RULE OF THE FOUR GOSPELS

praef. MATTHEW, observing the rule of righteousness, starts by listing Christ’s origin from Abraham. He is the father of faith and to him, as a faithful believer, it was reckoned as righteousness? Matthew therefore follows the order of righteousness. For example, he says: Whoever receives a righteous person in the name of a righteous person ^[5] will receive the reward of the righteous.² Because Matthew shows Christ’s origin, the Gospel according to Matthew is the face of a human from the four living creatures shown first by Ezekiel and later in the Apocalypse of John.³

Matheus regulam iustitiae tenens incipit ab Abraham originem enumerare, qui est ^praef. pater fidei cuique ex fide credenti aestimatum est ad iustitiam. Sequitur ergo ^2v Matheus ordinem iustitiae. Dicit denique: Qui receperit iustum in nomine iusti, merce-dem iusti accipiet. Et quia originem ostendit Matheus, est evangelium secundum ⁵ Matheum facies hominis de quattuor animalibus ab Ezechiel prius et postea in Apocalypsi Iohannis ^*ostensis.

Luke,⁴ observing the rule of law, starts his account from the priesthood of Zechariah. He also mentions the fatted calf slaughtered for joy at the return of the prodigal son, namely ^[lo] the younger one who received from his father a robe and a ring (...) and ordered to dine .⁵ The Gospel according to Luke is the face of a calf, plainly from those four indicated living creatures, as it was mentioned above.

Lucanus regulam tenens legis incipit enarrare a sacerdotio Zachariae. Facit etiam mentionem vituli illius saginati interfecti pro gaudio fili prodigi advenientis, id est iunioris, qui accepit a patre stolam et anulum (...) epulari etiam iussit. Est ¹⁰ evangelium secundum Lucanum facies vituli de quattuor scilicet animalibus, ut supra dictum est, demonstrat(is).

Mark, observing the rule of prophecy, starts as follows: As is it written in Isaiah the prophet: Behold, I send my angel before your face.⁶ The Gospel according to Mark is therefore the face of an eagle, which is the likeness of the Holy Spirit. The prophets, when filled with this, prophesied continually.

Marcus regulam tenens prophetiae sic incipit: Sicut scriptum est in Eseia prophe-ta: Ecce mitto angelum meum ante faciem tuam. Est ergo evangelium secundum ^3r Marcum facies aquilae, quae habet similitudinem spiritus sancti, quo adinpleti ¹⁵ prophetae sine cessatione prophetabant.

John, observing the rule of the beginning of the Son of God himself, Jesus Christ, our Lord and God, therefore starts as follows: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. The Gospel according to John is therefore the face of a lion from among those four indicated living creatures, as it was mentioned above. But why of a lion? Just as the lion achieved dominion among all beasts and wild animals, so our Lord is also called the lion of Judah in Jacob’s blessing.⁸ It is not inappropriate that the evangelist John is likened to a lion and has his figure from the four indicated living creatures, as it was mentioned above. For he starts to explain the origin of the Word from the beginning, and says that this Word was God and that the same Word was made human: And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us,⁹ namely our Saviour Christ, whom Isaiah had said would be conceived by a virgin and called Emmanuel, which is translated ‘God with us .¹⁰ Father and God (...) in the beginning with the same God the Father through whom all things were made.

Iohannis regulam tenens principii ipsius fili dei Iesu Christi domini et dei nostri incipit ergo sic: In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud deum et deus erat verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud deum. Est ergo evangelium secundum Iohannem facies leonis, ut superius dictum est, de inde demonstratis quattuor animalibus. ²⁰ Quare autem leonis? Sicuti leo in omnibus beluis ac feris obtinuit principatum, sic dominus noster leo etiam ab Iacob in benedictione dictus est Iudae. Non inmerito Iohannis evangelista ex quattuor animalibus, ut supra dictum (est), demonstratis leoni adsimulatur vel habet figuram: A principio etenim originem verbi incipit ^3v exponere, quod verbum deum dicit (et) eundem verbum hominem factum. Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis, id est salvator noster Christus, de quo et Eseias dixerat concipi per virginem et dici Emmanuel, quod interpretatur ‘Nobiscum deus’. Pater et deus (...) in principio apud eundem deum patrem, per quem facta sunt omnia.

The Gospels also preserve the scheme of history. For in the first place was righteousness, as was said concerning Abraham. It has already been shown above that Matthew observes this rule, who drew his beginning from righteousness, that is, from Abraham. After righteousness (that is, after Abraham), the Law was given to Moses, and this Law is put in second place: Luke observes this rule, as it was said, and starts from priesthood.

³⁰ Nam et rerum gestarum rationem evangelia servant: Primo enim iustitia fuit, ut dictum est de Abraham. Quam regulam Matheum tenere ostensum iam superius est, qui initium a iustitia, id est ab Abraham, sortitus est. Post iustitiam, id est post Abraham, lex tradita est Moysi, quaeque lex secundo loco ponitur. Quam regulam, sicuti dictum est, tenens ^*Lucanus a sacerdotio incipit.

After the Law given to Moses, ^[35] prophecy is put in third place, the scheme of the rule which Mark followed. Indeed, it is because of the fact that prophecy is put in third place that Mark alone, in accordance with the style of the scheme he had begun, recorded that the Lord suffered at the third hour.¹¹ After prophecy, in fourth place, the coming of our Lord Jesus Christ was proclaimed by John. For John, in order to show what the Saviour was before he received human form and the way in which he took on human form, speaks as follows, ^[40] as was already said above: In the beginning was the Word, and the Word was with God, and the Word was God. This was in the beginning with God. All things were made through him and without him was made nothing.¹²

Post legem datam Moysi ³⁵ tertio loco prophetia ponitur, cuius regulae ratione(m) Marcus prosecutus est. Denique ab eo, quod tertio loco prophetia ponatur, iuxta stilum coeptae rationis hora tertia passum dominum solus Marcus conscripsit. Post prophetiam loco quarto adventus domini nostri Iesu Christi per Iohannem declaratus est. Sic enim dicit, ut ostendat, quid, priusquam hominem acciperet, fuerit salvator, et quatenus hominem^4r induerit, ut iam superius dictum est: In principio erat verbum et verbum erat apud deum et deus erat verbum. Hoc erat in principio apud deum. Omnia per ipsum facta sunt et sine ipso factum est nihil.

And what follows? And the Word was made flesh and dwelt among us and we saw his glory, glory as of the only-begotten sent from the Father.¹³ The coming of our Lord Jesus Christ, whom John calls both God and the Word of God, is thus in fourth place. The angel Gabriel therefore carried him down into the womb of the Virgin Mary, that he should form himself as a human in her womb and so that the prophecy should be fulfilled in which Isaiah says: The Lord himself will give a sign. What sign? A virgin will conceive in her womb and bear a son and he will be called Emmanue1.¹⁴ This, then, is the meaning of The Word was made flesh and dwelt among us: Emmanuel, that is ‘God with us’. Through this Word, therefore, that is through the Son who evidently came forth inexpressibly from the heart of the Father before all ages, ^[5o] that is through our Lord Jesus Christ did the almighty Father accomplish everything. For Scripture shows this in the character of the Father speaking to the Son: Let us make man. And God made man: to the image of God he made him.¹⁵

Et quid sequitur? Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis et vidimus gloriam eius, gloriam quasi unigeniti missi a patre. Est ergo quarto loco adventus domini nostri Iesu Christi, quem Iohannis et deum et dei⁴⁵ verbum dicit. Hunc igitur Gabriel angelus in uterum detulit virginis Mariae, ut hominem sibi in utero ipse figuraret, ut prophetia Eseiae inpleretur dicentis: Ipse dominus dabit (signum). Quod signum? Virgo concipiet in utero et pariet (filium et vocabitur) Emmanuel. Hoc est ergo verbum caro factum (est) et habitavit in nobis: Emmanuel, id est ‘Nobiscum deus’. Per hunc igitur verbum, id est per filium, quem ante omnia saecula inenarrabiliter de corde patris processisse manifestum est, id est ⁵⁰ per dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, pater omnipotens cuncta ^*perfecit. Nam sic ostendit scriptura ex persona patris ad filium: Faciamus hominem. Et fecit deus hominem, ad imaginem dei fecit illum.

It was therefore shown long ago in figures that there would be four Gospels. For example, Scripture states in Genesis: A spring comes out of Eden to water paradise, and from there it is divided into four sources.¹⁶ That spring, then, is our Lord Jesus Christ, from whom come four rivers, meaning the four Gospels. As the evangelist John says: From his stomach will flow rivers of living water.¹⁷

Quattuor ergo futura evangelia olim in ^*figuris ostensum est. Denique in Genesi scriptura declarat: Fons autem procedit ex ^*Edem inrigare paradisum et inde dividitur ⁵⁵ in quattuor initia. Fons ergo iste est dominus noster Iesus Christus, de quo exeunt ^4v quattuor flumina, id est quattuor evangelia, sicut dicit Iohannis evangelista: Flumina de ventre eius fluent aquae vivae.

JOHN. The name of one river is Fison, which flows around the land of Evilat.¹⁸ That land has ^[60] fine gold, and there is ruby and emerald there.¹⁹ Fine gold demonstrates a royal appearance; the Magi too offer gold as to a king, among other gifts. Ruby is understood as the Holy Spirit, which our Lord Jesus Christ gave to the apostles after his Resurrection, saying Receive the Holy Spirit, and he breathed into them:²⁰ Fison, therefore, comes from the breathing, because fisa in Greek means ‘to breathe’. None of the ^[65] evangelists speaks of the spirit given through breathing except John alone, who is the figure of the river Fison. Emerald is the figure of baptism because of its colour: it was thus needful that the figure of the Holy Spirit too should not be lacking, as baptism is necessary.

IOHANNIS. Unius fluminis nomen est Fison, quod circuit terram Evilat. Habet terra illa aurum bonum et est ibi carbunculus et lapis prasinus. Aurum bonum speciem ⁶⁰ regalem demonstrat; et magi inter cetera aurum ut regi offerunt. Carbunculus autem spiritus sanctus intellegitur, quem dominus noster Iesus Christus post resur-rectionem suam apostolis dedit dicendo Accipite spiritum sanctum et insufflavit in illos; et ideo Fison ab insufflatione, quia Grece fisa ‘sufflare’ dicitur. Nullus autem ⁶⁵ evangelistarum de spiritu dato per insufflationem dicit nisi solus Iohannis, qui Fison fluminis habet figuram. Lapis autem prasinus propter colorem baptismi habet figuram. Ita opus erat, ut, quod necessarium esset baptismum, etiam spiritus sancti non deesset figura.

LUKE. The name for the second river is Geon, which flows around the land of Ethiopia.²¹

The Ethiopians are considered to be dark men. Therefore, the image of the river Geon is the Gospel according to Luke, because he wrote in accordance with the Law. For, through not observing the instructions of the Law, the Jews are marked out as dark Ethiopians: plainly, they are much stained by their sins, through putting to death the prophets and the righteous. Finally, too, as the climax of their evils they raged against the Lord himself. They even said to Pilate, as he countered them, The blood of this man be upon us and upon our children and We have no king but Caesar.²² Therefore it is by these deeds that they are most evidently taken as Ethiopians. Geon is the word for land;²³ what else does this mean but that nothing other than the Promised Land is given to the Jews? Plainly, these are earthly things to an earthly people, but to the heavenly people is promised the kingdom of the heavens.

LUCAN(US). Secundo flumini nomen Geon, quod circuit terram Ethiopiam.

⁷⁰ Ethiopes nigri homines habentur. Est ergo imago fluminis Geon evangelium secun-dum Lucanum, quia iuxta legem scripsit. Iudei enim praecepta legis ^*non obser-vando Ethiopes designantur nigri, peccatis scilicet nimis contaminati, interficiendo prophetas et iustos; novissime etiam ad cumulum malorum suorum in ipsum ^5r dominum saevierunt ita, ut dicerent contradicente Pilato Sanguis huius super nos et ⁷⁵ super filios nostros et Nos non habemus regem nisi Caesarem. His igitur factis mani-festissime [ea] Ethiopes accipiuntur. Geon autem terrae nomen est; quid aliud est nisi quia Iudeis non aliud quam terra repromissionis datur? Terreno scilicet populo terrena, populo autem caelesti regnum promittitur caelorum.

MATTHEW. The name for the third river is Tigris: this is the one which goes opposite the Assyrians 2⁴Assyrians are interpreted as oppressors, for they are Persians. Just as a wild tigress is striped, so this shows that all nations, but chiefly the Persians, have great stripes of sin because they do that which is unlawful.²⁵ They sleep with their mothers and sisters, which is a serious crime, for it is incest. It therefore says opposite the Assyrians, meaning `against the Assyrians’: Matthew, whose image was in the river Tigris, journeyed to Persia and preached there against those stripes in order to purify them. This, then, is the river which goes opposite the Assyrians, in accordance with spiritual understanding.

MATHEUS. Tertio flumini nomen est Tigris; ^*hoc est, quod vadit contra Assyrios. ⁸⁰ Assyrii angustatores interpretantur: Sunt enim Persae. Sicut enim tigris fera maculosa est, sic ostendit omnes nationes, praecipue tamen Persas, peccati maculas nimias habere, siquidem inlicita faciant. Cum matribus enim et sororibus concum-bunt, quod est grave delictum; est enim incestum. Ergo contra Assyrios ait, id est adversum Assyrios: Adversum illas maculas purgandas Matheus hic, cuius imago erat in flumine Tigris, ad Persidam perrexit ibique praedicavit. Hoc ergo est flumen, ⁸⁵ quod vadit contra Assyrios, iuxta spiritalem intellectum.

MARK. The name for the fourth river is Euphrates²⁶ yet it did not say into which land (...) for it is understood, because it was the image of the Gospel according to Mark (which is the figure of prophecy) that prophecy was proclaimed to the whole earth by the teaching and preaching of the apostles, as David says of them: Their sound is gone out into every land and their words to the ends of the globe.²⁷

MARCUS. Quarto flumini nomen est Eufrata, et non dixit, in quam terram (...) subintellegitur enim, quia imago erat evangelii secundum Marcum, quod prophetiae habet figuram, prophetiam in omnem mundum adnuntiatam per apostolorum ^5v doctrinam vel praedicationem, sicut David de his dicit: In omnem terram exiit sonus ⁹⁰ eorum et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum.

We may also understand that the order of the Gospels was shown and prefigured on the robe of Aaron~⁹ the priest (...) four rows having three gemstones each. These four rows are without doubt understood as the four Gospels, the triple gemstones the perfect Trinity (...) and the four rows of triple gemstones meaning the twelve Apostles: because Christ is the rock,³¹ they are accordingly called precious stones from him. They are also the twelve stone knives in the Book of Joshua, instituted to circumcise the children of Israel for a second time ³²

Ut etiam intellegamus in veste Aron sacerdotis ostensum ordinem evangeliorum atque praefiguratum (...) ^*ordines quattuor habentes lapides ternos. Qui quattuor ordines sine dubio quattuor evangelia intelleguntur, terni lapides trinitatem perfec-tam (...) et ordines quattuor (habentes) lapides ternos, id est XII apostolos, qui iuxta ⁹⁵ id, quod petra Christus, ex ipso lapide(s) ^*sunt pretiosi nominati. Qui etiam in Iesu Nave sunt XII cultelli petrini ad circumcidendos filios Israhel ^*secundo instituti.

Where the Trinity is, then, that is the triple row of stones, where the four Gospels are,³³ the twelve apostles were also shown in the twelve springs in Elim and indicated in the twelve warm breads in the Tabernacle3^{4 [100]} For in the staff of Aaron the priest, too, which blossomed after it was placed in the Holy of Holies,³⁵ the walnut was shown as a figure of the Gospels (...) in the four-sectioned walnut itself is also shown a cross, which is the wooden part within the nut itself that divides it into four sections. But through the taste of the nut, because it has just one flavour, it signified even then that four Gospels would tell of our one Lord Jesus Christ and proclaim his Passion, ^[1o5] which is taken as the wood in the middle of the nut, meaning the cross. Moreover, it showed the two Testaments in the two shells which enclose the body:³⁶ on the outside, it has a bitter bark, which is the most bitter iniquity of the Jews, plainly those who crucified the Lord.

Ubi ergo trinitas, id est ternum lapidum †ubi quattuor evangelia sint etiam† XII apostoli et in duodecim fontibus (in Elim) ostensi et in duodecim panibus calidis in ¹⁰⁰ taber naculo demonstrati. Nam et in virga Aron sacerdotis, quae floruit posita in sancta sanctorum, nux ostensa figuraliter evangelia (...) in ipso fructu nucis quadripertito ostensa etiam e(s)t crux, quod est lignum in ipsa nuce, quod facit quadripertitum. ^*Per gustum autem nucis, quod sit unus sapor eius, ^*significabat quattuor evangelia iam tunc de uno domino nostro Iesu Christo dictura et eius passionem declaratura, ¹⁰⁵ quod lignum in medio nucis habetur, id est crux. Ostendebat praeterea duo testamenta ^6r in ^*duabus testis, quae corpus concludunt; et desuper corticem amaram habet, quod est iniquitas Iudeorum amarissima, scilicet qui dominum crucifixerunt.

Also in the twelve calves made by Solomon under the bronze sea, arranged in threes in four groups, their backs to the Temple, their heads to the four winds, are shown the four Gospels ^[110] and, as they are three, the perfectTrinity, and, as twelve, also the twelve apostles 3⁷ The sea proclaims the world, out of which all nations have come to belief from the four corners of the earth through the apostolic preaching.

Nam et in vitulis a Solomone sub mare aereo duodecim fabricatis, ternis (per quat-tuor partes) positis, dorsa ad templum, capita autem ad quattuor ventos, quattuor¹¹⁰ ostenduntur evangelia et, ^*qua terni, trinitas perfecta, XII autem XII apostoli. Mare saeculum declarat, de quo (a) quattuor cardinibus mundi per praedicationem apostolicam omnes nationes ad credulitatem venerunt.

In³⁸ order to show more carefully and evidently that the four Gospels have been indicated in figures and images, the robe of Aaron the priest too and the composition of its ornaments must not be passed over, and the shoulder-mantle too3⁹ In this shoulder-mantle there are four rows of precious stones, each row having three gemstones: the four rows are the four Gospels, the triple gemstones are most evidently understood as the Trinity. Fourfold threes, however, make twelve: without doubt this means the twelve apostles, since Christ is the rock⁴⁰ from which the apostles are identified as precious stones. They are also the twelve stone knives in the Book of Joshua, ^[120] instituted to circumcise the children of Israel for a second time:⁴¹ the first time, Moses circumcised with iron, and then Joshua with stone. They are also the twelve springs in Elim and the twelve warm breads in the Tabernacle and the twelve stones taken from the Jordan.⁴² In the staff of Aaron, too, which blossomed when placed in the Holy of Holies,⁴³ the walnut proclaims the four Gospels shown figuratively, as we have explained above⁴⁴ (...) thus it shows that the four Gospels have spoken of one God, the Son of God, and are consistent with each other; and just as there is one flavour in the four sections of the walnut, so the four Gospels speak of a single power of our Lord and God, even if they have said differing things. Moreover, the nut, with its two shells enclosing the body of the nut, shows the two Testaments; the bark on the outside of the nut itself shows the bitter iniquity of the Jews, who gave our Lord bitter gall to drink ^[130] and did not hesitate to crucify him. You will also find this in the twelve calves which have already been explained above:⁴⁵ as it says that their backs were to the Temple, it demonstrates that the apostles turned away from the synagogue and set out instead towards the Gentiles.

Ut ergo diligentius et manifestius in figuris et imaginibus evangelia quattuor ostendantur demonstrata, vestis quoque Aron sacerdotis vel ornamentorum qualitas non erit praetermittenda, umerale quoque logion. In hoc umerale lapidum pretioso- ¹¹⁵ rum ordines (sunt) quattuor, singuli ordines ternos lapides habentes: Quattuor ordines quattuor evangelia sunt, terni lapides trinitas manifestissime intellegitur. Quaterna autem ter[ni] fiunt duodecim: Sine dubio duodecim ^*apostoli, siquidem petra Christus, ex qua apostoli (lapides) pretiosi nuncupati sunt. Et apud Iesum Nave (sunt) duodecim cultelli petrini ad circumcidendos ^*secundo filios Israhel instituti: ¹²⁰ Primo enim Moyses ferro circumcidit, dehinc Iesus petra. Ipsi sunt et duodecim fontes in Elim et in tabernaculo duodecim panes calidi et duodecim lapides de Iordanen sublati. Et in virga Aron, quae in sancta sanctorum posita floruit, nux figuraliter ostensa quattuor evangelia, sicut superius exposuimus, declarantur (...) ^6v sic ostendit ^*quattuor evangelia unum ^*deum dei filium locuta ac sibi cohaerere; et ¹²⁵ sicut unus sapor est quadripertitae nucis, sic quattuor evangelia unam virtutem dei et domini nostri loquuntur, licet varia dixerint. Ostendit praeterea nux in ^*duabus testis nucis corpus concludentibus duo testamenta, ostendit nucis ipsius ^*cortex desuper amaram iniquitatem Iudeorum, qui dominum nostrum amaro felle po-tionaverunt et cruciare non dubitaverunt. Nam et in vitulis duodecim iam superius ¹³⁰ expositis invenies: Nam quod dicit dorsa ad templum, aversos a synagoga demon strat apostolos potius ad gentes perrexisse.

END OF THIS PART.⁴⁶

EXPLICIT FELICITER.

^{M. long. I.} And from the exile in Babylon up to Christ fourteen generations.

^{M. long.} I. Et a transmigratione Babyllonis usque ad Christum generationes quattuordecim.

⁴⁷Yet only thirteen are found.⁴⁸ The reason for this matter is explained and this problem of the generations resolved according to the principle of the rule. It is written in the Law that if anyone dies without children, his brother or nearest relative should take his wife and produce offspring in the name of the dead man.⁴⁹ Joseph, therefore, is the son of two men: one according to the flesh, meaning Jacob, and one according to the Law, meaning Heli.⁵⁰ When Heli had died, Jacob, being his nearest relative, therefore took his wife and fathered Joseph.

¹³⁵ Et tredecim inveniuntur. Huius rei ratio exponitur, quaestio haec generationum iuxta regulae rationem solvitur. Et scribitur in lege, ut si defunctus fuerit quis sine filiis, frater aut proximus eius accipiat uxorem ipsius et suscitet semen in nomine defuncti. Est ergo Ioseph duorum filius, unius iuxta carnem, id est Iacob, et alterius iuxta legem, id est Heli. Iacob igitur defuncto Heli, cum esset proximus, accepit uxorem ¹⁴⁰ eius et generavit Ioseph.

For this reason, Matthew, when listing the generations, calls him the son of Jacob, but Luke, writing his Gospel according to the Law and maintaining the principle of his rule, calls him the son of Heli. This is clearly in accordance with what had been instructed long before in the Law, that offspring should be produced in the name of a dead man who had passed away without children. The children were deemed to be in the name of the dead man, just as Joseph here is deemed to be the son of Heli.

Idcirco Matheus enumerans generationes filium dicit Iacob, Lucanus autem iuxta legem scribens evangelium et servans regulae suae rationem ^7r filium dicit Heli iuxta illud videlicet, quod iamdudum in lege fuerat praeceptum, ut in nomine defuncti, qui sine filiis excesserat, suscitaretur semen. Deputabantur in nomine defuncti filii, sicut hic Ioseph deputatur filius Heli.

But the Law only represented the character of truth: then, when the time had come, the former representation vanished, and truth stood fixed in its place. Therefore, to show more fully that no-one has been fathered in the name of a dead man except for the one for whom the real thing was prepared, Jacob fathered a son and did not name him Heli but Joseph. It now remains that we should consider all the apostles as if they were a single man. They were called brothers by the Lord: Now I shall not call you slaves but brothers,⁵¹ taking on the Church after the Lord’s death, that is after his Passion. A child was indeed fathered by them in the name of a dead man, meaning Christ: this is the Christian people, which truly takes its name from the name of the dead man.

Sed veritatis imaginabat ¹⁴⁵ lex personam; ubi ergo conpletum est, imago praecurrens abscessit et veritas loco suo fixa stetit: Igitur, ut plenius ostendatur nullum in nomine defuncti suscitatum nisi ei, cui res parabatur, Iacob genuit filium et non eum nominavit Heli, sed Ioseph. Superest nunc, ut intellegamus apostolos omnes quasi unum virum – qui fratres a domino sunt appellati: Iam non dicam vos servos, sed fratres ‒ accipientes ecclesiam post mortem domini, id est post eius passionem. Et vere suscitatus est ab eis filius in ¹⁵⁰ nomine defuncti, id est Christi, populus Christianus, qui vere ex defuncti nomine nominatur.

Matthew begins his Gospel as follows: The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham.⁵² The reason that he calls Christ the son of David is because in many places the same Christ is called David, and because Mary and Joseph were from the same tribe as David, the tribe of Judah. But because King David was from the same tribe, for this reason Christ is also named the true and eternal king and is called David.⁵³ Many interpreters want the genealogy Matthew lists to be deemed as that of Joseph and the genealogy Luke lists to be deemed as that of Mary

Matheus evangelium sic incipit: Liber generationis Iesu Christi fili David fili Abraham. Filium David Christum dicit ob hoc, quia multis in locis idem Christus dictus est David, vel quia Maria ex eadem tribu et Ioseph fuerunt, id est de tribu ¹⁵⁵ Iuda, unde et David. Sed quia rex ex eadem tribu fuit David, idcirco et Christus verus et aeternus rex nominatur vel dicitur David. Multi volunt generationem, quam enumerat Matheus, deputari Ioseph et generationem, quam enumerat Luca(nu)s, deputari Mariae, ut, quia caput mulieris vir dicitur, (de) viro etiam eiusdem genera- ^7v tio nuncupetur.

so that, because the man is said to be the head of the woman,⁵⁴ her genealogy is also named from the male side. ^[160] But this does not match the rule and problem which has been most accurately resolved above, where the principle of the genealogies is demonstrated. As it was said above that Christ is the son of David, so is he son of David, of Abraham, of Adam, of God, because the genealogy starting from Adam reaches Abraham and from Abraham to King David. As it was said above, this shows that Christ is the true and eternal king, just as the prophets ^[165] said. But so that it can be understood more evidently why Judah, even though he was born in fourth place, received the benediction and not the first-born, the reason was this: since it is the custom in the Law for no-one else to receive the benediction except the one who is oldest and who has the rights of the first-born, Reuben the first-born did not receive it for the reason that he committed incest with his father’s concubine; Simeon and Levi for the reason that, when they took offence at the rape of their sister

Sed hoc regulae non convenit vel quaestioni, quae superius, id est ¹⁶⁰ ubi generationum ratio demonstratur, verissime soluta est. Ut superius dictum est filium David Christum, sic David, sic Abraham, sic Adam, sic dei, quia ab Adam decurrens generatio pervenit ad Abraham et ab Abraham ad David regem. Ut su-perius dictum est, ostendit verum et aeternum regem Christum, sicuti prophetae dixerunt. Ut autem intellegi manifestius possit, cur Iudas, cum esset quarto loco ¹⁶⁵ natus, acceperit benedictionem et non primitivus natus, haec ratio fuit: Cum sit mos in lege non alium accipere benedictionem nisi qui maior natus sit et qui habeat primogenita – Ruben primogenitus illa ratione non accepit, quia incestavit concubi-nam patris sui, Simeon et Levi illa ratione, quia, cum indigne ferrent stuprum sororis

Dinah carried out by Shechem, son of Hamor, they slaughtered with swords the men of the town who were still in pain from being circumcised, a deed which did not confer the benediction on them either ⁵⁵ The benediction is given to Judah, the fourth in line, because that is the total at which the Saviour, who alone has the full benediction, came after righteousness and law and prophecy. Just as Judah, who was fourth, received the benediction and was called a lion and the cub of a lion,⁵⁶ so Christ was then called a lion on account of his strength, since he emerges as victor and conqueror of the devil and even of death itself.

¹⁷⁰ Dinae ab Hemor (filio) Sichem inlatum, circumcisos civitatis viros et in dolore consti-tutos gladiis interfecerunt, quod factum his etiam non contulit benedictionem –, datur Iudae benedictio quarto loco nato propter illum numerum, quo salvator ^*post iustitiam et legem et prophetiam venerit, qui solus benedictionem totam habet. Sicuti Iudas, qui quartus fuit, accepit benedictionem, qui leo et catulus leonis est¹⁷⁵ dictus, iam tunc Christus ob potentiam leo dictus, qui victor et triumphator zabuli, etiam ipsius mortis, invenitur.

I go on, with quite some anxiety and trepidation, to explain why the most holy Matthew adopted such a beginning. For he says: The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David, son of Abraham. What, then, is the reason for this beginning? Why did he start in this manner, when Luke ^[180] began to write his Gospel after having set out a certain reason? But because the series of old scriptures pays attention to what is new, and whatever the Old Testament contains figuratively the New has fulfilled through the very reason of truth, not inappropriately did the most holy Matthew begin by saying The book of the generation of Jesus Christ.

^8r Satis anxie satisque trepidanter, cur sanctissimus Matheus tali usus sit principio,
exponere adgredior. Ait namque: Liber generationis Iesu Christi fili David fili Abraham. Quaeritur ergo principii istius ratio, quare sic coeperit, cum Luca(nu)s¹⁸⁰ praemissa quadam ratione coeperit evangelium conscribere. Sed quia veterum scripturarum series studens novitati et quaecumque vetus testamentum figuraliter continet, novum ipsa veritatis ratione adinplevit – iamdudum enim fuerat per sanctissimum David ita pronuntiatum: In capite libri scriptum est de me –, non inmerito sanctissimus Matheus ita praefatus est dicendo Liber generationis Iesu¹⁸⁵ Christi.

For it had been foretold long before by the most holy David: In the beginning of the book it is written concerning me.⁵⁷The significance of In the beginning of the book it is written concerning me is that the Spirit, who knows the future, was speaking of the book of the Gospel which would contain the birth of the Son of God. Also, it is because the Hebrews evidently know that Christ will come and because they do not believe that he has already come that Matthew adopts such a beginning, saying The book of the generation of Jesus Christ and so on. Christ is therefore called the son of David for the reason that he was to come from the stock of David through the Virgin Mary. He ^[190] is the one whom the most holy Jacob declared to be a lion and the cub of a lion in the benediction of Judah.

Hoc est In capite libri scriptum est de me, quod spiritus futurum sciens dicebat librum evangelii, qui nativitatem fili dei contineret. Vel quia Hebrei Christum venturum manifeste sciunt vel quia iam venisse non credunt, idcirco tali principio Matheus utitur dicendo Liber generationis Iesu Christi et cetera. Illa igitur ratione filius dicitur David, quia ex prosapia David per virginem Mariam erat venturus. Hic¹⁹⁰ est, quem sanctissimus Iacob in benedictione Iudae demonstrat leonem et catulum leonis.

The most holy Moses, too, says: The Lord your God will raise up for you a prophet from your brothers; you will listen to him as to me. But any soul which does not listen to that prophet will be uprooted from his people.⁵⁸ Also, Isaiah said that Emmanuel, meaning ‘God with us’, would come through a virgin,⁵⁹ and Jeremiah says: This is our God and no other will be held in consideration. He was seen on the land and he conversed with humans.fi⁰ This, then, is in opposition to the Hebrews in order to demonstrate to them with complete certainty that the one whom they hope will come has in fact already come. And, so that there would not be any excuse, the most holy Matthew adopted such a beginning: The book of the generation of Jesus Christ, son of David. He plainly wrote about his bodily birth because it was proclaimed by the prophets that he would come in this manner, meaning from David, because the Virgin Mary comes from the lineage of David. Not inappropriately does the prophet say: There will arise a branch from the root of Jesse and a flower from the branch.⁶¹ The branch is Mary,⁶² the flower from the branch is Christ the Lord. Son of Abraham: before he was circumcised, Abraham believed God, as the scripture affirms: Abraham believed God and it was reckoned to him as right-eousness.⁶³ Therefore Abraham was righteous, who by believing emerges as the father of faith. Indeed, all faithful people are invited to his company and embrace. As for the words son of David, son of Abraham, Christ our Lord took flesh from the Virgin Mary, through David, in the succession of the generations, from the tribe of Judah through Abraham. For this reason, he is called son of David, as the same Son of God is called David through the prophets; David too is called son of Abraham, from whom the beginning of the generations is taken up by the most holy Matthew the evangelist for the sake of righteousness. Therefore, because the Son of God is righteous, who judges rightly ^[210] and loves righteousness and is everlasting king, the most holy Matthew appropriately began his genealogy according to the flesh from Abraham. Yet because through the lineage he also made mention of King David, he shows that Jesus Christ, the Son of God, is also King. Righteousness and royal succession are appropriately ascribed to him according to the flesh.

Et Moyses sanctissimus ait: Prophetam vobis suscitabit dominus deus vester de fratribus vestris; hunc sicut me audietis. Erit autem quaecumque anima non audierit prophetam illum eradicabitur de populo suo, vel quia Eseias Emmanuelem, id est ‘Nobiscum deum’, per virginem venturum dixerit, et Ieremias: Hic deus noster ^8v et non reputabitur alius. In terra visus est et cum hominibus conversatus est. Ideo ergo ¹⁹⁵ Hebreis occurritur, ut, quem venire sperant, iam venisse certo certius eis demonstre-tur. Et ideo ne sit aliqua excusatio, tali principio sanctissimus Matheus utitur Liber generationis Iesu Christi fili David, carnalem scilicet nativitatem scribens, quia sic venturus per prophetas est adnuntiatus, id est ex David, quia virgo Maria per traducem veniens David. Non inmerito ait propheta: Virga de radice Iesse et flos de ²⁰⁰ virga ascendet. Virga Maria est, flos ex virga Christus dominus. Fili Abraham: Priusquam circumcideretur Abraham, credidit deo, sicut scriptura testatur: Credidit Abraham deo et deputatum est ei ad iustitiam. Ergo Abraham iustus, quique cre-dendo pater fidei invenitur. Denique ad eius contubernium et sinum omnes fideles invitantur. Quod autem ait Fili David fili Abraham, Christus dominus noster, quia per ²⁰⁵ Abraham, ex tribu Iuda, per David decurrentibus generationibus ex Maria virgine carnem accepit, idcirco dicitur filius David, ut per prophetas idem filius dei dicitur David, et David filius Abraham, a quo generationum propter iustitiam a sanctissimo Matheo evangelista sumitur principium. Ergo quia iustus est filius dei, qui iuste iudicat et iustitiam diligit, et rex est perpetuus, merito eius generationem secundum ^9r carnem sanctissimus Matheus ab Abraham exorsus est. Sed quia per traducem et David regis fecit mentionem, ostendit filium dei Iesum Christum et regem. Merito ^*ei iustitia et regalis secundum carnem progenies adscribitur.

Having gone through the generations and shown them, Matthew recapitulates again, saying: From Abraham to David fourteen generations, and from David to the exile in Babylon fourteen generations, and from the exile in Babylon to Christ fourteen generations.”

Decursis igitur generationibus Matheus et ostensis rursum recapitulat dicendo Ab Abraham usque ad David generationes quattuordecim et a David usque ad trans- ²¹⁵ migrationem Babyllonis generationes quattuordecim et a transmigratione Babyllonis usque ad Christum generationes quattuordecim.

He creates three rows: three sets of fourteen, which make forty-two. We find that he did not write this without reason: after seeking the reason for his style more carefully and discussing it with great attention, the mystery of the rows which he creates will, with the help of God, be laid open to us. The evidence relevant to this matter will plainly be considered and investigated. For, in the parable of the good seed, we find it expressed by the same Matthew, when he plainly begins from the hundredfold fruit to the sixtyfold, and from the sixtyfold to the thirtyfold, which make three rows ⁶⁵

Facit tres ordines: Ter decus quartus, quo fiunt quadraginta duo. Non sine ratione hoc scripsisse invenitur, sed diligentius ratio(ne)stili eius requisita et magna cum sollicitudine discussa ordinum factorum ²²⁰ nobis mysterium adiuvante deo patefiet, testimoniis scilicet ad hanc rem pertinen-tibus contractatis et perquisitis: In parabola enim seminis boni invenimus per eundem Matheum enuntiatum incipientem scilicet a centesimo fructu ad sexagesi-mum et a sexagesimo ad tricesimum, qui fiunt ordines tres.

Up to this point the rows are to be understood literally. The hundredfold fruit is perfect faith, just as Isaac was born to the hundred-year-old Abraham,^{66 [225]} the father of faith; also, one hundred are held in the right hand, which belongs to the right side just as the lambs are found placed at the right side by the shepherd.⁶⁷ Matthew, then, begins to recount the generations from Abraham, who is the father of faith. The sixtyfold fruit is the second row, of virgins. For the first row goes up to David; the second row from David to the exile. The row of virgins is therefore appropriately proclaimed from David, plainly in the sixty-fold fruit, because the Virgin Mary from whom our Lord Christ took flesh, is from David. But the thirtyfold fruit, matching the third row from the exile in Babylon up to Christ, is because Christ, our God and Lord, as Luke the evangelist says, Jesus himself was around the beginning of his thirtieth year, and was thought to be the son of Joseph.⁶⁸

Qui ordines hactenus simpliciter accipiendi sunt. Centesimus fructus perfecta fides, ut centenario Abrahae ²²⁵, id est patri fidei, natus sit Isac, vel quia centum in manu dextera tenentur, quod ^9v est dexteri lateris, in qua parte agni conlocati inveniuntur a pastore. Ideo ergo ab Abraham incipit, qui est pater fidei, generationes enarrare. Sexagesimus autem fructus secundus ordo est virginum. Ordo enim primus usque ad David; secundus vero ordo a David usque ad transmigrationem. Merito ergo a David ordo virginum ²³⁰ declaratur, in sexagesimo scilicet fructu, quia virgo Maria ex David, de qua dominus noster Christus carnem accepit. Tricesimus autem fructus ordini tertio conveniens a transmigratione Babylloniae usque ad Christum ideo, quia Christus deus et dominus noster, ut ait Lucanus evangelista, et ipse Iesus erat incipiens fere annorum triginta, quod putabatur esse filius Ioseph.

After reaching this total of years, our Lord Jesus Christ suffered. ^[235] We see, then, that all this may be considered spiritually with regard to the Son of God, our God and Lord, in whom perfect righteousness and virginal abstinence and power are found to be accomplished. Because the most holy Matthew strives to introduce the descent of the Son of God from the heavens to the earth, when he saw fit to come and put on humanity for our sake, therefore he goes from the hundredfold to the thirtyfold, which is from the greater height to the lesser: this is how he demonstrates that the Son of God descended from that heavenly glory to put on a human body. From the hundredfold to the sixtyfold is because Christ came from heaven to a virgin, through whom he was born; reaching the age of thirty years is the time when he suffered. The evangelist Mark, however, lists his Passion and Ascension and sitting at the right hand of the Father starting from the thirtyfold fruit, the number of years at which he suffered, and moves on to the sixtyfold, which is the untainted flesh of a virgin:ó⁹ rising from the dead, the Lord carried this with him to the heavens (...)

Quibus annis inpletis passus est dominus noster ²³⁵ Iesus Christus. Videmus ergo haec omnia spiritaliter in filio dei deo ac domino nostro deputari, in quo perfecta iustitia et virginalis continentia et virtus invenitur con-summata. Et quia sanctissimus Matheus descensionem fili dei nititur insinuare ex caelis ad terram, quando dignatus est nostri causa venire et hominem induere, ideo a centesimo numero ad tricesimum pervenit, id est a maiore summa ad minorem, hoc est de caelesti illa gloria ad hominis corpus induendum descendisse filium dei ²⁴⁰ demonstrat, et ideo a centesimo ad sexagesimum, de caelo veniens ad virginem, per quam editus, ad tricenarium numerum veniens annorum, quo tempore passus est. ^10r Marcus autem evangelista passionem eius et ascensionem et ad dexteram patris sessionem a tricesimo numerans fructu, quot annorum passus est, et ad sexagesi-mum veniens, quod est caro virginalis incorrupta, quam dominus ab inferis ²⁴⁵ suscitans secum ad caelos pertulit (...)

but the hundredfold fruit is the fulfillment of faith and Christ’s martyrdom, when it was evident that he had taken his seat at the right hand of the Father with power and perfect strength. It is not inappropriate that the evangelist Luke, listing the generations of Christ upwards through Joseph,⁷° that is from a human going all the way through to God, demonstrates most truly his Ascension: ^[250] from Joseph through David, and through Abraham and through Adam, he finally arrives at God. The one whom Luke had said was thought to be the son of Joseph is, he says, the Son of God. Therefore, because faith or martyrdom indicates the hundredfold fruit, and virginity the sixtyfold and power the thirtyfold, these all match and correspond to the Son of God by the degrees we have set out: in everything, he emerges as perfect God. Yet because Matthew moves down from the hundredfold to the sixtyfold, and from there to the thirtyfold, he shows the descent of our Lord Jesus Christ: in fact, he described Christ’s nativity according to the flesh.

centesimi autem fructus adinpletio fidei et martyrii Christi, cum virtute et potentia perfecta ad dexteram patris consedisse manifestum est. Non inmerito et Luca(nu)s evangelista generationes a Christo susum per Ioseph enumerans, id est ab homine usque ad deum perveniens verissime eius ascensionem demonstrans, ab Ioseph per David et per Abraham et per Adam usque ²⁵⁰ ad ^*deum pervenit; et quem dixerat filium, quod putabatur esse Ioseph, hunc dicit filium esse dei. Igitur quia fides vel martyrium ^*demonstrat centesimum fructum et virginitas sexagesimum et tricesimum virtus, omnia haec per gradus, quos diximus, in filio dei, qui in omnibus utpote deus perfectus invenitur, conveniunt et concur-runt. Quod autem Matheus a centesimo ad sexagesimum et inde ad tricesimum ²⁵⁵ decurrit, descensionem domini nostri Iesu Christi ostendit, quippe qui iuxta carnem nativitatem eius descripserit.

But Mark, because he proceeds from the thirtyfold to the sixtyfold and from there to the hundredfold, demonstrates the Passion, as was said above: this means the strength by which Christ conquered the devil through the cross and (...) of the unsullied flesh which he established in the heavens, when it had been resurrected. It therefore emerges that Mark rises upwards from a smaller to a greater number. As we explained above, it is not inappropriate that he bears the image of an eagle, since he demonstrates that Christ flew to heaven. And because three rows are listed in the fruits, which we have briefly demonstrated, three rows are also marked out in the generations and assigned to a fixed total: these three rows of generations ^[265] and seeds without doubt demonstrate the Trinity of Father and of Son and of Holy Spirit.

Marcus autem quod a tricesimo ad sexagesimum et inde ad centesimum percurrit, demonstrat, ut superius dictum est, passionem, id est ^10v virtutem, qua zabulum devicit per crucem et (...) intaminatae carnis, quam resusci-tatam inposuerit in caelis, et ideo a minore summa susum ascendere ad maiorem ²⁶⁰ numerum invenitur. Non inmerito, ut supra exposuimus, aquilae gerit imaginem, quia eum ad caelum volasse demonstrat. Et quia tres ordines numerantur in fructibus, de quibus breviter demonstravimus, tres etiam ordines in generationibus designantur et numero certo adscribuntur, quique tres ordines generationum et ²⁶⁵ seminum sine dubio trinitatem patris et fili et sancti spiritus demonstrant.

