… For he has enjoined those things that are just and useful for the interests of society.

Isaiah 7:14

Therefore the Lord himself shall give you a sign; Behold, a virgin shall conceive, and bear a son, and shall call his name Immanuel.

He [God] was with us on the earth, when he assumed flesh; and he was no less God in man, and man in God. That he was both God and man was declared before by the prophets.

Isaiah 19:20 · 2 passages

And it shall be for a sign and for a witness unto the LORD of hosts in the land of Egypt: for they shall cry unto the LORD because of the oppressors, and he shall send them a saviour, and a great one, and he shall deliver them.

That he was both God and man was declared before by the prophets. That he was God, Isaiah thus declares, “They shall fall down before you, they shall make supplication to you, since God is in you, and we knew it not, even the God of Israel. They shall be ashamed and confounded, all of them who oppose themselves to you, and shall go unto confusion.” … Likewise that he was man … Isaiah also thus speaks, “and the Lord shall send them a man who shall save them, and with judgment shall he heal them.”

He was called “Christ” from the anointing. Then, that the same one was a human being Jeremiah shows, saying, “And he is man, and who has known him?” And Isaiah, “And the Lord shall send them a man, who shall save them, and judging them he will heal them.”

Isaiah 42:6

I the LORD have called thee in righteousness, and will hold thine hand, and will keep thee, and give thee for a covenant of the people, for a light of the Gentiles;

Since, therefore, we were as though blind before, and when we sat as though enclosed by the prison house of foolishness in the darkness, not knowing God and his truth, we were enlightened by him who adopted us by his gracious treatment (his will in our favor). And when he had freed us as from evils and bonds and brought us into the light of wisdom, he recognized us as the heirs of his heavenly kingdom.

Jeremiah 1:5

Before I formed thee in the belly I knew thee; and before thou camest forth out of the womb I sanctified thee, and I ordained thee a prophet unto the nations.

In the first place we testify that he was born twice: first, in the spirit, later in the flesh. It is said in Jeremiah, “Before I formed you in the womb I knew you.” And again, “who was blessed before he was born,” which happened to no other besides Christ.

Jeremiah 2:13

For my people have committed two evils; they have forsaken me the fountain of living waters, and hewed them out cisterns, broken cisterns, that can hold no water.

But since many heresies have existed and the people of God have been torn apart at the instigation of demons, the truth must be briefly exposed by us and placed in its own peculiar dwelling place, so that if any one shall desire to draw the water of life, he may not be born to broken cisterns that hold no water but may know the abundant fountain of God. Watered by this fountain, he may enjoy perpetual light.

Jeremiah 8:6-7

I hearkened and heard, but they spake not aright: no man repented him of his wickedness, saying, What have I done? every one turned to his course, as the horse rusheth into the battle.

Jeremiah also says, in like manner: “The turtle and the swallow have known her time, and the sparrows of the field have observed the times of their coming, but my people have not known the judgment of the Lord. How do you say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? The meting out is in vain. The scribes are deceived and confounded. The wise men are dismayed and taken, for they have rejected the word of the Lord.” Therefore (as I had begun to say), when God had determined to send to people a teacher of righteousness, he commanded him to be born again a second time in the flesh and to be made in the likeness of humankind himself, to whom he was about to be a guide, and companion and teacher. But since God is kind and merciful to his people, he sent him to those very persons whom he hated, that he might not close the way of salvation against them forever but might give them a free opportunity of following God, that they might both gain the reward of life if they should follow him (which many of them do and have done) and incur the penalty of death by their fault if they should…

Jeremiah also says, in like manner: “The turtle and the swallow have known her time, and the sparrows of the field have observed the times of their coming, but my people have not known the judgment of the Lord. How do you say, We are wise, and the law of the Lord is with us? The meting out is in vain. The scribes are deceived and confounded. The wise men are dismayed and taken, for they have rejected the word of the Lord.” Therefore (as I had begun to say), when God had determined to send to people a teacher of righteousness, he commanded him to be born again a second time in the flesh and to be made in the likeness of humankind himself, to whom he was about to be a guide, and companion and teacher. But since God is kind and merciful to his people, he sent him to those very persons whom he hated, that he might not close the way of salvation against them forever but might give them a free opportunity of following God, that they might both gain the reward of life if they should follow him (which many of them do and have done) and incur the penalty of death by their fault if they should reject their King.

Jeremiah 11:18-19

And the LORD hath given me knowledge of it, and I know it: then thou shewedst me their doings.

Jeremiah, too, said, “Show me, O Lord, and I shall know. Then I saw their plots. And I was carried as a meek lamb to be the victim. They devised counsels against me, saying, ‘Let us put wood on his bread and cut him off from the land of the living, and his name shall be remembered no more.’ ” Now the wood signifies the cross and the bread his body, because he is himself the food and life of all who believe in the flesh that he put on and by which he hung on the cross.

Jeremiah 12:7-8 · 2 passages

I have forsaken mine house, I have left mine heritage; I have given the dearly beloved of my soul into the hand of her enemies.

Now that the Jews were disinherited, because they rejected Christ, and that we, who are of the Gentiles, were adopted into their place is proved by the Scriptures. Jeremiah thus speaks, “I have forsaken my house. I have given my heritage into the hands of its enemies. My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. It has given forth its voice against me; therefore have I hated it.”

