Primasius of Hadrumetum

This is what [Daniel] says when he talks about the seventy weeks: “Seventy weeks will be for the rebuilding of Jerusalem and sixty-two weeks until Christ the prince. After the sixty-two weeks the Christ will be killed, and he will have nothing. And a people with their leader will come and destroy the city and the sanctuary.” A little later: “He will confirm a covenant with many for a week, and in the middle of the week the offering and sacrifice will fail, and there will be an abomination of desolation.” Since these things must be understood to refer to Christ’s first coming, in which those things were done and also received their outcome, nonetheless that portion after the division of the weeks (which he had distributed in a rather secret manner of heavenly inspiration, first making mention of seven, then sixty-two, finally one, which he also divided into two parts), that is, the final week is aptly applied to the end of the first coming of Christ and to the beginning of his second coming. To state it more clearly, I think that it necessarily must apply to both comings in an interpretation that applies harmoniously to both. For after seven and sixty-two weeks the Christ would come and be killed, and he would reprove those who killed him, just as it was said that the same people will not be his. And as for his confirming a covenant with many during one week, one would rightly understand that all the words of the Old Testament and the actions that foretold by type the Christ’s coming have been fulfilled by the truth of his presence, who is the end of the law. Nonetheless, I think that the intention of this week most aptly pertains to the end of the world, since I hear soon thereafter, “And in half a week offering and sacrifice will come to an end.”

They will not hunger because they will feed upon living bread, for he said, “I am the living bread which came down from heaven.” Neither will they thirst, because they will drink from a cup so splendid as to enact in them the truth he spoke: “Whoever believes in me will never thirst”; and again: “Whoever drinks from the water I give him will receive in himself a fountain of water springing up to eternal life.” Neither will the sun strike them, nor will they be burned by the deadly fire of its heat. God made a similar promise to his church through Isaiah, saying that he would be “a shelter from the storm, a shade from the heat.” Here he declares the purity of his sacraments to thrive in his own and that none of them will be oppressed by the heat of temptation. “For the Lamb in the midst of the throne governs them.” Previously it had said that the Lamb seated on the throne received the scroll, but now it says that the Lamb in the midst of the throne governs them. It does so to teach that there is one throne for the Father and for the Son, since the Father is in the Son and the Son is in the Father, that is, in the midst of the church, which the one, whole, triune God inhabits through faith.

“The one who endures to the end will be saved.” By still referring to this the text goes on reading: “On either side of the river is the tree of life with its twelve kinds of fruit, producing its fruit each month; and the leaves of the tree are for the healing of the nations. Nothing accursed will be found there anymore.” In the twelve months he suggests the idea of all times and designates eternity. Therefore where there is eternal greenness, no aridity will ever be allowed to exist. Where there is perfect and sound health, no infirmity is ever admitted, and also the prophet promises this by saying, “They shall obtain joy and gladness, and sorrow and sighing shall flee away.” “The tree” is the one that we read to be “planted by streams of water,” about which also Jeremiah says “that it sends out its roots by the stream,” that is, places its hope and confidence in the Lord. In another sense the river of the water of life is recognized to signify rightly the fountain itself of life, that is, the Lord Jesus Christ, about whom we read, “For with you is the fountain of life; in your light we see light.”

“Behold, the devil is about to throw some of you into prison, that you may be tested, and for ten days you will have tribulation.” These words are fitting for the universal church, against whom the devil is always waging war with unavoidable hostilities. And for this reason the course of the present life is signified by the ten days, since in the Decalogue there exists in brief form a summary of the law. For here are the required divine commandments where there is need for continence. For this reason also the Lord said, “Agree with your accuser,” that is, the law, “while you are with him in the way of this age.” In this way he indicates the entire time when, with the law instructing you, there is conflict against the manifold allurements of desire, so that when the five physical senses are subdued through the grace of God, victory is achieved. And when duplicated on account of the twofold sexes, the five senses become ten.I also think that the ten days may be interpreted as the total course of this life in which there will never fail to be a threefold temptation for the faithful. For “the life of man upon the earth is a trial,” and this is so as the seven days pass by and continue to pass by until the whole time of the present life is unfolded. The devil was permitted to bring this temptation even upon our Lord Jesus Christ as the head of the church. This spiritual battle of the church of Christ is further indicated in the figure of a woman who is in struggle. For the Lord said to the serpent, “I will put enmity between you and the woman. She will watch your head, and you will lie in wait for her heel.” It is, therefore, clearly recognized that in this age, which is completed in the course of seven days, the church of Christ is subjected to various trials. These receive their most powerful and principal expression in the three sins, in the passion of fleshly desire and the unrestrained gluttony of forbidden excesses.
The enemy attempted to deceive the Lord by way of bread, as though he were a second Adam, since he had given the first Adam a draught of death when he persuaded him to taste what was forbidden to humankind. And so by rendering the first Adam a captive to the belly, he intended to bind him in addiction also to other desires of the flesh. And the enemy was also allowed to attack the Lord with the temptation to vainglory when he exhorted him to throw himself headlong from the pinnacle of the temple, adding the witness of the psalm which says, “He has given his angels charge over you” and the following. And just as the enemy had deceived the first man with the suggestion, “You shall be like gods knowing good and evil,” so he exhorted the Lord to throw himself down incautiously out of the desire to display the deity which he had laid aside. And the enemy tempts also a third time through which it is indicated that greed for the glory of earthly kingdoms and the pomp of worldly wealth must be condemned. When this threefold temptation is added to the times of this life, which are indicated by the seven days, the number ten is fulfilled, and for this reason it is said, “for ten days you will have tribulation.”

In this passage we recognize persons of nobility in the world, whom he says are neither hot nor cold but lukewarm, because, although they possess an abundance of wealth, they are empty of works of piety, nor are they inflamed by any feeling of compassion toward good works. They are therefore [considered] as poor, said to be neither cold nor hot, for they abound in riches which they use tepidly and so become sluggish, and by not sharing those riches with the needy are rightly regarded as lacking in the desire for good works. But this passage may also refer to those persons who interpret the Scriptures in private while outside it is not known whether they are faithful and being confident in their literary knowledge, they are found to be empty of works.… Now they may purchase gold for themselves, of which he says, “Receive wisdom as gold and knowledge like chosen silver.” And, should they be able to derive something from the sources of the divine Scriptures, as though illumined by the light of wisdom; they might perfect it by works themselves, either the former enkindled by the depths of piety through the largess of their wealth, or the latter informed spiritually through their knowledge of the Scriptures.