site: migne

title: Epistola ad Ephesios

author: Anselm of Laon and his school

languages: en la

source_edition: Migne, Patrologia Latina, vol. 114, coll. 587C–602A

source_text:
## ARGUMENTUM.

[0587C]

[0587D]Ephesii sunt Asiani. Hi, accepto verbo veritatis, perstiterunt in fide: hos collaudat Apostolus, scribens eis ab urbe Roma de carcere per Tychicum diaconem.

## CAPUT PRIMUM.

VERS. 1.-- *Paulus Apostolus.* More suo salutationem praemittit. Deinde gratias agit Deo, exponens prius beneficia humano generi praestita, post ipsis apostolis specialiter indulta; deinde et Ephesiis ipsis, ostendens a quo et ad quid vocati sint. Deinde Christi dignitatem et praelationem ostendit; postea ad patientiam et charitatem eos invitat, unitatem fidei et Ecclesiae commendans, et dona gratiae enumerans. Tandem ad certamen exhortans contra principes tenebrarum, militiae Christianiae armaturam [0588C] describit. *Sanctis omnibus.* Perfectis, et non solum eis, etc. *Fidelibus.* Qui si non sancti, vel in [0588D] fide sani. *Sanctis,* exercitio virtutum. *Et fidelibus,* fide recta quae in Christo Jesu. Recte illa duo posuit, tunc enim prodest ac creditur bona vita, si fides est in Christo Jesu. Tunc vere sancti sunt si fideles sunt in Christo. Vel: distingue inter sanctos et fideles, ut sanctos intelligas majores et perfectiores, fideles minus perfectos.

VERS. 3.-- *Benedictus.* Praemissa salutatione, incipit ab actione gratiarum, innuens omnia esse ex Deo. *Benedixit.* Unum quidem benedictionis verbum, sed per congruentia personae varie debet intelligi. Benedicitur ab homine Deus, cum laudibus dignis extollitur. Homo autem a Deo, cum Deus ei gratiae suae dona impartitur, non meritis illius, sed misericordia sua.

[0589A]VERS. 4.-- *Sicut elegit,* etc. Ne quis ergo putet animas cum Deo aeternas, et tunc aliquid meruisse juxta errorem illorum, qui ante haec visibilia dicunt quasdam fuisse animas sanctas, et ideo tunc fuisse electas.

VERS. 5.-- *Qui praedestinavit.* Posita praedestinatione, quae pertinet ad justitiam et sanctitatem vitae praesentis, ponitur hic alia pertinens ad vitam aeternam, cujus effectum supra notavit.

VERS. 6.-- *In laudem gloriae gratiae suae,* etc. Quasi dicat: Gloria gratiarum est aeterna adoptio. *In qua gratificavit.* Effectus primae praeordinationis ad justitiam. *In dilecto Filio.* Diligens Deus Pater unigenitum suum, illis quos diligit, et quibus vult, Filius divina largitur.

[0589B]VERS. 7.-- *In quo habemus,* etc. Duplicem gratiam ostendit, quia et redemit, et peccata nostra non imputavit.

VERS. 8.-- *Quae superabundavit.* Hactenus de his quae toti humano generi: modo de his quae singulariter apostolis dedit, loquitur.

VERS. 10.-- *In dispensatione.* Id est in plenitudine temporis dispensati a Deo, id est in hoc tempore gratiae, quo implere quae caeteris temporibus promissa vel praefigurata sunt, divina providentia rationabiliter dispensavit. Si enim penitus ignari essent homines non praedocti, non reciperent Christum, et nisi prius de naturali et doctrinali essent lege convicti superbi, parvi penderent Christi adventum.

[0589C] *Instaurare. [n: (AUG.)]* Instaurantur autem quae in coelis sunt, etc., *usque ad* a corruptionis vetustate renovantur.

*Omnia, quae in coelis.* Id est, angelos; vel: *instaurare,* id est, supplere. *Quae in terra.* Id est homines, qui peccato depravati erant. *In ipso.* Id est per Christum.

VERS. 11.-- *In quo et nos.* Ne apostoli, in quibus superabundat gratia, viderentur meruisse melius aliis, ostendit eos ita gratis vocatos, non meritis, sicut fuerunt et alii. *Sorte.* Sors dicitur gratia, quia non est hominis electio, sed voluntatis Dei. Unde tunica Domini desuper texta, quae charitatem significat, sorte provenit. *Omnia operatur.* Etiam velle bonum, et ut credere incipiamus, ut exemplo nostro nemo glorietur in homine. Verum est enim: *Non vos [0589D] me elegistis, sed ego vos,* etc. Laus autem gloriae Dei est cum multi acquiruntur ad fidem, sicut gloria medici cum multos curat.

VERS. 13.-- *In quo vos.* Modo venit ad ea quae dedit Ephesiis. *Cum audissetis. Cum* causam notat hic, et tempus.

VERS. 15.-- *Propterea.* Enumeratis beneficiis humano generi, vel apostolis vel Ephesiis collatis, quid de eorum beneficiis sentiat Apostolus subdit, scilicet quod gratias agit, et rogat superaddi, ne illi superbiant, sed ultra tendant.

VERS. 17.-- *Ut Deus,* etc. Quasi diceret: Ad impetrandum non obtendo merita, sed quod Deus et Pater Christi, etc.

[0590A]VERS. 18.-- *Oculos cordis.* In imagine ergo sua cognosce auctorem ejus, qui corporali sensu non attingitur. Ne ergo putetis corporeo sensu Deum attingi, sed oculis mentis, ipsum audite. In corpore, ubi diversa membra sunt, alibi audis, alibi vides. In corde autem tuo, ubi diversa membra non inveniuntur, ibi audis ubi vides. Ad hoc autem illuminet oculos. *Ut sciatis,* etc. Hoc dicit ut propensiores sint: quia cum plene scierint qui fructus est credentium, propensiores fient circa excolendam religionem. Vel ita: ut spes proprie accipiatur. Et sensus est: Ut sciatis quae sit, scilicet voluntas ejus, id est quantum valet spes vitae aeternae ad quam vocat. Et sciatis quae sit adimpletio ejus spei. Quod ita ait: *Et quae divitiae.* Hic quid nomine spei intellexerit [0590B] aperit: spem enim accipit rem speratam.

VERS. 19.-- *Quae sit supereminens.* Quoddam incrementum gloriae habebunt summi doctores, ultra illud quod communiter omnes habebunt. Habebunt enim omnes eumdem denarium. *Sed differt stella a stella in claritate [n: (I Cor. XV)]*. *Et erunt diversae mansiones in domo Patris [n: (Joan. XIV)]*.

VERS. 20.-- *Suscitans illum,* etc. Exemplum autem gloriae sanctorum consistit in resurrectione Salvatoris, ut in ea cognoscant fideles quod eis promissum est. *Ad dexteram suam.* Dextera est beatitudo aeterna, quae sanctis datur: sinistra est miseria, quae impiis. Nulla enim forma corporis Deus finitur et concluditur.

VERS. 21.-- *Supra omnem,* etc. Hoc dicit propter [0590C] incarnationem Filii Dei, ut etiam homo factus super omnes coelos esse dicatur, et super omnem creaturam, habens nomen ejus per naturam, non per adoptionem.

VERS. 22.-- *Sub pedibus ejus,* etc. Per pedes plena subjectio notatur, et omnia merito sunt ei subjecta, quia per eum facta; vel, pedes significant humanitatem, quia sicut pes est inferior pars corporis, ita in Christo inferior natura est humanitas quam etiam angeli adorant. *Et ipsum,* etc. Postquam commemoravit dignitatem Christi, ad nos redit, ostendens ejus dignitatem ad nos pertinere; quasi dicat: Ita exaltavit Deus Christum, ut haec exaltatio ejus ad nos pertineat: quia ipse est caput, et nos corpus, ut ei participemus. *Caput.* Secundum deitatem: [0590D] quia omnes ab ipso facti, et etiam secundum humanitatem, qua ei conjungitur Ecclesia, natura et gratia. *Nam de plenitudine ejus omnes accepimus [n: (Joan. X)]*.

VERS. 23.-- *Plenitudo ejus.* Quia adimpletur per eos, tamen ens omnia in omnibus hic et in futuro. Item. Cum ingressi ad confessionem flectunt genu Christo, adimpletur, quia recedentes videntur evacuare eum. *Omnia in omnibus.* Quia membra nihil ei conferunt, sed ipse omnia membris: quia ejus virtute sunt quod sunt.

## CAPUT II.

VERS. 1.-- *Et vos, cum essetis,* etc. Commemorat priora, ut in bonis humilientur, et certum sit quod [0591A] si inimicis haec data sunt, magis amicis dabuntur, quae apostolus optat; quasi dicat: Caput est omnis Ecclesiae et vestrum, quia vos convivificavit: cum, id est, quamvis essetis mortui. Vel nos qui credidimus, habemus spem haereditatis, et vos, scilicet credidistis. Deus autem convivificavit, vel Jesum suscitavit, etc.

VERS. 2.-- *Principem.* Scilicet Beelzebub, qui est princeps malignorum spirituum, vel, intransitive principem spirituum. Principem erroris dicit spiritum aeris, in quo dominatur. *Aeris.* Caliginosus aer infernus est daemonum. *Spiritus.* Id est, spirituum: ponitur enim genitivus singularis pro plurali. *Operatur in filios diffidentiae.* Quid? nisi opera sua mala: et in primis maxime, quia ipsam diffidentiam [0591B] et infidelitatem qua sint inimici fidei, per quem scit eos posse mundari?

VERS. 3.-- *Et eramus natura,* etc. Quasi: Cum haec praedicta fuerunt in nobis, non desperet gentilis quin par Judaeis fiat. *Filii irae.* Cum ira Dei nascuntur mortales, quia, peccante Adam, vitium pro natura inolevit. Tenebatur enim justa damnatione genus humanum, et erant omnes natura filii irae.

