OTHERS

1.1 (α) Origen [= 1.1(a) + 1.1(b): two comments separated by end-of-comment marker]:

Ezekiel is a type of Christ in many respects, and you will begin to see this in the introductory parts of his prophecy :- He says, "It happened in the thirtieth year, in the fourth month, on the fifth of the month, and I was in the midst of the captivity, by the river Chebar—that the heavens were opened." It has also been written about Christ, when he was in this world, in this "captivity," by the Jordan river, that "Jesus, as he began, was about thirty years old" and that the heavens were opened for him. According to the literal sense, the thirty years mentioned in the prophecy are the prophet's life-time, and the fifth year of the captivity, since he left [the holy land]. But indeed in terms of his name, Ezekiel also has a symbol of Christ: Ezekiel is translated as "ruling power of God." The phrase "son of man" crying out also as a higher reference to the one who was called "Son of Man."

1.1 (β) Origen [= 1.1(c)]:

Now, the meaning which the statement holds—although it does not do so simplistically—is as if he said, "I, who have nothing of captivity, was in the midst of the captivity because of providential management." In this way even Christ, not having been taken captive, was in the place of the captives, but for the sake of ransoming them, as even the prophet was in the midst of the captivity, not because of sins, but for the sake of healing.

1.1 (β) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Origen) [= 1 general pt. 1]:

Not all those who were led away in captivity to Babylon by Nebuchadnezzar went to Babylon because of sins. Most of the people [went to Babylon] because of sins, but the righteous among them did not—such as Daniel, Hananiah, Azariah, Mishael, this Ezekiel [whom I am discussing], Zechariah, Haggai, and those like them.

1.1 (β) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Origen) [= 1 general pt. 2]:

God, who is good, and who punishes sinners, and hands over into captivity those who are not able to be in the holy land because of their sins—for opposites cannot coexist—sends prophets along with them, so that the sinners may not be completely without help, when they have become captives. For on the assumption that the sinners had been led away to Babylon on the basis of their sin, and there had been no righteous ones among them, there was no [possibility of] healing for the sinners. Therefore, this was provided by [God's] ineffable goodness. For he does not hand over sinners to complete abandonment, but rather watches over them through his holy ones, about whom he said, "You are the light of this world, and the salt of the earth" —he said this not only about the Apostles, but also about those who are like them.

1.1 (γ) Apollinaris [Mai 82]:

Both Ezekiel and Daniel see visions by river-water—not for no reason, since in fact the Holy Spirit is likened to water.

1.1 (ε) Origen [= 1.1(d)]:

God "painted" the invisible and intelligible world inside the visible and perceptible world, so that those who are subject to perception may be denuded within it so as to contemplate the intelligible world.

1.2 (ς) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Origen) [= 1.3(a) pt. 1]:

this word is the "Word of God which was in the beginning." "I said, 'You are gods, and you are all children of the Most High.'" He calls gods those to whom the word of God, God the Word, came. For this Word is god-making.

1.2 (η) Origen [= 1.3(b)]:

"…in the land of the Chaldaeans…" "Chaldaean" is translated as "all work." And these [i.e., Chaldaeans] are astrologers, who talk about fate, and are completely tied to perceptible things, and work hard among them, making them into gods. The "land of the Chaldaeans" is the worst position and attitude. Indeed, the Chaldaeans represent a symbol of those who are arrogant in impiety.

1.3 (ι) Origen [= 1.3(a) pt. 2]:

Both "word" and "hand" come to the prophet—that is, action and contemplation—so that the prophecy may come into existence adorned by word and deed.

1.4 (ια) Origen [= 1.4(a)]:

God is the "spirit that takes away"; for "God is a spirit" and one that takes away wickedness.

1.4 (ιβ) τοῦ αὐτου (Origen) [= 1.4(b)]:

"North Wind" is said figuratively for "the Opposite power. So then, the "spirit that takes away" comes from the North—not because it is from there, but because it returns there after it takes away. The word "was coming" has its rationale: for indeed, the camp on the North side, the camp of Dan, "takes [itself] away" [i.e., sets out on the march], even if [it did so] in last place; and it followed the ark of God into the place of rest.

1.4 (ιγ) Origen [= 1.4(c)]:

This cloud is righteousness, the good that reaches from God to us, by which we are illuminated with the knowledge of truth. For there is also "a brightness around it."

1.4 (ιγ) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Origen) [= 1.4(d)]:

"…a great cloud in the spirit that takes away…" When you have been helped by the spirit that takes away, which took away from you every bad thing existing in your soul, then you will reap the benefit of the cloud existing in the spirit that takes away. And this cloud is akin to the cloud in the Gospel, from which came a voice, saying: "This is my beloved Son." So then, [first is] the spirit that takes away, next the great cloud in it, next a certain shining brightness round about it. Your badness has been removed; the cloud has been given to you, so that it will shower rain on the vineyard.