But because the very final point says that there are fourteen generations from the exile in Babylon up to Christ and only thirteen are found, a certain uneasiness strikes readers, as if Matthew were accused as the defendant of a lie or the remover of one generation, since it is found that the total stated before is not complete. It is therefore necessary ^[270] to explain and discuss this with care, too, and lay bare the truth. Because, then, the total of one generation creates a problem for us, as it says fourteen yet thirteen are found, it is spiritual understanding which finds that generation which is not found in the reckoning. Plainly, when the generations are counted according to the flesh, it is found that, for the literal understanding, a single one has been removed. But, as I have said, as soon as the spiritual understanding is found, what conforms to the total becomes apparent. In this way, the truth of the evangelist, who is not permitted to lie or deceive, begins to grow bright with the full light. He therefore says that there are fourteen generations up to Christ, yet thirteen are found. But a spiritual generation follows which, although it may be counted among the fleshly ones, is, however, not found in their total. For it is fitting that that generation which is not from the world should not be found with the generations of the world.

Sed quia novissima summa a transmigratione Babyllonis usque ad Christum dixerit generationes quattuordecim, et tredecim inveniuntur, scrupulum quoddam legentibus incutit, quasi Matheus vel mendacii reus vel subtractor unius generatio-nis arguitur, cum praescriptus numerus non totus inveniatur. Ideo necesse est hoc ²⁷⁰ quoque cum diligentia exponi ac discuti et veritatem patefieri. Ergo quia numerus unius generationis facit nobis quaestionem, cum quattuordecim dicuntur, et tre-decim inveniuntur, spiritalis intellectus invenit istam generationem, quae in numero non invenitur. Dinumeratis scilicet generationibus iuxta carnem una inde ad simplicem intellectum invenitur esse subtracta; sed, ut dixi, spiritali intellectu ^11r invento numero convenientia significantur, et sic incipit veritas evangelistae, cui nec mentiri nec fallere licet, tota luce clarescere. Dicit igitur usque ad Christum genera-tiones quattuordecim, et tredecim inveniuntur. Sed sequitur spiritalis generatio, quae, licet inter carnales numeretur, non tamen in eo numero invenitur. Sic enim decet, ut ea generatio, quae de saeculo non est, cum saeculi generationibus non²⁸⁰ inveniatur.

Appropriately, thirteen are found: but the fourteenth generation is spiritual, which Matthew relates in the following way, by saying: But the generation of Christ was as follows 7¹ But the generation of Christ is understood as the Church. And David appropriately says: But God is in the righteous generation.⁷²

Merito tredecim inveniuntur: Quarta decima autem generatio spiritalis est, de qua sic rettulit dicendo Christi autem generatio sic erat. Christi autem genera-tio ecclesia intellegitur. Et merito David sic ait: Deus autem in generatione iusta est.

This is the generation of Christ, meaning the Church, in which the Son of God is found to abide. Therefore the Church of God, reborn through a spiritual birth, is not in the world, plainly having a heavenly behaviour. Solomon, imagining this in the form of a ship, says that he does not perceive the way of a sailing ship:⁷³ this means that the behaviour and the generation of the Church cannot be found in the world, since indeed its activity and birth are spiritual. The righteous generation, in which the Son of God is present, is the Church, about which it was said But the generation of Christ was as follows. The way in which this generation was initiated by the apostles has, in my opinion, been adequately discussed and shown in the problem of the generations ⁷⁴

Haec est generatio Christi, id est ecclesia, in qua filius dei permanere invenitur. Igitur quia ecclesia dei spiritali nativitate renata in saeculo non est, habens scilicet ²⁸⁵ conversationem caelestem, quam Solomon in navi figurans ait iter se navis pelagizantis non cognoscere, id est conversationem vel generationem ecclesiae in saeculo non posse repperiri, siquidem actus eius et nativitas sit spiritalis, et ideo generatio iusta, in qua filius dei consistit, ecclesia est, de qua dictum est Christi autem generatio sic erat. Quatenus autem excitata sit haec generatio per apostolos, satis, ut opinor, in quaestione generationum discussum est et ostensum. ²⁹⁰

^{M. long. II.} When his mother Mary had been engaged to Joseph, before they lived together, she was found to have conceived in her womb from the Holy Spirit.⁷⁵ The most holy prophet Isaiah related most fully that Mary would conceive by saying: The Lord himself will give a sign. What sign? A virgin will conceive in her womb and will bear a son and he will be called Emmanuel.⁷⁶ Not inappropriately did the evangelist Luke, describing the same birth, most fully demonstrate that the angel Gabriel would arrive, saying At that same time the angel Gabriel was sent from God to a town of Galilee, whose name was Nazareth, to a virgin engaged to a man whose name was Joseph, from the house of David. The name of the virgin was Mary. And having come inside to her, the angel of the Lord blessed her and said to her: Hail, full of grace, the Lord is with you. Blessed are you among women. But she, when she saw him, was dumbstruck by his entrance and was pondering why he blessed her in this way.

(II.) Cum esset desponsata mater eius Maria Ioseph, antequam convenirent, ^11v inventa est habens in utero de spiritu sancto. Hanc igitur conceptionem Mariae futuram sanctissimus Eseias propheta plenissime rettulit dicendo Ipse dominus dabit signum. Quod signum? Concipiet virgo in utero et pariet filium et vocabitur Emmanuel. Non inmerito Luca(nu)s evangelista eundem partum describens futurum ²⁹⁵ angeli Gabrielis interventum plenissime demonstravit dicens Eodem tempore missus est angelus Gabriel a deo in civitatem Galileae, cui nomen erat Nazareth, ad virginem desponsatam viro, cui nomen erat Ioseph de domo David, et nomen virginis Maria. Et ingressus ad eam angelus domini benedixit eam et dixit illi: Habe gratia plena, domi-nus tecum, benedicta tu inter mulieres! Ipsa autem, ut vidit eum, obstupuit in introitu ³⁰⁰ eius et erat cogitans, quod sic benedixit eam.

And the angel of the Lord said to her: Do not be afraid, Mary; for you have found grace in the sight of God. Behold, you will conceive in your womb and bear a son and you will call his name Jesus. He will be great and be called the Son of the Most High and the Lord God will give him the throne of his father David, and he will reign in the house of Jacob for eternity and there will be no end to his kingdom. But Mary said to the angel: How will this be, because I have not been intimate with a man? And the angel said to her in reply: The Holy Spirit will come over you and the power of the Most High will overshadow you. Therefore, too, that which will be born will be called holy, the Son of God.⁷⁷

Et ait illi angelus domini: Ne timueris, Maria! Invenisti enim gratiam apud deum; et ecce concipies in utero et paries filium et vocabis nomen eius Iesum. Hic erit magnus et filius altissimi vocabitur et dabit illi dominus deus sedem David patris eius et regnabit in domo Iacob in aeternum et regni eius non erit finis. Dixit autem Maria ad angelum: Quomodo erit hoc, quia virum non ³⁰⁵ cognovi? Et respondens angelus dixit illi: Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te et virtus altissimi obumbrabit tibi. Ideoque et quod nascetur sanctus vocabitur filius dei. ^12r

Joseph therefore pondered what he should do with her, since he had still not received any information from the angel on this subject. As Luke says: But Joseph, her husband, as he was a righteous man and ^[310] did not wish to expose her to shame, decided to send her away privately.⁷⁸ Afterwards, when Joseph tries to carry out his plan, he is prevented by an angel.

Cogitabat igitur Ioseph, quid faceret de ea, quoniam nullam adhuc super hoc monitionem angeli acceperat, sicuti ait: Ioseph autem vir eius, cum esset iustus et ³¹⁰ nollet eam traducere, voluit occulte dimittere eam. Posteaquam cogitatum Ioseph efficere nititur, inhibetur ab angelo.

Next it says: As he pondered this, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying: Joseph, son of David, do not be afraid to take Mary as your wife! That which is born of her is from the Holy Spirit. She will bear a son and you will give him the name Jesus. He will save his people from their sins 7⁹ For the name Jesus is translated as `saviour’. Because Joseph was a righteous man and knew that it was written by the prophets that the Saviour would come, the Son of God born of a virgin, he not only believed the words of the angel of God but also soon carried out the orders. The most holy Matthew therefore made use of the quotation from the prophet Isaiah when he introduced the virgin birth and conception.fl<sup>0</sup> For Isaiah had said that God himself would give a sign and, as if he had been questioned what that sign was, he replied: Behold, a virgin will conceive in her womb and she will bear a son and so on.<sup>81</sup> After the seventy-two translators had translated the whole Law from Hebrew into Greek at the order of Ptolemy, working separately but as if with one voice and account, some corruptors and scriptural interpolators from among the Jews made this paragraph read not `virgin’ but `young woman’ ⁸² For what sign would the Lord be said to give, ^[325] if a young woman was with child from a man? This is the way of nature. But the Lord promised a sign, that a virgin would have to give birth to Emmanuel, which is ‘God with us’. Jeremiah also speaks about this as follows: This is our God and no other will be held in consideration. He was seen on the land and he conversed with humans.⁸³ This, therefore, is Emmanuel, ‘God with us’, whom the Virgin Mary produced. Joseph was taught by the angel without delay what he should do about this matter, and he carried it out.

Denique ait: Haec eo cogitante angelus domini apparuit Ioseph in somnis dicens: Ioseph fili David, noli timere accipere Mariam coniugem tuam! Quod enim ex ea nascitur, de spiritu sancto est. Pariet autem filium et vocabis nomen eius Iesum. Ipse ³¹⁵ autem salvum faciet populum suum a peccatis eorum. Iesus enim ‘salvator’ interpre-tatur. Ergo quia erat iustus Ioseph et sciens scriptum esse per prophetas, quia ventu-rus esset salvator filius dei ex virgine natus, non solum credidit angelo dei dicenti, sed et iussa mox perfecit. Introducens itaque sanctissimus Matheus virginis partum vel conceptum prophetae Eseiae usus est testimonio. Dixerat enim deum ipsum ³²⁰ signum daturum, et quasi interrogatus, quod signum, respondit: Ecce virgo in utero accipiet et pariet filium et cetera. Hanc periocham, posteaquam septuaginta et duo interpretes Ptolomeo iubente segregati tamquam uno ore et sermone totam legem ex Hebreo in Grecum interpretassent, quidam ex Iudeis adulteratores et interpolatores scripturarum non ‘virginem’, sed ‘iuvenculam’ fecerunt. Quod enim signum facturus ^12v dominus diceretur, si iuvencula conciperet ex viro? Hoc naturae consuetudo est. Sed signum dominus repromittit, quia virgo parere haberet Emmanuelem, quod est ‘Nobiscum deus’. De hoc Ieremias quoque sic ait: Hic deus noster et non reputabitur alius. In terra visus est et cum hominibus conversatus est. Hic est igitur Emmanuel ‘Nobiscum deus’, quem Maria virgo edidit. De qua re quid ageret, Ioseph per ³³⁰ angelum sine intermissione docetur, et perficit.

Next it says: And rising from sleep, he did as the angel of the Lord instructed him and he accepted his wife and was not intimate with her until she gave birth to a son, and he called his name Jesus .⁸⁴ As for the words He was not intimate with her until she gave birth,

Denique ait: Exsurgens autem a somno fecit sicut praecepit ei angelus domini et accepit coniugem suam et non cognovit eam, donec peperit filium, et vocavit nomen eius Iesum. Quod autem ait Non cognovit eam, donec peperit,

these strike many with unease, although only those of the flesh, not those of the spirit, as if, because it had said `until’, Joseph was intimate with her after Jesus was born. But whoever is of a sound mind, and spiritual, ought not to suppose that Joseph, a righteous man who both saw visions of angels and learnt what he should do from the information of an angel, would have been able to defile Mary. He had learnt that from her the Son of God would be born, to whom the angel also told him to give the name Jesus, meaning `Saviour’. How could it have been the case that the righteous man Joseph, who ^[340] is found to be appointed as Mary’s custodian, who held onto the sign which the prophets said would come to pass among the people, that such a man should put Mary to the test for the sake of desire? For it is evident that angels have always appeared to holy and chaste men. Therefore, had Joseph not set his steps firmly on the path of virtue, I think that he would never have been able to see visions of angels and have learnt what he should do from their suggestion. What is more, if this claim were true, Jesus would surely never have said to Mary his mother in the middle of his Passion Behold your son with regard to the disciple John, and to John himself Behold your mother. And that disciple took her in to his home from that day.⁸⁵ It is therefore agreed that the most holy Mary remained so after having given birth to Jesus, and that she always followed him and later devoted herself to prayers with the apostles, as is found in the Acts of the Apostles: All these people were single-mindedly devoting themselves to prayer, with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus and his brothers .⁸⁶ We see here too that the character of Mary is set apart: if she were considered a woman of the same sort as the others, she would undoubtedly have been included with them. But when it says with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus, we see that Mary surpasses women, just as we find in the story of Moses and Aaron:

multis verba haec, sed carnalibus dumtaxat, non spiritalibus, scrupulum incutiunt, quasi posteaquam natus sit Iesus, cognoverit eam Ioseph, quia dixerat ‘donec’. Sed quicumque sanae ³³⁵ mentis sunt et spiritales, sic sentire non debent, ut potuisset Ioseph vir iustus, qui et visiones angelorum videbat et, quid ageret, angelo monente discebat, Mariam contingere, de qua didicerat filium dei natum, cui etiam ut nomen Iesum inponeret, id est ‘salvator’, ab angelo didicit. Quin fieri poterat, ut homo iustus Ioseph, qui custos positus Mariae invenitur, qui signum, quod per prophetas fuerat dictum in ³⁴⁰ populo futurum, tenebat, ut hic Mariam libidinis causa temptaret? Angelos enim sanctis et pudicis viris semper apparuisse manifestum est. Igitur nisi Ioseph in ^13r sanctimoniae itinere gressus firmiter habuisset constitutos, numquam puto eum angelorum visiones videre potuisse et, quid agere deberet, eorum insinuatione ^*didicisse. Quod utique si fuisset verum, numquam profecto diceret Iesus in pas- ³⁴⁵ sione constitutus ad Mariam matrem suam de Iohanne discipulo Ecce filius tuus et ad ipsum Iohannem Ecce mater tua. Et recepit eam discipulus ille apud se ex illa die. Constat igitur sanctissimam Mariam post editum Iesum sic permansisse et ei semper fuisse obsecutam et postea cum apostolis orationibus deservisse, sicuti Actus continet apostolorum: Hii omnes erant deservientes unianimes orationi cum mulieri- ³⁵⁰ bus, et Maria mater Iesu, et fratribus eius. Videmus etiam hic exceptam personam Mariae, quae utique si mulier eo genere ut ceterae haberetur, fuisset inter easdem dinumerata. Sed quando dicit cum mulieribus et Maria mater Iesu, videmus Mariam praecellere mulieribus, sicuti apud Moysen et Aron invenimus:

But Mary, going before, saying ‘Let us sing to the Lord’ and so on.⁸⁷ She went before women for the reason that she was a virgin. Thus this Mary, too, who was a woman in that she gave birth, was a virgin so far as a man is concerned. It is not inappropriate that she is not listed among the women but is treated separately, and it says with the women and Mary the mother of Jesus. We believe that, in accordance with the prophecy of Simeon, she was put to death by the sword, because he said to her: And a sword will pass through your own soul.⁸⁸

Praecedens autem³⁵⁵ Maria dicens ‘Cantemus domino’ et cetera. Illa ratione praecedebat mulieres, quia virgo erat. Sic et haec Maria, quae ex partu mulier quidem, quantum autem ad virum expectat virgo, non inmerito inter mulieres non numeratur, sed excipitur, et dicitur ^13v cum mulieribus et Maria mater Iesu. Quam iuxta Simeonis prophetiam credimus gladio esse finitam, ^*quia dixit ad illam: Et tuam ipsius animam pertransiet gladius.

For the reason that James and Jude are called the brothers of the Lord is undoubtedly not because they were born of Mary, but they were sons of Joseph from another wife.They were called the brothers of the Lord by normal custom because of Joseph, since he was from the same tribe, or Mary, since she was called the wife of Joseph. So far as the Jews are concerned, they not only said that Jesus had brothers and sisters, but they even said that he was the son of Joseph the craftsman. They never stopped repeating this, putting him to the test while he was teaching them: ^[365] Behold, your brothers are standing outside, wishing to speak with you 8⁹ Elsewhere, when they noticed the miracles of his powers, which without doubt could not have been performed by a human, they said in wonder: Isn’t this the son of Joseph the craftsman, whose brothers we know and whose sisters were with us?⁹° So they were astounded at his wonders, not understanding the sayings of the prophets that the Son of God would do such things when he came.

³⁶⁰ Nam quod fratres domini ^*dicuntur Iacobus et Iudas, non utique ex Maria nati, sed fuerunt filii Ioseph ex alia uxore; qui propter Ioseph, quia ex eadem tribu esset, vel Maria(m), quia dicta est coniux Ioseph, more communi fratres domini sunt appellati. Quantum autem ad Iudeos adtinet, non solum dicebant Iesum fratres et sorores habere, verum etiam Ioseph fabri filium dicebant, ut docenti se ingerere non ³⁶⁵ destiterint temptantes illum: Ecce fratres tui foris stant quaerentes loqui tecum. Et alibi, cum virtutum ipsius miracula cernerent, quae sine dubio homo facere non posset, admirantes dicebant: Nonne hic est Ioseph fabri filius, cuius fratres scimus et sorores erant nobiscum? (Erant) ergo stupentes in mirabilibus, non intellegentes dicta prophetarum, quia filius dei veniens talia esset facturus.

In order to demonstrate more fully the glorification of the most holy Mary, who for this reason could not have been known by Joseph until she had given birth, she was not known to be carrying the Lord of glory and of all strength in her womb. If the face of the most holy Moses was so glorified when he spoke with God that the children of Israel could not gaze on him but he placed a veil on his face when he spoke to them, how much more could the most holy Mary not be recognised or contemplated who, as we said, had in her womb the Lord of strength, Emmanuel7⁹¹ The angel Gabriel spoke more fully about this very matter when he said to Mary: The Holy Spirit will come upon you and the power of the Most High will enshadow you.⁹²

³⁷⁰ Ut ergo plenius demonstremus de sanctissimae Mariae glorificatione, quae idcirco ab Ioseph cognosci non potuit, donec peperit, dominum gloriae et totius potentiae habens in utero non cognoscebatur. Si sanctissimi Moysi cum deo conlo-quentis glorificata est facies ita, ut non possent intendere in eum filii Israhel, sed velamen faciei suae ponens ad eos loquebatur, quanto magis sanctissima Maria agnosci vel intueri non poterat, quae, ut diximus, dominum potentiae in utero ^14r habebat, id est Emmanuelem? Sed plenius de hac ipsa re angelus Gabriel dixit, cum ait ad Mariam: Spiritus sanctus superveniet in te et virtus altissimi ^*inumbrabit tibi.

We should therefore understand this enshadowing of the power of the Most High not as obscurity but as infinite brilliance. Just as our own sight is obscured by excessive brilliance and our vision impaired when we choose to gaze directly on the rays of the sun, leaving us completely unable to see, so then the most holy Mary, overshadowed by the brilliance of the power of the Most High, could not be known by Joseph until she gave birth. So it was not until after the birth, as we have said, that she was found to be recognised by Joseph, plainly through the appearance of her face, and not through the touch of desire.

Hanc igitur inumbrationem virtutis altissimi non obscuritatem, sed infinitam clari-tatem debemus intellegere: Sicuti enim oculis nostris, cum radios solis adtentius voluerimus intendere, hebetat visus et nimia claritate fit obscuritas, ut videre ³⁸⁰ omnino nequeamus, sic ergo sanctissima Maria claritate virtutis altissimi obumbrata cognosci non poterat ab Ioseph, donec pareret. Post partum ergo hactenus, ut diximus, ab Ioseph agnita invenitur, specie scilicet faciei, non ^*contactu libidinis.

^{M. long. III.} Having finished the problem of the generation of Jesus Christ, we will begin to explain the third chapter more fully. You will find here a more careful treatment of what I have noted briefly to be read in its own place 9³ The third chapter begins: Therefore, when Jesus was born in the town of Bethlehem in Judea9⁴ Jesus, as we have already said, is a Hebrew word, soter in Greek, which is translated as salvator (Saviour) in Latin. It was therefore ordered by the Lord that the son of Nun should be called by this name, Joshua, as he was a disciple of Moses.⁹⁵

(III.) Conpleta quaestione generationis Iesu Christi incipiemus plenius exponere capitulum tertium. Quod loco suo breviter lectioni notavi, hic diligentius invenie[n]s. ³⁸⁵ Capitulum tertium incipit: Cum ergo natus esset Iesus in Bethlem civitatem Iudae. Iesus, ut iam diximus, Hebreum nomen, Grece soter, quod interpretatur Latine ‘salvator’. Filius igitur Nave, cum esset discipulus Moysi, hoc nomine, id est Iesus, a domino iussus est vocitari sic.

When Moses, then, who was considered a type of the Law, had not been able to lead the children of Israel into the Promised Land at that time, he climbed a mountain and looked over the land yet did not enter it. His successor Joshua son of Nun, however, allocated to all the children of Israel the land which had long ago been promised to Abraham and his offspring. Jesus the Son of God, the Saviour, who at that point was shown in the figure of the time to come, fulfilled this spiritually: for just as Joshua son of Nun brought into the Promised Land the children of Israel who had been led out of Egypt through the desert, so Jesus the Son of God takes humans from the world and its enslavement (which is Egypt) and leads them through to the true Promised Land, meaning that he establishes them in the Church, where all promises are obtained. For this is the true land, meaning that it was promised to spiritual people. It is not inappropriate that we are called both children and offspring of Abraham, because we are the children of God.⁹b For Abraham has the figure of faith, ^[400] because through faith he believed God.⁹⁷ Therefore we too, who believe through faith, are called his children. Bethlehem comes from Hebrew; in Latin do-mus panis (house of bread). This is where Jesus is born, who is the true Saviour, plainly the bread coming from heaven, as he himself says: I am the bread of life who came down from heaven: whoever eats of this bread will not die for eternity.⁹⁸ Therefore, just as the true bread who came down from heaven is the Son of God, so also the Church is the true house of God, founded by his power and the preaching of the apostles.

Cum ergo in tempore Moyses, qui typum legis ³⁹⁰ habebat, filios Israhel in terram promissionis inducere non ^*potuisset, ascendit montem (et terram) prospexit, ingressus tamen non est; sed successor eius Iesus filius Nave distribuit omnibus filiis Israhel terram, quae olim Abrahae et semini eius ^14v fuerat repromissa. Quod Iesus filius dei, id est salvator, ^*qui tunc in figura posteri-tatis demonstrabatur, spiritaliter adinplevit: Nam sicuti de Aegypto filios Israhel ³⁹⁵ eductos per eremum Iesus filius Nave in terra(m) repromissionis induxit, sic Iesus filius dei de saeculo vel servitute eius, quod est Aegyptus, homines tollens ad vera(m terram) repromissionis perducens, id est in ecclesia constituens, ubi omnia promissa percipiuntur. Haec est enim vera terra, id est spiritalibus repromissa. Non inmerito et filii et semen dicimur Abrahae, quia dei filii sumus. Abraham enim fidei habet ⁴⁰⁰ figuram, quia ex fide credidit deo. Et nos itaque, qui ex fide credimus, ipsius filii nuncupamur. Bethlem ^*ex Hebreo in Latinum ‘domus panis’. In hac nascitur Iesus, qui est salvator verus, scilicet panis de caelo veniens, sicuti ipse ait: Ego sum panis vitae, qui de caelo descendi; qui de hoc pane manducaverit, non morietur in aeternum. Sicuti ergo verus panis, qui de caelo descendit, est filius dei, sic et vera domus dei ⁴⁰⁵ ecclesia est virtute eius (et) apostolorum praedicatione fundata.

Next follows: In the days of Herod the king ⁹⁹ For at the same time, Herod was ruling in Judea. He was from the sect of the Sadducees: thus, when we read the Pharisees and the Sadducees,¹⁰⁰ elsewhere it says the Pharisees and the Herodians.¹⁰¹ The Herodians, in fact, were disciples of the Sadducees, who say there is no Resurrection (...) but the Pharisees acknowledge both.¹⁰²

Sequitur: In diebus Herodis regis. Herodis enim eodem tempore regnabat in Iudea[m]. Hic ergo sectae fuit Sadduceorum. Sic, cum legitur Farisei et Sadducei, alibi dicit: Farisei et Herodiani. Erant quippe ^*Herodiani discipuli Sadduceorum, qui negant resurrectionem (...) Farisei autem utrumque confitentur.

Behold, Magi came to Jerusalem from the East, saying: Where is he who is born king of the Jews? For we have seen his star in the East; we have come to worship him 1⁰³ Magi: Gentiles from Persia, clever people who think they know the governing principle of the heaven, and because everything which has been done is written about in the histories of the kings, in accordance with the secular practice of the acts of kings and the annals of deeds.¹⁰⁴ This, then, is why the Magi had knowledge of the appearance of the star.

Ecce magi ab oriente venerunt in Hierosolimam dicentes: Ubi est, qui natus est rex ^15r Iudeorum? Vidimus enim stellam eius in oriente; venimus adorare eum. Magi: Gentes Persarum, homines callidi, qui sibi videntur scire caeli rationem, vel quia in historiis regum, quae acta sunt, cuncta describuntur †iuxta gentilitatem† actus regum et gesta temporum. Inde ergo fuit notitia magis visae stellae.

When Balak the king had sent out Balaam to curse the children of Israel, the latter having received his utterance, said: Balaam son of Beor says this, a man who sees rightly, hearing the words of God, knowing instruction from the Most High and seeing the vision of God in a dream with his eyes open: I will show him and not yet, I call him blessed and he has not yet approached. A star will rise from Jacob and a man will arise from Israel and he will break the leaders of Moab and plunder all the children of Seth.¹⁰⁵ Who better than the Jews to see a star rise and a man arise? ^[420] Yet the Magi saw, who are the figure of all Gentiles. They say: Where is he who is born king of the Jews? For we have seen the star. This star, foretold to arise from Jacob, is Christ the Lord, who would take on flesh from the same stock: A man will arise from Israel. So the Magi follow the star, knowing the time at which the Saviour, the King of the Jews, was born, and they come and enquire in Jerusalem. Jerusalem: a city of sacrifices which was formerly called Jebus; after the Ark of the Covenant and the whole record of the Law had been brought there, it was called Jerusalem.¹⁰⁶ For it was there that the children of Israel, meeting from every part, used to celebrate on their feast days what had been passed down to them through the Law. The Magi come here; they seek the public place of the Law in which everything seemed to be celebrated. Spiritually, however, ^[430] Jerusalem is understood as the Church.¹⁰⁷ As David says: I was glad in the words which were said to me: we will go in the house of the Lord. Our feet were standing in the halls of Jerusalem, Jerusalem which is being built as a city.¹⁰⁸ The Magi are the figure of all Gentiles who will believe; coming to Jerusalem is to the Church; seeking the newborn king means the Son of God, the eternal king.

Nam cum Bala(m Bal)ac rex ad maledicendos filios Israhel invitasset, accepta parabola sua (dixit): Hoc autem ⁴¹⁵ dicit Balam filius Beor homo, qui vere videt, audiens sermones dei sciens disciplinam ab excelso et visionem dei (videns) in somnio apertis oculis suis: Ostendam illi et non modo, beatum dico et non modo adpropinquavit. Orietur stella ex Iacob et surget homo ex Israhel et confringet duces Moab et praedabitur ^*omnes filios Seth. Stellam oriri et surgere hominem qui magis videre quam Iudei debuerant? Sed viderunt magi, qui ⁴²⁰ omnium gentium habent figuram. Qui dicunt: Ubi est, qui natus est rex Iudeorum? Vidimus enim stellam. Quae stella ex Iacob oriri pronuntiata est Christus dominus, qui ex eadem prosapia carnem sumpturus erat: Exsurget homo ex Israhel. ^*Secuti ergo magi stellam, id est scientes tempus, quo salvator rex Iudeorum esset natus, venientes in Hierosolimis requirunt. Hierosolima: Civitas sacrificiorum ante dicta ⁴²⁵ Iebus; ea, posteaquam arca testamenti et omne ^*instrumentum legis in ea(m) est translatum, Hierosolima dicta. Ibi enim filii Israhel diebus sollemnibus undiquever- ^15v sum convenientes celebrabant, quae eis per legem fuerant tradita. Ad hanc veniunt magi; quaerunt (forum) legis, in qua omnia celebrari videbantur. Sed spiritaliter Hierusalem ecclesia accipitur, quod ait David: Laetatus sum in his, quae dicta sunt ⁴³⁰ mihi; in domo domini ibimus. Stantes erant pedes nostri in atriis Hierusalem, Hierusa-lem quae aedificatur ut civitas. Magi gentium omnium crediturarum figura est; venientes Hierosolima, ad ecclesiam; requirentes natum regem, id est filium dei regem aeternum.

Hearing this, King Herod was worried, and all Jerusalem with him. He summoned the leaders and the scribes of the people; he questioned them about where Christ was to be born. They said: In Bethlehem of Judea, according to the prophet.¹⁰⁹ The king, an abominable heretic as we have said before, when he hears it said that the King of the Jews has been born and the star has been seen, therefore grows worried, fearing an inheritor of his earthly kingdom. He is worried, and Jerusalem is worried with him, plainly at this unexpected turn of events. He enquires: Where is the Christ born? He is informed by the testimony of the prophet, which (...) of his worry since it would come to pass that both the kingdom and the priesthood of the Jews were to be overthrown after the Passion of Christ.

⁴³⁵ Audiens Herodis rex turbatus est et omnis Hierosolima cum illo. Vocavit principes
et scribas populi; interrogavit, ubi Christus nasceretur. Dixerunt: In Bethlem Iudae iuxta prophetam. Rex igitur, ut praediximus, ^*hereticus et detestabilis audiens dici regem Iudeorum natum et visam stellam conturbatur metuens regni terrestris suc-cessorem. Turbatur, et Hierosolima turbatur cum ipso, novitate videlicet rerum. ⁴⁴⁰ Requirit: Ubi nascitur Christus? Testimonio prophetae docetur, quae (...) turbationis, quia futurum erat, ut et regnum et sacerdotium Iudeorum post passionem Christi ^*esset evertendum.

You are not least among the leaders of Judea,¹¹⁰ because the tribe of Judah ruled this city.¹¹¹ For it says: Out of you will come a leader, who will rule my people Israel. This leader is the Son of God, our God and Lord, who came from the tribe of Judah, when he took flesh, and in this way the sayings of the prophets are understood to be completed, since what they said is clearly seen to be accomplished in his birth.

[inter cetera verba prophetae] Non es[t] minima inter principes Iuda, quia ^*ean-dem civitatem tribus Iuda possidebat. Dicit enim: Ex te exiet princeps, qui regat ^16r populum meum Israhel. Princeps hic filius dei deus et dominus noster est, qui veniens ex tribu Iuda carnem sumens, et sic prophetarum dicta conpleta intellegun-tur, cum ea, quae dixerunt, perfecta eius nativitate conspiciuntur.

Then Herod privately calls the Magi.¹¹² He enquires about the time of the star; he sends them out and says to them: Ask careful questions about the boy and so on. Herod, as is natural for a heretic, here deceitfully enquires about the time of the star. He was questioning them while plotting one thing with his evil mind and proposing something else in his question. He enquires about the time the star was seen, wanting to know its extent. So that the Magi would put their faith in him, he continued with a deception, saying So that I too may come and worship him.m For he was worried by the unexpected turn of events and said this so that (if it were possible) he could crush just this infant. For how could it have been that a heretical unbeliever, puffed up with greed for his kingdom, would worship an infant still set in its cradle?

Tunc Herodis occulte vocat magos. Qui requirit tempus stellae. Quos mittit et dicit eis: Interrogate diligenter de puero et cetera. Hic Herodis fallaciter utpote hereticus ⁴⁵⁰ tempus stellae requirit. Aliud animis iniquis machinans, aliud interrogatione[m] praemittens interrogabat. Tempus ^*visae stellae requirit spatium volens nosse. Et ut ei magi fidem adcommodarent, fraude prosecutus est dicens Ut et ego veniam et adorem eum. Perturbatus enim rerum ^*novitate dixit, ut, si fieri ^*posset, solum infantem opprimeret. Quin autem fieri poterat, ut hereticus incredulus regni ambitione inflatus adoraret infantem adhuc in cunabulis constitutum? ⁴⁵⁵

Hearing the king, they left. And behold, the star which they had seen in the East went ahead of them and came and stopped above the boy.¹¹⁴ The Magi reached the boy with the star acting as a guide. Therefore all Gentiles seek Christ, the Son of God, in no other place than Judea. Then they went away from there (meaning from Jewish behaviour) and they came to the Son of God through believing. ^[460] The boy, as it says (...) as Isaiah also, in the character of the father: My beloved boy and so on.

Audientes regem abierunt et ecce stella quam viderant in oriente antecedebat eos et venit et stetit super puerum. Stella ducatum praebente magi pervenerunt ad puerum. Gentes igitur omnes filium dei Christum non alibi quam in Iudea[m] re-quirunt. Inde ergo, id est a conversatione Iudaica, recesserunt et ad filium dei credu-litate venerunt. Puerum quod dicit (...) sic et Eseias ex persona patris: Puer meus ⁴⁶⁰ dilectus et cetera.

Seeing the star, they rejoice.¹¹⁶ Having found that the truth was already on earth, they believed what had been foretold because they saw everything for themselves.

Videntes stellam gaudent. Inventa veritate iam ^*in terra praedicta credentes, quod coram omnia cernerent.

Entering the house they find the boy with Mary his mother. Approaching and recognising him, they worshipped him, and offer him gifts from their treasure chests: gold, incense and myrrh.¹¹⁷ Entering the house: the house is the Church, in which we obtain faith, being renewed through the baptismal font. They find the boy with his mother, meaning the Son of God, our Lord, in his Church. Approaching and recognising him, they worshipped him, knowing too that he had come in bodily form for the sake of humanity.

Intrantes domum inveniunt puerum cum Maria matre eius et procedentes agnitum adoraverunt eum et de thensauris offerunt ei munera aurum, thus et mirram. Intrantes ^16v domum: Domus ecclesia, in qua fidem percipimus per lavacrum renascentes. Inveni-unt puerum cum matre eius, id est filium dei dominum nostrum in ecclesia sua. Et procedentes agnitum adoraverunt: Et scientes hominum causa venisse eum in cor-pore.

They open their treasure chests and offer gifts: gold, incense, myrrh. It is evident that this literally happened. For Isaiah had said that it would come to pass in this way at the birth of a boy: And the Lord said to me: Call his name, swiftly take away the spoils, quickly plunder, because before the boy knows how to call father or mother he will receive the power of Damascus and the spoils of Samaria against the king of the Assyrians, meaning Herod 1¹⁸ As for their offering of gold, incense and myrrh, they offer him gold as an indication of kingship, incense as to a god, myrrh to show that he must suffer and be buried for the salvation of humanity. Therefore, because the Magi are the figure of believers from the nations, we can bend their gifts in figures??⁹ Believers from the Gentiles therefore undergo martyrdoms, which, like gold, are tried through fire. We have understood that those who offer themselves as sacrifices to God and are made, like incense, into good fragrances for life, have the grace and dignity of burial in myrrh, for they hand themselves over gladly to death for the name of the Son of God.^{120 [480]}

Apertis thensauris offerunt munera aurum thus mirra(m): Quae simpliciter facta manifestum est. Nam Eseias nato puero ita futurum dixerat: Et dixit dominus mihi: ⁴⁷⁰ Voca nomen eius, velociter spolia detrahe, cito praedare, quia priusquam sciat puer vocare patrem aut matrem ^*accipiet virtutem Damasci et spolia[e] Samariae contra regem Assyriorum, id est Herodem. Quod autem offerunt aurum, (thus et mirram, aurum) in significationem regni, thus ut deo, mirram ostendentes, quod pati habebat pro salute[m] hominum et sepeliri. Igitur quia magi credentium ex nationibus ⁴⁷⁵ habent figuram, munera in figuris possumus †retorquere† ex gentibus igitur cre-dentes martyria faciunt, quae ut aurum per ignem probatur. Accepimus, ^*quod, qui se ipsos hostias deo praebent et (ut thus) efficiuntur boni odores in vitam, (in) mirra[m], qua se libenter pro nomine fili dei morti tradunt, sepulturae habent ⁴⁸⁰ gratiam et dignitatem. ‑

The Magi say, then: Where is he who is born king of the Jews? They worship the one they have found; they offer him gifts. This showed that all nations will acknowledge and seek out the King of the Jews, and they will worship Christ and undergo martyrdom for his name more readily than the Jews to whom he specifically came and from whom he took flesh, as the Apostle says: From whom are the fathers and from whom is Christ, who is blessed, God for ever, Amen.¹²¹ Pilate, also a figure of the nations, says: You are King of the Jews and Jesus: You say it. To this point you too acknowledge that I am King of the Jews.⁷²² King Nebuchadnezzar is also a figure of the nations when he alone saw the Son of God with the three boys in the furnace, and said: Did we not send three men into the oven and Look, I see four men, and the figure of the fourth is like the son of God.m This was long ago foreshown, that the nations would acknowledge the King of the Jews ^[49o] and believe that Christ is the Son of God and see better than the Jews, who to their own destruction before Pilate replied against him: We have no king except Caesar.¹²⁴ What else could an earthly people with a stubborn neck therefore acknowledge but an earthly king, having scorned the eternal and heavenly king, the Son of God, of whose kindness they have always shown themselves ungrateful?

Dicunt ergo magi Ubi est, qui natus est rex Iudeorum, inventum adorant, offerunt ei munera: Ostendebat omnes nationes facilius confessuras et ^17r inquisituras regem Iudeorum, Christum adoraturas et pro nomine eius martyria facturas, quam Iudeos, ad quos proprie venit (et) ex quibus carnem accepit, ut dicit apostolus: Ex quibus patres et ex quibus Christus, qui est benedictus deus in saecula. ⁴⁸⁵ Amen. Pilatus quoque habens figuram nationum ait Tu es rex Iudeorum, et Iesus: Tu dicis. Adhuc et tu confiteris, quia sum rex Iudeorum. Nabucodonosor rex quoque nationum figuram gerens in camino cum tribus pueris solus vidit filium dei. Qui dicit: Nonne tres viros misimus in fornacem et Ecce video quattuor viros et quarti figuram sicut fili dei. Hoc olim praeostensum erat, ut nationes magis regem Iudeo⁴⁹⁰ rum confiterentur et crederent Christum filium dei et viderent quam Iudei, qui in illa internicione sua apud Pilatum adversus eum responderunt: Nos non habemus regem nisi Caesarem. Populus igitur terrenus durae cervicis quid aliud poterat nisi regem profiteri terrenum spreto aeterno caelestique rege filio dei, cuius beneficii semper extitit ingratus?

To their own utmost distress, they even said: His blood be upon us and upon our children ¹²⁵They themselves passed this judg ment worthy of their merits, so that they should be considered guilty of spilling the blood of the Son of God for that time until they are converted. Blessed therefore are the nations, who believe everything about the Son of God and will also obtain the heavenly kingdom through his graciousness.

Qui et in ultima necess(itat)e sua dixerunt: Sanguis huius super nos ⁴⁹⁵ et super filios nostros. Meritis suis dignam ipsi sententiam dederunt, ut ^*sanguinis fili dei effusi tam diu rei habeantur, donec fuerint conversi. Beatae igitur nationes, ^17v quae omnia de filio dei credentes etiam regnum caeleste[m] dignatione eius adipiscentur.

Warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back on a different way to their own land) ^[500] This is plainly so that, after their coming to believe, they should not return to Herod’s unbelief or heresy, or to Jewish tradition, as they were now progressing on the path of faith. But along a different way: it means that narrow and taxing way which directs believers who have escaped from the unrighteousness of the Jews to their own land. For the wide and broad way is earthly. The narrow way has the following significance: whoever truly believes in the Son of God sets aside and no longer cares for their former way, which has various misfortunes, enslavements to idols and all other harmful things. Those who believe in the Son of God, then, once they have spurned the way of the world will return by another way which has the commandments of the Son of God. For he himself said: I am the way and the truth) Whoever has firmly set their steps on this way, then, will easily reach their own land. It is evident, however, that the Magi came from the East with the star as their pointer and returned by another way to their own land. For they had come in worldly behaviour, but later they were warned and they received commands as to which way they should travel. Returning to their own land: this shows that those who believe in the Son of God, having spurned depraved worldly behaviour, are able to return to their own land by another way. The land of those who believe in the Son of God is paradise, from which the first man was expelled because of disobedience. The Lord himself spoke of the different types of ways, the nature of each and what it brings to the traveller: Wide and broad is the way which leads to death, and there are many who travel on it. Adam, progressing on this way, is found to have fallen from paradise. How tight and narrow is the way which leads to life, and there are few who travel on it.¹²⁸ For the elect, the martyrs and all the saints rely on this way. Scripture says that the total of the elect is innumerable, ^[520] but the Lord, who wishes all to be saved,n⁹ says that just a few travel on the way of the commandments of God.

Admoniti in somnis, ne redirent ad Herodem, alia via reversi sunt in suam re-⁵⁰⁰ gionem, ne[c] scilicet ad eius incredulitatem vel heresim vel ad Iudaicam traditionem reverterentur post credulitatem, ut iam (in) fidei itinere ^*graderentur. Per aliam autem viam: Illam angustam et laboriosam dicit, quae homines credentes sublatos ab iniquitate[m] Iudaica[m] dirigit ad suam regionem. Nam via lata et spatiosa terrena est. Via angusta hanc habet significationem: Qui vere crediderit filio dei, viam priorem amittit et neglegit, ^*quae habet varias calamitates, idolorum ^*servi- ⁵⁰⁵ tutes et cetera pestifera. Credentes ergo in filio dei ^*spreta via saeculi per aliam revertentur, quae habet mandata fili dei. Ipse enim dixit: Ego sum via et veritas. In hac ergo via qui firmiter gressus suos constituerit, facile perveniet ad suam re-gionem. ^*Magos autem ab oriente indice stella venisse manifestum est et eosdem per aliam viam in sua(m regionem) regressos. Venerant enim in conversatione[m] saecu- ⁵¹⁰ lari, postea admoniti acceperunt mandata, qua via ingredi deberent. Ad regionem suam revertentes: Ostendit credentes filio dei spreta[s] saeculari conversatione nequissima per aliam viam posse ad suam pervenire regione(m). Regio credentium filio dei paradisus est, de quo primus homo propter inobaudientiam pulsus est. ^18r Dominus ipse dixit de qualitatibus viarum, quae qualis sit et quid conferat ingredi- ⁵¹⁵ enti: Lata et spatiosa via est, quae ducit ad mortem, et multi sunt, qui ingrediuntur per eam. Per hanc gradiens Adam de paradiso lapsus invenitur. Quam arta et angusta via, quae ducit ad vitam, et pauci sunt, qui ingrediuntur per eam: Electi enim et martyres sanctique omnes hac via nituntur. Scriptura electorum numerum innu-merabilem, sed dominus, qui totos vult salvari, paucos admodum ^*dicit per viam ⁵²⁰ mandatorum dei ingredi.