VERS. 5.-- *Convivificavit nos.* Vel nos Judaeos similiter et vos gentiles, et hoc est: cujus gratia vos gentes estis salvatae. Et utrosque conresuscitavit.

VERS. 6.-- *Consedere fecit,* etc. Non inaniter, sed fideliter jam computat factum quod futurum esse non dubitat. Certe enim in coelestibus Christus jam sedet, nondum autem nos; sed spe certa tenemus.

[0591C]VERS. 7.-- *Supervenientibus abundantes,* etc. In futuro enim saeculo, apparebit donum Dei, in remuneratione credentium; quod oculus non vidit, nec auris audivit. Et haec sunt abundantes divitiae, ut tantum detur quantum mens investigare non potest.

VERS. 8.-- *Et hoc non ex vobis,* etc. Ne forte dicas: Promerui, ideo accepi. Non putes te promerendo accepisse. Gratia praecessit meritum tuum: non gratia ex merito, sed meritum ex gratia. Nam si gratia ex merito, emisti, non gratis accepisti. Omnia merita praecedit gratia, ut dona Dei consequantur merita mea.

VERS. 9.-- *Ne quis glorietur.* Non hoc ideo dicit, quia opera bona pia cogitatione facta frustrentur, cum Deus reddat cuique secundum opera ejus, sitque [0591D] gloria Dei operanti bonum, sed quia opera ex gratia, non ex operibus gratia. Bonum igitur est homini, ut de viribus arbitrii sui non praesumat; quia ille qui putavit sine ejus adjutorio se posse custodire quod dedit, profectus in longinqua, et vivens prodige cuncta consumpsit: et miseria attritus, et in se reversus dixit: *Surgam, et ibo ad patrem meum [n: (Luc. XV)]*. Quam cogitationem bonam non haberet, nisi et ipsam illi in occulto Pater misericordissimus inspirasset.

VERS. 10.-- *Ipsius enim,* etc. Nemo debet gloriari, quia nos creati in fide et in operibus sumus factura, id est opus ejus, vel sumus creati per facturam, id est operationem ejus: et ita nec de operibus per fidem [0592A] gloriandum est, cum fides et omnia ex gratia sint.

VERS. 11.-- *Propter quod.* Ut sciatis omnia esse a gratia Dei. Contulerat Judaeos et gentes, quod utrique sub peccato fuissent, nunc ostendit gentes fuisse indigniores et improperia Judaeorum perpessas, ut modo aequales Judaeis, magis sint obnoxii gratiae Dei. *Aliquando vos.* In quibusdam codicibus reperitur scriptum esse: *qui,* ibi: *vos qui gentes eratis,* et secundum hoc suspensive legitur usque ibi: *Nunc autem in Christo,* etc.; eodem tamen manente sensu.

VERS. 12.-- *Hospites.* Hospes quasi ostii pes, eo quod cum suscipiebatur in domum, ponebat dominus domus, et qui suscipiebatur, pedem super ostium, et datis dextris jurabat quod pacificus esset ingressus.

[0592B]VERS. 14.-- *Qui fecit utraque unum.* Ipse enim est lapis angularis, in quo duo populi tanquam parietes de diverso angulo venientes sibimet, quasi in pacis osculo copulantur. *Parietem.* Id est, obstaculum hinc ex lege, inde ex idololatria.

VERS. 15.-- *Faciens pacem,* etc. Facit pacem inter ipsos, ut ambos conciliet Deo Patri. *In semetipso.* Non aliter quam per crucem, id est mortem, interfecit inimicitiam quae inter Deum et homines, id est peccata dimisit. Omnibus enim profecit mors Salvatoris.

VERS. 17.-- *Longe fuistis,* etc. Si affectu amas Deum, prope es: si odisti, longe es. Non enim regionibus longe est quisquam a Deo, sed affectibus.

VERS. 19.-- *Non estis hospites.* Id est indigniores [0592C] in fide, sicut olim recepti in lege. *Et advenae.* Id est extranei a Deo. *Sed estis cives.* Id est, ejusdem juris et dignitatis in domo Dei. *Sanctorum.* Non carnalis Israel. *Et domestici.* Id est familiares. *Dei.* Quibus arcana revelat.

VERS. 20.-- *Ipso summo angulari,* etc. [n: (AUG., in Psal. LXXXVI.)] Ne Apostoli vel prophetae (in quibus fundata est civitas) se tenerent, in se secutus ait: *Ipso summo angulari lapide Christo Jesu;* etenim in Christo totum innititur aedificium velut in primo fundamento: quod fundamentum in summo est, non in imo, ut in corporali fabrica.

VERS. 21.-- *Crescit in templum sanctum in Domino.* Nemo tam perfectus qui non possit crescere.

## CAPUT III.

[0592D]

VERS. 1.-- *Hujus rei,* etc. Ostenso quod per Christum facta est pax et reconciliatio, hic ponit per quem ipsi sunt coaedificati, quia Deus revelavit salutem ad gentes pertinere, et misit eis praedicare, et facit pati pro eis, ut magis sint Deo grati.

VERS. 2.-- *Si tamen audistis.* Id est, si intellexistis gratiam, id est apostolatum dispensatum a Deo, qui scit quare me ad hoc officium elegit? Vel apostolatum, per quem diversis diversa pensamus. Per hoc vult eos scire, quia Dei judicio a Christo missus est praedicare gentibus mysterium gratiae Dei.

VERS. 3.-- *Sicut supra scripsi,* etc. Scilicet, ibi *ipse est pax nostra.* Ibi namque mysteriorum sibi revelatorum [0593A] summam pro modico sermone perstrinxit, non tam totum quod noverat proferens, quam ostendens ex modico.

VERS. 5.-- *Et prophetis.* Prophetae quidem priores praescierunt olim hoc de gentibus, quod vocandae essent, et futurae participes doni Dei, sed hoc latuit, quod sine lege salus eis esset per fidem Christi.

VERS. 6.-- *Per Evangelium,* etc. Per praedicationem cognitum est donum Dei, quod Deus dat gentibus juxta operationem virtutis suae: qua suscitavit Christum, in quo omnes sunt salvi sine operibus legis.

VERS. 7.-- *Minister.* Non enim est meum sed Dei, et ita nullae mihi gratiae reddendae, sed Deo.

VERS. 8.-- *Investigabiles.* Per naturam scilicet, sed per gratiam et revelationem sancti Spiritus investigabiles [0593B] sunt fidelibus.

VERS. 9.-- *Absconditi a saeculis.* In mundo absconditae sunt causae rationabiles omnium rerum, quae naturaliter fiunt, sicut absconditus fuit Levi in lumbis Abrahae, quando decimatus est. In Deo autem absconditae sunt causae eorum quae per gratiam fiunt, sive eorum quae ad hoc significandum mirabiliter et non naturaliter fiunt, quae ministrantibus angelis facta sunt. *In Deo.* Habet enim Deus in seipso absconditas quorumdam factorum causas, quas rebus conditis non inseruit, easque implet, non illo opere providentiae, quo naturas substituit ut sint, sed eo quo illas administrat ut voluerit, quas, ut voluit, condidit. Ibi est et gratia per quam salvi fiunt peccatores. Non enim per naturam vitio depravatam, [0593C] sed per Dei gratiam homo restauratur.

VERS. 10.-- *Ut innotescat.* Datum est mihi evangelizare et illuminare. Videte quantum est hoc, quia per hoc accrevit aliquid angelis, qui multa secreta in his didicerunt. *In coelestibus.* Quia ibi primitus Ecclesia fuit, quo post resurrectionem et ista Ecclesia congreganda est, ut simus aequales angelis Dei.

VERS. 11.-- *Secundum praefinitionem.* Quae enim sapientia in sui natura simplex est, secundum ea quae aguntur in saeculo, quae Deus praefinivit, id est praeordinavit, est multiformis, cum variatur multiformiter. Et ne videantur sibi contradicere in praedictis sententiis sacrae paginae doctores, ita potest determinari quod dictum est: ut illis, qui majoris dignitatis sunt, et per quorum ministerium illa [0593D] nuntiata sunt, cognita fuerint ex parte, ut puta familiaribus et nuntiis illis; iis autem qui minoris dignitatis sunt, incognita essent.

VERS. 14.-- *Hujus rei gratia.* Vos peto, et Deo supplico, ut gratia cooperetur vobis. Et hoc est quod addit: *Hujus rei gratia.* In quo ostendit eos habere propriae voluntatis arbitrium. Sed ne illud sufficere putent, addit: *Flecto genua mea ad Patrem.* Tantum in Graeco habetur; quod autem in Latinis codicibus additum est: *Domini nostri Jesu Christi,* bene convenit, quod orabat, ut merito ejus obtineamus cui proprie et naturaliter est pater, non autem adoptive.

VERS. 15.-- *Paternitas,* etc. Nec angelus, nec [0594A] homo vere est pater ut Deus qui est pater omnium, creatione, et fidelium recreatione, quos adoptavit in filios. Vel *nominatur,* id est nominabilis est. Ab illo enim qui est pater omnium, et angeli in coelo, et homines in terra acceperunt ut patres alios vocarent. Et nota quod Christus Dei unigenitus per naturam, adoptionis beneficio patrem se esse significat dicens, *Fili, dimittuntur tibi peccata tua [n: (Matth. II)]*. Similiter et Spiritus sanctus, per quem justi adoptantur in filios. Homo autem dicitur pater vel natura, vel auctoritate exempli, vel ratione beneficii.

VERS. 17.-- *In charitate.* Oro etiam ut *radicati,* id est firmiter plantati, a similitudine arboris, quae quanto plus terrae figitur, tanto plus crescit, et uberiorem fructum reddit.

[0594B]VERS. 18.-- *Cum omnibus sanctis.* Haec est communio coelestis reipublicae. Hi non sua quaerunt, sed quae Christi sunt, id est, commoda privata non sectantur, sed in communione ubi salus omnium est consulunt.