1.4 (ιε) Origen [= 1.4(e)]:

"A fire flashing like lightning, and in the midst of it, as it were the appearance of electrum." God takes away the bad things from us in two ways: by Spirit and by fire. If we become good and noble and are being educated by the word, our evils are taken away from us by the Spirit, according to that which is written, "But if by the Spirit you put to death the deeds of the body, you will live." But if the Spirit has not taken away the evils from me, there is need, I think, of the fire. Therefore, as many as were not purified by the Spirit will be purified by the fire—that, is, the fire of the same Spirit. For Scripture says, "He himself will baptize you with the Holy Spirit and with fire." And consider also these two combinations, each one [composed of] three elements. In the present vision, you have spirit, cloud, and brightness. This [we deal with] today. And [in the next,] fire, and electrum in the midst of this, then brightness. This [we will deal with] tomorrow.

1.4 (ις) Apollinaris [Mai 82]:

For the judgments of God are luminous, even if at times gloomy, to those who suffer them. For the interior of the frightful and punitive [matters] is cheerful and pleasant; and this is goodness and saving providence over the universe, which even sends reproofs in a beneficial manner.

1.5 (κ) Theodoret and Apollinarius [PG 81:824D-825A +: The non-Theodoret material (sandwiched between two Theodoret comments) I provisionally assign to Apollinaris, in accordance with the compiler's composite attribution, although the content is quite compatible with Theodoret; the final words here seem to indicate the compiler is truncating a pre-existing text]:

And he adds the human [nature] which has the [characteristic of being] in the image of God—and in this way especially he characterizes the divine power, because they are indeed images of God; and he also adds the likeness of irrational animals, which [fem.] he saw—and these were not physical [?], but showed their natural kinship through the likeness; and again, [he saw] the living creatures [as] four-faced and four-winged, not like the Seraphim which appear [as] six-winged; for they are not true wings [?]; but looking toward the demonstration of realities; but … they should have appeared there; two for the covering of their face, two for their feet, and two for the living creatures' flying. And a little later:…

1.7 (κα) Cyril [PG 70:1457C]:

For the intellectual powers above stand forever, in a certain way, not sinking down toward the baser things, but they rush along the straight and unsullied path of the life that is fitting for them.

[Similar wording is attested for Cyril; cf. the "straight and unsullied path" in De ador. et cult. in spir. et ver. (PG 68:1041), and Cyril's comments on Hos. 11.5-6 (1: 232 Pusey), also using the verb διαΐσσω.]

1.7 (κα) Apollinaris [Mai 82]:

Their posture is unbending—and lofty, not earth-bound; and the hoof [is] of an ox: a land-working, tame animal, on account of their beneficent activity with regard to human beings and the earth.

1.7 (κγ) Apollinaris [Mai 82]:

For the celestial [beings] are bright and undarkened.

1.8 (κδ) τοῦ αὐτοῦ (Apollinaris) [Mai 82]:

And in this again [is shown] the rationality of the powers.

1.8 (κε) Apollinaris [NOT IN MAI]:

For there is no rupture of the divine motion in them, but they have been raised up entire and whole [?] to a height, to the point that even their feet are equipped with wings.

1.9 (κζ) Severus [Mai 737]:

And completely, not half-way, decked out with many eyes just like very bright stars, and that showing their wakefulness and illuminated state.

1.10 (κη) Origen [= 1.10 pt. 1]:

It is possible to see the soul in each living creature, and in each face its [i.e., the soul's] faculties—the rational faculty in the human being, the passionate faculty in the lion, the appetitive faculty in the bull-calf, and in the eagle, the "helping faculty." Hence he did not say that this was on the right-hand side or on the left-hand side, but obviously higher than the other three. This is, it seems, the internal spirit of the human being, which helps the soul. And this interpretation is not secure; I say that this spirit is something other than the "'ruling faculty."[Delarue's text: "But let this 'spirit' not be said to be something other than the 'ruling faculty'"].

1.10 (κη) Severus [Mai 737]:

Sketched out with multiple faces, and thereby suggesting the riches of their contemplation.

1.10 (κη) Apollinaris [Mai 82]:

All but saying, 'Perceive in what was said not only the celestial powers, but also all things visible, because indeed there is one creator of all things. For they appear in the mold of visible things for this reason: not so that we perceive the angelic natures to be monstrous-formed, but so that we learn about the harmony of the unseen powers with us, and the dominion of God over all things. For example, he does not see only the forms of irrational creatures, but also those of humans, and these not separated but joined. For even if the difference between us and the irrational creatures is great, nevertheless we are not separated in all respects, but we also have a certain commonality with the rational powers: with the visible ones by virtue of the body, with those above by virtue of the soul. And after other things: And by the human forms, they indicate the rational faculty; by the lion and the calf, that God is master also of tame and wild animals, having done everything with a view to [our] benefit from the beginning. And by the eagle, he indicates at the same time the nature of the aquatic and the flying creatures, because in fact the nature of these both has arisen from the waters. And, just as the Romans paint the royal images and present the bodyguards and represent the nations as being subjected, because he pictures God as king through this vision, as one sitting upon a throne: He shows the images of all those [who live] upon the earth; then, putting forth what is fitting by means of a figure, and teaching God's lordship over all things.