When they had departed, behold, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream, saying: Rise and take the boy and his mother and so on.° As we said above that the Magi are the figure of all the nations, so Egypt too is the image of the world. In coming here, the Son of God brought belief and removed everything from the kingdom of the Jews. For it will come to pass that Herod will search for the boy in order to kill him. Indeed, the Jews carried out his wish, just as the prophets said before that they would do.

Qui cum recessissent, ecce angelus domini apparuit Ioseph in somnis dicens: Surge et accipe puerum et matrem eius et cetera. Ut superius diximus de magis, quod omnium nationum habeant figuram, sic et Aegyptus saeculi habet imaginem; ad quem filius dei veniens inferens credulitatem a Iudeorum regno omnia submovit. ⁵²⁵ Futurum est enim, ut Herodis quaerat puerum, ut eum occidat. Perfecerunt quidem voluntatem suam Iudei, sicut ante prophetae dixerunt facturos.

Flee into Egypt.¹³¹ After the Passion of the Lord and his Ascension, the elders of the Jews sought with all their might to remove the way of the Lord by pursuing the apostles and saying ^[530] ‘Do not teach in that name’: this is their desire to ki11.¹³² When Paul saw such madness and discord, he said: The message of this salvation had indeed been sent to you, but because you have proved yourselves unworthy, we will turn to the Gentiles.¹³³ Not inappropriately is Joseph warned to flee to Egypt with the boy, meaning that all belief is to be removed from the Jews and granted to the nations.

Fuge in Aegyptum. Post ergo passionem domini et ascensionem omni virtute maiores Iudeorum quaerebant auferre viam domini insequendo apostolos dicentes ⁵³⁰ ‘Nolite in nomine isto docere’, hoc est velle occidere. Quibus Paulus, cum videret ^18v tantam insaniam et discordiam, ait Vobis quidem missum erat verbum salutis huius; sed quia vos indignos iudicastis, convertemur ad gentes. Non inmerito monetur Ioseph ad Aegyptum ^*fugere cum puero, id est ut omnis credulitas Iudeis auferatur et nationibus conferatur.

But rising, Joseph took the boy and his mother and so on. So that the saying of the Lord through the prophet should be fulfilled: Out of Egypt have I called my son.¹³⁴ When, therefore, the Magi returned to their own land after being warned, the angel of the Lord appeared to Joseph in a dream warning him in what way and how cautiously he should hurry into Egypt because of the madness and rage of Herod, who wanted to put Jesus to death since he had heard from the Magi that the King of the Jews had been born.

⁵³⁵ Surgens autem Ioseph accepit puerum et matrem eius et cetera. Ut inpleretur dictum domini per prophetam: Ex Aegypto vocavi filium meum. Cum igitur magi moniti reverterentur ad suam regionem, angelus domini apparuit Ioseph in somnis ^*monens, qualiter et quam caute in Aegyptum properaret propter insaniam furorem-que Herodis, qui audierat a magis regem Iudeorum natum volens interficere Iesum.

When Herod saw that he had been tricked by the Magi, in his anger he sent out and killed all the boys who were in Bethlehem in Judea and in all the lands, starting from two years old and below, in accordance with the time which he had discovered from the Magi.¹³⁵ Filled with diabolical rage on hearing that a king had been born and reckoning that he would be replaced by him, that man dispatched people to put every boy to death, but he was not able to fulfil his desires. For he could not accomplish the slaughter of the one for whose sake his savagery had blazed against the innocent, and infants were the first to undergo martyrdom for the name of Christ. For it was thus fitting and worthy that it was none other than innocents and those worthy of the kingdom of the Lord who initiated martyrdom. The most holy David, overwhelmed with the Holy Spirit, said that this would come to pass:

⁵⁴⁰ Videns Herodis delusum se a magis iratus misit et occidit omnes pueros, qui erant in Bethlem ^*Iudae et in omnibus regionibus a bimatu et infra secundum tempus, quod exquisierat a magis. Homo furore zabolico adinpletus audito natum regem succedi sibi ab eo aestimans misit interfici ^*omnes pueros, sed optata perficere non valuit. Nec enim potuit usque ad eius necem pervenire, cuius causa in innocentes saevitia⁵⁴⁵ eius exarsit, et primi ^*infantes martyria pro nomine Christi fe(ce)runt. Sic enim erat decens dignumque, ut non alii quam innocentes et regno domini digni martyria initiarent. Hoc futurum sanctissimus David sancto spiritu inundatus dixit:

Out of the mouths of infants and babes at the breast you have made perfect praise, in order that you should destroy the enemy and defender.¹-³b Herod is the enemy, who ordered the innocents to be killed, and the defender of the kingdom in which he feared he would be replaced. John mentions these innocents in the Apocalypse: These are they who follow the Lamb wherever he goes.¹³²

Ex ore ^19r infantium et lactantium perfecisti laudem, ut destruas inimicum et defensorem. Herodis inimicus, qui occidi iussit innocentes, defensor autem regni, in quo sibi ⁵⁵⁰ succedi metuebat. De his innocentibus Iohannis in Apocalypsi meminit: Hii sunt, qui sequuntur agnum, quocumque vadit.

Then the saying of Jeremiah the prophet is fulfilled: A voice was heard in Rama, weeping and much wailing, Rachel weeping for her children. And she refused to be consoled, because they are no more.¹³⁸ Rama is a town or village near to Jerusalem. This is to be be understood literally: when the infants were being slaughtered, this could not be passed over without weeping and wailing. And she refused to be consoled, because they are no more. Rachel was the daughter of Laban the Syrian, the sister of Leah, the wife of Jacob. She bore two sons to Jacob: Joseph and Benjamin. When she was in labour with Benjamin, she was brought into danger by the act of giving birth and died 1³⁹ Therefore Rachel, who wept and refused to be consoled, was now no more. But because she had been their mother, this is said in her character. Two sons were thus born to Joseph: ^[560] Ephraim and Manasseh. Their grandfather Jacob made them his own sons when he blessed them, and he is deemed to be in their names1⁴⁰ Therefore Joseph begins not to be a son, because his sons have replaced him through adoption in his stead. Joseph, then, is not a son. As for Benjamin, not he but his tribe committed a sexual crime in Gibeah against the wife or concubine of a Levite.¹⁴¹ The Levite, making twelve pieces from her severed limbs, sent them throughout the twelve tribes of the children of Israel and all twelve tribes gathered together and exterminated almost the whole tribe of Benjamin. For this reason, it says: Rachel weeping for her children. And she refused to be consoled, because they are no more. This is the correct literal interpretation. Spiritually, however, Rachel bears the type of the Church: through prophecy it was shown even then that martyrdoms would come to pass for the name of the Lord. Appropriately did weeping and much wailing take place at that time, because so many thousands of infants are found to have been put to death by Herod. It can, however, also be understood with regard to those who have been overcome in the time of persecution and have turned to the worse and begin no more to be children of the Church. Appropriately, the Church weeps and is subject to much wailing when it sees those who were its children alienated from its affection and behaviour.

Tunc adinpletur dictum Ieremiae prophetae: Vox in Rama audita est ploratus et ululatus multus, Rachel plorans filios suos et noluit consolari, quia non sunt. Rama civitas vel castellus proximus Hierosolimis. Simpliciter ^*est accipiendum: Quando ⁵⁵⁵ interficiebantur infantes, non sine ploratu et ululatu potuit transiri. Et noluit consolari, quia non sunt. Rachel filia fuit Labae Syri, soror Liae, uxor Iacob. Quae peperit duos filios Iacob, Ioseph et Beniamin. Cum Beniamin fuisset enixa, ipso partu periclitata excessit. Rachel ergo iam non erat, quae ploraret vel consolari noluisset; sed quia mater fuerat, ^*ex persona ipsius dicitur. Ioseph itaque nati sunt filii duo, Efrem et Manasem. Hos Iacob avus sibi fecit filios esse, cum eos benediceret, (et) in ⁵⁶⁰ ipsorum nominibus deputatur. Incipit igitur Ioseph filius non esse, quia per adop-tionem successerunt filii in eius loco: Ergo Ioseph non est filius. Beniamin autem non ipse, sed tribus eius scelus stupri committens in Gaba[a], in uxorem scilicet vel concubinam levitae, cuius ^*exsecta membra idem ^*levita duodecim partes faciens ^19v misit per duodecim tribus filiorum Israhel, et convenerunt omnes tribus XII et ⁵⁶⁵ exciderunt paene totam tribum Beniamin. Idcirco ait: Rachel plorans filios suos et noluit consolari, quia non sunt. Iuxta historiam sic recte accipitur. Spiritaliter autem Rachel typum ^*gestans ecclesiae ostendebat iam tunc prophetia martyria pro nomine domini futura. Et merito ploratus et ululatus multus eo tempore contigit, quod tot milia infantium ab Herode interfecti inveniuntur. Potest autem et de his ⁵⁷⁰ accipi, qui tempore persecutionis superati ad devia conversi filii ecclesiae non incipiunt esse. Et merito ecclesia plorat et ululatu multo adficitur, cum eos videat, qui filii fuerunt, alienos ab adfectu et conversatione[m] sua[m] effectos.

END OF CHAPTER THREE.

FINIT CAPITULUM TERTIUM.

HERE BEGIN THE INDIVIDUAL CHAPTERS AS A SUMMARY, SO THAT YOU CAN FIND THE READING YOU WISH MORE QUICKLY.

INCIPIUNT SINGULA CAPITULA AD BREVE, (UT) LECTIONEM ^*QUAM VELIS ⁵⁷⁵ CELERIUS INVENIAS.

cap. M. I. And from the exile in Babylon

^I.     Et a transmigratione Babyllonis ^{cap. M.}

II.    But Joseph, rising up from sleep

II.   Exsurgens autem Ioseph a somno

III.  When Jesus was born in Bethlehem of Judea

III.  Cum ergo natus esset (Iesus) in Bethlem Iudae

IV.   Hearing this, Herod was worried and all Jerusalem with him

^IV.   Audiens Herodis turbatus est et omnis Hierosolima cum illo ⁵⁸⁰

V.   Then Herod privately called the Magi

V.                Tunc Herodis occulte vocavit magos

VI.   Warned in a dream not to return to Herod

VI.               Admoniti in somnis ne redirent ad Herodem

VII.  A voice was heard in Rama

VII.             Vox in Rama audita est

VIII.    That he will be called a Nazorean

VIII.            Quoniam Nazareus vocabitur

IX.       In those days John came

⁵⁸⁵ VIIII. In illis diebus venit Iohannis

X.     Offspring of vipers

X.                Progenies viperarum

XI.   I indeed baptise you in water for repentance

XI.               Ego quidem vos baptizo in aqua in paenitentiam

XII.  Then Jesus came from Galilee into Jordan to John

XII.             Tunc venit Iesus a Galilea in Iordanen ad Iohannem

XIII.    Then Jesus was led in the desert by the spirit

^20r XIII. Tunc Iesus ductus est in deserto a spiritu

XIV.   Again, on the wing of the Temple

⁵⁹⁰ XIIII. Iterum super pinnam templi

XV. Again, he took him up onto a lofty mountain

XV.             Iterum adsumpsit eum in montem excelsum

XVI.   But when he was passing beside the Sea of Galilee

XVI.            Cum transiret autem secus mare Gali(l)eae

XVII.  And they brought to him all who were afflicted

XVII.          Et obtulerunt ei omnes male habentes

XVIII.      Blessed are the poor in spirit

XVIII.         Beati pauperes spiritu

XIX.       You are the salt of the land

⁵⁹⁵ XVIIII. Vos estis sal terrae

XX. You are the light of the earth

XX.             Vos estis lux mundi

XXI.   Be in agreement with your opponent

XXI.            Esto consentiens adversario tuo

XXII.  But if your right eye causes you to stumble

XXII.          Quod si oculus tuus dexter scandalizat t(e)

XXIII.      Beware of carrying out your acts of righteousness in front of others

XXIII.         Adtendite iustitiam vestram facientes coram hominibus

XXIV.   The lamp of your body is your eye

⁶⁰⁰ XXIIII. Lucerna corporis tui est oculus tuus

XXV. No-one can serve two masters

XXV.          Nemo potest duobus dominis servire

XXVI.     What if you see a splinter in the eye of your brother

XXVI.         Quid autem vides festucam in oculo fratris tui

XXVII.  Beware of false prophets

XXVII.       Adtendite a falsis prophetis

XXVIII.  Every bad tree

XXVIII.      Omnis arbor mala

XXIX.       Many will say to me on that day: Lord, Lord

⁶⁰⁵ XXVIIII. Multi ^*dicent mihi in illa die: Domine domine

XXX. Everyone who hears my words and carries them out

XXX.          Omnis qui audit verba (mea) et facit ea

XXXI.     Everyone who hears my words and does not carry them out

XXXI.         Omnis qui audit verba mea et non facit ea

XXXII.  And as he came down from the mountain

XXXII.       Et ^*descendente eo de monte

XXXIII.  After this a certain centurion came up to him

XXXIII.      Post haec accessit ad eum quidam centurio

XXXIV.   And when Jesus had come into the house of Peter

⁶¹⁰ XXXIIII. Et cum venisset Iesus in domum Petri

XXXV. But once it was evening they brought to him many who had demons

XXXV.       Vespere autem facto obtulerunt illi multos daemonia habentes

XXXVI. But a scribe came up and said: Master, I will follow you

XXXVI.      Accedens autem scriba ait: Magister, sequar te

XXXVII.  Another said: Lord, allow me to bury my father

XXXVII.    Alius ait: Domine, permitte mihi sepelire patrem meum

XXXVIII.                  And as he climbs in a boat, the disciples follow

XXXVIII.   Et ascendente eo in navicula sequuntur discipuli

XXXIX.       When he had come across the strait, in the region of the Gerasenes

^XXXIX.               Cum venisset trans fretum in regione Gerasinorum ⁶¹⁵

XL.  But those who had been tending them fled

XL.             Hii autem qui eos pascebant fugerunt

XLI.    And behold, they brought to him a paralysed man

XLI.            Et ecce obtulerunt ei paralyticum

XLII.  So seeing this the crowds were afraid

XLII.          Videntes ergo turbae timuerunt

XLIII. And when Jesus had crossed over from there, he saw a man sitting in the toll booth, Matthew by name

XLIII.         Et cum transisset inde Iesus vidit hominem sedentem in teloneo nomine Matheum ⁶²⁰

XLIV.    And he said to the disciples of John: Can wedding guests fast

XLIV.         Et ait discipulis Iohannis: Numquid (possunt) filii sponsi ieiunare ^20v

XLV.  But no-one sews a patch of new cloth onto an old garment

XLV.          Nemo autem adsuit pannum rudem ad (vestimentum) vetus

XLVI.      Behold, while he was speaking a leader asks on his daughter’s behalf

XLVI.         Ecce eo loquente princeps pro filia rogat

XLVII.  A woman with a flow of blood came up to touch his garment

XLVII.       ^*Femina profluvium habens ^*accessit tangere vestimentum

XLVIII. And when Jesus had come into the house of the leader

XLVIII.      Et cum venisset Iesus in domum principis ⁶²⁵

XLIX.        When they had gone out, others bring out to him a man who was mute, deaf and blind

XLIX.         Egressis illis efferunt ei mutum surdum caecum

L.  And having summoned his disciples, he gave them authority to cast out unclean spirits

L.                Et ^*convocatis discipulis suis dedit illis potestatem ^*eiciendorum spirituum inmundorum

LI.    But the names of the twelve disciples are these

LI.               autem discipulorum nomina sunt haec

LII.  Do not own gold or silver

LII.             Nolite possidere aurum neque argentum ⁶³⁰

LIII.     In whatever town you enter, stay there

LIII.            In quacumque civitate[m] intraveritis ibi manete

LIV.    Behold, I send you like sheep in the middle of wolves

LIV.            Ecce ego mitto vos sicut oves in medio luporum

LV.  Nothing is covered which will not be revealed

LV.             Nihil opertum, quod non reveletur

LVI.    And concealed which will not be known

LVI.            Et absconsum, quod non sciatur

LVII.  What you hear in your ear, preach on the rooftops

LVII.          Quod in aure auditis praedicate super tecta ⁶³⁵

LVIII.     I did not come to send peace but a sword

LVIII.         Non veni pacem mittere sed gladium

LIX.        But John, when he heard in prison the works of Christ

LIX.            Iohannis autem audita in carcere opera Christi

LX.  But in response he said to them: Go and report to John

LX.             Respondens autem ait illis: Euntes renuntiate Iohanni

LXI.    Then he began to speak about John to the crowds: What did you go out to see in the desert? A reed being blown about by the wind?

LXI.            Tunc coepit dicere de Iohanne ad turbas: Quid exis(tis) videre in ⁶⁴⁰ de serto? Arundinem vento agitari?‑

LXII.  But what shall I reckon this generation is like

LXII.          ^*Cui autem similem ^*aestimabo generationem istam

LXIII.     At that time, Jesus was walking through the crops

LXIII.         In illo tempore ambulabat Iesus per segetes

LXIV.    And crossing over from there into their synagogue

LXIV.         Et inde transiens in synagoga eorum

LXV.  How can one enter into the house of a strong man

LXV.          Quomodo potest intrare in domum fortis

LXVI.    To those demanding a sign, he says: An evil and counterfeit generation seeks a sign, and none will be given except the sign of Jonah

⁶⁴⁵ LXVI. Petentibus signum dicit: Generatio mala et adultera signum quaerit et non dabitur nisi signum Ionae

LXVII.  What lack of belief and blindness: they saw so many signs and wonders, yet they demanded a sign

LXVII. O incredulitas et caecitas: Tanta signa et mirabilia videbant et signa ^*petebant

LXVIII. The Lord brought in a similar example concerning the Queen of the South

^21r LXVIII. Simile[m] exemplum de regina austri dominus adtulit

LXIX.        Behold, while he is speaking and instructing the disciples, it is announced to him: Behold, your mother and brothers are seeking you

⁶⁵⁰ LXVIIII. Ecce eo loquente et instruente discipulos nuntiatur illi: Ecce mater et fratres tui ^*quaerunt te

LXX.  The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed

LXX.          Simile est regnum caelorum grano senapis

LXXI.    The kingdom of the heavens is like yeast

LXXI.         Simile est regnum caelorum fermento

LXXII.  The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure chest concealed in a field

LXXII.       Simile est regnum caelorum thensauro absconso in agro

LXXIII. The kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant

⁶⁵⁵ LXXIII. Simile est regnum caelorum homini negotianti

LXXIV.    The kingdom of the heavens is like a net cast in the sea

LXXIV.      Simile est regnum caelorum retiae missae in mari

LXXV.  Therefore every scribe who is educated in the kingdom of the heavens

LXXV.       Ideo omnis scriba doctus in regno caelorum

LXXVI.  But on Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced

LXXVI.      Die autem natalis Herodis saltavit filia Herodiadis

LXXVII.  But once it was evening his disciples came up to him saying: The place is deserted

LXXVII.    Vespere autem facto accesserunt ad eum discipuli eius dicentes: Desertus ‑⁶⁶⁰ est locus

LXXVIII. Jesus ordered his disciples to climb into the boat

LXXVIII.   Iussit Iesus discipulos ascendere in navicula[m]

LXXIX.        And having gone out from there Jesus went away into the regions of Tyre and Sidon, and behold a Canaanite woman

LXXIX.      Et egressus inde Iesus secessit in partes Tyri et Sidonis, et ecce mulier Chananea

LXXX.  And crossing over from there he again came beside to the Sea of Galilee

LXXX.       Et transiens inde venit iterum secus mare Galileae

LXXXI.  Jesus gathered his disciples and said: I pity the crowd, because it has now been three days and they are still without food

⁶⁶⁵ LXXXI. Iesus convocatis discipulis suis dixit: Misereor turbae, quia iam triduo est et [iam] ieiuni perseverant

LXXXII.  And the Pharisees and Sadducees came up to him testing him and asking for a sign from heaven

LXXXII. Et accesserunt ad eum Farisei et Sadducei temptantes et rogantes signum de caelo

LXXXIII.   On that day the disciples came up to Jesus and he called a boy

In illa die accesserunt discipuli ad Iesum, et vocavit puerum

LXXXIV.  But whoever causes to stumble

Qui autem scandalizaverit ⁶⁷⁰

LXXXV.  But if your hand or foot causes you to stumble

Quod si manus tua vel pes scandalizaverit te

LXXXVI.  See that you do not despise one of these tiny ones

Videte ne contemnatis unum ex pusillis

LXXXVII.What do you think if someone owned one hundred sheep

Quid vobis videtur si fuerint alicui centum oves

LXXXVIII.   And it happened, once Jesus spoke, that he took himself over from Galilee across the Jordan and many crowds followed him

Et factum est, cum locutus esset Iesus, transtulit se a Galilea trans Iordanem et secutae sunt eum turbae multae ⁶⁷⁵

LXXXIX.        The Pharisees came up to him testing him whether it was permitted to send away a wife

Accesserunt Farisei temptantes, si licet dimittere uxorem ^21v

XC.             He said to them: Not everyone grasps the word

Quibus dixit: Non omnes capiunt verbum

XCI.    Then infants were brought to him

Tunc oblati sunt ei infantes

XCII.      Behold, a man came up to him saying

Ecce unus accessit ad eum dicens

XCIII.      The kingdom of the heavens is like the head of a household who hires workers

Simile est regnum caelorum patri familias conducenti operarios ⁶⁸⁰

XCIV.      Then the mother of the sons of Zebedee came up to him

Tunc accessit ad eum mater filiorum Zebedei

XCV. Hearing this, the ten were aggrieved

Audientes decem contristati sunt

XCVI.    When you go in as guests to supper

Intrantes et rogati ad cenam

XCVII.    As they were going out from Jericho, many crowds followed him

Egredientibus (eis) ab Iericho ^*secutae sunt eum turbae multae

XCVIII.    And when they had approached Jerusalem, they came to Bethphage

Et cum adpropinquassent Hierosolimis venerunt Bethfage ⁶⁸⁵

XCIX.          Then Jesus sent out two of his disciples saying

Tunc Iesus misit duos ex discipulis suis dicens

C. Having left them, he went away from the town

Relictis illis abiit extra civitatem

CI.    Jesus said: Neither do I say to you in what authority I do these things

Ait Iesus: Nec ego vobis dico, in qua potestate haec facio

CII.  There was a man, the head of a household, who planted a vineyard

Erat homo pater familias qui plantavit vineam

CIII.    Again he sent to them more slaves

Iterum misit ad illos servos plures ⁶⁹⁰

CIV.    Woe to you, scribes and Pharisees

Vae vobis, scribae et Farisei

CV. Snakes, offspring of vipers

Serpentes genera(tio) viperarum

CVI.    Jerusalem, you who put the prophets to death¹⁴²

Hierusalem ^*quae interficis prophetas

CVII.  Woe to those who are pregnant and breastfeeding in those days

Vae praegnantibus et ubera dantibus in illis diebus

CVIII.Then if anyone should say to you: Behold, here is Christ

Tunc si quis vobis dixerit: Ecce hic Christus ⁶⁹⁵

CIX.        For just as lightning comes from the East

Sicut enim fulgor exit ab oriente

CX. But learn the parable from the fig tree

Ab arbore autem ficus discite parabolam

CXI.    Then there will be two people in a field

Tunc duo erunt in agro

CXII.  Two women at the mill

Duae ^*mulieres ad molam

CXIII.Two people in a bed

⁷⁰⁰ CXIII. Duo in lecto

CXIV.    Keep watch, then, because you do not know

Vigilate ergo, quia nescitis

CXV.       Who is the faithful slave

Quisnam est fidelis servus

CXVI.      Then the kingdom of the heavens will be reckoned like ten virgins

Tunc simile aestimabitur regnum caelorum decem virginibus

CXVII.    For just as a man having set out abroad

Sicut enim homo peregre profectus

CXVIII.  But when the Son of Man shall come in his majesty

⁷⁰⁵ CXVIII. Cum autem venerit filius hominis in maiestate sua

CXIX.      Then one of the twelve went away

Tunc abiit unus de duodecim

CXX.       Then Jesus says to them: All of you will stumble

Tunc dicit illis Iesus: Omnes vos scandalum patiemini

CXXI.      Then he said to them: My soul is sorrowful to the point of death

Tunc ait illis: Tristis est anima mea usque ad mortem

CXXII.    And he came to his disciples

Et venit ad discipulos suos

CXXIII.  Behold, Judas, one of the twelve, came

⁷¹⁰ CXXIII. Ecce Iudas unus de duo(de)cim venit

CXXIV.  Behold, one of those who were with Jesus

CXXIIII. Ecce unus ex his, qui erant cum Iesu

CXXV.   Then the leader of the priests

^22r CXXV. Tunc princeps sacerdotum

CXXVI.  One of the serving maids came up to him

Accessit ad eum una ex ancillis

CXXVII.                    Peter denying the man

Negans Petrus hominem

CXXVIII.Then Judas, who betrayed him, seeing

⁷¹⁵ CXXVIII. Tunc videns Iudas, qui eum tra(di)dit

CXXIX.        Behold, the curtain of the Temple was torn

CXXVIIII. Ecce velum templi scissum est

End of the chapters according to Matthew. Here begin those according to Luke.¹⁴³

Finiunt capitula cata Matheum. Incipiunt cata Lucanum.

cap. L. I. But it happened in those days

^{cap. L.} I. Factum est autem in illis diebus

II.    And Simeon blessed them

(II.) Et benedixit illo(s) Simeon

III.  So he said to the crowds

⁷²⁰ III. Dicebat ergo ad turbas

IV.     But already the axe is at the roots of the trees

IIII. Iam autem securis ad ^*radices arborum

V.   But as the people thought and everyone pondered

(Existima)nte autem populo et cogitantibus (omnibus)

VI. And once every temptation was finished

Et consummata omni temptatione

VII.    But arising from the synagogue he entered into the house of Simon

Surgens autem de synagoga in domum Simonis intravit

VIII.  But when the sun had set

Cum sol autem occidisset ⁷²⁵

IX.     It came to pass that the crowds surged towards him

Factum est, cum turbae inruerent in eum

X.   And Simon in reply said to him: Teacher

Et ^*respondens Simon dixit illi: Praeceptor [per]

XI. And they filled both boats

Et inpleverunt ambas naviculas

XII.            Seeing this, Simon fell at Jesus’ knees

Quod videns Simon ^*procidit ad genua Iesu

XIII.  And it happened that he was in one town

Et factum est, cum esset in una civitate ⁷³⁰

End of the chapters according to Luke. There are thirteen chapters in total because the whole of the Gospel according to Matthew should also be understood in this part.¹⁴⁴ Here begins the Gospel according to John. There are eighteen chapters in total.

Finiunt ^*capitula cata Lucanum. Capitula numero XIII †quia cata Matheum totum et hic† sic intellegendum est. Incipit evangelium secundum Iohanne(m). Capitula numero XVIII.

cata,

cap. J. I. In the beginning was the Word

In principio erat verbum ^{cap. J.}

II.     Everything was made through him

Omnia per ipsum facta sunt ⁷³⁵

III.   What was made in him is life

(Quod) factum est in ipso vita est

IV.  There was a man sent from God by the name of John

Fuit homo missus a deo ^*nomine Iohannis

V.    He was on this earth and the earth was made through him

In hoc mundo erat et mundus per ipsum factus est

VI.  He came to his very own and his own did not receive him

In sua propria venit et sui eum non receperunt

VII.But to as many as received him he gave authority to become children of God

Quodquod autem receperunt eum, dedit eis potestatem filios dei fieri ⁷⁴⁰

VIII.        And the Word was made flesh and lived in us

Et verbum caro factum est et habitavit in nobis

IX.      John bears witness about him

Iohannis testimonium perhibet de ipso

X.    No-one has ever seen God except the only-begotten Son

Deum nemo vidit umquam nisi unigenitus filius

XI.  They questioned him again saying

Interrogaverunt eum iterum dicentes

XII.And those who had been sent by the Pharisees

Et qui missi fuerant a Fariseis ^22v

XIII.        These events took place in Bethany

Haec in Bethania facta sunt

XIV.  But on the next day John saw Jesus

Postera autem die vidit Iohannis Iesum Altera iterum die

XV.          Again on another day

Postera die

XVI.        On the next day he decided to journey into Galilee

voluit proficisci in Galileam

XVII.      And on the third day a wedding took place

⁷⁵⁰ XVII. Et tertia die nuptiae factae sunt

XVIII.    Jesus says to them: Draw some out and take it to the chief steward

XVIII. Dicit illis Iesus: Haurite et ferte architriclin[i]o

End of the chapters according to John. There are eighteen chapters in total. We will, in addition, investigate a few matters which are not told in the other Gospels, but we understand the Gospel according to Mark in the same way as the rest because all four evangelists spoke about one God, our Lord.

Finiunt (capitula) secundum Iohannem. Capitula numero XVIII. Adhuc investi-gaturi pauca, quae aliis evangeliis dicta non sunt, evangelium cata Marcum, quia omnes quattuor evangelistae de uno deo et domino nostro dixerunt, sic intellegimus ⁷⁵⁵ ut ^*cetera.

M. I. [Matthew 1:17-18] And from the exile in Babylon fourteen generations. These are listed as thirteen: one is not taken away, but is in place since the evangelist also tells about the generation of Christ: But the generation of Christ was as follows. This fourteenth generation shown in the total above, then, is the Christian community generated in a spiritual generation. And because he says three lots of fourteen, ^[760] he makes the model of the Trinity known within this.

(I.)              Et a transmigratione Babyllonis generationes quattuordecim. Quae tredecim ^{Mt. 1,} numerantur. Una ergo non subtrahitur, sed loco est, siquidem dicit etiam (de) Christi ^17sq. generatione: Christi autem generatio sic erat. Haec ergo ^*quarta decima in numero superiore ostensa est populus Christianus spiritali generatione generatus. Et quia ter⁷⁶⁰ decus quartus dicit, subostendit formam trinitatis.

M. II. [Matthew 1:24-25] But Joseph, rising up from sleep, did as the angel of the Lord instructed him and he accepted his wife and was not intimate with her until she gave birth to a son. Because it said `until’, some think that this suggests he was intimate with her after the birth. But whoever is of sound mind should not thus suppose that Joseph, a righteous man who both saw visions of angels and was also informed what he should do by angels, would have been able to defile Mary. He had also been ordered to give him the name Jesus.

(II.)             Exsurgens autem Ioseph a somno fecit sicut praecepit ei angelus dei et accepit ^{Mt. 1,} coniugem suam et non cognovit eam, donec peperit filium. Sic dixisse putatur, quasi ^24sq. post partum eam cognoverit, quia dixit ‘donec’. Sed quicumque sanae mentis sunt, sic sentire non debent, ut potuisset Ioseph vir iustus, qui et visiones angelorum⁷⁶⁵ videbat et, quid faceret, ab angelis monebatur, Mariam contingere. Cui etiam iussum fuerat, ut nomen ^*ei inponeret Iesum.

M. III. [Matthew 2:1-2] When Jesus was born in Bethlehem, a town of Judea. Bethlehem comes from Hebrew, in Latin domus panis (house of bread). Bethe1¹⁴⁵ means `house of God’, so Bethlehem is `house of bread’. Jesus, who would be the true bread for believers, is born here.

^23r III. Cum ergo natus esset Iesus in Bethlem civitatem Iudae. Bethlem ex Hebreo in ^{Mt. 2,} Latinum ‘domus panis’. ^*Bethel ‘domus dei’; ergo Bethlem ‘domus panis’. In hac ^1sq. nascitur Iesus, qui verus erat futurus panis credentibus.

He is born in the days of King Herod. Herod was a Sadducee, as it says elsewhere: The Pharisees with the Herodians.¹⁴⁶ Magi from the East came to Jerusalem: Magi are the figure of all Gentiles. They came to him in the public place of the Law, seeking the Saviour. They say: We have seen his star in the East and we have come to worship him. The Magi say that he is the King of the Jews, yet in contrast the Jews replied: We have no king except Caesar.¹⁴⁷ Pilate says: You are King of the Jews. Jesus says to him: You have said that I am king.¹⁴⁸ You see, then, that the nations, as with the Magi and Pilate, understand that he is a king more easily than the Jews. Nebuchadnezzar, too, spoke as follows: I see the figure of a fourth like a son of God.¹⁴⁹ No-one else from that multitude was able to see him, but only Nebuchadnezzar, since it was for the nations to see and worship and follow.

Nascitur in diebus Herodis regis. Herodis Sadduceus fuit, sicut alibi dicit: Farisei cum Herodianis. Magi ab ⁷⁷⁰ oriente venerunt in Hierosolima: Magi omnium gentium figuram habent. Qui ad eum (in) forum venerunt, id est legis, requirentes salvatorem. Qui dicunt: Vidimus stellam eius in oriente et venimus adorare eum. Regem Iudeorum magi dicunt, et contra Iudei responderunt: Nos non habemus regem nisi Caesarem. Pilatus dicit: Tu es rex Iudeo-rum. Ait illi Iesus: Tu dixisti, quia rex sum. Vides ergo nationes facilius intellegere ⁷⁷⁵ regem, ut magi et Pilatus, quam Iudeos. Sic et Nabucodonosor: Video quarti figuram quasi fili dei. ^*Quem alius ex illa multitudine videre non potuit nisi solus Nabucodonosor, quia nationum erat videre et adorare et sequi.

M. IIII. [Matthew 2:3-6] But hearing this, King Herod was troubled and Jerusalem with him. The public place ^[780] of the Law was plainly troubled, where the Jews used to read their scriptures, but so did the Sadducees too who are Jewish heretics. Having gathered the leaders, that is the elders, he enquires about the time and place where the Christ should be born. The answer is given to him according to the testimony of the prophet: And you, Bethlehem of Judea, are not least among the leaders of Judea. It said Judea because the Saviour took flesh from that same tribe.¹⁵⁰ Judea is translated as `acknowledgement’. For out of you will come a chief to rule my people Israel. It was shown that Jesus would come, that is (...) but Jacob was called Israel, when he prevailed in the struggle and he was told: Let me go, for the morning star is rising. He says: I shall not let you go unless you bless me. He says to him: What is your name? He replies: Jacob, which means `supplanter’. He says: Now your name will not be Jacob but your name will be Israel.ul He was called Israel by him because it means a man `seeing God’. And the prophecy of Isaiah is fulfilled, where he says: His name is Emmanuel, which is translated as ‘God with us’.¹⁵² Appropriately, then, the people is called Israel, meaning seeing God, Emmanuel.

^{Mt. 2,} IIII. Audiens autem rex Herodis conturbatus est et Hierosolima cum illo. Forum

^3–6 scilicet legis conturbatur, ubi Iudei lectitabant, sed et Sadducei, qui sunt heretici ⁷⁸⁰ Iudeorum. Convocatis principibus, id est maioribus, requiritur tempus vel locus, ubi Christus deberet nasci. Respondetur ei iuxta testimonium prophetae: Et tu Bethlem Iudae non es minima inter principes Iuda. (Iuda) ideo dixit, quia ex ipsa tribu salvator carnem accepit. Iuda ‘confessio’ interpretatur. Ex te enim exiet dux, qui regat populum ^23v meum Israhel. Ostendebatur venturum Iesum, id est (...) Israhel autem dictus est ⁷⁸⁵ Iacob, cum in luctatione invaluisset et diceret illi: Dimitte me, ascendit enim lucifer. Ait: Non te dimittam, nisi me benedixeris. Cui dicit: Quod nomen est tibi? Respondit: Iacob, quod est ‘subplantator’. Ait: Iam non erit nomen tuum Iacob, sed erit nomen tuum Israhel. Israhel autem ab eo dictus, quod est homo ‘deum videns’. Et inpletur ⁷⁹⁰ prophetia Eseiae, ubi dicit: Nomen eius Emmanuel, quod est interpretatum ‘Nobiscum deus’. Merito ergo Israhel dictus est populus, id est deum videns Emmanuelem.

M. V. [Matthew 2:7-8] Then Herod privately called the Magi. Herod called the Magi privately and enquired about the time the star was seen, plainly fearing his successor. That depraved man was already planning to put Jesus to death: he thought he could do this when he had ordered the killing of all the infants born after the time that they had replied to him. But it is not pointless that he said: Bring me back news that I too may come and worship him.

Tunc Herodis occulte vocavit magos. Vocatis Herodis magis occulte requirit ^{Mt. 2,} tempus visae stellae, timens scilicet successorem. Homo nequissimus iam cogitabat ^7sq. interficere Iesum: Quod putabat se posse facere, cum iussisset omnes occidi infantes ⁷⁹⁵ ab eo tempore, quo illi fuerat responsum. Non est autem otiosum, quod dixit Renuntiate mihi, ut et ego veniens adorem illum.

Even though Herod said this in his depravity, because he said it in private, it still came to pass as follows: at the proclamation of the people of the Church, of whom David says Children are born for you in place of your fathers,¹⁵³ at their preaching, then, many of the Jews came to belief and worshipped Jesus. This is what is meant by That I too may come and worship him.

Licet nequiter hoc, siquidem occulte, dixerit Herodis, tamen sic est factum: Adnuntiantibus etenim hominibus ecclesiae, de quibus ait David Pro patribus tuis nati sunt tibi filii, his ergo praedicantibus multi credentes Iudeorum venerunt et adoraverunt Iesum. Et hoc est Ut et ego veniens ⁸⁰⁰ adorem eum.

M. VI. [Matthew 2:12] Warned in a dream not to return to Herod, they went back along another way to their land. For everyone who believes lets go of the behaviour of their earlier, worldly way, and follows the way of Christ, which is spiritual. This is the meaning of to return along another way.

V.                Admoniti in somnis, ne redirent ad Herodem per aliam viam reversi sunt ad ^{Mt. 2, 24r} suam regionem. Omnis enim, qui credit, amittit viae prioris conversationem, id est ¹² saecularem, et sequitur viam Christi, quae est spiritalis. Hoc est per aliam viam redire.

M. VII. [Matthew 2:18] A voice was heard in Rama, weeping and much wailing, Rachel. Rachel was the wife of Jacob. She is understood from the character of the Church, just as Leah is the figure of the synagogue. From the character of Rachel, it showed that the Church would have martyrs.

⁸⁰⁵ VII. Vox in Rama audita est ploratus et ululatus multus Rachel. Rachel uxor fuit ^{Mt. 2,} Iacob. Haec ex persona accipitur ecclesiae, sicut Lia synagogae habet figuram. Ex ¹⁸ persona Rachel ostendebat ecclesiam ^*martyras habituram.

You read here these seven chapters briefly explained from the first to the seventh in their places. However, you have those seven chapters explained much more lucidly and fully further back.¹⁵⁴

Septem capitula haec a primo in septimum locis suis breviter exposita hic legis. Verum satis praeclarius et plenius ista septe(m) capitula retro exposita habes.

M. VIII. [Matthew 2:23] ^[810] That he will be called a Nazorean. Nazirites¹⁵⁵ are holy men and a blade has never reached their heads, for they are unshorn. So Samson the Nazirite, a man of great power, was a figure of the Saviour to come. Samson is shaved by his wife: he loses the seven hairs in which all his power was held.¹⁵fi So Christ is the head of the man:¹⁵⁷ without doubt, all power was held there. As for the seven hairs, this means the sevenfold spirit. For just as Samson is shorn by his wife, so the Lord is fixed to the cross by those who are related to him through generation, plainly the Jews; and in that Passion like (...) the sevenfold spirit, although he does not let it go. For he is immediately hailed as the King of Glory when visiting the underworld with all the power of the Godhead.

⁸¹⁰ VIII. Quoniam Nazareus vocabitur. Nazarei enim sunt sancti, in quorum capite ^{Mt. 2,23} ferrum non ascendit: Non enim tondentur. In figura ergo venturi salvatoris fuit Samson Nazareus, magnae virtutis homo. Hic ab uxore decalvatur: Amittit septem crines, in quibus omnis virtus habebatur. Caput ergo viri Christus: Sine dubio virtus omnis ibi habebatur. Quod autem septem crines, septiformem spiritum dicit: Sicut ergo Samson a coniuge tondetur, sic et dominus a coniunctis sibi per generationem, ⁸¹⁵ scilicet a Iudeis, cruci adfigitur et septiformem spiritum in illa passione quasi (...) nec tamen amittit. Nam statim inferna lustrans cum tota virtute deitatis rex gloriae appellatur.

M. VIIII. [Matthew 3:1-4] In those days John the Baptist came in the desert. It says ‘the desert’ because it had already come to pass in the land of Judea that, through not receiving the prophets, they were deserted by the Holy Spirit. John shouts in the desert, meaning among the Jews, that they should prepare the way for the Lord, plainly at the arrival of Christ. He says that they should make the paths straight in order to change their most dreadful and twisted behaviour and travel on the commandments of God, which is the way. He had clothing from the hair of a camel and a belt made of skins around his waist. ^[825]

^{Mt. 3,} VIIII. In illis diebus venit Iohannis baptista in deserto. Desertum autem dicit, ^1–4 quod factum iam erat in terra Iudea, siquidem non suscipiendo prophetas a spiritu ⁸²⁰ sancto deserti sunt. Clamat Iohannis in deserto, id est inter Iudeos, ut viam domino ^24v pararent, advenienti scilicet (Christo), et ut facerent semitas rectas, ut conversa-tionem pessimam et tortuosam mutarent et in mandatis dei, quae est via, ingre-derentur. Vestitum habebat de pilis cameli et zonam pelliciam circa lumbos suos:

This shows his self-control and righteousness; there is no doubt that the peoples are understood as the tunic from the hair of a camel. So it signified that the nations, who have the likeness of a camel because of their twistedness, would come to this righteousness rather than the Jews. Indeed, it also indicates that his food was locusts and wild honey, foods which are the model of the nations. Locusts are without a king, as Solomon says 1⁵⁸ Wild honey is a figure of the nations: those who believe from the nations have been made sweet to God and reached that greater sweetness, which is holiness, so that they even underwent martyrdom, in accordance with the saying of David: The law of the Lord is without reproach, converting souls; the instruction of the Lord is clear, giving light to the eyes, and sweeter than honey and honey-comb 159

Ostendit eius continentiam et iustitiam; de pilis autem cameli tunicam sine dubio ⁸²⁵ populi intelleguntur. Ad hanc ergo iustitiam magis nationes venturas, quae habent similitudinem cameli propter tortuositatem, significabat quam Iudeos, siquidem etiam escam ipsius demonstrat lucustas et mel silvestre; quaeque escae nationum habent formam. Lucustae sine rege sunt, ut Solomon ait. Mel silvestre nationum⁸³⁰ figura est: Qui credentes ex nationibus dulces facti sunt deo et ad illa dulciora pervenerunt, quae sunt sanctiora, ut et martyria facerent iuxta dictum David: Lex domini inreprehensibilis convertens animas, praeceptum domini lucidum inluminans oculos et dulciora super mel et favum.