*Quae sit latitudo.* Charitatis, quae usque ad inimicos extendi debet, et cum hilaritate bene operari, quia qui tristis dat, perdit quod dat. Opus ergo est latitudine charitatis, ne pereat quidquid boni facis. Sed quia abundante iniquitate refrigescit charitas multorum, opus est etiam longitudine.

*Et sublimitas.* Charitatis. Haec est quod sursum cor dirigatur, ut Deus in praemium exspectetur. Nam si bene operaris etiam usque ad inimicos, et hilariter tribuis, habes latitudinem; et si in his usque in finem [0594C] perseveras, habes longitudinem. Sed si omnia haec non propter mercedem supernam facias, altitudinem non habet: et ita jam nec latitudo erit, nec longitudo. Nam habere altitudinem est cogitare Deum, amare Deum, et gratis amare ipsum adjutorem, ipsum coronatorem, postremo ipsum praemium deputare non aliud ab ipso, quam ipsum exspectare. Si amas, gratis ama. Si vere amas, ipse sit merces quem amas. *Et profundum.* Charitatis, id est possitis intelligere occultum Dei judicium; quare isti dat, non vero illi. De profundo enim judiciorum Dei, quae scrutari et contemplari nequimus, procedit omne quod possumus. Quod possum, video; unde possum, non video; nisi quia novi esse a Deo. Quare autem illi det, isti non det, multum est a me, abyssus est [0594D] et profundum. Nunc ergo ipsa charitas in bonis operibus exercetur ad subveniendum aliis, et usque ad inimicos porrigitur; et haec latitudo est. Nunc longanimitate adversa tolerat, et in eo quod veraciter tenuit, perseverat; et haec longitudo est. Hoc autem totum propter adipiscendam patriam aeternam facit, quae illi promittitur in excelso; et hoc altitudo est. Existit vero ex occulto illa charitas, et haec est profundum.

VERS. 19.-- *Ut impleamini.* Quia tunc nihil deest Christiano, cum Patrem et Filium sic cognoscit. Aliter non est integra professio deitatis, quia fides nec in solo Patre integra est, nec in Filio solo perfecta. *In omnem plenitudinem Dei.* Non ut sint (plenus Deus) sicut quidam errantes voluerunt, sed ut perfecte sint [0595A] pleni Deo; vel sic: ut confessione et gratiarum actione sicut Patri, ita et Filio honorificentia reservetur, et omnia quae a Deo Patre sunt, per Filium facta et restaurata credantur, ut sit plena professio divinitatis in credentibus.

VERS. 20.-- *Potens est omnia facere,* etc. In hac sunt quaedam quae nemo alioqui peteret vel intelligeret, ut quod Deus homo pro hominibus moreretur et hujusmodi alia.

## CAPUT IV.

VERS. 1.-- *Obsecro.* Hactenus ostendit omnia gratiae attribuenda, hinc de moribus monet, prius omnes communiter, post per singulos ordines.

VERS. 2.-- *In charitate. [n: (AUG.)]* Ipsa est enim actio recti itineris, quae oculos semper habet ad Deum. [0595B] Talis actio nec frangitur negotio, nec turbulenta est, nec marcida, nec audax, nec fugax, nec praeceps, nec jacens

VERS. 3.-- *In vinculo pacis.* Id est pacem servantes. Haec autem pax est, si peccata quae sine damno tritici aut cum spe salutis corrigendorum eradicari non possunt, usque ad messem ultimam toleramus.

VERS. 5.-- *Unus Dominus.* Debetis servare unitatem, quia nobis est unus Dominus, non tres pro quorum diversis voluntatibus vos oporteat discordare. Et idem jubemini credere, et eodem modo operari. Et vobis est unus Deus creator omnium et pater procurando: et ideo nemo potest se alteri praeferre. [0595C] *Qui* Deus, *est super omnes,* id est praecellit omnibus creaturis, cujus dignitas vos invitet, *et per omnia* diffusus, quia ubique, et ideo timendus; cum nusquam possit evitari. *Et in omnibus nobis,* per gratiam, qui unitatem servamus. Et sic non singulariter de una persona, sed communiter de omnibus, id est de Trinitate hoc accipitur. *Una fides.* Non numero, sed genere, quia similis in omnibus.

VERS. 8.-- *Captivam duxit captivitatem.* Id est eos quos diabolus captivaverat a paradiso, et proprios mundi et inferni fecerat, iterum captivos fecit Christus, dum ad coelum reducuntur.

VERS. 11.-- *Prophetas [n: (AMBR.)]* In Novo Testamento, prophetae dicuntur explanatores Scripturarum, tamen fuerunt quidam in primordio fidei futura praedicentes, [0595D] sicut Agabus, septemque filiae Philippi.

*Evangelistas.* Qui et diaconi, quia etsi non sacerdotes, tamen evangelizare possunt.

VERS. 12.-- *In opus ministerii.* Hos autem dedit in opus ministerii, ut quisque plene possit facere opus ministrationis sibi creditae. Si enim unus haberet omnia, non perfecte ageret singula. *Ad consummationem.* Id est, ut eos consummaret qui jam sancti sunt. *Et in aedificationem.* Id est, ut eos aedificent in corpus Christi, qui adhuc sunt alieni.

VERS. 13.-- *Donec.* Id est in *die* judicii. *Omnes.* Qui sumus in una et non discrepanti fide: et in una et non differenti unitate *agnitionis Filii Dei;* vel in virtutibus quibus agnoscitur Filius Dei in nobis; vel [0596A] quibus agnoscemus eum in futuro. *Occurramus.* Nobis invicem de diversis mundi partibus, vel ipsi Christo, quasi desiderio currentes ad gaudium. *In virum perfectum.* Ut unusquisque sit vir perfectus et habens eamdem aetatem, quae est mensura et meta aetatis, ultra quam non accrescit aliquid naturaliter homini: in qua aetate Christus habuit plenitudinem annorum et corporis, in qua de hoc mundo transivit. Omnes enim in eadem resurgent, in qua Christus mortuus est et resurrexit, cujuscunque aetatis mortui fuerint.

VERS. 15.-- *Christus.* Unctus dicitur. Et in Veteri Testamento reges ungebantur.

VERS. 17.-- *Hoc igitur.* Admonet ut caveant a consuetudine antiquae gentilitatis; quasi diceret: Quia Deus tot auxilia ad custodiam dedit unitatis, et quia [0596B] crescere potestis et ei occurretis, ego dico, non obsecro ut prius.

VERS. 18.-- *Obscuratum.* Non parum: et ideo minus mirum est si in vanitate ambulant potius quam vos qui estis illuminati, et spem habetis vitae.

*A vita Dei.* Duae sunt vitae: una corporis, altera animae; et sicut vita corporis est anima, sic animae vita est Deus: et quomodo si anima deserat, moritur corpus, sic anima moritur, si deserat Deus. Anima recedens a luce justitiae, quanto magis quaerit quod inveniat contra justitiam, tanto plus repellitur a lumine veritatis, et in tenebrosis demergitur.

VERS. 19.-- *Desperantes.* Vel indolorii, quod ex Graeco trahitur, id est de peccato non dolentes.

[0596C]VERS. 21.-- *Sicut veritas.* Hoc ideo dicit: quia sunt quidam in Ecclesia qui sub nomine Christi non sequuntur veritatem quam Christus docuit.

VERS. 22.-- *Deponite.* Non jubet ut corpus deponatur, sed ut vita in melius mutetur. *Veterem.* Nonnulli putant quod vetus homo corpus sit, et novus anima; sed corpus exterior homo est, anima interior: et in interiori agitur haec vetustas et novitas

VERS. 23.-- *Spiritu mentis.* Non ibi duas res intelligi voluit Apostolus quasi aliud sit mens, aliud spiritus mentis, sed quia mens spiritus est. Simile dictum est: *In exspoliatione corporis carnis,* id est carnis quae corpus est. Mens ergo, vel ratio, vel intelligentia, imago Dei est, qua praeest homo caeteris: qui creatus in agnitione Dei, postquam peccato desipuit, in eadem renovatur, [0596D] ut incipiat illa imago ab illo reformari, a quo formata est.

VERS. 24.-- *Qui secundum Deum creatus est.* Conceptus est enim in utero virginali, opere Spiritus sancti de semine mulieris sine semine viri. Hoc novum fuit; unde Jeremias: *Novum faciet Dominus super terram: Mulier circumdabit virum in gremio uteri sui [n: (Jer. XXXI)]*.

VERS. 25.-- *Propter quod.* Exsequitur partes veteris et novi hominis. *Cum proximo.* Etiam gentili: quia omnis homo proximus conditione primae nativitatis, vel spe conversionis omnis debet putari proximus.

VERS. 26.-- *Irascimini,* id est indignamini vobis [0597A] ipsis tanta vehementia ut peccare desistatis, quia super hanc iram non occidit sol justitiae, sed potius illi irradiat. Ira est naturalis motus animi contra peccantes; sed ne modum excedendo peccetis asperius arguendo. Unde Salomon: *Noli esse nimis justus qui perit justitia sua [n: (Eccl. VII)]*. Temperanda est ergo justitia, unde et Deus suffert iniquos, ut aliqui ex eis corrigantur. *Sol non occidat.* Vult ut ira non duret, quia si durat, datur occasio diabolo. Iratus enim male cogitat, et sic se diabolus inserit ut mala peragat. *Sol non occidat.* Christus mentem non deserat, qui cum ira nunquam habitat.

VERS. 27.-- *Nolite,* etc. Duae sunt portae quibus diabolus intrat: cupiditas et timor de terrenis. Eisdem in contrarium versis Deus intrat. Illi sunt claudendae, [0597B] isti aperiendae.

VERS. 29.-- *Omnis sermo,* etc. In Dei servo omnia bona debent videri, nec ex aliqua parte puritas ejus debet maculari.

VERS. 30.-- *Et nolite contristare.* Per inobedientiam, *Spiritum sanctum,* id est praedicatorem veritatis, quod est Spiritum sanctum contristare quantum ad vos. Quod non debetis in quo vos quasi cera signati estis ejus imagine vobis relicta; vel estis signati, id est discreti a malis.