1.10 (κη) Origen [= 1.10 pt. 2]:

And some have explained the living creatures with reference to the four points of the compass, and their faces with reference to the elements, in which the universe subsists. But this is stupid.

1.10 (κη) Apollinaris [Mai 82]:

And he displays again the rational faculty in this, and strength, and beneficence toward us, along with its being drawn down [?] and not being made lowly by providence for the lowly, but being exalted and celestial.

1.11 (κθ) Apollinaris [Mai 82]:

For their strivings upwards toward God, and the lightness that is manifest in them—heaven-treading—for they are in no way seen to be denuded of the heavenly wisdom (nor are they unbecoming on account of nakedness like human beings); being magnified in things directed toward God in ecstasy, they are made lowly in things relating to them(selves) in actions.

1.11 (κθ) Severus [Mai 738]:

And lifted up by a multitude of wings, and thence showing their speed and lightness and upward direction and ease of movement; for through these corporeal visions or suggestions, as through enigmas, we cull the mental perception of the incorporeal -- and being thus in nature and order.

1.11 (λ) Origen [= 1.10 pt. 3]:

In this way, then, all things are driven by the Word of God who bears within himself the Father and the Holy Spirit, in nature, not in hypostasis. Therefore, the supracelestial beings, the celestial, and the terrestrial and the sub-terrestrial, are driven, or steered [by God].

1.12 (λα) Apollinaris [ΝΟΤ ΙΝ ΜΑΙ]:

For their movement in accord with the spirit of God is not suceptible to turning or change of mind.

1.14 (%) Anonymous:

of beams of lightning.

[This is identified as Symmachus' translation elsewhere; cf. Ziegler.]

1.15 (λδ) Origen [= 1.15 pt. 1]:

The wheel signifies this world, this "coming-to-be." We human beings are on the wheel, since we are under "generation." [Alternatively, the wheel signifies the cycle of the year.]

[O does not include the last sentence printed by Pitra, which does however parallel closely the beginning of the ἄλλος-comment that appears in O immediately following the one attributed to Origen; a version of it has probably become attached to the Origen comment by accident.]

1.16 (÷) Anonymous:

Aquila: of chrysolith (topaz); Symmachus: of hyacinth (aquamarine); a spying-out of joy.

[For Aquila and Symmachus, cf. Ziegler; the last phrase is a supposed etymology of tharseis, for which cf. the Onomasticum of Origen on Ez. 38.13 and elsewhere -- Jerome (on Ez. 27.33, Is. 23.2) renders it as exploratio gaudii.]

1.16 (λθ) Apollinaris [Mai 82]:

He is indicating the round-about movement of things in a circle, including beginning and progress and end; and with judgment and mercy from God they unroll succession to circle (???); and the proper movement of the wheel in accord with the activity of the spirit, because things are brought around easily, without compulsion—but yet, a following circuit in relation to the will of the Holy Spirit. And again, on account of the circular circuits of things, in many species and times.

[Text still somewhat corrupt, it seems.]

1.17 (μα) Apollinaris [Mai 82]:

This is repeated on account of the fact that things seem not to travel forward, in so far as dependent upon the turning and degeneration of the world.

[The phrase is "repeated," that is, from vss. 9 and 12.]

1.23 (νε) Severus ἀπὸ λόγου ϟ' [Mai 738]:

And covering over their faces, lest, if they took it in with full vision, in excess, and could not bear it, they would lose even the moderate amount of illumination coming down to them. They are able to view it only to the degree that a face covered over with wings would be able to see—and this shows partially a certain small and very dim central point of light.

1.26 (ξδ) Origen [= 1.26]:

We are the ["one" O] likeness of the four living creatures. Examine what the three are. The charioteer of these four living creatures was not entirely fire, but only from the loins downward; and from the loins to the top he was electrum. For the Logos does not have only instruments of punishment, but also has that by which he grants rest; and he punishes through the powers which are below. For [the prophet] did not see fire around the head, nor was the charioteer fire from the loins upward, but he was fire from the loins downward. [He is described in this way] in order to show that those who are involved in begetting have need of fire. For the loins are a symbol of begetting. But not only did [the prophet] indicate those who are subject to begetting by the words "from the loins and down," but also all those who are here below and are affected by contact with matter—for coming-to-be and destruction take place in matter. And electrum is an alloy of gold and silver, and these most precious elements of matter are symbols of the honored and exalted ranks of the holy powers.

1.27 (ξς) Basil of Caesarea [(dub.) Enarr. in proph. Is. proem §3 (tr. Lipatov)]:

For [it] had no external reality ... Nor was that One in human form, Who was shining like electrum from the loins upwards and fiery from the loins downwards, the One described in Ezekiel, but the mind of the divine and blessed men was drawn to the contemplation of these things by a greater Power, for the Spirit was representing the divine nature through enigmas.