M. X. [Matthew 3:7-10] Offspring of vipers. As the Jews boasted that they were the children of God and of Abraham, he said ^[835] to them, Offspring of vipers, meaning of Satan,¹⁶⁰ just as he says elsewhere: You are from your father the devil, and you do his works^.161 He showed rather that he could raise children of Abraham from the stones: these are the nations, not those who call themselves children because of their lineage. The axe is at the roots of the trees: this is understood as the word. At the roots, at the uttermost part of the kingdom of the Jewish people. It signifies that all of them who do not believe will also be exterminated by the strength of the word.

X. Progenies viperarum. Cum se iactarent Iudei filios esse dei vel Abrahae, dixit ^{Mt. 3,835} eis Progenies viperarum, id est Satan(at)ae, sicut alibi Vos de patre zabulo estis et ^7–10 opera eius facitis. Ostendit potius ex lapidibus posse suscitare filios Abrahae, qui sunt nationes, quam qui se filios propter genus dicebant. Securis ad radices arborum: Verbum intellegitur. Ad radices, ad novissimam partem regni populi Iudaici. Quos etiam omnes excidi, qui non crediderint, significat per potentiam verbi.

M. XI. [Matthew 3:11-12] ^[840] I indeed baptise you in the water of repentance. For John could not provide anything else except his conversion of the people and their coming to believe in the one who would baptise in the Holy Spirit: John acknowledged that he was not worthy to carry his sandals. Mention is made of this matter: Undo the strap of your sandal, because the land where you are standing is holy.¹⁶² This, then, is why John recalls this: just as Moses then says that he is not worthy, so now too does John.

⁸⁴⁰ XI. Ego quidem baptizo vos in aqua paenitentiae. Nihil enim aliud poterat prae- ^{Mt. 3, 25r} stare Iohannis, nisi quod converteret populum et crederent ei, qui baptizaret in spi- ^11sq. ritu sancto, cuius se confitetur non esse dignum calciamenta portare. Mentio fit rei illius: Solve corrigiam calciamenti, quia terra sancta est, ubi stas. Propterea ergo com-memorat Iohannis: Sicut tunc Moyses dicit se non esse dignum, sic et nunc Iohannis.

. John therefore signifies the sort of person for whom he prepares the way: He will baptise, he says, in the Holy Spirit and in fire, holding a winnowing-fork. This is a spade with which the chaff is separated from the wheat as it is borne by the wind. So the winnowing-fork is the strength of God and the kingly greatness of his word. Just like the chaff, trifling humans will be separated in the same way from the righteous and all the others who provide the nourishment of teaching, like the lambs who provide clothing are separated from the useless goats.

⁸⁴⁵ Significat igitur Iohannis, qualis sit, cui viam paret: Baptizabit inquit in spiritu sancto et igni habens ventilabrum, quod est pala, unde paleae a tritico vento baiu-lante separantur. Est ergo potentia dei ventilabrum et verbi magnitudo illa regalis. Sicut paleae, ita nugaces homines a iustis et ceteris cibum doctrinae praestantibus separabuntur, sicuti agni, qui vestitum praebent, ab haedis infructuosis.

In what he says, ^[850] Whose sandals I am not worthy to carry, the reason for the sandals is as follows: if a man died without children, his relative or his brother would take his wife in order to raise up offspring in the name of the dead man. If there was a closer relative who did not perform his duty, then his sandals wereremoved in the sight of the people and that house was called ‘the house of the one without sandals’.¹⁶³ John therefore says: I am not worthy to cany his sandals. First, he implies that he is not worthy to preach. For everyone who reckons themselves to be unworthy is a better choice, just like Peter: I am not worthy.¹⁶⁴ Moses himself, too, said: Supply another man: I am not worthy.¹⁶⁵ So the model of the saints is this: when they reckon that they are unworthy, they are actually found to be worthy, just as Solomon says: In the beginning of their prayer, the righteous are their own accusers.¹⁶⁶ So John says that he is not worthy; the Saviour himself says as testimony about him that there is none greater among those born of women than John the Baptist, and in order to show (...) says: Yet the one who is less than him in the kingdom of the heavens is greater than him.¹⁶⁷ So he says I am not worthy. Similarly, now as well, no-one should obtain a place in the ranks of the Church through ambition but only the one who shall have been chosen. This is found to be the case concerning the two brothers James and John, who asked that one should sit on the right and one on the left in the kingdom, ^[865] and who are told that It has been prepared for others.¹⁶⁸ I will show this in the relevant chapter.

Illud autem⁸⁵⁰ quod dicit Cuius non sum dignus calciamenta portare, calciamentorum ergo talis est ratio: Si quis defecisset sine filiis, propinquus vel frater accipiebat eius uxorem, ut semen in defuncti nomine suscitaretur. Qui ergo propinquior esset et non propin-quaret, tunc in conspectu populi excalciabatur et appellabatur domus illa ‘domus excalciati’. Ideo ergo inquit Iohannis: Non sum dignus calciamenta portare. Primo infert non se dignum praedicationis. Omnis enim, qui non se dignum iudicat, ipse ⁸⁵⁵ magis eligitur, sicuti Petrus: Non sum dignus. Et ipse Moyses: Provide alium virum, ego non sum dignus. Ergo forma sanctorum talis est: Cum se ^*non dignos iudicant, ipsi digni inveniuntur, sicuti Solomon dicit: In principio orationis suae iustus sui accusator est. Ergo Iohannis dicit non esse dignum se. Cuius testimonium ipse ^25v salvator dicit non esse maiorem inter natos mulierum Iohanne baptista; et, ut ⁸⁶⁰ ostenderet (...) ait: Et qui minor est illo in regno caelorum maior est illo. Ergo Non sum dignus. Si(c) etiam nunc in ecclesiae ordinationibus non debere aliquem per ambitionem ad locum accedere, sed qui fuerit electus, sicut de duobus fratribus Iacobo et Iohanne invenitur, qui poscebant, ut unus a dextris, alius a sinistris sederent in regno; quibus dicitur Aliis paratum est. Quod in sua lectione ostendam. ⁸⁶⁵

M. XII. [Matthew 3:13-17] Then Jesus came from Galilee into Jordan to John in order to be baptised by him. John tried to prevent him, saying: I should be baptised by you, since he plainly knew who he was. For he says elsewhere: Behold the Lamb of God; behold the one who takes away the sin of the earth.¹⁶⁹ It therefore says: The Law and the Prophets up to John.¹⁷⁰ The Law prepared and the Prophets announced in a figure: ^[870] John, on the other hand, shows that the one whom the Law and the Prophets had said would come is actually present: Behold the Lamb of God; behold the one who takes away the sin of the earth. He therefore says: I should be baptised by you, yet you come to me? To him speaks the Lord, who had said I did not come to undo the Law but to fulfil it¹⁷¹ — since no fulfiller of the Law has been found except for the Lord alone — to him Jesus says: Just allow it: for we should fulfil all righteousness in this way. It was necessary that the slave should obey his master for the reason that a sign should be shown to him.

^{Mt. 3,} XII. Tunc venit Iesus a Galilea in Iordanen ad Iohannem, ut baptizaretur ab eo.^13–17 Prohibebat eum Iohannis dicens: Ego a te debeo baptizari, sciens scilicet, quis esset. Ait enim alio loco: Ecce agnus dei; ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi. Ideo dicitur: Lex et prophetae usque ad Iohannem. Lex in figura meditata est et prophetae adnunti-averunt; Iohannis vero in praesenti, quem lex, quem prophetae venturum dixerant, ⁸⁷⁰ ostendit: Ecce agnus dei; ecce qui tollit peccatum mundi. Et ideo ait: Ego a te debeo baptizari, et tu venis ad me. Ait illi dominus, qui dixerat Non veni solvere legem, sed adinplere – adinpletor enim legis nullus inventus est nisi solus dominus – dicit ei Iesus: Sine modo; sic enim decet nos inplere omnem iustitiam. Necesse fuit, ut servus ^{875 *}domino suo obaudiret illa ratione, ut signum ei ostenderetur.

For after Jesus was baptised, John saw that the heavens were opened and that the Spirit like a dove came and rested on Jesus, but he also heard a voice: This is my beloved Son, in whom I have decided well. The voice which was heard came from the character of God the Father to his Son Christ,our Lord and God. After Jesus was baptised, the Spirit also came in the appearance of a dove, and the voice of affirmation for the Son was heard.

Nam baptizato Iesu vidit caelos apertos et spiritum quasi columbam in eum venisse et mansisse; sed et ^26r vocem audivit: Hic est filius meus dilectus, in quo bene sensi. Vox ex persona dei patris ad filium Christum dominum et deum nostrum audita est. ^*Postquam baptizatus est, et spiritus in specie columbae advenit et vox contesta(n)tis audita est in ⁸⁸⁰ filium.

M. XIII. [Matthew 4:1-4] Then Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be put to the test by the devil. And he fasted for forty days and forty nights. He did this especially for those who say that he did not assume a body but was an apparition, and he also did it for those who insist that he was only a human. For if he had been an apparition, he would never have eaten. But because he used to eat, ^[885] for this reason he is said to have fasted. For if he had simply been a human, he would not have been able to fast for forty days and would have perished as a human, who, if they have not eaten for seven whole days, necessarily perishes from starvation, since they are human. But perhaps someone may say: Moses too, although he was human, fasted for forty days and forty nights ¹⁷² For Moses in these forty nights and days had, so to speak, just a single day. For he stood in the sight of the glory of God, where there is no night. It was impossible for a human to be hungry in the light, as he spoke with God and received the Law, and was shown on the mountain everything that he should make, be it the Tabernacle or the vessels of the Temple.¹⁷³ And Moses himself says: A human does not live on bread alone, but on every word of God.¹⁷⁴ A human, then, who was both in the light and spoke with God could not have been hungry. So, in order that Jesus, our Lord, ^[895] could show his strength, that he was not only human but also God, he fasted before his contest with the devil. When he had fasted, then, he was hungry, in order to show human frailty too. The tempter came to him enquiring whether he was the Son of God. Yet this was not to be told to the devil. So he said: If you are the Son of God, tell these stones to become bread. For Jesus could have made bread from the stones, but it was not permitted that he should satisfy the ordering of Satan. But he replied: A human does not live on bread alone, but on every word of God, in order to show that Moses had also fasted that way long before, as well as Elijah under King Ahab.¹⁷⁵

XIII. Tunc Iesus ductus est in desertum a spiritu, ut temptaretur a zabulo, et ^{Mt. 4,} ieiunavit XL diebus et XL noctibus. Fecit hoc ad eos maxime, qui aut corpus dicunt ^1–4 eum non suscepisse, sed fantasiam fuisse, ^*fecit et ad eos, qui hominem tantum‑ modo adfirmant. Si enim fantasia fuisset, numquam manducasset. Sed quia mandu‑ ⁸⁸⁵ cabat, idcirco ieiunasse dicitur. Si enim homo solummodo fuisset, quadraginta diebus ieiunare non potuisset et quasi homo, qui, si septem diebus integris non manducaverit, necessario ut homo inedia expiret, (expirasset). Sed forsitan dicat aliquis: Et Moyses, cum homo esset, quadraginta diebus et quadraginta noctibus ieiunavit. Moyses enim in his quadraginta noctibus et diebus unum quasi diem ⁸⁹⁰ habuit: Stabat enim in conspectu claritatis dei, ubi nox non est. Esurire in luce non potuit homo, qui cum deo loquebatur ac legem accipiebat, cui omnia, quae faceret, in monte, sive tabernaculum sive vasa templi, ostendebantur. Et ipse Moyses dicit: Non in solo pane vivit homo, sed in omni verbo dei. Hominem ergo, qui et in luce erat et cum deo conloquebatur, esurire non potuisse. Ut ergo potentiam suam Iesus ^*dominus noster ostenderet non solum se hominem esse, sed et deum, ieiunavit ⁸⁹⁵ certamen habiturus cum zabulo. Cum ergo ieiunasset, esuriit, ut ostenderet etiam hominis fragilitatem. Accessit ad eum temptator requirens ab eo, utrum esset filius dei. Quod utique zabulo non erat dicendum. ^*Dixit ergo: Si filius dei es, dic, ut lapides panes fiant. Poterat enim Iesus facere de lapidibus panem, sed fas non erat, ut ^26v iussioni Satan(at)ae satisfaceret. Sed respondit Non in solo pane vivit homo, sed in ⁹⁰⁰ omni verbo dei, ut ostenderet etiam Moysen sic iamdudum et Eliam sub Acab rege ieiunasse.

M. XIIII. [Matthew 4:5-7] Then he took him up onto the wing of the Temple, and he tells Jesus, as he stands there, to cast himself headlong; but he also introduces the words which David said: Because he has commanded his angels concerning you that they shall carry you in their hands.^{176 [905]} For the devil regarded him as a human and thought that he would be able to ensnare him in some way, but he receives the response: You shall not put the Lord your God to the test.

^{Mt. 4,} XIIII. Tunc adsumpsit eum supra pinnam templi et ait stanti, ut praecipitem se ^5–7 daret; sed et infert, quae dixit David: Quod angelis suis mandavit de te, ut in manibus tollant te. Videbat enim hominem et putabat se posse, ut aliqua ratione eum in- ⁹⁰⁵ laquearet. Respondetur illi: Non temptabis dominum deum tuum. ^{Mt. 4,}

M. XV. [Matthew 4:8-11] Again, he took him up onto a lofty mountain and showed him all the kingdoms of the earth and their splendour and said: I will give all this to you, if you fall down and worship me.

XV. Iterum adsumpsit eum in montem excelsum et ostendit ei omnia regna mundi ^8–11 et honorem illorum et ait: Haec omnia tibi dabo, si procidens adoraveris me.

What satanic deception! Although he has nothing, he says that everything is his and that he will give it to Jesus if he worships him. For Satan, ^[910] then, to give means always to lie by habit. For in this way, he deceived Adam through Eve, and by lies and deception he then took possession of the whole human race and wounded it. So since he had already twice been deservedly rejected, with regard to the stones and Jesus’ casting himself down, he looked to greed and worldly splendour and says in a lie that everything is his. He employs that cunning which he has always employed, but here he is beaten back and his wish remains unsatisfied.

O fallacia Satan(at)ae! Cum nihil habeat, sua dicit omnia, et, si se adoraret, ei daret. Sa-tan(at)ae ergo dare est iuxta consuetudinem semper mentiri. Sic enim fallendo et ⁹¹⁰ mentiendo Adam per Evam decepit, deinde omne hominum genus mendacio fallente possedit et vulneravit. Cum ergo iam bis repulsam meruisset, de lapidibus et de praecipitio, ad avaritiam et honorem saecularem prospexit et sua esse (omnia) mentitur. Utitur artificio illo, quo semper est usus; sed hic repercutitur, et eius volun-tati satis non fit,

As Solomon recalls: There are three things of which I am unaware and a fourth which I do not perceive: the way of an eagle in flight, the tracks of a snake on a rock, and the paths of a ship at sea.¹⁷⁷ The way of an eagle shows a figure of the Holy Spirit, but it is in flight because the eagle is chief among all birds. The tracks of a snake on top of a rock: this prophecy of Solomon is fulfilled in this temptation. For just as a snake does not make or leave a track on a rock which would enable it to be seen or recognised, so Satan, who had imprinted his wounding tracks on all humans in the past was not able to imprint them on the Saviour, since Christ is the rock.¹⁷⁸

ut meminit Solomon: Tria sunt, quae ignoro, et quartum, quod non ⁹¹⁵ intellego: Viam aquilae volantis, vestigium serpentis super petram et semitas navis pelagizantis. Viam aquilae ostendit figuram spiritus sancti, volantis autem ideo, quia aquila principatum habet in omnibus avibus. Vestigia serpentis supra petram: Haec ^27r prophetia Solomonis in hac temptatione inpletur. Sicut enim serpens vestigium ⁹²⁰ super petram non facit nec figit, ut videri vel cognosci possit, sic Satanas, qui retro in omnes homines vestigia sua vulnifica inpresserat, in salvatore inprimere non potuit, siquidem petra Christus est.

Because he regarded Christ as a human, he seized on the chance to attack and, if it could come about, achieve something against him. But he was soon beaten back from the model of the Law, once he had said: If you fall down and worship me, I will give to you.

Quem quia ut hominem videbat, adgredi usurpa-bat ac, si fieri ^*posset, aliquid in eum efficere, sed mox repercussus (est) ex forma legis, cum dixisset: Si procidens adoraveris me, tibi dabo.

What could he have given, who owns nothing, who has nothing except only a lie? So he is beaten back, and he is told: You shall worship the Lord your God and him alone shall you serve. So since he could do nothing, he left him and behold, angels began to serve him. As for the prophecy of Solomon which we introduced about not seeing the paths of a ship, the Church is the ship and the world is the sea. While the Church of God is in this world it has no path, meaning that, with its heavenly behaviour, the Church has no track or path in the world.

Quid poterat dare, cuius⁹²⁵ nihil est, qui nihil habet nisi solum mendacium? Repercutitur ergo, et dicitur ei: Dominum deum tuum adorabis et illi soli servies. Cum ergo nihil facere potuisset, reliquit eum et ecce angeli ministrabant ei. Quod autem de prophetia intulimus Solomonis semitas navis non videri, navis ecclesia est, saeculum mare. In hoc ergo saeculo ecclesia dei cum sit, semitam non habet, id est conversationem habens⁹³⁰ caelestem in saeculo nullum vestigium vel semitam habet ecclesia.

For this reason, then, the paths of a ship at sea are not seen. Go behind me, Satan: this means what it says elsewhere in the Gospel according to Luke: He left him until the time,¹⁷⁹ meaning until the Passion, at which time he would insert himself in the heart of Judas.¹⁸⁰ For Jesus also says to Peter in the character of Satan: Go back, because you do not discern what is of God but what is of humans.¹⁸¹ He noticed ^[935] that the cunning of Satan had replied (so to speak) through Peter, for he orders not Peter but Satan to go back, whose cunning he had recognised in the response. According to the Apostle, Christ is the rock: the snake (meaning Satan) does not make a track on this rock, meaning Christ who is both the rock and the cornerstone.¹⁸² From this rock, in the Book of Joshua, twelve stone knives are madeto circumcise the children of Israel for a second time.¹⁸³ These are the twelve apostles ^[940] who were sent to preach the circumcision of the heart, not the damaging of the flesh.

Ideo ergo navis semitae pelagizantis non videntur. Vade post me, Satanas: Illud significat, quod alibi ait in evangelio ^*Lucani Reliquit eum usque ad tempus, hoc est usque ad passionem, quo tempore se inmissurus erat in corde Iudae. Nam et ad Petrum sic dicit in persona Satanatae: Redi retro, quia non sapis, quae dei sunt, sed quae hominis. Conspexit ⁹³⁵ subtilitatem ^*Satanatae veluti per Petrum respondisse. Non enim Petrum, sed ^*Satanatam retro redire iubet, cuius subtilitatem in responso cognoverat. Secundum apostolum petra Christus est; in hac petra serpens vestigium non facit, id est Satanas ^27v in Christum, qui est et petra et lapis angularis. Ex qua petra in Iesu Nave duodecim cultelli petrini fiunt ad circumcidendos (secundo) filios Israhel, id est apostoli duodecim, qui praedicare sunt missi circumcisionem cordis, non expoliationem ⁹⁴⁰ carnis.

M. XVI. [Matthew 4:18-21] But when he was passing beside the Sea of Galilee, he saw two brothers. He calls over Peter and Andrew, so that those who were catchers of fish should become catchers of men. For just as fish are lifted from the deep by a net, so by the instruction of God and through their preaching humans are raised out of the deep errors of the world, meaning that they are brought to the light. Similarly, he saw two other brothers, James and John. These two brothers, before they heard the words Whoever values their father or mother above me is not worthy of me¹⁸⁴ fulfilled them: indeed, they leave their father and the net and they follow Jesus.

^{Mt. 4,} XVI. Cum transiret autem secus mare Galileae, vidit duos fratres. Advocat Petrum ^18–21 et Andream, ut, qui erant piscatores piscium, fierent hominum. Sicut enim pisces elevantur de profundo per retem, sic praecepto dei homines isdem praedicantibus de profundis saeculi erroribus eximerentur, id est ad lucem perducerentur. Similiter ⁹⁴⁵ vidit alios duos fratres Iacobum et Iohannem. Hii duo fratres, antequam audirent Qui plus fecerit patrem aut matrem quam me, non est me dignus, conpleverunt: Denique relinquunt patrem et retiam et sequuntur Iesum.

M. XVII. [Matthew 4:24] And they brought to him all who were afflicted. Isaiah had said that this would come to pass: And he will put his hand into the holes of asps.¹⁸⁵ The holes of asps are humans who are kept bound by demons. So he cures these and all the others who are in the grip of various sicknesses.

^{Mt. 4,} XVII. Et obtulerunt ei omnes male habentes. Hoc Eseias futurum dixerat: Et mittet ²⁴ manum in foramina aspidum. Foramina aspidum sunt homines, qui a daemoniis ⁹⁵⁰
tenentur obstricti. Hos ergo curat et ceteros, qui variis languoribus tenebantur.

M. XVIII. [Matthew 5:3-5] Blessed are the poor in spirit. He says that the poor in spirit are blessed, meaning those in the one Spirit of God rather than in the manifold spirit of demons. Blessed are they who mourn, meaning that anyone who is like a mourner for the sake of persecution in this world will attain happiness and consolation at the final recompense.

^{Mt. 5,} XVIII. Beati pauperes spiritu. Beatos dicit pauperes spiritu, id est spiritu dei uno ^3–5 quam multivolo daemoniorum. Beati qui lugent, id est quicumque persecutionis causa in saeculo isto quasi in luctibus sunt, hii in illa remuneratione consequentur laetitiam et consolationem. ⁹⁵⁵

M. XVIIII. [Matthew 5:13] You are the salt of the land. This saying is particularly for the apostles, and then flows down to teachers and to all the faithful. For salt is derived from wisdom, because it flavours tasteless flesh.¹⁸⁶ Christ is the wisdom of God, according to the Apostle Pau1.¹⁸⁷ So if salt has faded, what will flavour it? Therefore, anyone who has gone away from true wisdom (meaning from Christ), or has deviated into heresy or lived in the manner of the Gentiles, cannot become salt. What will they become? It will be thrown away outside and ground down by humans. What else does this mean except that such a teacher will be excommunicated and will be separated from the connection of the Church?

^{Mt. 5,13} XVIIII. Vos estis sal terrae. Specialiter ad apostolos sermo fit, deinde ^*derivat ad
doctores et ad omnes fideles. Sal enim (a) sapientia dicitur, quod salit carnem insipi-dam. Sapientia dei Christus est iuxta apostolum Paulum. Ergo si sal evanuerit, in quo ^28r salietur? Igitur quicumque a vera sapientia, id est a Christo, recesserit aut in heresim devenerit aut more gentilium vixerit, non poterit sal fieri. Quid fiet? Proicietur foras ⁹⁶⁰ et ab hominibus conculcabitur. Quid aliud est nisi talis doctor anathema fiat et ab ecclesiae vinculo separetur?

M. XX. [Matthew 5:14-16] You are the light of the earth. He calls the apostles the light of the earth because they enlighten humans with heavenly teaching. A town set on top of a mountain cannot be concealed. How else can `mountain’ ^[965] be understood except as our Lord Jesus Christ, on top of whom is built the Church, which he calls ‘a town’? But a town is named after the townspeople who dwell in it.

Vos estis lux mundi. Apostolos lucem mundi dicit ab eo, quod inluminent ^{Mt. 5,} homines doctrina caelesti. Non potest civitas abscondi super montem posita. Mons ^14–16965 quid aliud intellegitur nisi dominus noster Iesus Christus, super quem aedificata est ecclesia, quam civitatem dicit? Civitas autem a civibus, qui commanent in ea, dicitur.

(...)Nor do they light a lamp: A lamp is an instruction. So it is lit and put on a lampstand, not under a basket. For just as a lamp is lit and towers on the lampstand above all other vessels in the house and enlightens those who are inside, so the Church, ^[970] which towers above through its behaviour, enlightens everyone by its command and instruction. Under a basket signifies that the Jews used to give tithes to the priests and Levites, yet they did not enlighten anyone. For the Law could not save anyone unless Christ came and suffered, who handed on the lamp (meaning command) to the Church. Thus he instructed them that they should give light through their behaviour, so that those who saw them act like this should praise the Father who is in the ^[975] heavens.

 (... ) Neque accendunt lucernam:) Lucerna est praeceptum. Ergo accenditur et (super) candelabrum ponitur, non sub modium. Sicut enim lucerna accenditur et super candelabrum eminet in domo ceteris vasis et inluminat eos, qui intus sunt, sic ⁹⁷⁰ ecclesia, quae conversatione sua eminet, mandato ac praecepto omnes inluminat. Sub modio autem illud significat, quod Iudei decimas sacerdotibus et levitis dabant et nullum inluminabant. Lex enim neminem salvare potuit, nisi veniens Christus passus esset, qui lucernam, id est mandatum, ecclesiae tradidit. Ita lucere eos conversatione sua praecepit, ut videntes eos sic agere patrem laudarent, qui est in ⁹⁷⁵ caelis.

M. XXI. [Matthew 5:25-26] Be in agreement with your opponent. He warns that a human, while in the world, should agree with their opponent. It remains that you should understand this with regard to the Spirit of God and the flesh. For the spirit is the opponent of the flesh and the flesh of the spirit, according to the Apostle?⁸⁸ Quickly, while you are with him on the way, which is plainly this present life and behaviour. So that your opponent does not hand you over to the judge, that is to the one whose role is to judge humans. The judge hands you over to the servant. To which servant but that angel who is in charge of torture? You will not come out from there until you have paid the last penny. The penny is the smallest sin. It says that you will not come out from there except when the account of all your sins, even of the smallest, has been paid off. For a penny has three dots on it: what are these three dots except the Trinity7¹⁸⁹ If anyone does not admit wholeheartedly that the Trinity of Father, Son and Holy Spirit is made of one substance, it is necessary that they are called to account for this. For just as a penny consists of one, so the Trinity is of one substance.

Esto consentiens adversario tuo. Monet, ut homo, dum in saeculo est, adver- ^{Mt. 5, 28v} sario consentiat. Superest, ut de spiritu dei et carne intellegas. Adversarius etenim ^25sq. est spiritus carni et caro spiritui iuxta apostolum. Cito dum es cum eo in via, in hac scilicet vita et conversatione. (Ne forte tradat te) adversarius ^*iudici, id est ei, qui ⁹⁸⁰ iudicare habet de hominibus. Iudex te tradat ministro: Cui ministro nisi ei angelo, qui tormentis est praepositus? Non exies inde, donec reddas novissimum quadrantem. Quadrans minimum peccatum est. Non exire inde dicit, nisi cum omnium etiam minimorum peccatorum ratio fuerit expensa. Quadrans etenim tres unciae sunt; quae tres unciae nisi trinitas? Si quis ergo trinitatem patris fili et spiritus sancti non ⁹⁸⁵ sinceriter ex una substantia constare dixerit, hic reddat necesse est rationem. Sicut enim quadrans ex uno constat, sic trinitas una substantia est.

M. XXII. [Matthew 5:29-30] But if your right eye causes you to stumble. It says that an eye causes others to stumble if a bishop teaches badly or is of bad beha-viour.¹⁹⁰ To be torn out of the body is to be thrown out of the Church. The same comparison follows with regard to the right hand, which is easily understood as a presbyter. So that your whole body may not go into Gehenna. The Church is taken as the body. So when such people are found who are an eye or right hand which causes others to stumble (meaning that they behave badly) they are to be torn out of the body (...) so that the body may be saved and may not go into Gehenna. But who really does cast out their eye or cut off their right hand, since it is not a case of the eye or the hand but of the heart, from which all evils proceed?

^{Mt. 5,} XXII. Quod si oculus tuus dexter scandalizat te. Oculum ^*scandalizare dicit, si ^29sq. episcopus male doceat vel malae sit conversationi(s); eruendum de corpore, id est de ecclesia proiciendum. Eadem (conparatio) sequitur et de manu dextera, quod facile presbyter intellegitur. Ne totum corpus vadat in Gehennam. Corpus ecclesia accipitur. ⁹⁹⁰ Cum ergo ^*tales inventi fuerint, qui aut oculus aut dextera si(n)t ^*scandalizantes, id est male conversati, eruendos eos de corpore (...) ut corpus salvum sit et non eat in Gehennam. Quis autem est, qui sibi aut oculum eiciat aut dexteram ^*amputet, cum non sit oculi vel manu(s) agere, sed cordis, unde mala omnia procedunt:

For from there come sexual improprieties, thefts, false testimonies.¹⁹¹ So it remains that you should understand this with reference to those characters which were mentioned above: it is they who should be cut off from or torn out of the body.

Inde enim exeunt fornicationes, furta, falsa testimonia. Superest ergo, ut de supra dictis intellegas ^29r personis, qui debeant de corpore abscidi vel avelli.

M. XXIII. [Matthew 6:1-3] Beware that you do not carry out your acts of righteousness in front of others. He warns that no one should boast in their righteousness, as the Pharisees used to do, so that it is seen by others. If they do this, they will not receive a reward from the Lord. And whoever gives alms should not boast. ^[1000] What the right hand does, the left hand should not know: the right side is always taken as the Church, because of the number of one hundred at which age a son was born to Abraham. This is Isaac, who is the figure of the people of the Church; a ram is slaughtered in his place, which is Christ on behalf of the people. But the left side is the synagogue, for the reason that Abraham is circumcised at the age of ninety-nine; this total is held by the left hand, which is useless and does not work like the right hand.¹⁹² A meal, indeed, and all other health-giving things are carried to the mouth by the right hand, not by the left.

^{Mt. 6,} XXIII. Adtendite, ne iustitiam vestram faciatis coram hominibus. Monet, ne se ^1–3 quisquam, ut faciebant Farisei, in sua iactet iustitia, ut ab ^*hominibus videatur. Si hoc fecerit, mercedem a domino non accipiet. Et qui elemosynam dat, non iactet se[d]. Quod facit dextera, nesciat sinistra: Dextera pars semper ecclesia accipitur ¹⁰⁰⁰ propter numerum centenarium, quo nascitur filius Abrahae Isac, qui ^*populi eccle-siae habet figuram, pro quo etiam aries mactatur, id est Christus pro populo. Sinistra autem pars synagoga e(st) propterea, quia nonaginta nove(m) annorum circum-ciditur Abraham; qui numerus sinistra manu tenetur, quae infructuosa est nec operatur ut dextera: Certe cibus vel cetera salutaria dextera magis ^*perferuntur ad ¹⁰⁰⁵ os, non sinistra.

M. XXIIII. [Matthew 6:22-23] The lamp of your body is your eye. It says that the lamp of the body is none other than the bishop, who is in charge of the Church. Indeed, just as the lamp of your body is your eye (...) if, then, your eye is clear and without complication, meaning if the bishop is holy and ^[1010] devout, as the Apostle described, only then, so it demonstrates, will all the body be clear: this means that the whole Church will be happy, joyful and glorious when it has such a teacher. If your eye is poor, that is if through abominable behaviour the bishop teaches badly, or rushes into heresy or behaves badly with their own physical body, then indeed it shows that all the body will be dark. If, then, the eye which provides light is indistinct, all the more will the whole body become dark, meaning all the Church. It therefore says: If the light which is in you (meaning the bishop) is dark, what great darkness that is; this means that it is easy for the people to sin.

^{Mt. 6,} XXIIII. Lucerna corporis tui est oculus tuus. Lucerna(m) corporis non aliam quam ^22sq. episcopum dicit, qui ecclesiae praeest. Denique sicut lucerna corporis tui est oculus tuus (...) si ergo oculus tuus lucidus et simplex est, id est episcopus si sanctus et ¹⁰¹⁰ religiosus, qualem apostolus deformavit, tum demum totum corpus lucidum fore demonstrat, id est totam ecclesiam laetam, hilarem et gloriosam dicit, cum talem habeat doctorem. Si oculus tuus nequa fuerit, id est (si) conversatione[m] detestabili ^29v episcopus vel male doceat vel in heresim ruat aut corporaliter malae sit conver-sationis, tum demum corpus totum tenebrosum fore ostendit. Si ergo oculus, qui ¹⁰¹⁵ lumen praestat, sit obscurus, magis corpus totum tenebrosum fiet, id est ecclesia omnis. Ideo dicit: Si lumen, quod in te est, ^*id est episcopus, tenebrosum est, ipsae tenebrae quantae, id est ^*populo facile est peccare.

M. XXV. [Matthew 6:24] No-one can serve two masters. It says that those who are caught by the bonds of avarice cannot serve God. Therefore it said two masters, God and Mammon, which is ^[1020] worldly avarice.

XXV.         Nemo potest duobus dominis servire. Dicit eos, qui avaritiae vinculis tenen- ^{Mt. 6,} tur, deo servire non posse. Ideo duobus dominis dixit deo et Mammonae, quod est ^{24 1020} avaritia saecularis.

M. XXVI. [Matthew 7:3-5] What if you see a splinter in the eye of your brother, but there is a plank in your own? It tells of those who easily pass judgment on others and show themselves to humans as righteous. In turn, they are criticised and told to take the plank out of their own eye first, and only then the splinter from the eye of their brother. For who could bear a plank or a splinter in their eye? So it remains that you should understand the plank spiritually, in accordance with the saying of Jeremiah writing about idolatry:

XXVI.        Quid autem vides festucam in oculo fratris tui, in tuo autem trabis est? Dicit ^{Mt. 7,} de his, qui facile de aliis ferunt sententiam et se iustos hominibus ostendunt. Porro ^3–5 autem increpantur et dicitur eis, ut prius trabem de oculo suo tollant, tum demum festucam de oculo fratris sui. Quis enim trabem vel festucam in oculo suo possit¹⁰²⁵ gestare? Superest ergo, ut spiritaliter intellegas trabem iuxta dictum Ieremiae scribentis de idolatria:

Like a plank, he says, rests on the house.¹⁹³ So, because we perceive with our eyes, in this way we also sin: for the eyes are the mirror of the heart. So if they perceive anything which is not allowed, immediately an evil plan arises to carry this out. It said that a plank lies in the eyes, meaning idolatry. A splinter is a thin stalk. In turn, sin (...) ^[1030] so the one who offers themselves as a judge should purge themselves from these, meaning the stains of idolatry. This is how they will be able to pull out the splinter from the eye of another. For people like this are called hypocrites, meaning pretenders who say that they are righteous. And because there is the mention of eyes, you easily understand that this is about a bishop teaching badly.¹⁹⁴

Sicut trabis inquit in domo iacet. Ergo quia oculis cernimus, et sic peccamus: Oculi enim speculum cordis sunt. Ergo si qua inlicita cernantur, statim cogitatio mala ascendit ad perficiendum. Ideo in oculis trabem dixit subiacere, id est idolatria(m). Festuca autem est stipula ^*levis. Porro peccatum (...) ¹⁰³⁰ ergo [h]is, qui quasi iudicem se praebet, debet se ab his, id est idolatriae maculis, ^30r purgare, et sic poterit festucam de alterius oculo eicere. Nam huiusmodi hypocritae appellantur, id est simulatores, qui se iustos dicunt. Et quia de oculis mentio fit, facile episcopum male ^*docentem intellegis.

M. XXVII. [Matthew 7:15] Beware of false prophets. Who are false prophets but heretics, who in order to introduce their evil ideas mix in good ones as well? It says they come in sheep’s clothing, meaning with the claim of innocence and truth. But what follows? In their inner plans they are ravenous wolves. For wolves when they find a sheep first drink its blood. So these are people who in no way (...) to acknowledge the Lord and to be freed by his blood: they are therefore called ravenous.

Adtendite a falsis prophetis. Qui falsi prophetae nisi heretici, qui, ut ^{Mt. 7,15 1035} quaedam mala sua insinuent, etiam bona admiscent? Ideo eos dicit venire in vestitu ovium, id est sub titulo innocentiae (et) veritatis. Sed quid sequitur? Interna illorum cogitatione esse lupos rapaces. Lupi enim, cum ovem invenerint, prius sanguinem hauriunt. Isti sunt ergo, qui nullo pacto dominum confiteri et sanguine[m] eius liberari (...) ideo rapaces dicuntur.

M. XXVIII. [Matthew 7:17-19] But a bad tree produces bad fruit. The bad tree here, he says, is either the synagogue or little bands of heretics. As it does not produce fruit, it is demonstrated that it is to be cut out and put into the fire. Heretics will be known by their fruits, which is plainly their earthly teaching.

^{Mt. 7,} XXVIII. Mala autem arbor malos fructos facit. Malam arborem hic aut synagogam ^{1040 17–19} aut hereticorum collectiunculas dicit. ^*Quae fructum non faciens excidenda ^*esse et in igne(m) mittenda demonstratur. Heretici ex fructibus cognoscentur, ^*ex terrena scilicet doctrina.

M. XXVIIII. [Matthew 7:22-23] Many will say to me on that day: Lord, Lord. Here it denounces heretics, who say that they remain in the name of Christ and have taught in his name and prophesied and cast out demons. But because they were not able to keep to the right path of faith, since they are plainly heretics, for this reason they are told: I do not know you. Depart from me, workers of evil. For what can be more evil or more unrighteous than heretics, who in their mistaken opinions about the Lord himself either say that he was exclusively human, or that he was an apparition, or certainly was not the true God? Of all the other heretical doctrines, also, as of individuals (...) it is lengthy to enumerate, but it says that all heretics are entirely workers of unrighteousness, just as the reading also teaches about the goats separated from the lambs in turn.¹⁹⁵

^{Mt. 7,} XXVIIII. Multi mihi dicent in illa die: Domine domine. Hic ^*hereticos denotat, qui ^22sq. in nomine Christi dicunt se manere et in nomine eius docuisse ac prophetasse et ¹⁰⁴⁵ daemonia ei(e)cisse. Sed quia ^*fidei iter rectum tenere nequiverunt, ut scilicet heretici, idcirco dicitur illis: Non novi vos. Discedite a me, operarii iniquitatis. Quid enim iniquius et iniustius potest esse hereticis, qui de ipso domino non recte sen-tientes aut homine(m) proprie dicunt aut fantasia(m) fuisse aut certe non verum deum esse? Ceterarum quoque doctrinarum hereticarum ut singularum (...) decur- ^30v rere longum sit, sed omnes omnino hereticos ^*operarios iniquitatis dicit, sicut et de haedis separatis ab agnis †sequente† docet lectio.

M. XXX. [Matthew 7:24-25] Everyone who hears my words and carries them out. It says that one who hears and carries out these words is like a wise man building a house on rock. Insofar as this refers to the character of the forefathers, the wise are understood as Abel, as Noah, Abraham, Isaac, Jacob, Moses himself; the Apostle Paul too is said to have laid the foundation like a wise builder.¹⁹⁶

^{Mt. 7,} XXX. Omnis qui audit verba mea et facit ea. Audientem ac facientem verba ^*dicit ^24sq. similem esse viro sapienti aedificanti domum super petram. Quantum ad maiorum ^*expectat personam, sapientes intelleguntur ut Abel, ut Noe, Abraham, Isac, Iacob, ¹⁰⁵⁵ ipse Moyses; et Paulus apostolus ut sapiens architectus dicit(ur) fundamentum posuisse.

From the particular character of the apostles, this then flows down to the Christian people of the Church, who establish the foundations of their house, the Church, on the apostolic rock, meaning on Christ himself. Since the Church is found to be constructed on Christ ^[1060] with the strongest foundations (meaning those of faith) it cannot be uprooted from the truth of faith by any storms. For as the rains came down: this is the commandment of unrighteousness. And from the excessive rain, the rivers rise up, which are sometimes understood through the prophets as kings. So here the character in the rivers is understood as the kings of the persecutors and evildoers.¹⁷ The winds blew, which is plainly the evil order running through the judges. It says that the winds are those who obey an evil order, meaning the judges. They battered on the house: to batter is to hit, meaning to attack. For whenever there is a time of persecution, everyone attacks the Church in order to destroy it. But when faith is present, the house (meaning a person themselves) which is founded on the rock (plainly on Christ) cannot be torn from its foundation by any force. For when someone is killed for the name of Christ, ^[1o70] then they stick even tighter, fixed more firmly to the foundations of rock.

^*Ex apostolorum specialiter persona exinde derivat ad ecclesiae populum Christianum, qui supra petram apostolicam, id est super ipsum Christum, funda-menta domus conlocant, hoc est ecclesiae. Cum ergo ecclesia[m] super Christum firmissimis fundamentis invenitur constructa, id est fidei, nullis turbidinibus poterit ¹⁰⁶⁰ a fidei veritate convelli. Descendente enim pluvia: Quod est mandatum iniquitatis. Et de nimiis pluviis oriuntur flumina, quae per prophetas nonnumquam reges intelle-guntur. Hic ergo †reges persecutorum et iniquorum in fluminibus persona† intellegi-tur. Flaverunt venti, iussio scilicet iniqua per iudices currens. ^*Ventos dicit ipsos, qui ¹⁰⁶⁵ iussioni iniquae parent[i], id est iudices. Inpegerunt in domum: Inpingere offendere ^31r est, id est contra venire. Quotienscumque enim tempus persecutionis est, ^*omnes contra ecclesiam veniunt ad destruendum. Sed cum fides sibi adest, domus, id est homo ipse, super petram, super Christum scilicet, fundatus, non poterit aliqua violentia a fundamento ^*convelli: Nam cum occisus pro nomine (eius) quis fuerit, ¹⁰⁷⁰ tunc magis petrae fundamentis fortius fixus inhaeret.

M. XXXI. [Matthew 7:26-27] And everyone who hears my words and does not carry them out. He likens everyone who hears the words and does not carry them out to a stupid man. Who is stupid but the Jewish people, who always remained in stupidity even when the Lord performed so many miracles? So, even now, if anyone is by chance unwise and bound up with worldly plans, they lay the foundations of their house on the sand. At the arrival of the rains and rivers and winds, which have been explained above, it is necessary that this house should collapse and become a ruin. Thus, indeed, humans who are concerned with riches, or desirous of honours, or are bound up by various desires, easily retreat to the worship of idols at a time of persecution and make a great ruin. Certainly, heretics too, who do not lay the foundations of their house rightly although they think that they have set their foundations on rock, ^[1080] are found at a time of persecution to be on the sand, as they refuse to suffer for his name, and they return to the earth like earthly people.

Et omnis qui audit verba mea et non facit ea. Omnem audientem verba et ^{Mt. 7,} non facientem similat viro stulto. Qui stultus nisi populus Iudaicus, qui tot miraculis ^26sq. domini factis se(m)per (in) stultitia permansit? Ergo etiam nunc si qui(s) forte inprudens fuerit et cogitationibus saecularibus adstrictus, super harenam domus ¹⁰⁷⁵ fundamenta iacit: Quae utique advenientibus (pluviis et fluminibus) et ventis su-perius expositis concidat necesse est et fiat ruina. Sic utique homines aut divitiis occupati aut honores cupientes aut variis desideriis ^*obstricti tempore persecutionis ad idolorum cultum facile recedunt et faciunt ruinam magnam; vel certe heretici, qui non recte fundamenta domus iaciunt, qui, cum se putant fundamenta super ¹⁰⁸⁰ petra(m) posuisse, [et] tempore persecutionis inveniuntur super harenam, cum pro ^*nomine eius pati nolunt, et ad terram quasi terreni redeunt.