VERS. 31.-- *Omnis amaritudo.* Haec etiamsi fiant accedentibus causis, tamen temperanda sunt. *Blasphemia.* Blasphemia est per quam de ipso Deo falsa dicuntur. Et ideo pejus est blasphemare quam pejerare, quia pejerando falsae rei adhibetur testis Deus; [0597C] blasphemando autem de ipso Deo falsa dicuntur.

## CAPUT V.

VERS. 2.-- *In odorem suavitatis.* Si Christi mors Deo fuit suavis odor, ergo mortem ejus libenter accepit. Non ergo peccaverunt qui illum crucifixerunt? Sed non est ita, quia injuste justum occiderunt: qui Patris et sua voluntate oblatus est. Sicut et Judas, quid habet nisi peccatum in tradendo Christum? nisi tamen se traderet Christus, non eum traderet Judas. Tradidit Judas Christum, tradidit se Christus. Sed ille agebat negotium suae venditionis, iste nostrae redemptionis. Ideo ille impie deliquit, hic misericorditer egit.

VERS. 5.-- *Avarus.* Avaritiam idololatriae aequat, [0597D] quia illum avarum significat cujus Deus nummus est, vel quia res Dei quas Deus vult servire indigentibus usurpat sibi et recondit, et Deo praefert sicut idololatria Dei honorificentiam.

VERS. 6.-- *Inanibus verbis.* Omnes eorum rationes sunt inania verba, fructu vacua, ad supplicia trahentia.

VERS. 9.-- *Fructus enim,* etc. Hujusmodi autem opera sunt fructus et opus lucis. *Et justitia,* etc. Justitia et veritas sunt partes bonitatis. Et est sensus: *In omni bonitate et justitia et veritate.* Id est, justa et vera convenienter loquamini.

VERS. 11.-- *Redarguite.* Animo leni, ut alibi ait Apostolus. Hoc videlicet agite, ut foris terribiliter, [0598A] personet increpatio, et intus lenitatis teneatur dilectio. Duo conjungit, ut, scilicet, non communicent consentiendo et redarguant. His enim duobus modis non te maculat malus, si non consentis, et si redarguis. Utrumque autem complexus est Apostolus, dicens: *Nolite communicare,* etc., id est nolite consentire, laudare et approbare. Et quia parum est non consentire, addit: *Magis autem redarguite,* id est reprehendite, corripite, coercete. Et est sensus: Non sitis consentientes malis approbando ea, neque negligentes arguendo, neque superbientes insultanter arguendo.

VERS. 13.-- *Omnia autem.* Quasi: Etsi turpe sit dicere ea quae ipsi faciunt, tamen redarguenda sunt, quia sic manifestantur saepe per confessionem et [0598B] poenitentiam: et ideo arguendum est, quia quod sic manifestatur, vertitur in lumen; vel illi mali manifestantur sibiipsis quod mali sunt, et ideo arguendi, quia sic incipiunt esse lumen. *Omne enim quod manifestantur.* Id est malus, cum sibi innotescit esse malus, fit lumen. *Lumen est.* Id est per poenitentiam incipit converti in bonum.

VERS. 14.-- *Surge.* Per confessionem. *Et exsurge.* Per satisfactionem.

VERS. 16.-- *Redimentes tempus.* Id est, quod minus fecistis in uno tempore, restituite in alio, dimidiantes dies quos impii non dimidiant. Alii enim dimidiant, alii implent dies, alii nec incipiunt; id est, alii moriuntur in Aegypto, alii in deserto, alii in terra sancta. Nec mirum si minus fecistis, quoniam dies [0598C] mali sunt, nec possunt omnia agi pro libitu.

VERS. 21.-- *Subjecti invicem.* Non solum auditores praelatis, sed etiam praelati subditis, in charitate eis serviendo et humiliter curam gerendo. Nam etsi dignitas majorum est, administratoria tamen est; unde Apostolus: *Omnium me servum feci [n: (I Cor. IX)]*. Est ergo majorum (salva tamen dignitate) servire, sicut minorum est humiliter obedire; haec autem tam majorum quam minorum ordinata subjectio, debet esse in casto timore Christi, qui humilitatem mandavit.

VERS. 22.-- *Mulieres.* Hucusque communiter de moribus egit, nunc quaedam singulis ordinibus suadet.

[0598D]VERS. 27.-- *Non habentem maculam,* etc. Quia per actionem bonam munda est a macula, et per spem tensa ad superna: proinde vestis ejus in monte tanquam nix dealbata effulsit, quae significabat. Ecclesiam omni macula peccati mundatam, quae per Christi in ligno crucis extensionem extensa est a ruga, et desiderio ad coelestia. *Non habentem nunc maculam, aut rugam, sed ut sit sancta,* hic per bona opera, *et immaculata,* in abstinentia mali. Vel hoc erit in futuro, erit enim tunc Ecclesia sancta per gloriam, immaculata per corruptionis remotionem. Sicut Christus fudit sanguinem, ut lavaret maculam Ecclesiae, et extendit se in cruce, ut tolleret rugam, sic et viri, si opus est, debent mori pro salvandis [0599A] uxoribus, et verbo vitae eas instruere, ut exhibeant eas Deo.

VERS. 29.-- *Nemo enim unquam.* Qui ergo mavult esse sine corpore, non corpus, sed corruptiones et pondus ejus odit. *Sicut et Christus Ecclesiam.* Ita faciat vir de uxore, quae est caro ejus: quia sic et Christus nutrit Ecclesiam cibo corporis sui, et fovet spiritualibus indumentis praeceptorum, virtutum et bonorum operum.

VERS. 32.-- *Sacramentum hoc magnum.* Ne aliquis putaret in viro esse et uxore, secundum utriusque naturalis sexus copulationem, corporalemque mixtionem, addit: *Ego dico in Christo,* etc., secundum hoc ergo quod in Christo et Ecclesia, accipitur quod dictum est: Non jam duo, sed una caro [0599B] sunt, et quomodo sponsus et sponsa dicuntur, sic caput et corpus. Sive ergo dicatur caput et corpus, sive sponsus et sponsa, unum intelligite. Fit enim ex duobus quasi una quaedam persona, scilicet ex capite et corpore, ex sponso et sponsa: quam unitatem miram et excellentem commendat Isaias, in quo Christus loquens, ait: Sicut sponso alligavit mihi mitram, et sicut sponsam ornavit me ornamento. Hujus spiritualis unitatis sacramentum fuit illud quod in Genesi de unione conjugii ad litteram dicitur

## CAPUT VI.

VERS. 2.-- *Primum.* Scilicet inter mandata quae sunt ad hominem in secunda tabula. Ad duo namque praecepta charitatis Dei et proximi pertinet Decalogus. [0599C] Ad primum praeceptum Dei tres chordae pertinent, id est, tria mandata, quia Deus Trinitas est. Ad alterum vero praeceptum, scilicet proximi, septem chordae, id est septem mandata. Et illa tria ad Deum pertinentia sunt in prima tabula. Et alia septem ad proximum, in secunda tabula scripta erant. Inter quae hoc merito primum est, quia, sicut Deus principaliter principium est hominis, sic pater secundario. Cujus mandati additur promissio quod non in aliis est.

VERS. 5.-- *Servi, obedite.* Servitus coepit ex peccato; prima enim servitutis causa peccatum est, ut nomo homini conditionis vinculo subderetur, quod non fuit nisi Deo judicante, apud quem non est iniquitas, et novit diversas poenas meritis distribuere [0599D] delinquentium. *In simplicitate.* Liberam facit servitutem; non timore subdolo, sed fideli dilectione, donec transeat iniquitas, et omnis evacuetur potestas.

VERS. 10.-- *De caetero.* Post specialia praecepta quibus admonuit singulos ordines, in communi nunc admonet omnes; quasi: Huc usque vos juvi verbo et opere; deinceps, in futuro, in reliquo tempore, fide et dilectione.

VERS. 12.-- *Mundi rectores.* Non ideo sic appellantur, quia regunt mundum, qui constat ex coelo et terra; sed mundum peccatores dicit, de quo Joannes: *Et mundus eum non cognovit [n: (Joan. I)]*. Talem mundum illi regunt, contra quos habemus perpetuas [0600A] inimicitias: quia et quod patimur homines importunos, illi faciunt. Instigant enim et inflammant illos et tanquam vasa sua movent, et velut organa tangunt. Contra illos habemus occultam luctam, ad quam nos armat Apostolus. *Tenebrarum.* Ne putentur daemones hunc visibilem mundum regere, subdit quid nomine mundi intellexerit: *Tenebrarum harum,* id est peccatorum; quasi: Non dominantur daemones mundo qui constat coelo et terra, sed peccatoribus. *Contra spiritalia.* Quasi: Timendi hostes quia spiritales et invisibiles, et quia nequam: et non pro parva re, sed pro coelesti haereditate tollenda pugnant. Ut coelestia dicit virtutes, in quibus pugnam daemonum patimur, vel spiritus nequam sunt in coelestibus, id est in hoc inferiori aere. Ipsi enim quasi [0600B] equites pugnant in equis hominibus. Equites ergo occidamus, equos possideamus.

VERS. 14.-- *Succincti lumbos vestros,* etc. Id est carnales concupiscentias cingulo castitatis frenantes non simulatorie, sed in veritate, vel per charitatem. *Induti loricam justitiae.* Recte lorica justitiae comparatur, quia, sicut lorica multis circulis contexitur, ita justitia multis virtutibus constat. Aliter: Justitia loricae potest comparari quia, sicut lorica pectus munit, ventrem stringit, femora protegit, ita justitia superfluas cogitationes quae in pectore versari solent, repellit: ingluviem ventris stringit, luxuriam quoque opprimit.