As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things … “I have forsaken my house, I have given up my heritage into the hand of its enemies. My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. It has cried out against me, therefore have I hated it.” Since the inheritance is his heavenly kingdom, it is evident that he does not say that he hates the inheritance itself, but the heirs, who have been ungrateful toward him and impious. “My heritage,” he says, “has become to me as a lion,” that is, I have become prey and something to devour to my heirs, who have slaughtered me as a sheep. “It cried out against me,” that is, they have pronounced against me the sentence of death and the cross. For that which he said … that he would make a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament that was given by Moses was not perfect, but that that which was to be given by Christ would be complete. But it is plain that the house of Judah does not signify the Jews, whom he casts off, but us, who have been called by him out of the Gentiles and have by adoption, succeeded to th…

As the prophet Jeremiah testifies when he speaks such things … “I have forsaken my house, I have given up my heritage into the hand of its enemies. My heritage has become to me as a lion in the forest. It has cried out against me, therefore have I hated it.” Since the inheritance is his heavenly kingdom, it is evident that he does not say that he hates the inheritance itself, but the heirs, who have been ungrateful toward him and impious. “My heritage,” he says, “has become to me as a lion,” that is, I have become prey and something to devour to my heirs, who have slaughtered me as a sheep. “It cried out against me,” that is, they have pronounced against me the sentence of death and the cross. For that which he said … that he would make a new testament to the house of Judah, shows that the old testament that was given by Moses was not perfect, but that that which was to be given by Christ would be complete. But it is plain that the house of Judah does not signify the Jews, whom he casts off, but us, who have been called by him out of the Gentiles and have by adoption, succeeded to their place, and are called children.

Jeremiah 15:9

She that hath borne seven languisheth: she hath given up the ghost; her sun is gone down while it was yet day: she hath been ashamed and confounded: and the residue of them will I deliver to the sword before their enemies, saith the LORD.

What more can now be said respecting the crime of the Jews, than that they were then blinded and seized with incurable madness, who read these things daily and yet neither understood them nor were able to be on their guard so as not to do them? Therefore, being lifted up and nailed to the cross, Jesus cried to the Lord with a loud voice and of his own accord gave up his spirit. At the same hour there was an earthquake. The veil of the temple, which separated the two tabernacles, was torn into two parts. The sun suddenly withdrew its light, and there was darkness from the sixth even to the ninth hour. Of this event the prophet Amos testifies, “And it shall come to pass in that day, says the Lord that the sun shall go down at noon, and the daylight shall be darkened. I will turn your feasts into mourning and your songs into lamentation.” Also Jeremiah: “She who brings forth is afraid and vexed in spirit. Her sun is gone down while it was yet noon. She has been ashamed and confounded. The residue of them will I give to the sword in the sight of their enemies.”

Jeremiah 17:9

The heart is deceitful above all things, and desperately wicked: who can know it?

David also said in the forty-fourth psalm, “Your throne, O God, is forever and ever. The scepter of your kingdom is a scepter of uprightness. You have loved righteousness. You have hated wickedness. Therefore God, your God, has anointed you with the oil of gladness.” By this word he also shows his name, since (as I have shown above) he has called Christ from his anointing. Then, that he was also man, Jeremiah teaches, saying, “And he is a man, and who shall know him?” Also Isaiah: “And God shall send to them a man who shall save them, shall save them by judging.”

Jeremiah 25:3-7

From the thirteenth year of Josiah the son of Amon king of Judah, even unto this day, that is the three and twentieth year, the word of the LORD hath come unto me, and I have spoken unto you, rising early and speaking; but ye have not hearkened.

When the Jews often resisted wholesome precepts and departed from the divine law, going astray to the impious worship of false gods, then God filled just and chosen men with the Holy Spirit, appointing them as prophets in the midst of the people, by whom he might rebuke with threatening words the sins of the ungrateful people and nevertheless exhort them to repent of their wickedness. Unless they did this and, laying aside their vanities, returned to their God, it would come to pass that he would change his covenant, that is, bestow the inheritance of eternal life on foreign nations and collect to himself a more faithful people out of those who were aliens by birth. But they, when rebuked by the prophets, not only rejected their words but, being offended because they were scolded for their sins, killed the prophets with calculated tortures. All these things are sealed up and preserved in the sacred writings. For the prophet Jeremiah says, “I have sent to you my servants, the prophets. I sent them before light, and you hearkened not to me nor inclined your ears to hear when I said to…

When the Jews often resisted wholesome precepts and departed from the divine law, going astray to the impious worship of false gods, then God filled just and chosen men with the Holy Spirit, appointing them as prophets in the midst of the people, by whom he might rebuke with threatening words the sins of the ungrateful people and nevertheless exhort them to repent of their wickedness. Unless they did this and, laying aside their vanities, returned to their God, it would come to pass that he would change his covenant, that is, bestow the inheritance of eternal life on foreign nations and collect to himself a more faithful people out of those who were aliens by birth. But they, when rebuked by the prophets, not only rejected their words but, being offended because they were scolded for their sins, killed the prophets with calculated tortures. All these things are sealed up and preserved in the sacred writings. For the prophet Jeremiah says, “I have sent to you my servants, the prophets. I sent them before light, and you hearkened not to me nor inclined your ears to hear when I said to you, ‘Return, you, every one from this evil way and from your wicked devices, and you shall dwell in that land that I have given to you and to your ancestors forever and ever. Do not go after strange gods to serve them, and do not provoke me to wrath by the works of your hands for afflicting you.’ ”

Daniel 12:2

And many of them that sleep in the dust of the earth shall awake, some to everlasting life, and some to shame and everlasting contempt.

This sentiment set forth by Cicero … “if the soul will be in a state of vigor without the body, it is a divine life; and if it is without perception, assuredly that is not bad,” is clever … but false. For the sacred writings teach that the soul is not annihilated but that it is either rewarded according to its righteousness or eternally punished according to its crimes.