M. XXXII. [Matthew 8:1-4] And as he came down from the mountain, it says that crowds followed and a certain leper said: If you wish, you can cleanse me. The leper is the figure of the Jewish people, who says: If you wish, you can cleanse me. For he knows that it is written about leprosy in the Law and that it cannot be cured except by God. So this is the will of God for all who believe by faith, for Jesus says: I wish it, be cleansed! Reaching out his hand he touched him and straightaway his leprosy was cleansed. The hand here shows the strength of divine decree.

Et descendente eo de monte turbas dicit secutas, et leprosus quidam ait: ^{Mt. 8, 31v} Si vis, potes me mundare. Leprosus figuram habet populi Iudaici, qui dicit: Si vis, ^1–4 potes me mundare. Scit enim in lege esse de lepra scriptum et non nisi a deo curanda(m). Est ergo voluntas dei in omnibus ex fide credentibus; nam dicit: Volo; ¹⁰⁸⁵ mundare! Extendens manum tetigit et continuo mundata est lepra eius. Ostendit manum hic potentiam divinae auctoritatis.

The apostles received this when they were sent to the synagogue and they preached and converted many Jews to belief. This is what the words mean, He reached out his hand. I wish it, be cleansed! And Jesus said to the one who was now cleansed: ^[1090] Do not tell anyone, but show yourself to the priest. This is so that you may specifically understand the figure of the Jewish people in the leper. He is also ordered to make the offering for his cleansing, in order to be a witness for them should they not believe, so that they might realise that the Lord Jesus, who heals the leprosy, is God.

Quam apostoli acceperunt missi ad synagogam, et praedicaverunt multosque Iudeorum ad credulitatem converterunt. Et hoc est, quod ^*dicit: Extendit manum. Volo; mundare! [quae] Et iam mundato ait Iesus: Nemini dixeris, sed ostende te sacerdoti, ut intellegas proprie populi Iudaici ¹⁰⁹⁰ esse figuram in ^*viro leproso. Qui etiam munus offerre pro emundatione iubetur, ut esset illis in testimonio, si non crederent, ut adverterent (d)eum esse, qui lepram sanat, dominum Iesum.

M. XXXIII. [Matthew 8:5-12] But after this, when he had entered Capharnaum, a certain centurion came up to him. It says that a centurion came up and asked the Lord on account of a boy who was lying paralysed in his house. Jesus said to him: I will come and cure him. The centurion said in reply: Lord, I am not worthy that you should enter under my roof. The centurion understood that he was a sinner and not worthy for the Lord to enter under his roof. So the centurion is the image of the Gentiles, who belong in a way to some worldly army. This is the reason ^[1100] he says: For I too am a man set under authority. Moreover, he shows by the heavenly army and by the regulation of things what God can do: `If it is true of me, since I am a man under authority and I have soldiers under me and I say to this one ‘Go’ and he goes, and to this one `Come’ and he comes, and to my slave ‘Do this’ and he does it, then it is true of you, since you are God and all the angels obey you, and even the whole creation is at your service; speak only the word and he shall be healed.’ He shows the divine strength by which this can come about. Speak the word, for it is the Word through which all things were made.¹⁹⁸ David said, By the word of the Lord were the heavens made firm and all their power by the breath of his mouth.¹⁹⁹ So the centurion more easily recognised the regulation of things and the heavenly army (meaning the Gentile people in whose image the centurion stands) than the Jewish people did, for they did not believe even when miracles were performed. For in order that you may understand ^[1110] that the Gentiles received greater powers of recognition than the Jews, King Nebuchadnezzar alone saw the Son of God between the three boys, which no-one else could see except him, and Pilate said You are the King of the Jews, and during that interrogation, Jesus said You say it, meaning you say it because he was a Gentile 2⁰⁰ This shows that the people from the Gentiles will believe and see, just as Nebuchadnezzar saw, and will acknowledge Christ, just as Pilate said You are the King of the Jews.

^{Mt. 8,} XXXIII. Post haec autem cum introisse[n]t Cafarnaum, accessit ad eum quidam ^5–12 centurio. Centurionem dicit accessisse et rogasse dominum propter puerum iacentem ¹⁰⁹⁵ in domo paralyticum. Cui ait Iesus: Ego veniens curabo eum. Respondens centurio ait: Domine, non sum dignus, ut intres sub tectum meum. Intellexit centurio peccatorem se et dignum non esse, sub cuius tectum (dominus) ingrederetur. Habet ergo centu-rio imaginem gentilium, qui quasi quadam militia adtine(n)tur saeculari. Idcirco dicit: Nam et ego homo sum sub potestate constitutus. Ostendit praeterea (per) ^32r militiam caelestem et ordinationem rerum, quod possit deus: ‘Si e[r]go, cum sim homo sub potestate et habeam sub me ^*milites et dico huic ‘Vade’, et vadit, (et huic ‘Veni’, et venit,) et servo meo ‘Fac hoc’, et facit, tu, cum sis deus et angeli omnes tibi ^*obaudiant, omnis etiam creatura famuletur, dic tantum verbum, et sanabitur.’ Ostendit potentiam divinitatis, qua possit fieri. Dic verbum: Verbum est enim, per ¹¹⁰⁵ quod omnia facta sunt, et Verbo domini caeli firmati sunt ait David et omnis virtus eorum spiritu oris eius. Facilius ergo centurio (ordinationem rerum) et militia(m) caelestem agnovit, id est populus gentilis, cuius in imagine ponitur centurio, quam populus Iudaicus, qui nec mirabilibus factis credidit. Nam ut intellegas magis gentiles cognitionem accepisse quam Iudeos, Nabucodonosor rex filium dei solus ¹¹¹⁰ inter tres pueros vidit, quod nullus alius videre praeter ipsum potuit, et Pilatus ait Tu es[t] rex Iudeorum et †interrogatione illa† ait Tu dicis, id est †tu dicis† quia gentilis erat. Ostendit ex gentibus populum crediturum et visurum, sicut vidit Nabu-codonosor, et confessurum Christum, sicut ^*dixit Pilatus Tu ^*es rex Iudeorum.

So both of these two, Nebuchadnezzar and Pilate, are the figure of the Gentile people. For the words of the centurion, I have soldiers under me, and the fact that he says that he is a sinner and is unworthy show here that he is a sinner because he is a Gentile. Solomon too speaks as follows: Inthe beginning of their prayer the righteous are their own accusers 2⁰¹ So humility must be preserved in all matters. Moreover, the centurion speaks about the regulation of soldiers: I say to this one ‘Go’ and he goes; this would come to pass concerning the Jews that ^[1120] they should go into annihilation. And to this one `Come’ and he comes; this is about the character of the Gentile people, who come when called by the apostolic teaching. The same is also found on the ladder of Jacob, when the Jews go down and the Christians go up .<sup>2°2</sup> And I say to my slave ‘Do this’ and he does it. The slave: the one who wishes to be greater among you shall be your slave,<sup>203</sup> that is the bishop, to whom the model and rule of preaching is given: ‘Do this’ and he does it means that he preaches. So Jesus praises the faith of the centurion and ranks it higher than the faith of Israel and affirms that he has not found such faith in anyone. Obviously this shows that the peoples of the whole globe will come to belief: they will gather in the company of Abraham, Isaac and Jacob in the kingdom of the heavens and there will be children of the kingdom from all nations, while the children of the kingdom will go into outer darkness. And he says ‘Go’ and he goes: this is the Jewish people going in the darkness. `Come’ and he comes, as it said, from the East and from the West ^[1130] all peoples will come and recline with their forefathers in the kingdom of the heavens.

¹¹¹⁵ Uterque ergo, et Nabucodonosor et Pilatus, figuram habet populi gentilis. Nam quod ^32v ait centurio Habeo sub me milites et dicit se esse peccatorem et non dignum, ostendit hic peccatorem, quia gentilis est. Sic et Solomon ait: In principio orationis suae iustus accusator sui est. (Est) ergo in omnibus humilitas servanda. Dicit praeterea de militum ordinatione[m] Dico huic ‘Vade’, (et vadit), quod futurum erat de Iudeis, ut ¹¹²⁰ vadant in interitum, et huic ‘Veni’, et venit, quod est (ex) persona populi gentilis, qui vocatus per apostolicam doctrinam venit. Hoc etiam in scala Iacob invenitur descen-dere Iudeos, ascendere Christianos. Et dico servo meo ‘Fac hoc’, et facit. Servus: Hic, qui voluerit inter vos maior esse, erit vester servus, id est episcopus, cui datur forma et regula praedicationis, hoc est ‘Fac hoc’, et facit, id est praedicat. Conlaudat ergo ¹¹²⁵ fidem centurionis et praeponit ^*fidei Israhel et (in) nullo se talem invenisse testatur. Evidenter ostendit totius orbis populos venturos ad credulitatem et futuros in contu-bernio Abrahae, Isac et Iacob in regno caelorum et futuros filios regni ex omnibus nationibus, filios autem regni ituros in tenebras exteriores. Et dicit ‘Vade’, et vadit, id est populus Iudaicus in tenebris. ‘Veni’, et venit, ut dixit ab oriente et ab occidente ¹¹³⁰ venturas omnes gentes et recumbere cum patribus in regno caelorum.

M. XXXIIII. [Matthew 8:14-15] And when Jesus had come into the house of Peter, he found Peter’s mother-in-law in bed with a fever. Peter’s mother-in-law is understood as the synagogue: her daughter, to whom Peter is married, is without doubt taken as the Church. A fever, then, is unrighteousness inside and an unhealthy heat. It shows that, once she was healed from her fever, she got up and served. What else does it mean to get up and serve than to be a person coming to belief from the Jews, like the apostles themselves who, as if they had been resurrected from a fatal illness, began to serve the Church? She is a character of the elders who believed, but from the Jews. He touched her hand: a hand is understood as authority or a multitude.

XXXIIII. Et cum venisset Iesus in domum Petri, invenit socrum eius iacentem et ^{Mt. 8,}

^33r febricitantem. Socrus Petri synagoga intellegitur; cuius filia sine dubio ecclesia ^14sq. accipitur, quam habet Petrus. Febris ergo est interna iniquitas et pestilens ardor. Ostendit sanatam a febri et surrexisse ac ministrasse. Quid aliud est surgere et ministrasse nisi persona ex Iudeis ^*credens, ut ipsi apostoli, qui quasi de infirmitate 1135 mortis resuscitati ecclesiae coeperunt ministrare? Est persona maiorum, sed ex Iudeis, credentium. Tetigit manum eius: Manus autem potestas (a)ut multitudo intellegitur.

M. XXXV. [Matthew 8:16-17] But once it was evening they brought to him many who had demons. At evening indicates the final end of the ages. That (...) at the coming of our Lord, who cured everyone who was held bound through various demonic pursuits, but also those who were held fast by various illnesses. So this is a figure as much of the people from the Gentiles as from the Jews too, and the prophetic testimony is appropriately applied that He carried our weaknesses and took on our sorrows.²⁰⁴ For elsewhere too it says as follows: And he puts his hands in the cave of asps,²⁰⁵ which plainly means on those people who are held full of evil spirits. He puts his hand: by the authority of his word he plainly heals everything.

Mt. 8, XXXV. Vespere autem facto obtulerunt ei multos daemonia habentes. Vespere

16sq. ^*novissimum saeculorum finem demonstrat. Quod (...) adveniens dominus noster, 1140 qui ^*omnes, qui variis daemoniorum culturis tenebantur obstricti, curavit, sed et qui diversis valitudinibus tenebantur. Est ergo populorum tam ex gentibus quam etiam ex Iudeis figura, et merito testimonium propheticum adhibetur, quia ipse infirmitates portavit nostras et aegrimonia nostra accepit. Nam et alibi sic dicit: Et mittit in caverna aspidum manus, in his scilicet hominibus, qui spiritibus malis inpleti tenen- 1145 tur. Mittit manum: Potestate[m] scilicet verbi sanat omnia.

M. XXXVI. [Matthew 8:19-20] And a certain scribe came up and said: Master, I will follow you. Jesus knew the plans of humans and saw through to the inner parts, so he saw a man who was a most depraved tempter claiming that he wanted to follow him. Jesus said to him: Foxes have their holes 2⁰⁶ He calls heretical people foxes, just as he said of Herod, who was a Sadducee: Go, tell that fox: Leave it alone, I cast out demons 2⁰⁷ Foxes, he says, have their holes: for foxes, in order to feed, hide themselves in the deep earth, buried away in their holes. False people, heretics, who have earthly works and make dark and shady little gatherings for themselves, are similar to foxes. For Samson, too, having captured some foxes, tied firebrands, meaning torches, to their tails (...) and set fire to their entire harvests and vine-yards²⁰⁸ (...) showed because the tail is the outermost part of the body. Having taken a torch, it sets fire to the crops and vineyards, plainly through wicked preaching. The heretics have set fire to the harvests, which provide the true bread, and are marked as having burnt the vineyards from which the grape juice is pressed which represents blood: thus they reject the Passion of the Lord. Foxes have their holes: we have said that foxes are ^[1160] heretics. The birds of the sky their nests where they rest. Birds are the type of holy people, who through their upright behaviour are called the birds of the heaven because they fly towards the heaven. Nests: these are of differing holiness; it was written that there were nests there in secret ²⁰⁹ But the Son of Man has nowhere where he may lay his head. On what can the head of Christ, the Son of God, be laid? He found nothing in that people. To be laid means to rest: the Son of God rests in the one who fulfils the commandments. The Jewish people, through not doing this, did not have a resting-place for the head of the Son of God.

Mt. 8, XXXVI. Et accedens quidam scriba ait illi: Magister, sequar te. Sciens Iesus ^19sq. cogitationes hominum, qui interiora pervidit, videns hominem nequissimum temp- ^33v tatorem, qui (sequi velle) se profitetur. Qui ait illi: Vulpes foveas habent. Vulpes homines hereticos dicit, sicut ait de Herode, qui erat Sadduceus: Vade, dic vulpi huic: ¹¹⁵⁰ Sine, eicio daemonia. Vulpes inquit foveas habent: ^*Vulpes enim, ut nutriant, occultant se in terrae profundo (et) in foveas demergunt. Ficti homines heretici terrena opera habentes et collectiunculas sibi tenebrosas obscurasque facientes vulpibus ^*adsimulantur. Nam et Samson vulpibus conprehensis ^*faces, id est lampa-das, ad caudas ligavit (...) ^*ac totas eorum messes vineasque succendit (...) ostende- ¹¹⁵⁵ bat, quia cauda novissima pars corporis est. Accepta lampada incendit sata et vi-neas, prava scilicet praedicatione. Heretici ^*et messes, quae verum panem praestant, incenderunt et vineas, unde liquor vitis exprimitur, quo[d] sanguis figuratur, passionem domini auferentes incendisse notantur. Vulpes foveas habent: (Vulpes) ¹¹⁶⁰ hereticos diximus. Volucres caeli nidos, ubi requiescant: Volucr(es habent typ)um sanctorum hominum, qui recta conversatione caeli volucres sunt ^*dicti a volando (ad caelum). Nidos: Variae sanctitatis sunt †in arcane scriptum fuisse ibi nidos† Filius autem hominis non habet, ubi caput reclinet. Caput Christ(i fil)i ^*dei in quo enim reclinari possit? In populo illo nullum invenit. Reclinari, (id est) requiescere: Qui-34r escit in eo dei filius, qui mandata perficit. Quod populus Iudaicus non faciendo reclinationem capitis fili dei non habuit.

M. XXXVII. [Matthew 8:21-22]. But another disciple said to him: Lord, allow me to bury my father. He is told: Let the dead bury their dead. But you, follow me. Can the dead really bury the dead? It remains that he is talking about those who are dead to heavenly behaviour, and this is how it should be understood.

XXXVII.   Alius autem discipulus ait illi: Domine, permitte mihi sepelire patrem ^{Mt. 8}, meum. Dicitur ei: Sine mortuis, ut sepeliant mortuos suos. Tu autem sequere me^{. 21sq}. Numquid mortui possunt mortuos sepelire? Superest, ut mortuos a caelesti conver-¹¹⁷⁰ satione dicat. Et sic intellegi oportet.

M. XXXVIII. [Matthew 8:23-27] And as he climbed in a boat, his disciples followed him. And behold, a great commotion took place in the sea such that the boat was covered by waves. The ship in which Jesus climbs is the Church. It is in the sea, meaning in the world. But a great commotion in the sea: as the winds arose, the sea began to be violently disturbed. What else does this commotion signify but a time of persecution in which the ship, meaning the Church, is subjected to the

XXXVIII.  Et ascendente eo in navicula secuti sunt eum discipuli eius. (Et) ecce Mt. 8, motus magnus factus est in mari ita, ut (navicula) operiretur fluctibus. Navis ecclesia, ^23–27 in qua Iesus ascendit. Haec ergo in mari, id est in saeculo, habetur. Motus autem magnus in mari, id est consurgentibus ventis coepit mare vehementer agitari.

waves of the world which are plainly evil orders? Jesus himself was asleep: to sleep is to rest. They approached and woke him: for as many times as he is moved by the prayers of the holy ones in need, swiftly he arises to have mercy. They say to him: Lord, rescue us, we are on the point of death. Then he says: Why are you frightened, you of little faith? He got up ^[1180] and ordered the wind and the sea, and there was a great calm. He got up: the Lord, as if sleeping, is woken by the prayers of the holy ones and he restrains and breaks down the surging waves, meaning (...) he restrains the winds and the sea, plainly the evil order which is given throughout the world and makes it go to ruin.²¹⁰ Through his mercy he restrained the sea and he restored calm to his own people, meaning the Church, whose prayers he always answers in a time of need, so that it might be for a miracle of his power.²¹¹ With regard to such sailing, David, too, says in Psalm 106: Those who go down to the sea in shipst

Quid ¹¹⁷⁵ aliud iste motus significat nisi tempus persecutionis, quo[d] navis, id est ecclesia, fluctus saeculi patitur, iniquas scilicet iussiones? Ipse vero Iesus dormiebat: (Dormi-re), hoc est requiescere. Accedentes suscitaverunt illum: Quotienscumque enim in necessitate sanctorum orationibus ^*pulsatur, cito exsurgit ad miserandum. Dicunt illi: Domine, libera nos, perimus. Tunc ait: Quid timidi estis, modicae fidei? Exsurgens¹¹⁸⁰ imperavit vento et mari, et facta est tranquillitas magna. Exsurgens: Velut dormiens dominus orationibus sanctorum ^*excitatur, et conpescit atque confringit fluctus insurgentes, id est (...) conpescit ventos et mare, scilicet datam iniquam iussionem †cui labat† per saeculum. Sua misericordia (mare) conpescuit et reddidit tranquillitatem suis, id est ecclesiae, cuius preces necessario semper exaudit ita, ut †miraculo sit† eius virtute. De ista navigatione David quoque in psalmo ^*CVI dicit: Qui descendunt ^34v mare in navibus.

M. XXXVIIII. [Matthew 8:28-32] And when he had come across the strait, in the region of the Gerasenes. The region of the Gerasenes is where there were two men possessed by demons. When they had seen Jesus, they shouted out: What do you have to do with us, Jesus, Son of God? All of this has the aim of deriding the Jews, who ^[1190] read Moses every day and have in their hands the prophets who proclaimed the coming of the Son of God, and did not believe in him when he came and performed wonders. It was easier for demons to say to him Son of God, what do we have to do with you? than for Jews, who should anyway have noticed from their reading that it was him who would put his hand in the cave of asps and who would bear our weaknesses 2¹³ What else does it mean to put a hand in a cave than to cast out unclean spirits from humans? The hand is the strength of the word: plainly of the Word who was from the beginning with God, the one who was God and through whom all things were made 2¹⁴ So this, as we have said, is to deride those who did not recognise the coming of the Son of God even though their scriptures resounded with it. The demons beg that they may not be tortured before the time, that is before the Day of Judgment, and they ask that, if he casts them out of the men, he may allow them to go into the herd ^[1200] of pigs. Pigs are unclean creatures: they wallow in mud; when they are sated they roll around or sleep; they forget their herdsman, except when they are hungry. So the figure of the idolatry of the Gentile people is found in the pigs who will never come to believe, since when the demons came to them the herd cast itself headlong into the sea and died: this means that they rush headlong to the world and die there.

^{Mt. 8,} XXXVIIII. Et cum venisset trans fretum in regione Gerasinorum. Regio ^28–32 Gerasino rum est, in qua duo daemoniaci erant. Qui cum vidissent Iesum, clamaverunt: Quid tibi et nobis, Iesu fili dei? Hoc totum ad suggillationem Iudeorum expectat, qui cottidie Moysen legunt et prophetas adnuntiasse adventum fili dei in manibus ¹¹⁹⁰ habent, et venienti non crediderunt mirabilia facienti. Facilius fuit, ut a daemoniis ei diceretur Fili[us] dei, quid nobis et tibi quam Iudei, qui utique ex lectionibus de-buerunt advertere ipsum esse, qui mitteret manum in caverna aspidum et qui infirmi-tates nostras baiularet. Mittere autem manu(m) in caverna quid aliud est nisi spiritus inmundos ex hominibus eicere? Manus autem potentia verbi est, eius scilicet verbi, ¹¹⁹⁵ qui erat a principio apud deum, hic, qui erat deus, per quem facta sunt omnia. Suggillatio ergo est, ut dictum est, ad eos, qui resonantibus scripturis adventum fili dei non recognoverunt. Daemones exorant, ne ante tempus torqueantur, hoc est ante diem iudicii, et rogant, ut, si eiceret illos ex hominibus, concederet illis ire in gregem porcorum. Porci animalia inmunda sunt; volutantur in luto et saturati volvuntur vel ¹²⁰⁰ dormiunt nec memores sunt pastoris sui, nisi dum esuriunt. Est ergo figura populi gentilis idolatriae in porcis numquam credituris, siquidem, cum ad eos venissent daemonia, grex per praeceps in mare iacta(ba)tur et mortui sunt, hoc est saeculo praecipites et ibi ^*mortui. ^35r

M. XL. [Matthew 8:33-34] But those who had been tending them fled.

^{Mt. 8,} XL. Hii autem, qui eos pascebant, fugerunt.

The fact that the herdsmen fled and told the town what had taken place shows that the herdsmen are those who preside over the unclean practice of idolatry, which is that of the pigs. And behold, the whole town: a town is called from the townspeople: for it was not the town which went out, but the townspeople who lived in the town. Towards Jesus: meaning to meet him. And once they had seen him, they asked that he would go away from their borders: they asked Jesus not to judge them now, realising from the miracles ^[1210] which had been performed that he was God. But they tell him to go away from their borders, to go away so that he would not put an end to them right now by judging them.

Fugisse pastores et nuntiasse civitati, ^{1205 33sq.} quid contigisset, ostendit pastores ^*hos esse, qui praesunt ipsi disciplinae inmundae idolatriae, quod est porcorum. Et ecce tota civitas: Civitas a civibus dicitur; non enim civitas processit, sed cives inhabitatores civitatis. Obviam Iesu, id est in occursu. Et viso eo rogabant, ut transiret a finibus eorum: Rogabant Iesum intellegentes miraculis factis esse eum deum, ne illos iam iudicaret. Sed dicunt, ut transiret a finibus illorum, ¹²¹⁰ hoc est transire(t), ne eis iam finem faceret iudicando.

M. XLI. [Matthew 9:1-6] Behold, they brought to him a paralysed man lying on a couch. The paralysed man, crippled in all his limbs, is the character of the Jewish people. And it said above: Into his own town, yet there was no one who could heal, because the Law is only a figure and does not have an effect. Because of this, the one whom the Law had prefigured came and completed everything which was foretold by the prophets, that he would cure their weaknesses and himself carry their sorrows .²¹⁵ Moreover, he saw the faith of those who prayed. So where there is a prayer of one accord (...) can be obtained, even if the one on whose behalf it is requested does not deserve it. Having seen their faith, he said to the paralysed man: Your sins are forgiven. We know that paralysis means endless sins, which make a person crippled and loose in all their limbs. But Jesus did this so that they would know by it that he was the Son of God, because no-one else forgives sins except God. Seeing a human, then, they rejected the divinity within him. So when he saw their plans — for they began to say to themselves: He is blaspheming — he said to them: What wickedness do you plan in your hearts? And he added even more because they did not believe: What is easier, to say ‘Your sins are forgiven’ or to say ‘Get up and walk’? Therefore he showed obviously who he was. He said: But so that you may know that the Son of Man has authority on the earth to forgive sins. Then he says to the paralysed man: Get up, take your pallet and go to your house. So he demonstrates the strength of his divinity in different ways: first, by the faith of those who ask that their sins be forgiven; then, to those who are amazed at this, he adds: Get up and walk;

XLI. Ecce obtulerunt ei paralyticum iacentem in lecto. Paralyticus omnibus ^{Mt. 9,} membris debilis est persona populi Iudaici. Et quia dixit superius in civitatem suam, ^1–6 et non erat, qui sanaret (quia lex quidem habet figuram, effectum non habet), ergo ¹²¹⁵ is, in quem lex meditata fuerat, veniens perfecit cuncta, quae a prophetis praedicta sunt, quod et infirmitates curaret et aegrimonia ipse portaret. Praeterea vidit fidem orantium. Ubi ergo fuerit unanimis oratio (...) posse inpetrari, etiam si non mereatur is, pro quo postulatur. Visa fide illorum ait paralytico: Remissa sunt tibi peccata. Cognoscimus ipsam paralysim esse infinita peccata, quae debilem hominem reddunt ¹²²⁰ omnibusque solutum membris. Faciebat autem ideo, ut dei filium vel in hoc cognoscerent, quia nemo alius peccata remittit nisi deus. Videntes ergo hominem ^35v contemnebant in illo divinitatem. Cum ergo videret cogitationes eorum – nam intra se dicebant: Blasfemat –, ait illis: Quid cogitatis nequa in cordibus vestris? Addidit ad cumulum, quod illi non crediderunt: Quid est facilius, dicere ‘Remissa sunt tibi ¹²²⁵ peccata’ aut dicere ‘Surge et ambula’? Itaque evidenter ostendit se, quis esset. Ait: Ut autem sciatis, quia filius hominis potestatem habet super terram remittendorum peccatorum. Tunc dicit paralytico: Surge, tolle grabatum tuum et vade in domum tuam. Varie ergo demonstrat potentiam divinitatis suae: Primo per fidem poscentium remitti peccata. Deinde mirantibus ob hoc addit et ait: Surge et ambula.

third, he says: ^[1230] Get up, take your pallet and go to your house. As we have said, the paralysed man, crippled in every limb, is the figure of the Jewish people, who fell into ill health through not observing the Law: for it said lying on a couch. The couch is taken as weakness or rest. But because here it tells of a paralysed man, it shows the weakness of the Jewish people. This weakness is made up of sins, which are forgiven for the one who believes by faith. After the forgiveness of sins, the Holy Spirit is also given: this is the meaning of Get up and walk. Thirdly, it says Take your pallet and go to your home. Now, the one who has been baptised in the name of Christ has the Church as their home and the one who lay on the couch, meaning in weakness, was made so strong by the power of the Holy Spirit that, powerful and active, he carried that very bed: this means that he gave instruction about the weaknesses of others and in which way they are to be cured.

Tertio ait:¹²³⁰ Surge, tolle grabatum tuum et vade in domum tuam. Ut diximus, paralyticus debilis omnibus membris figura est Iudaici populi, qui legem non observando in valitudine conciderunt: Nam in lecto iacentem dixit. Lectus aut infirmitas aut requies accipitur. Sed quia hic paralyticum dicit, infirmitatem populi (Iudaici) ostendit. Quae infirmi-tas peccata sunt, quae credenti ex fide remittuntur. Post remissionem peccatorum datur et spiritus sanctus, quod est Surge et ambula. Et tertio loco est Tolle grabatum ¹²³⁵ tuum et vade in domum tuam: Iam qui baptizatus est in nomine Christi, domum ecclesiam habet, et qui in lecto iacebat, id est in infirmitate, tam validus effectus virtute spiritus sancti, ut ipsum lectum fortis ac vegetus baiularet, id est aliorum infirmitates doceret, quatenus essent curandae.

M. XLII. [Matthew 9:8] But seeing this the crowds were afraid (...) these things which had come to pass. And they gave glory to God (meaning that they believed) who had given humans such authority. Authority means that you are able to do something if you believe with complete faith. As it was said: If you have faith like a mustard seed, you will say to this mountain ‘Go away’ and it will go away.²¹b

^{Mt. 9,8} XLII. Videntes autem turbae timuerunt (...) haec, quae facta sunt. Et dederunt ¹²⁴⁰ honorem deo, id est credentes, qui dedit tantam potestatem hominibus. Haec est ^36r potestas, ut possis facere, si tota fide credas, sicuti dictum est: Si habueri(ti)s fidem sicut granum senapis, dicetis monti huic ‘Transi’, et transiet.

M. XLIII. [Matthew 9:9-13] And when Jesus crossed over, he saw a man sitting in the toll booth, Matthew by name. This man is chosen and told: Follow me. Without delay, he followed him. The toll booth is the office of the tax collectors. So Matthew is chosen from there for the reason that everyone who acknowledges that they are a sinner receives pardon more easily. Just as in the case of the two who pray in the Temple, the Pharisee and the tax collector, and the tax collector went down into his house made righteous,²¹⁷ so here too someone is chosen from the tax collectors. What follows next? When he was reclining in the house, behold, many tax collectors and sinners came and reclined with Jesus. So these people are reclining in the house, meaning in the Church. Those who acknowledge that they are sinners rest: through their acknowledgment they earn pardon for their earlier deeds and are appropriately found reclining with Jesus in the house. The Pharisees are annoyed at this, that pardon is given to sinners. For `Pharisees’ is translated as `separated ones’: plainly they are separated from the behaviour of the tax collectors and thus boast that they are righteous.

^{Mt. 9,} XLIII. Et cum transiret Iesus, vidit hominem sedentem in teloneo (nomine)

^9–13 Mathe um. Hic eligitur et dicitur illi: Sequere me. Qui sine cunctatione secutus est eum. ¹²⁴⁵ Teloneum officium publicanorum est. Ergo inde eligitur Matheus illa ratione, quia omnis, qui confitetur se peccatorem, facilius ^*accipit veniam: Sicut de duobus oran-tibus in templo, Fariseo et publicano, quomodo ^*publicanus iustificatus descendit in domum suam, si(c) ergo et hic electio est de publicanis. Denique quid sequitur? Cum recumberet in domo, ecce multi publicani et peccatores venerunt et recumbebant cum ¹²⁵⁰ Iesu[m]. ^*Ipsi ergo in ^*domo, id est (in) ecclesia, recumbunt: Requiescunt, qui se peccatores confitentur, et per confessione(m) venia(m) merentur retro factorum, et ^*merito cum Iesu in domo recumbere inveniuntur. Ad hoc indignantur Farisei, quare venia datur peccatoribus. Nam Farisei ‘separati’ interpretantur; separati scilicet a conversatione[m] publicanorum, ideoque se ^*iustos iacta(n)t.

They receive the response: You are righteous, and A doctor is not needed for the healthy.²¹⁸ It is not because they are healthy but because they claim that they are righteous that it is said to them in reply: The healthy have no call for a doctor, but those who are unwell. The Son of God shows himself to be a doctor who can cure the wounds of the soul, and by what sort of cure this happens. He says: I want mercy and not sacrifice. For I have not come to call ^[1260] the righteous but sinners to repentance. No-one is righteous in the sight of God, but it is because the Pharisees claimed that they were righteous. Therefore it is appropriate that whoever acknowledges that they are a sinner is called and their sins are forgiven, because in the sight of God no-one is without sin. The Pharisees, who fail to understand this while they boast of their righteousness, are left behind and forsaken.

Quibus respondetur: ^36v Vos iusti estis, et Sanis medicus non est necessarius. Non quia sani essent, sed quia dicebant se ^*iustos esse, idcirco ergo respondetur illis: Non est opus sanis medicus, sed male habentibus. Ostendit filius dei se esse medicum, qui animae vulnera possit curare, et quali cura. Ait: Misericordiam volo et non sacrificium. Non enim veni vocare ¹²⁶⁰ iustos, sed peccatores in paenitentiam. Nemo iustus apud deum, sed quia ipsi se iustos dicebant. Igitur quicumque confitetur peccatorem se esse, merito vocatur et remittuntur illi pecca(ta), quia apud deum nemo sine peccato. Farisei hoc non ^37r intellegentes, dum in sua iustitia se iactant, relinquuntur et deseruntur.

M. XLIIII. [Matthew 9:15] And Jesus said to them: Can wedding guests fast?⁷⁹ Here he shows that wedding guests cannot fast as long as the bridegroom is with them, and that he is the bridegroom, the apostles are the wedding guests, the Church herself is the bride.

Et ait illis Iesus: Numquid possunt filii sponsi ieiunare. Hic ostendit (non ^{Mt. 9,15 1265} posse filios sponsi ieiunare), quam diu cum illis esse(t) sponsus, et esse (se) sponsum, filios sponsi apostolos, sponsam ipsam ecclesiam.

So he says that when the bridegroom is taken away, then they will fast. This took place at Pentecost as they were praying and fasting when the Holy Spirit came upon them.²²°

Dicit ergo, cum ablatus fuerit sponsus, tunc ieiunaturos. Quod factum est in pentecoste orantibus et ieiunantibus illis, quando spiritus sanctus super eos advenit

M. XLV. [Matthew 9:16-17] But no-one sews a patch of new cloth onto an old garment. The nature of old and new cloths is as follows: the new cloth is the Christian people, the old is the Jewish people. So the old cannot be sewn onto the new, unless someone comes to belief in the name of Christ and is baptised and made new. There is no other way of being joined to the body of the Church, so that the tear does not become worse. A tear is when there is argument and disagreement about faith between factions. There follows the similar comparison of the new wine and the old wineskins. The new wine is the Holy Spirit, the old wineskins are either the Jews or sinful people. So unless the wineskins have been renewed, they would not be able to carry the new wine because either of them might perish. So unless a person has been renewed and taught by the Holy Spirit, they are not able to bear the grace of God: the old wineskins are sinful people or the Jews, as I said, because of the old Law; the new wineskins are people renewed by the grace of God, ^[1280] to which new wine is appropriately entrusted. For we take new wine to be the Holy Spirit, as it was said of the apostles: They are full of new wine,¹ when in fact they were filled with the Holy Spirit. Therefore new wine is put into new wineskins so that both of them will be kept safe. So spiritual grace is given in this way to a renewed person, meaning to the one who believes in the name of the Son of God, Jesus Christ, our God and Lord, and both persist undiminished.

Nemo autem committit commissura(m) panni rudis in vestimentum vetus. ^{Mt. 9, 1270} Qualitas pannorum veterum et novorum haec est: Novitas panni est populus Christi- ^16sq. anus, vetus(tas) Iudaicus. Ergo non potest adsui vetus ad novum, nisi et ipse veniens crediderit in nomine Christi et fuerit baptizatus et (in)novatus: Aliter corpori ecclesiae adnecti non poterit, ne peior scissura fiat. Scissura est, cum contentio et dissensio fidei habetur inter partes. Sequitur ^*similis conparatio vini novi et utrium ¹²⁷⁵ veterum. Vinum novum (spiritus sanctus) est, utres veteres aut Iudei sunt aut homi-nes peccatores. Nisi ergo innovati fuerint utres, vinum novum portare non poterunt, quia utraque possunt perire. Nisi ergo innovatus homo fuerit et ^*spiritu sancto edoctus, gratiam dei ferre non poterit, quia utres veteres peccatores homines sunt ^37v vel Iudei, ut dixi, propter veterem legem, novi autem utres homines per gratiam dei ¹²⁸⁰ innovati, quibus merito vinum novum committitur. Nam vinum novum spiritum sanctum accipimus, sicut dictum est de apostolis Musto repleti sunt, qui utique spiritu sancto erant adinpleti. Igitur vinum novum novis utribus mittitur, ut utraque serventur: Sic ergo gratia spiritalis innovato homini, id est ^*huic credenti in nomine fili dei Iesu[m] Christi dei (et domini) nostri, datur et utraque incolumi(a) perseverant. ¹²⁸⁵‑

M. XLVI. [Matthew 9:18-19] While he was speaking these things to them, behold, a leader came up imploring him and saying: My daughter has just died. He pleads and says: But come, lay a hand on her and she will live. The leader believes and asks on his daughter’s behalf with complete faith. Indeed, knowing the strength of majesty, he says: Lay a hand on her and she will live. Recognising his faith, Jesus got up and followed ^[1290] the man who was strong in faith. Without any delay (...) it shows that he would provide. Indeed, he says nothing in response but immediately, to go with him (...) when he goes, the full sense of this story follows.

^{N[t. 9,} XLVI. Haec illo loquente ad eos, ecce princeps unus accessit ^*adorans et dicens:^18sq. Filia mea modo defuncta est. Deprecatur et dicit: Sed veni, inpone manum super eam, et vivet. Credens princeps tota fide rogat pro filia. Denique sciens potentiam maies-tatis ait: Inpone manum super eam, et vivet. Cuius agnita fide Iesus surgens seque-batur eum ex fide potente(m). Cui sine aliqua cunctatione (...) praestaret ostendit. ¹²⁹⁰ Denique nihil respondit, sed statim, ut iret cum ipso (...) dum vadit, sequitur integer sensus.

M. XLVII. [Matthew 9:20-22] A certain woman, who had struggled with a flow of blood for twelve years already, came up behind him and touched his garment. Weighing up the matter according to her faith,tm she said: If I touch his garments I will be saved. In another gospel, this woman also says that she had spent much on doctors and had not been able to be healed?n The endurance of the flow of blood for twelve years shows her as the character of the Jewish people.

^{N[t. 9,} XLVII. Mulier quaedam, quae in fluxu sanguinis laborabat iam duo(de)cim annis, ^20–22 accedens retro tetigit vestimentum eius. Secundum fidem suam †disputans† dicebat: (Si) tangam vestimenta eius, salva ero. Haec mulier etiam et in alio evangelio dicit, ¹²⁹⁵ quia multa erogaverat medicis et non poterat sanari. XII annis fluxum sanguinis ^{38r *}passam ostendit ^*populi Iudaici esse personam:

The twelve years are the twelve tribes of Israel. The flow of blood is the synagogue which can be imagined as a woman running out of blood, that is through killing all the righteous people and prophets; it finally raged against the Lord himself. ^[1300] So this is the flow of blood which the Gospel shows to have been in the woman: it means in the synagogue because it was stained with the blood of the holy ones. And because she touched his garment from behind, this indicates the following: behind means ‘at a later time’. What time does behind indicate but after the Passion of our Lord Jesus Christ, when the apostles were sent and preached to the synagogue and converted many to belief? So this was the meaning of touching the garment from behind. To touch is to reach with the inmost thoughts of the mind; to touch is to believe or to observe instructions 2²⁴ For she touched him secretly, through faith, and he therefore said: Someone has touched me. Was he not also touched by others? But she truly touched him as she was touching with faith.

Duodecim annis duodecim tribus Israhel sunt, ^*fluxus sanguinis est synagoga, quae velut mulier proponitur sanguine deficiens, id est occidendo iustos omnes et prophetas; novissime et in ^*ipsum dominum saevivit. ^*Hunc ergo fluxum sanguinis oste(n)dit fuisse in muliere, hoc est ¹³⁰⁰ (in) synagoga, quia sanguine sanctorum est commaculata. Et quia retro tetigit vestimentum, hoc demonstrat: Retro ‘posteriore tempore’ dicit. Quod tempus osten-dit retro nisi post passionem domini nostri Iesu Christi, (quando) missi apostoli praedicaverunt synagogae et multos ad credulitatem converterunt? Hoc ergo fuit retro tangere vestimentum. Tangere autem intima ^*mente est contingere †tangere† ¹³⁰⁵ credere vel praecepta facere. Tetigit enim illum fide[s] occulte, et ideo dixit: Tetigit me aliquis. Numquid et ab aliis non tangebatur? Sed haec vere tetigit, quae fide tangebat.

When she was healed, he said to her: Your faith has saved you. We see, then, that the one who simply touches Jesus’ clothes can obtain their whole request through faith. And he, in order to show ^[1310] who he was, said: Someone touched me. He says this knowing that she is elsewhere, because she had touched his hem2²⁵ She said why she had done it. So there are some from the Jews who believe through the preaching of the apostles, as was shown above.

Cum sanata esset, dixit ei: Fides tua te salvam fecit. Vide[a]mus ergo fide[m] totum posse inpetrare, qui etiam vestem Iesu[m] tangat. Et ille, ut ostenderet ^38v se, quis esset, ait: Tetigit me aliquis †illa ut† alibi ait sciens, quia fimbriam tetigerat. Dixi(t), propter quid fecerit. Sunt ergo ex Iudeis credentes per apostolorum praedi-cationem, ut superius ostensum est.

M. [Matthew 9:23-26] And when Jesus had come into the house of the leader, he said: She is not dead but she is asleep. It was easy for him to raise the dead. He said that the girl was asleep who was dead. And having sent out the crowd he took hold of her hand. We have often said that a hand is strength or a multitude of powers2²⁶ And the girl got up. For the girl is the figure of the Church, which the teaching of the apostles has raised through the strength of our Lord Jesus Christ. And this report went out into that entire land. Truly the report went out, for the Church is established throughout the globe. It also says this in Psalm 18: Their sound went out into every ^[1320] land.²²m

^XLVIII.               Et cum venisset Iesus in domum principis, dicebat: Non est mortua, sed ^{Mt. 9,} dormit. Facile (ei) erat mortuos suscitare. Dormire dicebat ea(m), quae erat mortua. ^23–261315 Et eiecta turba tenuit manum eius. Manum iam saepe diximus potentiam vel multi-tudinem esse virtutum. Et surrexit puella. Puella enim ecclesiae habet figuram, quae per potentiam domini nostri Iesu Christi apostolica doctrina consurrexit. Et exivit fama haec in universa(m) terra(m) illa(m). Vere exivit fama: Nam per orbem terrarum fundata est ecclesia. Hoc et in psalmo XVIII dicit: In omnem terram exivit sonus¹³²⁰ eorum.

M. XLVIIII. [Matthew 9:32-34] When they had gone out, behold, others brought to him a mute and deaf man who had a demon. It is evident that he could not be cured by anyone other than the Son of God, whom the prophets proclaimed would come. For example, Isaiah had said that a boy would put his hand in a cave of asps and would cast out the snakes and they would not hurt him2²⁸ This signified that the Son of God would expel demons with his divine authority from the bodies in which they were dwelling. For this reason he is also shown by David in a comparison as a deer.²²⁹ For a deer, when it finds a snake hiding itself in holes, is said to drag it out with its breath and kill 11 .²³⁰ It is plain that the Son of God did the same, who dragged the true serpent, the devil, out from human bodies and killed it, meaning that he triumphed through his Passion. ^[1330] So this man with a demon is a figure of the Jewish people who, having deserted God and through serving idols, had delivered themselves to a demon by doing its will. He was mute, because he did not acknowledge the Son of God proclaimed to him through the prophets. He was also deaf, because he refused to hear the instructions of God or, hearing them, he spurned them. For everyone who does not acknowledge Christ as Lord is understood as mute, and the one who does not wish to hear the instructions of God is taken as deaf. But once the demon was cast out the mute man spoke. This showed that many from this same people, freed from the authority of the devil, would come to belief and would speak in the Church, meaning that they would give thanks to God and have their ears open to hearing the divine instructions 2³¹ And the crowds were amazed, it tells us, saying that never had anything like this appeared in Israel. The prophets, indeed, performed many signs among that people, but not of this sort. The Son of God, who had worked and spoken through these same prophets, held back all sorts of miracles and all wonders for his own coming, with which he might overcome the unbelief of the people and lay open the strength of his divinity to believers. But the Pharisees began to say that he cast out demons in the power of the king of demons. So what the Holy Spirit had long ago foretold through David would take place was fulfilled. For he said: In the multitude of your power your enemies will lie about you,²³² because they attributed divine authority to the king of demons instead.