VERS. 15.-- *Calceati.* Marcus dicit apostolos calceatos sandaliis, vel soleis, ut neque pes sit [0600C] rectus, nec nudus ad terram, id est nec occultetur Evangelium, nec terrenis commodis innitatur. *Pedes.* Id est affectiones sint munitae virtutibus ne a vitiis pungantur, ut ita sint parati ad praedicandum Evangelium quod nuntiat pacem inter Deum et hominem; vel ut sint parati complere praecepta Evangelii.

VERS. 16.-- *Scutum fidei.* Fides est scutum, sub quo tuta est justitia, sicut sub munimine omnium virtutum, quod protenditur ante omnia arma et quod primo omnium impugnat diabolus.

VERS. 17.-- *Et galeam.* Galea est salus aeterna, cujus memoria mentem obvolvit ne deficiat. *Et gladium spiritus.* Verbum Dei est gladius bis acutus, docens de temporalibus et aeternis. Illorum consolationem in Veteri, istorum perfectionem in Novo [0600D] Testamento promittens. Quod enim temporaliter nobis promissum est, ad unam partem gladii: quod vero in sempiternum ad aliam partem gladii pertinet. Nam et ideo duo Testamenta dicuntur, quia Vetus terrena promittit, Novum aeterna. De hoc gladio Dominus ait: *Non veni pacem mittere in terram, sed gladium [n: (Matth. X)]*. Iste gladius vere acutus est, quia eum quem fecit a mundo dividit.

VERS. 18.-- *In spiritu.* Orat in spiritu, qui munda conscientia et integra fide orat. In carne orat, qui polluta mente iterum peccat, non casu, sed de proposito.

VERS. 19.-- *In apertionem,* etc. Id est ut aperte possim reserare mysterium Evangelii, id est secreta [0601A] incarnationis et passionis. Quasi: Ne pressura tribulationis ipsa formidine acumen doctrinae obtundat.

[0602A]VERS. 23.-- *Pax fratribus.* Pacem optat eis, quae est janua dilectionis.

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## THE ARGUMENT.

[0587C]

[0587D]The Ephesians are Asians. These, having received the word of truth, stood fast in the faith: these the Apostle commends, writing to them from the city of Rome, out of prison, by Tychicus the deacon.

## CHAPTER ONE.

VERS. 1.-- *Paul an Apostle.* After his manner he sets a salutation first. Then he gives thanks to God, setting forth first the benefits bestowed upon the human race, afterward those granted especially to the apostles themselves; then to the Ephesians themselves also, showing by whom and unto what they have been called. Then he shows the dignity and pre-eminence of Christ; afterward he invites them to patience and to charity, commending the unity of the faith and of the Church, and enumerating the gifts of grace. At last, exhorting them to the contest against the princes of darkness, he [0588C] describes the armour of the Christian warfare. *To all the saints.* To the perfect, and not to them only, etc. *To the faithful.* Who, if not saints, are at least sound in [0588D] faith. *To the saints,* by the exercise of the virtues. *And to the faithful,* by right faith, which is in Christ Jesus. Rightly did he set down those two, for then a good life profits and is believed, if faith is in Christ Jesus. Then are they truly saints, if they are faithful in Christ. Or: distinguish between the saints and the faithful, so that by the saints thou understand the greater and the more perfect, by the faithful the less perfect.

VERS. 3.-- *Blessed.* The salutation having been set first, he begins from the giving of thanks, intimating that all things are from God. *He hath blessed.* The word of blessing is indeed one, but according to what befits the person it must be understood in various ways. God is blessed by man, when he is extolled with worthy praises. But man is blessed by God, when God imparts to him the gifts of his grace, not by that man's merits, but by his own mercy.

[0589A]VERS. 4.-- *Even as he chose,* etc. Let no one, then, suppose that souls are eternal with God, and that they then merited something, according to the error of those who say that before these visible things there were certain holy souls, and that they were therefore then chosen.

VERS. 5.-- *Who predestinated.* A predestination having been set down which pertains to the justice and holiness of the present life, another is here set down pertaining to eternal life, whose effect he noted above.

VERS. 6.-- *Unto the praise of the glory of his grace,* etc. As if he should say: the glory of the graces is the eternal adoption. *In which he hath shown grace.* The effect of the first preordination unto justice. *In the beloved Son.* God the Father loving his only-begotten, the Son lavishes divine things upon those whom he loves and to whom he wills.

[0589B]VERS. 7.-- *In whom we have,* etc. He shows a twofold grace, because he both redeemed, and did not impute our sins.

VERS. 8.-- *Which hath superabounded.* Thus far concerning those things which [he gave] to the whole human race: now he speaks of those which he gave to the apostles singularly.

VERS. 10.-- *In the dispensation.* That is, in the fullness of the time dispensed by God, that is, in this time of grace, in which the divine providence reasonably dispensed to fulfil the things which in other times were promised or prefigured. For if men were utterly ignorant, not taught beforehand, they would not receive Christ, and unless the proud had first been convicted by the natural and the doctrinal law, they would little esteem the coming of Christ.

[0589C] *To restore. [n: (AUG.)]* Now those things are restored which are in the heavens, etc., *as far as* they are renewed from the oldness of corruption.

*All things, which are in the heavens.* That is, the angels; or: *to restore,* that is, to fill up. *Which are in the earth.* That is, men, who had been depraved by sin. *In him.* That is, through Christ.

VERS. 11.-- *In whom we also.* Lest the apostles, in whom grace superabounds, should seem to have deserved better than others, he shows that they were thus called freely, not by merits, even as others also were. *By lot.* Grace is called a lot, because it is not the choice of man, but of the will of God. Whence the Lord's tunic woven from above, which signifies charity, came by lot. *He worketh all things.* Even to will the good, and that we should begin to believe, so that by our example no one may glory in man. For it is true: *You have not chosen [0589D] me, but I you,* etc. And the praise of the glory of God is when many are gained unto the faith, as the glory of a physician is when he cures many.

VERS. 13.-- *In whom you.* Now he comes to those things which he gave to the Ephesians. *When you had heard. When* here notes the cause, and the time.

VERS. 15.-- *Therefore.* The benefits conferred upon the human race, or upon the apostles, or upon the Ephesians having been enumerated, the Apostle subjoins what he thinks concerning their benefits, namely that he gives thanks, and asks that more be added, lest they be proud, but stretch beyond.

VERS. 17.-- *That God,* etc. As if he should say: to obtain it I put forward not merits, but that he is God and the Father of Christ, etc.

[0590A]VERS. 18.-- *The eyes of the heart.* In his own image, therefore, know thou its author, who is not attained by bodily sense. Do not, therefore, think that God is attained by bodily sense, but with the eyes of the mind hear him. In the body, where the members are diverse, thou hearest in one place, thou seest in another. But in thy heart, where diverse members are not found, there thou hearest where thou seest. And to this end may he enlighten the eyes. *That you may know,* etc. This he says that they may be the more inclined: because when they shall fully know what the fruit of believers is, they will become the more inclined toward the cultivating of religion. Or thus: that hope be taken properly. And the sense is: That you may know what it is, namely his will [cj: *voluntas*; read *vocatio*, "calling"], that is, how much the hope of eternal life avails, unto which he calls. And that you may know what the fulfilment of that hope is. Which he thus says: *And what are the riches.* Here he [0590B] discloses what he understood by the name of hope: for he takes hope as the thing hoped for.

VERS. 19.-- *What is the exceeding greatness.* The highest doctors shall have a certain increase of glory, beyond that which all shall have in common. For all shall have the same penny. *But star differeth from star in brightness [n: (I Cor. XV)]*. [var: Vulg. 1 Cor. 15:41 *Stella enim a stella differt in claritate*; the connective is the explanatory *enim*, "for", where Migne prints the adversative *Sed*, "but", against the preceding sentence] *And there shall be diverse mansions in the house of the Father [n: (Joan. XIV)]*. [var: Vulg. John 14:2 *In domo Patris mei mansiones multae sunt*, "In my Father's house there are many mansions" — *multae*, "many", not *diversae*, "diverse", and the present, not the future]

VERS. 20.-- *Raising him up,* etc. Now the example of the glory of the saints consists in the resurrection of the Saviour, that in it the faithful may know what has been promised to them. *At his right hand.* The right hand is the eternal beatitude which is given to the saints: the left is the misery which is given to the wicked. For by no form of body is God bounded and enclosed.

VERS. 21.-- *Above every,* etc. This he says on account of the [0590C] incarnation of the Son of God, that even having been made man he may be said to be above all the heavens, and above every creature, having his name by nature, not by adoption.

VERS. 22.-- *Under his feet,* etc. By the feet full subjection is noted, and all things are deservedly subject to him, because they were made through him; or, the feet signify the humanity, because as the foot is the lower part of the body, so in Christ the lower nature is the humanity, which even the angels adore. *And him,* etc. After he has commemorated the dignity of Christ, he returns to us, showing that his dignity pertains to us; as if he should say: God so exalted Christ that this his exaltation pertains to us: because he himself is the head, and we the body, that we may partake of him. *The head.* According to the deity: [0590D] because all were made by him, and also according to the humanity, by which the Church is joined to him, by nature and by grace. *For of his fullness we have all received [n: (Joan. X)]*. [var: Vulg. John 1:16 *Et de plenitudine ejus nos omnes accepimus*, "And of his fullness we all have received" — *Et*, not *Nam*]

VERS. 23.-- *His fullness.* Because he is filled up through them, yet being all things in all, here and in the time to come. Likewise. When those who have entered unto confession bend the knee to Christ, he is filled up, because those who withdraw seem to empty him. *All things in all.* Because the members confer nothing upon him, but he himself all things upon the members: because by his power they are what they are.

## CHAPTER II.

VERS. 1.-- *And you, when you were,* etc. He calls to mind former things, that in good things they may be humbled, and that it may be certain that [0591A] if these things were given to enemies, they shall the more be given to friends, which the Apostle desires; as if he should say: He is the head of the whole Church and yours, because he hath quickened you together: when, that is, although you were dead. Or we who have believed have the hope of the inheritance, and you also, that is, you have believed. But God quickened you together, or raised up Jesus, etc.