Egressis illis ecce obtulerunt ei hominem mutum et surdum daemonem ^{Mt. 9,} habente(m). Non potuisse ab alio curari quam a filio dei, ^*quem prophetae venturum ^32–34 adnuntiaverunt, manifestum est. Denique Eseias dixerat missurum puerum manum in caverna aspidum et eiecturum serpentes et non noceri eum, id est filium dei ¹³²⁵ potestate divina daemonia expellere de corporibus, in quibus habitabant, signifi‑ ^39r cabat. Idcirco et apud David in conparatione cervus ostenditur. Cervus enim, cum invenerit serpentem occultantem se in foramina, flatu suo extrahere dicitur et occidere; quod idem filius dei fecisse declaratur, qui verum serpentem, hoc est zabulum, de corporibus hominum extractum occidit, id est sua passione trium‑ ¹³³⁰ phavit. Daemoniacus iste ergo habet figuram populi Iudaici, qui derelicto deo et idolis serviendo ipse se ^*daemonio mancipaverat faciendo eius voluntatem. Erat autem mutus, quia filium dei per prophetas sibi adnuntiatum non confitebatur. Erat et surdus, quia praecepta dei audire nolebat vel audiens contemnebat. Omnis enim, qui Christum dominum non confitetur, mutus intellegitur, et qui praecepta dei audire non vult, surdus habetur. Sed eiecto daemone locutus est mutus. Ostendebat ¹³³⁵ multos e populo ipso de potestate zabuli liberatos venturos ad credulitatem et in ecclesia locuturos, id est deo gratias acturos et aures apertas habituros ad audienda divina praecepta. Et mirabantur inquit turbae dicentes numquam sic apparuisse in Israhel. Fecerunt quidem prophetae in ipso populo plurima signa, sed non talia. Omnia autem genera virtutum et mirabilia filius dei, qui per eosdem prophetas ^39v operatus fuerat et locutus, in adventu suo reservavit, quibus incredulitatem populi revinceret et potentiam suae divinitatis credentibus aperiret. Farisei autem dicebant, quod in rege daemoniorum eiceret daemonia. Conpletum est, quod olim spiritus sanc-tus per David futurum pronuntiaverat; ait enim: In mul(ti)tudine virtutis tuae mentientur tibi inimici tui, quia potestatem divinam in rege(m) daemon(ior)um ¹³⁴⁵ transferebant.

M. L. [Matthew 10:1] And having summoned his twelve disciples, he gave them authority that they should cast out unclean spirits and cure all sickness and all weakness. The Gospels affirm that the disciples received authority from the Lord to free those who were in the grip of demons, and to cure various sicknesses. So the Lord gave authority to his disciples, plainly because he had long before given Moses authority to perform signs and wonders in Egypt through his rod and lead the people snatched from the hand of Pharaoh into the Promised Land.²³³ He also gave authority to the apostles to perform signs and wonders in Egypt, meaning in the world, and to free all nations from the hand of Pharaoh, meaning from the authority of the devil, and to lead believers into the Promised Land, meaning to our Lord and Saviour himself. With regard to the body which he received from a virgin, he is understood as the Promised Land because he himself had promised through all the prophets that he would come.

^{Mt. 10,1} L. Et convocatis XII discipulis suis dedit illis potestatem spirituum inmundorum, ut eicerent eos et curarent omnem languorem et omnem infirmitatem. Accepisse discipu-los potestatem a domino, ut liberarent eos, qui a daemoniis tenebantur, et curarent varias languores, evangelia testantur. Data ergo potestate discipulis dominus ipse, ¹³⁵⁰ scilicet quia iamdudum Moysi potestatem dederat in virga signa et prodigia in Aegypto ^*faciendi et ereptum populum de manu Pharaonis in terram promissionis inducere, ipse ergo dedit potestatem apostolis, ut signa et mirabilia in Aegypto, hoc est in saeculo, facerent et universas nationes de manu Pharaonis, id est de potestate zabuli, liberatas credentes in terram promissionis inducere(n)t, id est ad ipsum ¹³⁵⁵ dominum et salvatorem nostrum, qui propter corpus, quod ex virgine suscepit, terra ^40r promissionis intellegitur, quia ipse per omnes prophetas venturum se promiserat.

M. LI. [Matthew 10:2-8] But the names of the twelve disciples are these. We find that the twelve apostles have been shown as a figure in the Old Testament in many places. One example is the twelve ^[1360] springs by which the people quenched the thirst with which they struggled in the desert,²³⁴ just as we, watered by the teaching of the apostles whose image had gone before in the springs, have extinguished through the water of baptism the thirst which we used to endure from the heat of sin. The same apostles are also prefigured in the twelve breads that are placed warm on the table of the Tabernacle on the Sabbath? `Warm’ indicated that the apostles were glowing with the Spirit; placed in the Tabernacle, which means appointed in the Church, they daily satisfy us with heavenly food. In the same way, they are also in the twelve stone blades fashioned from rock, with which God ordered the people to be circumcised for a second time ²³⁶

^{Mt. 10,} LI. Duodecim autem apostolorum nomina sunt ^*haec. Duodecim apostolos in ^2–8 veteri testamento in figura multis (in) locis ostensos invenimus: Ut (in) duodecim fontibus, quibus populus in deserto sitim, qua[s] laborabat, extinxit, ^*sicut nos inri- ¹³⁶⁰ gante apostolorum doctrina, quorum imago in fontibus praecurrerat, sitim, quam de ardore peccati patiebamur, per aquam baptismi extinximus. Etiam in panibus XII idem apostoli praefigurati sunt, qui in mensa tabernaculi sabbato calidi ponebantur: ‘Calidos’ ferventes spiritu declarabat apostolos, qui in tabernaculo positi, in ecclesia ¹³⁶⁵ constituti, cottidie nos cibis caelestibus satiant. Sic et in XII gladiis petrinis de petra excussis, quibus ^*populum deus secundo circumcidi iussit,

The Apostle said that the rock signifies Christ our Lord,²⁷ from which it was shown that the twelve blades (meaning the twelve apostles) would come in order to circumcise us from all evils with the keenness of faith, by taking away all defects and errors from our hearts by the grace of baptism. The twelve calves set up under the bronze sea in the Temple which Solomon had built are also a figure of the apostles?³⁸ These calves, divided into four groups, indicated the fourfold preaching of the Gospels; three set in each group, they showed the perfect total of the Trinity. They have their backs to the Temple and their faces to the four quarters of the earth: this made it openly evident that the apostles would turn their faces (meaning their preaching) away from the Jewish people towards all the nations, settling throughout the four corners of the earth to which they would proclaim the same Trinity which the unbelieving people refused to receive. David, too, had spoken of them, that their sound would go out into every land and their words to the ends of the globe.²³⁹ So it was necessary for the apostles to be sent by the Lord according to the previous figures. They are instructed not to go in the way of the Gentiles, so that they would not live in a Gentile manner, ^[1380] and not to enter into the towns of the Samaritans, so that they would not deny the Resurrection like the Samaritans, but they should rather go to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, for whom he had especially come.

petram Christum dominum nostrum sig(ni)ficari apostolus dixit; ex qua XII gladii, id est XII apostoli, futuri ostendebantur, qui nos acumine fidei a malis omnibus circumciderent auferendo de cordibus nostris per gratiam baptismi omnia criminum vitia. Et XII ¹³⁷⁰ vituli sub mare aereo in templo, quod Solomon aedificaverat, constituti apostolorum ^40v figura est: Qui[n]que vituli per quattuor partes divisi quadrifariam evangeliorum praedicationem demonstrabant, ^*terni autem per partes (positi) perfectum numerum trinitatis ostendebant; habentes dorsa ad templum et facies (ad) quattuor angulos terrae convertere facies apostolos, id est praedicationem ^*a populo Iudaico ¹³⁷⁵ ad universas nationes per quattuor cardines mundi commorantes, aperte manifesta-bant, quibus eandem trinitatem, quam populus incredulus suscipere noluit, adnun-tiarent. De quibus et David dixerat, quod in omnem terram exiret sonus eorum et in fines orbis terrae verba eorum. Hos ergo secundum praecedentes figuras necesse erat a domino mitti. Quibus praecipitur, ne in via gentium abirent, ne[c] gentiliter vive‑ ¹³⁸⁰ rent, et in civitates Samaritanorum ne introirent, ne sicut ^*Samaritani resurrectionem negarent, sed irent potius ad oves perditas domus Israhel, propter quos vel maxime venerat.

For he had promised through the prophet that he would take away from them the bad shepherds, meaning the elders of the people who turned them aside from the right path by teaching badly, and give them other shepherds in their place 2⁴° These are the apostles, who would show to them the way of truth and preach that the kingdom of the heavens had come near, meaning that the Son of God had arrived: he is the kingdom of the heavens because we will reign through him and in him. They would cure the weak, raise the dead and all that follows. We read in their Acts that the apostles exercised all these powers. But this can also be understood spiritually, that we who were weak through the illness of sins have received healing through the kindness of the Son of God. Those who through their crimes ^[1390] were considered dead in the sight of God, as the Apostle says And you, when you were dead in your crimes and sins,²⁴¹ believed and came back to life once they had received the Holy Spirit.

Promiserat enim per prophetam auferre se malos pastores ab ipsis, id est maiores populi, qui eos male docendo a recto itinere devertebant, et dare (in) loco ipsorum alios pastores, id est apostolos, qui eis viam veritatis ostenderent et praedi‑ ¹³⁸⁵ carent adpropiasse regnum caelorum, id est filium dei advenisse – regnum caelorum ipse est, quia per ipsum et in ipso regnaturi sumus –, infirmos curarent, mortuos ^41r suscitarent et quae sequuntur. Quas omnes virtutes apostolos fecisse in Actu(s) ipso-rum legimus. Potest autem et spiritaliter intellegi, ut, qui infirmi eramus valitudine peccatorum, per indulgentia(m) fili dei sanitatem reciperemus, et qui delictis suis ¹³⁹⁰ apud deum mortui habebantur, ut ait apostolus Et vos cum essetis mortui in delictis et peccatis vestris, accepto spiritu sancto credentes revi(vi)scerent.

M. LII. [Matthew 10:9-10] Do not own gold or silver or money or a bag or sandals or a stick or two tunics. Jesus warns that the disciples should be the model for all other believers. They must not be hindered by any worldly greed, but they should despise everything which is considered great on this earth, as it is natural that preachers of so great a mystery should travel in this world like foreigners. Nor money in your belts. Money is understood as the commandments of God, as he says we read^:242 Why, he says, did you not give my money to the counter of the money-changers?²⁴³ But here we see that the disciples were forbidden from carrying money, from which we can easily notice that money also means human instructions. For example, in another place when the Lord was accusing the elders of the people and rebuking them because they passed on the commandments of humans rather than those of God, he introduced the testimony of the prophet: Isaiah, he says, prophesied well about you: This people honours me with their lips but their heart is far from me. They pay homage to me without cause, as they teach the commandments and teachings of humans2⁴⁴ And again: You throw away the commandment of God in order to set up your own tradition2⁴⁵ So this is the kind of money, meaning human instructions, which the apostles are prohibited to teach or receive. For the other money, meaning the divine commandments, which they had received from the Son of God to be handed on to God, was enough for them. No bag on the way: for a bag is carried on the way for the sake of bread. So they, like us, are forbidden to seek for any other bread, meaning the bread of the heretics about whom it is written: Their sacrifices are the bread of sorrow. Everyone who eats them will be defiled.²⁴⁶

^{Mt. 10,} LII. Nolite possidere aurum neque argentum nec pecuniam nec pera(m) nec calcia‑ ^9sq. mentum neque virgam nec duas tunicas. Monet discipulos formam ceteris credentibus futuros, ne aliqua cupiditate[m] saeculari inpedirentur, sed ut omnia, quae in hoc mundo magna putantur, contemnentes utpote praedicatores tanti mysterii velut ¹³⁹⁵ peregrini in saeculo ingrederent(ur). Neque pecuniam in zonis vestris: Pecuniae quidem mandata dei intelleguntur, sicuti †inquit† legimus: Quare inquit pecuniam meam non dabas ad mensam nummolariorum? Sed hic videmus prohibitos discipulos pecuniam portare, unde facile advertere possumus pecuniam esse et humana praecepta. Denique alio loco, cum maiores populi dominus argueret exprobrans illis, ¹⁴⁰⁰ quod mandata hominum potius quam dei traderent, testimonium prophetae adtulit: Bene inquit prophetavit Eseias de vobis: Populus hic labiis me honorat, cor autem ^41v illorum longe est a me. Sine causa autem colunt me mandata et doctrinas hominum sequentes. Et iterum: Reicitis mandatum dei, ut traditionem vestram statuatis. Hanc ergo pecuniam, id est humana praecepta, apostoli docere (ac) accipere vetantur. ¹⁴⁰⁵ Sufficiebat enim illis pecunia illa, id est mandata divina, quae (a) filio dei deo tradenda acceperant. Non peram in via: Pera enim in via propter panem portatur. Prohibentur ergo tam illi quam nos alium panem quaerere, id est hereticorum, de quibus scriptum est Sacrificia illorum panis luctus. Omnis, qui manducaverit ea, inquinabitur,

We are now fed with the true and heavenly bread, the body of Christ our God and Lord, who said: I am the bread who came down from heaven 2⁴⁷ Next, two tunics. The heretics and schismatics who gather outside the Church appear to strive for two tunics, although there is only one tunic which is knit together by the faith of the unity of the one Church and sewn from above (meaning heavenly), which the soldiers examined and refused to tear.²⁴⁸ This is because whoever is serving in the heavenly army does not make a division in the people, but is content with one tunic, meaning the love of the one Church. But the one who wishes to have another tunic, meaning that they think that gatherings should take place outside the Church, will be condemned to everlasting punishment as a deserter and one guilty of such a crime. Nor sandals means that they should not accept another faith. For they had already accepted the sandals of the gospel faith from the Son of God, about which the prophet had said: How beautiful are the feet of those who bring the gospel of peace, who proclaim good things2⁴⁹

cum iam vero et caelesti pane saginati sumus, id est corpore Christi dei ¹⁴¹⁰ (et) domini nostri, qui dixit: Ego sum panis, qui de caelo descendi. Denique: Duas tunicas. Duas tunicas heretici et scismatici appetere videntur, qui foris ecclesiam colligunt, cum una sit tunica unius ecclesiae unitatis fide copulata de superiore contexta, id est caelestis, quam milites scindere noluerunt probantes, quod quicum-que militiae caelesti deserviunt, scissuram de populo non faciunt, sed una tunica ¹⁴¹⁵ contenti sunt, hoc est unius ecclesiae caritate[m]. Qui autem aliam tunicam habere voluerit, id est extra ecclesiam colligendum putaverit, ut desertor et tanti criminis reus perpetua poena damnabitur. Neque calciamenta, id est ne aliam fidem recipe- ^42r rent. Iam enim acceperant a filio dei calciamenta evangelicae fidei, de quibus propheta dixerat: Quam speciosi pedes evangelizantium pacem, adnuntiantium bona. ¹⁴²⁰

Nor a stick in your hands: the practices of a different sect. For there are various customs and different practices belonging to different sects, but they should keep the true practice, meaning the sacred one, which they had received from him. For the worker is worthy of his reward: without doubt, because the one who has preserved the faith of God and kept the instructions of God will be considered worthy to attain the reward of eternal life.

Neque virga(m) in manibus: Diversae sectae disciplinas. Diversarum enim sectarum variae institutiones et diversae disciplinae sunt, sed ut illam ^*veram, hoc est deifi-cam disciplinam, quam ab ipso acceperant, custodirent. Dignus enim operarius mercedem suam: Sine dubio, quia qui fidem dei servaverit et praecepta dei ¹⁴²⁵ custodierit, dignus habebitur, ut mercedem vitae consequatur aeternae.

M. LIII. [Matthew 10:11] In whatever town you enter, stay there and so on. It was made evident above that the town of which he speaks is the Church, when he says A town set on a mountain cannot be concealed:⁷⁵⁰ plainly the Church, set on top of the Son of God. So he instructs that one should remain in this town, meaning persevere right up to the end. Until you leave, meaning up to when we depart from this body. For the departure of the holy ones is called a summons, on which we hasten from this world.

In quacumque civitate intraveritis, ibi manete et cetera. Civitatem, (quam) ^{Mt. 10,} dicit, ecclesiam esse superius manifestatum est, ubi dicit Non potest civitas abscondi ¹¹ super montem posita, ecclesiam scilicet supra filium dei constitutam. In hac ergo manendum, id est usque ad finem perseverandum, ^*praecipit. Donec exeatis, id est ¹⁴³⁰ quam diu de hoc corpore recedamus. Arcessitio enim sanctorum profectio dicitur, qua[e] de hoc mundo pergimus.

M. LIIII. [Matthew 10:16] Behold, I send you like sheep in the middle of wolves and so on. Because he is the shepherd of the sheep and the master, as he affirms elsewhere: I am the good shepherd. The good shepherd lays aside his soul for his sheep2⁵¹ He appropriately compared his disciples to sheep because of their innocence. But he signifies as wolves those who persecuted the apostles and all other believers after the Lord’s Passion for the sake of the Son of God. He advises them in advance how to go their way in the middle of such people: Be pure, he says, like doves. Just as doves are without deceit and bile because they do not recall anger, so the Lord therefore wants us too to live in the present world without the deceit of malice and without bile, which is the bitterness of sin, forgetful of anger and wrongs so that we may lay hold of the divine promises ²⁵²

Ecce ego mitto vos sicut oves in medio luporum et cetera. Quia ipse est ^{Mt. 10,} pastor ovium et magister, ut in alio loco testatur Ego sum pastor bonus. Pastor bonus ^{16 42v} animam suam ponit pro ovibus suis, merito discipulos suos propter innocentiam ¹⁴³⁵ ovibus conparavit. Lupos autem hos significat, qui post passionem domini apostolos et ceteros credentes propter filium dei persecuti sunt; inter quos qualiter ambulare deberent, praemonet: Estote inquit simplices sicut columbae. Vult ergo dominus, ut, sicut columbae sunt sine dolo et sine felle, quia non meminerint iracundiae, sic et nos sine dolo malitiae et sine felle, quod est amaritudo peccati, obliti iracundiae et ¹⁴⁴⁰ iniuriarum in praesenti saeculo vivamus, ut divina promissa capiamus.

And be cunning, he says, like snakes. The cunning of the snake which we should imitate is as follows:²⁵³ for the snake, at a certain time, is said to edge itself through a very narrow opening and there, with great effort, having cast off its old skin, is made as new. Copying its cunning, we who have travelled on the narrow path of eternal life (of which it says, how narrow is the way which leads to life)²⁵⁴should cast off our old outward form, meaning our former behaviour, and appear as new people in the world, walking in newness of life as the Apostle advises 7⁵⁵ There is another sort of snake’s cunning as well: if it happens to end up in the hands of someone who wants to kill it, it surrenders its entire body to blows and beatings and desires nothing other than to keep its head intact. We too are encouraged to emulate this, so that if at a time of persecution we end up in the hands of enemies, we should subject our whole body to torture and punishment and indeed to death itself for the sake of our head, meaning the Son of God, because Christ is the head of the man?⁵⁶

Et astuti inquit sicut serpentes. Astutia serpentis haec est, quam imitari debemus: Serpens enim certo tempore per foramen satis angustum fulcire se dicitur ibique cum magno labore deposita exuvia veteri velut novus efficitur. Cuius astutiam nos imitantes iter angustum vitae aeternae ingressi, quam inquit angusta est via, quae ducit ad vitam deposito superficio veteri, id est pristina conversatione, velut novi homines in ¹⁴⁴⁵ saeculo apparere debemus, in novitate vitae ambulantes, ut apostolus commonet. Est et alia astutia serpentis: Si forte devenerit in manus volentis occidere se, totum corpus suum plagis et vulneribus tradit et nihil aliud gestit nisi caput integrum custodire. Ad quod exemplum et nos provocamur, ut, si tempore persecutionis in ^43r manus inimicorum devenerimus, pro capite nostro, id est pro filio dei, totum corpus ¹⁴⁵⁰ tormentis et subpliciis, etiam ipsi morti, subiciamus, quia caput viri Christus est.

M. LV. [Matthew 10:26] Nothing is covered which will not be revealed. The preaching of the Law and the Prophets was covered among the Jews who could not understand the coming of the Lord, as the Apostle related: The veil of Moses is over their heart. But when one of them has turned to the Lord, the veil is taken away.²⁵⁷ For this reason Moses, too, knowing long before that this people would not believe in the coming of the Lord, used to place a veil over his face and speak like this to the people .²⁵⁸ This showed that what was covered and closed to them because of their unbelief was to be revealed and made evident to the entire globe by the preaching of the apostles.

^{Mt. 10,} LV. Nihil opertum, quod non reveletur. Operta erat apud Iudeos praedicatio legis ²⁶ et prophetarum, qui adventum domini intellegere non potuerunt, sicut apostolus rettulit: Moyses velamen est super cor eorum. Cum autem conversus fuerit quis ad dominum, aufertur velamen. Idcirco et iamdudum Moyses sciens populum ipsum in ¹⁴⁵⁵ adventum domini non crediturum velamen super faciem suam ponebat et sic populo loquebatur. Quod illis coopertum et clausum est propter suam incredulitatem, universo orbi revelari et manifestari ^*apostolis praedicantibus ostendebat.

M. LVI. [Matthew 10:26] And concealed which will not be known. To conceal (...).²⁵⁹ The leaders of the Jewish people wanted to conceal the Resurrection of the Son of God: they gave a bribe to the soldiers, and wanted to prevent the apostles from speaking in the name of the Lord.² °

^{Mt. 10,} (LVI.) Et absconsum, quod non sciatur. Abscondere (...) {Voluerunt abscondere ²⁶ principes populi (Iudaici fili) dei resurrectionem *dato pretio militibus, et *apostolos in ¹⁴⁶⁰ nomine domini loqui prohibere voluerunt.

Even to this day it is incredible among the Jews that the Son of God should have risen from the dead, just as it has been made evident that it is known and believed by all the nations through the proclamation of the apostles.

Et usque in hodiernum apud Iudeos filium dei ab inferis resurrexisse incredibile est, et ab universis nationibus scire et credere nuntiantibus apostolis manifestatum est.

M. LVII. b¹ [Matthew 10:27] What you hear in your ear, preach on the rooftops (...) What I say to you in the darkness, speak in the light. It shows that darkness is the Jewish people. The light, it says, shines in the darkness and the darkness has not grasped it.²⁶² The light means the Christian people. As the Lord says: You are the light of the world.²⁶³ And the Apostle says: For once you were darkness, but now you are light in the Lord. Therefore walk as children of light.

Quod in aure auditis, praedicate super tecta) (...) Quod dico vobis in tenebris, dicite in ^{Mt. 10, 1465} lumine. Tenebras populum Iudaicum ostendit. Lux inquit in tenebris lucet et tenebrae eam non ²⁷ conprehenderunt. Lux, id est populus Christianus. Vel dominus ait: Vos estis lux mundi. Et apostolus dicit: Eratis enim aliquando tenebrae, nunc autem lux in domino. Ergo ut filii lucis ambulate.

M. LVIII. [Matthew 10:34] I did not come to send peace but a sword. (...)

(LVII.         Non veni pacem mittere sed gladium) (...)

M. LVIIII. [Matthew 11:2] But John, when he heard in prison the works of Christ. (...)

¹⁴⁷⁰ (LVIIII. Iohannis autem audita in carcere opera Christi) (...)

M. LX. [Matthew 11:4] But in response he said to them: Go and report to John. (...)

(LX.            Respondens autem ait illis: Euntes renuntiate Iohanni) (...)

M. LXI. [Matthew 11:7] Then he began to speak about John to the crowds: What did you go out to see in the desert? A reed being blown about by the wind? (...)

(LXI.           Tunc coepit dicere de Iohanne ad turbas: Quid existis videre in deserto? Arundinem vento agitari?) (...)

M. LXII. [Matthew 11:16-17] But what shall I reckon this generation is like? It is like boys sitting in a public place and shouting. We find two sorts of boys in the Scriptures, some in their thinking and some in their evil-doing, as the Apostle says: Do not be made boys in your thinking but be children in evil-doing that you may be perfect in thinking.²⁶⁵ The public place signifies Jerusalem, where the observance of the Law and righteousness was treated. It shows that boys sat in this public place, the prophets in time past and the apostles after the Passion of the Lord. All these who were without evil-doing are appropriately understood as boys. Indeed, the Lord says through the prophet: Behold, I and the boys whom God gave to me.²⁶⁶ And elsewhere he says: Boys, do you have any food? ²⁶⁷ Abraham, when he was already in old age, was called the boy of the Lord.²⁶⁸ So it says that these boys shouted to other boys, to the Jewish people, who are also taken as boys due to their silliness. We sang to you and you did not dance: that is, we preached the coming and the glory of the Lord and you refused to believe. For to dance is to rejoice and accord with the voice of the singer. This is what that people refused to do, since they did not trust the prophets who preached that the Son of God would come nor, later, did they wish to believe the apostles who bore witness that he had come.

(LXII.) Cui autem similem aestimabo generationem istam? Similis est pueris sedentibus in ^{Mt. 11, 1475} foro et clamantibus. Duo genera puerorum in scripturis invenimus, alios sensu, alios malitia, ^16sq. ut apostolus dicit: Nolite pueri effici sensibus, sed malitia parvuli estote, ut sensibus perfecti sitis. Forum autem Hierusalem significat, in qua ius legis et iustitia tractabatur. In hoc foro ostendit sedisse pueros, praeterito tempore prophetas et post passione(m) domini ^*apostolos. Hii omnes, qui erant sine malitia, merito pueri intelleguntur. Denique dominus per prophetam ¹⁴⁸⁰ loquitur: Ecce ego et pueri, quos mihi dedit deus. Et alibi dicit: Pueri, numquid pulmentarium habetis? Abraham aetate[m] iam senex puer domini appellatus est. Hos ergo pueros clamasse dicit (ad) alios pueros, ad populum Iudaicum, qui et ipsi propter insipientiam suam pueri accipiuntur. Cantavimus vobis, et non saltastis, id est adventum et gloriam domini praedi‑ cavimus, et credere noluistis. Saltare enim laetari est et consentire voci cantantis. Quod ille ¹⁴⁸⁵ populus facere noluit, qui nec prophetis, qui venturum filium dei praedicabant, fidem habuit nec postmodum apostolis, qui eundem venisse contestati sunt, credere *voluit.

We lamented for you and you did not cry. This is because all the holy ones wept at the destruction of Jerusalem and the dispersal of its people, which happened to them on their own merits, yet even then they did not wish to repent and come to believe 269

Lamentavimus vobis, et non planxistis^, quia excidium Hierusalem et dispersionem populi ipsius, quae illi merito suo evenit, omnes sancti flebant nec *isti tunc paenitentia[m] acta credere *voluerunt^.

M. LXIII. [Matthew 12:1] At that time, Jesus went away through the crops on the Sabbath. This shows that the day of the Sabbath was the coming of the Lord. For the five books of Moses are counted as five days, and a single book of all the prophets is taken as the sixth day. The Sabbath is put in seventh place. The people are certainly understood as the harvest, as the Lord says: The harvest indeed is great but the workers are few and what follows.²⁷⁰ The apostles are understood as the workers and harvesters: they began to pluck people from the world like ripe ears of grain and call them to belief. To eat is to fulfil the will of God, as the Lord says: My food is this, that I should do the will of the one who sent me, the father.²⁷¹ The apostles are shown to have fulfilled this will of God because they invited all people to the grace of God. Rubbing the ears of grain in their hands, they began to eat for the reason that they were separating the chaff, which are old sins, from the believers through the gift of the baptismal font.

Mt. 12,1 (LXIII.) In illo tempore abiit Iesus per segetes sabbati(s). Diem sabbati adventum domini ostendit fuisse. Quinque enim libri Moysi quinque dies conputantur, et omnium prophetarum ¹⁴⁹⁰ libri unus sextus dies accipitur. Sabbatum septimo loco ponitur. *Messis vero populus intellegi-tur, ut dominus ait: Messis quidem multa, operarii autem pauci et reliqua. Apostoli operarii et messores intelleguntur: Coeperunt homines velut spicas maturas evellere de saeculo et vocare ad credulitatem. Manducare enim dei voluntate(m) inplere est, *ut dominus ait: Mea esca, hoc est ut faciam voluntatem eius, qui me misit, patris. Hanc dei voluntate(m) apostoli inplesse ¹⁴⁹⁵ *ostenduntur, quia omnes homines ad dei gratiam invitabant. *Confricantes manibus spicas manducabant illa ratione, qu(i)a paleas per donum lavacri a credentibus separabant, quae sunt vetera peccata.

M. LXIIII. [Matthew 12:9-13] And crossing over from there into their synagogue (...) there was a man with a withered hand. This is the figure of the merciless and useless synagogue. Everyone who neglects the work of God and does not undertake acts of mercy is said to have withered hands. But the withered hand signifies, through a figure, the multitude of the sins of the people who in the coming of the Lord have obtained his mercy and are being transformed for good work and to their original condition. We have frequently said that a hand means a multitude of peo-ple.²⁷² In the Book of Kings it is written: Are there not ten hands in Israel, meaning ten tribes.²⁷³The withered hand was restored like the other in order to demonstrate that a multitude of sins, which required the kindness and mercy of the Lord, was thus made the same as the other original hand: that hand stands for the multitude of all the holy ones, patriarchs and righteous people, who have always kept the instructions of God and paid attention to the coming of the Lord (...) the one having a withered hand to Adam, who had unlawfully picked from the fruit of the forbidden tree, which had made his sin flow down to the whole human race. Stretch out your hand: to the cross of the Son of God, so that we may receive the condition of eternal life and the condition of immortality through the cross of the Lord.

^{Mt. 12, (LXIIII.} Et inde transiens in synagogam eorum^{) (}...⁾ Homo erat manum habens aridam^, id est  ^9–13 in figura synagogae inmisericordis et infructuosae. Omnis, qui opus dei neglegit et qui miseri- ¹⁵⁰⁰ cordiam non facit, manus aridas habere *dicitur. Sed manu(s) arida in figura multitudinem populi peccatorum significat, qui in adventu[m] domini misericordia(m) ipsius consecuti ad opus bonum et ad statum integrum reformantur. Manum frequenter diximus *multitudinem populi. In *libro Regum scriptum est: Nonne decem manus sunt Israhel, id est decem tribus. Restituta fu[er]it sicut alia, ut demonstraret ita multitudinem peccatorum, quae indulgentiam ¹⁵⁰⁵ et misericordiam domini meruit, similem *effectam alii manui integrae, id est *multitudini omnium sanctorum, patriarcharum et iustorum, qui et praecepta dei semper custodierunt (et) in adventum domini meditati sunt (...) manum aridam habentem Adae, qui *inlicite de fructu arboris interdictae decerpserat, quae peccatum eius ad omne[m] hominum genus derivaverat. ¹⁵¹⁰ Extende manum tuam: Ad crucem fili dei, ut statum vitae aeternae per crucem domini recipe‑ remus et statum inmortalitatis.

M. LXV. [Matthew 12:29] How can one enter into the house of a strong man 2⁷⁴ (...)

(LXV. Quomodo potest intrare in domum fortis) (...)

M. LXVI. [Matthew 12:39] An evil and counterfeit generation seeks a sign, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. By saying an evil and counterfeit generation it shows that they are not children of Abraham but children of the devil, as is made evident in another place: You, he said, are from your father the devil and you want to cany out the desires of your father2⁷⁵ For just as the one who does the will of God the Father is called a son of God, so the one who serves the will of Satan is called his son.²⁷⁶ It seeks a sign, it says, and no sign will be given to it except the sign of the prophet Jonah. They were seeking a sign (...).

 (LXVI.) Generatio mala et adultera signum quaerit et signum non dabitur ei nisi signum ^{Mt. 12}, Ionae prophetae. Generatio mala et adultera dicendo ostendit illos non esse filios Abrahae, sed 39 ¹⁵¹⁵ filios zabuli, sicut in alio loco manifestat: Vos inquit ex patre zabulo estis et desideria patris vestri vultis perficere. Sicut enim qui voluntatem dei facit, filius dei dicitur, sic qui *voluntati Satan(at)ae fa}mulatur, filius eius appellatur. Signum inquit quaerit et signum non dabitur ei nisi signum Ionae prophetae. Signum quaerebant (...).

M. LXVII. [Matthew -What lack of belief and blindness, since they saw so many signs and wonders happen! However, it shows that what was manifested in Jonah was a sign of the truth to come. That Jonah was thrown in the sea and endured the storm, that he was taken up by the whale and coughed up onto the shore after three days demonstrated that the Son of God would come in the flesh, that he would endure the storm of the world and the trials from his people like some waves, that he would visit the underworld, and that on the third day he would rise again, having received back the body which had been laid in the tomb2⁷⁷ So he said that this sign would happen because, just as Jonah did not preach to the Nine-vites until after he had been rescued from the depths of the sea and thus saved the people, brought back to repentance, so also Jesus showed that, after he had trampled down death and risen from the dead, he himself would preach everywhere through his apostles and would bring to salvation as many from that very people as from all nations. This is shown obviously in another place, when some Greeks came to Philip asking to see the Lord, but the Lord said that unless a grain of wheat is cast into the earth and dies, it remains alone; but if it has died, it brings forth much fiuit.²⁷⁸ He wanted himself to be understood as the grain of wheat who, after he had tasted death for our salvation, brought forth much fruit: we ourselves, in truth, believing in his Passion and Resurrection daily bear fruit in his work. Moreover, it shows that the people of Nineveh will be present for the condemnation of the Jewish people on the Day of Judgment, since they believed a single prophet who performed no sign and they repented: the people of the Jews, however, refused to believe so many prophets who spoke with one voice about the coming of the Lord and even the Son of God himself who performed such great wonders.

LXVII. O incredulitas et caecitas, cum tanta signa et mirabilia fieri viderent! ^{Mt. 12, 1520} Ostendit tamen, quae in Iona gesta sunt, signum fuisse futurae veritatis, ut tem- ^{40sq. 43v} pestatem pateretur missus in mari, ut susceptus a ceto post triduum ad litus evome‑ retur, demonstrans filium dei in carne venturum, tempestatem saeculi et tempta‑ tiones a populo ipso velut quosdam fluctus passurum et inferna lustraturum et in die tertio recepto corpore, quod in monumento depositum fuerat, resurrecturum. Hoc ¹⁵²⁵ ergo signum dicebat futurum, quia, sicut Ionas non nisi postquam de profundo maris liberatus est, praedicasse Ninivitis et sic populum ad paenitentiam redactum salvasse invenitur, sic quoque ostendebat se ipsum, postquam conculcata morte ab inferis resurrexisset, per apostolos suos ubique praedicaturum multosque tam ex ipso populo quam ex universis nationibus ad salutem conversurum, sicut in alio loco evidenter ostenditur, quando Greci quidam venerunt ad Filippum rogantes, ut ¹⁵³⁰ dominum viderent, sed dixit dominus, quod nisi granum tritici in terram missum mortuum fuerit, ipsum solum manet; si autem mortuum fuisset, multum fructum adferret. Granum tritici se ipsum intellegi voluit, qui, postquam propter nostram salutem mortem gustavit, multum fructum adtulit, revera nos ipsos, qui in passione et in resurrectione ipsius credentes cottidie in opere ipsius fructificamus. Praeterea ^44r ostendit populum Ninive ad condemnationem populi Iudaici in die iudicii adfutu-rum, siquidem illi uni prophetae nullum signum facienti crediderunt et paeniten-tiam egerunt, populus autem Iudeorum tot prophetis de adventu domini uno ore loquentibus, sed et ipsi filio dei tanta mirabilia facienti credere noluit.

M. LXVIII. [Matthew The Lord also introduced a similar example concerning the Queen of the South: The Queen of the South will rise up in judgment with that generation and so on.

^{Mt. 12,} LXVIII. Simile exemplum et de regina austri dominus adtulit: Regina austri ¹⁵⁴⁰⁴² surget in iudicio cum generatione ista et cetera.

We should take this literally and believe that it will come to pass, to the shame of this people. But the spiritual understanding is as follows: as the Queen of Sheba, having heard the name of Solomon,²⁷⁹ leaves her homeland and comes to him with a shining retinue, so the Church, having heard the name of Christ the Son of God, comes to him in the belief of faith with a multitude of believers from all nations, that is from the world in which it abided, having left behind its idols. And just as the Queen of Sheba brought King Solomon one hundred and twenty measures of gold and copious spices and a precious stone,²⁸⁰ so the Church has brought to the Son of God martyrs in one hundred and twenty thousand measures of gold who, pouring their blood for the name of the Lord, fill up the total of one hundred and twenty measures 2⁸¹ For in one hundred is shown complete and perfect faith: this was the total of years at which Abraham, the leader of our faith, received all the promises. Twenty, written in Greek as K, shows the name of the Lord (Kyrios in Greek)2⁸² By the spices, however, virgins are shown, since by their behaviour they provide the sweetest fragrance to God, like spices. In the precious stones it indicates righteous and self-controlled people, because just as fire cannot overcome precious stones, neither can Gehenna overcome the righteous.

Quod simpliciter futurum ad confu-sionem populi illius accipere debemus et credere. Spiritalis autem intellectus hic est: Ut regina Saba audito nomine Solomonis venit ad eum cum exercitu praeclaro relinquens patriam suam, sic ecclesia audito nomine Christi fili dei venit ad eum credulitate fidei cum multitudine credentium ex omnibus nationibus, id est saeculi, ¹⁵⁴⁵ in quo commorabatur, relictis idolis suis. Et sicut obtulit regina Saba regi Solomoni centum viginti talenta auri et aromata copiosa et lapidem pretiosum, similiter ecclesia obtulit filio dei in centum viginti milia talentis auri martyras, qui pro nomine domini sanguinem fundentes inplent numerum centum viginti talentorum. In centum enim ^44v perfecta et consummata fides ostenditur – in quo numero annorum Abraham princeps fidei nostrae omnes promissiones accepit –, in viginti autem nomen domini ^*per K, quod est kyrios. In aromate vero virgines ostenduntur, quae sua conversa-tione velut aromata suavissimum deo odorem praestant. In lapidibus autem pretiosis homines iustos et continentes demonstrat, quia sicut lapidibus pretiosis ignis¹⁵⁵⁵ dominari non potest, sic nec hominibus iustis Gehenna.

From this it is evident that the Queen of Sheba bore the figure of the Church, which is the true queen for ever because she will plainly reign with the Lord. Concerning her, David too says in a psalm: The queen stands at your right hand covered with colour in a golden gannent.²⁸³ This means the Church, which is recognised as having come from the furthest borders, meaning from all the Gentiles, just as David again mentions, when he speaks in her character: I shouted to you from the borders of the land while my heart was uneasy.²⁸⁴ As for the words Behold, here is someone greater than Jonah and Here is someone greater than Solomon, the Lord made it openly evident that he was God the Son of God. For no-one could be greater than a king and holier than a prophet except for the Son of God alone, Christ and God.

Unde manifestum est reginam Saba figuram ecclesiae gestasse, quae vera regina est in aeternum, scilicet cum domino regnatura. De qua et David in psalmo ait Adsistit regina a dextris tuis in vestitu deaurato cooperta varietate, id est ecclesia, quae ab ultimis finibus venisse cognoscitur, hoc est ex omnibus gentibus, sicut idem David ex persona eiusdem ¹⁵⁶⁰ meminit: A finibus terrae ad te clamavi, dum anxiaretur cor meum. Quod autem dixit Ecce plus quam Ionas hic et Plus quam Solomon hic, dominu(s filium dei deu)m se esse aperte manifestavit. Maior enim rege et sanctior propheta nullus esse potest nisi solus dei filius Christus deus.

M. LXVIIII. [Matthew -While the Lord was instructing the disciples, someone announced to him: Behold, your mother and your brothers are standing outside, seeking to speak with you. The heretics, who refuse to believe that the Son of God had human flesh, are usually made to stumble by this passage because the Lord says ‘My mother’ and ‘My brothers’. The Lord did not deny that he had a mother, but in the character of his mother and brothers he opposed the Jewish people, who are called the mother and brothers of the Lord for the very reason that he took flesh from their stock, as the Lord said through the prophet: Woe to them because my flesh is from them,²⁸⁵ and the Apostle said: Theirs are the ancestors and from them was Christ born according to the flesh2⁸⁶ So this is the mother whom it showed would be standing outside with her children (meaning the synagogue with its people) as it had been said in Genesis by Sarah concerning Hagar, who bore the figure of the synagogue: Cast out the maidservant and her son. For the son of the maidservant will not be an heir with my son Isaac.²⁸⁷ The Lord appropriately scorned and opposed these people, saying Who are my mother and my brothers, because they refused to go into the church where he was preaching and still preaches every day.²⁸⁸ Indeed, by saying to the disciples with his hand outstretched: Behold my mother and my brothers he obviously demonstrated that the Church was prefigured in the apostles and all the other believers; he describes them as a better mother and more dear brothers. For we read in the Gospel that the apostles were called the brothers of the Lord, when the Lord himself said: Go, tell my brothers to go ahead into Galilee. There will they see me.²⁸⁹

LXVIIII. Cum discipulos dominus instrueret, nuntiavit illi quidam: Ecce mater ^{Mt. 12, 1565} tua et fratres tui foris stant quaerentes loqui tecum. In hoc capitulo solent heretici, ^{46–49 45r} qui filium dei carnem humanam habuisse nolunt, scandalizari, quod dixerit dominus ‘mater mea’ et ‘fratres mei’, cum dominus non se matrem habere negavit, sed in persona matris et fratrum populum Iudaicum refutavit, qui propterea mater vel fratres domini dicuntur, quia ex genere ipsorum carnem suscepit, sicut ait dominus per prophetam Vae illis, quia caro mea ex ipsis est et apostolus Quorum patres et ex ¹⁵⁷⁰ quibus Christus secundum carnem. Hanc ergo matrem cum filiis suis foris staturam ostendebat, id est synagogam cum populo suo, sicuti dictum fuerat in Genesi a Sarra de Agar, quae figuram synagogae portabat: Eice ancillam et filium eius. Non enim heres erit filius ancillae cum filio meo Isac. Quos a se merito dominus respuit et refutavit dicens Quae est mater mea et fratres mei, quia in ecclesia, ubi ipse praedi- ¹⁵⁷⁵ cabat vel cottidie praedicat, ingredi noluerunt. Denique dicendo extensa manu ad discipulos: Ecce mater mea et fratres mei evidenter demonstravit in apostolis et ceteris credentibus ecclesiam figuratam, quam meliorem matrem et quos cariores fratres designavit. Nam apostolos fratres domini appellatos legimus in evangelio ipsum dominum dixisse: Ite, dicite fratribus meis, ut praecedant in Galileam. Ibi me ^45v videbunt.