VERS. 2.-- *The prince.* Namely Beelzebub, who is the prince of the malignant spirits, or, intransitively, the prince of spirits. He calls the prince of error the spirit of the air, in which he bears rule. *Of the air.* The murky lower air is that of the demons. *Of the spirit.* That is, of spirits: for the genitive singular is put for the plural. *Who worketh in the children of unbelief.* What? if not his own evil works: and among the first chiefly, because that very unbelief [0591B] and infidelity by which they are enemies of the faith, through whom he knows that they can be cleansed?

VERS. 3.-- *And we were by nature,* etc. As if: since these foresaid things were in us, let not the Gentile despair but that he may become equal to the Jews. *Children of wrath.* Mortals are born with the wrath of God, because, Adam sinning, vice grew in place of nature. For the human race was held under a just damnation, and all were by nature children of wrath.

VERS. 5.-- *He hath quickened us together.* Or us Jews, and you Gentiles likewise, and this is: by whose grace you Gentiles are saved. And he raised up both together.

VERS. 6.-- *He hath made to sit together,* etc. Not vainly, but faithfully, he already reckons as done that which he does not doubt shall be. For certainly Christ already sits in the heavenly places, but we not yet; yet we hold it by a sure hope.

[0591C]VERS. 7.-- *In the ages to come, abounding,* etc. For in the age to come the gift of God shall appear, in the remuneration of believers; which eye hath not seen, nor ear heard. And these are the abounding riches, that so much be given as the mind cannot search out.

VERS. 8.-- *And this not of yourselves,* etc. Lest perchance thou say: I have deserved it, therefore I received it. Do not think that thou hast received by deserving. Grace went before thy merit: not grace from merit, but merit from grace. For if grace were from merit, thou hast bought it, thou hast not received it freely. Grace goes before all merits, so that my merits may follow the gifts of God.

VERS. 9.-- *That no man may glory.* He does not say this for the reason that good works done with a pious thought are made void, since God renders to every man according to his works, and there is [0591D] glory of God to him that works good, but because works are from grace, not grace from works. It is good, therefore, for a man that he presume not upon the powers of his own will; because he who thought that without his help he could keep what he had given, having set out into a far country, and living prodigally, consumed all: and, worn down by misery, and returned into himself, said: *I will arise, and I will go to my father [n: (Luc. XV)]*. Which good thought he would not have had, unless the most merciful Father had inspired that very thing into him in secret.

VERS. 10.-- *For we are his,* etc. No one ought to glory, because we, created in faith and in works, are his making, that is, his work, or we are created through his making, that is, his operation: and so neither must one [0592A] glory of works through faith, since faith and all things are from grace.

VERS. 11.-- *For which cause.* That you may know that all things are from the grace of God. He had compared the Jews and the Gentiles, in that both had been under sin, now he shows that the Gentiles were the more unworthy and had endured the reproaches of the Jews, so that, being now equal to the Jews, they may be the more beholden to the grace of God. *Sometime you.* In certain codices it is found to be written: *who,* in this place: *you who were Gentiles,* and according to this it is read suspensively as far as this place: *Now, however, in Christ,* etc.; the sense nevertheless remaining the same.

VERS. 12.-- *Strangers.* Hospes, as it were ostii pes, the foot of the door, because when one was received into a house, the master of the house, and he who was received, set his foot upon the doorway, and, right hands having been given, he swore that his entry was peaceable.

[0592B]VERS. 14.-- *Who hath made both one.* For he himself is the corner stone, in whom two peoples, as walls coming to one another from a different angle, are joined as it were in the kiss of peace. *The wall.* That is, the obstacle, on this side from the law, on that side from idolatry.

VERS. 15.-- *Making peace,* etc. He makes peace between them, that he may reconcile both to God the Father. *In himself.* Not otherwise than by the cross, that is, by death, did he slay the enmity which was between God and men, that is, he forgave sins. For the death of the Saviour profited all.

VERS. 17.-- *You were far off,* etc. If thou lovest God with affection, thou art near: if thou hatest, thou art far off. For it is not by regions that anyone is far from God, but by affections.

VERS. 19.-- *You are not strangers.* That is, less worthy [0592C] in the faith, as those formerly received under the law. *And sojourners.* That is, foreign to God. *But you are fellow citizens.* That is, of the same right and dignity in the house of God. *Of the saints.* Not of carnal Israel. *And the domestics.* That is, of the household. *Of God.* To whom he reveals secrets.

VERS. 20.-- *He himself the chief corner stone,* etc. [n: (AUG., in Psal. LXXXVI.)] Lest the Apostles or the prophets (in whom the city is founded) should hold to themselves, following on he says in himself: *He himself the chief corner stone, Christ Jesus;* for indeed the whole building rests upon Christ as upon the first foundation: which foundation is at the top, not at the bottom, as in a bodily structure.

VERS. 21.-- *It groweth into a holy temple in the Lord.* No one is so perfect that he cannot grow.

## CHAPTER III.

[0592D]

VERS. 1.-- *For this cause,* etc. It having been shown that through Christ peace and reconciliation were made, here he sets down through whom they themselves were built together, because God revealed that salvation pertained to the Gentiles, and sent him to preach to them, and makes him suffer for them, that they may be the more pleasing to God.

VERS. 2.-- *If yet you have heard.* That is, if you have understood the grace, that is, the apostleship dispensed by God, who knows why he chose me for this office? Or the apostleship, through which we weigh out diverse things to diverse men. By this he wishes them to know that by the judgment of God he was sent by Christ to preach to the Gentiles the mystery of the grace of God.

VERS. 3.-- *As I wrote above,* etc. Namely, in that place *he is our peace.* For there he touched in a brief discourse upon [0593A] the sum of the mysteries revealed to him, not so much bringing forth the whole that he knew, as showing it from a little.

VERS. 5.-- *And to the prophets.* The earlier prophets indeed foreknew this of old concerning the Gentiles, that they were to be called, and to be partakers of the gift of God, but this lay hid, that without the law salvation would be theirs through faith in Christ.

VERS. 6.-- *Through the Gospel,* etc. Through preaching the gift of God was made known, which God gives to the Gentiles according to the working of his power: by which he raised up Christ, in whom all are saved without the works of the law.

VERS. 7.-- *A minister.* For it is not mine but God's, and so no thanks are to be rendered to me, but to God.

VERS. 8.-- *Unsearchable.* By nature, namely, but through the grace and revelation of the Holy Spirit they are searchable [0593B] to the faithful.

VERS. 9.-- *Hidden from ages.* In the world are hidden the rational causes of all things which come to be naturally, as Levi was hidden in the loins of Abraham, when he was tithed. But in God are hidden the causes of those things which come to be through grace, or of those which, for the signifying of this, come to be miraculously and not naturally, which were done by the ministering angels. *In God.* For God has hidden in himself the causes of certain deeds, which he did not insert into created things, and he fulfils them, not by that work of providence by which he established natures that they might be, but by that by which he administers them as he shall have willed, which, as he willed, he founded. There also is the grace through which sinners are made safe. For not through a nature depraved by vice, [0593C] but through the grace of God is man restored.

VERS. 10.-- *That it may be made known.* It was given to me to preach the gospel and to enlighten. See how great this is, because through this something accrued to the angels, who learned many secrets in these things. *In the heavenly places.* Because there the Church was first, whither after the resurrection this Church also is to be gathered, that we may be equal to the angels of God.

VERS. 11.-- *According to the predefinition.* For the wisdom which in its own nature is simple is, according to those things which are done in the world, which God predefined, that is, preordained, manifold, since it is varied in manifold ways. And lest the doctors of the sacred page should seem to contradict one another in the aforesaid opinions, what has been said can be determined thus: that to those who are of greater dignity, and by whose ministry those things [0593D] were announced, they were known in part, as, for instance, to those familiars and messengers; but to those who are of lesser dignity, they were unknown.

VERS. 14.-- *For this cause.* I entreat you, and I beseech God, that grace may work together with you. And this is what he adds: *For this cause.* In which he shows that they have the free choice of their own will. But lest they think that this suffices, he adds: *I bow my knees to the Father.* So much only is had in the Greek; but what has been added in the Latin codices: *of our Lord Jesus Christ,* fits well, in that he was praying that we might obtain by the merit of him to whom he is Father properly and naturally, and not by adoption.

VERS. 15.-- *Fatherhood,* etc. Neither angel, nor [0594A] man is truly a father as God is, who is the father of all by creation, and of the faithful by re-creation, whom he adopted as sons. Or *is named,* that is, is nameable. For from him who is the father of all, both the angels in heaven and men on earth received that they should call others fathers. And note that Christ, the only-begotten of God by nature, signifies by the benefit of adoption that he is a father, saying, *Son, thy sins are forgiven thee [n: (Matth. II)]*. In like manner also the Holy Spirit, through whom the just are adopted as sons. But a man is called father either by nature, or by the authority of example, or by reason of benefit.

VERS. 17.-- *In charity.* I pray also that [you may be] *rooted,* that is, firmly planted, from the likeness of a tree, which the more it is fixed in the earth, the more it grows, and yields a richer fruit.

[0594B]VERS. 18.-- *With all the saints.* This is the communion of the heavenly commonwealth. These seek not their own, but the things which are Christ's, that is, they pursue not private advantages, but take counsel in the communion where the salvation of all is.

*What is the breadth.* Of charity, which ought to be extended even to enemies, and to work well with cheerfulness, because he who gives sadly loses what he gives. There is need, therefore, of the breadth of charity, lest whatever good thou dost should perish. But because, iniquity abounding, the charity of many grows cold, there is need also of length.