M. LXX. [Matthew 13:31-32] The kingdom of the heavens is like a mustard seed, which someone took and cast into their field and so on. The Lord himself explained that he was the mustard seed cast into the field, the Lord, sent onto this earth from the heavens by the Father, and that the field was the earth. It is indeed the smallest of all seeds, because having set aside his glory and heavenly splendour he was made more humble than all humans. As the prophet related: Praise him who tricks his soul and is scorned by all races; ⁹⁰ and the Apostle Paul said: Who although he was in the form of God did not consider it robbery that he was equal to God, but emptied himself, taking the form of a slave.²⁹¹ Christ showed that he was made more humble than everyone because of the injuries and slander which he saw fit to suffer for our sake. But after it has grown, it becomes greater than all vegetables: evidently this demonstrated that, after the Resurrection, when he took back the glory which he had laid aside, he would be above and over all at the right hand of the Father. As John the evangelist also says: The one who comes from above is over a11,²⁹² and the Apostle Paul: Who is over everything, God, blessed for ever.²⁹³ Indeed, he is not only above humans but also above the angels, as the same Paul mentions: For this reason, he says, God exalted him and gave him the name which is above every name, that at the name of the Lord Jesus every knee would bend, of those in heaven and on earth and the underworld, and every tongue would acknowledge that the Lord Jesus Christ is in the glory of God the Father.²⁹⁴ That the seed becomes a tree, big enough for the birds of the sky to dwell in its branches, showed the Church, which was born after ^[1600] the Passion and Resurrection of the Lord; its branches are understood as none other than the apostles, reaching for the things which are above.

^{Mt. 13,} LXX. Simile est regnum caelorum grano senapis, quod acceptum homo misit in ^31sq. agrum suum et cetera. Granum senapis missum in agrum se ipsum dominus missum in hunc mundum a patre de caelis, agrum mundum esse ipse dominus interpretatus est. Quod minimum est quidem omnibus seminibus, ^*eo quod deposita gloria et ho- ¹⁵⁸⁵ nore caelesti humilior factus sit omnibus hominibus, sicut propheta rettulit Laudate eum, qui fraudat animam suam et detestabilis est ab omnibus gentibus, et apostolus Paulus Qui cum in forma dei esset, non rapinam arbitratus est esse se aequalem deo, sed semetipsum exinanivit formam servi accipiens. Propter iniurias et contumelias, ¹⁵⁹⁰ quas nostri causa pati dignatus est, humiliorem se ab omnibus factum ostendit. Sed postquam creverit, maius fit omnibus holeribus: Manifeste demo(n)stravit post resur-rectionem recepta gloria, quam deposuerat, su[r]sum se ad dexteram patris et super omnes futurum, sicut et Iohannis evangelista dicit Qui de susum venit, supra omnes est et Paulus apostolus Qui est super omnia deus benedictus in saecula. Et non solum ^46r quidem super homines, sed et super angelos, sicut idem Paulus meminit: Propter hoc inquit exaltavit illum deus et dedit illi nomen, quod est super omne[m] nomen, ut in nomine domini Iesu omne genu[m] flecta[n]t caelestium et terrestrium et inferorum et omnis lingua confiteatur, quia dominus Iesus Christus in gloria dei patris est. Arborem autem fieri ita, ut volucres caeli habitent in ramis eius, ecclesiam, quae post ¹⁶⁰⁰ passionem et resurrectionem domini nata est, ostendebat; cuius rami non alii quam apostoli intelleguntur ad superna tendentes.

The birds of the sky, who dwell in the branches, signifies holy and spiritual people who rest in the teaching of the apostles, namely the Catholics. They are called birds for the reason that they make for the sky, with heavenly behaviour, and will fly to heaven among the clouds when the Lord comes in his majesty.²⁹⁵ As the Apostle related: We too who are alive will be snatched together with them among the clouds to meet Christ, and thus we will always be with the Lord.²⁹⁶ For the Lord himself too promises in the Gospel that the holy ones will fly to heaven like eagles, by saying Wherever the body is, there the eagles will gather.²⁹⁷ Isaiah likewise says that the holy ones will fly: Who are these, he says, who fly like clouds and ^[1610] who come to me like doves with their young?²⁹⁸

Volucres autem caeli, qui in ramis habitant, homines sanctos et spiritales significat, qui in doctrina apostolorum requiescunt, hoc est catholicos. Qui idcirco volucres dicuntur, eo quod caelum petant habentes caelestem conversationem, volaturi in nubibus ad caelum, cum ¹⁶⁰⁵ dominus venerit in sua maiestate, sicuti apostolus rettulit: Et nos, qui vivimus, simul rapiemur cum illis in nubibus ad occurrendum Christo et sic semper cum domino erimus. Nam et ipse dominus volaturos sanctos ad caelum velut aquilas in evangelio repromittit dicendo Ubicumque fuerit corpus, illuc congregabuntur aquilae, et Eseias de sanctis, quod volaturi sint, similiter dicit: Qui sunt inquit hi, qui ut nubes volant et ^46v ut columbae cum pullis veniunt ad me. ¹⁶¹⁰

M. LXXI. [Matthew 13:33] He spoke another parable to them: The kingdom of the heavens is like yeast and so on. Yeast signifies heavenly teaching, while he shows that the woman is the Church, and the flour is understood as the people. The woman (meaning the Church) purifies the people, gathering them from all the nations like grains of corn and crushing them on the millstone, which means through the preaching of the two Testaments. Having thrown out the shell of the wheat (meaning their earlier behaviour), she makes them white through the water of baptism and brings them to unity of faith by making one body of the whole Church. So it was this kind of flour in which the woman is understood to have concealed the yeast, meaning that the Church has stored the heavenly teaching in the hearts of the people who believe. Three measures shows the Trinity of the Father and the Son and ^[1620] the Holy Spirit: in their equality, without doubt, the perfect Trinity is proclaimed in one substance of divinity, which the heretics refuse.

^{1u[t. 13,} LXXI. Aliam parabolam locutus est eis: Simile est regnum caelorum fermento et ^{33 *}cetera. Fermentum doctrinam caelestem significat, mulierem autem ecclesiam ostendit, farina vero populus intellegitur. ^*Quem mulier, id est ecclesia, ex omnibus nationibus ut grana frumenti colligens et per mola(m) confringens purgat, id est duo(rum) testamentorum praedicatione, et abiecto tegumento tritici, hoc est pristina ¹⁶¹⁵ conversatione, per aqua(m) baptismi candidum facit et ad unitatem fidei redigit faciens unum corpus totius ecclesiae. In hac ergo farina[m] fermentum mulier abscondisse intellegitur, id est ecclesia[m] doctrinam caelestem in corda populi credentium recondisse. Tres autem mensuras ostendit trinitatem patris et fili et spiritus sancti, in quarum aequalitate[m] sine dubio perfecta trinitas una divinitatis ¹⁶²⁰ substantia, quod heretici nolunt, declaratur.

This is the total and the faith in which the Catholic Church always teaches and baptises, as the apostles were instructed by the Lord: Go, teach all races, baptising them in the name of the Father and the Son and the Holy Spirit.²⁹⁹ For long ago as well, Sarah, who bore the figure of the Church, was found to have made three flatbreads, to show thesame total of the Trinity.³⁰⁰ But in the Law, too, three tithes of wheat flour with oil were ordered to be offered in return for the cleansing of a leper,³⁰¹ in which the same Trinity is understood in like manner. As for the words Until the whole has swelled up (...) to fill the earth.

In quo numero et fide semper docet et baptizat ecclesia catholica, sicuti praeceptum est a domino apostolis: Ite, docete omnes gentes baptizantes eos in nomine patris et fili et spiritus sancti. Nam et iam-dudum Sarra, quae figuram portabat ecclesiae, tres focacios fecisse invenitur, ut ^47r eundem numerum trinitatis ostenderet. Sed et in lege pro emundatione leprosi tres ¹⁶²⁵ decimae ^*similae cum oleo offeri iussae sunt, in quibus adaeque eadem trinitas intellegitur. Quod autem dixit Donec infermentatum est totum (...) mundum repleri.

M. LXXII. [Matthew 13:44] The kingdom of the heavens is like a treasure chest concealed in a field, which someone finds: they conceal it and, in their joy, go and sell everything they have and buy ^[1630] that field. We understand that treasure chest of all heavenly riches as the Son of God, about whom the Apostle related: In whom, he said, are all treasures of knowledge and wisdom concealed.³⁰² But elsewhere he says: Having that treasure in pottery vessels,³⁰³ meaning bearing Christ the God in our bodies. Concealed in a field plainly means set in the Church: for a field signifies the Church because of its various flowers and different fragrances. Isaac made this evident by a prophetic spirit in the Book of Genesis, when he blessed his son. For he said: Behold, the fragrance of my son is like the fragrance of a full field which the Lord has blessed.³⁰⁴ But in the Gospel too we understand the potter’s field bought for the burial of foreigners as the same Church, which truly is the field of the potter.³⁰⁵ Therefore, we can understand the Son of God, who ^[1640] at the beginning like a potter formed humankind from the clay of the land according to the will of the Father, as the treasure chest concealed in the field too: God took on a human body in which he concealed his divinity in order to be seen as humble in the world. But whether the field is understood as the Church or the body of the Lord (which is the Church, according to the Apostle), it is evident that the Church too is from the body of the Lord.³⁰⁶ When someone finds it, they hide it.

^{1u[t. 13,} LXXII. Simile est regnum caelorum thensauro absconso in agro, quod invenit ⁴⁴ homo, (abscondit) et prae gaudio illius vadit et vendit universa, quae habet, et emit agrum illum. Omnium divitiarum caelestium filium dei intellegimus thensaurum ¹⁶³⁰ illum; de quo apostolus rettulit: In quo sunt inquit omnes thensauri sapientiae et scientiae absconditi. Sed alibi ait Habentes thensaurum istum in vasis fictilibus, id est Christum deum in corporibus nostris gestantes. Absconsum in ^*agro, in ecclesia scilicet constitutum: Agrum enim ecclesiam significat propter varios flores et diver‑ ¹⁶³⁵ sos odores. Quem Isac in Genesi, cum filium suum benediceret, prophetico spiritu manifestavit; ait enim: Ecce odor fili mei sicut odor agri pleni, quem benedixit domi‑ nus. Sed et in evangelio agrum figuli conparatum in sepulturam peregrinorum ^47v eandem ecclesiam intellegimus, quae vere ager est figuli. ^*Filium igitur dei, qui ut figulus initio iuxta voluntatem patris hominem de limo terrae figuravit, possumus et ¹⁶⁴⁰ thensaurum absconsum in agro intellegere, deum corpus humanum suscepisse, in quo divinitatem suam abscondit, ut humilis in saeculo videretur. Sed agrum sive ecclesiam sive corpus domini †iuxta apostolum ecclesiam intellegitur et ecclesiam ex corpore domini manifestum est† quem cum invenit homo, abscondit,

This is plainly the Christian people who, believing that the Son of God is the treasure chest of heavenly goods, found him and stored that faith in their minds, just as the Apostle related that Christ dwells by faith in our hearts.³⁰⁷ In their joy they go and sell everything they have and buy that field: so, through the joy of the divine promises and of the glory that is to come, the same people are understood to have been inspired to divide their possessions and distribute them to the poor so that they should be worthy of the Son of God alone, in whom is every hope of riches. We read in the Acts of the Apostles that the believers did this, and we read elsewhere: Whoever gives to a pauper earns interest in the Lord.

populus scilicet Christianus, qui filium dei thensaurum bonorum caelestium credens invenit et fidem ¹⁶⁴⁵ (in) mentibus suis recondidit, sicuti apostolus rettulit habitare Christum per fidem in cordibus nostris. Prae gaudio illius vadit et vendit universa, quae habet, et emit agrum illum: Gaudio ergo promissionum divinarum et futurae gloriae idem populus accen‑ sus res suas distraxisse et pauperibus distribuisse cognoscitur, ut solum filium dei, in quo ^*omnis spes divitiarum est, promereatur. Quod fecisse credentes legimus in ¹⁶⁵⁰ Actis apostolorum, et alibi legimus: Qui dat pauperi, do(mi)no fenerat.

M. LXXIII. [Matthew 13:45-46] Again, the kingdom of the heavens is like a merchant seeking a fine pearl. But having found a precious pearl he went away and sold whatever he had and bought it. A merchant seeking a fine pearl signifies the people of the Church, especially those who believed in the time of the apostles. They believed with full faith in the Son of God and, to give an example for the time to come, they (...) the precious pearl that was found, which is plainly the eternal life promised to us, because nothing is more precious. Having sold all their possessions, they presented the total sum to the apostles to be distributed to those in need so that they might acquire for themselves that same pearl, meaning that they obtained eternal life. We too should follow their example so that we can acquire that precious pearl for ourselves from God, just as ^[1660] he instructed in the Gospel: Sell what you possess, he said, and give alms 3¹⁰ And again, the Lord speaks in a similar way to the young man who said that he had kept all the commandments of the Law: If you wish to be perfect, he said, go, sell all that you have and give to the poor, and you will have a treasure chest in heaven; and come, follow me.³¹¹ Therefore we are instructed and warned by these examples to give often and generously to those in need so that we may not be shut out from eternal life and the heavenly kingdom.

LXXIII. Iterum simile est regnum caelorum homini negotianti quaerenti bonam ^{Mt. 13,48r} margaritam. Inventa autem pretiosa margarita abiit et vendidit quaecumque habuit et ^45sq. emit eam. Negotiantem quaerentem bonam margaritam populum ecclesiae significat illum vel maxime, qui sub apostolis credidit; qui plena fide in filio dei credens ad ¹⁶⁵⁵ exemplum futurum inventam pretiosam margaritam, vitam scilicet aeternam, quae nobis repromissa est, quia nihil est pretiosius (...) venditis omnibus rebus suis pretia apostolis distribuenda indigentibus offerebant, ut eandem margaritam sibi con‑ pararent, id est vitam aeternam adquirerent. Quorum et nos exemplum sequi debemus, ut ^*istam pretiosam margaritam nobis a deo conparare possimus, sicuti ipse in evangelio praecepit: Vendite inquit quae possidetis et date elemosynam. Et ¹⁶⁶⁰ iterum ad adulescentem, qui dicebat se omnia mandata legis servasse, dominus similiter loquitur: Si vis inquit perfectus esse, vade, vende omnia, quae habes, et da pauperibus, et habebis thensaurum in caelo, et veni, sequere me. His igitur exemplis instruimur et commonemur, ut frequenter et largiter indigentibus donemus, ne a vita aeterna et regno caelesti excludamur. ¹⁶⁶⁵

M. LXXIIII. [Matthew 13:47-50] The kingdom of the heavens is like a net cast in the sea, which collects fish of every kind. And once it was full, they drew it out onto the shore and chose the best in their vessels, but threw the bad ones out. At the culmination of the world the angels will go out and separate the bad from among the righteous and throw them in the furnace of fire: there will be wailing and gnashing of teeth. The net is understood as the preaching of the Gospels. When this was cast in the sea, meaning in this world (for the world is called a sea), it collected fish of every kind: it plainly gathered into one believers from all nations. It caught these like fish from the depths of the sea, meaning from the depths of error, and set them on the shore, which is plainly the Church. For the shore is understood as the Church because just as those who are set in a storm do not reach safety and escape the danger of imminent death except by coming to the shore, so we too who had long before been placed in the storm of this world could not receive the safety of everlasting life except by coming to the Church. There we escape the danger of imminent death which used to threaten us while we were still set in the world and persisted in unbelief. But once ^[1680] it was full, they drew it out onto the shore and, sitting down, chose the best in their vessels but threw the bad ones out.

^{Mt. 13,} LXXIIII. Simile est regnum caelorum retiae missae in mari, quae ex omni genere ^47–50 piscium colligit. Et cum inpleta esset, eduxerunt eam ad litus et elegerunt optimos in ^48v vasis suis, malos autem miserunt foras. In consummationem saeculi [iustorum] exient angeli et separabunt malos de medio iustorum et mitten(t) illos in camino ignis; ibi erit fletus et (s)tridor dentium. Retia praedicatio evangeliorum intellegitur. Quae missa in ¹⁶⁷⁰ mari, id est in hoc saeculo – mare enim saeculum dicitur –, ex omni genere piscium collegi(t), ex omnibus scilicet nationibus congregavit credentes in unum. Hos velut pisces de profundo (maris, id est de profundo) erroris, adtraxit et in ^*litore inposuit, in ecclesia scilicet: Litus enim ecclesia intellegitur propterea, quia sicuti qui in tem-pestate[m] positi sunt non aliter quam ad litus veniendo securitatem recipiunt et ¹⁶⁷⁵ periculum ^*inminentis mortis evadunt, sic et nos, qui iamdudum in tempestate[m] saeculi istius constituti eramus, non aliter quam ad ecclesiam veniendo securitatem vitae perpetuae recipere poterimus et periculum inminentis mortis evadere, quae nobis adhuc in saeculo positis et in incredulitate durantibus inminebat. Cum autem inpleta esset, [d]eduxerunt eam ad litus et sedentes elegerunt optimos in vasis suis, ¹⁶⁸⁰ malos autem foris miserunt.

This shows that after the preaching to the whole earth has been fulfilled the bad are to be separated from the good. The Lord makes it evident in the following saying that the angels will do this at his coming, when he arrives in his glory. The best stored in the vessels shows that righteous people are settled in the eternal dwellings by the angels, just as the Lord himself promises in the Gospel that there are many dwellings with the Father.³¹² So these vessels are the dwellings prepared in advance in which he demonstrates that righteous and holy people will dwell. David also related about these in a psalm: How lovely are your tents, Lord God of powers: my soul desires and is faint in the halls of the Lord.³¹³ For by saying that he desires them, he evidently declares that he has spoken about the same dwellings ^[1690] that we all desire and long for. But it obviously shows that the unrighteous and evil will be handed over to the perpetual fire, just as we find the similar comparison of the wheat and the chaff elsewhere: he says that the wheat will be stored in the barn, but the chaff will be burnt up with inextinguishable fire.³¹⁴

Post inpletam omni mundo praedicationem malos a ^49r bonis ^*separandos ostendit, quodque facturos angelos in adventu domini, cum venerit in sua gloria, ipse sequenti verbo manifestat. Optimos in vasis reconditos ostendit iustos homines in mansionibus aeternis ab angelis conlocari, sicut ipse ¹⁶⁸⁵ dominus in evangelio repromittit, quod multae mansiones sint apud patrem. Haec sunt ergo vasa, id est mansiones praeparatae, in quibus iustos et sanctos homines habitaturos demonstrat. De quibus et David in psalmo rettulit: Quam amabilia sunt tabernacula tua, domine deus virtutum. Concupiscit et ^*deficit anima mea in atriis domini. Dicendo enim concupiscere se manifeste declarat de isdem mansionibus se ¹⁶⁹⁰ esse locutum, quas omnes concupiscimus et desideramus. Iniustos autem et iniquos igni tradi sempiterno evidenter ostendit, sicuti alibi similem conparationem de tritico et paleis invenimus: Triticum dicit reponi in horreo, paleas vero comburi igni inextinguibili.

M. LXXV. [Matthew 13:52] Therefore every scribe who is educated in the kingdom of the heavens is like the head of a household who brings out things new and old from their treasure chest. The Lord made it evident that he himself is the head of the household: If they have called the head of a household Beelzebub, he says, how much more is this true of its retinue.³¹⁵ He is declared without doubt to have brought out things new and old from his treasure chest, which plainly means the two Testaments: the new are the instructions of the Gospel, the old are of the Law and the Prophets, just as John shows in the Apocalypse that a double-edged sword proceeds from the mouth of the Saviour, meaning the two ^[1700] Testaments ³¹⁶ For Solomon, too, in the Song of Songs speaks similarly in the character of the Church: I have, he says, kept the new and the old for you, my brother.³¹⁷ This shows that the Church always keeps the instructions of the two Testaments which it received from this same head of the household. The two Testaments are also signified in the two silver coins which the innkeeper is said to have received from the Samaritan (plainly the Son of God whom the Jews said was a Samaritan)³¹⁸ in order to care for the one who had fallen among robbers³¹⁹They are equally understood in the large coin, worth two silver coins, which was taken from the mouth of the fish.³²°

LXXV. Ideo omnis scriba doctus in regno caelorum similis est patri familias, qui ^{Mt. 13, 1695} profert de thensauro suo nova et vetera. Patrem familias se ipsum dominus mani- ⁵² festavit: Si patrem familias ait Belzebul vocaverunt, quanto magis domesticos eius. Qui nova et vetera de thensauro suo protulisse sine dubio declaratur, duo scilicet ^49v testamenta: Nova praecepta evangelica, vetera legis et prophetarum, sicuti Iohannis in Apocalypsi gladium bis acutum procedere de ore salvatoris ostendit, id est duo ¹⁷⁰⁰ testamenta. Nam et Solomon in Canticis canticorum ex persona ecclesiae similiter ^*refert: Nova inquit et vetera, frater meus, servavi tibi. Ostendit se praecepta duorum testamentorum, quae ab eodem patre[m] familias accepit, semper servare. In duobus etiam denariis, quos ^*stabularius a Samaritano, filio scilicet dei, quem Iudei Samari-tanum dicebant, accepisse refertur ad curam (eius), qui in latrones inciderat, duo ¹⁷⁰⁵ testamenta significat. ^*In statere adaeque, qui facit duos ^*denarios, qui de ore piscis sublati sunt, (intel) leguntur,

We also find them shown in many more places: in the tongs in Isaiah, in which one of the Seraphim had taken a coal from the altar;³²¹ in the ladder in Genesis, which Jacob saw established from earth up to heaven, and God leaning on it;³²² in the two Cherubim set on the place of atonement in the Law, through which the Lord used to speak,³²³ evidently demonstrating through the two Cherubim that there are two Testaments through which the Son of God (...) to speak and to be known. Just as Habakkuk also related: You will know him, he says, in the middle of two living crea-tures,³²⁴ that is in the preaching of the two Testaments. Finally, the Lord obviously shows through the prophet Jeremiah that he himself both gave the Old Testament long before and would also give the New after he had come into the flesh, by saying: Behold, the days are coming and I will draw up a new testament for the house of Judah and the house of Jacob, not the same as the one I gave to their fathers3²⁵ It is evident from this that the same Son of God handed over each Testament at different times: he had plainly spoken earlier through the prophets in the Old Testament, and he had also later preached in the New through the apostles. So his saying Therefore every scribe who is educated in the kingdom of the heavens is like the head of a household shows that an educated bishop, whom he calls a scribe, if they have examined all the secrets of the Scriptures and have instructed their people well and faithfully and have offered themselves as an example by living rightly will receive immortality in the kingdom of the heavens and be made into a similar glory through the heavenly brightness, just as the Apostle related: Our behaviour, he says, is in the heavens. From there also we wait for the Saviour, our Lord Jesus Christ, who will transform our humble body to become like the body of his glory.³²⁶ John, likewise, says: Dearest friends, the Son of God has not yet come, which we know will happen. But when he has come, we shall be like him³²⁷

quaeque multis in locis ostensa invenimus: Apud Eseian in forfice, in qua unus de Serafin carbonem acceperat de altare, in Genesi autem (in) scala[m], quam Iacob vidit firmatam a terra usque ad caelum et deum incumbentem super eam, in lege vero in duabus Cherubin super propitiatorium positis, per quem dominus loquebatur manifeste demonstrans per duas Cherubin, ^{1710 *}quia sunt duo testamenta, per quae filium dei loqui et cognosci (...) sicuti et Ambacum rettulit: In medio inquit duorum animalium cognosceris, hoc est in duorum ^50r testamentorum praedicatione[m]. Denique per prophetam Ieremiam se ipsum dominus et vetus testamentum iamdudum tradidisse et novum, cum in carnem venisset, daturum evidenter ostendit dicendo: Ecce dies veniunt et disponam ^*domui ¹⁷¹⁵ Iudae et domui Iacob testamentum novum, non tale[m] quale[m] dedi patribus eorum. Unde manifestum est eundem filium dei utraque testamenta diversis temporibus tradidisse, ipsum scilicet et ante per prophetas in veteri testamento locutum, ipsum etiam et in novo postmodum per apostolos praedicasse. Quod ergo dixit Ideo omnis scriba doctus in regno caelorum similis est patri familias, ostendit episcopum doc- ¹⁷²⁰ tum, quem scribam dicit, si omnia arcana scripturarum scrutatus fuerit, populum bene et fideliter instruxerit et praebuerit se ipsum exemplo recte vivendo, in ^*regno caelorum accepta inmortalitate[m] per caelestem claritatem similem gloriam effici, sicuti apostolus rettulit: Nostra inquit conversatio in caelis est. Unde etiam et salva-torem expectamus dominum nostrum Iesum Christum, qui transformabit corpus hu- ¹⁷²⁵ militatis nostrae conforme[m] fieri corpori clari(ta)tis suae. Et Iohannis similiter: ^50v Carissimi, filius dei necdum venit, quod futurum esse scimus. Cum autem venerit, similes illi erimus.

M. LXXVI. [Matthew 14:6-11] But on Herod’s birthday the daughter of Herodias danced in the middle of the dining room and pleased Herod. Dancing is understood as rejoicing. This, then, was Herod’s rejoicing, since they were celebrating his birthday. When she had pleased Herod, he said that he would give her whatever she asked. She, not knowing what to ask, turned to her mother for advice and was told to ask for the head of John the Baptist on a dish. The dish signifies the last part of supper. So it would come to pass that, in the last times, the girl (meaning the Church) would receive the head of Christ. Therefore the Church is understood as the body and Christ as its head.

^{Mt. 14,} LXXVI. Die autem natalis Herodis saltavit filia Herodiadis in medio triclinio et ^6–11 placuit Herodi. Saltatio exultatio intellegitur: Erat ergo exultatio Herodis, siquidem ¹⁷³⁰ (diem) natalis sui celebrabant. Quae cum placuisset Herodi, dixit, ut quodcumque se peteret, daret ei. Et illa nesciens, quid peteret, ad matris consilium conversa praemonita est, ut caput peteret Iohannis baptistae in disco. Discus novissima pars cenae significatur. Futurum erat ergo, ut in novissimis temporibus puella, id est ¹⁷³⁵ ecclesia, exciperet caput Christi.

When she had received this head, the girl took it to her mother: this shows that the Passion of Christ was to be preached through the apostles to the synagogue. For there were already churches which also preached to the synagogue. So this was the reason why the girl received the head and presented it to her mother. It involved a daughter because the Church and the apostles have always been named in the figure of children:³²⁸ as David says, Hear, daughter and In place of your ancestors are born to you children,³²⁹ meaning the apostles.

Ideo ergo ecclesia corpus intellegitur, caput eius Christus. Quodque caput, cum accepisset, filia tuli(t) matri, ostendit passionem Christi per apostolos praedicandam synagogae. Iam enim ecclesiae erant, quae et synagogae praedi[di]cabant. Hoc erat ergo, quod (caput) acceptum puella obtulit matri suae. Ideo filia, quia †minorum semper figuram ecclesiam nuncupaverunt ¹⁷⁴⁰ apostoli† ut David dicit Audi filia et Pro patribus tuis nati sunt tibi filii, id est apostoli.

M. LXXVII. [Matthew 14:15-20] But once it was evening his disciples came up to him saying: The place is deserted and the hour has now gone past. Send the crowd away, then, so that they may go around the villages and buy food for themselves. But Jesus said: They do not need to go. Give them something to eat. They replied: We have nothing except five loaves and two fishes. This demonstrates that evening is the culmination of the earth, the time at which the Lord took on a human body and came into the world. A deserted place shows the Jewish people, who were deserted by the Holy Spirit because of their unbelief. The Lord himself made this evident elsewhere, when he criticised this very people: Behold, he said, your house will be left deserted for you ³³⁰

^51r LXXVII. Vespere autem facto accesserunt ad eum discipuli eius dicentes: Desertus ^{Mt. 14,} locus est et hora iam praeterivit. Dimitte ergo turbas, ut euntes circa castella emant ^15–20 sibi escas. Iesus autem dixit: Non habent necesse ire. Date illis manducare. Respon-derunt: Non habemus nisi quinque panes et duos pisces. Vesperam consummationem ¹⁷⁴⁵ mundi demonstrat, quo tempore dominus suscepto corpore humano in saeculum venit. Locum autem desertum populum Iudaicum ostendit, qui ob incredulitatem suam desertus est a spiritu sancto, sicut ipse dominus alio loco manifesta(vi)t, cum eundem populum increparet: Ecce ait relinquetur vobis domus vestra deserta.

We can understand villages as synagogues established in different places: the apostles thought that the people, as in the time of the Law, should still go to these to buy food for themselves, meaning that they should hear the instructions of the Law. It says to buy because they used to give tithes to the Levites and priests. We understand villages as synagogues because they have no defensive walls, no towers, no gates of entry, no charm or splendour in their buildings. The Church, however, is called a city as it is encircled by a wall because of its enemy: this means by our Lord and Saviour himself, who always defends his Church from the attacks of the foe. It also has towers: plainly virgins who by their behaviour tower above all others and are appropriately compared to towers. It also has gates, meaning the apostles whose teaching is the entrance into the Church. It also has various beautiful buildings, which are righteous people who behave rightly. Because, therefore, the Lord to make a new Church out of two multitudes of people and to satisfy the hunger of all by his teaching, for this reason he said that it is not necessary for them to go to the villages (meaning to the synagogues) but to come to the Church which the Lord was already beginning to gather through his apostles.

Castella autem possumus synagogas intellegere diversis locis constitutas; ad quas ¹⁷⁵⁰ apostoli adhuc secundum tempus legis populum ire debere putabant illic escas sibi emere, id est ut praecepta legis audirent. Emere autem propterea, quia decimas levitis et sacerdotibus dabant. Et ideo castella synagogas intellegimus, quia sunt sine defensione murorum, sine turribus, sine ingressu portarum, nullam habentes gratiam vel speciem aedificiorum. Ecclesia autem civitas dicitur circumdata propter ¹⁷⁵⁵ hostem (muro), hoc est ipso domino et salvatore nostro, qui ecclesiam suam semper ab insidiis inimici defendit. Habet et turres, virgines scilicet, quae sua conversa‑ ^51v tione[m] ceteris eminent et merito turribus conparantur. Habe[n]t et ^*portas, id est apostolos, per quorum doctrinam in ecclesiam introitur. Habet et diversam gratiam aedificiorum, hoc est hominum iustorum recte conversantium. Quia igitur dominus ¹⁷⁶⁰ ad hoc venerat, ut novam ecclesiam ex duabus plebibus faceret et famem omnium doctrina sua satiaret, idcirco dixit non esse necesse ire illos ad castella, id est ad synagogas, sed ad ecclesiam venire, quam dominus iam incipiebat per apostolos suos congregare.

Next, he instructed his disciples that they themselves should give them something to eat, meaning that they should pass on heavenly food to all believers by preaching about the same Son of God: the Law and Prophets were now coming to an end because the Law and the Prophets go up to John3³¹ They replied: We have nothing more than five loaves and two fish. The five loaves are the five books of Moses and the two fish are taken as the two Testaments. As for his order that the people lie down on the grass, this shows that believers should rest from their former evils and cease for the future. For grass signifies our bodies, as Isaiah says: All flesh is grass and so on.³³² The fact that it related that the Lord took the five loaves and two fish and blessed them, broke them and gave them to his disciples, and the disciples to the crowds, shows evidently that the five loaves (meaning the five books of Moses) could not satisfy the people before the Lord himself had disclosed to the apostles all the mysteries of the Law and the prophecies which had been written about him. They, in turn, were taught by the perfect master and instructed about everything, about these five books of the Law of Moses, which are the five loaves, and the two fish, the preaching of the two Testaments. They passed on this spiritual food to everyone who came to belief and rested in the Church, showing that the Son of God had been preached in the same Law. Whether, however, it is in this place with five colonnades in which a multitude of sick people was lying,³³³ or the five husbands of the Samaritan woman,³³⁴ or even the five stones which David had and used to strike the foreigner,³³⁵ the same five books of the Law of Moses are understood. Concerning the tradition of the Law, it is evident that twelve full baskets are left over:³³⁶ these are plainly the twelve apostles full of the Holy Spirit, by whose teaching we are fed each day after the food of the Law.

Denique praecepit discipulis, ut ipsi illis darent manducare, id est ut eundem filium dei praedicantes cessante iam lege et prophetis, quia lex et prophetae usque ad Iohannem, caelestem escam omnibus credentibus traderent. ¹⁷⁶⁵ Responderunt: Non habemus plus quam quinque panes et duos pisces. Quinque panes quinque libri sunt ^*Moysi et duo pisces duo testamenta accipiuntur. Quod autem iussit populum discumbere supra faenum, ostendit credentes a malis pristinis requiescere debere et de cetero cessare. Faenum enim corpora nostra significat, sicut Eseias ait: Omnis caro faenum et cetera. Quod ergo rettulit accepisse dominum ¹⁷⁷⁰ quinque panes et duos pisces et benedixisse, fregisse et dedisse discipulis, discipuli autem turbis, manifeste ostendit de quinque panibus, (id est de) quinque libris Moysi, prius populum saturari non potuisse, nisi ipse dominus omnia ^*mysteria ^52r legis et ea, quae de ipso scripta erant, apostolis declarasse(t). Quique perfecto magistro edocti et de omnibus instructi, de isdem quinque libris Moysi, qui sunt ¹⁷⁷⁵ quinque panes, et duobus piscibus, id est duorum testamentorum praedicatione[m], omnibus venientibus ad credulitatem et requiescentibus in ecclesia[m] cibum spiritalem tradiderunt ostendentes in eadem lege[m] filium dei praedicatum. Sive autem hoc loco quinque porticus, in quibus multitudo languentium iacebat, sive quinque viri Samaritanae mulieris, sed et quinque lapides, quos David habuit, unde ¹⁷⁸⁰ alienigenam percussit, idem quinque libri Moysi intelleguntur, de †quadratione† legis duodecim cophinos plenos superesse manifestum est, duodecim scilicet aposto-los plenos spiritu sancto, quorum doctrina post escam legis cottidie saturamur.

M. LXXVIII. [Matthew 14:22-33] Immediately, the Lord Jesus ordered his disciples to climb in and go before him in the boat, and to cross the strait while he sent the crowd away. And having sent the crowd away he went up a mountain to pray alone. But when evening fell he was alone there. But the boat was now in the middle of the sea being tossed by the waves, for the wind was against them. But at the fourth watch of the night, he came to them, walking on the water. The boat which the apostles are ordered to climb in is understood as the Church; this is struck in the sea (meaning in this world) by the opposition of the enemy and, especially at a time of persecution, by the waves of various trials. Solomon also mentions this ship in his book when he speaks about the character of this same Church: She was made, he says, like a ship which buys goods from afar:³³⁷ this means the Church, because she bought all people who were far from God at a great cost:³³⁸ plainly the blood of the Son of God. But at the fourth watch: when he came; the coming of the same Lord is indicated, when he saw fit to take on flesh for our sake.

^{Mt. 14,} LXXVIII. Statim dominus Iesus iussit discipulos ascendere et praecedere in ^22–33 navicula et ire trans fretum, donec ipse dimittere(t) turbas. Et dimissa turba ascendit ¹⁷⁸⁵ in montem solus orare. Vespere autem facto solus erat ibi. Na(vi)cula autem iam in medio mari iactabatur fluctibus; erat enim illis ventus contrarius. Quarta autem vigilia ^52v noctis venit ad eos ambulans super mare. Navicula, in qua iubentur apostoli ascen-dere, ecclesia intellegitur, quae in mari, id est in hoc saeculo, adversante inimico vel ¹⁷⁹⁰ maxime tempore persecutionis variis temptationum fluctibus pulsatur. De qua navi et Solomon in libro suo meminit, cum de persona eiusdem ecclesiae loqueretur: Facta est inquit tamquam navis, quae mercatur de longinquo, id est ecclesia, quia omnes homines, qui longe a deo erant, mercata est magno pretio, sanguinis scilicet fili dei. Quarta autem vigilia, quando venit, adventus eiusdem domini demonstratur, ¹⁷⁹⁵ quando nostri causa[m] carnem suscipere dignatus est.

For he himself came in fourth place after the Law, the Righteous Ones and the Prophets: this is the meaning of at the fourth watch. To walk on the sea is evident: it means to trample on the world. But it is literally true that he walked on the sea to show that he was the Lord and the creator of the earth. For who has ever been able to walk on water except the Son of God alone, Christ, who long before ^[1800] had said through Solomon in the character of Wisdom that he would both walk on the waves of the sea and penetrate the depths of the abyss,³³⁹ which means that he descended to the underworld? We see that all this has been fulfilled.

Post legem enim, iustos et prophetas ipse quarto loco adveniens, hoc est quarta vigilia. Super mare ambulare[t] manifestum est, id est saeculum calcasse. Est autem simpliciter, quia supra mare ambulavit, (ut) ostenderet se dominum et creatorem mundi. Quis enim umquam super aquam potuit ambulare nisi solus filius dei Christus, qui iamdudum ex ¹⁸⁰⁰ persona ^*sapientiae dixerat per Solomonem, quod et super fluctus maris ambularet et profunda abyssi penetraret, hoc est ad inferna descenderet? Quae omnia conpleta videmus.

Therefore when the disciples shouted out, terrified by such a sudden and strange miracle and thinking it was a ghost, the Lord spoke to them to strengthen their faith: Stand firm; do not fear: I am. This was so that they would understand that it was he who long before had said to Moses: I am who I am 34⁰ It had been said about him in Genesis that the Spirit of God was borne above over the water.³⁴¹ Peter, then, when he had recognised that it was the Son of God, asked to go to him, getting out of the ship in confidence because the Son of God was walking on the water: he was safe for as long as he kept himself fixed on the rudder of faith. When, however, as the wind grew stronger, he feared a little, like a human: he immediately began to be endangered in the firmness of his faith. ^[1810] But because he soon begged for help from the Son of God, he deserved to be rescued. At the end, he is asked: You of little faith, why did you doubt? So we are instructed by this example that we should always remain unchanging in faith. Human frailty was also shown in Peter: even though this has power and firmness of faith, at a time of trial, however, it needs the help of the Son of God. This shows that, without help from Jesus, someone may be endangered. That Jesus climbed in the boat and the wind ceased evidently indicates that the Son of God dwells in his Church and restores tranquillity to those who are within, having removed the storm of the world which threatened the people of the same Church, as in a shipwreck.

Discipuli igitur cum tam ^*repentino et novo miraculo territi putabant fantasma esse et clamarent, locutus est ad illos dominus ad confirmandam fidem ^53r ipsorum Constantes estote, nolite timere; ego sum, ut intellegerent ipsum esse, qui ¹⁸⁰⁵ iamdudum ad Moysen dixerat: Ego sum, qui sum. De quo dictum fuerat in Genesi, quod spiritus dei superferebatur super aquam. Petrus ergo, cum cognovisset filium dei esse, rogavit, ut iret ad ipsum descendens de navi fiducia, quia dei filius ambula-bat super aquam, tam diu securus, quam diu gubernaculo (fidei) fixus inhaesit. Ubi vero increscente vento quasi homo timuit modice, de constantia fidei statim ^*coepit ¹⁸¹⁰ periclitari. Sed quia mox a filio dei auxilium inplora(vi)t, meruit liberari. Denique dicitur ad ipsum: Modicae fidei, quare dubitasti? Instruimur ergo hoc exemplo, ut se(m)per fidei inmobiles perseveremus. Et humana fragilitas in Petro ostendebatur: Quae, quamvis virtutem et constantiam fidei habeat, in ^*temptatione tamen auxi-lium fili dei ^*eget, et, nisi ab ipso (sub)ventum fuerit, ostendit posse hominem peri-clitari. Quod autem in navicula ascendit et ventus cessavit, manifeste demonstrat ¹⁸¹⁵ filium dei in ecclesia sua habitare et tranquillitatem his, qui in ipsa sunt, reddere remota saeculi tempestate[m], quae ut naufragio ^*populum eiusdem ecclesiae infestabat.

But those who were in the ship came and worshipped him, saying: He is truly the Son of God. ^[1820] So, then, it comes to pass that, as often as we struggle with the trials of this world and receive peace from the Lord, so more and more we glorify the Son of God and display his strength, giving thanks through him to God the Father that he has rescued his Church from the storm of the world and restored safety to his people.

Qui vero in navicula erant, venerunt et adoraverunt eum dicentes: Vere filius dei est. [sic ergo fit ut quotiens temptationibus mundi istius laboramus et ^53v pacaem a domino recipimus tunc magis que filium dei esse] Sic ergo fit, ut, quotiens ¹⁸²⁰ temptationibus mundi istius laboramus et pacem a domino recipimus, tunc magis magisque filium dei magnificamus et potentiam ipsius praeferimus gratias agentes deo patri per ipsum, quod ecclesiam suam a tempestate saeculi liberaverit et securi-tatem suis reddiderit.

M. LXXVIIII. [Matthew 15:21-28] And having gone out from there Jesus went back into the regions of Tyre and Sidon. And behold, a Canaanite woman from those areas began to shout, saying: Have mercy on me, son of David! My daughter is badly troubled by a demon. But Jesus did not reply a word to her. And the disciples came up and asked him: Send her away, because she is shouting after us. The woman is from Cana: she is a Gentile and is the figure of the Church coming to belief from all the Gentiles.

^{Mt. 15,} LXXVIIII. Et egressus inde Iesus recessit in partes Tyri et Sidonis. Et ecce mulier ^{1825 21–28} Chananea a finibus illis clamabat dicens: Miserere mei, fili David! Filia mea male a daemonio vexatur. Iesus autem non respondit ei verbum. Et accedentes discipuli rogaverunt eum: Dimitte eam, quia clamat post nos. Mulier Chananea, id est gentilis, figuram habet ecclesiae ^*ex omnibus gentibus ^*venientis ad credulitatem.

When she ^[1830] had recognised the son of David, plainly the Son of God whom the prophets had said would come from the offspring of David and rescue all Gentiles from the devil, she appropriately sought mercy. She asked on behalf of her daughter who was troubled by a demon, meaning on behalf of the multitude of the Gentiles who were bound up in the error of idolatry by an unclean spirit. Yet Jesus did not reply a word to her: the Lord was concealing, not because he was not going to provide what she sought, but so that the faith of the woman might be made evident to everyone. The apostles, however, who are the counsellors of the Church, seeing that the woman was pursuing the mystery of the same Church, assist her themselves with their prayers. As for what they say, Because she is shouting after us, they showed that after the Resurrection of the Lord the Church would shout to the Lord and come to belief. The Lord replied that he was not sent except to the lost sheep of the house of Israel, because he had come especially to save the Jewish people on account of the merits of their ancestors, had they only wished to believe.