*And sublimity.* Of charity. This is that the heart be directed upward, that God be awaited as the reward. For if thou workest well even toward enemies, and givest cheerfully, thou hast breadth; and if in these things unto the end thou [0594C] perseverest, thou hast length. But if thou do all these things not for the sake of the heavenly reward, it has not height: and so now there will be neither breadth nor length. For to have height is to think God, to love God, and freely to love him the helper, him the crowner, at last to account him the reward, to expect from him no other than himself. If thou lovest, love freely. If thou truly lovest, let him whom thou lovest be himself the reward. *And depth.* Of charity, that is, that you may be able to understand the hidden judgment of God; why he gives to this man, but not indeed to that. For from the depth of the judgments of God, which we cannot search out and contemplate, proceeds all that we can. What I can, I see; whence I can, I do not see; except that I know it is from God. But why he should give to that man, and not give to this, is far from me, it is an abyss [0594D] and a depth. Now therefore charity itself is exercised in good works for the succouring of others, and is extended even to enemies; and this is breadth. Now with longanimity it bears adversities, and perseveres in that which it has truly held; and this is length. But all this it does for the obtaining of the eternal country, which is promised to it on high; and this is height. But that charity arises out of the hidden, and this is depth.

VERS. 19.-- *That you may be filled.* Because then nothing is lacking to the Christian, when he thus knows the Father and the Son. Otherwise the profession of the deity is not entire, because faith is neither entire in the Father alone, nor perfect in the Son alone. *Unto all the fullness of God.* Not that they be (full God) as certain erring men have wished, but that they be perfectly [0595A] filled with God; or thus: that by confession and thanksgiving honour be reserved to the Son as to the Father, and that all things which are from God the Father be believed to have been made and restored through the Son, that there may be a full profession of the divinity in believers.

VERS. 20.-- *He is able to do all things,* etc. In this are certain things which otherwise no one would ask or understand, as that God should die as man for men, and other things of this kind.

## CHAPTER IV.

VERS. 1.-- *I beseech.* Thus far he has shown that all things are to be attributed to grace, from here he admonishes concerning morals, first all in common, afterward through the several orders.

VERS. 2.-- *In charity. [n: (AUG.)]* For this is the action of the right journey, which always has its eyes toward God. [0595B] Such action is not broken by business, nor is it turbulent, nor languid, nor bold, nor fugitive, nor headlong, nor prostrate

VERS. 3.-- *In the bond of peace.* That is, keeping peace. And this is peace, if we bear until the last harvest those sins which cannot be rooted out without harm to the wheat, or with hope of the salvation of those to be corrected.

VERS. 5.-- *One Lord.* You ought to keep unity, because we have one Lord, not three, for whose diverse wills you should have to be at variance. And you are bidden to believe the same, and to work in the same manner. And you have one God, the creator of all and father by his providing: and therefore no one can prefer himself to another. [0595C] *Who,* that is, God, *is above all,* that is, he excels all creatures, whose dignity should invite you, *and through all things* diffused, because he is everywhere, and therefore to be feared; since he can nowhere be avoided. *And in us all,* through grace, we who keep unity. And so this is taken not singularly of one person, but commonly of all, that is, of the Trinity. *One faith.* Not in number, but in kind, because it is alike in all.

VERS. 8.-- *He led captivity captive.* That is, those whom the devil had led captive from paradise, and had made the proper goods of the world and of hell, Christ made captive again, while they are led back to heaven.

VERS. 11.-- *Prophets [n: (AMBR.)]* In the New Testament the expounders of the Scriptures are called prophets, yet there were certain in the first beginning of the faith who foretold things to come, [0595D] as Agabus, and the seven daughters of Philip.

*Evangelists.* Who are also deacons, because although they are not priests, yet they can preach the gospel.

VERS. 12.-- *Unto the work of the ministry.* And these he gave unto the work of the ministry, that each might fully be able to do the work of the ministration committed to him. For if one man had all things, he would not perfectly perform each. *Unto the consummation.* That is, that he might consummate those who are already holy. *And unto the edification.* That is, that they may build into the body of Christ those who are as yet strangers.

VERS. 13.-- *Until.* That is, in the *day* of judgment. *All.* We who are in one and not discrepant faith: and in one and not differing unity *of the knowledge of the Son of God;* or in the virtues by which the Son of God is known in us; or [0596A] by which we shall know him in the time to come. *Let us meet.* One another, from the diverse parts of the world, or Christ himself, as it were running with desire unto joy. *Unto a perfect man.* That each one may be a perfect man and having the same age, which is the measure and the limit of age, beyond which nothing accrues naturally to a man: in which age Christ had the fullness of years and of body, in which he passed out of this world. For all shall rise again in that same age in which Christ died and rose again, of whatever age they shall have died.

VERS. 15.-- *Christ.* He is called Anointed. And in the Old Testament the kings were anointed.

VERS. 17.-- *This therefore.* He admonishes that they beware of the custom of their ancient heathenism; as if he should say: Because God has given so many helps for the keeping of unity, and because [0596B] you can grow and shall meet him, I say, I do not beseech as before.

VERS. 18.-- *Darkened.* Not a little: and therefore it is the less to be wondered at if they walk in vanity rather than you who are enlightened, and have the hope of life.

*From the life of God.* There are two lives: one of the body, the other of the soul; and as the life of the body is the soul, so the life of the soul is God: and as, if the soul forsake it, the body dies, so the soul dies, if God forsake it. The soul withdrawing from the light of justice, the more it seeks what it may find against justice, the more it is driven back from the light of truth, and is plunged into things of darkness.

VERS. 19.-- *Despairing.* Or indolorii, which is drawn from the Greek, that is, not grieving for sin.

[0596C]VERS. 21.-- *As the truth.* This he says for this reason: because there are certain in the Church who under the name of Christ do not follow the truth which Christ taught.

VERS. 22.-- *Put ye off.* [var: Vulg. Eph. 4:22 *deponere vos*, the infinitive, "that you put off"; Migne prints the imperative, and the gloss is written on it — *Non jubet*, "he does not command"] He does not command that the body be put off, but that the life be changed for the better. *The old.* Some think that the old man is the body, and the new the soul; but the body is the outer man, the soul the inner: and in the inner this oldness and newness is enacted

VERS. 23.-- *In the spirit of the mind.* The Apostle did not wish two things to be understood there, as though the mind were one thing and the spirit of the mind another, but because the mind is spirit. A like saying is: *In the despoiling of the body of the flesh,* that is, of the flesh which is the body. The mind, therefore, or reason, or understanding, is the image of God, by which man is set over the rest: who, created in the knowledge of God, after he grew foolish by sin, is renewed in the same, [0596D] that that image may begin to be reformed by him by whom it was formed.

VERS. 24.-- *Who according to God is created.* For he was conceived in a virginal womb, by the working of the Holy Spirit, of the seed of a woman without the seed of a man. This was new; whence Jeremias: *The Lord shall make a new thing upon the earth: A woman shall compass a man in the bosom of her womb [n: (Jer. XXXI)]* [var: Vulg. Jer. 31:22 *quia creavit Dominus novum super terram : femina circumdabit virum*, "for the Lord hath created a new thing upon the earth: a woman shall compass a man" — the perfect for the future, *femina* for *Mulier*, and *in gremio uteri sui* is in no part of the verse].

VERS. 25.-- *For which cause.* He follows out the parts of the old and of the new man. *With his neighbour.* Even with a Gentile: because every man is a neighbour by the condition of the first birth, or by the hope of conversion every man ought to be thought a neighbour.

VERS. 26.-- *Be ye angry,* that is, be indignant with your [0597A] own selves with such vehemence that you cease from sinning, because upon this anger the sun of justice does not go down, but rather shines upon it. Anger is a natural motion of the mind against sinners; but lest by exceeding the measure you sin by reproving too harshly. Whence Solomon: *Be not too just, who perisheth by his own justice [n: (Eccl. VII)]* [var: Vulg. Eccles. 7:17 *Noli esse justus multum*, "Be not just overmuch"; the relative clause is Eccles. 7:16, *justus perit in justitia sua*, "the just perisheth in his justice" — Migne conflates the two verses and drops the preposition]. Justice therefore must be tempered, whence God also bears with the wicked, that some of them may be corrected. *Let not the sun go down.* He wills that anger endure not, because if it endures, occasion is given to the devil. For the angry man thinks evil, and so the devil insinuates himself that he may accomplish evils. *Let not the sun go down.* Let not Christ forsake the mind, who never dwells with anger.

VERS. 27.-- *Do not,* etc. There are two gates by which the devil enters: cupidity and fear concerning earthly things. These same being turned to the contrary, God enters. Those are to be shut, [0597B] these to be opened.

VERS. 29.-- *Every word,* etc. In the servant of God all things ought to be seen to be good, nor ought his purity to be stained in any part.

VERS. 30.-- *And grieve not.* Through disobedience, *the Holy Spirit,* that is, the preacher of the truth, which is to grieve the Holy Spirit so far as pertains to you. Which you ought not to do, in whom you have been sealed as wax, his image being left with you; or you have been sealed, that is, set apart from the wicked.

VERS. 31.-- *All bitterness.* These things, even if they be done when causes arise, must nevertheless be tempered. *Blasphemy.* Blasphemy is that by which false things are said concerning God himself. And therefore it is worse to blaspheme than to forswear, because by forswearing God is brought in as witness to a false thing; [0597C] but by blaspheming false things are said concerning God himself.

## CHAPTER V.

VERS. 2.-- *Unto an odour of sweetness.* If the death of Christ was a sweet odour to God, therefore he willingly accepted his death. Did not they, then, sin who crucified him? But it is not so, because they unjustly slew the just one: who was offered by the Father's will and by his own. So also Judas, what has he but sin in betraying Christ? yet unless Christ had delivered up himself, Judas would not have delivered him up. Judas delivered up Christ, Christ delivered up himself. But the one was transacting the business of his own selling, the other of our redemption. Therefore the one impiously offended, this one acted mercifully.

VERS. 5.-- *A covetous man.* He makes covetousness equal to idolatry, [0597D] because he signifies that covetous man whose God is money, or because he usurps to himself and lays up the things of God which God wills to serve the needy, and prefers them before God, as idolatry does before the honour of God.

VERS. 6.-- *With vain words.* All their reasonings are vain words, empty of fruit, drawing to punishments.