Quae, cum cognovisset filium David, filium scilicet dei, quem ex semine David venturum ¹⁸³⁰ prophetae dixerant et omnes gentes a zabulo ^*liberaturum, merito misericordiam petebat rogans pro filia sua, quae a daemonio vexabatur, id est pro plebe gentium, quae in errore idolatriae ab inmundo spiritu tenebatur. At Iesus non respondit ei verbum: Dissimulabat ^*dominus, non quia praestaturus non esset, quod petebatur, sed ut ^*fides mulieris omnibus manifestaretur. Apostoli tamen, qui sunt advocati ^54r ecclesiae, videntes mysterium eiusdem ^*ecclesiae mulierem operari adsunt et ipsi precibus eius. Quod autem dixerunt Quia clamat post nos, ostendebant post resurrectionem domini ecclesiam clamaturam ad dominum et ad credulitatem venturam. Respondit dominus non se missum nisi ad oves perditas domus Israhel, quia propter¹⁸⁴⁰ merita parentum ad populum Iudaicum vel maxime salvandum venerat, si tamen credere voluissent.

But because they were blinded in their mind and refused to accept the author of life who was sent to them first, just as John says He came to his very own and his own did not receive him,³⁴² salvation was transferred to all the nations. However, when the woman insisted and persisted in persisting to ask him to help her,³⁴³ the Lord replied, in order to make evident the faith of the woman, that it was not permitted to take the bread of the children and throw it to the dogs. He shows his own body as bread, while the dogs are understood as Gentile people. So the Lord says that such great grace should not be handed over to Gentile people because they are unworthy. The woman agreed to this by saying Indeed, Lord: meaning, ‘You speak truly that they do not deserve this.’ But because she knew that salvation was also promised to the Gentiles, she added that even the puppies eat from the scraps which fall from the table of their lords. It showed in the puppies that all the Gentiles would come to belief and signified that they would eat from the scraps (meaning from the teachings of the prophets and the apostles) which fall from the table (meaning which are separated from the gathering of the Jewish people) for the refreshment of the human race. For the table is understood as the gathering of the people, according to David⁴ As for the words of their lords, she showed the two persons of the Father and the Son.

Sed quia illi caecati mente auctorem vitae ad se prius missum suscipere noluerunt, sicut Iohannis ait In sua propria venit et sui eum non receperunt, translata est salus ad universas nationes. Instante tamen muliere et perseverante in †perseverando† ^*ac petendo, ut a(d)iuvaret eam, respondit dominus ad mani‑ ¹⁸⁴⁵ festandam fidem mulieris non licere accipere panem filiorum et mittere canibus. Panem corpus suum ostendit, canes autem homines gentiles intelleguntur. Dicit ergo dominus non debere tantam gratiam hominibus gentilibus tradi, quia indigni sunt. Ad haec mulier consensit dicendo Utique, domine, id est ‘Verum dicis, quia non merentur’. Sed quia sciebat salutem etiam gentibus repromissam, addi(di)t et ^54v catellos edere de micis, quae ^*cadunt de mensa dominorum suorum. Ostendebat in catellis omnes gentes venturas ad credulitatem et ex micis edituras, id est a doctrinis prophetarum et apostolorum, quas de mensa cadere, hoc est de congregatione populi Iudaici separari ad refectionem generis humani ^*significabat. Mensa enim iuxta David congregatio populi intellegitur. Quod autem dixit dominorum, ostendit¹⁸⁵⁵ duas personas patris et fili.

So the woman recognised that the Son had proceeded indescribably from the Father before all worlds, plainly Lord from Lord, and she therefore said of their lords. The Jewish people, who listened to the Law and the Prophets, could not understand this. For this, the Lord appropriately praised the faith of the woman and granted what she sought. For he said: 0 woman, great is your faith. May it be for you as you wish. By saying 0 he indicates the culmination ^[1860] of the world, because 0 is the last letter in the Greek alphabet:³⁴⁵ this is the time at which the Church believed in the Son of God and recognised that the Lord had proceeded from the Lord.

Cognovit ergo mulier filium de patre ante omnia saecula inenarrabiliter processisse, dominum scilicet de domino, et ideo ait dominorum. Quod populus Iudeorum, qui legem et prophetas audiebant, intellegere non potuit. Unde merito laudabat fidem mulieris dominus et concedi(t), quod petebat. Ait enim: O mulier, magna est fides tua. Fiat tibi sicut vis. Dicendo autem O demonstrat consum(m)ationem saeculi, quia iuxta Grecos ^*O novissima littera est; quo tempore ¹⁸⁶⁰ ecclesia filio dei credidit (et) dominum de domino processisse cognovit.

M. LXXX. [Matthew 15:29-31] And when Jesus had crossed over from there, he again came beside the Sea of Galilee and going up onto a mountain, he sat there. And crowds came up to him with people who were lame, blind, crippled, mute and many others, and they cast themselves at his feet and he cured all of them, so that the crowds were amazed. The evangelist relates that the Lord went up a mountain and there cured many people who had various sicknesses. For the prophet relates that such signs would come to pass at the coming of the Lord, that the lame would be cured, the blind would receive sight, the crippled would regain soundness of body and the mute would speak.³⁴⁶ Even though we can see that these were fulfilled on a literal level, they also have a spiritual meaning, however, for the mountain which the Lord went up and sat on can be understood as the Church in which the same Son of God takes his seat. David too bears witness about this mountain in a psalm: Who goes up to the mountain of the Lord, or who will stand in his holy place,³⁴⁷ meaning in the Church. A mountain is presented in a comparison with the Church because just as a mountain is lofty and towers over everything, so the Church is lofty, knocking at heaven and excelling all with its heavenly behaviour. As for the many crowds which it said went up to the Lord, this shows the multitude of believers coming to the Son of God in the Church. Having lame people with them: plainly those who have limped off the way of truth; and blind people likewise: those who were blinded in their mind and unable to see the light of life.³⁴⁸ The crippled signifies those who had been crippled by the enemy through serious sin. The mute, it also shows, are those who either did not know the Son of God or did not give thanks to God. ^[1880] There is no doubt, however, that all these are cured by the Lord as they come to the Church and are cured every day. Next it said that they cast them at the feet of the Lord and thus they were cured: this is to show that after the Ascension of the Lord, everyone who comes to the Church through the preaching of the apostles is healed by heavenly medicine and freed from their sins as from an illness.

^{Mt. 15,} LXXX. Et cum transisset inde Iesus, venit iterum secus mare Galileae et ascendens ^29–31 in montem sedebat ibi. Et accesserunt ad eum turbae habentes secum clodos, caecos, debi[bi]les, mutos et alios multos et proiecerunt eos (sub pedibus eius et curavit eos) omnes ita, ut turbae mirarentur. Ascendisse dominum in monte ibique multos, qui ^{55r *}diversas valitudines habebant, curasse refert evangelista. Refert enim propheta[e] in adventu domini talia signa futura, quod et clodi curarentur et caeci visum recipe-rent et debiles integritatem corporis recuperarent et muti loquerentur. Quae licet simpliciter inpleta videamus, habent tamen et spiritalem rationem: Mons enim, in quo dominus ascendit et sedit, ecclesia potest intellegi, in qua idem filius dei praesi- ¹⁸⁷⁰ det. De quo monte et David in psalmo testatur: Quis ascendit in montem domini aut qui(s) stabit in loco sancto eius, id est in ecclesia. Mons enim propterea in conpara-tione[m] ecclesiae ponitur, quia sicut mons excelsus est et eminet omnia, sic ecclesia excelsa est caelum pulsans et praecellens omnia, habens caelestem conversationem. Quod enim dixit ascendisse turbas multas ad dominum, multitudinem credentium ¹⁸⁷⁵ ostendit venientem ad filium dei in ecclesia. Habentes secum clodos, hos scilicet, qui a via veritatis claudicabant, et caecos similiter, qui excaecati mente lumen vitae videre non poterant. Debiles autem ^*hos significat, qui debilitati fuerant ab inimico gravi peccato. Mutos quoque ostendit, qui aut filium dei ignorabant aut deo gratias non agebant. Quos tamen omnes ad ecclesiam venientes a domino curatos esse et ^55v cottidie curari nulli dubium est. Denique dixit, quod proiecerunt illos sub pedibus domini et sic curati sunt, ut ostenderet post ascensionem domini omnes ad ecclesiam venientes per praedicationem apostolorum medicina caelesti sanari et peccatis suis quasi valitudine liberari.

The feet of the Lord are understood as the apostles because through them the preaching has run throughout the whole earth: this is particularly because, coming after Moses and the prophets in the very last time, they are taken as the very last part of the body, the feet. David, too, in the psalm where he says in the character of the Lord But my feet were almost dislodged,³⁴⁹ showed that these same apostles would hasten back at the Passion of the Son of God. Both in the Apocalypse and in many other places, the feet of the Lord signify the same apostles 3^{50 [1890]} Therefore it evidently indicates that all of these people flock to the Church, cured in their inner conscience through the apostolic teaching.

Pedes enim domini [et] apostoli intelleguntur, quia per ¹⁸⁸⁵ ipsos cucurrit praedicatio per universum mundum, vel certe quia post Moysen et prophetas ipsi novissimo tempore venientes quasi novissima pars corporis ^*pedes accipiuntur. Et David in psalmo [pedes accipiuntur], ubi loquitur ex persona domini Mei autem paene moti sunt pedes, eosdem apostolos ostendebat in passione fili dei recursuros. Sed et in Apocalypsi et multis aliis in locis pedes domini idem apostoli ¹⁸⁹⁰ significantur. Hos igitur omnes confluentes ad ecclesiam per doctrinam apostolicam curatos interiore conscientia manifeste declarat.

So that the crowds were amazed seeing the mute speaking: in truth, it is a marvellous thing that such great graciousness of God was shown in regard to sinful humans, so that those who were considered mute by the Lord because they prayed to idols and denied the Lord would later come to believe in the Church and speak and acknowledge the Father and the Son; those who were limping from the paths of righteousness were placed on the journey of the way of salvation and began to go forward with upright steps; those who had been blinded in their mind have been illuminated by the angel Raphael and have opened the eyes of their heart to the Lord, so that they might see and recognise the true light (plainly of God)3⁵¹ And, it says, they glorified the Lord of Israel: each day, the Lord is glorified in us, because having given the healing of eternal salvation he has freed us from such great ^[1900] evils and made us sinners righteous, if only we hold on with a firm stance to the righteousness which we have received from him.

Ita, ut turbae mirarentur videntes mutos loquentes: Revera mira res est tantam dignationem dei circa homines pecca-tores ostensam, ut, qui muti apud dominum habebantur idola rogando et dominum negantes, postmodum in ecclesia credentes (et) loquentes [id est] patrem et filium ^56r confiterentur. Et qui a semitis iustitiae claudicabant, (in) itinere viae salutaris inpositi rectis gressibus incedere coeperunt, et qui excaecati mente fuerant, ab angelo Rafael inluminati ^*ad dominum oculos cordis aperuerunt, ut lumen verum, scilicet dei, videntes cognoscerent. Et magnificabant inquit dominum Israhel: Magni-ficatur dominus cottidie in nobis, qui(a) data sanitate (aeternae) salutis de tantis ¹⁹⁰⁰ malis nos liberaverit, et quod de peccatoribus fecerit iustos, si tamen iustitiam, quam ab ipso accepimus, firmo gradu teneamus.

M. LXXXI. [Matthew 15:32-37] But Jesus summoned his disciples and said: I pity the crowd, because it is now three days that they have abided with me and they do not have food, and I do not want to send them away hungry in case they faint on the way. But his disciples say: Where, then, in a deserted place are there so many loaves that the crowds will be fed? The Lord saw that the people were struggling with hunger for the divine word, just as he had said through the prophet that there would be hunger on the earth, not hunger for bread or thirst for water, but hunger for hearing the word of God.³⁵² So he called his disciples and said I pity the crowd, to show that he had come in order to aid those in need of heavenly nourishment and to give spiritual food to all believers, through the mercy of the Father. Because it is three days, he says, ^[1910] that they have abided with me: he openly indicates that all believers will abide in the faith of the birth, Passion and Resurrection of the Lord, which are three days. But to have abided for three days with the Lord can also be understood as those who have abided in the instructions of the Law, the Righteous Ones, and the Prophets, and afterwards have believed in the coming of the Lord and passed over to the law of the Gospels. And, he said, they do not have food, because the Son of God had not yet suffered, who would give true nourishment to all who believe in him. And I do not want, he said, to send them away hungry in case they faint on the way: this obviously shows that the whole human race could have fainted through the starvation of divine famine and the unfruitfulness of heavenly hunger, had not the Lord himself come as the bread from heaven to refresh the hearts of believers.

LXXXI. Iesus autem convocatis discipulis suis dixit: Misereor turbae, quia iam ^{Mt. 15,} triduo est, quod perseverant mecum et non habent escam et dimittere eos ieiunos nolo, ^32–37 ne deficiant in via. Dicunt autem discipuli: Unde ergo in deserto panes tantos, ut ¹⁹⁰⁵ saturentur turbae? Cum videret dominus fame verbi divini populum laborare, sicut per prophetam dixerat futuram famem in terram, non famem panis aut sitim aquae, sed famem ad audiendum verbum dei, vocatis discipulis suis dixit Misereor turbae, ut ostenderet ad hoc se venisse, ut misericordia[m] paterna cibo caelesti desiderantibus subveniret (et) escam spiritalem omnibus credentibus traderet. Quia triduo est inquit quod perseverant mecum: Aperte demonstrat in fide (nativitatis), passionis et ¹⁹¹⁰ resurrectionis domini, quod est triduo, omnes credentes perseveraturos. Sed triduo ^56v perseverasse cum domino hii possunt intellegi, qui in praeceptis legis, iustorum et prophetarum perseverantes postea in adventum domini crediderunt (et) ad legem evangelicam transierunt. Et non habent inquit escam, quia filius dei necdum passus fuerat, qui veram escam omnibus in se credentibus daturus erat. Et dimittere eos ait ¹⁹¹⁵ ieiunos nolo, ne deficiant in via: Evidenter ostendit inedia[e] famis divinae et sterili-tate caelestis ieiunii omne genus hominum deficere potuisse, nisi ipse dominus ad ^*reficienda corda credentium panis de caelo venisset.

The Lord questioned them about the number of loaves they had. They said: Seven and a few little fish. Seven loaves indicates the sevenfold ^[1920] total of the Holy Spirit, as Isaiah says when he speaks about the Lord: The spirit of wisdom, he says, rests on him and the understanding of the spirit of fear,³⁵³ in order to show that all the gifts of heavenly graces remain in the Son of God and are allotted by him to each individual according to the nature of their faith. This is just as the Apostle too bears witness: To one is given a word of wisdom, to another a word of knowledge, to another faith in the same spirit; and later he adds: But one and the same Spirit performs all these things, apportioning them to each as it wishes ³⁵⁴ For the seven lamps on the golden candle-stand with seven branches placed in the Tabernacle also delineate the same total of the Holy Spirit ³⁵⁵ But the seven eyes of the one stone in Zechariah as we11,³⁵⁶ and likewise the seven torches of fire burning in the Apocalypse and the seven stars set at the right hand of the Lord³⁵⁷ signify nothing other than the sevenfold total of the Holy Spirit. ^[1930] These seven loaves, then, are understood as meaning the seven-formed Holy Spirit, from whose teaching through the apostolic preaching it is evident that all believers are filled. As for the account of the seven hampers filled from the seven loaves, that showed that there would be seven churches which were gathered through the apostles by the instruction and teaching of the same seven-formed Holy Spirit.

Interroga(vi)t dominus, ^*quot panes haberent. Dixerunt: Septem et paucos pisciculos. Septem panes septenarium numerum spiritus sancti demonstrat, sicuti Eseias ait, cum de domino loquitur: ¹⁹²⁰ Requiescit inquit super illum spiritus sapientiae et intellectus spiritus timoris, ut ostenderet omnia dona gratiarum caelestium in ^*filio dei manere et ab ipso singulis quibusque pro qualitate fidei suae distribui, sicuti et apostolus testificatur Alii datur sermo sapientiae, alii sermo scientiae, alii fides in eodem spiritu, et postea addit Haec autem omnia operatur unus atque idem spiritus dividens unicuique prout vult. Nam et ¹⁹²⁵ septem lucernae candelabri aurei septem ^*radiorum in tabernaculo positi eundem ^57r numerum spiritus sancti deformant. Sed et septe(m) oculi lapidis unius apud Zacha-riam, similiter septem faces ignis ardentes in Apocalypsi et septem ^*stellae in dextera domini constituta(e) non alium quam septe[m]narium numerum spiritus sancti significant. Hii ergo septem panes intelleguntur, id est septiformis spiritus ¹⁹³⁰ sanctus, de cuius doctrina per praedicationem apostolicam omnes credentes satiari manifestum (est). Quod autem rettulit septem sportas de septem panibus repletas, septem ^*ecclesias futuras ostendebat, quae eodem spiritu sancto, qui est septi-formis, instruente et docente per apostolos congregatae sunt.

And although it is right to understand one Catholic Church because of its one faith, because of the total of the seven-formed Holy Spirit, however, it is said that there are seven churches. For example, Noah, who waited on the Spirit of the Lord, was rescued from the flood together with seven souls in order to show the same total of churches.³⁵⁸ Similarly in the writings of Solomon we read that there were seven pillars, meaning seven churches, on which Wisdom built its house.³⁵⁹ But Isaiah too affirmed that seven women take hold of one man,^36° meaning seven churches and one man, plainly the Son of God whose name they beg to be pronounced over them, meaning the name of Christ. In the Apocalypse, John also interpreted the seven churches as the seven candlesticks between which he says he saw the Son of God walking.³⁶¹ Knowing this reason, the most holy Apostle Paul, although he could have written more, directed his letters to none but seven churches. Likewise John, too, in the Apocalypse is ordered only to write to seven churches ³⁶²

Et licet una ecclesia catholica intellegatur propter unam fidem, tamen propter numerum septiformis ¹⁹³⁵ spiritus sancti septem ecclesiae dicuntur. Denique Noe, qui spiritum domini praemi nistrabat, cum septem animabus de diluvio liberatus est, ut idem numerus eccle-siarum ostenderetur. Similiter apud Solomonem septem columnas legimus, id est septem ecclesias, super quas aedificavit domum sapientia[e]. Sed et Eseias septem ¹⁹⁴⁰ mulieres unum virum adprehendere testatus est, id est septem ecclesias unum ^57v virum, filium scilicet dei, cuius nomen petunt super se invocari, id est nomen Christi. In Apocalypsi (Iohannis) quo[d]que septem candelabra, inter quae filium dei ambulantem vidisse se dicit, septem ecclesias interpretatus est; quamque ratione(m) sciens sanctissimus Paulus apostolus, cum potuisset plus scribere, non nisi ad ¹⁹⁴⁵ septem ecclesias epistulas dirigit. Similiter et Iohannis in Apocalypsi ad septem ecclesias tantum scribere iubetur.

M. LXXXII. [Matthew 16:1-3] And the Pharisees and Sadducees came up to him testing him and asked him to show them a sign from heaven. The Lord replied: When it is late, you say ‘It will be calm’, for the heaven is red with clouds3⁶³ Late showed the end of the world when the Lord himself saw fit to come to rescue the human race and give calmness to the world. Calm indicated that calmness would spread throughout the globe with the shining light of the Gospels, once all murkiness of error had been dispersed through his Passion. Because, he said, the heaven is red with clouds, making evident to them the redness of the blood of his Passion shown in the heaven with clouds. This is plainly the preaching of the prophets, who are understood as clouds for the reason that they water the hearts of humans like heavenly rain on the land. The heaven, on the other hand, is shown as the preaching of the same prophets, because they themselves had heavenly behaviour and announced that the Son of God would come and descend from heaven. So that you may know that the prophets are understood as clouds, the Lord makes it evident through Isaiah when he speaks about the vine in the character of the Jewish people: ^[1960] And, he says, I will command the clouds not to drop rain over it,^3M plainly meaning the prophets.

LXXXII. Et accesserunt ad eum Farisei et Sadducei temptantes (et) rogaverunt, ut ^{Mt. 16,} signum de caelo illis ostenderet. Respondit dominus: Cum sero factum est, dicitis ^1–3 ‘Serenum erit.’ Rubicundum est enim cum nubibus caelum. Sero finem saeculi ostendit, ¹⁹⁵⁰ quando ipse dominus ad liberandum genus humanum et serenitatem mundo dandam venire dignatus est. Serenum enim demonstrabat discussa omni caligine erroris per passionem suam radiante lumine evangeliorum serenitatem per orbem terrarum futuram. Quia rubicundum est inquit cum nubibus caelum, manifestans illis ruborem sanguinis passionis suae in caelo cum nubibus ^*ostensum, praedicatione ¹⁹⁵⁵ scilicet prophetarum, qui ob hoc nubes intelleguntur, eo quod corda hominum quasi ^58r terram inrigent imbre caelesti. Caelum autem praedicatio eorundem prophetarum ostenditur, quia ipsi caelestem habebant conversationem, et quia filium dei de caelo descensurum venturumque nuntiabant. Ut autem scias nubes prophetas intellegi, dominus per Eseiam manifestat, cum in persona populi Iudaici ^*de vinea loquitur: ¹⁹⁶⁰ Et mandabo inquit nubibus, ne pluant super eam pluviam, ^*prophetis scilicet.

So Isaiah also showed that redness of blood in his testimony about the Passion of our Lord: Who is this, he said, who comes from Edom? The redness of his garments is from Bozrah. And he added: Why are your garments red?³⁶⁵ But also when in Genesis Jacob proclaimed the Passion of the Son of God in the character of Judah, he said the following: He will wash his robe in wine, and his mantle in the blood of the grape.³⁶⁶ Likewise Solomon too speaks about the Lord from the character of the Church: My brother, he says, is fair and red, pierced by the multi-tude.³fi⁷ In order that the Lord should fulfil these prophecies, he sent forth blood with water from his side when he had been struck by the soldier’s spear.³⁶⁸ So this is the redness of blood that has been shown, as the preaching of the prophets demonstrates: it seemed to be hidden by the cloud of the Law and prophecy until the coming of the Lord. But after the Son of God had suffered, these were taken away and he gave calmness to the earth, making evident to all believers that his Passion had been proclaimed by the prophets. And in the morning, `Today there will be a storm’. For the heaven is red with gloom. In the morning is understood as the Resurrection of the Lord, through which the darkness of sin was put to flight and the light of truth was shown.

Istum ergo ruborem sanguinis et Eseias ostendit, cum de passione[m] domini nostri testare-tur: Quis est iste inquit qui venit ex Edom? Rubor vestimentorum eius ex Bosor. Et addidit: Quare rubicunda sunt vestimenta tua? Sed et in Genesi, cum Iacob in persona Iudae passionem fili dei adnuntiaret, sic ait: Lavabit in vino stolam suam et in sanguine uvae anabolium suum. Similiter et Solomon ex persona ecclesiae de ¹⁹⁶⁵ domino loquitur: Frater meus inquit candidus et rubens conpunctus a multitudine. Quasque prophetias dominus ut adinpleret, cum lancea militis percussus fuisset, de latere suo cum aqua sanguinem misit. Hunc ergo ruborem sanguinis ^*praedicationes prophetarum ostensum demonstrant, qui usque ad adventum domini nube legis et prophetiae tectus videbatur. Postquam autem filius dei passus est, sublata sunt, et ^58v serenitatem mundo dedit et passionem suam a prophetis adnuntiatam cunctis credentibus manifestavit. Et mane: ‘Hodie tempestas.’ Rubicundum est enim cum tristitia caelum. Mane resurrectio domini intellegitur, per quam tenebrae peccati fugatae sunt (et) lumen veritatis ostensum est,

As John says: Since the darkness is passing and the true light now shines.³⁶⁹A storm: this plainly means the storm of persecution which would come to the apostles from the Jewish people, because their task was to make evident to all people that same redness of blood, meaning the Passion of the Son of God proclaimed by the prophets, through the preaching of the newness of the Tes-tament.³⁷⁰ But his words about the heaven with gloom showed that the apostles, who proclaimed that the Son of God had suffered, ^[1980] would have cause for gloom as the same Jews remained in their unbelief.

sicuti Iohannis ait: Quoniam tenebrae praetereunt et lumen verum iam lucet. (Tempestas:) Persecutionis scilicet a populo ¹⁹⁷⁵ Iudaico apostolis ^*futurae, propterea quia eundem ruborem sanguinis, id est pas-sionem fili dei a prophetis adnuntiatam, omnibus hominibus per praedicationem novitatis testamenti manifestare habebant. Cum tristitia autem caelum quod dixit, ostendebat isdem Iudeis in incredulitate[m] manentibus apostolos, qui filium dei passum adnuntiabant, tristitiam habituros. ¹⁹⁸⁰

M. LXXXIII. [Matthew 18:1-4] On that day his disciples came up to Jesus and so on. He called a boy: the Lord wants himself to be understood as the boy, the person which he took on from Mary. He stood him in the middle of them, meaning he came in the middle of the Jews. So he teaches in particular that the one who is more humble is therefore greater in the kingdom of the heavens, but more humble like a baby. For although our Lord Jesus Christ was God, he made himself humble in order to be human as well. So inasmuch as anyone is holy in this way they should make themselves humble by the same amount, and have the evil-doing of a boy, since boys do not keep evil-doing in mind. Therefore the Apostle says: Be children in evil-doing³⁷¹ (...) our ancestors were said to be boys, just as David and all the other holy ones were called boys.

^{Mt. 18,} LXXXIII. In illa die accesserunt discipuli eius ad Iesum et cetera. Vocavit puerum: ^1–4 Puerum se ipsum dominus intellegi vult, quem accepit de Maria. Statuit eum in medio eorum, id est veniens in medio Iudeorum. Doce[n]t ergo specialiter hunc esse maiorem (in) regno (caelorum), qui fuerit humilior, humilior autem sicut infans. Cum ^59r enim dominus noster Iesus Christus esset [et] deus, humiliavit se, ut et homo esset. ¹⁹⁸⁵ Sic ergo quanto quis sanctus fuerit, tanto se debet humiliare et habere malitiam pueri, siquidem non retinent pueri malitiam. Ideo ^*apostolus Malitia parvuli estote (...) pueros dictos maiores nostros, ut David et ceteri (sancti) omnes pueri sunt appel-lati.

M. LXXXIIII. [Matthew 18:6] ^[1990] But whoever causes to stumble and so on. A millstone for donkeys to be hung on their neck and to be drowned: there are two millstones (which are the two Testaments) which grind wheat, meaning that they break up the grain. The Saviour said that he was the grain: Unless a grain of wheat falls on the land and so on.³⁷² So the two millstones also have a beam of wood, which is the Passion of the Lord. No-one makes their testament unless they are about to die.

¹⁹⁹⁰ LXXXIIII. Qui autem scandalizaverit et cetera. Mola asinaria suspendi in collo ^{Mt. 18,} eius et demergi: Molae duae sunt, quae sunt duo testamenta, triticum molentes, id ⁶ est frangentes granum. Granum se dixit esse salvator: Nisi granum tritici cadens in terra et cetera. Ergo duae molae habent etiam lignum, quod est passio domini. Testamentum non nisi morituri faciunt:

So the two Testaments are the two millstones; the wood is the Passion; the grain of wheat from which flour is made is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ: this is the Church which, when it receives unrefined people (meaning those who persist in their old behaviour), strips them down from that old behaviour and breaks anything which is opposed. For just as grains cannot stick together of their own accord, so an unbelieving people, once it has come to belief, passes through the mill: the outer coverings of the grains are removed and it becomes flour; it is sprinkled with water (which is baptism) and it becomes bread, meaning that the people are made one through their belief and through baptism they become the Church, which is the body of our Lord Jesus Christ. But the millstone for donkeys to be hung on the neck is the penalty for causing someone to stumble, as this person is judged by both Testaments. The donkey is the person who deserves to be judged for their foolishness: they do not receive what they deserve as a Christian, but as ^[2005] a Gentile. Mention is therefore made of a donkey because of their foolishness.

Sunt ergo duo testamenta duae molae, ¹⁹⁹⁵ lignum passio est; tritici granum, unde fi[e]t farina, corpus est domini (nostri) Iesu[m] Christi, quod est ecclesia, quae pristinos homines, id est in veteri conversa‑ tione durantes, cum accipit, spoliat, ^*illa videlicet veteri conversatione, et frangit, si qua sunt adversa. Nam sicut grana adhaerere sibi non possunt, sic populus non ^59v credens, posteaquam crediderit, molitur, et superna illa granorum ^*detrahuntur ²⁰⁰⁰ spolia fitque farina; conspergitur aqua, quod est baptismum, et fit panis, id est populus, (qui) per credulitatem adunatur et per baptismum fit ecclesia, quae est corpus domini nostri Iesu[m] Christi. Mola asinaria autem ut in collo suspendatur, scandalizanti iudicium est, ut ex duobus testamentis sen(ten)tietur; asina autem is, qui meretur sententiari propter insipientiam: Non ut iam Christianus, sed tamquam ²⁰⁰⁵ gentilis ^*accipit meritum. Ideo ^*asinae fit mentio propter insipientiam.

M. LXXXV. [Matthew 18:8] But if your hand or foot causes you to stumble. Here too it makes mention of the system of ecclesiastical rank. For who, if they have been made to stumble, can cut off their hand or foot or tear out their eye? For anyone who did this would become their own executioner. But it remains that if a hand should be said to make another stumble, you should understand it as a presbyter: ^[2010] if they are found to be blameworthy, they should be separated from the body of the Church. Likewise the foot too, which is a deacon, but also the eye, which is a bishop. Because the Church is the body of Christ Jesus, they are therefore members of this body, and a presbyter is called a hand, a deacon a foot, a bishop an eye. If any one of these, therefore, is found to be guilty, it says they are to be cut off and thrown out so that the body (which is the Church) can reach eternal life through their removal, plainly once evil people have been separated and rejected from it.

LXXXV. Quod si manus tua aut pes tuus scandalizat te. Et facit hic mentionem ^{Mt. 18,} ordinis ^*ecclesiastici disciplinae. Nam quis possit manum vel ^*pedem abscidere vel ⁸ oculum eicere, si fuerit scandalizatus? Hoc enim qui fecerit, ipse in semetipsum carnifex existit. Superest autem, ut, si forte manum dicat scandalizare, presbyterum intellegas: Qui, si in culpa fuerit inventus [a cor num dicat scandalizare], a corpore ²⁰¹⁰ ecclesiae sepa[ra]retur. Similiter et pes, qui est diaconus; sed et oculus, qui est episcopus. Quia ecclesia est corpus Christi Iesu, huius igitur corporis membra sunt, ^*et dicitur manus presbyter, pes diaconus, oculus episcopus. Ex his igitur cum aliquis ^60r inventus fuerit criminosus, abscidendos et abiciendos dicit, ut corpus, quod ecclesia est, horum avulsione possit in vitam (aeternam) pervenire, malis scilicet a se ²⁰¹⁵ separatis atque abiectis.

M. LXXXVI. [Matthew 18:10] See that you do not despise one of these tiny ones. This shows that every believer has angels to watch over them. For we find that there are also angels of places and regions, as when the angel came down from heaven to the shepherds and there appeared with him a multitude of angels praising the Lord,³⁷³ which are plainly those I mentioned above. For Scripture also recalls that angels both came down and went up3⁷⁴

^{Mt. 18,} LXXXVI. Videte, ne contemnatis unum ex his pusillis. Ostendit omnem credentem ¹⁰ ad tuitionem sui angelos habere. Nam angeli etiam locorum et finium sic esse inve‑ niuntur, cum descendisset angelus de caelo ad pastores (et) facta est cum eo multi‑ tudo angelorum laudantium dominum, horum scilicet, quos supra memoravi. Nam ^{2020 *}angelos et descendisse et ascendisse commemorat scriptura.

M. LXXXVII. [Matthew 18:12-13] What do you think if someone owned one hundred sheep and one of them went astray. The sheep which went astray, the hundredth one, is a figure of all peoples who wander through the mountains, meaning that they err in various types of idolatry. So the shepherd looks for this one, having left the ninety-nine behind, which are the Jews. For Abraham, as a sign of this and a figure of the Jews, is circumcised when he is ninety-nine years old. So the shepherd comes and looks for the sheep: when he has found it, he calls it back and rejoices over it. The full total starts to be in his right hand, the one hundred which is the Church, and the ninety-nine in the left hand; the left part is plainly the syna-gogue.³⁷⁵ So when he was one hundred years old, Abraham fathered a son, Isaac: this shows that when a person comes to belief, whether from the Jews or from the Gentiles, they are held on the right side and are the Church, which has been allotted the rank of the right side. Jesus says that he rejoices more over this one than over those who have not repented.

^{Mt. 18,} LXXXVII. Quid vobis videtur, si fuerint alicui centum oves et erraverit una. Ovis ^12sq. erratica, id est illa centesima, est figura omnium populorum, qui per montes vagantur, id est variis idolatriae generibus oberrant. Hanc ergo pastor (requirit) relictis nonaginta novem, qui sunt Iudei. Nam Abraham in hoc signo et figura Iudeorum, ²⁰²⁵ cum annorum esset nonaginta novem, circumciditur. Venit ergo pastor, requirit ovem; inventam revocat et gaudet super eam. Incipit esse numerus conpletus in manu dextera centum, hoc est ecclesia, nonaginta nove(m) in sinistra manu, pars ^60v sinistra synagoga scilicet. Cum ergo esset centum annorum, Abraham genuit filium Isac: Ostendit sive ex Iudeis sive ex gentibus, cum crediderit, in parte dextera teneri ²⁰³⁰ et esse ecclesiam, quae dexterae partis ordinem sortita est. Magis se super eam gaudere dicit quam super eas, quae paenitentiam non egerunt:

So the Jews, who say that they are righteous, are reproached and left behind by the Father; the single one, meaning the whole Gentile people, who come from their idolatries and have been in the grip of the diverse teaching of demons, is sought and carried back on the shoulders of the shepherd. It becomes the people of the Church, plainly the one hundredth on the right side, over which the shepherd rejoices more than over the ninety-nine.

Exprobrantur ergo Iudei, qui se iustos dicunt, atque relinquuntur a patre, et requiritur illa una umeris revecta pastoris, id est populus ^*omnis gentilis ex idolatriis veniens et variis daemoniorum ^{2035 *}obstrictus doctrinis, (et) fit populus (ecclesiae), ille scilicet centenarius partis dexterae, super quem gaudet pastor plus quam in nonaginta nove(m).‑

M. LXXXVIII. [Matthew 19:2] And many crowds followed him and he cured them. The curing of the weak means, then, that whoever was burdened with any illness was healed. But the spiritual understanding indicates the curing of the inner person, that those who were weak in their eyes and ears, meaning in sight and hearing, received healing. The eye is understood as a teacher: the Jews were weak in their eye because they did not act rightly. So their sight, meaning their teaching, was obscured. The ear is the people, who are said to hear what is said. The people were ailing, plainly due to their bad masters. Those who were crooked, meaning looking down at the ground in the manner of animals, are made straight, plainly away from demonic superstition. For that Canaanite woman was crooked, plainly through the oppression of Satan.³⁷⁶ Withered hands, too, are restored to wholeness: earlier they were unfruitful, now they begin to be productive. So sight, which is the eyes, is recreated in this way when it is restored to wholeness. It follows that hearing, too, is restored, meaning the ears which are the people who hear. The crooked are healed, they return intact, plainly from the oppression of Satan, and they look straight up at heaven; the hands become productive which were formerly considered withered.

Et secutae sunt eum turbae multae, et curavit eos. Infirmorum ergo ^{Mt. 19,} cura haec est, (ut), quicumque aliqua valitudine erat oppressus, sanaretur. Spiritalis ² autem intellectus curam hominis interioris demonstrat, ut, qui oculis et auribus, id ²⁰⁴⁰ est visu et auditu, erant infirmis, reciperent sanitatem. Oculus doctor intellegitur: Infirmabantur in ^*oculo Iudei, eo quod non recte agerent. Visus ergo, id est doctrina, erat obscura. Auris [quod] est populus, qui dicitur audire, quae dicuntur. Populus aegrotabat, malis scilicet magistris. Et qui curvi erant, id est more animalium terram ^61r respicientes, eriguntur, a ^*daemoniaca scilicet superstitione. Nam erat curva illa ²⁰⁴⁵ Chananea, Satan(at)ae scilicet oppressione. Manus quoque aridae redduntur ^*integrae et incipiunt esse operariae, quae erant ante ^*steriles. Sic ergo ^*reficitur visus, qui sunt oculi, cum redditur integer. Sequitur, ut et auditus restituatur, id est aures, quod est populus audiens. Curvi sanantur, redeunt scilicet a Satan(at)ae ^*oppressione integri et recti caelum ^*suspicientes, manusque fiunt operariae, quae ²⁰⁵⁰ ante aridae habebantur.

M. LXXXVIIII. [Matthew 19:3-5] The Pharisees came up to him testing him and asking whether it was permitted for a man to send away his wife. He replies and says: Have you not read that the one who made them in the beginning made them male and female and said and so on. So the Saviour shows that he had made humans and had spoken through Adam as follows: For this reason, a man sends his father and mother away.³⁷⁷ These, then, are not the words of Adam, but of the Saviour through Adam, as he was Adam’s creator. And he will hold fast to his wife: Eve, whom Paul interprets most openly as a figure in Christ and in the Church 378

LXXXVIII.                   Accesserunt ad eum Farisei temptantes eum et dicentes, si licet homini ^{Mt. 19,} dimittere uxorem. Respondit et dicit: Non legistis, quia qui ab initio fecit masculum et ^3–5 feminam fecit et dixit et cetera. Ostendit ergo salvator se hominem fecisse et per Adam sic dixisse: Propter hoc dimittit homo patrem et matrem. Non ergo Adae sunt verba, sed per Adam salvatoris, qui fuit fabricator Adae. Et haerebit uxori suae: ^{2055 *}Evae, quam figuram apertissime Paulus in Christo et in ecclesia interpretatur.

M. LXL. [Matthew 19:11-12] But he said to them: Not everyone grasps this word, but those to whom it is given. For there are eunuchs who are born this way from their mother’s womb, meaning those who remain as virgins from their cradles. He says that another type of eunuch is forced by humans, meaning that they have followed the teaching of holy people and abstained, at least since the time of their baptism. A third type of eunuch is made up of those who have castrated themselves for the kingdom of the heavens. What does it mean (...) that someone should castrate themselves, but that they should even abstain from their own wife for the sake of the heavenly promises.

^{Mt. 19,} LXL. Dixit autem illis: Non omnes capiunt verbum istum, sed quibus datum est.^11sq. Sunt ergo spadones, qui de matris utero sic nati sunt, id est qui virgines ab ^*incunabulis perseverant. Aliud genus spadonum dicit ab hominibus coactos, id est ^61v doctrinam hominum sanctorum adsecutos abstinuisse se vel a baptismo, tertium ²⁰⁶⁰ autem genus, qui se castraverunt propter regnum caelorum. Quid (...) ut aliquis se castraret, sed ut abstineret etiam a propria femina propter promissa caelestia.

He said that these are the three types of eunuch: those who are born; those who are forced; those who have castrated themselves for the kingdom of the heavens. For Moses, too, is found to have abstained from his own ^[2065] wife, especially when it was incumbent on him to speak with God each day. Aaron also abstained out of necessity for the sake of the daily sacrifice. Noah, as well, abstained after he had heard the voice of God, and he was not permitted to participate in sexual intercourse. These and those similar to them are the ones who have castrated themselves for the kingdom of the heavens. Those who were born eunuchs, on the other hand, are those such as Mary [Miriam], sister of Moses and Aaron,³⁷⁹ like Joshua son of Nun, Moses’ successor, like the three boys,³⁸⁰ like Jeremiah, Elijah and Elisha. Therefore whoever can grasp it, let them grasp the word: they will receive not the land but heaven. So Mary is found to go before women: this means that through her behaviour, self-control and chastity, as she was plainly a virgin, for this reason she went before them ³⁸¹ For the holy ones are also figured in the form of towers, because they tower above the walls, which are all the other people.

Tria haec genera spadonum esse dixit: Qui nascuntur; qui coguntur; (qui se propter regnum caelorum castraverunt). Nam et Moyses invenitur ^*abstinuisse a propria femina, maxime cui incumbebat cottidie cum deo conloqui, et Aron propter cottidi- ²⁰⁶⁵ anum sacrificium necessario abstinebat. Noe quoque post auditam vocem dei abstinuit nec fas erat eum permiscere concubitus voluptatis. Isti[s] et his ^*similes sunt, qui se propter regnum caelorum castraverunt. Qui autem nati sunt, hii sicut fuit Maria soror Moysi et Aron, ut Iesus Nave successor Moysi, ut tres pueri, ut Ieremias Elias Eliseus. Quicumque igitur capax fuerit, capiet verbum: Qui non terram, ²⁰⁷⁰ sed caelum ^*suscipiet. Maria ergo praecedere mulieres invenitur, id est conversa-tione, continentia et castitate, quasi scilicet virgo, ideo praecedit. Nam sancti etiam (in) turribus figurantur, eo quod emine[b]ant muris, quod est ceteris hominibus.

M. LXLI. [Matthew 19:13-14] Then infants were brought to him for him to lay hands on them. The reason that boys should not be prevented, since the kingdom of heaven belongs to such people, is evident: those who are innocent can obtain (...) Do not prevent them: for when the Lord comes all should be admitted to the promises. But our ancestors Abraham, Isaac and Jacob are also called boys, as are the prophets and all holy people and even the apostles themselves. There is yet another type of boy, as the Apostle says: Do not be made boys in your thinking. But what follows? Be children in wrongdoing.³⁸²

^{Mt. 19,} LXLI. Tunc oblati sunt ei infantes, ut manus eis inponeret. Non prohiberi pueros, ^13sq. siquidem talium sit regnum caelorum, manifesta ratio est eos posse, qui sunt inno- ^62r centes, adipis(ci ...) Nolite eos prohibere: ^*Nam domino veniente[m] debere omnes ad promissa admitti. Puer(i) autem etiam ^*patres nostri dicti sunt Abraham, Isac, Iacob et prophetae et omnes sancti, sed et ipsi apostoli. Est et aliud genus puerorum, ut ait apostolus: Nolite pueri effici sensibus. Sed quid (sequitur)? Malitia parvuli estote.

M. LXLII. [Matthew 19:16-26] Behold, a man came up to him and said to him: Good master. The man came up, as to a human being, and then he said Master. So, in order to show that he was not a human being but God, Jesus said: No-one is good except God. But he had already said: I am the good shepherd.³⁸³ Who is the good shepherd but the one who is also the good God? Because he, the good one, came down and sought his lost sheep like a good shepherd (...) so God is good. He is also speech, as John says: ^[2085] In the beginning was the Word and the Word was with God and the Word was God;³⁸⁴ he has also already been called `word’ by David, speaking in the character of the Father: My heart has uttered a good word.³⁸⁵ So Jesus did not wish to deny that he was good, but he simply wished to be called God. So when he says that the one is good whose word he is, he also shows through the same one that he is good. The young man, then, was trained in the Law; when he had told him the commandment through the Law, he said that he was a practitioner of them.^{386 [2090]}