VERS. 9.-- *For the fruit,* etc. Now works of this kind are the fruit and the work of light. *And justice,* etc. Justice and truth are parts of goodness. And the sense is: *In all goodness and justice and truth.* That is, do you speak fittingly things just and true.

VERS. 11.-- *Reprove.* With a gentle mind, as the Apostle says elsewhere. Do this, namely, that outwardly the rebuke may terribly [0598A] resound, and inwardly the love of gentleness may be held. He joins two things, namely, that they communicate not by consenting, and that they reprove. For in these two ways the evil man does not stain thee, if thou consentest not, and if thou reprovest. And the Apostle embraced both, saying: *Do not communicate,* etc., that is, do not consent, praise and approve. And because it is little not to consent, he adds: *But rather reprove,* that is, rebuke, correct, restrain. And the sense is: Be not consenting to evils by approving them, nor negligent in reproving, nor proud in reproving insultingly.

VERS. 13.-- *But all things.* As if: although it be shameful to tell the things which they themselves do, yet they must be reproved, because thus they are often made manifest through confession and [0598B] penance: and therefore reproof must be made, because what is thus made manifest is turned into light; or those evil men are made manifest to themselves that they are evil, and therefore are to be reproved, because thus they begin to be light. *For every thing which are made manifest.* [var: Vulg. Eph. 5:13 *omne enim, quod manifestatur*, singular, "for all that is made manifest"; Migne prints the plural *manifestantur* against singular *omne*] That is, the evil man, when he becomes known to himself to be evil, becomes light. *Is light.* That is, through penance he begins to be turned into good.

VERS. 14.-- *Arise.* Through confession. *And rise up.* Through satisfaction.

VERS. 16.-- *Redeeming the time.* That is, what you have done less in one time, restore in another, halving the days which the wicked do not halve. For some halve, others fill up the days, others do not even begin; that is, some die in Egypt, some in the desert, some in the holy land. Nor is it a wonder if you have done less, since the days [0598C] are evil, nor can all things be done at pleasure.

VERS. 21.-- *Subject one to another.* Not only the hearers to the prelates, but the prelates also to their subjects, by serving them in charity and humbly bearing their care. For although the dignity is of the greater, yet it is ministerial; whence the Apostle: *I made myself the servant of all [n: (I Cor. IX)]*. It belongs, then, to the greater (their dignity nevertheless being safe) to serve, as it belongs to the lesser humbly to obey; and this ordered subjection, as well of the greater as of the lesser, ought to be in the chaste fear of Christ, who commanded humility.

VERS. 22.-- *Women.* Thus far he has treated of morals in common, now he urges certain things upon the several orders.

[0598D]VERS. 27.-- *Not having spot,* etc. Because through good action she is clean from spot, and through hope stretched toward things above: accordingly his garment on the mountain shone forth whitened as snow, which signified. The Church cleansed from every spot of sin, which through Christ's stretching out upon the wood of the cross has been stretched from wrinkle, and by desire toward heavenly things. *Not having now spot, or wrinkle, but that she may be holy,* [var: Vulg. Eph. 5:27 *non habentem maculam, aut rugam, aut aliquid hujusmodi, sed ut sit sancta et immaculata*; Migne inserts *nunc*, "now", and drops *aut aliquid hujusmodi*, "or any such thing"] here through good works, *and without blemish,* in abstinence from evil. Or this will be in the time to come, for then the Church will be holy through glory, unblemished through the removal of corruption. As Christ shed his blood, that he might wash the spot of the Church, and stretched himself out upon the cross, that he might take away the wrinkle, so also husbands, if there be need, ought to die for the saving of their [0599A] wives, and to instruct them by the word of life, that they may present them to God.

VERS. 29.-- *For no man ever.* He, therefore, who would rather be without a body, hates not the body, but its corruptions and its weight. *As Christ also the Church.* So let the husband do concerning his wife, who is his flesh: because so also Christ nourishes the Church with the food of his body, and cherishes her with the spiritual garments of the precepts, of the virtues and of good works.

VERS. 32.-- *This sacrament is great.* Lest anyone should think it to be in the husband and the wife, according to the coupling of the natural sex of both, and the bodily mingling, he adds: *I speak in Christ,* etc., according to this, therefore, which is in Christ and the Church, is taken what has been said: They are now not two, but one flesh [0599B], and as bridegroom and bride are spoken of, so head and body. Whether therefore head and body be spoken of, or bridegroom and bride, understand ye one thing. For out of two there is made as it were a certain one person, namely out of head and body, out of bridegroom and bride: which wonderful and excellent unity Isaias commends, in whom Christ speaking says: He hath bound a mitre upon me as upon a bridegroom, and hath adorned me with an ornament as a bride. The sacrament of this spiritual unity was that which in Genesis is said to the letter concerning the union of marriage

## CHAPTER VI.

VERS. 2.-- *The first.* Namely among the commandments which are toward man in the second table. For the Decalogue belongs to the two precepts of the charity of God and of the neighbour. [0599C] To the first precept, that of God, three chords belong, that is, three commandments, because God is a Trinity. But to the other precept, namely that of the neighbour, seven chords, that is, seven commandments. And those three pertaining to God are in the first table. And the other seven, toward the neighbour, were written in the second table. Among which this is deservedly first, because, as God is principally the beginning of man, so the father secondarily. To which commandment a promise is added, which is not in the others.

VERS. 5.-- *Servants, obey.* Servitude began from sin; for the first cause of servitude is sin, that man [sic: *nomo*] should be subjected to man by the bond of condition, which was not save by God judging, with whom there is no iniquity, and knows how to distribute diverse punishments to the merits [0599D] of offenders. *In simplicity.* It makes servitude free; not by crafty fear, but by faithful love, until iniquity pass away, and all power be made void.

VERS. 10.-- *For the rest.* After the special precepts by which he admonished the several orders, now he admonishes all in common; as if: Thus far I have helped you by word and by work; henceforth, in the time to come, in the remaining time, by faith and by love.

VERS. 12.-- *Rulers of the world.* They are not so called for this reason, that they rule the world, which consists of heaven and earth; but he calls sinners the world, concerning which John: *And the world knew him not [n: (Joan. I)]*. Such a world do they rule, against whom we have perpetual [0600A] enmities: because even that we suffer importunate men, they cause. For they instigate and inflame them, and move them as their own vessels, and touch them as instruments. Against them we have a hidden wrestling, for which the Apostle arms us. *Of darkness.* Lest the demons be thought to rule this visible world, he subjoins what he understood by the name of the world: *Of these darknesses,* that is, of sins; as if: The demons have dominion not over the world which consists of heaven and earth, but over sinners. *Against the spiritual things.* As if: The enemies are to be feared because they are spiritual and invisible, and because they are wicked: and they fight not for a small matter, but for the taking away of the heavenly inheritance. As heavenly things he calls the virtues, in which we suffer the battle of the demons, or the wicked spirits are in the heavenly places, that is, in this lower air. For they, as [0600B] horsemen, fight upon men as horses. Let us then slay the horsemen, let us possess the horses.

VERS. 14.-- *Having your loins girt,* etc. That is, bridling carnal concupiscences with the girdle of chastity, not feignedly, but in truth, or through charity. *Having put on the breastplate of justice.* Rightly is the breastplate compared to justice, because, as a breastplate is woven of many rings, so justice consists of many virtues. Otherwise: Justice can be compared to a breastplate because, as a breastplate fortifies the breast, binds the belly, protects the thighs, so justice repels the superfluous thoughts which are wont to turn about in the breast: it binds the gluttony of the belly, and represses lust also.

VERS. 15.-- *Shod.* Mark says that the apostles were shod with sandals, or with soles, so that the foot should neither be [0600C] straight [cj: *rectus*; read *tectus*, "covered"], nor bare to the ground, that is, that the Gospel should neither be hidden, nor lean upon earthly advantages. *The feet.* That is, let the affections be fortified with virtues, lest they be pricked by vices, so that they may thus be ready to preach the Gospel which announces peace between God and man; or that they may be ready to fulfil the precepts of the Gospel.

VERS. 16.-- *The shield of faith.* Faith is a shield, under which justice is safe, as under the defence of all the virtues, which is stretched before all arms and which the devil assails first of all.

VERS. 17.-- *And the helmet.* The helmet is eternal salvation, the memory of which enwraps the mind lest it fail. *And the sword of the spirit.* The word of God is a twice-sharpened sword, teaching concerning things temporal and eternal. Promising the consolation of the former in the Old, the perfection of the latter in the New [0600D] Testament. For what has been promised to us temporally, [belongs] to the one part of the sword: but what is unto everlasting belongs to the other part of the sword. For therefore also they are called two Testaments, because the Old promises earthly things, the New eternal. Concerning this sword the Lord says: *I came not to send peace upon the earth, but the sword [n: (Matth. X)]* [var: Vulg. Matt. 10:34 *non veni pacem mittere, sed gladium*; *in terram* stands in the first half of the verse, *pacem venerim mittere in terram*, not in the clause Migne quotes]. This sword is truly sharp, because it divides from the world him whom it has made.

VERS. 18.-- *In the spirit.* He prays in the spirit who prays with a clean conscience and an entire faith. He prays in the flesh who with a polluted mind sins again, not by chance, but of set purpose.

VERS. 19.-- *Unto the opening,* etc. [var: Vulg. Eph. 6:19 *in apertione oris mei*, the ablative, "in the opening of my mouth"; Migne prints the accusative *In apertionem*, and the gloss answers it with a purpose clause, *ut aperte possim reserare*] That is, that I may be able openly to unlock the mystery of the Gospel, that is, the secrets [0601A] of the incarnation and of the passion. As if: Lest the pressure of tribulation by very dread should blunt the edge of doctrine.

[0602A]VERS. 23.-- *Peace to the brethren.* He wishes them peace, which is the gate of love.

license_source: Public Domain Mark 1.0

license_translation: CC BY-NC 4.0

license_apparatus: CC BY-NC 4.0